𝐒𝐀𝐅𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃, coriolanus snow

𝟬𝟬𝟵. may they be in your favour

╭── ✿ ❀ ღღ ✿ ❀ ──╮
009. may they be in your favour
╰── ❀ ✿ ღღ ❀ ✿ ──╯

coriolanus couldn't remember anything from after the explosion. he eventually came to in the capitol's hospital, felling tigris holding his hand. for a while, all he could do was lay there, not sure how he got to the hospital. then he remembered gracie may helping him up, saving him instead of running "is rose okay?" he asked with a rough voice, startling sejanus and tigris who hadn't realised he was awake.

"coryo!" tigris smiled, glad her cousin was awake.

instead of acknowledging either of them, coriolanus asked his question again, with slightly more concern "is rose okay?" he tried sitting up, sejanus moving to push him back down on the bed.

"rose?" she frowned, not knowing who he was referring to.

"gracie may" he sighed, correcting himself internally, though frustrated (for some reason) that not everyone knew that gracie may loved roses "is gracie may okay?"

"she's alive" sejanus spoke up, smiling at the emotion his friend was showing.

"but is she okay?" the blonde stressed, needing the answer to be yes.

"i... i think so, coryo" tigris smiled gently, casting a glance towards sejanus who was thinking the same as her. coriolanus was acting different... nicer "you're going to have to ask her that one yourself"

"what happened?" he asked, his eyes immediately getting drawn to the television in the room. the interviews.

"it was a rebel bombing" tigris replied, still holding his hand tight. "they must have been planning it for months, four tributes were killed. everyone's terrified, coryo, people are locking themselves inside their houses-" the woman continued with the information but coryo couldn't concentrate. he was trying to decipher weather gracie may had done her interview yet.

he only got pulled back into reality when he heard "-he has a better chance out there than he would tomorrow" from his cousin.

"tomorrow?" he thought to himself, the realisation coming to him that they would only still be doing the interviews if they were still doing the hunger games "they're not still going ahead with the games? gracie may is- she's still there but she didn't have to be, she didn't, she could've run" he rambled before looking up at sejanus with wide eyes. "you- you're right"

"what?" the man almost laughed. there was no possible way coriolanus had agreed with him.

"you're right. the games- they're wrong. gracie can't be in the games. it's not fair" he shook his head almost frantically.

"i know that, coryo"

"no, you don't understand" he insisted "it's gracie. i cant lose gracie. she's-" he got cut off by the voice of lucky flickerman sounding through the speakers behind his friend.

"and now our final tribute. i first met this young lady in the zoo not too long ago... from district twelve... gracie may harp!" he announced, making coryo sit up and focus all his attention on the screen as the crowd of capitol citizens clapped. gracie may walked onto the stage, a guitar in hand and a grin on her face. it looked genuine but her mentor could see the hint of fear in her eyes.

"good evening, it's nice to see you again, mr flickerman"

"oh please, call me lucky"

"i do hope everyone likes my singing" she smiled, getting cheers in response "oh and if you wouldn't at all mind giving any donations you may be compelled to send to wovey from district eight instead a' me, thank you folks" she curtsied slightly, leaving out jessup as she knew his donations were relatively high already.

"is it romantic how all my elegies eulogize me, i'm not cut out for all these cynical clones, these hunters with old bones" she sang, the donation numbers slowly beginning to rise. gracie may was unaware of the fact that coryo was watching her through the television, smiling at her song "take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die, i don't belong, and my beloved, neither do you"

gracie may was enjoying her chance to sing (even though it was in front of the capitol), feeling rather bittersweet about the sentiment. if the song was going to be the last one she ever sung, she'd be glad it was the one her and lucy gray wrote together "those windermere peaks look like a perfect place to cry, i'm setting off, but not without my muse"

a few miles away in the hospital, coriolanus was quietly watching gracie may sing. he'd come to the conclusion that her singing was why he'd woken up, just in time to hear her pretty voice. he was also certain that gracie may knew he was listening, she had to, he didn't want her thinking he'd missed it.

"what should be over burrowed under my skin, in heart-stopping waves of hurt, i've come too far to watch some simple subtle tease, tell me what are my words worth" gracie strummed the guitar she was given, willing herself to get through the song without completely breaking down into tears. it was hitting her how she would be dead before the next full moon. her and lucy gray loved watching the moon "take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die, i don't belong, and my beloved, neither do you, those windermere peaks look like a perfect place to cry i'm setting off, but not without my muse, no, not without you"

gracie may presented a false smile to the crowds as they applauded her song, noticing how some (though not many) donations on wovey's behalf were rising. "ding, ding, ding. look at that!" lucky drew her attention to her donations, watching as they increased quickly. "record high for the evening, the capitol is definitely watching" he smiled into the microphone "people sending in donations. see what happens when you do stuff?" he rhetorically asked the other tributes.

"hmm" gracie hummed, caught up in her own thoughts.

"now i don't love your odds, but may they be in your favor"

───── authors note !
hi loves! i'm so sorry, i completely forgot about this book until a lovely person commented that they'd binged it all and liked it 🤭
i was like 'what book is this?' and then remember it existed.
also sorry for the short-ish chapter but the games are next and... yeah it's gonna be sad 😭
one last thing, i changed some of the lyrics of the lakes cause they didn't really fit the time like 'cell phones' and 'sleaze' but i hope i did okay <3
anyways, love you and if u want u could read my tim bradford book because i'm slightly more active with that one
please comment and vote, hope you liked the chapter, byeeee 💞