07 | DIAPHANOUS
Greyson could remember in her Games when she attempted to climb a tree to get a look at the whole arena, only to have her foot slip on a branch and fall. The air was knocked out of her. She couldn't breathe and her vision was blotchy for a few moments. And she was fearful that someone would find her and end all that she had sacrificed at that moment from being purely vulnerable.
She felt that now. Watching Finnick cross the stage to stand next to Elodie. Her hands shook with anger towards the Capitol, and the fact that nobody would volunteer for him. It was sad, really, that nobody wanted to save him. Because she would have in a heartbeat.
"Well, our two victors for the 75th Hunger Games, Finnick Odair and Greyson Hunter!" Elodie exclaimed. She looked sad as she said his name, and Greyson supposed every female in the Capitol felt that way about him. He was after all, the Prince of the Capitol; the flirt. "Now shake hands you two!"
She's met with sea green eyes as she turned to grasp his hand. Her stomach fluttered at the brief contact, something that had been happening for awhile now. Every cell in her body was yearning for his unceasingly warm touch, but nevertheless she turned them down. Because there was no room for love at times like these. And she was sure Finnick would much rather have someone more sensible than the girl who could barely make herself a couple of friends.
Elodie immediately escorted the two Victors into the Justice Building with a group of peacekeepers following closely behind. Greyson soon realized what was going on. They weren't giving them the allotted time to say goodbye to their loved ones, they were taking them directly to the Capitol. "No," she whispered under her breath.
She turned around to get a good look at Mags and Annie, the words forming a goodbye in her throat. But they never came. She felt someone push her forward and towards the main entrance to the train, leaving her with her back away from her district. She knew there was no returning after today. It was clear, even after Finnick had tried his best to train her. She wasn't going to be making it back to District Four anytime soon, and she wasn't going to tell him this. If Greyson learned one thing about the Games, it was that some things were better left unsaid.
"Come on, Grey," Finnick mumbled. He stood behind her holding out a glass of champagne. The sparkling liquid sloshed against the thinly stemmed glass as she took it from him. "Let's have a toast," he said next, raising his glass. There was an unsettling contentment in his eyes.
"To what?" She questioned. Her mind reeled back to think of all the horrible events that have happened today. There was nothing to celebrate.
He smirked at her. "To all who have survived; who will do it all over again." Elodie clapped and their mentor, Damien, managed to smile. He was Greyson's old mentor.
"To us," She whispered.
Elodie reminded Finnick and her that they could eat anything they wanted, wear anything they desired, and stay up as late as they wanted since they weren't the usual pair of tributes she received every year; and they're adults. All she requested was that they made it for dinner at seven.
Greyson headed to her room that was made especially for her. It had a bedroom and a bathroom with various types of silver buttons ranging from luxurious soaps to scented oils to spiking and plunging water temperatures. She took her time pulling off her clothes, seeing no rush. She hit some buttons until jet streams of hot water scalded down her back. And to think she was just sitting in her old bathtub earlier this morning.
She ringed her hair out and pulled open one of the drawers to a large dresser. She put on a navy blue sweater and sleep shorts, exposing her not-so-tan legs – a perk from Snow trapping her inside her house for the majority of her life. She brushed off the thought and walked to the dinning area to see everyone sitting and eating already.
Damien looked up from his plate and smiled, "Greyson, pleasure you could finally join us." She nodded at him and took a seat across from Elodie, next to Finnick who was trying not to smile at her choice of seating.
"It's so lovely to see you both again, especially you, my dear," Elodie turned her attention to Greyson. "Now, this year will be different. Different Training Center, different arena, and most important of all, different competition."
Damien patted the corner of his mouth with a napkin before talking. "Elodie is right. This isn't like going into the arena with twenty-four children. These people are adults and just as ruthless as you, maybe even more so." He glanced at her when he said this and her grip tightened on her fork. "Finnick, you know some of these people so you have the upper hand. Do you want allies?" Damien addressed them both.
Finnick swallowed a spoonful of rice and what was assumed to be a slowly cooked duck. It was savory and rested atop a mountain of rice that was sprinkled with some kind of flaky, foreign flavoring. "We want Everdeen, Mellark, and Johanna."
We. Greyson shared a look with him that suggested understanding. They've been planning this alliance for awhile now, as they have been training together and whatnot. He made it a point in the past that he wanted her safe from the very beginning, mainly when they both received those letters from Haymitch.
Damien looked between them. "Are you sure? Why don't you wait until after training starts? Plus, the tribute parade is tomorrow and I want you to talk to the others, make sure the other victors notice you."
Greyson mumbled a thank you as an Avox reached around from behind her and to take her plate, replacing it with a steaming bowl of soup. It was pink and frothy, a blue flower delicately placed in the middle, perhaps for show. It was sweet and so tart at the end that it made her cringe, but it wasn't terrible.
"We'll make sure they notice us," Finnick smirked while twirling his soup spoon.
* * *
"One more I promise!" Greyson's stylist, Reyna, exclaimed as Fuchsia and Mari filed her nails down to symmetrical shapes and tended to her near-perfect eyebrows. She gripped the edge of the table she was sitting on and mentally prepared herself for the pain. Reyna ripped the last strip of paper that removed the hair from her legs with a loud riiip! It wasn't that she had hairy legs, but she also didn't have a beauty salon she could go to every week for a nice, hot wax.
"There, all done! Shall we get Selene?" Mari asked, pulling away around the same time Fuchsia does.
They all stand back to examine Greyson, looking for any strays or imperfections on her naked body. "Let's go then!" Reyna smiled brightly, her purple eyebrows matching her cat-like grin.
Greyson waited for Selene to appear, her eyes tracing every crevice of the white walls and floor tiles of the room. The Remake Center really hadn't changed.
"Greyson Hunter!" She snapped her head up to be engulfed in a tight embrace. Selene didn't care that she was naked, but she supposed being around it all the time was as if the person was wearing clothes. She broke apart from Greyson and told her that she could put on her robe. "It's been ages, sad we had to meet this way... Which is why I'm going to make this year be your best! You're going to be stunning!"
Greyson let Selene lead her into a room where her other three helpers awaited their arrival, preparing everything for her chariot outfit. Selene turned to Greyson, a fond yet mysterious gleam in her bold eyes. "So Greyson, how do you feel about showing a little bit of skin?"
Hours later and she stood facing herself in a floor length mirror. She was unrecognizable. Gorgeous, but unrecognizable. Her dress was gold with highlights of teal. It reached her ankles and thankfully didn't get tangled with her gold high-heels that wrapped thinly around her legs, until they stopped at the peaks of her knees. Greyson's dress was sleeveless and heart-shaped, showing off the top half of her curvy body. The bottom half of the dress was see-through and soft to the touch, but the hints of blue took away enough from the transparency.
Her hair was styled down in glossy waves that passed down her back. On each side of her head were two braids woven with gold and blue string, connecting in the back to form an intricate knot. Greyson felt powerful, even as she met up to join Finnick. He was wearing something more revealing than her dress.
A net. Just a net, was wrapped and knotted intricately around his groin and other areas of the body that weren't meant for younger, more innocent eyes. The stylists really went all out this year, Greyson thought amusedly to herself.
Greyson chuckled, bumping shoulders with him as they entered the starting point from where all the victor's chariots were staged. "Nice um, outfit." She muffled her laughter by pressing closed her light pink lips.
His eyes didn't try to cover themselves up as he daringly looked over her dress. A shiver ran up Greyson's spine as he leaned down to her ear, his hot breath ticking the nearby skin. "You look beautiful," he murmured. Her face burned immediately, a feeling of exposure crawling up her bare arms.
Her eyes darted around the room to see a few Victors, mainly Enobaria and a winking Johanna, watching them. Her face turned a darker hue and she cleared her throat, nodding her head over to the girl that everyone either wanted to be, kill, or kiss; Katniss Everdeen.
"Let's go say hello," Greyson mumbled to Finnick, her eyes never leaving Katniss, who evidently looked more interested in her horse than anything else. He hummed in agreement, pulling out a handful of sugar cubes. "Where did you get those?" She asked incredulously.
He pressed a finger to his lips to signal her silence, and then abruptly called out Katniss' name. "Katniss!" They approached her, Greyson mostly hiding behind Finnick because she wasn't sure he knew what he was doing. They wanted her as an ally, not to be intimidated by them.
Katniss looked over her shoulder, eyes running up and down the two Victors, trying to figure out who they were. Greyson attempted a smile while Finnick couldn't help himself but give her a fake, teasing smirk. "Hello, Finnick," she said with the utmost displeasure laced in her voice. "And Greyson," she added. Greyson smiled in her direction.
"Do you want a sugar cube?" He asked, picking one up and showing it to her. Greyson stood back from them, wanting to see how sugar cubes and testosterone was going to get a girl like Katniss on their side. "I mean, it's supposed to be for the horses but who cares about them, right? They've got years to eat sugar whereas you and I, well if we see something sweet, we better grab it."
"No thanks," Katniss replied, eyeing his costume. "But I would love to borrow that outfit someday." Greyson bit back a smile and a poorly contained chortle.
"You look pretty terrifying in that getup," Finnick retaliated. Greyson gave him a strained look, as if wanting to back him up or pulling him away by his perfectly styled hair was an option at the moment. "What happened to the pretty little girl dresses?"
"I outgrew them." Katniss coolly replied.
"You certainly did," he said back to her with an ever-growing smile. "Shame about this Quell thing, now you, you could have made out like a bandit in the Capitol; jewels, money, anything you wanted."
Greyson's stomach twisted at the comment.
"Well I don't like jewels and I have more money than I need... So, what did you do with all your wealth anyway?"
"I haven't dealt with anything as common as money in years," he scrunched up his face, thinking in that strange brain of his.
"Well then how do people pay for the pleasure of your company?"
He looked down at his feet, not breaking his smile and getting close to her ear. "With secrets," Greyson barely heard him say. If she was any farther she was sure she'd only be filled with the movement and chatter of everybody else in the room. "What about you Girl on Fire, any secrets worth my time?"
Katniss stepped away from him, "I'm an open book, everybody seems to know my secrets before I know them myself."
"Unfortunately, I think that's true." Katniss glanced over Finnick's shoulder and Greyson followed in the direction as well to see Peeta and Cinna walking into the room. Finnick resumed his conversation with her. "I'm sorry you had to cancel your wedding, I know how devastating that must be for you." He stepped backwards, popping a sugar cube into his mouth. "Have a good day."
Greyson rolled her eyes as Finnick greeted Peeta, barely sparing him a glance. She crossed her arms as he returned to her, walking alongside him to their chariot. She doesn't say anything until they've mounted the chariot and are about to leave, watching as the District Three chariot pulled off to be engulfed with adoring cheers.
"Way to go Casanova, you really got their attention." She snorted.
He shrugged, "just making an impression. Plus, wasn't it Damien who suggested we make them notice us? This is how you play the game, Grey. This is what's going to bring us home."