Nothing Personal

District One Interviews

Amber was fluttering her incredible eyelashes at the camera, but he didn't hear a word that she was saying. It was strange; in front of the whole crowd she looked small and insignificant. That meant he would look small and insignificant too. He chose to focus on the image on the big screen instead. That was more like what he was used to.

"...actually, I'm rather disappointed; I thought I'd have deserved at least an eleven!" A bubble of laughter drifted over the crowd. Martina laughed louder, sensing the need to indulge Amber's confidence. "I'm sure you did, honey," she purred, noting that the stopwatch was nearing the three minute mark, "I'm sorry to have to stop you when we're all enjoying listening to you, but time is nearly up! So ladies and gentlemen let's give it up for Amber; hasn't she been wonderful?"

She didn't need to ask. The crowd were already cheering and hooting. Amber gave them a huge grin and stood gracefully, waving again. Heels sparkling with silver and with enough height to rival Martina's poked out from under her dress. The crowd admired her dress again, the way the satin clung to her shape and the colour both clashed with and complimented her dull red hair and her pale colouring. Again, she'd sprinkled her updo with glitter dust. With a final smooth wink, she slunk back to her seat. Dark watched her every step of the way.

"And now it's time for our next tribute; Dark Mousy!" Martina dragged the name out for a bit more drama. Dark smiled smugly at the floor and straightened his tie, glancing sideways at Amber to let her know that he could play her game too. She winked at him again.

"Dark, honey, come over here and chat!" called Martina. He winked back at Amber, taking her pleasantly by surprise, and strode over, his hand shoved into the pockets of his blazer. He was fairly certain that the stylists had designed his outfit based on his name alone and hadn't bothered to consult Amber's; everything about it was dark purple. Except his shirt, which was crisp, fresh white and smelt vaguely of vanilla. His purple hair was in its normal style, flopping in random strands in front of his face and flicking out around his ears. The stylists had been delighted to see how industriously he maintained the colour, though they'd insisted in a few subtle gold highlights. All in all, he felt comfortable and he looked good. 

He kissed Martina quickly on both cheeks, making her blush and squeal. "Oh, aren't you a charmer!" she cooed, "So tell me, Dark, how are you feeing?"

"I'm feeling good," he assured her, "It's wonderful to be here in your lovely home; it's better than I was expecting!" The crowd loved this, whooping and cheering. Amber narrowed her eyes at the image of Dark on the screen, grinning arrogantly into the first few rows of people from under his fringe. He was going to steal her limelight, she just knew it.

"Why, what were you expecting?"

He shrugged, his hair waving and shimmering with the movement. "Oh, I don't know! I wasn't expecting everyone to be so nice to me, if that's what you mean!" he explained smoothly. 

Behind him, one of the tributes snorted. It might have been Cherry.

"I just hope that you'll continue to be nice to me in the arena," he continued, "Unlike the lovely Amber, I'm not too proud to take any help I can get!" A few people 'ooh'-ed. He swivelled to see the effect that this had on Amber; like he'd hoped she was glaring fiercely at him, her eyes sparkling. Good. Now she was acknowledging that he existed, and she even disliked him.

"Ooh, catty!" exclaimed Martina, barely able to contain her delight, "Does that mean you'll be going your seperate ways in the arena?"

Dark realised that he'd got one over on Amber but he'd managed to manouvre himself into a hole; now the interview was no longer about him but about both of them.

"Well, she doesn't seem to think that she'll need any help, so I doubt that she'll let us work together." It was the best he could think of, and he heard her huff angrily behind him. Well, at least he'd had the desired effect on somone. Unfortunately, he knew he'd also made himself sound desperate. 

Martina could see that this interview wasn't going the way that Dark had wanted and wracked her brain for anything else that she could say. "I'm sure she won't be able to resist your charms, honey," she purred, and Dark sat up a little straighter and smiled again, his teeth gleaming menacingly.

Someone in the crowd wolf-whistled and he held out his hand in the general direction, prompting hysterical screams. "That's what I'm hoping," he purred back, catching Amber's eyes out of the corners of his. She was sat up rod-straight, proudly defiant, the slit in her dress revealing a lot of her legs. Martina laughed; it sounded vaguely like a horse.

"You two really are quite the pair," she said. Dark shrugged again, though his eyes flickered dangerously.

"If I were the other tributes, I'd be more scared of me," he declared, "You'll be able to see Amber coming."

It was now getting very difficult for Amber to not leap out of her seat and say something back.

The 'other tributes' were all glaring at him, most of them trying to decide which of them they would be more scared of. Most of the boys decided quickly on Amber.

"So, Dark, are you scared?" asked Martina, knowing full well what the general idea behind the answer would be. It didn't disappoint.

"Of course not! My whole life so far has been leading up to the Games; I'm sure I'll feel terribly bored when I come back and I've got nothing left to do!" he retorted, flicking his hair away from where it was creeping in front of his eyes.

The buzzer went off, prompting the crowd into a huge cheer.

"I guess that means I'm done," Dark said, looking into the crowd with his eyes flashing impressively, "Well, I hope I've done enough to impress you all!"

People shouted their approval, waving to him. He swept his arm over his head in one massive wave and strode back to his seat, winking at Amber meaningfully as he sat down, still smiling and waving into the colourful crowd.

"Well, there's District One, ladies and gents! Haven't they been great?"