HEART OF GOLD | CORIOLANUS SNOW

𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 90

Lilith's two protein bars felt like air—she was still starving. But more so, she was tired, her body battered by dehydration and heat exhaustion. When someone else suggested they ordered in instead of going out to eat, she was secretly glad; food without having to move sounded tremendous. Only, she would never be the one to contradict the plan in front of this crowd. Especially not after she'd just escaped the spotlight. Was Snow trying to give her a heart attack after her panic attack this afternoon?

The quickest option was pizza, the arrival of which caused Lilith to salivate. As the aroma of herb-laced tomato wafted into the wardrobe, she relieved Snow of his hangers. He'd volunteered his services to them for clearing up, but really, he was just creating more work. The others had already banished him, and while she would never do such a thing normally, she seemed in a very strange mood.

"Stop that!" said Lilith, laughing. She felt delirious, as if drunk on pain, fatigue, joy, and relief all at once. "You're doing it all wrong!"

"Now you despise my help?" asked Snow, and she could hear his smirk as she slotted gowns and suits into their designated places, arranged by colour and style now that the tributes were done with them.

"You're not helping. Why don't you go do something you're good at?"

"For example?"

Stowing away Clementine's charcoal-mimicking ensemble, the last garment in her arms, Lilith faced him with a pointed expression.

"Giving a speech."

Snow cracked up, and she burst into a fit of giggles. Clutching her abdomen, Lilith staggered to the bath to wash her hands before plopping herself in the space between Tigris and Olympia. Despite his status as Head Gamemaker, Snow joined them on the floor. He did not give a speech.

For the first two slices or so, the living room turned makeup studio was silent but for quiet chewing and requests to pass the pepperoni. Lilith was happy to do so, preferring other toppings: Chopped mushrooms, eggplants, cherry tomatoes, and basil leaves. Sweet and spicy chicken cubes with roasted peppers. Shrimp and squid rings in a creamy white sauce. Most controversial of all: Pineapple and ham. Some thought it was an abomination, but Lilith had always enjoyed the tangy-savoury combo. At the moment, it was the only thing that seemed to alleviate the pounding in her temples.

After a refreshing gulp of soda, ice cold and tart—it was Athena's favourite lemon flavour—Lilith felt sufficiently revitalized to spare her attention for something inedible. Seated in a circle, everyone was gorging themselves too, which assuaged her guilt for craving a third slice. Although, beside her, Tigris had hardly made it through one. Her triangle had been picked bare of the pepperoni, but she seemed to delight in simply holding the fried dough in her hand and transporting the circular sausage into her mouth with her fingers.

Licking them, she leaned toward her cousin and whispered, "Imagine if the Grandma'am could see us right now."

Watching Snow, cross-legged in his dapper, deep violet suit, the blazer of which he had long shed, drinking from a can and eating straight out of the box, was more amusing than it should have been. Lilith grabbed another piece off the neglected pineapple-and-ham pie and hid her face behind it as she ate.

At some point, Tigris started to wonder about the interview costumes aloud, initiating a conversation free for all. Perking up from her lethargy, Lilith wiped her fingers off on paper napkins printed with the pizza shop's logo and number and whipped out her cordless from her other thigh pocket, intent on taking notes—she wasn't sure where her bag and notebook were. Soon after, however, Snow cut them off, insisting they stopped working and got home for some rest.