𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚂𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝚁𝙾𝚂𝙴𝚂 | 𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝙾𝚍𝚊𝚒𝚛

𝙾𝙽𝙴

Valeria threw her head back and laughed obnoxiously.

She wasn't amused, not even in the slightest, and she hated the person sitting before her. The last thing she wanted to be was sitting in the crowded room, filled with obnoxious people with even more obnoxious outfits, but she was a master at masking her utter disgust. 

Her acting had gotten better, being able to force a laugh when needed like in that particular moment. She didn't even remember the joke, only that she needed to laugh to make this particular citizen feel better about themselves. For what made one feel on top of the world more than entertaining the president's own granddaughter?

Her mind was fuzzy and her body was exhausted from a night of socializing and faking it for the sake of finding even the tiniest bit of information she could find. The drink in her hand hadn't been sipped from even once all night, no matter how much she desperately wanted to chug down the alcohol to take away the emotional turmoil she always seemed to be in. Doing so would hinder her ability to gather information, so she was forced to refrain herself.

Not that it mattered. She hadn't gained any useful information all night. Annoyed with her shortcomings, she bid goodbye to the group of giggling baboons and made her way back to the table of food. Her growling stomach had reminded her that she hadn't eaten all night, too caught up with playing her part right. One slip up could unravel everything she had worked the past six years for. 

She tried not to shove her face full of the delicacies as she tried to tame her now roaring stomach.

"What a lovely night," Valeria almost rolled her eyes at his impeccable timing as always as she leaned against the turn to face him, the first genuine smile of the night making its way onto her face.

"Indeed," Valeria hummed in agreement as she stared up at the clear sky, a bright moon shining down at the raging party below. "I hear it's supposed to be clear skies all week. So lovely, don't you think?"

She dropped her eyes down to meet the familiar ones of Heavensbee, intelligent and cunning as always as she watched the understanding of her words register in them. She had no intel for him that week.

"It's a shame," Heavenbee commented. "I quite like the rain and snow, don't you?"

"Snow can be quite nice," Valeria nodded her head. "I hear there's a possibility it might snow on reaping day."

"Hmm," Heavensbee nodded his head as if the idea of rain intrigued him. "Well, let us hope for snow then. It was lovely seeing you again, Ms. Snow."

He grabbed her hand, holding it up to kiss it as Valeria tried not to scoff at his theatrics. Heavensbee could be intelligent when he wanted to be, but he also had a flair for the dramatics. When she felt the crinkled paper touch her palm, she felt her body straighten as she realized he was giving her a message.

"You as well," Valeria bid him goodbye to not attract too much suspicion as she slipped the paper into her pocket. She would have to read the note later when there was less eyes watching her, and headed off to continue prying for information. 

By the time Valeria arrived back to her apartment later that night, her body was exhausted and her cheeks hurt from all the fake smiles she wore. She released a long sigh as she reached down to take off her heels, throwing them off to the side as she walked further into her apartment. She entered the kitchen, intent on grabbing a glass of water when her eyes caught sight of the vase of roses sitting on her counter, white as her last name. 

Ignoring the way her stomach dropped and heart began pounding in her chest, she approached the vase and allowed her fingers to shift through them. 

"What a lovely bunch," Valeria commented as she turned around, leaning against the counter as she found her grandfather sitting on her couch.

"I would hope so," Snow replied as he stood onto his feet, making his way over to join her in the kitchen. "I picked them myself."

"Hmm," Valeria nodded as she glanced at the flowers once more, the white roses making her nauseous. "How long have you been waiting? If I had known you were visiting, I wouldn't have gone out tonight."

"No need for pretty little lies to make me feel better," Snow waved his hands as he reached over and picked a rose from the vase, raising it to his nose to smell. "I used to party a lot when I was your age too. I didn't enjoy it much either, but you understand the necessity of it all."

Valeria pursed her lips as her grandfather lowered the rose and glanced in her direction, almost as if daring her to disagree. He wasn't wrong exactly, she did hate going to parties. She thought the citizens of Panem were stupid and frivolous, but she was confident she attended the parties for an entirely different reason than her grandfather did.

Her grandfather thought she was like him, charming to others but a snake underneath the facade. He was right, in a way. What he didn't know was that Valeria Snow wore two masks. One for the Capitol, one for him.

He thought she was out making connections, securing herself for a high position in society like he had done. Only she was attending parties for other reasons, none more important than gathering information for the rebellion. Something her grandfather could never find out, lest she wanted to join her parents in death.

"You remind me so much of myself," Snow commented as he stepped up to Valeria, reaching up and grabbing the ends of her blonde hair. The most prominent feature she shared with her family, the almost white blonde hair that signified she was a true Snow. Her grandfather dropped her hair, lifting his other hand to offer the rose to her. "People forget what we Snows are made of, don't they?"

Valeria felt disgust rise inside her, but she shoved it into the deepest parts of her mind as she grabbed the rose with a smirk.

"Snow lands on top," Valeria watched the look of approval reach his eyes as he nodded his head, as if she had just passed a test he had laid out for her.

"Good. Come, we have much to do."