𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐃 || coriolanus snow [✓]

II

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CHAPTER 2: BUTTERMILK AND ROSES

*°:⋆ₓₒ
      ⇢ I step off the train slowly with Liam. Neither of us spoke as if we knew eachother to avoid issues in the future. Only one of us could live. I appreciated his sacrifice I wanted to tell him, to say anything but I didn't dare utter a word. In the middle of my thoughts I see a rather handsome and tall blonde man walk towards me. I look at him skeptically and observe him closer. Capitol boy. Although seeming less like what I imagined it was still obvious. He held his hands behind his back and puffed out his chest a bit.

   Asshole. As we drew closer he pulled out a white rose and offers it to me. "Welcome to the Capitol." He says, not necessarily in a welcoming way but at the same time not threatening. I pluck a petal from the flower. "When i was little My Mama used to bathe me in buttermilk and rose petals." I said, not making eye contact with him until I put the petal in my mouth and chewed. "Tastes just like bedtime" I smiled. "You look far too dashing to be her sir." He looks at me, trying to avoid being disturbed.

   Wouldn't matter if he was. I already know he hates my kind. The district folk. "Are you supposed to be here? You don't look like it." A whistle escaped my lips as I look him up and down. "Well I shouldn't, but I'm your mentor." He states matter of factly. "A rebel?" I coo. "And what does my so called 'mentor' do besides bring me roses?" I ask with a sly smirk. "I do my best to take care of you." I hide my shock as a woman screams behind me. Him? Take care of me? This little twink? i had more muscle in my voice than this dude's whole body.

   "Good luck with that gorgeous" I take the rose, wink and walk off with Liam, being shoved by peacekeepers into a small cramped van. He soon follows me, facing the wall trying to avoid detection but with what he's wearing he stands out almost as much as I do. "Hi.." He says confidently, trying not to show fear as if we were more scared of him than he was of us. "What's the matter pretty boy? Wrong cage?" One of the tributes inquired, a threatening undertone lacing his words.

  "No, this cage is delightful." He hides his disgust with a small smile as he looks around, nearly gagging. "Get him reaper." Another tribute pipes up as the guy named Reaper walks towards him. "I will kill you right now!" Reaper presses his forearm to my mentor's neck, I pray to not hear a snap or else I'm alone. A small girl from the same district says something I don't quite register aswell. "I say we all kill him" the same tribute says. "I'm in." Says another. "Nothing to lose now."

   "Easy there tiger" I add. "Y'all got family back at home? Kill them if ya hurt him" I cross my arms and fold my legs as I speak. "Then you" I whisper, looking annoyed: mostly to asset dominance but also because I am annoyed by my mentor's dog like clinginess. I'm a cat person, their independence is inspiring. "Besides he's my mentor, might need him" I shrug nonchalantly. "How come You get a mendor?" A freckled freaky lady asks me. "A mentor." He corrects her.

   "You each get one." Reaper presses him harder as the freckled bitch continues. "Oh and we all just trust you on that?" She raises a brow. "God shut the hell up..." I groan softly enough for them to not hear. "I'm just...here to help you." My mentor sighs, stiff as a log. "Why does rainbow girl here get special treatment? Hm? Why aren't our mentors here" she questions me. I Look her up and down. "Oh please you're hardly impressive your mentor must've ran the other way" I tease. The van begins to shake before she can make a comeback.

   Everyone panics including myself as I grip onto my mentor for dear life, leading us both to fall into the zoo they keep the tributes in. I hit my head pretty hard against a rock and stay down for a hot minute, not registering my surroundings. My mentor looks around in shock as I lift my head and get up. They begin to question him and he just stares like a deer in streetlights. "Own it" I chirp, tilting my head towards the reporters. He takes heavy deep breathes. "(Name) (last name), May I introduce you to my neighbors?" He says. It's not a question rather a statement as he places the white rose into my hair.

   The reporter continues as I grab his hand and he leads me towards the reporters. "Hi how do you do? My name is Coriolanus Snow and this is my tribute (Name) (Last Name) from district 12" he smiles, answering the reporters but also speaking to a child who seeks to take interest in my clothing choice. "Hi there, what's your name?" I bend down to their level. The little boy answers some fancy Capitol name and I can't help but laugh internally. "This your sister?" I inquire. "That's Venus, she's only 4" he answers.

   "Well I think four is a very smart age to be, I gotta brother back home, names Jeremy." I smile. "Where'd you find that snake?" She giggles and twists her hips. "Well I didn't find him, he found me, must've been a music lover, we got along instantly. I guess we're a little bit alike." I joke. "Can I touch your dress?" She asks politely. I extend the fabric for her and nod. "I like your dress too, and who might you be?" I wonder, the man with the microphone straightens his back as people begin to laugh at me.

   "Oh you don't know who I am?" He says quickly. "Don't laugh! Not everyone has television out in the districts" He reprimands the camera men and turns back to me. I'm Lucracious Lucky Flickerman but more enticingly who are you? (name) from district 12." He adds. "(name) (last name), oh and I'm not really from district 12" I laugh awkwardly. "My people are covey, we're like a family, we're musicians by trade and we travel from place to place! At least we used to before the peacekeepers rounded us up."

   "But now you're district 12?" Flickerman seems confused so I give in. "If you say so" I hum. "Your dress seems to be a big hit with the children" He commented. "Oh it is, we'll the covey love color me more so than most. But this dress is my Ma's so it's extra special to me." I do a small spin in the dress and laugh. "And she's in district 12?" He queries. "Only her bones darling only her pearly white bones." I admitted as a laugh escapes his lips. "Oh! Do you know my mentor? He says his name is Coriolanus snow? I must've gotten the cake with the cream because no one else bothered to show up"

  I wrap my arms around his arm and smile for the cameras. "The game makers approved of this?" Flickerman said skeptically. "They didn't tell me not to per say...just said it was a mentors job to introduce our tributes to people of Panem and I thought if she's brave enough to volunteer for the children of district 12 why shouldn't I be too?" He began. His charms evident in the simplest of sentences pissed me off a bit. "For the record I didn't have a choice." I muttered, unattaching myself from him. "For the record it looks like you're about to get snatched away Coriolanus Snow" The reporter says.

   I look behind us to see peacekeepers. I grab his arm one more time. "Be a doll and bring us a meal, we've been starved since the reapin pretty boy" I let go and allow him to be whisked away by peacekeepers. The reporter continues but what he says seems pretty pointless so I walk back over to Liam where I decide to break my silence.