hook, line, sinker.

six.

In front of Margaret Flanagan, the most glorious feast was waiting, begging to be eaten. Mags was used to seafood, she loved everything the sea could offer, but there was real food in front of her. Not just steak, pork and sausages, there was a large variety of vegetables, even a fruit platter was on the table. Grove had already made himself a plate, and was eating hungrily.

"So, what did you think of the training room?" Tigris asked, a cheeky look in her eye. Grove gave a thumbs up, given his mouth was full, and Mags began making up her plate.

"It was good. Scary, since there were only weapons, but informative." Mags said, and Tigris nodded.

"What else would you want there?" She probed, and Mags' mouth watered as she poured gravy over her steak.

"I don't know, maybe books or something. Not every tribute is going to be able to rely on their strength, and brains are just as important." She suggested, and Tigris looked at Suede.

"Tell us about the other tributes." Lemon fished, and Grove swallowed audibly.

"They're scary. I'd like to place a bet that Ash is going to kill me. Probably in the first five minutes." Grove predicted, and Lemon swatted his arm.

"Don't you dare say that. If you don't think you can survive the cornucopia, run away in the beginning. It's as simple as that." She said, and Grove shrugged.

The steak tasted like nothing else Mags had eaten, and she closed her eyes in utter bliss. Maybe she should run away to District Ten, she'd escape death and get to eat meat everyday. Then again, she'd probably be shot before she left the building.

The rest of the meal was eaten in mostly silence. The tributes were eating like their lives depended on it - in a way they sort of did. If they weren't in good physical shape, and well-fed, they could kiss the victory goodbye. The stylists gossiped amongst themselves throughout the meal, it seemed Haven and Tigris had a lot to catch up on. Meanwhile, the mentors were practically sending each other heart eyes from across the table, and Mags found it all kind of sad. They were the same age as her, and they got to love freely without fear of death.

In her next life, she hoped she was a Capitol citizen. Maybe she could cheer at the tributes, place bets on the game, instead of dying in them. That'd be nice. 

"Did you meet the District Twelve girl? Her stylist and I went to school together." Tigris said towards the end, when dessert had been brought out and plates were licked clean.

"Yeah, we did. Sort of had a weird interaction, though." Grove said, and Mags agreed. It was very weird.

"Weird? How so?" Tigris asked, and Mags looked at her in confusion. It had been Tigris who told her the secrets of the arena, how could she be surprised?

"Brie told us that the arena would be different, and that there was going to be water." Mags said, and Tigris' eyebrows rose.

"How could she have possibly known that?" She was shaking her head.

"Maybe she has the same guy on the inside as you." Mags suggested, and Tigris continued shaking her head.

"That's not possible, Coryo swore me to secrecy. He made me pinky promise, that's how serious he was. Childish, but serious. No, Elsie must have spoken to Gaul herself." Tigris' eyes were wide, and Suede made a face.

"Who's Elsie?" He asked, and Tigris waved a hand.

"Elsie Trinket. She was in my class in the academy. If she's spoken to Gaul, I think that they've placed bets on this year's victor, and they're expecting it to be Twelve again. They might have given her other advantages, did she say anything else to you?" Tigris had never been so serious, and even Grove sat up.

"Yeah. She said that this year's mutation would be a water animal, I'm guessing that's how she came to the conclusion that the arena would have water." He said, and Lemon groaned.

"How are our tributes meant to win when the gamesmaster has picked a favourite?" She put her head on the table and Suede shook his head.

"She might have picked a favourite, but the arena isn't based on Twelve's abilities, it's based on Four's. We have the biggest advantage." He said, and despite his words, it didn't feel like Mags had an advantage. No, it felt like a curse.

"She asked us to be allies. She wants us to help her swim when the time comes. I'm guessing she thinks we can swim like sharks or something, instead of drowning under her weight." Mags added, and Suede mimed throwing up.

"Did you tell her to shove off? Picking allies on the first day of training is a recipe for disaster." He said, and Grove nodded.

"Pretty much. We said we'd talk to our mentors, and then Mags thanked her for the heads up." He looked at Mags, who gave him a small smile.

"Should we be worried Elsie didn't talk to me about this? It seems like something she should have brought up." Tigris was in a state of distress, and Suede tried his best to calm her down.

"No, I'm sure it's fine. She wants her tributes to win, like we want Mags or even Grove to win." He said, and Grove made a face.

"Thanks, man. Nice to know someone has faith in me." He said sarcastically, and Suede muttered an apology.

"Are we going to tour the new arena? I think Suede mentioned we wouldn't be, but since it's brand new doesn't it make sense that we get to mentally prepare ourselves?" Mags asked, and Lemon shook her head.

"It would be nice, but they've made it clear that you won't see the arena til the game begins. I don't think you two should be looking for any more allies, at this point you're the most powerful tributes, and even though no one else knows it, the odds are truly in your favour." She said, and Grove reached out under the table to touch Mags' hand. She felt comforted, but drew away quickly. The last thing she needed was to have a rendezvous with her fellow tribute.

"We'll start preparing you for your interviews tomorrow, but between the four of us, we want you to lie low during training. Obviously continue to train, but don't train in anything you can do well. We want everyone to underestimate you." Haven said, and Mags recalled the archery disaster from that morning.

"I think we'll start with archery, don't you?" She asked innocently, and Grove burst into laughter.

"God, please don't. We want them to underestimate you, not laugh at your uselessness." Suede said, but he was smiling.

"I have a surprise for you two." Haven said suddenly, and the room watched as she pulled a flask out of seemingly nowhere.

"Let us toast to our tributes, two children suffering from the sinners of the past." She poured two glasses, and handed them to Mags and Grove. They looked at each other, and hesitantly clinked glasses.

"Now get drunk and waste away your sorrows!" She cheered, and they took their first sip together. Mags spat it straight back out into the glass, and Grove swallowed before dry heaving.

"Come on, you guys can do better than that!" Lemon teased, and they tried again. This time, no one spat it back out, though it didn't taste any better.

One drink turned into two, two to three, and the night continued long into the early hours of the morning. The reality of why they were together, and the existence of the hunger games itself, faded into nothing but background noise.

Tonight, everyone was equal.

Well, except Suede. He couldn't even do a shot, for God's sake.

Since waking up that morning, Mags had dreaded going back to sleep. The empty bed, the horrors of her own mind, the whole idea of sleeping made her feel sick.

It had to come eventually, and so with a full stomach, and absolutely piled with alcohol, Mags finally went to bed.

She had a dreamless sleep, and had never been so grateful for it.