silly little girls (alyssa//taiya)

[night]

After the first year, the work wasn't even hard anymore. Of course, Trae was exhausted every night after work and she never wanted to get up to go to work, but her muscles were stronger now. She didn't even need to stop, not once all day. It was more than what could be said for Taiya, Trae's twin, who seemed to be having a rather difficult time in the lower branches, just under where Trae was perched like a bird. Today was Taiya's first day back after a particularly bad few days of being sick, and Trae had been listening to her twin wheeze for too long. "Hey!" She called, holding out a ruined and bruised apple and dropping it onto her sister's head, "Don't you think you should take a break? Ma won't like it if you're sicker tonight than you were yesterday." She spoke in a playful sing-song voice.

In truth, Trae wasn't sure whether or not her sister would be up for the adventure she had planned tonight, and she definitely didn't want to strain Taiya's delicate health or hurt her feelings by telling her she couldn't go. It may have been selfish, but Trae was used to being the center of attention. It was what she craved. Ever since they were young, silly little girls -- something Trae had never grown out of -- Trae stole attention from her sister. "It is only the orchards, after all. Easy work. I can cover for you if you want." She added. One of the peacekeepers shushed her, like they always did; Trae talked during work far too much. Trae shot the Peacekeeper a glare, "Don't tell me what to do." She snapped. Luckily, the woman ignored her.

ooc: woooo! not super long or good but oh man SO EXCITING.

[Alyssa :)]

Taiya was overheating. She took deep, wheezy breaths as she worked, ignoring the dizziness and pushing on. It was just like a fever, so she was used to it, especially after the past few days of getting over one. She enjoyed working with her sister, although she did wish they could talk more. Stupid Peacekeepers. She hummed a high, sweet tune as she worked to help her feel better. Taiya smiled as she automatically stuck her hand out to catch the apple her sister dropped. She could handle the dizziness just fine if she could still catch an apple. She didn't need to stop working.

"If it's easy work, I shouldn't need a break," she called up to Trae, stubborn as usual. She glanced nervously at the Peacekeepers and didn't add any more.

She placed the bad apple in her basket, then searched the tree for an apple close to her. She reached up and plucked a fairly good apple from the branch, examining it for bugs or worms before tossing it up for her sister to put in her basket. Taiya thought it ironic that Trae had the basket with the good apples, and she herself had the basket with the bad ones. I guess the baskets match their holders, she thought grimly to herself.

(ok i have like no idea how they work, so is this right? separating the good and bad apples? if it's wrong, pm me and i'll modify it XD and I'M SO EXCITED TOO!!! :D)

[night]

Trae caught the apple her sister threw up to her easily, smiling to herself as she did. She worked best with her sister; everything was easier this way. Trae chuckled to herself; Taiya had always been stubborn, even despite the sickness. "Fine," She said lightly as she examined the apple in her hand closely before tossing it and a few others into her own bucket. "But I won't be able to catch you when you fall." Trae lowered her voice, looked down at her sister and gestured to the woman Peacekeeper to their right, "And I have a feeling she won't, either," she added with grin.

All the apples were gone, so she stood up on her branch and set her basket up higher, then swung by her arms and jumped to a higher branch, as well, smiling inwardly as she did because a few years ago she had not been this strong, and being in the trees felt natural to her now, like she had been born in them. Now that she was up high, the leaves shielded her from the Peacekeepers, so she stuck two good apples into the small satchel over her shoulder and took another to eat now, which she promptly did, taking a large bite from it, then grinned mischievously at her sister, "Snack break?"

ooc;; man i don't even know but i kind of like wut yuh did with it so this is good!WOOOO!

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[Alyssa :)]

Taiya looked up through the leaves as Trae talked about the female Peacekeeper. She grinned up at her sister, looking at the woman in the uniform then back at her. "She probably wouldn't even care if I died!" she whispered loudly up to her sister. "We're too inferior for her to notice." She turned back to her work and picked a few more bad apples from the tree, dropping them into her basket.

She heard the tree creak as Trae moved to a different branch higher in the tree, making leaves fall down and land in her basket. She let out a laugh as she picked the green shapes out of the woven basket and said, "Jeez Trae, you gotta let up on the pounds!" even though she knew her sister was very fit and at a healthy weight. Taiya looked up to the sight of her sister stealing a couple apples and take a big bite out of another. A snack does sound good right now... she thought a little guiltily to herself.

"Sure!" she answered, glancing at the Peacekeeper before giving her sister a knowing smile and pushing herself up so she was standing on the branch. She wobbled a little bit as dots spotted the rim of her vision. "Just a little...lightheaded..." she tried to reassure Trae. But when she climbed up the tree one-handed, she very nearly came to dropping her basket. She rested halfway up to where her sister sat and took a break, not wanting to faint so high up. When the dizziness started to fade a bit, she continued up the tree and sat on a branch right next to Trae.

"Phew!" Taiya huffed. "That was a bit of a workout." She looked at Trae, a little ashamed that she was so much weaker than her sister. She had seen how easily the other girl had climbed through the tree. Ignoring these thoughts, she plucked a good apple from the tree and took a bite herself, grinning at her sister before looking back down at the apple. A worm was wriggling around, one end of it missing.

"EWW!" Taiya shrieked, spitting out the apple in her mouth along with the end of the worm and dropping the apple. She felt woozy. A worm. She almost just ate a worm. She started to sway, and she couldn't hear as the Peacekeeper started yelling at her, wondering why bits of apple were flying out of the tree, and why she was screaming.

(holy crap that got long xD don't feel the need to post that long O.o)

[night]

Trae laughed happily at her sister's jokes, a laugh like the sound of water filling up a tall glass. Oddly, though, Taiya's jokes were kind of true. It often seemed as if the people of District 11 were worth little to nothing in the eyes of the Capitol citizens and Peacekeepers. Trae then grinned at her sister, patted her stomach and laughed again, "Well, I'm a growing girl." She insisted with a shrug.

When Taiya stood and began to climb with only one hand, holding her basket in the other, Trae leaned forward as if she were going to help her. But she knew that her sister wouldn't like that, so she remained where she was, sitting on the very edge of her branch, muscles all tensed just in case she would have to either catch or jump down after her sister. "Phew! That was a bit of a workout." Trae raised her eyebrows, "It's only because you were sick yesterday." She told her matter-of-factly, trying and most likely failing to comfort Taiya. Trae had never been good at things like that. It was Ma who comforted everyone else. "It takes awhile to get used to it." Trae, herself, had fallen out of the trees for most of her first year.

Trae's hand flew forward, and she grabbed her sister by the arm. "It's just a worm!" She exclaimed, giggling in between her words because she did find it rather comical. Trae put her feet on a branch just below, so she could stand and support her sister with both arms. Quickly, though, her laughs faded and she shot a glare down at the screaming Peacekeeper, "Shut up! She's going to faint, we need water!" She snapped, speaking to the woman as if she were five years old. Surely, the woman knew that Taiya was constantly sick. Trae had tried to make that known. All the workers knew.

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[Alyssa :)]

"It's only because you were sick yesterday. It takes awhile to get used to it."

Taiya rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure," she snorted. "Or I'm just a natural weakling." She looked at Trae's muscular arms, then down at her own, much thinner ones and frowned. "I need to get out here more often," she muttered to herself. But she knew she had no control over when she was sick, and it bothered her.

As Taiya was starting to faint, she felt her sisters arms hold her. The queasiness slowly went away, just in time for Trae to start yelling at the Peacekeeper in her ear. "It's fine, Trae," she insisted, touching her sister's arm and lifting her head. "That was just...extremely...disgusting." To prove her point, she spat out of the tree one last time. "I'll be okay." Taiya pulled away from her twin and sat on the branch, holding herself up on her own. Then she continued picking apples, separating the good from the bad and tossing them into the correct baskets on the girls' laps.

[night]

Trae frowned at her sister's words. Taiya was no weakling. Well. Maybe. But that was only a sickness. They were the same in every other element, though Taiya was slightly taller, so there was no reason (besides the sickness) that Taiya had to be as weak as she looked. Her frown deepened when she noticed her twin looking at Trae's arms and then back at her own. "It's nnot that important, anyway." She muttered. It was. She could only imagine what would happen if they were working in the cotton fields, where the work was far harder.

"Whatever you say. Maybe you should just go home." Trae's voice wasn't light anymore, it was kind of flat but it was all she could do to keep from sounding annoyed and she turned from her sister and began her work again, this time much faster.

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[Alyssa :)]

Taiya rolled her eyes when her head was turned away from Trae. They both knew strength was very important to work in District 11. Of course, her sister would never say that. She was too busy trying to make Taiya feel better. It wasn't working.

"You know, you don't have to soften everything up and make it all sound easy just 'cause I'm sick," she snapped. "I can handle it!" This surprised even herself. Taiya loved how much her sister helped and cared for her, so why was she so angry right now? Because she didn't like being weak, physically or mentally.

When Trae suggested she go home, Taiya abruptly stopped working and turned to glare at her sister. "I said I'm fine," she said, voice raising slightly. "I'm not going to go home just 'cause of a little dizziness. Besides, I want to help."

[night]

Trae's grey eyes widened, surprised at her sister's sudden outburst, and then, quickly, they narrowed her and expression hardened, the corners of her lips pulled down. Taiya almost never got angry, not at Trae. Trae couldn't remember the last time they got into an argument. "Fine." She said, lightly, "Fine, you are weak. Is that what you wanted to hear?" She raised her eyebrows, pursing her lips just slightly as if daring Taiya to say anything different. "You're weak and this work doesn't suit you." That was Trae's final declaration, and with that said, she turned from her sister again and took another bite from her stolen apple, the one that she had put down in order to keep Taiya from falling out of the tree.

"Good. Do your work, then." For once. Trae silently added in her head, grimacing. "Just try not to fall. Remember what happened to Mrs. Thomas?" She added, referring to the middle-aged woman who had lost her footing several weeks ago, fallen from the tree, broken her arm, and gotten quite a beating from the Peacekeepers in the process. Now the woman was at home, with no pay, probably starving. Of course, that wouldn't matter, not in Taiya's case -- she had three strong family members to take care of her.

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[Alyssa :)]

Taiya narrowed her eyes in annoyance and a bit of anger when Trae called her weak. "No, that is not what I wanted," she said with irritation in her voice. "I just don't want you to lie and say something like 'strength isn't that important when doing physical labor' just to make me feel better. I'd rather be hurt by the truth then having it concealed all the time. Sure, evade it, but don't lie." Taiya was surprised by her little speech. Talking wasn't her thing, she usually left that to her eccentric sister.

"Yeah, I remember," Taiya said grimly to the mention of Mrs. Thomas. I won't fall, she told herself. That won't happen to me. But you never know. So when, after a while of not speaking to her sister and just working out in the hot sun, Taiya felt herself slip off her branch, she was surprised.

[night]

Trae didn't turn back to her sister, instead she kept her back to her. Why? Because her little speech was right. It made sense. It was just that everyone had always tried to keep Taiya sheltered, ever since she started getting sick. Trae had always played along. "Fine. Sorry." She muttered, resentful of the fact that she had clearly lost whatever sort of argument this had been. Trae liked to win everything and all things and it annoyed her when her sister stole the little glory available to Trae Melody Ryerson in District 11. It was rare that it happened, but when it did, even through the guilt, Trae did not like it.

Trae waited for a long time before turning again, and only because her bucket of apples was full and she needed another. "Hey!" Trae exclaimed as soon as she saw her sister sway, as if that could possibly keep her upright.

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[Alyssa :)]

Taiya frowned at Trae's apology. She was starting to feel a little bad about the whole ordeal. No, she needed to hear that, she told herself firmly. Besides, she'll be fine.

Taiya didn't hear her sister's yell, and she was already sliding off anyway. She gasped as she fell through the air, which then turned into a hiccup sound as she landed harshly on an area of thick branches below her. "Ow!" she squeaked as some of the apples in her basket landed on her face and body before rolling off her and out of the tree.

She quickly pushed herself up onto her knees, clinging to the branches and trunk of the tree as she righted the basket and put the apples that had managed to stay on the tree inside it. Then she quickly, though not with much coordination since she was still dizzy, dropped down onto the ground and picked up those apples as fast as possible. She really hoped the Peacekeeper didn't notice. Though she had made a lot of noise.

[night]

Trae was scared for a minute. She thought she screamed. She couldn't be sure. She did, though. She screamed out her sister's name as she watched her fall. Then her sister landed safely in another branch and the fear was gone and Trae's eyes narrowed and her lips pressed together into a thin line and she was angry and anyone anywhere could tell she was. "All right," She snapped, taking her own basket in her hands and swiftly climbing through all the branches to the ground. "Either take a break or I'm telling Ma you're too sick to work." The girls were grown-ups now, technically, twenty years old, but Ma still seemed to be able to dictate much of what the girls did. She eyed the Peacekeepers warily. Ever since Trae was seventeen and had received a public whipping for going to far, she hadn't been particularly fond of them -- and she wasn't sure of where that line lied with this particular Peacekeeper. It was a shame -- she knew most of them, and their limits. "Just a little sick." She called, gesturing to her sister and shrugging in a what-can-you-do fashion, hoping the woman wouldn't come and investigate. Then Trae turned back to Taiya. "This is ridiculous. You're not going to get yourself or me whipped because you can't tell when you're too sick or not!" She hissed. Just thinking about the whipping made the three (thank God, only three) long scars on her back flare up.

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[Alyssa :)]

Taiya sighed. "I know, I know," she said. "I'll take a break. But let me take that." She gently pulled the full basket of good apples out of Trae's hands and sat down in the shade of the tree, back to the trunk, letting it block the Peacekeeper's view of her. She started to absentmindedly pick the leaves off the stems of the apples, making them perfect for their trip to the Capitol.

"I'll get you a new basket while you pick the bad ones, if you want," she offered, not looking her sister in the eye. She hadn't liked how easily she'd agreed to taking a break, and she wanted to help some more.

(i'm sorry it's so short >.< this makes up for my giant i posted earlier XD)

[night]

Trae rolled her eyes, taking the new basket from her sister and climbing up into the tree. When she reached a comfortable spot high in the branches, filled with good apples, she laughed at the thought of what her mother would be saying if she had seen Taiya fall. No, she would be screaming and running around. God forbid anything happen to either of her grown daughters. "Ma would kill someone if she'd seen you fall," Trae called as she laughed. "If I don't tell her, what will you owe me?" She asked playfully.

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