A Game Of False Fates ✭ Cato Hadley

Five - Love Thy Enemy

4th July 74PD

The train grinds to a halt and Clio watches as her sister jumps to her feet, immediately stationing herself in the window. Ajax joins her and the two of them wave to the hoards of Capitol citizens on the platform. Clio laughs lightly as her sister's eyes widen at the vividity of the multicoloured outfits with matching hair and makeup. Xanthe then enters the train car to fetch her tributes, and her voice drowns out the squeals of delight from outside, as she talks about their pressing schedule - they've got to be upstairs in their room and ready for the District One tributes to join them for their first alliance meeting. Brutus and Enobaria are the first two off of the train, followed by Clove and Ajax who smile at the citizens around them, with Clio and Cato hanging slightly behind their respective tributes as Xanthe herds the six of them into the tribute centre.

The building is exactly the same as last year, twelve floors not including the lobby and they are once again, obviously, located on the second. The ride to the second floor is incredibly short and the door opens into the largest room that the two newest tributes have ever seen. The walls are a slate grey colour, complimenting the gold accents on the furniture and the long, plush, velvet couch.

Xanthe leads the two tributes to their rooms as she tells them about their schedule, "we have twenty minutes before the Ones will be coming upstairs to meet with us. It's our turn to host the alliance meeting but I expect you all to be here and waiting when they arrive. If you would like to change then now would be the time to do so."

Clio walks towards the first room on the left, knowing that this is the room Enobaria slept in last year, knowing that this is the room she wants to claim. Before she can push herself into the entrance, the darker skinned woman places her hands on Clio's shoulders and turns her around, forcing her back out into the hallway. She points down to the smallest room at the end of the corridor and shakes her head. "Absolutely not. You're in there, especially after what you've allowed Clove to do."

Clio drags herself down the hallway, entering into the tightly spaced bedroom. The king sized bed takes up most of the space in the room, sitting in the middle of the room between two dark grey nightstands, each with an elaborate lamp on top. She swerves around the mattress, sliding the glass door of the bathroom to one side, and presses a control panel to release the makeup remover and face wash from the dispensers; quickly wiping away her makeup and re-entering the common area. When she arrives, her sister is already sitting on the couch and she goes to sit next to her before Brutus calls out for her. "Clio! You're on drink duty."

"There's Avoxes for a reason." She complains with a roll of her eyes, but she moves into the kitchen area. Behind the polished counter, two Avoxes act as bartenders, moving gracefully to make various cocktails. She reaches for the pristine, solid silver cocktail shaker as the cold metal gleams under the harsh lighting. I've never made a fucking mocktail before, she complains mentally as she looks over at the variety of juices. As one of the Avoxes guides her hand she drops the shaker at the touch of theirs, leaving them to measure the juices and instead grabbing a few of the bottles from the clear drinks fridge and pouring the water into twelve four-hundred millilitre crystal tumblers. Balancing them on a large circular tray she carries them carefully into the common room and places them on the clear, plexiglass coffee table with a sarcastic smile. "Ta da."

She sits down beside her sister, squeezing into the space in between her and Cato as Ajax enters the room and sits on the other side of the couch before Brutus turns to face his tributes. "When they arrive, answer their questions exactly as they are asked. Offer them as little personal information as possible, they don't need to know anything but the basic building blocks of your skills."

Enobaria nods in agreement as she enters the room having changed and washed off her makeup. "Yes, they're your allies." She preempts Clove's question, watching as the young girl's hand twitches before she places it in her lap again.  "But think about it, you want them dead and they feel the same way about you."