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･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.
It felt strange to be so dolled up again. Every year she was made pretty before any camera could come near her, but to be in tribute attire again was different. The clothes were heavy and ugly and her skin was tingling from the many products they'd smeared on her. While it was strange, it was familiar, and the same fear she'd felt all those years ago slowly seeped back into her.
Odette was finally finished and brought to Woof, who was almost wearing the same outfit, the only difference were the pants. "Looking good," he said with a grin as they began the short trek to the chariots. "Are you ready?"
She would never be ready. She wasn't ready the first time, and even now, slightly more prepared and a little braver, all she wanted was to stay hidden. "Yes," she said anyway, and started walking.
Despite how odd it all felt, the place was still the same. The horses and chariots were the same ones she'd set Miles on a year ago. The people in there had all stood there once before. Nothing had really changed, and yet everything had.
There was one thing that was exactly the same as the year before, though. Without meaning to, she was searching the crowd for one particular woman, excitement snaking between the nerves in her stomach. It didn't take her long to spot her. Johanna was standing off the side with her arms crossed. Finnick was talking to her. Finnick. She hadn't even thought about him. The way he was dressed, Odette could only assume he was a tribute rather than a mentor. Her heart sank at the realization.
How many more people she cared for would she find dressed up, ready to enter the hunger games again? She neared the duo, finally feeling Johanna's attention on her. When she was just a few steps away, Finnick turned around as well. He looked significantly less sullen than the women, an easy grin spreading over his lips. "Ah, now I get it," he glanced between them. "I'll give you two a moment."
"Wait," Odette said when she found her voice again. "I'm really sorry you're here again."
He didn't stop walking, just looked at her over his shoulder. "It's not your fault," and he was out of earshot before she could say anything else.
Not that there was much to say at all. Even before Johanna, she found it difficult to find her words, though perhaps for other reasons. Johanna looked like she always did with makeup on. Angry, uncomfortable. It was a strange relief. "What, I don't get an 'I'm so sorry, you're the most wonderful person I know, and you don't deserve to be here, let's run away together'?"
Odette laughed so suddenly she tried to hide the sound with her hand. At least Johanna hadn't lost herself in the stream of terrible news. "Do I have to state the obvious?" Johanna's mouth twitched into a smile, and had Odette not known her as she did, she wouldn't have noticed the change in her posture. She seemed to relax a little, or perhaps she was more at ease now that she had someone to talk to, or perhaps it was just nice to have the ice broken. Whatever the cause, Odette liked to see it. Things may have changed, but they were still the same people. "You look nice."
