𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐒𝐊𝐔𝐋𝐋 ──
❛ they all said they do
not cower before death,
but when the reaper, the
personification of death
visited their souls, they
always kneeled, praying
and begging for time. ❜
· . ° ✎
the hunger games began in
xvi . iii . m...
AMID BROAD AND THIN LEAVES, dark and light branches, damp soil, and a rushing waterfall, Agate spotted a silhouette that stood tall. The figure had a straight spine that showed capability, yet a hunched set of shoulders that showed defeat. Though the garden was popular amongst the Capitolians, none had the will to drag themselves out in the icy night air and postpone their beauty sleeps.
Alcohol, she smelled the smallest hint of alcohol in the floral house. The conditioning in the garden brought over the reek through branches and skidding past the ochre pathways. Just by that hint, Agate knew who would be tonight's companion.
Her body was tenser than it was before as she approached the man. She patted down the side of her thigh to feel for a circular shape pressed flat on her pants, cloaked by the loose cardigan she wore. Thuds resounded in the empty garden as her covered feet met the bricks, slapping the surface with its padded soles.
Once she arrived by Haymitch's side, she said nothing and gazed at the mesmerizing waterfall. Shame that it isn't real, she thought to herself.
Her arms were propped on the banister, half her weight shifted to the support as she leaned in. The silence lingered for long and so did the stench of alcohol, though it was not as strong as it had been for the past years. Still keeping her eyes trained on the moving water and how the droplets glimmered a little, she nonchalantly asked, "What are you doing here, Abernathy?"
"The same as you," he replied. His gravelly voice was lazy but had a purpose. The purpose was the answer she wanted.
"To scream 'fuck the world' and contemplate human existence?" she asked, then added, "I doubt you have enough live brain cells to do the latter."
"Yeah, sure, whatever."
She raised an eyebrow and huffed out a breath at his peculiar answers, tilting her head as though she was about to shake it. Out of the corner of her eye, Agate caught sight of the man's face turned on her. He continued to stare at the girl and hummed the tunes of Deep in the Meadow loudly, no doubt getting it from his apprentice while she sang to Rue from District Eleven. Haymitch bobbed his head to the rhythm, acting as if he was living in an age where everything was peaceful and all was well.
