~The Victor Show~ This week's episode: Xav's Hobby

The cameras flick on, beginning the recording process for the day

Xav was lounging about on the vast living room sofa, enjoying the plushness of the victor's mansion. Every day since he'd been settled into Ten, he'd lounged about on this sofa when the cameras turned on. And then he stayed there until Derald drug him out into the outside world for Panem knows what reason. That was probably entertaining for the Capitol.
So, today was just like any normal day, he closed his eyes and pretended there were no cameras. He relaxed and enjoyed the good life. And he waited with dread to find out what thing Derald had in mind for today.

~The Victor Show~ This week's episode: Xav's Hobby BwTEbUx

~The Victor Show~ This week's episode: Xav's Hobby Tumblr_m24kpxpGBh1qcjsty

Derald was sleeping. Like a pig, with the pigs. He snuck out the night before to go back to his real home and spent the night with Dusk. The Border Collie slept outside by the barn to take care of the animals and jumped up as she scented her owner from miles away. So it was almost noon and they slept inside the horses barn from dusk onwards. His hat laid on top of his face while he laid on top of the haystack, catching up on some well deserved sleep. Until he heard Dusk barking and nudging him of the stack as he rolled off. He listened to the lens turn and refocus, the camera following him everywhere. Derald groaned, rubbing his eyes as he sat up, kissing Dusk on her head, "Mornin' Dusk. Or afternoon." He looked out to the sky realising how late it was. Crap, he thought before he picked up his hat and ran back to the victor's village.

The door slammed open as Derald ran in, "Mornin' Xavy!" Even though it was clearly past morning, he laughed as Dusk came barking behind him, running up to the D12 boy and started licking his face. "What are ya doin' on the boring ol' couch, are ya just wastin' the days away?"Derald ruffled Xavy's hair from behind as he went to the kitchen counter to make coffee. He hummed while he waited and wondered about where his cousin was. Usually she would've slapped him awake since he would feed to horses. But maybe this was payback for the milk accident last week. "Don'tcha have like, better things to do?" He shook his head, bringing his cup and a slice of bread towards the couch.

The door opened, and Xav had just enough time to think how unexpected that was before he registered the barking. Great, he thought, knowing from experience that he didn't want his face at dog-level anymore. Too late, he tried to sit up, and Dusk was slobbering all over his face. After a second, he managed to push the dog back, muttering "Control your dog, please," even though, deep down, he actually kind of liked Dusk. More than Derald, anyway. "I have the right to be boring nowadays," he said as the guy walked by, ruffling up the parts of Xav's hair that weren't already ruined by the dog. The 12 boy thus spent the next bit of time wiping slobber from his cheeks and fixing his hair back into its normal neatness. By that time, Derald was back with his coffee. "Not particularly. Indoors is good for me anyway," he said, scooting over so he didn't have to sit directly next to the Ten native.

~The Victor Show~ This week's episode: Xav's Hobby Large

Derald chuckled before stuffing the bread in his mouth, "Ain't no one can control that partner of mine. Not even me." Dusk was so happy to see this guy again! Her owner was gone for so long and and she got so worried. Tess told her to be patient and good things would come And they did! Derald came back to her, this time even bringing some other person home. They're family could definitely use more people instead of animals, because Dusk can cuddle with them. When Xavy pushed her off, Dusk gave him one more lick on his cheek before she settled down on his lap, curling up to snuggle down.

Derald finished the slice of bread before even making it to the couch. He took a seat beside Xavy, rubbing his eyes again to keep the sleepiness away, "Sure ya do. 'Cause just watchin' ya breath would be the most exciting thing ever." He knew though, boring won't do it for the Capitol at all, not one bit. Every click of the change of channel, every day sliced off the days left of Tess, Darrin, Rose, anyone you could think of. Dusk popped her head up and shifted over to Derald's lap, almost spilling his cup of coffee. He took a sip, letting the caffeine sink into his system. "C'mon, there's bound to be somethin' you'd do for fun!" Derald poked Xavy on the cheek, annoying him for an answer, "If ya ain't gonna give an answer, we're going out to find one for ya!" He grinned cheekily, knowing that it'll be a fun day. That should be enough for the Capitol for one day right? Right. He still had farm work to do later and he doubt anyone's gonna watch that. His face was of the same smile, hiding the stress of keeping them entertaining, keeping the people they had alive. He wondered sometimes, if Xavy was told of this, but he assumed not, and a single word let out on camera, the first they'll touch is Tess.

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Xav shook his head. "Of course it is." Breathing was just about the only thing he ever did anymore, and it was important. But Xav heard the warning in Derald's words. They'd both been spared for entertainment purposes, and boring didn't sell. Of course, the Capital happened to love Xavy the way he was, so he wasn't going to put extra pressure on himself. He made a face as Derald poked him. What did he do for fun? Mostly illegal stuff his mother got him off the hook for, or things that weren't socially acceptable in Ten. "I have literally no pastimes," he said finally, inwardly groaning at the prospect of running about the district trying to find something to do with his life. But it seems it had to be done.

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Derald sunk into the couch, both hands wrapping around the cup as he closed his eyes, "then how do ya even past time?" But even Derald took a minute to relax and do nothing, that was the best way to past time. Dusk shifted off his lap as he sunk in and the dog plopped herself in the middle of the two boys, annoyed by how much those two were moving. Can't she just cuddle in peace? Derald peeked open his eyes to look at Xavy, seeing that he more or less gave in to the idea for today. He grinned, taking another long sip before he said, "Ya serious though, nothing? Like running, or TV, or reading, or swimmin', or guitar.. Nothin' at all? That's hard to believe." He whistled out a tune, thinking about what was it like to just do nothing everyday and rot your life away. Pretty much what they're doing right now but hey, their talking about... stuff. "But I won't be surprised, you are Xavy." He chuckled, after all this time he's still calling him by that nickname that came from thin air from that day at the cafeteria. Derald sat up this time, setting his cup down on the coffee table in front of them, "Alright pick yer poison, or I'm gonna let Dusk pick for ya." He wore back his signature hat, ready to get out there to go and have some fun.

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Xav resisted the urge to correct the name as Derald joked about his life choices. He'd gotten used to "Xavy" at this point, but it was still annoying as hell. "Nope," he said, leaning forward to pat Dusk behind her ears. "And how exactly am I supposed to pick something?" he said, shaking his head before giving the dog a final scratch and standing up. "I'd trust Dusk over you anyway," he said. He stepped away from the couch. "Lead the way," he said, though it was unclear whether he was speaking to Dusk or Derald.

~The Victor Show~ This week's episode: Xav's Hobby Tumblr_mvr2osSSgS1qf6aujo4_250

Dusk perked up as she understood what was going on. Kinda. Derald finished up what was left of his coffee as Xavy stood up, ready to obey the dog. Derald bent down to rub her head, "Alrighty, it's alllll up to you darlin'." Dusk barked and took off almost instantly. Derald helped push open the door as the border collie dashed to the great outdoors and towards their barn. "Ya might just regret it Xavy, lookin at where she's goin'." He wiggled his fingers at him as spookily possible before he ran off, gesturing Xavy to keep up. He loved to run, the breeze was something that was really refreshing to him, closing his eyes as a smile lit up. Yeah, it's still great to be back home, even if he was stuck like glue to this guy, literally.

They reached Derald's horse barn, where they just came from. Dawn poked his head out, his beautiful black fur and brown mane stood out unlike his morning bad hair day. Tess would've already come in to brush the horses, but guess they're here to wreck it up again. Derald grinned to himself, imagining how pissed Tess would be to come back later and seeing them dirty and messy again. "Guess Dusk's feelin' a lil horsey today," Derald walked in and greeted all of the horse, about 6 of them around and a pony. Sephy, the Black Mustang huffed at first in her stable. Ignoring Derald to leaned over her gate to poke at her forehead. Her lifted her head to look at him before letting out a short neigh. Well ain't that pleasant. "She's a tough one to please," Derald shook his head as he gave the stubborn horse one last pat before facing Xavy again, "Kinda just like you!" He laughed and a couple more horses looked out to the new comer, curious of the new face and scent. Dusk stood there beside him, waging her tail as she presented Xavy to the horses, almost like she was showing off her new friend. "Haven't been much horse back riding, have ya? Maybe this is the time to start! Go ahead! You can pick one." Derald said as he lazed around, getting Dawn ready for a ride while he gave some time to the guy to choose a horse.

~The Victor Show~ This week's episode: Xav's Hobby Tumblr_mzbm47DQqB1snuvdjo3_r1_250

Xavy was already starting to regret the decision to let a dog pick. Sure, he'd thought it'd be funny, but...the barn? Really? At least he could enjoy running now, rather than preforming some awkward off-balance sprint for his life. But Xav wasn't in exactly the same shape as Derald, so he jogged into the barn a bit behind. Of course, he was in time to see Dusk really hated him.

Horses. Why couldn't have been milking cows or something? Xav looked at the horses, counting six, but he could've been wrong. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" he grumbled as the boy talked about a black horse. He stepped further inside the barn to get a better look, and some heads turned towards him. It was odd, so many eyes on him like that. "So uh, does doing this make me an official part of Ten?" he asked as he observed the horses. Yeah, he had no idea which one was good to ride. Xavier was going to regret asking, but he had to. "Which one's best for a beginner?"

Derald laughed and wink at his buddy as he leaned onto the stable, "Whatever you want it to mean." He pushed himself off and buckled on the saddle onto Dawn and rolled the rope around his hand, leading his horse out of his little room. Derald found it very amusing as Xavy stood there in the middle of the barn just waiting and staring at the curious horses as they stared back. "Aren't ya one already? I reckon that the pigs proved it." He passed the rope to Xavy to hold on to first as he went on to Sephy's stable, "Well I could be an ass and tell you to go with Sephy here, buuuuuuut..." Derlad shrugged and led the Black Mustang out bare back, "Y'know I wouldn't do that. Right?" Sephy looked at the new boy and cocked her head to a side, but huffed, realising she's been looking for too long. She wasn't that interested in the newcomer. Dawn on the other hand, sniffed Xavy's hair and nudged his cheek as a greeting. The Palomino Paint was the playful but milder ones among the horses, closest to Derald, but knowing new people wouldn't hurt. "You can take Dawn there, the one in your hand, she's an oldie, won't be too much of a problem to handle." He walked out the barn as Sephy followed closely behind, Dawn tugging at her reins to follow suit. "Alright then, attagirl. ...Do ya even know how to get on one?" Derald raised an eyebrow as he stopped to give them a good pat. Most probably he won't but you never know. He strolled beside Dawn to check the saddle once more and waited for Xavy to be up for it.

~The Victor Show~ This week's episode: Xav's Hobby Tumblr_n1dkqu4aYg1snuvdjo4_r1_250

If Xavy wasn't Xavy, he would've smiled at the pig joke. And the mention of assery and Sephy. But, because he's Xavy, he just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's my job, right?" He said, then had to look at the horse that was nudging his face. "Uh...hey there Dawn," He patted the palomino's nose. That's what they liked, right? Well, Vossa always liked the spot right behind her ears... Xav suddenly found himself scratching the base of Dawn's ears. Well then. The horse pulled to follow Derald out (Xav hadn't even noticed him leave), and the boy followed behind. They came to a stop and Derald asked something that made Xav realize he was pretty much an idiot. He tried to play it cool. "Nope," he said, straight-faced, "But that's not the hard part." He hoped. He waited until Derald finished adjusting the saddle to speak again. "So... can I get some guidance here?" He looked back at the horse, suddenly very worried about how in Panem he was ever going to get on Dawn's back.

~The Victor Show~ This week's episode: Xav's Hobby Tumblr_inline_myi2izTAGl1qkavmj

Derald reached up and knocked on Xavy's head, "Bingo!" He went back to leading them outside to the open field. Dawn continue to nuzzle into the stranger's hand, huffing a greeting to him. She lowered her head, letting him gave her ear a good scratch and her ears perked up, standing straight, having her reins tugged at. She nibble on Xavy's collar impatiently to pull him out as well. Derald stared at Xavy and laughed. "Well... Define hard." 'Course he don't, what was he thinking? He took a couple of steps to Dawn, pointing to the stirrups at one side, "First you put yer left foot onto this thing, put your hands on top of her back and push yerself up. Don't forget to swing over yer right leg you woulnd't wanna be sliding off one side." Derald gestured for him to try, hands ready to hold onto him if he fell. Or not, depends which is funnier. It truly wasn't too difficult to get on. He lenghten the reins a little and handed it to Xavy, "Hang on tight to this, it's basically what keeps ya on the horse at least." Derald effortlessly got onto Sephy'd bare back and brought her closer to the other duo. "So, what have ya'll been doing with the absence of my presence?" Which was just basically this morning. Since he saw Xavy at dinner last night, there's only the few hours of darn break.

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*IgnoreTheSecondHalfOfGifPlz*

Well, good news was, he got on the horse just fine. Bad news: Xav was acutely aware of all the hidden cameras televising his inability to mount a horse. But it wasn't so bad, just sitting. He took hold of the reins with a nod to Derald. "Simple enough," Of course, it wasn't that simple, but who cared? Dawn started walking forward, and Xav had no idea how to stop her, so he just let it happen. "Sleeping. Breathing. Important things," he replied to the other victor, then gave him a sideways look, "You realize I have no idea what I'm doing?"

~The Victor Show~ This week's episode: Xav's Hobby Tumblr_inline_myi0ft3vwZ1qkavmj

Derald brought Sephy to a slow throttle ahead of Xavy to take the led and bring Dawn in a direction. "Liiiiiike?" He tilted his head backwards as he chimed, egging Xavy on to elaborate on his 'important things'. He observed Xavy on a horse and he seemed to be doing fine, for sitting down there doing nothing. Might as well let him get used to it first before giving him something else to do. It seemed to prove itself when Xavy told him about his cluelessness on horse riding. "Ain't that the whole point?" he laughed, turning Sephy around as the black horse walked backwards. He wasn't going to leave him in the dirt but he seem to be doing well for now. "My Pa used to just throw me on a horse all the time! And then he'd just say, "You'll learn how to ride a horse like that." Yep, and I did." Recounting, he nodded his head, as if making up his mind on just letting the two of them wander off into the unknown.

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"Surviving the smell of your District," he coughed as a certain rather disgusting smell hit his nostrils. Better than burning coal? He wasn't sure anymore. The horse underneath him picked up a little speed. Meaning she was actually moving. "That explains it. And how hard did you fall that first time?" Xav said it absent-mindedly, more concerned with trying to figure out where the hell Derald was trying to take him. Right now, it didn't seem likely that the other victor knew himself, considering the horse was going backwards.

#GrumpyXavyNoMore?#IthinkHeJustMadeAJoke????

~The Victor Show~ This week's episode: Xav's Hobby Tumblr_mvr2osSSgS1qf6aujo5_250

Derald faked an insulted gasp, "Hey, that's the smell of mother nature 'kay. Sorry we don't smell like coal." He grinned and bumped Xavy's arm. He folded his arms behind his head as he let go of the reins, whistling slightly while they starting picking up a bit more speed, Dawn doing most of the leading the way with Sephy's butt out front. Derald shrugged nonchalantly as if it was nothing much really, nothing much compared to the Games, "I broke an arm, ain't that big of a dea- hey what do you mean by that explains it." He squinted his eyes at Xavy, trying to figure out what he was saying in between the lines. At that moment Sephy turned him back around and he let out a yelp, grabbing onto the reins once again before he fell off, to probably break that arm again, "See? Ain't a big deal at all."

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Xavy raised an eyebrow at Derald as he settled into the ride. Because apparently that meant dropping your only form of control over the horse underneath him. Intelligent. "Everything." Xav shrugged in response, then rolled his eyes as the guy nearly fell of the animal. "Glad to see you still take your arms for granted," he said it with a straight face as Dawn picked up more speed for some reason. He pulled back on the reins but the horse ignored him. "Uh, I think you gave me a faulty horse, man.".

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Derald grumbled to himself as Xavy made his comment. He didn't mind all of Xavy's comments thrown at him but with every second being watched, he's not sure how long he can last, trying to keep up a perpetually happy face. While Xavy over here might have an easier time putting up a perpetually pissed off face seeing that that's his default face already. "I've broke this thing once and could still throw a good hand, I reckon I'll be just fine," He dismissed, swatting his hand at the thought. Dawn decided to take up the lead and Sephy gladly let her, slowing down as Derald relaxed once again. Dawn, for the first time huffed loudly and gave her rider attitude, kicking her hind legs that made him rock in the saddle. "Alright calm down girl, he didn't mean it, right Xavy?" Derald chuckled raising an eyebrow at him.

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Xavy wasn't exactly paying attention to Derald as Dawn started to catch an attitude. He was more concerned with Dawn starting to catch an attitude. When the horse finally started to settle down, Xavy threw a glare at Derald before looking back at the horse. "Fine," he grumbled, then raised his voice to actually speak to the beast, "I'm sor-" His voice cut out when Dawn gave another shake and he slipped right off of her back, landing painfully on his right shoulder. "Oof" he muttered as he rolled onto his back. He could tell that Dawn had stopped and was probably laughing at him. If horses could laugh. He wouldn't exactly know. Either way, he decided to stay put, just so he wouldn't have to apologize to the creature. "This," he said, loud enough for Derald to hear, "Is why I had a fox."

~The Victor Show~ This week's episode: Xav's Hobby Tumblr_inline_myi21h0NoQ1qkavmj

Xavy seem to fall behind as Sephy continued to gallop and Derald only pulled Sephy to a stop when he heard a loud thump and circled around to see Xavy on the ground. Derald cringed when he saw him land on his right shoulder and hopped off Sephy, walking back towards his friend. He couldn't help but start laughing when he exclaimed about the better of getting a fox. "But Xavy," he called out, "You can't ride a fox." He knelt down beside him, carefully examining Xavy's shoulder. It was like de javu all over again, and it made it sting being reminded of that memory. "How's are shoulder holding up?" Sephy trotted back to stand beside Dawn, having their on little conversation. "Sorry, Dawn isn't usually like that. Actually, she's never been like that," Derald scratched the back of his head, puzzled by Dawn's sudden behaviour. He'll hafta calm her down later.

~The Victor Show~ This week's episode: Xav's Hobby Tumblr_mbwqwxahXy1qax5cvo1_250

"That's not the point, Derald," Xav sat up as the other boy came closer, and almost smiled at his next comment. Almost. "I think it's dislocated," he said as he attempted to shrug the helping hands away. "Whatever," he sighed, turning his head to look at the horse, "Not much likes me around here, anyway." With that, he got himself to his feet and actually tested out the shoulder, which wasn't actually dislocated but it still hurt. Too bad for him. "Not even a month and I'm already getting beat up again," he shook his head at himself.

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