Breathe in, Breathe out • F Odair² •

XIV

"You're the most beautiful person I've ever seen."

Loooooooong Chapter y'all, settle in, grab a snack/drink

•∘♔∘•

The next day was to be dedicated to preparing Athena and Finnick for their interviews. As it was, though, there really was not much for them to do. After all, Athena had been in the public eye for six years, and Finnick for a decade. They had both learned and perfected how to conduct themselves for public appearances long ago. Practising etiquette with Alayne only took a little over an hour rather than the usual four hours, and it was mainly to ensure that they already could do everything perfectly, rather than teaching them anything new. Mags, however, spent some more time with them when it came to talk content.

"Now, a lot of these tributes feel desperate and angry," Mags was saying. "They're gonna do and say anything to get these Games cancelled. Tugging on Capitol heartstrings during these interviews is one big way to do it."

"There's no way that'll happen," Finnick said at once. "Snow's never gonna back down, especially not at this point."

"Probably," Mags agreed. "But there's not much to lose from trying, is there? And if you can make everyone watching you not only love you, but feel something for you, make them want to protect you? You'll have tons of sponsorships sealed. So... let's go over the stuff we've been practising."

They spent some time practising the angles they would use for their interviews, breaking briefly in the middle for lunch. Everything went smoothly, though talking about the significant others somehow became even more tense now that Athena and Finnick knew they were talking about the other but had to pretend they weren't. Still, they had been working on this for months now, so before long they had perfected what they wanted to do and any more practice served little purpose.

"It's clear you both know how to handle yourselves," Mags said, about an hour or so after lunch. "You really don't need any more practice. You've been doing this long enough. You're ready. And good thing, too, that you don't need me anymore. I have dinner plans, you see."

"Dinner plans," Finnick repeated, his brow furrowed. "With who?"

"President Snow."

Athena's heart stopped dead, fear seizing it. Athena and Finnick just stared at her, stunned into silence. Mags simply stared back at them, and though her face seemed relatively calm, buried under the surface was a tenseness. Why did Snow want to see Mags? Why didn't he invite Athena or Finnick or Alayne or anyone else in the District Four crew? Would she be alone?

"Is - is it for all the mentors?" Athena asked tentatively.

Mags smiled, understanding what Athena was really asking. "No, from what I understand this is a private event."

Which meant that Mags would be alone. Athena felt even more frightened than before.

"And you're not - are you excited?" Finnick said.

"I... I'm a little caught off guard," Mags admitted. "But President Snow doesn't invite someone to a private dinner every day... it's not something you turn down once the opportunity comes up."

Athena understood at once; Mags had no choice but to go. What would he say to her? What would he do? Would he punish her? What was she supposed to have done wrong, though? There was no way he knew about the mission, did he? No, there was no way... if he did, certainly they would all be dead or at least imprisoned. Certainly, he wouldn't let them continue on if he thought at all that there was a chance they might be rebelling.