Eventually, interview day arrived and Bellona found herself locked in a classroom with Festus and their two tributes.

Originally, Bellona planned to train Mizzen on her own, but both the boys expressed interest in doing it as a team, leaving Coral and Bellona forced to agree.

"Alright, I've got some surprises," Bellona started, bringing in two mops and a few wood planks. As she thought, the Capitol refused to supply her with any weapons, muttering something about being creative as they denied her request.

"What are those?" Coral asked, looking at the object with an unimpressed stare. Bellona chuckled at that, tossing one of the mops toward Coral.

"Your weapons. Mops as your tridents and these little planks as Mizzen's knife," Bellona explained, happily waving around the planks.

"How are those knives?" asked Festus, looking at the pieces of wood with furrowed brows, causing Bellona to roll her eyes.

"Be creative, Creed. It's the best I could do on such short notice," Bellona replied, sending daggers at the boy. Festus quickly cleared his throat, backing away slightly as if his life had been threatened.

"I think it's a great idea," Mizzen cut in, attempting to reassure the girl. Bellona smiled at the boy, handing him a plank.

"Why thank you, Mizzen. Only a true marksman would be able to appreciate my work," Bellona replied, sending another look toward Festus.

"I still don't see how the planks work," Festus muttered under his breath, but of course, Bellona heard. Bellona smiled wickedly at the boy as she began to toss the block in her hand, playing tricks with it before sending it right to his stomach.

"Bullseye!" Bellona yelled out with a laugh as Festus bent over in pain, earning a laugh from the kids from Four.

"Ms. Plinth!" Bellona heard one of the Peacekeepers yell out, sending her a warning that she quickly waved off before helping Festus back up.

"The stomach? Really?" Festus muttered, gritting his teeth as he leaned onto Bellona. Bellona continued to laugh as she held onto him.

"I'm sorry, it was just so easy," she muttered mischievously, patting the boy on the back to signal the end of her coddling.

"Big baby," Coral muttered out, earning another laugh from Bellona. Thankfully, Festus didn't hear her.

"Alright, let's get started."

-

After a long practice, the group was finally forced to separate until the interviews later that night. Quickly, Bellona got herself ready, making herself extra pretty for the cameras.

Since Marcus was still missing, Sejanus decided not to go to the interviews, leaving Bellona alone. As the girl arrived at the auditorium, her eyes instantly fluttered to Festus, who stood off to the side with Coral and Mizzen.

"What a dashing young man," Bellona teased, quickly Festus turned around, only to realize Bellona was talking to Mizzen. Coral let out a scoff at that, rolling her eyes at her pathetic mentor. 

"I brought snacks," Bellona added, pulling out some strawberry tarts. Of course, Bellona refused to admit it, but right after her conversation with Festus, she practically begged Ma to make the tarts again. But hey, they were for his ma not him.

Festus's eyes lit up as he looked at the box, his mouth watering at the sight. But Bellona quickly gave some food to the tributes before putting the box back in her bag.

"Hey," Festus whined, sending Bellona a look. Bellona rolled her eyes at the boy, turning to face him.

"Don't whine, Creed.  It looks unflattering on you," Bellona muttered, scoffing at the boy, "The tins yours after the show. Need to make sure you at least save some for your ma."

Festus, however, chose to focus on the first half of her sentence.

"So you think I'm flattering at other times?" the boy teased, earning a grunt from his three companions. 

"Festus."

"Sorry."

-

The group didn't have to wait long for the interviews to begin, and soon, it was District 4's turn. Coral decidedly chose to go first, impressing the crowd with her ability to toy with the mop. Coral did all sorts of tricks swinging the mop around as if it were nothing while the crowd clapped. 

Then, Festus went on his whole speech, saying something along the lines of, 'imagine what she could do with an actual trident.' Of course, his over-the-top performance appealed to the crowd and even Bellona found herself wanting to root for Coral for a moment.

Then finally, it was Mizzen's turn. Bellona quickly squeezed the younger boy's shoulder before walking on the stage with him. 

"Ms. Plinth, how lovely it is to see you," said Lucky Flickerman, the local weatherman. Bellona plastered on a fake smile as she approached the man.

"Well if it isn't my favorite news host. Have you met my tribute, Mizzen?" Bellona replied, smiling brightly as she placed an arm around the little boy. From the crowd, Bellona could hear all the mothers let out a collective 'awe' at her gesture, causing Bellona to smirk.

"I have not. How are you, Mizzen from Four?" asked Lucky, wearily looking at the little boy.

Mizzen gritted his teeth before standing up taller.

"Doing the best I can. I'm in it to win it," said the boy, earning a little chuckle from the crowd.

"Well, you are in it for sure. I understand you have a little skill you want to show us?" Lucky added, pointing toward the Mop off to the side. 

Mizzen then took his opportunity to show his skills, glancing toward Bellona with a smile. On the other side of the stage, Bellona could see Festus beginning to set up a target bag. Bellona quickly sent the older boy a wink before running to get the mop.

"Mizzen! Catch!" Bellona called out, tossing the mop to the boy. Quickly, the boy caught it, flipping it around a little before throwing it at the bag at full speed. The crowd let out a loud gasp as the mop impaled the bag in the center, letting some of the bag containments spill out.

Bellona let out a loud laugh before hugging the little boy, muttering 'good job' as he hugged her back. 

"Wow, now that certainly was something, wasn't it?" said Lucky, though he showed no emotions, "So I see you're good with a 'trident'. Is there anything else in your wheelhouse? Or should I say fishhouse."

Bellona fought the urge to roll her eyes at the man's joke as she began to speak again.

"Actually, Mizzen's really good with a knife. He told me all about it during our interview, isn't that right, Mizzen?" 

The little boy hastily nodded as Bellona continued. 

"You know how precise you have to be to gut a fish? Honestly, I'd be terrified if I had to go against him in the arena," Bellona exclaimed, fake shivering as she talked up the boy.

The audience seemed to adore little Mizzen as the two continued to talk him up, in awe of his wits for his age. And when their time had finally come to an end, Bellona found herself throwing her arms around him in happiness. 

"You did so good," said Bellona, hugging the boy tightly. Mizzen quickly hugged her back, closing his eyes as he relaxed in her embrace.

"Alright, break it up. We gotta get the tributes back to the zoo," said a Peacekeeper, breaking up their hug.

Bellona gritted her teeth as she let the boy go, walking over to Festus's side as they watched the tributes walk out.

"You did good," Festus muttered nonchalantly, earning an awkward glance from Bellona.

"I could say the same thing about you," Bellona replied back.

"Are you flirting with me right now?" Festus teased, turning to her with a teasing grin. Bellona playfully rolled her eyes.

"You wish."

"Maybe I do. I guess you'll never know," said Festus, earning a smack from Bellona.

"Ow."

"You deserved it," Bellona replied, grabbing Festus's arm as he rubbed it in pain, "Let's go. I want to go home."

-

Festus insisted on walking Bellona home, claiming that she shouldn't be left alone in the dark. Bellona knew it was just an excuse to ignore her.

"Here," said Bellona as the two walked, handing the boy her box of sweets, "For your ma. Don't eat them without her." 

Festus chuckled at that obediently placing the box in his own bag before speaking again.

"You know, I didn't know you could use a knife," Festus admitted, changing the topic. Bellona let out a laugh. He must've been thinking about this all day.

"And a gun. I'm from District 2, remember?" Bellona replied nonchalantly. Festus furrowed his brows. 

"I didn't know that meant you automatically knew how to fight," Festus muttered, still confused as to why Bellona knew how to fight so young. Bellona laughed at this. After all, everyone in her district worked around weapons all day long.

"My dad trained me in case of a war. I guess I just never had to use it in the Capitol. At least not yet," Bellona admitted, smiling as she thought of her time with her dad.

"Well remind me not to get on your bad side," Fesuts muttered, his eyes widened.

"Yeah right. If I go after anyone, you're at the top of my list," Bellona teased, pretending to draw an X on Festus. Festus threw his hands up in surrender as he laughed.

"You know, I think you like being around me," Festus replied, sending the girl a teasing smirk. Bellona playfully rolled her eyes.

"You're delusional," Bellona shot back. Festus continued to smirk.

"I don't think so. I think you like messing with me," Festus added, stopping right in front of Bellona's apartment. Bellona smirked as she shook her head.

"I think it's you who likes messing with me," Bellona argued, inching closer as Festus's face reddened. Right as her face got closer, Bellona let out a loud laugh, covering her mouth as she hunched over.

"See? You're blushing!" Bellona shot back with a laugh, opening her door, "Goodnight, Creed. Don't think about me too hard."

And then, Bellona made her way inside, leaving a bewildered Festus on her doorstep.

"What the fuck just happened?"

-

a/n:

new chapter alert !! I'm not sure how I feel about this lol,,, I'm actually loving the two of them rn,,, but honestly, festus is soo infatuated with bellona it's insane... too bad bellona barely even tolerates him

anyways, I'm so swamped with classes. I can't wait for break next week omggg

thank you guys always for reading and commenting. I love seeing everything you guys have to say about it <33

love you guys,

hannah <33