WORD COUNT: 2529
×××
"YOU'RE LATE, TANWEN," Coriolanus scolded in a hushed voice, careful to not break the quiet policy within the university library.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry. Medea was whining to me about being partnered with your friend." Kyra rambled out, just as quiet, as she dropped her bag onto the table and began tugging off her black, winter coat. Snowflakes still stuck to her hair like tiny diamonds, contrasting nicely to her black locks and matching her pale skin, a slight crimson to her cheeks from escaping the cold that opposed the blue of her eyes. Even Coriolanus could acknowledge the winter suited her kind of beauty, as if she had been designed to compliment the snow.
"Perhaps you should be more concerned with your assignment, than your friend's. Unless her problems are more important than your grade." Coriolanus critiqued, needing to balance out all the compliments filling his head.
"Oh, Snow, I haven't even sat down yet." She huffed, sounding more like a tired parent than genuinely frustrated by his words, searching through her bag for her notepad and pen. Taking her seat with her equipment in front of her, Kyra finally made strong eye contact with the blond as she stated firmly, "You more than anyone should know nothing is more important to me than my grade."
"Prove it. Tell me some of the ideas you came up with." Coriolanus softened his voice, leaning back into the uncomfortable wooden chair and crossing his arms, sleeves rolled up, over his broad chest, his lean figure still very much there from his time as a Peacekeeper.
Looking over her notes from the night before, Kyra quickly assessed which would be the best to start with, trying to find her strongest idea for him.
"Okay, well, recent developments in The Hunger Games have been trying to turn this into more of a spectacle, right? Like having the victor last year go on tour? We should play into that goal in our presentation. I think we need to implement strategies to make it more of a spectacle before the games actually begin, not just during and after." Kyra began, her voice losing some of its naturally velvet quality as she spoke, getting quick and breathy as Coriolanus noticed it always did when she spoke about one of her passions. He knew she put on that honeyed, femme fatale voice, and he much preferred this more honest version.
"What sort of strategies?" He prompted, analysing her past the blond curls that had fallen over his face.
"Well, um," Kyra searched her page nervously for a prompt, "we could start by making the tributes appear more human."
"More human?" Coriolanus scoffed as if Kyra had just admitted to siding with the rebels. Were these the sort of ideas that had bonded the woman and foolish Sejanus?
"Hear me out! Your friend, Festus, he likes watching dogfights, right? This isn't much different." Kyra explained, quickly holding up her hands defensively, hoping Coriolanus hadn't already mentally checked out. From the intensity of his narrowed eyes as he scrutinised her, she guessed he hadn't.
"We keep them in a cage, don't feed them unless the citizens of the Capitol want to, send them in with any prior injuries. They're starving dogs pushed to death's door and, in premise, this would mean they are more violent. More eager to fight over food and tear each other apart. But we haven't seen that, in any of the past games. Most of them die from starvation or illness, which isn't interesting to watch. They'll only fight if they want to, but why would they fight if they don't think they even have a chance at winning?"
YOU ARE READING
Odi Et Amo | CORIOLANUS SNOW
Romance[CORIOLANUS SNOW X FEM!OC] --- "I loathe her..." --- Coriolanus Snow wasn't cut out for love. He hated how it made him feel: jealous, vulnerable, out of control. If Lucy Gray Baird had taught him anything, it was that he could never let anyone into...
