"How are my two delightful tributes doing?" Brisa Chain glowers as she enters the small dining area on the District 4 train. Roman and Serena are eating breakfast, and the girl is surprised at how chatty her district member is. They've talked all breakfast, not pausing once to think of conversation as they learn where they both grew up and brag about their most impressive catch.

When Serena first saw Roman volunteer amongst the crowd at the reaping, she was sure she recognised him. Roman confirms these suspicions as he explains the year they spent in one on one combat when they were only 6 years old.

"Swimmingly." Roman remarks before he bites into his last piece of toast. As he chews, he flashes Brisa a lipped smile, catching the woman off guard by his natural kindness that contrasts to the smug attitude he held yesterday at the reaping.

"My, my, Roman!" She exclaims and places her perfectly manicured hand against her heart. "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed yesterday? Who is this dashingly kind boy talking to me today?" Her questions cause Serena to give an un-lady like snort but Roman just rolls his eyes at the girl.

"Appearances, Brisa." Roman comments easily after pouring the contents of his glass straight down his throat in one gulp. "How am I meant to get sponsors through a kind heart?"

"Oh, my boy!" Brisa saunters quickly over to the table and takes a seat next to her male tribute. She places her palm on his shoulder and let's her face morph into a proud smile. "You are absolutely gorgeous!" She explains, meaning his ease towards the games and not his looks (although, Roman is a very attractive boy).

"What's on the schedule for tonight?" Serena questions her escort as she passes her a plate full of fresh toast and different jams and marmalades. Brisa thanks the girl by placing her palm quickly on top of Serena's from across the table.

"Well, my dear," Brisa begins as she starts to butter a slice of toast and watch as it melts and soaks into the bread. "The train shall arrive in about an hour or two. I'll escort you to our shared apartment, which is the entire 4th floor. You'll have individual rooms where you will be able to relax during the evening. After that, I'll take you straight to your prep team who will take care of you before your stylist puts you into your ceremony outfits."

Brisa pauses slightly as she says the next words. "You both have the same stylist, by the way! Rarely ever done but I'm positive it'll work!" This makes Serena raise her eyebrows. She thought te Capitol gave up the idea of same stylists years ago, but it's obviously not too late for some. "And then, of course, the opening ceremony takes place where President Snow will give his usual speech. For the rest of the night, you are free, but I advise you to talk to to Kai and Finnick who will tell you when you can train alone with them."

"I heard my name." An all too familiar voice travels through the carriage, and Serena immediately catches sight of the 57th Hunger Games victor walking towards them. Kai has been mentoring her ever since she was 3 years old in combat school. An advantage of coming from a career district is that you have the opportunity to be trained from a small age to get ready to volunteer for the games.

"Serena, Roman. This is Kai, but I'm sure you already know him." Brisa introduces the trio, but they are all already aware of who is who. Kai takes a seat next to Serena and smiles softly at her, letting the girl know he recognises her for her combat skills. Kai looks a lot younger than he actually is (which is 27) as his dark brown hair and clear blue eyes give him a child-like quality.

"Roman, I remember that you're skilled at throwing knives, right?" The tribute nods his head quickly and Serena knows that he feels somewhat comforted that the victor remembers him from training. "And Serena, swords and spears are your thing?"

"Mostly spears, but I can work with a sword." Serena explains just after she finishes the last pastry on her plate. Kai nods his head slowly as he takes in the information, most likely thinking back to the group training.

Unlike the first two districts, only one victor trains the children of District 4 to fight. Serena has only ever seen Kai in person, as he is the only victor that firmly believes training children into killers gives them a bigger advantage.

"From what I remember with your spear skills, there's not much to work on. I think you should work with Finnick more so that you have a stronger chance with both weapons, not just a spear." After explaining, he reaches over Serena mischievously and steals her last slice of toast. The girl grabs for it but the victor is quick and already has it between his teeth.

"I was gonna eat that!" Serena complains quickly as Kai starts to chew it with a grin on his face. He just shrugs with a laugh and pours himself some orange juice.

"What've I missed?" Serena's body stills awkwardly as Finnick enters the carriage and takes a place at the breakfast table. Contrasting to last night, he has some lose trousers on and a thick black cardigan. She meets his eyes and flashes him a quick smile, before looking back at Kai so she can't see his response.

"I was just telling Serena, here, how she'll be spending a lot of time with you." The older mentor turns to his friend with a small smirk on his face, eyes glistening with amusement at the thought of Finnick flirting with yet another tribute.

"I'm sure he's more excited than I am," Serena comments as she looks between the two friends. At this, Kai starts to laugh heartily and pats the girl on the shoulder.

"Finally! A girl with some sense." He congratulates the tribute whilst Serena laughs, poking her tongue out at Finnick, who glares playfully at her.

"So we won't have a tribute falling over their feet when Finnick enters a room?" Brisa gasps lightly, taken aback that anyone would find the flirtatious ways of Finnick Odair intolerable.

"Well, I'm not so sure." She laughs. Finnick smirks lightly as he looks at Serena, but she ignores him and, instead, curls her hair around her finger. "I definitely won't be, but Roman on the other hand..." Everyone around the table starts to laugh apart from Finnick, who slouches immaturely at Serena's teasing.

"Oh yes," Roman says between his laughs, eyeing Finnick like he's a piece of meat. "I am utterly and helplessly in love with Finnick Odair." Kai starts to laugh so hard that he has to cling to Serena for support, who is cracking up every time she looks at Finnick's miserable face. Brisa wipes some tears from her eyes and then dabs her skin softly with a cream napkin so not to spoil her perfectly applied makeup.

Serena's laughs start to die down as she watches everyone around her. It's as if she isn't about to train for the Hunger Games and instead, is having a breakfast with friends she has known forever. But she's known them only momentarily, and probably won't ever see them again when she is killed in the arena, her life unfairly being ripped away from her, as if it were ever hers to start with.

The 69th female tribute from district 4 stands suddenly, letting her napkin fall to the floor. Everyone's laughs seem to die down as they watch her curiously. "Excuse me," She murmurs before briskly walking out the carriage and making her way to her room. As Serena reaches her door, however, she decides against entering and continues walking through the train.

The next carriage along seems to be the last one as there are curved windows right at the end, looking out at the landscape shrinking in the distance. Serena had no idea she was the second to last carriage along, she would've spent all her time in here if she had known.

The girl falls onto one of the cushioned sides and gazes out the window, wondering if she can make it out alive. Really, it wouldn't be fair if she did. Unlike many tributes in the higher districts, she has no one left to love or love her, there is no one at home rooting for her.

"You okay?" Finnick's voice enters Serena's ears and she sighs tiredly. Her head moves from the window to watch the man sit next to her, uninvited.

"I'm fine." She snaps, removing her eyes from the attractive figure and staring back out the window.

"Let it out." Finnick says and puts his hands out in front of him to know that whatever she says will stay with him. Serena looks at him wearily and just shakes her head softly. "Come on, Serena, tell me what's going on. It's not going to help if you bottle it all up then go into the arena feeling like no one has your back."

"I hated that!" She finally exclaims, flailing her arms in the direction of the breakfast room. Finnick's eyebrows crease as he tries to understand why she would hate laughing and getting on with everyone.

"You hated laughing? You know, sweetheart, there's nothing wrong with-"

"I am not your sweetheart." Serena growls and glares dangerously at her mentor. She stands up furiously, not quite sure why anger is sizzling off her skin more than it ever has before. It's like she's flicked a switch inside herself that drowns out any sort of understanding or reason and only leaves room for rage. "Forget about it, I'm going to my room. Don't bother me, Finnick." His name sounds toxic against her tongue, spitting it out like it tastes bad.

"Serena, wait." Finnick laughs lightly, a mistake on his part. He's utterly confused as to why Serena is getting herself so worked up by such a little thing.

"You think this is funny?" She had already turned to leave, but now she whirls around, glaring at the man standing only millimetres in front of her. "Is this amusing to you?"

"No-" Serena won't allow any words to escape his mouth.

"Is it funny that in a week I'll be entering an arena and never coming back out? Is it funny that Roman, too, might not see any of you again? What's the point in you all being friendly to us if there's a ridiculously high possibility we'll be killed off for entertainment?" Her outburst shocks Finnick but he is just as quick to respond as she was to his laugh.

"Because most of the tributes that we get are so arrogant and have their heads shoved so far up their asses that the only possibility they can see is getting out alive. They're so sure that they're going to kill everyone in there that they don't stop to think about reality, they think they'll see us after a week or two of fighting." Finnick explains with a loud voice, his frame towering over Serena's shorter one. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise you weren't like them. You've not been particularly open about yourself."

"Whatever." Serena grumbles as she turns on her heel and walks towards the door.

"Isn't it better to just enjoy yourself rather than sit in self pity all week? Besides, you put yourself in this position, Serena. You volunteered." The comment stings so hard it feels as if Finnick has whipped her across the back and left a red mark burning her skin. She stops suddenly and turns around slowly to face Finnick, her body shaking in anger.

"You have no idea why I volunteered."

***

"Oh dearie, you'll never guess what I over-heard Finnick saying to Mags earlier!" Hesta, Serena's hair stylist, gushes as she runs a small toothed comb through her long, dark strands of hair. The girl just sighs in response and Hesta gives a light squeal. "He was telling Mags how you're so different in comparison to all his other tributes, he really thinks you may be able to win."

"He said that?" The girl questions with a small frown. After Serena's outburst, she hasn't spoken a word to her main mentor. It seems odd that he should be praising her after what she said.

"Darling! I said natural position!" Her makeup artist complains as he brings another brush up to her cheeks only to find they are creased from her changed facial expression.

"Sorry Tristan." She mumbles quickly before letting her face slacken so the man with long and extravagant eyelashes can continue with his work.

"You should feel over the moon that Finnick is praising you!" Hesta continues to exclaim whilst doing Serena's hair (an impossible multitask, if you were to ask Serena).

Kynthia starts to massage a lotion onto Serena's skin, making it feel so much more smoother than it ever has. It's placed on areas of Serena that she never knew had to feel smooth, and she resists the urge to cover her naked body up when Kynthia steps back to admire her work.

"All the men in the Capitol have been dying for an attractive female tribute to win." Kynthia starts, tying in her conversation to Hesta's. "If Finnick's right, which I'm sure he is, lovely," she places her hand on Serena's shoulder quickly to assert her tribute. "the Capitol men will not be disappointed."

"Darling, you're going to be the talk of the Capitol, victor or not." Tristan says, gazing adoringly at Serena's pretty features.

"Tristan's right," Hesta adds, placing one last bobby pin to hold her curled hairstyle in place. "You're truly a wonder, Serena Seymour. You're the prettiest person I've ever had the pleasure of working with, and trust me, honey, I've worked with a lot."

Serena manages to blush softly, despite herself, and thanks her prep team honestly. They continue to chat to her quickly as they lead her through a doorway and into a mirrored room, telling her to wait here for her stylist.

The girl is left standing alone in the room to gaze at her own perfectly polished naked body, glamorous hairstyle and immaculate make up. She ponders on what her costume could look like, but she hopes she doesn't need to dress up like a fish. She'd be mortified if this much effort has gone into playing dress up.

"Oh yes, I see what they mean." A man walks through a door and closes it behind him. He's wearing a plain silver suit and a patterned black shirt. He has gold eyeliner on, pronouncing the gold flecks in his hazel eyes. "You're gorgeous, Serena."

"Thank you." Serena is blind to her looks, however, and isn't quite sure what the fuss is about. She'd always thought her features were plain in comparison to most in District 4.

"I'm Andonis." After he walks towards her, he pulls her in for a half hug and a kiss to the cheek. "Now, I'm hear to make you more appealing to your sponsors, and help make sure you survive the games. Do you trust me?"

Serena has never been trusting of anyone and the question makes her hesitate. But from the warm welcome of her prep team and kind eyes of her stylist, she can't help but believe Andonis will take care of her.

"More than anyone."

word count: 2612
note: I know Serena
and Finnick's relationship
seems really confusing
atm, but don't worry,
it'll clear up in the
next few chapters
- jaz x

(also my last chapter
was exactly 2612 words
and I did not plan that oof)