The Hunger Games - Peeta Mellark (1)

}6{ - Peeta Mellark

She walked around the room eating goose liver and puffy bread until there was a knock on the door.

Pluto calling her to dinner.

Good. She was starving.

Cato, Faunus, and Vita were standing out on a balcony that overlooked the Capitol when she entered the dining room.

She was glad to see the stylists, particularly after she heard that Enobaria would be joining them.

A meal presided over by just Pluto and the two mentors was bound to be a disaster.

Besides, dinner wasn't really about food, it was about planning out strategies, and Faunus and Vita had already proven how valuable they were.

A silent young man dressed in a white tunic offered them all stemmed glasses of wine.

Livia thought about turning it down, but she had never had wine and when would she get a chance to try it again?

She took a sip of the tart, dry liquid and secretly thought it could be improved by a few spoonfuls of honey.

Brutus showed up just as dinner was being served.

Faunus and Vita seemed to have a civilizing effect on Brutus and Pluto.

At least they were addressing each other decently.

While they made small talk, Livia concentrated on the meal.

Mushroom soup, bitter greens with tomatoes the size of peas, rare roast beef sliced as thin as paper, noodles in a green sauce, cheese that melted on your tongue served with sweet blue grapes.

The servers, all young people dressed in white tunics like the one who gave them wine, moved wordlessly to and from the table, keeping the platters and glasses full.

She tried to focus on the talk, which had turned to their interview costumes, when a girl set a gorgeous-looking cake on the table and deftly lit it.

Sparks flew up and showered all around in bright colors.

They ate the cake in celebration and moved into a sitting room to watch the replay of the opening ceremonies that was being broadcast.

A few of the other couples made a nice impression, but 12 seemed to be the most popular.

"Tomorrow morning is the first training session. Meet me for breakfast and I'll tell you exactly how I want you to play it",
Brutus instructed Livia and Cato, "Now go get some sleep while the grown-ups talk."

Livia and Cato walked together down the corridor to their rooms.

When they get to Livia's door, he leant against the frame, not blocking her entrance exactly but insisting she pay attention to him, "You would've made a great wife."

The way the words fell from his lips felt wrong.

The way he simple insinuated that she wouldn't be the one to survive.

A phrase so simple and yet so loaded.

His hand pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and she fought off every instinct that wanted her to burn his finger prints from her skin.