𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀 | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬

𝟎𝟔. 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞

— 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐮𝐬 —

━━━━━━ ☽【❖】☾ ━━━━━━

"Have you seen Atticus?" I asked, entering the common space where Rena was glaring at the television.

"Her name is Juneaux, if you were wondering," Rena replied, completely ignoring my question as she finally glanced in my direction, almost accusingly. "The district nine bitch... I saw the way you were staring."

"You were the one staring," I corrected. "I could feel the hate bristling from your shoulders."

"It was our moment!" she snapped. "We were warriors unfazed by battle, then she rides out like—you know what they're comparing her to?"

She rewound the recorded ceremony, finally playing when Flickerman and Templesmith flashed onto the screen. They made a few jokes here and there, commenting on each costume—some more favorably than others.

"And would you look at that!" Caesar exclaimed as the cameras zoomed in on district two. "A wolf and a viper: what a deadly duo."

"I certainly wouldn't want to be the ones facing them," Claudius agreed.

She sped the recording up, pausing on the moment where district nine came in to view. She seethed, set her jaw, then pressed play before crossing her arms as she leaned back in her chair.

"And here comes district nine," Caesar announced. "It looks like their stylists took a more antique approach to these costumes."

"They do appear far simpler than any of the previous years," Claudius agreed. "It certainly makes you question how much work these stylists—"

"Would you look at that!" Caesar interrupted with a gasp as Juneaux's skirt waved in the wind. "It's like she's arrived from the heavens. Ethereal! I tell you, that's what she is: a goddess."

"And don't forget that guardian Angel by her side," Claudius pointed out. "Would you look at the detail-work—"

Rena paused the program again then looked at me expectantly. "A goddess. They're calling her a goddess!"

"It's just a title." I rolled my eyes. "It doesn't actually mean anything."

"A goddess is immortal," Rena contradicted. "By that comparison, she'll win the public's favor for sure."

"Then we kill her first," I suggested. "They'll quickly forget about her and move on to the next tribute."

Rena grinned at the thought, throwing her hair back over her shoulder as she rewound the tape again to watch her own entrance.

"But maybe you should focus on improving your own favor with the crowd if it bothers you that much," I retorted. "Now, do you know where Atticus is?"

She lifted a hand over her head, pointing over the opposite shoulder toward the next room while never taking her eyes away from the television. I rolled my own eyes, then entered the room with a short knock.

"Atticus?"

Looking at his own reflection, combing the few silver streaks in his hair, Atticus nodded his head and ushered me inside. Only once I had taken a seat at the desk across from him, did he look away from the mirror on the wall. "What can I do for you, kid?"