Forbearance • A Cato Hadley Story

2.12

Livia and Cato kept on dancing for the rest of the song, the girl's hand stationed on the boy's left shoulder and the weight of her head on his chest. The pair slowed down their dance as the song ended and waited a moment for the next song to start. Cato looked around him, noticing how many people were actually drinking glasses of the bright pink liquid he had been offered minutes before. The girl hadn't noticed until she had rested her head on her lover's shoulder.

Instead of only being able to focus on him, she was now able to see a group of around seven or eight people, every one of them holding a small glass of the pink liquid. Both her and Cato were silently appalled by the fact that they could let people in almost all twelve Districts pretty much starve to death, but here they were throwing up food just so they could eat more. Not only was it a waste of food but to Livia it was just downright disturbing.

As the next song started and the couple started to dance again, Augusta and Effie rushed over with a man, who neither victor recognized. The three adults waltzed over to the pair with wide smiles taking over their faces. "Livia, Cato, this is Plutarch Heavensbee, Head Gamemaker. Successor to Seneca Crane." Augusta spoke dreamily, placing a hand on the grey haired man's shoulder. The girl nodded in understanding with a hopefully believable smile while Cato raised his eyebrows in realization.

"It's a tough act to follow." the muscular boy retorted, to which his girlfriend smiled up at him and let out a little laugh, not wanting to come off as rude to the Gamemaker. The Capitolian women widened their eyes in response to his comment, both shocked and repulsed by it. "Cato!" Augusta snapped, whacking him on the bicep. The group silenced momentarily before Plutarch smiled and let out a breathy laugh.

Augusta and Effie both hesitantly let stiffened laughs escape their lips, joining in with the Gamemaker in attempts to lighten the mood. Once the three quieted their chuckles the man held out his hand to Livia, glancing between her and her lover. "May I?" he asked, looking for approval from each teen. The blonde stole a look at her boyfriend who nodded to the Gamemaker. "Please." the boy said, lightly pushing the girl forward by the small of her back.

With a forced smile the blonde took Plutarch's hand so he could lead her to the dance floor. As the two danced around awkwardly the girl did everything in her power to avoid eye contact with the man. He smiled kindly, hoping for some kind of response from the girl but she kept her eyes glued on different things that appeared behind him while they danced around. "So how do you like the party?" he asked, trying to make conversation with the victor.

The teen pondered for a moment, gathering her thoughts. Even though she already wasn't too fond of him, she wasn't going to make a bad impression when she was interacting with someone who had so much of a say about what President Snow did. "It's a little overwhelming." she admitted, gulping down saliva nervously. The man shrugged with a smirk, agreeing, as he understood why she thought that way.

"It's appalling. Still if you abandon your moral judgment it can be fun." he told her convincingly. She raised her eyebrows with a smile, genuinely thinking his comment was somewhat funny. Although his words did make her curious to know if he felt the same. "So are you having fun?" she asked, returning his question. Plutarch paused and looked at the girl, reminding her of who he was and his position in the games.

"I'm Head Gamemaker, fun is my job." he partially joked. Livia tried to laugh at his words but she couldn't force any noise to leave her mouth. All she could think of was the previous Gamemaker and how he suddenly vanished from the public eye. Not that she was ever fond of Seneca but to have someone as well known as him just suddenly disappear was unnerving. "I thought that's what happened to Seneca Crane, too much fun." Livia retorted smugly.