ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴇʟᴏᴅʏ ᴏꜰ ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛʜᴇᴀʀᴛꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱɴᴏᴡꜰᴀʟʟ

𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗

The next few weeks were a blur of black and tears and sorrowful laughter.

Hands clenched tightly around white roses, fists pounding on chests, tears flowing endlessly down cheeks. 

Perhaps the one who hurt most of all was Lucy Gray. 

After all, she had just lost both her first love and her first parent. Loss and betrayal clouded judgement, and she collapsed in on herself, refusing the urge to sing, and the Coveys fell with her. 

He watched Maude trudge through the door of the bakery, hands caked with flour, extended arms as Yarrow offered her extra pastries as their condolences. 

Coriolanus wasn't sure how long he could keep that up. The districts, according to Sejanus, had begun to fall into financial despair as the Hunger Games continued to approach. It had once been the most anticipated moment of his life - the time when he could finally prove himself to all of Panem, and most importantly, his family. 

Yet, all of that hope had washed away with the Coveys' singing voices. His heart, which hadn't thumped in his chest since the night his mother died, rabbited back and forth against his ribcage, a clear sign that something about the District 12 was reigniting his patriotism for the nation he had tried to hard to be good for. 

Sejanus wrote often, almost every other day, though he suspected that he was filling in for the missing Clemensia. Though his two "friends" had seen him off at the trian station, and Sejanus' letters were any indication of the problems occurring back home, he knew that something had whisked Clemensia into sadness. 

It seemed as though there was a lot of that going around. 

"If I could help them," Sessile whispered, tears freshly brewing in her eyes, "I would, but I-"

Maude left, the jingle of the bell tinkling sadly.

Yarrow tugged her closer, her hands shaking as they came to rest on her stomach. 

"You're doing what you can for you, my love. I know the Coveys. They're strong. They'll pull through. But the doctor said-"

"I know what the doctor said," Sessile said bitterly, "it just doesn't seem fair that I have to distance myself while they're hurting. When they need me." 

"If I may?" Coriolanus spoke gently, so as not to irritate the already fretting woman. 

Sessile nodded softly.

"I know it's hard that to be away from your family, but the more you focus on yourself, the better your pregnancy will go. And to give birth in the loss of a life is the greatest gift you could possibly give them," he advised, "and it might just lift them from their dampened spirits." 

"You know for a city slicker," Yarrow chuckled, "you know mighty well how to comfort a wailing woman." 

Coriolanus' smile weakened for a split second, hands clenching around the counter, but it quickly brightened once more into the blinding smile that his peers had become so accustomed to seeing. 

"My cousin was always sort of the wailing type." 

"You have close family back in District 2?" Sessile asked, intrigued. 

He had barely spoken about his life prior to moving here under the guise of a simple weaponist here to watch over the coal mines deep into District 12. And now that the only person he had ever really told about his "backstory" was dead, he had creative freedom to really just make up whatever he wanted. 

"I- yes." he silently cursed himself. He had promised himself that he wouldn't bring up any mention of his exile from Panem or his family. 

It was safer that way.

"I have a cousin. Her name is Tigris. She was... She is the only thing keeping me sane. Keeping me believing in the goodness of Panem. She's probably the only reason I don't burn the whole capital down." 

Yarrow whistled.

"That's some backstory, Snow." he chortled, "but I can appreciate a little family wellness." 

Though he detested the slums of District 12, he had come to appreciate the openness of the people. 

Panem was rigid, fragile. If anyone were to break the social norms, it would have been hysteria and catastrophe and shock all rolled into one. There, he had to be the best. There was no other possible way to go around it. 

If he wasn't the best, he might as well have been a Tribute. 

But here, he could slouch his shoulders while sitting at the counter, laugh loudly when someone told a funny joke.

He was free to let go. 

Coriolanus stood from the bar stool, reaching out to grasp the basket handle that Yarrow was packing as a gift to the Dayvales, the family adjacent to the Covey's house in the Seam, a backstreet neighborhood where some of the poorest families lived.

"I was gonna do it, Mr. Snow," Sessile shook her head, trying to pill the basket from him. 

"You need to rest. You've been up since dawn." he insisted, though he admitted that he wouldn't have wanted to if he didn't feel so inclined to talk to Lucy Gray. 

Sessile reluctantly agreed, a pulled away from the basket to grab him a lightweight cloak that would keep him safe from the blistering sun.

"Have ya apologized yet?" Yarrow asked, kneading the dough for a roll of bread he had prepped to put in the oven. 

"Planning on it," Coryo murmured, fidgeting with the woven basket, "haven't found the right moment." 

Yarrow's gaze softened. 

"Time isn't an apology, Coriolanus. Ya can't keep waiting and putting it off. Besides, maybe an apology is what she needs right abou' now. I mean her mother-figure just passed away, and her boyfriend just broke her heart." 

Coriolanus nodded softly, hands clenched tighter around the basket. Sessile returned with open arms, the cloak draped over them, and he took it gently, clasping it around his neck as he pulled the green hood over his head. He wished that he had the pleasure of experiencing the company of a couple such as Yarrow and Sessile. 

He often had such a difficult time spending his days around couples as it became awkward because he had never really felt that way for anyone. Though the bakers were lovey-dovey, it never seemed to bother him as much as it might have in the Capital. 

They were warm, welcoming. 

Friendly. 

Something he hadn't experienced in a long time. 

He smiled. 

"Wish me luck."

---

a/n: welcome back!! 

coryo's back, back again. 

anywaysss isn't he doing great. look what district 12 is doin' to him. he's flourishing so much!! hopefully lucy gray gets to talk to him (aka some angst within the next few chapterss)

the next chapter will pick up where clemensia and sejanus' storyline ended, so look forward to that!

- angel