FAILURE TO COMPLY ┃ f. odair

2.8 when someone cares

No matter how much she tried to deny it, the Capitol had ended up becoming half Calypso's home, if not the prison she was occasionally allowed to leave. Returning was nothing special anymore, and even being called to serve a client was something she'd grown accustomed to. Two in one evening, Snow had given her, right after the tribute parade was over. A birthday gift, he'd probably call it. This was the sixteenth and seventeenth, and they made her feel as sick as ever before a solemn indifference set in by the time the night was over.

The next day, she and her father sent their tributes off to training with little worry, considering much of what happened in the training centre was out of their control. Rover claimed to be good at building wire traps while Storm said she had some skill with identifying plants. It was better than nothing and gave the mentors enough to tell them what they should work on and even which Districts they could find allies in.

When lunchtime came, Calypso made her way to a restaurant across the street from the tribute centre where she caught up with Finnick, as well as their mutual friend Johanna Mason. The District Seven victor was a feisty one, not afraid to challenge the Capitol. She was like Calypso herself in that way, and the two got along fairly well despite their constant back and forths that had Finnick feeling more seasick than he'd ever been in his life.

"I'm just saying that having our tributes be allies isn't as one-sided as you're making it out to be," Calypso defended, trying her best to sell Storm as an ally for Johanna's fifteen-year-old girl. "Storm says she's good at plant identification. If they end up in a forest or grassland, she could have useful knowledge. She's small, she's wily, and I think she could have a good survival instinct."

"And just how good can she be?" Johanna retorted. "Five's speciality is power, so the only way she's got that kind of knowledge is by frolicking through the outer fields and falling in overgrown ponds."

"I'm just asking for a little help, Johanna," Calypso sighed in frustration, rubbing a hand across her forehead. "Look, Rover doesn't want to have her as his ally, and after what I went through with Payton last year I'm not pushing anyone's boundaries. If it doesn't work out, I'm sure Aspen can get herself out of it. Any ally can be a good ally, even a twelve-year-old girl."

"She's not wrong," Finnick spoke up, mouth half-full of his food. When they both looked at him to see who he was referring to, he nodded towards Calypso while keeping his gaze on Johanna. The latter rolled her eyes. "But then again, neither are you. Here's a wild idea: let the girls decide for themselves."

"Whatever," Johanna hummed indifferently. "But you know where my priorities are. I have a good feeling about Aspen. Grove last year was too weak to do what had to be done, but I think this one's got guts. She could win."

That hit Calypso harder than it should've. Grove was almost a friend to her, but their alliance had ended on sour terms after the stunt she'd pulled with Payton's body. Even so, she didn't like that his memory was being tarnished. Pacifism had indeed been a weakness for him, but it was also his greatest strength. It meant he'd died without a single stain on his soul.

"Grove was a better person than any of us," she snapped back. Finnick stopped his chewing and side-eyed both of the women while Johanna's mouth hung open in mock offence, an amused smile playing on her lips. "He didn't become a killer like we all did. You waited for the perfect opportunity to slaughter the careers, Finnick trapped people and killed them while they were helpless, I stabbed and mutilated a boy in my rage... We're the worst of the worst. At least Grove had the guts not to become like that."

"At the cost of his life," Johanna added. She was far too casual about it all, but who could blame her? If there was one thing every victor knew, it was that none of them processed their trauma the same. "No. Clean hands are an impossibility in the arena. If it's not someone else's blood then it's your own."