Nothing Personal

District Nine Interviews

"Taylor Biagotti!" Martina called. Austin squeezed Taylor's hand and winked at her. She smiled and winked back. At least, Martina thought it was that way around. The only way she could tell the difference between them was that Taylor's golden outfit had a skirt, and from what she'd been warned about she wouldn't be surprised if Austin was wearing it instead.

Taylor sat down with a cheery smile, although Martina had seen enough cheery smiles today alone to know that it wasn't a hundred percent genuine. 

"Hello, Taylor!" she said a little too loudly, to make up for the sober atmosphere after Sebastian's 'interview'. Taylor sat very still, staring just over Martina's head.

"Hi, Martina!" chirped a voice from the chairs. It sounded like Taylor's voice, but it didn't come from her mouth. It came from Austin, lounging back in his chair as if it was him being interviewed. He grinned cheekily. Martina decided to ignore it.

"Well, Taylor, how did it feel when Austin's name was called?"

"Not too bad," said Austin, "I mean, I never thought I'd end up out here with my twin brother, but I should have seen it coming. He'd probably have volunteered anyway."

"That's just weird," murmured Martina, as Taylor smiled sweetly. The crowd were starting to recover and were chuckling to themselves.

"So are you close then?" Martina had decided to push on; the twins were deliberately trying to wind her up and she wasn't going to let them. Besides, they seemed to be having fun.

"Inseperable," answered Austin, and Taylor couldn't hide a small giggle as he continued, "I mean, Austin is the ideas guy, and I'm the sucker who always gets in trouble for it."

People actually laughed aloud at this, nudging their neighbours to see what they thought. The ripples of laughter soothed the rest of the crowd and soon everyone was in a good mood again. Austin gave Taylor a thumbs-up as if to say 'keep going'.

Completely baffled, Martina turned to Austin instead. "So, Austin, do you usually speak for your sister then?" she asked, trying to subtly ask him to shut up and failing miserably. This was one of the strangest nights of interviews she'd ever seen and she was going to be glad when it was over. They'd been going less than an hour, not including the hasty break in the middle.

"Oh, no," chirped Taylor, making Martina's head whip around, "Usually I can never get her to shut up. She's just a little bit nervous."

Martina gave up completely. The twins, looking like little golden pixies, were grinning cheekily and the audience were taking to them well. Even the other tributes were snickering, happy to see the boot on the other foot for once. But they were annoying her. Whoever she spoke to, the other would answer.

She asked Taylor whether her and Austin would be sticking together in the Games.

Austin said that was a stupid question.

She asked Austin what he'd felt like when Taylor had volunteered.

Taylor said that he'd felt scared, but also that he really admired her, and he'd always known she was a better person. If this had come from Austin himself it would have caused people to go 'aww' or even cry, but as it came from Taylor it just made people laugh harder. Everyone was familiar with the power struggles between siblings and to see it in such an unusual setting was enough to make even the glummest person chuckle. Austin grinned at her proudly. It was nice to see Taylor come into her own for once, even if it was thanks to him. Besides, she'd got it right.

Martina asked him what he thought of the Capitol. Taylor said that he thought it smelt funny, but was mostly okay. This got them a few more laughs and lightened the mood considerably. Taylor smiled again, running a hand through her golden hair so that it stuck up in stalks, like grain.

"To be fair," she added, speaking for herself for the first time, "I think we've been lucky with the stylists. We were expecting to be dressed up as massive ears of corn or something. But this is really nice." She stroked her dress, enjoying the soft feel under her fingertips. All her clothes at home were practically hessian, rough and itchy, and they had left her with scratches and sores all down her arms. Austin joined in from the back of the stage, "Yeah, we thought they'd go really overboard..."

"But I guess..."

"They thought our personalities..."

"Were big enough."

Martina's headache was starting to return. She'd only just got used to the other one answering the question; she wasn't sure she'd be able to cope with this. The sound at the back of the stage didn't travel so far and from the far reaches of the square it sounded like half of the exchange was missing.

"Can you see what each other is thinking?" she asked. It wasn't just personal curiousity; if they said yes than that would reccomend them to sponsors, and it was such a unique situation that she had to take advantage of it.

"No, of course not!" they both exclaimed at the same time.

"We don't feel each other's pain either..." added Austin.

"And we don't see each other's dreams." Taylor finished.

The crowd decided that this response was meant to prove that they could read each other's minds and whooped accordingly. The buzzer went off to signal the end of Taylor's time; she bounced up, shook Martina's hand and danced back to her chair. Austin smiled and gave her a quick hug. "Well done; let's keep going!" he whispered, his microphone catching it. Martina groaned as quietly as she could. She would bet that their parents were almost glad that they were here.

"So, Austin and Taylor, have you ever been apart?"

Neither of them responded at first; they just looked at each other. Martina was starting to wonder if she was going to have another painful three minutes when eventually Taylor said, "Not for very long. I mean, we have seperate baths!"

Martina laughed shakily. "Well, that's something, I suppose. Can you imagine ever being apart?"

Both of them stopped grinning. Austin's face actually physically dropped and he bit his lip. Everyone who had been muttering comfortably went quiet. "No," he whispered quietly.

Someone in the audience sobbed. People fluttered around to comfort them.

"Oh," said Martina, "Well, that didn't work out very well, did it?"

"I guess not," he responded glumly, "But it doesn't matter what happens to me. Taylor will stay alive, whatever the cost." Taylor dropped her head, her hair falling flat again. I will not cry, she told herself, I will not cry.

"Austin and I love each other more than anything else in the word!" she announced, surprising even herself, "I wasn't thinking properly when I volunteered. Well, I was, because Ellie would never have stood a chance, not without her arms. But she's got sisters; I should have let them volunteer. But I'm glad I didn't because it would have ripped me apart to be sat at home watching Austin and not being able to do a single thing. I'll protect him, whatever it costs me."

"Thanks, sis," murmured Austin, and she stood back up from her chair and crouched behind him, her hand on his shoulder.

The mood had swung dramatically. Not a moment ago everyone was laughing and joking, and now people were in tears, hands pressed together in front of their mouths.

"Just remember!" she carried on, turning to the other tributes, "I got a five. A five. It's not that bad. So if I were you I wouldn't think I can't do it. I won't let Austin die for me." She glared at them all so fiercely that Misty and Pataya shrank back into their chairs.

Martina was totally gobsmacked. There would never be another interview night like it, that was for sure.

"And I won't let you die for me. So that leaves us with a bit of a predicament, doesn't it?" Austin tried to joke, but his voice was so emotional that it was only sad. He put an arm around Taylor's shoulder and both of them stared identically, defiantly, out at the Capitol.

At the back of the square, somebody clapped. Then, like a ripple, it spread, until the whole square and most of the stage was clapping respectfully, saluting the two twins.

They gazed out over it with gleaming eyes.