Cage me like an animal • F Odair¹ •

III

"I'm glad to know you think I'm pretty, though."

•∘♛∘•

She had thought that sleep would be a task that would be impossible to accomplish, but Athena managed to fall asleep surprisingly quickly. She woke up before too long, though, bolting upright with a gasp. Her dreams had shifted from a replay of her Reaping to a nightmare of Kai stabbing her through the chest with a spear, while Mags and Finnick looked on critically and Alayne said distastefully, "Always so brutal." She tried to go back to sleep afterwards, but all she could do was toss and turn helplessly, and staying under the covers felt like being trapped, so eventually she flung them back, sitting up and staring at her hands blankly.

Eventually, she just got up and stepped into the bathroom, getting in the shower and staying there until the hot water ran cold, feeling oddly liberated by the fact that she could be as wasteful as she wanted for once. Athena was particularly careful about how she dressed then. Finnick's comment about hiding under her clothes could have easily just been him being obnoxious, but they were arriving in the Capitol today, and she didn't want to risk it in case they were seen by citizens. The sooner she made a good impression, the better. Finally, she chose dark pants, tighter than the ones she had worn yesterday, a bright, red silk shirt that showed her midriff whenever she moved her arms too much, and light, comfortable shoes, deciding to keep her hair loose.

There were still a few hours before they were supposed to be up for breakfast. Not wanting to stay in her chambers for any longer, Athena stepped outside, wandering around aimlessly until she found herself back in the compartment where they had seen the recap of the Reapings. Athena sat down on the leather sofa and grabbed the silver remote, turning on the television. She flipped through the settings until she found an option to watch a recording of any of the Games from the past sixty-eight years. She stared at her options thoughtfully, before selecting the option labelled: SIXTY-FIFTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES.

From there, there was an option to watch different parts of the Games. The very beginning and the bloodbath at the Cornucopia, memorable fights and tricks from the Gamemakers, the death of each tribute, and the moment when Finnick won the Games and became victor. There was also the option to watch the Reaping from each district that year, as well as the opening ceremonies and the tributes' interviews with Caesar Flickerman. Athena didn't need to watch the actual Games themselves; Finnick's time in the arena was hard to forget. And it was pointless to watch his Reaping now when there was nothing she could do to change her behavior during her own Reaping. Instead, she watched the opening ceremonies, then the interviews, watching the tributes at the time carefully.

She learned a lot about what to do and what not to do from watching the other tributes. She learned that there was no such thing as smiling and waving too much; even when some tributes' smiles were so fake that they were almost painful to watch, the Capitol still fawned over them and how pretty they looked when they were smiling. She learned not to stutter, but to fill gaps and uncertainties with giggles, even if there was nothing funny about the situation. She learned it was just as important to make the Capitol feel sympathy for you as it was to make them love you; there were tributes who talked tearfully about the family and friends and partners they left behind in their district, and among the heartbroken reactions of the Capitol citizens, Athena could see the sponsorships being sealed. Mostly, though, Athena just watched Finnick. It was easy to see that they loved him, and it was easy to see why. He knew when to speak, when his words would make the biggest impact; he knew when not to speak, when to draw out pauses and make everyone desperate for his next words; he knew what to say, what would make the Capitol react in the right way; he knew how to say them, how to maximise the effect; he knew when to smile and laugh and when to be serious; he knew when to be the humble boy from District Four and when to be be the strong warrior determined to win the Games; he could do no wrong. In the eyes of the Capitol, Finnick Odair was perfect. Athena herself might have fallen in love with him if she was as clueless as them and didn't know it was all a lie.