The first time Glimmer sees Cato is in the Reaping video on the Train to the Capitol and she smiles because boys like him were made for girls like her. She goes to sleep that night counting the ways he might fall for her.
…
They meet in the Training Center where he gives her the once-over and she bites her lip. Cato's eyebrow raises and Glimmer smirks in return.
He's not a bad catch, given they're about to die, and she thinks that in another life they could have been real. But she pushes the thought away and saunters up to the sword station where he's been for the past few hours. (She sees Marvel rolling his eyes a few stations away.)
"Hey," she says when she gets close enough to feel his breath. He looks up and grins like she had seen him do before.
"Interested in swords, 1?" He's looking straight at her now and she's smiling coyly.
Glimmer picks up a medium length sword and steps toward the designated area. Cato's right behind her as she approaches the target and readies herself to swing the blade.
"Show me," she says. And it is not a question, because Glimmer is far too sure for that, but an order that Cato follows.
Suddenly he is behind her, around her and she feels Cato's solid body press against hers. He murmurs into her ear and begins adjusting her form. He guides her arms as she slices the target and he murmurs into her ear again Just like this, babe.
….
He's coming on to her a little strong, Glimmer decides, but it's not like it matters what she thinks. (It never did.)
When she's back in District One's chambers Marvel informs her of the alliance he and Cato have struck up. Glimmer giggles and says something vapid before Marvel has his hands around her neck and she shudders as he says forcefully don't fuck this up for me. With what breath Glimmer has left she moves to press her thumb against his jawline and watches as Marvel releases her and steps back only to turn and walk to his room.
…
Cato watches her the next day because, despite their alliance, he is uncertain of her talents as a fighter. She feels his eyes watching her, his and Clove's burning holes into her back.
She goes to the Hand-to-Hand Combat Station and sees the amused expression in Marvel's eyes as she faces him on the mat. They pace slowly around each other for a good five minutes until she sees the opening she needs and has him on his back, knee on his throat, without him even getting into a defensive stance.
Glimmer walks by Cato, giving him a sort of half-smile; she has nothing to hide.
…
When they finally sleep together, it was in fact and inevitability, Glimmer is not disappointed.
He is strong, and she admires him for that as he moves around her, inside her. They move well together, their combined sounds echo in the recordings of the cameras that Glimmer tries to pretend don't exist.
When they are done she waits for him to make the first move. He collapses to her left and rolls onto his side, facing her. He snakes his hand around her waist and sighs into her hair while all she can think of his how much he needs her.
…
Maybe it is their third time together, or the fourth, when she hears Cato's screams. Because eventually, sometime in the night she is out of his arms and the nightmares come. At least, that's what she figures they are, because she can't make a thing out of his hoarse voice.
She guesses it's just a preview of what the Arena will be like.
…
When she steps onto the stage she feels the whole of Panem's eyes directing onto her. Caesar Flickerman can't seem to take his eyes off her and he mentions something about her dress, to which she giggles and blushes.
By the end of the interview she has Panem eating out of her hands, Girls like her were made for stages like this.
…
Cato grows more desperate as the Games approach and Glimmer herself feels slightly more needy. Her visits to his bed become more frequent and it doesn't go unnoticed by the other tributes.
When Marvel approaches her, less forcefully this time, his voice is a sneer.
Sleeping your way through the competition, I see. She laughs, deep and heavy like he hasn't heard before, and You think I'm a whore, don't you? More laughing ensues so he responds Well, I'm not quite sure what else you would be. She rolls her eyes, he is stupider than she had thought, I'm going to let you in on something, Marvel, she sneers his name in a wholly mocking manner, You think you're so high and mighty, but without your little spear you're just a sad, scared, boy.
He shudders and she turns away because she is unlike Marvel, and Cato even, because without their weapons they are nothing.
…
Her interaction with Clove is limited. They are cordial and nod at each other in passing, but they both remain in mutual disregard of the other's presence otherwise.
Glimmer knows the other girl-Career is vicious, and she respects her because she's tough as fuck and, unlike Marvel, she knows she's not going far in the Games alone (she's no Johanna Mason, by a long shot).
…
The Arena is not a bad stage. The Career pack, and the others they picked up, wants for nothing. Sometimes she cleans her bow and collects firewood barely-clothed (it is still a game and sponsors are always useful) but limits her movement to that.
Despite the fact that she is a Career and she can fend for herself, well enough that is, she cannot, will not win the Games alone (so she leans on the others).
…
She dies alone in the forest and no one is there to save her. There is no time for any last revelations or regrets (not that'd she would have had any) before the tracker-jacker venom sets in and her world is black.