I listened at the tent flap for any sort of noise that would indicate a living, breathing Marvel. I can hear quiet whimpers and I take that as good an indication to come in as any. I crouch down and fumble with frozen hands for the zipper, Christ I didn't realize how cold it was. Big raindrop are splattering against the tent and covering me in droplets.

I finally manage to find the zipper and pull it up enough so that I could slip through. At first the tent is pitch black and I can't see or hear anything. "Marvel?" I call out tentatively. After about a minute of no response but the sound of raindrops splattering on the outside of the tent I try again. 'Marvel?" I call a bit louder. When there is still no response to my calls I take a step forward. And trip right over something. I land with a crash and a stream of curses. Then all hell breaks loose when the thing I landed on turns out to be Marvel himself. Yelling and flailing his arms he sends me rolling to the other corner of the tent. I hear a click and suddenly the tent is flooded with harsh bright light. I looked up to see Marvel standing over me with a small hand axe in one hand and an electric lantern in the other. I looked up at his face in the harsh white light of that lantern and saw in his eyes only broken grief and harsh anger, they were void of any recognition or perhaps beyond caring.

"Marvel!" I finally gasped out and his eyes finally showed a flicker of recognition. He lowered the axe and let it slip from his grasp to the floor. He set the lantern between us and sank down into a sitting position on a sleeping bag.

"What do you want Clove?" he asked tiredly. His face looked tired and his eyes hard stark dark rings around them, red and puffy from crying. That cocky smile he usually wore looked a million miles away, replaced by chapped bitten, lips and cheeks covered in dirt except for where tear tracks showed clearly. "I was just coming to check-"

"If I was still breathing? Why Clove, I didn't know you cared." He replied snarkily. "I am, so much the pity. The same cant be said for Glimmer can it?" At this his voice broke and I saw fresh tears begin to brim in his eyes. Part of me wanted to mock him for how weak he was being, wanted to punch him in the nose and call him a disgrace. The other part of me wanted to go across the tent and comfort him. I did neither of these things and instead said "She was close to you wasn't she?"

" I don't know if close is the right word. I don't even know if she knew I existed until the reaping. It started in Primary School. I was 7 and she was 8. She lent me her pink crayon when mine broke. She smiled, and damn if my little heart didn't break right then and there. After that I watched her everyday just trying to see that smile again. That went on until the reaping. She volunteered and I couldn't stop myself. I couldn't let some brute kill her off without her knowing at least once how I had felt all these years. So I stood up and volunteered as well. I had hoped that I could somehow make her remember me. She didn't, even when I showed her this."

He pulled out a tiny wooden box, his district token, and opened it. There, nestled on a piece of expensive fabric, was half a sparkly pink crayon. I blinked and stared at him in slack jawed incredulity. Had this bozo really kept a bit of a crayon for 10 years?

"I showed it to her last night when we were all camped under that tree waiting for 12. She just laughed and said Oh I didn't know you were one of that persuasion Marvel dear. She didn't remember and now she's dead along with the dream I had for most of my life." He then broke down again and began to sob uncontrollably and in utter despair. I got up and awkwardly patted him on the shoulder before exiting the tent.

I found Cato lounging in front of the tent, he had clearly been listening, I beckoned for him to follow me a bit away from the tent so Marvel wouldn't hear us.

"So." I said as I sat next to Cato on a patch of grass about 10 feet from the tent. "So." He said as he sat beside me. Cato snorted. " I cant believe he kept a bit of crayon for 10 years." I looked at him and said" I cant believe he liked Glimmer, she was a huge bitch!" And yet, something about what Marvel had said resonated with me. It made me think about Cato and I and our relationship. Or rather lack thereof. Could we, if either of us harbored secret feelings for one another, afford not to tell? Or would it be better to die like Glimmer, blissfully unaware that you would be leaving behind someone hurting so badly. "Cato." I said at the same time he said my name. We looked up startled and then without saying anything we knew." Suddenly, before I could really even register why, our lips met. Sparks lit up my brain and I slid a hand behind his perfect blond head and deepened the kiss. We moved together like that, just enjoying the feeling, saying with looks and caressed what words never could hope to. This was quite possibly the best moment of my life. Which is rather absurd considering we were currently in a death arena were only one of us would get out. But perhaps that's what made it so much better and exciting. That is until the sound of something sharp and heavy hitting the ground broke us apart. We recoiled from our position and looked up into the startled wide eyes of the boy from district 3 that had dropped his weapon in surprise when he had seen us.

Shit.