TEN

WIN THEIR HEARTS

There was two hours left before the interviews with Caesar Flickerman began, and Talia was beginning to feel the nerves, so far her nails has been painted a pearl colour and her hair had been done in a half up half down style, the half up section rested in a messy bun at the back of her head, and the whispy bits that usually slipped out were left there. Her makeup was light, unlike the makeup during the Opening Ceremony and her neck was decorated with her father's pearl necklace.

Fava and Zetta finish with her makeup and finally she can slip into the white dress made by Aldar. It dips at the front and back to reveal her skin, a piece of fabric falls from her left shoulder down and attaches to her waist on the right, to give a half cape look. The dress has a small train mostly given by the cape and has a split up the bottom right side to reveal her tanned and slender legs. On her feet she wears small heels, giving her about 4 more inches of height, so she's the same height as Ethan and only two inches shorter than Finnick.

Her wrists are decorated in pearl bands and the same tiara given to her on the Opening Ceremony is placed atop her head, completing the outfit. Aldar, Fava and Zetta step away, admiring their work and allowing Talia to see herself for the first time. She lets out a heavy sigh, she looked beautiful. She turns to see the back and sees the pearls running along the thick straps over her shoulders and around the dip. She turns to her team and smiles, "Thank you,"

"Do you like it?" Aldar asks, eyes filled with water- he was so proud of his creation.

"I love it," Talia chuckles and Aldar walks forwards and pulls the girl into a hug.

"Right, the Capitol awaits," Aldar says, and he leads Talia out of the dressing room and towards the backstage area where some tributes are already gathered.

She sees Ethan standing with Coral, she's feeding him the information she wants him to tell the world, but in particular, potential sponsors.

Ethan was dressed in a seaweed green suit and snakeskin boots, his hair slicked back and his eyelids painted gold. He looked handsome, but Talia was definitely going to steal the show with her pearl dress.

Talia is about to walk forwards and speak to Ethan when a hand clamps round her wrist, "Don't,"

Talia's head turns and she frown at Finnick, his tanned fingers wrapped around her fragile arm, "Why not?"

"Because he, and all these others, will see it as weakness, do not speak, just stand here, lift your head and look straight forwards," Finnick says, letting go of her, his hand falling back to his side.

"Very well," She mutters, glancing down at the dress, "Please tell me I at least look the part?"

"You do, you look...Like pure starlight," He breathes, glancing over her, she truly looked spectacular, and Finnick wanted to tell her a thousand times over, but he had to go and find his place on the other side of the stage to greet her when her interview was over.

"Thank you," She smiles and he nods.

"Just do exactly what I told you, and we'll be fine," Finnick says, "I'll see you after the interview, remain calm, you'll be fine, it'll be over before you know it,"

Talia just nods, watching him turn and head out of the room, on the stage, Caesar Flickerman was welcoming the live audience and the people watching at home. The interviews fly through, and soon Ethan is stepping up onto the stage, behind him Talia keeps her eyes forward, not even sparing him a glance as he looks round at her and smirks.

He walks onto the stage, the Capitol cheers for him and he shakes Caesar's hand. Talia can just about see from her angle and she watches him laugh and joke with Caesar- he made it look so easy.

Talia's fingers fumbled as she watched, they talked about his training, how confident he felt and how his stylist had dressed him this evening. Talia felt sick as the crowd cheered for a final time and Caesar said goodbye to Ethan and wished him good luck.

"And now we welcome to the stage, District four's female tribute, Talia Riverthorn," Caesar says, his perfect showman voice echoing around the auditorium.

Talia lifts her legs and her hands fall to her sides, she lifts the dress up as she steps and finally walks out onto the stage, blinking at the bright lights. Win their hearts, Finnick had told her.

Caesar offers his hand and she shakes it, sitting down when he does, looking over over the sea of people. Pretend you're talking to me, Finnick had said earlier that day as they rehearsed.

"So, Talia, tell us all how you're feeling?" Caesar asks.

She gulps, head turning to look at him, "Good, I feel good...Especially in this exquisite gown,"

She sees Aldar in the crowd and he blows her a kiss from where he sits, she smiles softly before turning back to Caesar.

"It really is exquisite, it looks like...What does it look like?" Caesar asks, thinking to himself.

"Starlight," Talia breathes, "Pure starlight,"

"Thats right! It really does!" Caesar smiles, "And tell me, how such a skinny little thing like you managed to score the highest score in the private sessions?"

Talia smiles, remembering Finnick's grin when she scored her 11, "My mentor, Finnick Odair, told me that I should save my best skill till last, and I think I did just that, but to speak of it here, on this stage, Caesar, would give away my strategy,"

When in fact, Talia had no strategy at all, she had no idea what she was going to do once she appeared in whatever arena they were going to throw them in.

Caesar grins, "And tell us all, what is District 4 like? Will they cheering for you back home?"

This was a question Talia hadn't anticipated, and the mere mention of her District made her palms clammy, she sends a fake smile towards the crowd, "District 4 is the most beautiful place in Panem, I love the Capitol, but there is no place like home. And I hope they're cheering me on...My family...I know they will be,"

"Do you wish to say anything to them?"

Talia pauses, the lights pointing her out on the stage were making her head hurt, she had no idea, but as she stared out into the nothingness, she spoke, "I want to say that I will come back to you, whether it is in a box or alive, I will come back, and I will be with you all again, and to my eldest brother, I offer you a special message- I hope Penny and the baby are okay, and I hope I can win, to give that child the life it deserves,"

The crowd share a round of gasps, all of them shocked about a baby waiting at home for the winnings a Victor could provide.

"Thank you, Talia, and may the odds be ever in you favour," Caesar rises to his feet and so does Talia, she shakes his hand and looks to the crowd.

"The odds are never in our favour," She says, but the cheering crowd seemed to ignore it, or they simply didn't hear it. But by the look on Caesar's face, he did, and the cameras might have picked it up too.

Talia leaves the stage, her hands shaking as she sees Coral waiting with a frown on her lips, Ethan stood beside her, his arms folded and his eyes snagged on Talia.

Finnick walks into view and Talia feels her heart skip a beat, for a moment she thought he'd thrown her to the wolves.

"That was perfect," He says, she presses her hand to her forehead, she felt like she might faint, Finnick rushes forward and pulls her into his arms, holding her up as they walk.

"What were you thinking? Saying such a comment?" Coral asks, storming forwards.

"Coral," Finnick warns, glaring at her, "It was harmless, no one even heard it,"

"She could jeopardise everything we've worked on," Coral yells and Finnick turns to face her, Talia leaning against the wall beside the elevator.

"Be quiet, or you'll do that by yourself. Tomorrow they go into the games, one sentence that was barely heard will change nothing, your precious tribute will suffer nothing," Finnick hisses, "Now step into that elevator and keep your lips sealed,"

Talia, barely here nor there, latches onto Finnick and stumbles into the elevator. She rests her head against his chest, she felt like she could vomit up whatever was in her stomach right there and then, but she managed to hold herself. Finnick carries her into the lounge sits her down on the sofa, and asks one of the Avoxes to fetch a glass of water.

Talia breathes in a heavy sigh, her eyes flickering as she looked at Finnick, he really was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen. She lifts her shaky hand and places it against his cheek, his skin was cool against her warm skin and she smiles softly. Finnick places his hand atop hers and smiles back.

They sit there like that until the Avox returns with the water, Finnick thanks her and passes it to Talia, her hands take the glass and she lifts it in a 'cheers' motion, "To the Capitol,"

Finnick pushes her hair out of her face and nods, "You should get out of those clothes and take a shower, and then sleep...Tomorrow's a big day,"

"Thank you," Talia sighs and she gulps back some of the water, standing up. Finnick stands up too, ready to catch her if she falls.

"Do you want a hand?" Finnick asks, and Talia nods, he takes her arm and guides her to her bedroom, they step inside and Finnick smiles at the way she's left her clothes as messy piles on the floor, it felt so simple and reminded him of home somehow.

"Will you be okay taking off this dress?" He asks her softly and Talia reaches round to try and unzip the back, she fails and Finnick chuckles, unzipping it for her, "You're not going to slip in the shower are you?"

"Just wait out here," Talia says, "And turn around,"

He does as she asks and Talia takes the time to slip the dress off, stepping out of it and kicking away the ridiculous heels, she undoes her hair, it feels like a relief to her scalp and she removes the jewellery and looks at Finnick, he hadn't once turned to look at her like some other man probably would.

"I'm going to shower now," She says and he nods, waiting till he hears the door close behind her to turn around. He collects the dress off the floor and hangs it up inside the wardrobe, placing the shoes inside and putting the jewellery on the top of the table which housed the screen projector buttons. He presses it, and he watches the beach come up in place of the Capitol, he smiles, when he had been a tribute he used the same setting.

He sits on the edge of her bed and watches the waves roll over the sand, it was calming and so much like home. It takes Talia 10 minutes to wash all the makeup and glitter off her, and when she reemerges, a towel wrapped around her despite her hair and body being dried by the shower itself, Finnick smiles. The makeup and fancy Capitol clothes looked nice on her, but her natural self was so much more beautiful.

"I feel much better," Talia says, holding the towel tightly to her, she felt she was already so exposed, her bare arms, legs and face was all in his view.

"Great," Finnick says, eyes stuck on her, "I'll leave you to sleep,"

"Thank you, again," She breathes and he nods, opening the door, "Goodnight,"

He nods, smiling softly, "Goodnight,"

____________

thank you for reading & i hope you enjoyed!

honestly i love Talia so much & she really doesn't deserve whats coming for her...

~lachys-loch
❤️