"You don't play with fire,
unless you wanna get burned,
wanna get burned."
-Grace Vanderwaal.
Ataraxia Blake has absolutely no one left. nobody she cares about. when young Lilliana get reaped for the 68th Hunger games, Ataraxia feels as if she sho...
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SITTING AT THE TABLE WITH FINNICK, Millia, Callahan, and Cassia was definitely awkward.
Nobody spoke for over twenty minutes before Millia began asking them questions.
" So, do either of you have any skills?"
"I'd like to think I'm pretty good with a knife" Callahan states simply, poking at his food.
Ataraxia scoffs. "Yeah. Probably about as good as a cat on steroids" She muttered quietly so that no one else could hear but based off of Finnick's light snicker and Callahan's death stare.
"What about you Ataraxia?" Millia asked.
"Doesn't matter."
"What do you mean?" Millia questioned.
"I'm not gonna win" Ataraxia stated simply.
"I'm not gonna kid myself into thinking I can when I know there are plenty of other, better, stronger, emotionally stable, tributes, that could kill me in an instant."
Silence. The room was utterly silent, everyone just stared at her.
"I guess I'm okay with a trident" Ataraxia muttered, making Finnick smile slightly.
"Great!" Millia said, "Trident" She mumbled, writing it down on a notepad.
"I can work with that" She added.
"Where'd you learn to use learn to use a trident?" Cassia asked, genuinely curious.
"My dad used to take me fishing at the docks when I was little. We only had one fishing pole, and my dad wanted me to know how to use a couple weapons in the off chance I got reaped someday." Ataraxia told Cass.
"Oh." she said in a small voice. Everyone knew what happened to her parents. Or at least, they knew what President Snow wanted them to think.
"How is everyone enjoying their food?"
♡
Ataraxia turned from one side to the other as she laid in the bed. It's not that it wasn't comfortable. It just wasn't hers. Thinking about all the other tributes who had been in there before her and hadn't even made it back to their own beds freaked her out, though she would never admit it.
She had too much on her mind. Knowing she would never be able to sleep, she got up and quietly stepped out into the halls, heading for the door to the train. She stopped when she noticed a bronze haired boy standing by the window, staring out of it. She tried to sneak back to her room without him noticing, but her being the clumsy bitch she is, dropped the ring she was fiddling with. "Fucking hell." She muttered as it rolled towards Finnick's feet.
"Well, what do we have here?" he asked, picking up the ring.
"Give it back, Odair." She glared.
He sighed loudly. "Hmm. I think... No."
She lunged for it quickly and Finnick, having lightning-fast reflexes, moved his hand above his head to where she couldn't reach. He slowly took her in, curious eyes wandering her tiny figure. "You've got fire." He commented.
Ataraxia scoffed and started to walk away. I'll just get it back in the morning" She thought, wanting to avoid a huge fight with her mentor.
"Oh come on Roxi. Didn't daddy teach you to never give up?" Ataroxia stopped dead in her tracks at the mention of her father.
She turned around slowly, teeth clenched and said. "Oh, come on Odair. Thought your parents would have taught you better." She got closer, so their noses where almost touching.
"When you fuck with fire." She whispered before grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back. Ataraxia stood behind him, her breath on his neck. "You get burned." She then took the ring, shoved him forward, and walked back to her room.
♡
The table was filled with a mixture of berries, eggs, pancakes, crepes, bread, all that anyone in any district would wish for. Ataraxia's plate was filled with two pancakes and a few strawberries. "Don't you want to eat more?" Cassia asked Ataraxia, glancing at Callahan's plate, which held four pancakes, a crepe, a myriad of fruits, and three eggs. Jesus. She thought.
"Not that hungry." Ataraxia stated, poking at her already low amount of food,
"I'm going to go and find Finnick." Cassia stated. Oh fuck. As stupid as it sounded, Ataraxia was hoping to avoid, her extremely cocky mentor so she wouldn't have to speak about the events of the previous night. "Unless something happened?" Millia asked, noticing the look on Ataraxia's face.
"Nope. Not a thing." She lied. God. Even I wouldn't believe myself if I heard that. She thought.
"Okay." Cassia said, proceeding to walk out of the room, looking for Finnick.
♡
Cassia found Finnick in the bar car, even though he was technically underage. I guess victors really can do whatever they want. Ataraxia rolled her eyes. Staring out the window she noticed the scenery slowly getting nicer until she could see large extravagant buildings and then a crowd full of what looked to be millions of people.
"Oh! We're entering the capitol!" Cassia Squealed. "Smile and wave guys! Smile and wave!" She scolded both of the tribute who had just stood there, staring.
Ataraxia could almost hear the crowd getting louder as she waved at them, sent a few winks, and blew a few kisses towards them.
"You're a natural" A voice said, as Finnick appeared next to her, causing even more garishness from the crowd as the two interacted. "Thanks" she said, with mock happiness that anyone could see through.
"I hope you know I plan to get you back for last night" Finnick whispered, leaning closer. "When you least expect it" He whispered, the ghost of his lips brushing over her neck, sending shivers down her spine.
