Fluid || Finnick Odair

7

The Capitol was a pretty place. It had to be when it was the hub of Panem, a bursting beam of socialites and culture. Colour sprang out from every angle, and it was hard to imagine what it might be like plain. More palatable, at least.

     However, when it came to the training facilities, it was anything but beautiful. Mostly, everything was grey, or concrete, which was also grey. They were given everything they might need to prepare themselves for the games, but they weren't allowed beauty whilst doing so. It was just another thing to be deprived of as tributes.

     Even the room they waited in was grey. It was a box, perhaps triple the size of the lift which lead to the apartments. All it consisted of were twelve short benches and a door. Because it functioned, it served a purpose, and it needed no more. This was where they waited to be called in front of the Game Makers.

     Despite this section of the Games never being televised, everyone knew what happened. Behind the scenes wasn't as such, but it had become public knowledge some years ago. They trained, they prepared, and then they were slaughtered for public entertainment.

     The last three days had built up to this very moment. Soon enough, it would be Rio inside of the training centre, presenting himself to those who devised his demise in advance. Then, they would rate his talents before exposing to the public whether he had a chance at surviving. The odds were what attracted sponsors. Thankfully, Finnick was well loved. Whether or not he would be willing to work hard for Rio was another plot entirely.

     District One was first; boy, then girl. It followed on, with maybe five minutes spent for each tribute, until a tannoy announced for Rio to leave. His breath became shallower as he approached the space.

     Not many people had been there so far, which acted in his favour. The Game Makers weren't blindly drunk yet, only borderline squiffy. At least they had some attention left in them; it was more than Finnick would offer him.

"Rio Van Oss." He introduced himself, their eyes only half focused on him. "District Four."

When they didn't say anything in response, so he took it as his cue to begin. Despite all of the training from last night with Finnick, he was apprehensive at first. His arms were a little stiff, and his backs ached from being pushed against the wall. Even so, he was trying his hardest to stand out, and push away the dull ache.

     First, he demonstrated his hand to hand combat with one of the trainers, which he ended up winning, of course. Then, he picked up a set of knives, and exhibited his talents with those. It wasn't exactly a brilliant move on his part, because hand to hand was much more comfortable. Rio never hit the bullseye, but he was close.

     However, when he was done, they barely looked at him again. Rio made the assumption that he hadn't done too well. District Four was mediocre most of the time, with some natural strength. It would be a miracle if he scored over seven, purely because they were bored of him.

     When he dismissed himself, Rio didn't waste any time in leaving. Perhaps he should have waited for Ondine. She must've been frightened, but for once, he was the sole thing on his mind. For once, he was being selfish.

The lift seemed to take a while to travel to their apartment, but when it did, Rio ignored Calliope's attempts to question him. Finnick was resting on the sofa, hardly looking up from the book in his hand, knowing that Rio would be acting like a petulant teenager. Even so, she ran after him, and waited by her door, still asking as many things as would come out of her mouth.