Originally posted by Morgana:
Clark had hoped that once the Capitolites left, taking their constant reminders of the Games with them, he would be able to sleep more peacefully at night and work easily alongside his parents and neighbors during the day as he had all his life. Unfortunately, their absence brought the opposite effect.
The young man is dealing with PTSD, it will hang over his head like a malevolent storm cloud unless he starts talking to someone. True, its hard to find anyone but another victor to unburden himself with, but he has to try. His mental, emotional and physical health depends on it.
Clark has two victors for neighbors, but he isn't very comfortable with them yet. He's also got the additional burden of his powers, which literally no one else has -- he's the only Kryptonian in the world. Only three other people know about his powers -- his parents and President Snow -- and Clark wants to avoid Snow at all costs.
Clark found it awkward to work with the Harrises. Rachel avoided him as best she could, though it was difficult. He wondered what she might have said to her family about him, although if it was derogatory, none ever mentioned it. Rachel’s parents treated him somewhat coolly — he had, after all, broken their daughter’s heart — but Clark soon guessed that Rachel had valued their former friendship enough not to say anything that would tear him down in the eyes of the community.
It's good to see Rachel did not throw him completely under the bus. She is still broken hearted about what happened between Clark and Lois, but his ending their relationship was a kindness, especially after he told her what happens to the children of victors. One can only hope that with time she begins to see that Clark is the one who has sacrificed the most. [/QUOTE]
Clark broke Rachel's heart -- not intentionally, but it still happened -- but before all that, they were friends, and they still have mutual friends. It's awkward, but Rachel doesn't hate him.
It's a good possibility that President Snow would have used their relationship against him.
Very probable. Snow happily uses a person's loved ones to control them.
Clark was tempted to ask them what Rachel had said about him, but decided to leave it alone. He was feeling lonely and isolated in his house in Victor’s Village, which no one but his parents and Rachel had taken the time to visit, and he wanted whatever friendly contact he could get, even if things were different from what they had been before the Games. It wasn’t the same, but it was something.
Though people were confused at Clark’s willingness to do the hard, exhausting work of harvesting the crops, none objected to his help. He was young, strong, and slow to tire, usually doing more than his share. The food he brought ensured that everyone had good meals at noon and at the end of the day. He was still friendly and caring, even if there was a remoteness to him that hadn’t been there before the Games.
Poor Clark!
All he ever wanted was to fit in. Now, because of the games, he is more alone than ever before.[/QUOTE]
Being a victor isolates a person, which is part of the reason there is such a strong bond between victors, regardless of what district they're from.
Clark was embarrassed by the incident, but it didn’t stop him from being startled by sounds that previously wouldn’t have bothered him. I’m home. I’m safe, he told himself over and over, but he didn’t quite believe it. He knew that people were staring at him, whispering about him — he could hear every word, despite his attempts to block it out — but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from overreacting. Even when his superhearing picked up on something that actually was dangerous — a rattlesnake coiled in the wheat field, directly in the path of his father’s friend Wayne Irig, the buzz of its rattle drowned out by the sound of the scythes cutting the grass — Clark still felt foolish for reacting as he did.
I am guessing that he did something to prevent Wayne from getting injured?[/QUOTE]
Yes. I may spell it out in more detail in a later chapter, but can you imagine Clark picking up on a threat to someone and not trying to help (and then possibly coming up with a lame excuse)? Even in the Games, he tried to help people if he thought he could do it without letting anyone know about his powers.
Clark finished putting the hay in the stalls and leaned his pitchfork against the wall. He looked at Jonathan, understanding what he was saying.
“Haver said that only a victor can understand another victor … maybe it’s sort of the same thing. It’s hard to understand something you haven’t lived through.”
Jonathan nodded. “Your mother and I haven’t been through what you have, but if you ever want to talk, we’ll listen.”
Oh! I wish Jonathan's Grandfather had survived! Clark could surely benefit from his advice.[/QUOTE]
Probably. Even though their experiences were different (war vs. the Hunger Games), they would still share the common bond of having been through an experience they could never forget. (About 20 years ago, I took a U.S. History class in college from an instructor who was a Vietnam vet. He talked about a few of his experiences as part of the lesson, and suddenly students who were veterans of various wars -- World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, and the Gulf War, plus a man who had been a child in France during World War I -- started sharing their stories. I suspect most of them wouldn't have done so if the instructor hadn't talked about his war experiences first.)
The next chapter is in the process of being beta'd. I was busy with work this past week, plus I had a publicity photo shoot for the play I'm in, so writing the chapter took longer than I wanted. I'll have it up fairly soon, though.
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