let it fly | cato hadley

02 | The Rooftop

"Why do I have to talk to 2? What if I wanted to talk to Cashmere and Gloss instead?"

"Because Enobaria and Brutus didn't seem too happy with me when they found their shiny, new victor talking to me at his victory party. Not to mention, they scare me," Celeste joked, recalling the night the District 2 mentors came rushing over once they saw her conversing with Cato.

"Yeah, but I'm sure this year Cato is going to become the new mentor and I'm assuming your conversation didn't go too badly if he didn't run away immediately. Who knows, maybe he has bad taste," Finnick teased, earning a smack in the head from Celeste.

"Haha very funny. Either way, we only spoke three sentences to each other and I've only met the guy once."

"That's three more sentences than I've said to him," Finnick responded, jokingly begging Celeste.

"Fine, but you owe me. And you're talking to 1," Celeste gave in, shivering at the thought of having to talk to Enobaria and her pointy teeth again. Maybe she can avoid her entirely and have the new boy bring it up to her. Either way, she was going to make sure her tributes were kept safe.

-

Cato had no idea what he was getting into when he was told he would be the new male mentor for District 2. Sure, he was fresh off of a victory, but fighting and mentoring are entirely different things.

His tribute, a volunteer named Lucius, was arrogant and refused to listen to him. Though Cato was sure he wasn't much better last year. He saw himself a lot in Lucius; vicious, aggressive, and hungry for a win. And while Cato was sure that Lucius had a good chance of winning, he also knew there was a possibility he wasn't going to make it, and that scared Cato tremendously.

Enobaria wasn't much help. She was cold and had been doing this for years, so she was desensitized to all of the emotions he was feeling right now. All she said when Cato told her his worries was that he needed to suck it up and be strong for his tribute.

So, when he couldn't sleep that night, he made his way up to the roof and sat by the edge to take some time to think. And he stayed there for what felt like hours, so lost in thought he didn't notice someone else approaching.

"You know there's a force field around the building right? No jumping allowed," Celeste half-joked, hoping that if Cato was planning to jump he would be too distracted by her presence to do so.

Thankfully, that didn't seem to be the case as Cato turned around in shock, only to laugh once he realized what was going on.

"Oh, Butterfly, you scared me. Come sit," Cato joked, gesturing for the seat next to him. Celeste quickly complied.

"It's been a while. Hope you didn't miss me too much," Celeste teased, earning a chuckle from Cato.

"Probably not as much as you missed me," he replied with a cheesy grin.

"So, why are you up here so late? couldn't sleep?" Celeste asked, this time sounding a bit more serious. Cato just nodded in response.

"How are you feeling about your first game as a mentor? I know it's still early, but that doesn't make it any easier," Celeste spoke up again, noticing the discomfort on Cato's face.

"Is it my fault if they die in the arena?" Cato responded instead.

"Of course not. It's hard to lose one of your tributes but there's nothing you can do. You could train them as much as possible and get as many sponsors as possible, but that still doesn't always guarantee their safety," Celeste answered back trying her best to meet Cato's eyes.

"Will this ever get any easier?" Cato asked again, keeping his gaze on his hands.

"Honestly, no. It's always going to be hard sending your tributes off to the games knowing that they may not come out alive. But finding a good support system in the other victors will always help. They'll understand what you're feeling," Celeste responded honestly as Cato finally met her eyes.

"What was your first year like?"

"My first tribute was Annie. She was sweet and kind, but she wasn't as skilled as some of the other tributes. I was so worried for her that I didn't sleep or eat at all during her games. Thankfully, there was a shift in the arena and she ended up winning but she was never the same," Celeste answered back with a bitter smile as she remembered Annie's screams of terror from the nightmares.

The roof went silent for a moment as Celeste got lost in thought.

"He's so much like me. Lucius. It's like talking to myself," Cato finally spoke up.

"If he's anything like you maybe he'll win."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then you'll have me to help you through it," Celeste suggested as she placed her hand on top of Cato's, only to pull back once she felt a shock.

The two broke out in laughter at the sudden shock, lightening the mood from the previous serious atmosphere.

"Seems like even your hand thinks there's electricity between us, butterfly," Cato joked, much happier than before. Celeste was glad she was able to help, even if it was by accident. 

"I should be heading to bed," Cato said once their laughter died down and began walking to the door, only to stop midway.

"Thank you." He added before walking out of sight.