❝𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐀❞ ━ TREECH

07. back at the zoo

"Sejanus!" she calls out, immediately raising her arm in greeting when he turns around. She smiles, "What are you doing here?"

The twins eye the backpack he's carrying with wide eyes. Even though they've both packed more than enough, they can't help but feel like they've underpacked seeing how much Sejanus has on him. The backpack is almost about to burst.

"June, Cas!" The surprise on Sejanus' face is evident but she doesn't miss the way he visibly relaxes at the sight of some familiar faces. He comes closer, smiling at the twins.

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about what you said during lunch break today, you know?" Sejanus says. "That the Capitol isn't taking care of the tributes, that they're starving. Ma made plenty of sandwiches for all of them when I told her."

He opens his backpack and Cas can catch two plums at the last second which are spilling right out. "That's kind of her," he says and eyes the backpack's contents. "She really made a lot."

"Ma made extra," Sejanus explains. "I didn't ask her to. She just did."

Of course she did. Junia's eyes soften at the sight of wrapped up sandwiches and plums inside the backpack and she once again understands why Sejanus prefers his mother. After the whole mess with the rigged reaping, even more so.

Still, she raises her eyebrows at the lack of drinks. "How about we split up what we have?" she suggests, glancing at her brother out of the corner of her eyes. "We've brought plenty of water bottles. Care to exchange some for some sandwiches?"

Sejanus smiles.

Not even three minutes later, the contents of their bags have been divided. Even though Sejanus still carries the majority of it in his backpack, each one of them now has water bottles, sandwiches, plums and some other snacks in their respective bag. In fact, Junia is almost a bit overwhelmed by how heavy hers is. Previously it was her brother who had the bottles in his bag and carried them for the both of them.

Junia is taken aback by the amount of people around the monkey enclosure. She doesn't count but it has to be at least around a hundred of them, if not more, gathered around the bars from one side all the way to the other.

And there's the TV crew surrounding Flickerman. Junia sees the weatherman fixing his hair and for a second, they make eye contact. She glances away At the very least, he smells the chance to get the interview he didn't get in the morning.

She quickly averts her gaze, hiding behind her brother and Sejanus as much as she can as they push through the crowd.

There's no way he'll get that interview, she thinks. Not today.

However, when they actually make it to the very front, Junia's mind blanks. Her eyes scan the tributes in the cage who are being gawked at by the Capitol citizens. Now what? She can't just call out for Treech like he's a dog. That wouldn't be right.

She notices Sejanus parting from her and Cas, most likely to find Marcus, and she looks after him in worry. A part of her wishes to follow but she concludes it'll be for the better to let him handle it on his own. Luckily, Sejanus seems to spot Marcus quickly but it isn't hard. With his height, he almost dwarves the other tributes.

Junia lets out a relieved sigh when she spots Treech and Lamina. They're both sitting on a rock not too far away from the bars, their backs turned towards the crowd. And, in the very far back, she spots the District 9 tributes and nudges her brother in the side.