It's not a lie when Cato flippantly says that District 12 took all the sponsors during the opening ceremony. Everyone loves a new thing, and flames lapping around soon-to-die teenagers is a new thing.
So as he lied in bed that night, he made a plan.
He doesn't include Clove, his district partner, who always looks ready to murder anyone in her path. She can handle herself. Not that he can't, but sponsors would come in handy in the arena. If she wants sponsors, she can get them herself. He isn't working a charity.
The next day, in the training room, instead of heading over to the Careers, Cato ventures off to the secluded knots station. He finds her there, her back to him. He smirks as he approaches her and leans down to surprise her.
"Girl on fire." He whispers to her ear. She jumps at this. Her rope falls from her hands. Quickly turning around, she sees him half-bent looking up at her with a triumphant grin.
"Do you need anything?" She asks guardedly as he straightens himself. He scratches his head.
"Your name." He answers.
"Excuse me?" She asks again, confused.
"Didn't you ask me if I needed anything?" He clears, sending her a smirk.
"Umhm, I did.. And you need my name because?" She inquires with a smirk of her own.
"Because I needed to know if the pretty girl had a pretty name." He winks. She chuckles at this, pink rising up to her pale cheeks.
"Couldn't you think of a better line?" She taunts, picking up her forgotten rope.
"Couldn't you just give me your name?" Cato grins, eyes twinkling in boyish mischief.
She pretends to think about it, testing his patience. He just stands there looking at her as she fiddles with her rope.
"Katniss. Katniss Everdeen." She finally smiles after a few minutes of silence.
"I'm Cato, Katniss." He introduces, offering his rough hand. She reaches to shake it, but is surprised when Cato pulls her hand to his lips. "Pleased to meet you." He murmurs against the back of her hand.
She quickly withdraws it as she turns around and says, "You too."
'She's fiddling with her ropes again.' He thinks, amused.
"Is my name all you need?" She whispers.
"For now. I'll see you later, Katniss." He walks away then, happy about his plan.
Katniss sits back down on the ground, and after a few minutes, groans in frustration. 'Did I just flirt with Cato?'
'Well, he is what you'd call handsome, Katniss.' Her mind explains.
'He's the enemy. And what the hell do you mean, handsome? He's twice your size and would be able to snap us in two if he wanted to!' She argues.
'Not an excuse, he's still handsome. Plus he didn't want to snap us into two. Give it up, he called us pretty.' Katniss sighs. Fixing up her rope, she walks away from the knot station.
"Cato. You're late." Clove glares as she blocks his way to the swords.
"Relax. It's not like you need me to train you or anything." He explains and walks around her.
"You were at breakfast. Where were you after that and before this?" Clove asks as she strides around him. He looks for a suitable sword.
"Freshening up," he winks and goes to another sword stand.
"No, you weren't. You were down here before I was." If she wasn't irritating before, she was starting to be.
"I was. I was testing my skills with fire." He smirks as he glances up at Katniss, who was busying herself in the fire-making station.
Katniss chooses that moment to look up. She catches Cato's smirk on her and widens her eyes. Wittingly, she scampers away from the station.
"If you were, I would have seen you. Gosh. You're keeping something from me!" She walks around him with an intimidating glare.
"Ugh! Suit yourself." She announces in exasperation as she throws her hands up to the air.
Clove leaves him alone then. For a few hours, he manages to train with his sword. But after a while, he starts to get bored. Fortunately, blonde Glimmer appears then.
"Hey Cato." She whispers shyly, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey." He clips, her hand fallling off as he plunges his sword into another dummy.
"Sooo... How are you?" She beams. He looks at her weirdly.
"Are you seriously asking me that?" His brows furrow before slicing another dummy.
"Are you mocking me?" She raises her voice as if offended.
"No. I'm asking a decent question." He answers with a blank stare, throwing the sword and hitting bull's eye.
"Are you mad?" She tears up.
"No. Are you on your period?" He asks rudely.
"I think he responds more to the feisty persona. Don't you think, Marvel?" Clove suddenly says.
"If I were him, I'd totally respond to the shy persona." Marvel gloats, winking at Clove. Clove rolls her eyes at this. She leans on a damaged dummy.
"I like the emotional persona best." Glimmer smiles. "Do you like it too, Cato?"
"The careers this year are official wackos." Cato mutters as he walks to the knives.
"I heard THAT." Clove marches up to his retreating form and forcefully turn him around.
Cato just walks backwards, smirking at the smaller girl.
"Kindly repeat what you said earlier." She calmly requests.
"Oh, you can speak like a normal person!" He teases.
"I'm not kidding." She threatens as they pass through the knife station.
Just then, Cato bumps a girl. Quickly, he turns. Seeing the grey-eyed Katniss, he effortlessly catches her. Her eyes aren't on him though... It's on the arrow she accidentally sent flying.
Cato looks as well. It bounces off the window and hits the ceiling. It quickly heads for a twelve-year old girl, Rue. Katniss' eyes grow wide and she swiftly starts across the big room, attempting to outrun the arrow. As soon as she's close enough, she slides straight for the girl, and effectively enveloping Rue in her embrace, Katniss continues sliding away. The arrow buries itself on the metal wall.
"Are you okay?" Katniss asks the girl.
"Thanks to you." Rue smiles.
"Katniss! You guys okay?" Cato inquires as he runs up to the two.
"We're fine." She smiles up at him. A warm feeling envelops him and he holds out his hand for her to take.
"Thanks." She says as he pulls her up. By now, a small crowd of tributes had begun to gather around them.
"I just knew you were lying." Clove whispers to Cato before moving in front of him.
"Nice move, Firegirl. If she was hit, three of us would've been disqualified from the games." Clove tells her.
Katniss nods, before looking down at Rue and smiling.
"Be careful next time." Cato winks.
"You were the one who bumped me, Cato." She teases.
"Katniss!" Someone suddenly yells. The tributes give way. The District 12 boy huffs as he looks around.
"What happened?" He asks.
"Nothing!" Glimmer's announces in a high-pitched voice, making Marvel laugh.
"This persona's too high. I like the other one better." Marvel says as they start walking back to the swords. Clove and Cato look at each other with knowing smirks.
"Nothing really..." Katniss says, before tripping over the arrow lodged on the metal wall. With his sharp reflexes, Cato catches the brunette.
"Yea. Girls tend to fall over me. But falling over me twice?" He flirts, holding Katniss up.
"Get over yourself." Clove and Katniss say at the same time. Katniss stands up and looks at Clove.
"Cato looks bewildered, firegirl." Clove laughs. A quick look at Cato makes Katniss giggle.
"I might just get along with you." Clove says as Katniss walks away with Peeta, Rue and Thresh.
Katniss shakes her head at them and hears Cato bellow out, "What are you looking at?" at the remaining onlookers.
"What was that about?" Peeta asks.
"I have no idea," Katniss says, pink marks on both her cheeks. Rue just tuts at the older girl.