Light the Way

Chapter Sixteen

The next few days passed quickly – Coriolanus and Olivia rotating the time spent at each other's homes to finish off the second paper for Dr. Gaul. They seemed to be struggling a bit, to mend the whole thing together. Taking lots of breaks and getting distracted. Often times Olivia's new housemate would saunter over to them, plopping down into one of their laps and demanding their attention.

Of course, who could deny a creature with suck spunk and fortitude? He had simply just shown up and decided to never leave. Rubbing his face into her legs when she got home, sleeping at the end of her bed each night, and running up to Coriolanus any time he came over.

Currently, they were situated on Olivia's bedroom floor. She had her back rested up against the bench beyond her bed, with Coriolanus across from her. He was in his signature thinking position, flat on his back staring up at the ceiling, fingers laced behind his head like a pillow. They shared a woven blanket between the two of them, with the cat sleeping in one of the crevices. Snoring.

What an easy life, Coriolanus thought, scratching the cat's head while they tried to come up with their final ideas.

The bulk of the paper was written and ready to go. They proposed a Capitol ball to be hosted during the Hunger Games. A massive, talk of the town party would be thrown in the heart of the Capitol. Attendees could flaunt their riches and their fashion, eat a glorious meal and stuff themselves silly while the Tributes fought on the screen in front of them. It would give the mentors the opportunity to rally additional support and sponsorships for their Tributes too. Bring in more donations, convince the richest of the Capitol to send in more gifts.

Presenting a party to the Districts wasn't an option. Coriolanus imagined it would be more somber than patriotic for them to attend. They'd sit across from each other, eating the almost stale bread, sharing their tears with one another as they struggled to watch the games. It would become the breeding ground for the rebels to reignite their cause and it would be embarrassing if the Captiol was the one to bring them all together again.

They decided to sleep on it – hoping a better idea would rise to the surface for one of them tomorrow. It wasn't worth stressing over, they had a few more days to finish up their proposal before presenting it to Dr. Gaul and their classmates.

Instead, they shifted their focus to the arena and any improvements that could be made there, which seemed to be more of Olivia's interest. She could care less for the parties and the schmoozing; the arena was what made anything worthwhile happen. Without it, there wouldn't be much to see.

"I think there could be more wildlife, whether natural born or genetically modified. While we were there, the only living thing outside of the plants were the wasps." Olivia shared, taking her turn to pat the sleeping cat between them. After a few hours in the arena, they grew quite bored of the place.

"I wonder if that's on purpose though." Coriolanus thought aloud, leaning to sit up, resting back on his elbows now. "What if the plants are poisonous? That's why there's no animals." He reasoned. Dr. Gaul always had a reason for things – the brightly colours plants had to be poisonous or dangerous in some way. Watching a kid bite into one of the leaves and turn purple would be quite shocking.

"That's a good point. If only the wasps can survive then maybe they need to be changed, like those snakes from last year. Make their venom extra poisonous or hallucinogenic." Olivia offered up and Coriolanus nodded in agreement. He didn't have anything better to add, and she made a good point. There wasn't much wildlife in the arena, but he imagined it would all get drowned out and destroyed by the rising water levels anyways. That was going to be the big surprise.

Eventually, he realized, he'd have to tell her about the theme. When it came time to pick their Tributes, he wouldn't be able to justify picking District Four without looking suspicious. Districts One and Two always had much stronger candidates and were therefore the obvious choices. Their affections for the Capitol would make them easier to shape and mold, make it easier for them to win over the Capitol and get sponsors. They'd be easier to immortalize. District Four was a bit of an unknown, other than their remarkable ability to swim. Olivia was smart enough to question him if he advocated for it so strongly.