HEART OF GOLD | CORIOLANUS SNOW

𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 63

"Two, sir," said Lilith. "They raised the fare at the beginning of last year."

"I don't carry tokens." Coriolanus frowned, realizing that, except for those few especial days ten years ago, he had never done.

When he was little, there would always be someone else to pay—his mother, Tigris, a maid. Later, he was so poor that spending even a dime on transport was a luxury their family couldn't afford; he walked everywhere. Now, he patronized establishments so high-end some of them didn't even accept cash.

Despite having over a dozen credit cards stored virtually in his cordless, Coriolanus always carried one on his person for emergencies. A ride on the trolley did not constitute an emergency. More like a disaster. They were notoriously ancient and backward. Would they let him on just based on his social status? What would the media write if it got out he hadn't paid for his ride?

Lilith's soft voice pulled him out of rising panic.

"It's all right, sir. I've got you covered."

She didn't have to, of course. She had every right to gloat and pounce on the chance to make the trip home independently to prove she was the responsible adult she saw herself as. But, of course, this was the girl everyone claimed had a heart of gold.

Instead of leaving him stranded, Lilith only flashed him a kind smile. From the front compartment of her bag, she extracted a grained leather coin purse, unzipped the eight-hundred-dollar pouch, and jiggled four copper discs embossed with the seal of Panem onto her mitted palm. After some difficulty in rezipping—Coriolanus couldn't tell if her lack of dexterity arose from the chilly temperature, her prior injury, or the impractical choice of hand protection—she clasped them in her fist, which was stretched out to flag down the oncoming tram. Despite its crawling pace, the antique vehicle screeched to halt. Its bifold doors flung back with heavy thuds and Lilith mounted the trolley with a decided skip in her step.

"Two tickets, please," she said, dropping the tokens into their dedicated receiver.

A beefy man with a vacant face and flabby neck, the conductor pushed down on a lever and the machine swallowed up Lilith's money with a series of discordant clangs. A few punches on his console and another spat out pale red tickets one after another in a stuttering whir. The pink strip of paper dangling off the dispenser gave the fleeting impression of a waggling tongue, until the conductor ripped it off, ruthless and uncaring.

"Two adults," he said robotically, handing Lilith the strip as a whole without looking at her.

Coriolanus prepared himself to parry whatever adult-related sally that assuredly loomed, but Lilith focused on separating the stubs, folding and tearing along the perforated line. Then she proffered him his without a word, not even a smirk—just a smile.

Producing his own, he took the slip stamped with the present date and time and tucked it into the pocket of his trousers. Without warning, the trolley lurched into motion and his reflex was to spread his legs the instant he felt his weight shift. Having adopted a stance that improved his balance, Coriolanus would not have fallen even if no one had grabbed his arm. As it was, a powder pink sleeve entwined with his dark cyan one as Lilith stared at him, relief washing away her shocked expression. The trolley trundled on, slow and steady now, and she freed both him and the handrail she was clutching with her right hand.

"Up or down, sir?"

"Up to you."

Up it was.

Although the stairs leading to the second deck was shadowy, steep, and narrow, Lilith conquered them nimbly even in her heeled boots. The climb did not challenge Coriolanus either, but he felt apprehension grow as it sunk in that the dark, strait flight was their only escape in a crisis. The green line didn't have double-deckers, and on the countable occasions he had ridden it, he always sat himself near the exit, just in case. The consolation was that this trolley had less passengers than he had fingers, with just a lone elderly man below accompanying the driver and a couple in school uniform drowning in each other's mouths at the back corner on top.