It was only after awaking from her sleep that morning, that it dawned on Clove that she'd finally fallen asleep. She'd spent the majority of the night, glancing back and forth between the wall clock and the alarm clock that was perched atop the bedside table. She was frustrated as she was taking longer than usual to succumb to the tiredness that she felt, the reason why she hadn't yet fallen asleep was because her mind refused to shut off. District 12, Katniss and Peeta were what occupied her mind for the majority of the night. She occasionally thought about other things such her mother Cassia, her father Orion and much to her displeasure Cato. She found herself wondering at times what his thoughts and feelings towards 12 were. Deep down Clove had hoped that the previous night's events were all a dream, but alas they weren't. As much as Clove yearned to lay in bed longer and evaluate the mess that her life had become, she knew that it wasn't an option, as she'd be needed for training in less than an hour.
After some time, Clove emerged from her room and was taken aback as she found Cato emerging from his own room at the exact same time she had, wearing the exact same clothes she wore. Clove assumed that the clothes that had been left on the chaise in her room, was the training uniform she would be required to wear. She also knew that it was very likely that herself, and the rest of the tributes would have the same uniform. Clove could only silently curse whatever evil being, decided to design their training uniform. It consisted of a simple black top, and black bottoms that housed two singular grey and red stripes. On either sleeve, and on the back of the top, was the number '2' that was presumably in place to enable more efficient identification. It was a simple but practical uniform that Clove found herself resenting, as on Cato, it practically made her mind move a mile a minute. There was nothing Clove wished she could do more, than kick herself. She found her newly found attraction to the boy, frustrating and if anything, incredibly ill -timed.
She watched in silence as he shut his door behind himself, his sandy blonde hair was damp from what Clove assumed was a shower. His features appeared to be more relaxed, in comparison to how they had been the previous night. Clove especially recalled the menacing and frankly intimidating snarl, Cato had shot Katniss, Peeta and the rest of their team after the District parade had ended. It had apparently been a concern for them, as their mentor had very quick ushered them out of Cato's view. Cato's shirt appeared to be a size or two too small, as it looked rather snug. Naturally, this left his muscles no option but to bulge out of the shirt.
Stupid fucking uniform.
"You alright?" His voice rang, almost instantly snapping her out of her daydream.
"Peachy." She replied sarcastically. Embarrassed by the fact that she'd most likely been caught ogling her District partner, once again. "You?"
"Alright." He said with a shrug, as he slowly approached her. "I didn't sleep much." He added, his revelation catching Clove by surprise.
"Neither did I." She blurted, in another surprising act. "I kept thinking about 12." She added apprehensively. Clove wasn't sure as to why she was all of sudden eager to make conversation with Cato, after all, they had now established one another as the enemies. "And about how they're destroying things for us." She murmured, feeling the anger in her chest rise once again. The second the two realised that they had larger problems to deal with, the status of their complex relationship, no longer mattered. The only thing that was now important to both Cato and Clove, was destroying the very thing that stood between themselves and the crown;
And that was Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.
"Me too." He said, almost growled. Cato's expression very notably darkened, as he appeared to recall the previous night's events. "But just like I said," He hummed, taking a step towards her. "we'll take care of them as early as possible."
