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Hebe's night sleep was restless, but without the usual plague of nightmares. She was glad. She wasn't sure she'd get over the humiliation of her tributes hearing her screaming and crying through the walls of the train.

Ambrosia came to wake her up earlier than usual, chirping something about setting a good example for her tributes. She didn't resist, clambering out of her bed and rummaging through her closet to find something 'suitable' to wear. After all, what would the Capitol do if she wore the same outfit more than once?!

Finnick wasn't there yet when Hebe got to the dining car, and she was glad for it, content to sit in silence and wait for Victor and Annie to get there.

The only thing she could bear to think about were strategies for the games. Hebe figured that the more she thought about it, the more likely she was to come up with something brilliant. But, as of the moment, she had no real clue.

Allies shouldn't be a problem for them at least. While Victor may not be keen on her sister, tributes from 4 were pretty much locked into the career pack from the get go. Hebe of course had been an exception to this rule, but Annie had no reason not to ally with 1 and 2.

The main worry for her was revealing their connection. Yes, it would guarantee sponsors, and secure Annie as a favourite to win. But, the other tributes would be increasingly wary of her because of it, and the careers were prone to turning on their allies, as Hebe could testify herself.

There was one thing she could reassure herself of, and that was that she wouldn't have to do much work with her tributes today. They would spend most of the day with their prep teams, meanwhile Hebe and Finnick would be at a Capitol party sniffing out sponsors.

She just prayed that Estella had come up with a good design for once in her life. At least district 4 wasn't too difficult to design for, as there are hundreds of designs you can make to do with 'the ocean'. Hopefully their parade outfit wouldn't be as atrocious as the one she'd worn for her victory tour in district 3. She hardly thought the Capitol would be intrigued by a pair of twin lampshades.

Finnick strode into the room only a few minutes after Hebe had arrived. She shot him a quick smile as he sat down next to her, and he thankfully returned it.

"Morning."

"Morning. Um, did you have a good night's sleep?"

Hebe immediately kicked herself for asking such a dumb question. What victor ever slept well? All of a sudden she had a strange knack for making awkward situations with Finnick even worse.

Luckily he didn't seem irritated by it, shrugging, "It was alright. Better than usual."

"Have you seen Ambrosia?"

"Yeah, just passed her in the corridor. She's on her way to wake them up."

Hebe nodded, taking a deep breath to prepare herself. Almost like she was setting herself back into 'mentor mode'.

Only moments later, Annie and Victor arrived, Ambrosia following behind them, wearing a garish emerald green outfit.

As soon as the escort landed in her chair she began babbling about the itinerary for the day.

"... And then your stylists will take you to the chariots and it'll be time for the parade! Of course, we'll be there to discuss things before you actually go on the parade, but until then, Hebe, Finnick, any advice?"

Hebe quickly jumped in, remembering the speech Finnick had given her, "Let your prep teams do what they need to do, you may not understand it, but they know what they're doing and they want to help as best they can."

Calm Before The Storm {Finnick Odair}Where stories live. Discover now