A few days after the reaping, the tributes finally arrived at the Capitol. Calpurnia found herself at the zoo with her brother, so she could introduce herself to Circ.

Coryo had already met Lucy Gray. Tigris had encouraged the twins to meet the train at the station. Only Coryo had complied. Calpurnia hadn't wanted to get in trouble for breaking the rules. Circ could wait.

Part of her wished she had gone. The entire school was raving about Coryo and his tribute. Lucy Gray was the talk of the Capitol. How had such an unfavorable assignment turned into a spectacle, Calpurnia didn't know. But she did know that she was jealous of Coryo, for he had classmates fawning over him, while Calpurnia had to deal with Urban following her like a lost puppy.

It took Calpurnia a moment to squeeze through the crowd of Capitol citizens to the bars of the monkey enclosure. One of the mentors was already there: Sejanus Plinth. The boy was trying to encourage the tributes to take the food that he brought. That was kind. Calpurnia wished she would have thought to bring something for Circ. Not that they had much food to spare at home.

When Sejanus saw the Snows, he waved them over. Coryo joined him, but Calpurnia started to wander over to a different part of the enclosure. She spotted Circ and Teslee, sitting on a rock together in matching olive green jumpsuits, speaking to each other rapidly.

"Here, take some sandwiches for them," said Sejanus. He passed Calpurnia three sandwiches and three plums. "Some for you too."

"Thank you," said Calpurnia.

"Be careful, Callie," said Coryo.

"There's nothing to worry about," complained Calpurnia before moving to the bars closer to the two tributes from District Three.

Teslee looked up first, eyeing Calpurnia quizzically. Her eyes widened when she saw the food in her hands. She nudged Circ to get his attention before getting up to join Calpurnia at the bars.

"Who are you?" asked Circ.

"Calpurnia Snow," said Calpurnia. "I'm your mentor."

"Like that blond guy over there?" asked Teslee. "He was at the train station earlier."

Calpurnia nodded.

"Who's my mentor then? Are we both with you?" asked Teslee.

"One of my classmates will," said Calpurnia, trying not to grimace as she thought of Urban. "Don't worry, you'll be taken care of."

"Why isn't he here then?" asked Circ.

Calpurnia shrugged. "Probably just busy."

The two children seemed skeptical, but neither questioned Calpurnia further about the other District Three mentor.

"Here's your dinner," said Calpurnia, passing the food to the tributes.

Circ took his portion and sat down, but Teslee scrambled off, going back to sit on the rock again.

"She's a little shy," explained Circ.

"Did you know her back in District Three?" asked Calpurnia, before pulling a piece off of her sandwich and taking a bite. She made a mental note to thank Sejanus for the food. It had been a while since she'd eaten roast beef.

"We were in the same class," said Circ. "Shame that the two smartest kids in our school got reaped the same day."

Calpurnia nodded in agreement.

"Are you related to the guy you came here with?" asked Circ.

"Yes," said Calpurnia cautiously. "Why?"

"You look similar. And you're both eating your sandwiches the same way. Are you poor?"

Calpurnia's jaw dropped.

"People who don't have a lot to eat pull apart their food before they eat it. It tricks the body into thinking you're not hungry," continued Circ, oblivious to Calpurnia's shock.

Calpurnia wasn't sure how to respond to his terrifyingly accurate observations.

"Sorry, I tend to make people uncomfortable," said Circ.

"Don't apologize," said Calpurnia. "Do you want my plum?"

"You're hungry too," said the boy.

"Take it," insisted Calpurnia, reaching her hand through the bars to offer the fruit to the boy. "You'll need to keep your strength up in the arena. I'll live." Her eyes widened as she realized what she said. "I swear I didn't mean it like that."

Circ rolled his eyes. "Capitol kids," he grumbled, though he didn't sound annoyed.

"I should probably head home before it gets dark," said Calpurnia. "Do you need anything before we meet tomorrow?"

Circ shook his head. "I don't think so. But can you try to bring more food? I know you need it too, but Teslee and I haven't eaten since the reaping."

"I'll bring as much as I can," promised Calpurnia. "They'll take you to the Academy tomorrow for a meeting. I'll see you there."

"Have a good night," said Circ.

"You too."

Calpurnia stood and brushed her skirt off. On her way out, she passed Coryo and Sejanus, who seemed to be having some sort of disagreement.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting, but Coryo, I'm heading home," she said.

"Do you need me to walk with you?" asked Coryo.

Calpurnia rolled her eyes. "I'll be okay on my own. I'll see you later."

"Good night, Callie," said Sejanus.

Calpurnia smiled at the curly-haired boy. "Good night, Sejanus."

On her way home, Callie decided to take a detour to the river. It was one of her favorite places in the Capitol. Though she couldn't swim in the water, whenever she needed a break, she sat at the river's edge so she could clear her mind.

Callie sat where she usually did, leaning back and closing her eyes, listening to the calming noises of the river. She thought about the mentorship assignment. Before today, she thought this would be a standard project: just prepare her tribute for their interview and that was it. But after meeting Circ, all of that was changing. He was just a child, maybe fourteen or fifteen. He was awkward and strange. Though she knew next to nothing about the boy, she knew he probably had family in Three. He had a life, one that he had been ripped away from.

Calpurnia had spent the last few days worrying about her reputation compared to her brother's, simply based on their tributes. But she had failed to remember that those tributes were innocent children, ones who had their lives ripped away from them. She had to help Circ, even if the only thing she could do was provide him with meager amounts of food.

After sitting by the river for a while, Calpurnia finally felt ready to walk back home. She didn't make it very far before she ran into one of her classmates.

"Evening, Snowflake," said Festus. "What are you doing on this side of town?"

"Just walking," she said. "I was at the zoo earlier, but I'm heading home now."

"It's chilly out," said Festus. "Do you want to come back to my place to have some tea?"

Calpurnia felt light-headed at the thought of going back to his apartment alone. She knew Festus wouldn't try anything, but part of her was still wary of trusting him.

Festus's expression softened. "I didn't mean anything by that, Cal, I promise."

"It's alright," said Callie. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," said Festus. "Do you want me to walk you home, then?"

Calpurnia thought about it for a moment. She trusted Festus more than anyone else who could be wandering around the streets at night. "Sure," she said with a shrug.

"So why were you in this neighborhood anyway?" asked Festus as they walked. "We're not even close to the zoo."

Calpurnia didn't want to tell him about the river. Though it was a public space, people didn't tend to go by there very often. It was Calpurnia's favorite secret. "I guess I just took a few wrong turns," she lied.

"Snowflake, I think you need a chaperone," joked Festus.

"God, you sound like Coryo," said Calpurnia.

"I was joking, Cal," said Festus. "And Coriolanus is too protective over you."

"I know," complained Calpurnia. "I love him, I really do, but he needs to realize that I'm capable of taking care of myself. I can make my own decisions."

"I think he knows," he said. "But you're also one of his only remaining family members. I think I would worry too. We can stop talking about him if you want. How was the zoo?"

"It was alright, Sejanus brought sandwiches for all of the tributes. Most of them are pretty underfed. Not Coral though, she seems strong."

"How is Circ?" asked Festus.

"Really smart. It's kind of scary how observant he is. Should make for an interesting interview," she said.

"Maybe we can get him and Coral to team up," said Festus.

Calpurnia looked at Festus with disbelief. "Something tells me that won't happen."

"But think about it," said Festus. "You can get Urban off your back and you and I can spend more time together."

"Are you trying to flirt with me? Because you're terrible at it," said Calpurnia.

Festus blushed. "If I was, you'd know."

Calpurnia looked at him skeptically.

"I'll talk to Coral about it at the meeting tomorrow," said Festus. "About teaming up with Circ, not flirting with you."

Calpurnia didn't have the heart to tell him that she knew what he meant and that the last sentence was unnecessary.

The two were nearly at the Snows' apartment building. When they made it to the awning over the sidewalk, they stopped.

"I'd offer to let you stay for a few minutes, but the elevator's broken," said Calpurnia. "It's a long way up the stairs."

"I don't mind walking," said Festus.

"And Coryo will be upset if he realizes I was with you," she said.

That seemed to deter Festus from coming upstairs with her.

"Alright then, good night, Callie," he said.

"Good night. Thank you for walking me home."

Calpurnia wasn't sure if she should give him a hug before he left, so she went inside without doing anything. As she climbed the endless flights of stairs, she wondered what was going on with Festus. He was paired with the prettiest girl in their year for the project and yet, he wanted to work with her. And for some odd reason, Calpurnia wanted to spend time with him too.

...

an: i'm sorry this chapter is bad, i lowkey hate it. but we met calpurnia's child, so that's nice. he's going to be a bit of a menace in the next chapter, we love that for him. hopefully, i can figure out how to make there be actual tension between callie and festus bc i feel like he's too nice right now. if you're interested, here are the other fics i'm currently working on:

ást og stríð (treech)
the way things go (sejanus plinth)
alexithymia (hilarius heavensbee)

anyway, have a lovely day! -willow <3