Forbearance • A Cato Hadley Story

1.09

"Are you crazy?" Augusta yelled aloud as she walked around the semi-circle shaped couch to face Livia who sat solemnly on the couch, her legs tucked in her chest and her head buried in her knees. Cato sat on the complete opposite end of the couch with his arms draped over the back over it, watching Augusta yell at Livia with an amused expression upon his face. The Capitolian woman had already been yelling at the blonde for around fifteen minutes already and she was quite sick of it at this point.

Livia let out an exhausted sigh of annoyance and rolled her eyes at the woman. She just wanted Glimmer and Marvel to come up to the room so they could watch the scores and she could stop being lectured. "They weren't paying attention and I got angry." the small girl calmly told Augusta as she pulled her legs closer to her chest. Her expression hadn't changed from when she had entered the penthouse thirty minutes prior.

Not that she didn't care; of course she cared. She just wanted to get this whole thing over with. She wanted to get back to her old life where she didn't have to worry about some stupid score. But she chose to enter the games, meaning a price must be paid. And unfortunately that price could be her life. Augusta groaned at the girl, frustrated with how 'careless' she had been at evaluation. If it was just Livia that they had to worry about that would be one thing.

But it wasn't just her. Everything she did was reflected onto all of them. Cato, Enobaria, Augusta and even Annette. "They just want a good show, it's fine." Annette reassured Augusta as she sat to the right of Livia, resting a casual yet comforting arm around the girl's shoulders. The blonde smiled at the moral support and leaned her head on Annette's shoulder just as Enobaria walked into the room to join in on the conversation.

The moment her eyes caught Livia's, both flashed a wide smile at the other. If the younger girl expected anyone to be angry with her, she would have assumed it to be Enobaria so her smile instantly calmed Livia down. Her mentor was proud of her. That was all she needed to know that she had done well. This also gave her great hope that maybe the judges liked her two. Enobaria was well aware of how the games worked so her reassurance was just enough.

"Nice shooting, Liv." the Victor congratulated her happily. As if on cue Glimmer and Marvel walked into the penthouse like it was their second home. Ignoring the girl from District One sit on the couch beside Annette and Marvel next to Cato, Enobaria and Livia continued. "And what did they do when you hit the pig in the eye?" the woman asked, amused. She obviously already knew the answer; she just wanted the tribute to confirm that it really happened.

But the blonde unfortunately didn't have enough time to answer before the television turned on, revealing a bright and happy Caesar Flickerman on the screen. His blue hair stood out as usual and he looked extremely cheerful as he sat with a stack of papers in his hands. The middle aged man quickly introduced himself as usual before explaining what each of the scores meant as well as explaining how it was decided what score each tribute earned.

The man, of course, would go in the given District order, starting with District One and finishing with District Twelve. "From District One, Marvel with a score of nine." Caesar read aloud from the cards between his hands. Livia could tell he wasn't all too happy with his score but considered it to be alright as long as he scored higher than most of the other tributes. And the smaller girl couldn't agree more. As long as she didn't get a score that was too mediocre she was alright with it.

Caesar then continued, moving onto Glimmer. "Glimmer with a score of nine." he called out. Glimmer had around the same reaction as her district partner and sighed but kept a small smile on her face as the group continued watching. Everyone in the room quietly clapped for both tributes as a small congratulations before turning back to the screen. "Cato with a score of ten." Caesar announced with a raise of his eyebrows as if to be silently impressed with the score.