Liville struggled writing down her proposals for Dr. Gaul. They were due tomorrow morning, yet she had barely come up with four strong ideas. Coriolanus suggested they both have at least ten.
This was all Coriolanus's fault, she groaned to herself whenever she was overwhelmed with stress. He'd stuck her with this task that she had to present to one of the smartest people in Panem. If she made one, single mistake, she'd be humiliated.
On top of all that, she had to worry about Lucy Gray and Jessup getting fed and taken care of.
Every evening she worked on strategies to help them win the Hunger Games, every night she brainstormed ideas for Dr. Gaul, and every morning she rushed to make sure she had all the supplies her tributes needed for the day ahead.
Tributes. Plural. She took just as much responsibility for Lucy Gray as she did for Jessup.
That next morning, she gathered water and food, and packed it away in her school bag.
Sejanus asked her to walk to school again that morning. She let out a sigh as she laced up her shoes. She was so lazy today, because she'd been up late last night working on her project, and she wished he'd just call the driver.
At least it wasn't snowing when they left the house. Sejanus walked next to her. He took her hand in his. And she didn't stop him. But she forgot her gloves that morning, and she wished she could keep her hands in her pockets.
"I noticed you and Coriolanus have been speaking of your project a lot in class," Sejanus mentioned to her.
Liville became nervous. She didn't know where he was going with this.
She never asked Sejanus if she could stay at school late to work with Coriolanus. She felt it was too inappropriate to ask of him. But she couldn't just pretend the project didn't exist. Liville only ever spoke of the project at school, and at the Plinth's house she'd work on it in her room. She tried to keep him out of it the best she could. Couldn't he see that?
"You've been...rushing to talk about it," Sejanus commented. "The last to leave the classroom sometimes."
She cleared her throat, still nervous. She couldn't tell if he was scolding her or not. "Yes. Just trying to collaborate while we can. It's due tomorrow morning."
Sejanus slowly nodded.
Was that it, she wondered. Had that been all he wanted to say?
No, he was going to say more, she saw him thinking of how to word himself. She saw it in his tense eyes.
Sejanus slowed to a stop. When she noticed, she stopped beside him. He was grateful that she did.
He cautiously brought up, "...I am proud of you, Liville. I know you don't...believe I am. But I am. It's very impressive you have a meeting with Dr. Gaul. Unbelievably impressive."
She waited for him to say 'but...'
It never came.
Instead, Sejanus continued, "I think we should have Coriolanus over for dinner tonight. So you two can properly finish your project."
Her eyes widened. "Really?"
"I want you to do your best," Sejanus said. "Because...I trust you. And I don't want you to think I don't."
She became uneasy again. He trusted her with what? With...Coriolanus? "You trust me?"
"With how you go about this project. If anyone is going to have any input on the games, it should be you."
She relaxed, and let out a grateful, "Thank you, Sejanus."
"You're the smartest woman I've ever met," he suddenly told her. "And...if this is the way you want to show your brain to the rest of the world, I'll support you through it."
