The Plinth household was rather quiet the next morning, full of tension and fear. Ma had woken the two up extra early to have a large breakfast, hoping to ease their nerves, but Bellona could hardly stomach a bite.

Father didn't really care about easing his children's nerves though.

"You got home late last night, Bellona. Were you out with that boy again?" Father asked the girl, sending her a stern look. Bellona rolled her eyes, stomaching a piece of a croissant.

"I got home at a normal time. And if you must know, we were coming from official mentor business," Bellona shot back, causing her father to eye her for her tone.

"So things are going well between you two?" Ma asked, causing Sejanus to spit out some orange juice. Sejanus sent Bellona a bewildered look, wondering if she had told Ma something he hadn't known.

Bellona let out a laugh sigh, rubbing her forehead in frustration.

"We're just friends," Bellona replied sternly, before muttering under her breath, "If that."

Sejanus let out a loud laugh, overhearing Bellona's comment. Father, however, did not seem amused that his reprimanding of Bellona turned into a joking session.

"You two need to be on your best behavior today," Father warned, sending them both a look before directly addressing Sejanus, "I'm talking to you, Sejanus."

Once again, Bellona rolled her as at her father, turning to Sejanus with an annoyed look. Sejanus, too, looked done with Father, biting his cheek as he nodded.

"Well, we should probably head out," said Bellona, standing up as she gave Ma a peck on the cheek, "Let's go, Sejanus."

Sejanus quickly followed behind Bellona, giving Ma a hug before walking out the door.

-

The ride to the auditorium was rather quiet and Bellona found herself lost in thought as she debated with herself about the day. On one hand, she hated the idea of more children having to die at the hands of the Capitol. But another part of Bellona desperately needed them to for Mizzen to survive.

And she needed Mizzen to survive. There was no way she was letting a thirteen-year-old die.

"Bells," Bellona heard her brother mutter, pulling her out of her trance, "Are you okay?"

Bellona nodded sweetly as she squeezed her brother's hand.

"I'm okay. Are you?"

"No. But there's nothing I can really do about that," Sejanus replied, looking down at his lap in sadness. Bellona frowned as she squeezed his hand tighter.

"Sejanus," Bellona started, pulling her brother closer. Sejanus let Bellona hold him for a moment before pulling away, clearing his throat.

"I think it's time we go in."

-

As soon as Bellona entered the auditorium, she felt her stomach drop. Today, more children were going to die. And she not only had to sit back and watch, she needed to be a part of it.

"Bellona!" Festus called out from the front of the room, chipperly making his way over to her. Bellona furrowed her brows at his happy mood, confused as to why he seemed excited.

"Festus," Bellona greeted back, lacking the same enthusiasm. Festus ignored it though, going to speak before being interrupted by a cameraman.

"Excuse me," the man asked, gesturing between the two, "Do you mind if I get a photo?"

Bellona glanced at the man one more time before the two awkwardly shuffled together, Festus's hand around her waist. Bellona smiled as best she could as she waited for the man to snap the picture.

Festus, too seemed to be acting awkwardly, only lightly grazing Bellona's waist as if she'd die by his touch. Once the photo was over, Festus let his hand linger for a second before removing it as he cleared his throat.

"Do you think I can get that framed?" Festus asked once the man had walked away, causing Bellona to roll her eyes.

"Why? You gonna draw on my face or something?" Bellona shot back. Festus only laughed.

"I could do that. But I was thinking more along the lines of using it as a dartboard," said Festus with a smirk. Bellona let out a playful scuff, amusement glimmering in her eyes.

"Well, if you do that, make sure to get one for me too. I need to work on my target practice," Bellona replied, pretending to shoot a dart at Festus. The boy shook his head with a laugh, amused by her comedy.

"Oh look! You two are here!" Bellona heard Lyssie yell as she made her way into the room. Bellona happily greeted her friend, hugging her.

"Oh," Festus muttered as if he had just somehow remembered something, "Did you guys hear the boy from five died last night?"

"Are you serious?" Bellona asked, eyes wide as she let out a scoff. Festus only nodded, holding his hands up in defense.

"That's what? 9 tributes down before the games even began? Are they sure we should really be going through with them?" Lysistrata asked, looking at the blacked-out pictures of the eliminated tributes.

"Well, they're not gonna stop now," Festus muttered, suddenly the voice of reason, "They'll look weak if they do."

Bellona let out a sigh as she held her hand to her forehead, feeling the stress already.

"Bell, are you okay?" Lyssie asked, glancing at her friend in worry. And even though Bellona knew she wasn't, she still put on a brave face.

"I'm okay," Bellona replied, smiling slightly, "I have faith in little Mizzen. How are you though? I heard Jessup's getting sicker."

Lysistrata sighed at that, recalling Jessup's unusual demeanor the past few days.

"Well, I'm annoyed for one," Lyssie ranted, folding her arms, "Coriolanus said he would play up Jessup and Lucy Gray's friendship to get them both sponsors, but of course, he went off script and gave Lucy Gray the entire spotlight."

"What a snake," Bellona muttered as she rolled her eyes, "He just wanted all the attention for himself like always."

Festus shot Bellona an annoyed look at her words, gritting his teeth as she bad-mouthed his friend, but Bellona just waved him off.

"What? It's true. Is it not?" Bellona responded. Festus just kept his mouth shut, turning his attention toward the door. Exactly where Coriolanus stood.

"Coryo!" Festus called out, waving his friend over.

"Well, that's my queue," Bellona muttered, sending Lyssie a smile before trying to walk away. But Festus seemed to have other plans, holding onto her arm to keep her next to him.

"Get off," Bellona warned, glaring daggers at her 'friend'.

"Don't be ridiculous then," Festus shot back, not backing down.

"Are you two done whispering to each other?" Coriolanus asked, motioning toward the two of them. Bellona sent Festus an annoyed look before putting on a fake smile.

"Coriolanus. So glad to see you," Bellona muttered, clearly faking it. Coriolanus ignored her though, fixing his shirt as he stood up taller.

"Bell," the boy greeted before going on a tangent about something. Bellona honestly didn't know what. Most of the time, when Coriolanus talked, she zoned out.

"Well aren't you a dashing group?" Bellona heard a somewhat familiar voice greet, drawing her out of her trance.

Lepidus Malmsey, a young and extremely handsome reporter for the Capitol. Bellona remembered seeing him a few times at the zoo or on television and boy, was he pretty to look at, even if his reporting wasn't the best.

"Lepidus, how lovely it is to meet you," Bellona greeted, placing a hand out for the young man to shake. Lepidus smiled at her, meeting her in the middle for a firm handshake.

"And who might you be, gorgeous?" Lepidus asked, causing Bellona and Lyssie to giggle.

"Bellona. But you can call me Bell," the girl replied, smiling sweetly at the boy. Lepidus chuckled, smirking as he eyed the girl.

From next to her, Bellona could hear Festus let out a loud scoff, clearly annoyed by the reporter's presence. So if Bellona kept him around longer to piss off Festus a little, that was her business.

"What a pretty name you have. You know Belle means beauty right? Very fitting," Lepidus responded, flattering the girl. From behind her, Bellona could hear Lysistrata holding in a laugh as Bellona covered her mouth to hide her own laughter.

That's a new one, Bellona thought. Though, she always thought of her name more like the sound.

"Oh really?" said Bellona, faking flattery, "I didn't know that. Thank you."

"Oh well, look what time it is," Festus muttered, glancing at his watch, "Time to get to our seats."

Lepidus looked between the two for a moment before smiling at Bellona.

"Well, I should get going. Good luck to you, Gorgeous."

Bellona smiled as she waved at the older boy one last time, watching him walk away.

Festus grumbled as he grabbed onto Bellona's arm again, pulling her toward the seats hastily.

"Would you knock that off?" Bellona muttered, pulling her arm away as they got to their seats. Festus rolled his eyes at her, letting his frustration show.

"Maybe don't flirt when you should be focusing on the games then," Festus shot back, causing Bellona and Lyssie to laugh.

"Oh you're so jealous," Bellona teased, pointing at the boy in laughter, "Jealous you can't get girls giggling over you like that?"

"Oh please. With those jokes? No ones falling for that," Festus muttered, rolling his eyes at the older boy.

"I don't know. He seemed kinda interested in Bell," Lyssies teased, eyeing Festus for his reaction, "And with the way she was giggling, I'd think she liked him too."

Bellona laughed, enjoying Festus's anger.

"I guess we'll see," Bellona replied, eyes on Festus as she watched him clench his jaw.

"Let's just focus on the games."

-

a/n: may i present the possible fancasts for lepidus !! first up we have brenton thwaites, specifically in the early seasons of titans

OR I WAS THINKING bang chan in this specific interview

like come on... honestly, I too would fall in love with either of them... like festus better step it up... (I think I'm leaning more toward brenton bc he looks a tad older)

anyways <33 we all love jealous festus !! he's just so fun to be around fr !! can't wait to see more of it <33

also, I'm currently on break, so I'm trying my best to write as much as I can,,, if you notice I'm not as active, I apologize <33

love you guys,

hannah <33