10th July 74PD
The next morning, Xanthe wakes up her tributes at nine a.m. sharp, to serve them a large cooked breakfast of various warmed toasts, servings upon servings of scrambled egg and stacks of smoked bacon; and the four mentors follow shortly after, each filling their plates.
"We're doing interview prep again today." Xanthe reminds them. "You'll both spend some time with me this morning and then I'll hand you off to your mentors to help you fine tune your strategies.
"That's fine with me." Ajax answers her, pushing his fork into the stacks of bacon on his plate. "I can tell you like a schedule, so who do you want to work with first?"
"I was thinking that I would take Clove first." The escort says as she gently sets her own fork down beside her half eaten eggs. "I have to get her used to walking in the heels that her stylist has provided for her, and it will give Juno time to speak to Clio before we start."
"Me?" Clio asks.
Xanthe nods. "Yes she said that she would like to speak to you about a very special dress. She didn't give much else away, you know what she's like, but you'll have to show me these designs afterwards."
Instantly realising what this special dress actually is, Clio rolls her eyes and eats her last forkful of the cinnamon roll on her plate whilst she listens to her sister speak. "Yeah, okay. Do you want me now?"
"Whenever you're ready." The escort affirms, and Clove can be seen quickly finishing her breakfast before announcing she's ready. Xanthe excuses them both from the table and she walks towards the call point and phone fixed into the wall beside the lift. "I'll call Juno for you. Ajax, go and get familiar with your suit, try it on and make sure the shoes are comfortable because you won't be able to take them off for several hours tomorrow."
The four mentors sit themselves down on the couch before Juno enters the suite seconds later, releasing a soft anticipatory breath as she steps out of the lift into the beam of morning light that shines over the top of their heads. Her eyes sparkle with excitement as she hurriedly approached them, cradling a portfolio of sketches underneath one arm. "I've been dreaming about this all year, I've already designed five dresses for you." Juno muses with a smile, placing the sketchbook onto the coffee table.
"In five days?" Clio's eyes widen at the stylist's confession.
"What dresses? For what?" Enobaria's confusion is evident on her face before Juno launches into an explanation of what transpired in the dressing room prior to the tribute parade, causing Clio to place her head in her hands whilst the other mentors look at her like she's grown another.
"Did you propose?" Brutus can be heard whispering into Cato's ear.
The man shakes his head, "I don't think so. Unless I was drunk and I don't remember it, but then I was sober at the reaping so I don't know when this could have happened."
"Clove is going around telling people we're getting married after she wins, and I may have agreed to Juno designing me some dresses if we could just drop the subject. I'm seventeen, I'm not ready to get married yet." Clio explains.
The stylist smiles sweetly as she perches herself on the edge of the couch and opens the portfolio. Enobaria excuses herself, saying something about going to check on how Clove is faring with Xanthe's lesson in walking in heels, and Brutus quickly follows her out of the room, giving a similar reason in relation to Ajax and his suit. They both give Clio a reassuring word of good luck as they pass her, Enobaria squeezing her shoulder lightly before they practically bolt away from the over-enthusiastic stylist.
YOU ARE READING
A Game Of False Fates ✭ Cato Hadley
Fanfiction"Being the sibling of a victor makes you a liability. The gamemakers will make certain that Clove has an interesting games in order to avoid the appearance of any favouritism." "You've got to be shitting me!" Clio's first year as a mentor was alway...
