𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 | 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑶𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒓

𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄.

𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜.

When Rosie walked out of the bathroom, after slapping herself as hard as she could to pull herself out of a spiral of panic, she found Tobias sitting on the sofa with a large plate stacked with fruits and pastries, each different. His long, strong limbs seemed to take over the sofa, he didn't look like he was a boy about to fight to the death, he looked like a kid in a candy store.

Rosie put herself in an armchair to the left of him, positioning herself so she wouldn't flash him.

"Zavir has gone to go find Kit," he explained their escort's absence. "You scare her, not enough that she isn't bitchy, but enough that she goes all stiff. She was talking to me like I was on her side. All about how the dress looked, how The Capitol is going to eat you up-and how your attitude would snuff out all the favour you gained by your looks," he explained everything on his mind. She went from never having heard a word from him to having heard a whole bunch. His voice was kind, he sounded unthreatening. He sounded like someone you'd be quick to trust in any normal scenario.

"My Dad worked with your Uncle. I don't know if you remember me, I'm good with faces. You've always got the red nose, and your hair never seems to be doing what you want it to do. I think it looks good, though. I'm sorry about your Aunt. I never spoke to her, but she looked kind," he said after swallowing almost an entire passionfruit tart in one bite.

"You didn't kill her, you've got nothing to apologise for. She was kind. And I remember you, you were always super tall," she responded. With much more brevity.

"Got that from my mother, she was almost a head taller than my father. I saw you had a few people visit you, was the kid your cousin? Because last time I saw him he couldn't even walk."

"Yeah, he's my cousin. I think looking after him would be easier if he still couldn't walk. He's amazing, though, a good kid," Rosie always felt the need to make sure everyone knew how amazing Orion was. She wondered how she'd have kept going without him, how she'd have weathered blow after blow if she didn't have something to live for. He was like just as much her saviour as she was his, neither of them could think of a life without the other. Neither of them wanted to think about that.

"Have this, it's my favourite one I've tried so far. I think it's got lemon in it-you're not allergic, are you?" He offered it, then quickly retracted it when he thought of a possible allergy. She smiled and shook her head, taking the pastry from him. "I may as well have good food before I die," Tobias sounded so flippant. Rosie wondered if he had his name in dozens of times, enough times where it was almost inevitable that his name would be drawn. "You should put some weight on, it'll give you a shot."

"You've got a good shot, you're tall and strong." Rosie inspected the pastry before taking a bite. The fluffy meringue melted in her mouth, the sharp lemon balanced the sweetness out and the flaky pastry gave it a nice texture.

"I don't think I've got the head for it, I have bad instincts. My Dad used to be good at archery, he'd try and teach me but by the time I'd have spotted the animal it'd be gone," he explained. Tobias leaned over and snagged a vine of rich red grapes from a bowl.

"Surely you have something that would be useful." Rosie didn't know why she felt the need to convince Tobias he wasn't doomed because if she got her way he would be. For her to fulfil the promise she intended to keep, he needed to fail.

"I'm good with a sword. My Dad wasn't much of a talker, even before his stroke, and it was just him and me so he'd drag me everywhere. He liked sword fighting, Lord alone knows why, but we practised and along the way, I picked it up."

"Did anyone come and say goodbye?" Rosie asked hesitantly, realising it didn't seem like he had anyone.

"Nah." He shook his head, pulling a juicy grape off the vine he threw it into the air and caught it, a childish smile lit his face up. "My Dad died a few weeks ago, and it was just us. I'm not all that social so I haven't got any friends, the only person I talk to is my boss, but he has to listen because I sprinkle in actual information on the job every so often."