RAINFALL || [c. snow]

viii. thick of blood

"Last I checked, Dolly hated it when someone else spoke for her," the other mentor glared at him with the same intensity. "So if she could kindly give me her own–"

"Last time I checked, she hated it when someone else spoke as if they knew her," he retorted. There was something about his tone that hinted at anger– though Dolores couldn't quite place why. Well, she couldn't even fathom why he was helping her anyway. Right, he owes me, she reminded herself, feeling a strange sense of disappointment at the thought. Don't tell me you expected another reason?

"A 'no' is a 'no', Felix," Dolores said at last. With her breath hitched, she carefully stepped away from Coriolanus, willing the red on her cheeks to not show.

Felix's ears were starting to redden with rage. His eyes were now unkind and dark, "So you would step into that disgusting cage filled with those savages and not even spare a minute for me? They are dirty, mannerless animals, Dolly– animals!" His voice rose with each syllable he uttered, until the crowd had turned their attention towards them. "Your pathetic little tribute is not going to last a second in that arena! Even if my tribute is useless and broken, the others will crush his face on that pavement and laugh as a little nobody like him bleeds out! And him," his eyes flashed at Coriolanus, "You would rather–"

Before she knew it, her hand had already moved. It stung from the impact but she ignored it. Fury scorched her veins. Dolores watched as Coriolanus's eyes widened in shock, seeing what she had done. She had slapped the president's grandnephew across the face. And she did not feel even a tinge of remorse from her actions.

"Dolly–" Felix Ravinstill tried to reach towards her only for his hand to be slapped away as well.

"Don't touch me," she sneered. It was taking all of her self-control, whatever she had left, to refrain from lunging at him. Oh how she would enjoy smearing his face across the pavement like he threatened to do with Otto– Dolores willed herself to calm down, turning on her heel and storming off the other way.

"Imber–" Coriolanus tried next, following right behind her. His voice was gentle. So stupidly gentle that it made her want to falter. "He's the president's–"

"He deserved it!" Her voice cracked as she whirled around, staring him in the eyes. He had also insulted Coriolanus, did he not care about his own name at all? This wasn't like him, to remain so composed while his name was sullied. I didn't do it for him, I did it because he insulted Otto, she repeated in her head, trying to accept a twist of the blatant truth.

The silver-blonde mentor stumbled back when he saw the storm of emotions in her eyes, "Calm down, Imber. You're being completely irrational right now. Even if I'd love nothing more than to see him getting beat–"

She shut him up with one sharp glare. Her head stung from a headache. The rational half of her mind told her to run back and apologize before he ran to his grand-uncle in a fit of tears but the other, the one currently dominating her consciousness, beamed at the sight of his suffering. That was the part of her brain that hurt as Coriolanus defended him. You shouldn't care, Dolores scolded herself, You shouldn't care at all, Dolly. But the stupid thing was, she did. Coriolanus only made her feel worse with each word he said. "If you think I'd ever apologize, you are wrong, Snow."

"Oh I know you well enough to know that, Imber."

"It's horrendous! All of it!" She lashed out when they were finally at a certain distance away from the enclosure where there was finally no audience. She plopped down on one of the steps facing the zoo, letting her anger cool. Dolores sat in silence for half a second, her eyes settled on Otto, who was staring at his hands clearly lost in thought or occasionally murmuring words of comfort to his District partner.