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𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮
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"i want you guys to forget everything you think you know about the games."

haymitch poured himself a glass of alcohol, and hattie reached for it with a small smile. he swiftly slapped her hand away. "last year was child's play." he spared hattie an apologetic glance, then continued. "this year, you're dealing with all experienced killers." "all right. what does that mean for us?" peeta asked. "that means you're gonna have to have some allies. luckily, i got some people here who owe me a favor if it comes to it." hattie said, sliding in the chair across from katniss.

"okay, i think that if.." peeta started, but haymitch looked at him, "whoop. you're not the problem." he pointed at katniss, and she looked up at him with a huff, "no." "look, you're starting at a disadvantage, most of these people have been friends for years. hattie has been friends with some of these people for years." haymitch sat down at the head of the table as hattie took a sip of a mysterious lemon-lime fizzy drink. "that just puts us higher on their kill list." katniss rebutted. "do it your own way, but we know these people. you go in alone, their first move is gonna be to hunt you down. both of you." haymitch told her.

"katniss, come on." peeta nudged at her. she hesitated, "how could any of us even trust each other?" "it's not about trust. it's about staying alive." hattie gave them both a serious look.

soon, hattie and haymitch stood in front of the TV, introducing the tributes. "cashmere and gloss." hattie said. "brother and sister. district 1. they won back-to-back games. capitol favorites. lots of sponsors. they will be lethal. and the other half of the career pack, brutus and enobaria." "what's with her teeth?" katniss asked. "she had them filed into fangs so she could.. how do i say this right? so she could rip people's throats out." hattie nodded. "she's committed, i'll give her that." peeta commented, and the curly-haired girl pointed to him with a closed-mouth chuckle.

"wiress and bee." haymitch announced. "not fighters, but absolutely and gob-smackingly brilliant." hattie told. "and weird. real tech-savvy. he won his games by electrocuting 6 tributes at once." haymitch said. "ouch." hattie hissed. "the morphlings." "oh ! they're actual masters of camoflage. basically, they won their games by hiding until everyone else was dead. self-medicating ever since, which i applaud. not too much of a threat." she shrugged.

the TV switched to an image of finnick odair, a boy hattie knew well. "finnick odair, right?" katniss said. haymitch looked to hattie, and she nodded, "yeah, correct. he won his games at 14. youngest ever. extremely humble. and hunky." "you're kidding." katniss deadpanned to the other girl. "of course, i'm kidding. he's a total peacock, a preener. but he's a capitol darling. they love him around these parts, and i get it. i've met him multiple times, and a sweetheart when you get to know him. charming, smart, and very skilled at combat. learned some of my skills from him. he's especially talented in water, surprised?" peeta leaned forward, towards hattie. "what about weaknesses?" "one. mags. she volunteered for annie. mags was his mentor and basically raised him. if he's trying to protect her in any way, it exposes him."

hattie looked to haymitch, "oh, shit, annie got tributed?" "yeah." he nodded. "why?" peeta asked. "no, because apparently they had this, like, love thing going on. i dunno if it still is. he mentored her, so..." she shrugged. "a guy like that has to know she's not gonna make it. i bet when it really comes down to it, he won't protect her." katniss suggested. "well, katniss, i just hope when she goes, she goes, she goes quickly. she's actually a wonderful lady." haymitch admitted. "she won the 11th ever games. love her." hattie said. katniss looked over to the girl once again, "why are you even here? it's not like you want to help us. you're just here to spy for your daddy."

hattie looked from katniss, to peeta, then to haymitch. she stayed silent for a moment, before forcing a fake smile to grace her lips. "oh, yeah... um, i think i'll just go.. hit the hay, you know?" she let out a stiff chuckle, and quickly turned away, walking out of the room. katniss spotted hattie's hands reaching up to her eyes as she walked away.

the room stayed silent for an uncomfortable and long moment, before haymitch turned to katniss. "katniss." "what? i was just asking !" she defended. "she came here to help you two dumbasses out of the kindness of her heart, and katniss, you're out here trying to prey on her for no good reason. she didn't do anything to you." haymitch told her. "she's president snow's daughter. that's what she did." katniss crossed her arms. haymitch went quiet for a second, before sighing. "you don't know her story. where she came from. what her life is like. so, i recommend you start acting like a decent person before she decides to up and leave on us, because she's the only hope you have." then, haymitch walked out.

hattie turned around and shut the bathroom door behind her. her eyes met her own in the reflective mirror, and her hands found themselves on the cold white porcelain of the sink. her eyes were welling up with tears, and she realized a hair out of place that stuck up oddly while the rest of her hair stood out and proud. she pushed the piece of hair down, and it didn't pop back up. she bit her lip, trying to stop herself from ugly sobbing right then and there. she looked up at the ceiling, past that. "what do you want me to do, baby?" she asked the sky. it didn't answer. it stayed quiet. she sighed, and turned the faucet on, letting the water run as she started to silently cry.

she fell back onto the toilet and continued to cry, resting her tired eyes in her hands. she wished cypress was here. to comfort her and tell her awful jokes. she wished for anyone, really, to just sit there and hold her as she cried. she wanted to cry for days and never stop. most of all, she just wanted her back.

just then, hattie heard a knock on the door, and she perked up, she quickly wiped her tears, and despite her eye bags being swollen and her face sullen, she opened the door. peeta stood there patiently. "hey, uh, what's up?" she asked him. "oh, uh, i just wanted to check on you, see if you were okay. if you needed anything." hattie wove the boy off, "don't worry about me. i'm supposed to worry about you." "it's alright. i don't mind." he insisted. "it's not pretty." she warned. peeta just shrugged with a smile, "pretty's overrated, anyway."

hattie hesitated, but finally, she opened the door wider for him, and held a hand out for him to follow into the bathroom. he walked in, and she closed they door behind him, turning the faucet back on. "wasting water." he commented, standing there as he watched the girl press her back against the wall and slide down it. "can't let people hear this conversation. you never know who's listening." she reasoned. "it barely drowns out anything." hattie closed her eyes and let out a chuckle. awful. "not if we whisper." she spoke in a low tone.

peeta studied her, before joining her on the floor, his back leaning onto the wall. he gazed at the opposite wall, then at her. "so, wanna tell me?" hattie sighed, "wasn't planning on getting so personal so soon." "i understand. but your secrets safe with me." she looked at him, and watched him pantomime his hand over his lips, throwing away the key. "well, it's a weird one." "those are my favorite." he told her, and she finally shook her head at him.

"fine. fine. every once in a while, my father would visit districts. one of them, all of the them, just a few. didn't matter. anyway, one year, he visited this one district and met a lady. they slept together, and she got pregnant with, guess who, me. when i was born, my father decided that it would be best to take me to the capitol with him to grow up in the least amount of danger possible. a couple years later, 3 or 4 at least, he comes back to the same district, sees my mom again, and it happens all over. she got pregnant with my little sister."

peeta looked at her, "but i thought president snow only had one child." hattie looked over to him and softly smiled, "only one that you knew about." then, she continued. "but this time, when my mom gave birth to my baby sister, my father left her to live in the districts and in danger. when i found out i had a little sister that lived in the districts, i was allowed one week a year to visit the district and spend time with her, my sister. she never knew. she always just thought our mom was really good friends with the president's daughter." they both quietly laughed. "i'm afraid to ask, but... what happened to her?" hattie hesitated. "she died in the games." peeta's face softened even more, if possible. "what...what was her name?"

hattie looked at peeta and looked in his eyes, before looking to the ground. "rue barnette." she could spot peeta getting teary-eyed in her peripheral, which only made her just want to cry more. she knew he remembered her. he knew her from the games. "i had to watch her die. i had no choice. when i found out she had been selected, i begged him for days, weeks, to do something. anything. but he never did. the night after i saw her die, i had a nightmare about her. i still do. after he made me watch that, i've despised him. every moment my heart beats, it grows stronger, and it won't ever stop until he's eliminated. that's why i'm here. to help you guys so you don't end up like rue did. she didn't deserve it, and neither do you guys."

she finally looked back up to peeta, and she watched a tear roll down his cheek. she wiped it away. she didn't realize she was crying as well until peeta reached for under her chin, catching the teardrop on his finger. "i'm so sorry you had to go through that." he apologized. "i'm so sorry you had to go through that." she replied. carefully, peeta reached over and put an arm around hattie's shoulder and noticed her detectable flinch. "sorry." she apologized before he could say anything, "i'm not the best with physical touch."

peeta paused for a second, but just as he was about to retract his arm from hattie's shoulder, she laid into him, resting her head towards his chest. she's smelled of caramel and expensive chocolate. he didn't protest, but easily rubbed her arm softly as he felt her start to audibly cry. he felt small teardrops hit his lap and onto his pants, but he didn't care. he continued to hold her as she started, and when she stopped, he was still there.

"what's your favorite color?" he suddenly asked once he couldn't hear her frigid breathing anymore. he remembered when he had asked katniss that question. maybe she would like the simplicity of the query. hattie looked up at him, awestruck. "what?" "it's a good get-to-know you question." he defended with a small laugh. he watched her go into thought, until she looked back up at him to say, "pink. but the deeper pinks are better. like the kind of deep pink you would see when the sun starts to rise in the sky. how about you?" "orange." he said. "orange?" she repeated, "like, an orange type of orange, or..." he laughed, "no. more of a.. sunset orange. the kind you would see when the sun is setting and it's that really pretty orange haloing the sun."

she nodded at him. "yeah, that tracks."

« « « » » »

hattie walked beside haymitch, with two others beside him. "nice. way to make friends out there, you two." he clapped sarcastically as the tributes approached. "well, we learned from the best." katniss shot back. "i wanna introduce you to some special friends of ours. this is seeder. and chaff. from district 11. uh..." chaff kissed katniss' cheek, and haymitch chuckled. "he's very friendly." hattie commented. "don't invite him over. he'll drink up your liquor." "are you sure that isn't you, 'mitch?" hattie told him. the man gave her a look, and then turned back to peeta and katniss, "we'll see you soon. let's get some of that makeup off you and talk about these other tributes."

katniss fell into step with haymitch, while peeta fell into step with hattie from behind the first two. "these tributes are crazy." katniss said to haymitch. "are you surprised?" hattie rhetorically asked her. "no, not all of 'em. he's a good guy. carry on." they all stepped into the elevator, and turned around to the door, when a lady stepped in at the last moment. "you guys look amazing." she told the two. hattie thought to herself that she had looked familiar. "thank you." they nodded. she turned around and started to unpin her bun, "my stylist is such an idiot. district 7. lumber. trees. ugh ! i'd love to put my axe in her face." peeta and hattie looked at one another, eyes a little wide. hattie had a look of judgement in her eyes, but peeta just looked curious. then, it clicked. johanna mason.

she quickly unhooked her bracelets and let them dropped when undone. johanna scoffed, "so, what do you think? now that the whole world wants to sleep with you?" "i don't think that the whole world.." johanna turned to katniss. "i wasn't talking to you." "okay." katniss mumbled. hattie tried her best to hold back a snort, as johanna pulled her hair away from the back of her costume and twirled her back to peeta. "will you unzip?" peeta glanced at hattie, before looking back at the zipper. "yeah."

once unzipped, she pulled her sleeves off and pulled the costume off, showing her bare body, knowing the whole elevator was watching her. peeta watched in slight amusement, while katniss looked annoyed, haymitch was fully amused, and hattie was in pure shock. she looked away first, looking out the clear elevator and trying to focus on something else as she heard a quiet snort come from peeta. she knew he was laughing at her. she smiled, and looked to him. "not my fault i don't want to see a naked woman." she said, barely below a whisper.

she heard the elevator door open, and johanna said, "thanks. let's do this again sometime." "thank you." haymitch replied. "oh," hattie reached over and smacked him on the arm. "what?" he asked obliviously, rubbing his bicep.

"johanna mason, district 7." haymitch and hattie chorused.

a / n :
YES? i hope you guys liked it. vote, comment. PLEASE, PLEASE COMMENT. i love talking with you guys !
xoxo,
mel 💋