FAILURE TO COMPLY ┃ f. odair

5.15 snow

In the days following Snow's surrender, Calypso's skin started to turn red from how often and how long she spent scrubbing at it in the shower. She and Finnick had been given temporary residence in the mansion to rest and recuperate from the war. It was much needed, but still she could not bring herself to have a whole night's sleep.

Getting out of the shower early in the morning, she ran her hands through her long, soggy hair and stepped in front of the mirror. Her blonde roots were truly beginning to show now, and she still had bags under her eyes and slightly hollow cheeks from her months of torture in the Capitol.

Leaning down to the sink, she splashed fresh, cold water on her face. When she looked back up, she saw a face staring back at her that was dripping with rich red blood, not a patch of skin uncoated. She closed her eyes with a sharp breath, then a steadier one. Without looking in the mirror again, Calypso opened her eyes and left the bathroom.

She left their bedroom only after placing a gentle kiss to a sleeping Finnick's forehead. It had been a difficult night for him, waking up a few times with nightmares, muttering Monica's name in his sleep in a panicked voice. When he'd awoken after that, with Calypso holding him so tight, he'd emotionally admitted that his cousin-in-law had become his best friend.

For several days, Calypso had woken far too early or simply not slept at all, and taken to wandering the halls of the vast mansion. Today, she circled around Snow's private study, then his more open office where he filmed his official announcements from. She went into the gardens, and then the conservatory, where she found a familiar face.

"Johanna?" she spoke, making the other woman turn and smirk. Calypso laughed lightly and pulled her friend into a tight hug. "I'm so glad to see you. I didn't realise you were coming."

"You really think I'd miss the chance to watch Snow die and then spit on his grave?" she clapped back jokingly, returning the hug with just as much enthusiasm. There was more life within her now than Calypso had seen since long before the Quarter Quell. "Besides, Coin asked me and all the other victors here for some kind of meeting today. Hell of a honeymoon for you, huh?"

"Yeah," Calypso laughed nervously. In truth, she hated being in the mansion. It felt like unearned luxury, the kind that was not meant for anyone at all. "Though, Finnick and I have been talking about our actual honeymoon. We're thinking about just going back to Four. Making a home for ourselves in Victor's Village. You know, something a little more permanent than the back and forth we used to do to the Capitol."

"Sounds nice," Johanna hummed. "Sounds quaint. Though I suppose you both deserve the peace."

"What are you gonna do?" Calypso asked. "You know, if you don't have any plans, you could always come with us."

"And third wheel the Odairs? I'd sooner go back into my torture chamber."

"Well, no," Calypso huffed at the dramatic reply she'd gotten. "Annie's going back to. Maybe you could live with her. Get a cat or something."

"A cat? Really?"

"Yeah. I know you. You're definitely a cat person."

Johanna scoffed and shook her head. She had no idea what she was going to do, whether the plan was to go home to Ten, stay in the Capitol or find somewhere else entirely. Being with friends didn't sound like such a bad idea, but she'd always been the kind of person to face things alone.

And she definitely didn't want a cat.

"No, thank you."

-

It had been a long time since so many victors had been gathered in the same room. The last time would've been the night before the Quarter Quell, when the tributes turned victors turned tributes again all joined hands in a show of unity President Snow should have taken as a very serious warning. Now, so very few remained, only those that were here now, and only one who had not been an active participant in the rebellion. Enobaria. She'd not exactly been an enemy to the Capitol, but she hadn't been an ally either. Calypso heard she'd been under 'house arrest' in an apartment in the city. A prisoner, but not quite in a prison.