｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ 𝔤𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔲𝔯𝔳𝔦𝔳𝔞𝔩 six. — let the games begin!
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｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
Sleep eluded Mal that night, she tossed and turned for what felt like hours — her throat constricting and her heart stuttering inside her chest as the full weight of the impending Games crushed her. Though her room was spacious and beautiful, it felt too much like a suffocating gilded cage in that moment as the walls closed in around her.
Mal made her way up to the familiar rooftop, breathing in a sigh of relief as the cool night air caressed her skin through her long satin nightgown. Making her way to the edge where she usually found herself stood just a few feet shy of the energy field that enclosed the roof and prevented escape or suicide, Mal was surprised to see the back of someone already stood there — her long curly, blonde locks flowing in the wind.
"Carrot-top?" The girl's head whipped round and she was face-to-face with a sleepy eyed Elpis, whose once vibrant orange hair was replaced by a dark blonde, "What's going on with the hair?"
Elpis self consciously ran her hand through the long locks with a frown, "My stylist did it, she said the orange of my hair was so distinctive it could put me at a disadvantage in most types of arenas," Mal could see how it would be hard to properly hide with such a bright hair colour, "she said this should hopefully last for the entire Games, but who knows how long they'll last. She said it should just wash out."
Mal stood beside her, fingers absentmindedly grasping a strand of blonde between her nimble fingers, "I'll miss it," she was only an inch taller than the blonde so she only had to tilt her head ever so slightly for them to be eye to eye, "though you're still beautiful."
"Nobody's ever called me that before." Elpis laughed nervously, her pale cheeks flushing a light pink under the moonlight.
"Then that is a true crime committed by everyone who's met you."
Mal hadn't noticed but the vines that seemed to be constantly tethered around her heart had seemed to loosen, as her heart started to beat faster and faster — but not from fear this time. Elpis looked truly enchanting as her porcelain skin was bathed in moonlight, without a trace of makeup and a simple satin nightgown she had never been more beautiful to Mal. She noticed that the distance between them had become smaller and smaller as though they were pulled together like magnets — she was so close she could see every little freckle that marked the girls faces in a string of constellations that Mallory wanted desperately to trace and learn.
The streets were alive with music, singing and car horns but it was all background noise to Mal, her heartbeat taking dominion over her ears allowing her to hear nothing but the rushing beat of her own heart.
