Forbearance • A Cato Hadley Story

2.06

The train ride that night was mostly quiet for the two teens, along with Enobaria, Augusta, and a victor the teens had just met, Brutus. The man was definitely large in size compared to the small girl, making her a tad uncomfortable sitting near him. She sat closer to Cato when the man entered the room, although she knew Cato stood as no match against him with the significant size difference. Brutus was a nice man, she couldn't deny.

But it was the look on his face that made him seem so unapproachable and caused her to want to keep a good amount of distance between them. Thankfully Livia's room, though both her and Cato preferred to share a room so they weren't having to run across the train when one or the other had a nightmare, was on the opposite end of the train from Brutus' room. As of now the three, along with Enobaria and Augusta, were sitting in a group, occupying four chairs.

Augusta sat on the left side chair by the window across from Brutus. Next to Brutus sat Enobaria and across from her was Cato, who held Livia's small figure on his lap so they could fit everyone in the group. "Fabulous food, fabulous wine, massages, spa treatments. I told them nothing but the best for my two victors. It all needs to be just..." Augusta trailed off, exaggeratingly tapping her chin with her finger to show that she was thinking of the proper word to use.

Enobaria sat up in her seat with a smile, pointing knowingly at the Capitolian woman. "Fabulous?" she finished off. Augusta smiled at the female victor and nodded happily in response. The blonde woman clapped her hands together and stood from her seat across from the muscular man in front of her. "Exactly. Now the schedule is a bit of a bear." the woman started, plainly explaining the plans to the two mentors and two victors.

Livia sighed, uninterested in the conversation as she leaned her head on her partner's shoulder. "Twelve days, 12 districts, but it's mostly parties, celebrations, adoring fans to greet you in every stop along the way and then we wrap it up in the Capitol. All you need to do is give a few speeches, wave to the crowds and enjoy your time in the spotlight. You've earned it." Augusta spoke, gesturing to the couple sharing a seat.

The girl looked at the Capitolian woman puzzled as she mentally processed what she had said. They 'earned it'. Livia didn't like that. By 'earned it' all she could think of was every murder she had committed while she was in that arena. Every murder that her significant other had committed while they were in the arena. That wasn't them 'earning' anything. That was them sacrificing others for their own lives.

"What did you say?" the young girl snapped at the woman. Livia's eyebrows furrowed in anger as she glared in the woman's direction. Cato could feel his girlfriend tense as the heat rose to her cheeks. "Livia." he whispered in her ear as he pulled her a bit closer to him in an attempt to calm her down. She knew he was thinking the same things she was but he at least chose to keep quiet. She on the other hand wasn't going to hear it.

"I said enjoy it, Livia. You've earned it." Augusta repeated, raising her eyebrows and speaking in a tone in which she suggested that the teen should be proud of what she had done to those other children. What she had let happen to her allies. To her friends. "By killing people." the blonde reminded the woman as hot, anger filled tears clouded her vision. Angrily, Livia lifted herself out of Cato's lap and started walking away from the group. The boy stood right after herself, trying to grasp her hand, which he failed at as she was already a smidge too far away from him, calling out a concerned 'Liv!'.

As she stormed out of the train car she could hear Augusta call out a peeved 'Young lady!'. But she didn't bother responding to either. She wasn't going to deal with the subject at the time so she was simply removing herself from the situation. It took a few minutes to finally reach the end car of the train where there was a large window, letting her see everything around the train as it zoomed along the tracks. With a relieved sigh at the silence of the train car, Livia sat at the seat by the window and watched everything outside pass by her.

Unfortunately the silence didn't last long before she heard the doors to the car open. The blonde didn't even bother to look at whoever it was as she assumed that it was most likely one of her mentors coming to bother her about the stunt she had pulled minutes before. "I'm really not in the mood for a lecture, I'll apologize to Augusta later." she told the mystery person, expecting it to be a mentor but whoever it was didn't bother to speak to her, causing confusion to muster in her head. In pure curiosity the blonde turned her head to meet eyes with Cato.

Cato laughed lightly and glanced at his feet for a split second before looking back up at the small girl. "Oh sorry. I thought you were Enobaria or Brutus." the girl apologized to her boyfriend to which he only smiled softly, sitting next to her and wrapping his arm around her shoulders to let her lean into him. She immediately relaxed into his touch, letting her head rest on his shoulder. "You don't have to apologize to anybody, including me." the boy reassured his girlfriend, resting his head on top of her own.

His words confused Livia. She didn't understand what he was referring to. As far as she was concerned she hadn't done anything. And of course his words caused a million different thoughts to run through her head, making her question what she could have done to upset him. She thought and thought but had no luck figuring it out on her own. "What do you mean including you?" she asked, curling her legs closer to the rest of her body.

The boy stayed silent for a moment, Livia feeling no movement coming from him. "Every time you look at me, it's like you see me wounded. We're both hurt. We're both in a dark place right now and I think we can agree on that. But you have to stop looking at me like I'm wounded." he explained to her, seeming almost uncomfortable mentioning this. But Livia understood.

Even though she wasn't in a great spot she was more worried about him than herself. And he was right. He could mostly take care of himself as could she. Did they need each other's support every once and a while? Yes. But if they were strong enough to get through the games they were strong enough to get through what came after. "I'll stop." she agreed softly. "I promise."