Aftersun 𖤓 peeta mellark

vi. socrates' reward

Outside the tribute building, Snow's personal driver was waiting. He scrambles out of the car to open the backdoor for Avonlea, not expecting her to be there so soon, before he gets back in his seat and drives off in the direction of the Presidential Palace.

On arrival, two peacekeepers escorted Avonlea inside the mansion and led her towards the dining room, as if she hadn't walked through those large, cold hallways hundreds of times before. Snow and his guest were already enjoying a drink as she entered the room, while the special guest for the evening stands up and reaches for her hand to give it a kiss, Snow stays seated.

"Avonlea this is my dear friend Socrates. This year he worked very hard on coordinating the victory tour and his one and only dream was to meet you. Now you both know i'm a good man, I couldn't help but fulfil his wish" Snow chuckles as he gestures for the seat beside Socrates. Avonlea sits down beside the man and on cue, three butlers come out with a dish for them each.

Avonlea had long since worked out that Snow purposely served seafood whenever he invited her to dinner yet it never failed to get on her nerves. As if he knew this, Snow kept a close eye on her as the butlers unveiled the dish for the night, waiting to see the slight change in her demeanour.

"Avonlea has actually volunteered to be a mentor this year for an outlying district. It was very hard to get hold of her but i'm a man of my word" Snow boasts, eating a single scallop from his plate then sitting back.

"I'm very grateful for this opportunity Coriolanus, i've been admiring Avonlea from afar since she was crowned victor" Socrates smiles, directing his expression towards Avonlea. In an attempt to not seem rude, she returns the gesture while refusing to eat a single thing from her plate.

Socrates was too excited by his once in a lifetime opportunity to realise neither Snow or Avonlea were eating as he was and instead were engaged in a tense staring competition from across the table.

"So Avonlea, how has your visit to the Capitol been?" Socrates asks. When she notices his watching eyes, she fixes her posture and plasters a smile on her face.

"Amazing as usual. President Snow and the rest of the residents never fail to make me feel at home here. This time around Snow surprised me with a room makeover. It reminds me so much of district four and I absolutely love it, I couldn't be more grateful" Avonlea smiles, putting on the fakest voice of sincerity. 

"You'll love my place then. After you won your games I renovated my entire house to match the district four aesthetic! The navy blues and wooden furniture are so tasteful" Socrates fawns. It took all of Avonlea's willpower to not throw her plate across the table and storm out of the room. She desires to be as oblivious and ignorant as the Capitol residents sometimes, her life would be so much simpler if she could just ignore the struggle and suffering of her district and just focus on the "aesthetic" as Socrates referred to it as.

"You should take Avonlea there for a tour, i'm sure she'd love to see your take on the style. In fact, i'll get my driver to take you there now" Snow suggests. This is it, Avonlea mentally prepares herself, the moment Snow leaves them alone.

Snow makes a call from the phone hanging in his dining room and within minutes two peacekeepers arrive at the door to escort them out. Avonlea could've dropped to her knees, begging Snow not to make her go, she could've ran past the peacekeepers and escaped the mansion, she could've refused to leave her seat, there were three knives on the table for gods sake she could've stabbed someone. But no, Avonlea got out of her seat without a protest and followed the peacekeepers out to the car.

The car ride to Socrates' apartment was filled with his attempts to cozy up to Avonlea by rubbing the back of his hand up and down her arm and playing with her hair. She made a point of mentioning that she was only sixteen before they arrived and anything went down to which his only response was "I know. We can take things slow if you need".