𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚂𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝚁𝙾𝚂𝙴𝚂 | 𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝙾𝚍𝚊𝚒𝚛

𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙴𝙴

The Capitol was in an even bigger frenzy than it usually was as the games approached. Parties ran from sunrise all the way through the night, and Valeria could hardly afford to miss a single one. She wore her most outrageous outfits and daring shoes. One pair almost sent her tumbling into the fountain, and she was forced to slightly tone down her choice of shoes in favor of saving face from embarrassment. 

With the exhaustion seeping into her body before the night even fell, she wasn't sure how one could party so much without losing their mind as many of the Capitol citizens seemed to be doing, but the drinks did get people talking. Most of it was random gossip that gave Valeria some form of entertainment, but every once in a great while she found someone who blabbed something they shouldn't have.

Most of the time it was a harmless comment, but Valeria was like a starving shark hunting for its prey. Just a small drop of blood in the sea of overflowing parties was all she needed to attack. With some compliments and a few more drinks, she found out everything she needed.

Plans in the making and information she didn't have access to kept her focused on why she was at these parties. It seemed that next year's Quarter Quell was going to be quite the entertainment, and she had sworn to the particular gamemaker who spilled its secrets that she wouldn't whisper a word of it to anyone. 

A lie, obviously, but who was he to question her. She was, after all, the president's granddaughter.

It wasn't until the morning of the tributes' parade that Valeria finally found time to escape the parties. She didn't even slip out of her uncomfortably tight fitted dress before passing out on her couch. Not even her nightmares could follow her into her deep slumber as she slept until the sun had started to set beyond the horizon, woken only by the sound of knocking on her door.

Valeria pushed her hair out of her face, ignoring the way her body screamed as she pushed herself off the couch. She shifted uncomfortably in her dress, the itchy material leaving her pale skin with red marks. When she finally made it to the door, she opened it to find nothing but a small box sitting at her doorstep.

Rolling her eyes at her great-aunt's inability to stick around long enough to say hello, she grabbed the box before slamming the door behind her. A tired yawn escaped her lips as she trudged to the kitchen, throwing the box onto the counter before taking a seat. She leaned her head against her hand, feeling herself doze off again before another knock startled her awake.

Releasing a loud groan as she buried her head into her arms, she stayed there for several moments as the person outside her apartment knocked again. Knowing it would continue until she answered, she forced herself back down the long hallway of her apartment as a third knock came.

She threw open the door to find a sheepish boy on the other side, who was unfortunately faced with the wrathful glare of Valeria Snow as she narrowed her eyes at him. He held up the bouquet of white roses in his hands, each one more pristine than the next and Valeria didn't need a message to know who they were from. 

"Your grandfather says-"

"I know what he says," Valeria muttered as she snatched the flowers from his hands, wincing as she felt one of the thorns prick her finger. 

She felt bad has she watched the boy's face drop, a flash fear crossing his eyes as she remembered who her grandfather was.

"Thank you," she gave the boy the most genuine smile she could muster, watching his face morph into confusion as she shut the door.

Her head dropped down to stare at the roses in her hands, wishing nothing but to throw them in the trash and never be forced to look at another hideous rose in her life. Eventually, she shook the thought from her head as she returned to the kitchen, her eyes landing on the vase of slowly wilting flowers. Her grandfather was many things and most of them horrible, but Valeria had to admit he had a certain tenacity around roses that would almost be impressive if she didn't hate them so much.