A/N: Okay, Hi everyone! Just wanted to say hello and thank you all for viewing this far :) Also, I wanted to add that I know the song Johnathan sings is very cliche for fanfictions; I myself have seen it many a time browsing through stories. But I decided it, through many a-talk with my sister and Betas, because I like it, I think it's popular enough to survive into post-apocalyptic America, and it sounds like a song an Everdeen would sing.

So I hope you all enjoy, and thank you again for viewing. I love you all!

I rose fluidly, keeping as calm as I could and grinning nonchalantly at the crowd as they grew excited at the prospect of fresh meat. Gabriella and I met half way and she stopped the same moment I did. Emlyn made an annoyed clicking sound with her tongue and gestured for me to keep moving, but I ducked my head quickly as Gabriella leant up to whisper in my ear.

"Nailed it," She whispered. I rolled my eyes. Only because of me, I thought.

"You're welcome," I hissed back. She gripped my arm for a second and then was moving again, as was I. I moved with pretended purpose, fighting the urge to pull at my hair and when Emlyn rose up to meet me and enveloped me in a hug (she only hugged the boys, never the girls) I wished she hadn't. She squeezed against me and as I patted her back as friendly as I could, her hands going too low for my liking and it seemed that this was all the action she could get as she squished her chest against me and I escaped as gentlemanly as I could from her wandering hands.

"Isaac!" Emlyn leant away from me, keeping a firm grip around my biceps, and her smile went wide, scarily stretching her face. I smiled somewhat meekly in return.

"Hi there," my smile widened when I realised it sort of had to for me to be humorous. She squealed randomly then and shook her head from side to side in an apparent star-struck wave of emotion. A gem-studded strip of hair smacked me across the nose and I scrunched up my face in defence seeing as my arms were still clamped to my sides and I couldn't bring them up to guard my face.

"Oh, sorry sweetheart!" Emlyn cackled, obviously feeling the impact. And then she noticed my creased face and she let out what could only be a shriek. "Oh my golly goodness, Isaac, honey, you're simply adorable!"

A chorus of screams went up from the crowd in agreement, and I had no idea what they were talking about. I un-crumpled my face and looked at her blankly, trying to decide the right answer. "Thank you?" I lifted my shoulders a little and ducked my head, awash with a foreign shyness, overwhelmed by everything and acting instinctually. I never planned for this to happen in my interview, and I didn't know how to react. All of a sudden she grabbed my chin and planted the most uncomfortable kiss ever into my cheek.

"Oh honey," She looked into my eyes that were widened in shock and fear when she had finally leant back from where her lips had been glued to my cheek, "You're just precious!" She sat me down next and I was too dumbfounded to think of doing anything but going where her arms guided me.

"So," Emlyn's ears twitched as she crossed her glossy legs and planted an elbow on her knee with her hand cupping her chin. "Darling, how are you enjoying the Capitol?" She turned a head a twitch to the left then, and looked over my shoulder. She must have been looking directly into the camera that was behind me there. "I know I simply adore Carla Redfeathers' Fantastique Arm Chairs. All Tributes have one, so there simply necessary for everybody!" I was gobsmacked. Um, what? I thought, but decided not to comment.

"Everything here is simply so awesome," I tilted my chin up, closing my eyes slightly and smiling. I decided to lead on from armchairs. "I don't really have much time for sitting though. I'm kind of mostly training for this little thing that's on tomorrow, you might know it? It's called the Hunger Games, it'll be on TV. You should check it out," My grin stretched wider lazily. "I've heard it's pretty popular,"

The crowd laughed. They actually laughed with me. I chuckled as well and hope swelled in my chest, like a bubble that wouldn't be popped. I winked at the audience and got a few cheers in return.

"I'll make sure to check it out," Emlyn responded, her voice dry all of a sudden.

"It goes on for a couple of days, so you might be able to catch a few minutes." I continued, and I even huffed a laugh myself. The crowd gave a collective chuckle, but Emlyn shifted in her seat, hitching her leg higher.

"Speaking of, sweetie," Emlyn said, "Have you got any talents that will be able to help you out in these Games?" The crowd fell silent, eager. I grinned widely back at them.

"Oh yeah, Emlyn," I closed my eyes for a second, as if trying to remember all the talents I had. I came up with zilch. "I have loads, I don't even know which ones to tell you about." I smirked, wetting my dry lips with my tongue. Emlyn herself squirmed.

"Care to tell us about one? Any one at all," She prodded my broad answer's unstable walls, making them shake down to the foundations.

"Well, I can... climb." I gathered. "And most of those yahoos," I gestured behind me at the twenty-three other Tributes, "Are too heavy for a lot of branches to hold them, so if they can't catch me, I can't die." I didn't need to turn to see all the glares I was getting; I could see it all on about ten different screens. I even saw the girl from Four lean over to her District partner and I distinctly read her lips saying 'is he calling me fat?'.

"What if there are no trees, babydoll?" It was Emlyn's turn to smirk, but I just scoffed.

"There are always trees," I smiled, full to the brim with confidence. "And I can climb walls too, also poles, ropes, really steep steps, anything perceived as difficult." I beamed at the crowd. The hooted again, seeming to find my comments about the steps amusing. And I could see why; some of these people were pooling over the edge of their seats. My guess would be that they'd never had to climb steps in their lives. My nose wrinkled again, and I squinted my eyes slightly. On the screen it looked like I was about to sneeze, my features mirroring District One girl's a little.

"Ah!" Emlyn cried suddenly, pointing to my face, claw-like nail almost catching my nose. "You're doing it again!" I immediately went cross-eyed trying to look at my nose.

"What?" I asked, incredulous. "What am I doing?" My tongue darted out and licked my lips another time. They were going to chafe.

"Being adorable!" She cried, and I was enveloped in an unexpected hug, and it was my greatest effort not to gag on her perfume. "You're like a little rabbit! Wabbity-wabbity!" She leant back only a little this time, repeatedly saying 'wabbity' to me (what the hell does that even mean?) and kept her arms looped around my shoulders. She poked my nose with her finger. "You're as cute as a button, Ikey!"

I could see no appeal of cuteness in a button at all, but I suppose it was a compliment. So apparently I pulled cute faces when thinking in disgust of the Capitol people. Who knew? And she didn't compliment Katti Meow-Meow from District One when she looked like she was about to sneeze. I felt my shoulders rise again and I instinctually reached up and pulled on one of my curls. "Thanks," I grinned, this time from where I had ducked my head. May as well milk this for all its worth. I was rewarded with her leaning back but also another screech of delight. The crowd screamed, too, and I spared them a glance to see all my groupies at the front almost falling over each other in delight, their eyes shut tight as they would go and mouths open in squeals lost to the tumultuous noise.

"So," Emlyn settled again, "We know Gabriella's side of the story," Gabriella's face flashed onto about fifteen screens. "We know you two are just friends," She air-quoted with her fingers and I got the feeling she didn't believe it. "But what about you, Isaac, you don't have, uh, unrequited feelings, do you, hun?" I laughed good-naturedly.

"No, no, we're just... buds," I forced the word out. Like hell we were.

"Buds?" Her rabbit-ears perked. "She called you vermin!"

"Oh, that, yeah, we have a couple of nicknames for each other. Vermin and Ike are some of the ones she has for me." I hastily covered. I didn't know why I hadn't just made this easier and said I hated her.

"What do you have for her?" Emlyn prodded. I held back a sigh.

"Well," think, think, think, I chanted, "Gab, Gabbie, cavewoman, bitch-" to word just fell out of my mouth without me thinking about it. Crap, I thought, family-friendly. "-erson." I squinted my eyes, not being subtle at all about my cover up. "Bitcherson." I coughed. I heard a sharp bark of laughter from behind me and I twisted in my seat to see Jonathan with his hand clamped tightly around his mouth, body shaking and face turning slowly red as he held in his laughter and tried not to let any more of it escape. Gracewyn was biting her lip so hard it was pale and her eyes were shining, ears turning red at the tips. Marhkuhs's hands were fists on the arms of his throne and he had a totally blank poker-face on, while even the Twins were pressing their lips together. I gave them a quick grin and turned back to Emlyn.

"Bitcherson?" She asked, but I could tell I had fooled her. She thought it was a legitimate nickname. Score one for Curly-Head.

"One of my friends back in Seven, well, his last name was Bitcherson," I quickly made up a faceless boy in my head. "She looks a little like him- Gab being more feminine, of course- and I just call her that sometimes." I garbled out quick, and I felt sweat run down my neck. Down boy, calm down, I thought, you're fine. You'll be fine. I'm not scared, I took a deep breath in. She seemed to buy it, as did the audience.

"So," Emlyn settled back in her chair now, and I wondered how long three minutes could be. They didn't seem this long when I was waiting. "What were you looking at that was so important on Parade Night?" I froze in my seat. This was it. This was the moment of truth. I took a deep breath in.

"Well," I didn't know how to answer that with humour without seeming impolite or too cocky for my own good. I was stuck. Crap, crap, crap. Why hadn't I prepared for this? Why? I had been so focussed on the questions she had been asking other Tributes I hadn't realised that, of course, she was going to ask me this. Why the hell hadn't I prepared? Idiot!

And then a thought struck me. Maybe, since I seemed to have two personas this Interview, since I struggled to find the answer through humour, maybe, just maybe, I could find it through... cuteness.

Ah, hell, I was never getting my masculinity points back anyway.

"Well," I said again, lowering my head and looking at her from under my lashes. I saw her breath catch in her throat. Man I was good. "I was just- I was so in awe of the Capitol," I sighed theatrically, "I just couldn't stop admiring it! And of course I'm so sorry, but it was just so... magical!" And, if I could cause that kind of effect on them with an impromptu cute face, a planned one hit them like a nuclear bomb. I scrunched my nose, still looking at her through my lashes with wide eyes, the tiniest smile playing around my mouth. I bit my lip a little, and even creased my eyebrows. I don't even think a puppy could beat that, to be honest.

Emlyn actually rocked back in her seat, hand clutching her chest, as if the look I was giving her has hit her like a corporeal thing. And then she stuck her bottom lip out and whimpered at me. "You're going to murder me, Ikey!" I will if you keep calling me that. "You're just..." She seemed lost for words and I couldn't resist.

"Precious," I tipped my head up and grinned again, full of sass for what I prayed was the last time this Interview. "I know,"

The buzzer went, finally, but before I could leave she lunged across and hugged me for the third time. I almost sighed at the repetitiveness of this, but I patted her on the back as quickly as I could and released myself from her clutches. I scooted back to my seat and winked at the District Eight girl as we passed on the way up. When I got to my throne I collapsed and just breathed deeply while pretending to be courteous and listening to the District Eight girl's Interview. I felt sort of sorry for her. My Interview would be hard to follow. I smiled vainly to myself, allowing one moment of selfish triumph. I'm shallow, I know.

District Eight girl's Interview was over before I knew it. I swear mine had been ten times longer. I scowled at her as she scuttled back to her seat, and then grinned as the thought crossed my mind that perhaps they cut her short because mine was so awesome and the audience were getting bored at this follow-up. Of course it wasn't true, but I was indulging myself tonight. I felt I deserved it.

I cheered with the rest of the crowd when Marhkuhs stood. My whoop quickly turned to a gasp of surprise as he twisted around and did this, like, reverse-walking thing with his long, oddly-jointed legs to the Interview seat. The crowd was in awe as he raised his arms once he'd arrived and I realised it must be some sort of dance move. I grinned contentedly again. Of course Marhkuhs would dance to his seat. I let out a belated 'Yeah!' before I realised everyone was mostly quiet, and when the audience, the cameras, Emlyn and Marhkuhs stared at me, I just shrugged and quipped "It was funky," to cover up my mistake. Still, I thought, idiot!

I heard a groan and a smacking sound from my right which I interpreted to Gabriella slapping a hand to her face in embarrassment, but Marhkuhs's genuine smile and very audible word of thanks that even the crowd could hear was worth it.

His Interview was great, I guessed. Well, it would have been, if Emlyn hadn't put in freaking adverts at every possible interval. I hadn't realised she was doing it until now, but as I was currently tuned into her mannerisms since she pulled one in my chat with her, I realised what she was doing. And it was ruining his Interview.

"Who's your best friend, honey?" Emlyn asked at one stage, leering at Marhkuhs. "The diamonds from Hal's Jewellers are my best friends," She gave the camera a glittering, saucy wink. Marhkuhs cleared his throat and shifted a little.

"I don't really have any friends," He rumbled, holding his hands in his lap.

"C'mon, baby, who's the person you like most in the world right now? Anyone at all." Emlyn prodded and I wanted to growl at her. He grew up on the street; he wasn't going to have any friends. She should leave him alone.

Marhkuhs squirmed under her watchful eye. "I'm... acquainted with a couple of the Tributes," He said eventually. No! I mentally screamed at him. No, no, no! Sadly I don't think he heard me.

"Is that true?" Emlyn's eyebrows rose, lining her face even further. He just shrugged in answer. This Interview was going south very quickly. "Well?" She snapped in response to his silence. "Who are they?" Marhkuhs just lifted his eyebrows haughtily, using his imposing size to appear too menacing to answer. I almost sighed in relief. You don't say you were friends with Tributes when you had to start killing them tomorrow.

The Interview ended almost mercifully, with Marhkuhs gliding as animatedly back to his seat as he had on the way up, passing District Nine girl with no notice. I applauded politely but it was nowhere near as good an Interview as I would have hoped for him. I hid my pout though, and avoided his dejected gaze as I tried to listen to Nine.

Honeysuckle's Interview was better. She appealed to the crowd by being her sweet self and melting them into a narcissistic puddle. She was dressed in a red pinafore-like dress that ballooned out at her waist and had her hair stylishly messed up with the front twined back. She wore white frilled socks and shiny red shoes, and with her wide, earnest, tawny-coloured eyes she looked overall at age five, not fifteen. She played her part well I think, but I don't think she'd get many sponsors because it seemed like she appealed to the crowd with no material value; almost like she wanted them to know the injustice of the Games but she didn't want to win. Honeysuckle wanted them to know that if she could do anything right now, anything at all, it would to get her brother away from this danger and put him somewhere where he'd always be safe. She was like one of those show-dogs that you saw and cooed over before the main event but once it had left the limelight you didn't care if you even saw it again.

Rhododendron was much of the same. He was wearing a beige two-piece suit with a same coloured tie on a dark brown shirt, but it all looked about a size too big (their stylist must suck) so it gave him the look of a kid trying on his parents' clothes. His hair was carefully arranged to look carelessly flopped around his head like a mop and I'm pretty sure the stylist had even given him unnatural cowlicks. He again appealed with intense eyes, saying how though he was thankful he was here (like hell he was) but he'd rather his sister be somewhere else- anywhere else- because he loved her more than the world itself.

And then each of their three minutes were up, and the Twins from Eleven were finished for the night, and I was worried that they were finished for good.

Gracewyn was elegant and refined, using poise she had apparently pulled out of thin air to flatter the crowd and be self-deprecating at the same time. She used a lot of hand-gestures and flitted about nervously but when the pressing questions came you couldn't underestimate her. When she shifted position and crossed her legs, you could see the muscles in her thighs and calves rippling, or when she flexed involuntarily while laughing or reacting in shocked admiration to something Emlyn had said you could see the taut tendons and coiling power in her neck and arms. She was a real opponent in this competition.

"So, Gracewyn," Emlyn looked slightly snooty as she hitched her leg into view of every camera once again. She seemed to find Gracewyn's long legs and attractive features threatening. "What are some of your hobbies back in District Twelve?"

"Oh," Gracewyn sat her hands in her lap and looked like the poster girl for etiquette. "Well since my father is a Peacekeeper, he has to keep up a strict fitness resume," She started, smiling slightly.

"Yes, dearie," Emlyn interrupted with an upturned nose, brushing her hair off her shoulders to give the cameras a better view of her bare chest. "But we didn't ask about your father, we asked-" Gracewyn's mouth snapped shut, and I think Emlyn was about to revel in her seeming victory at one-upping the striking victim she was interviewing. Gracewyn wasn't going to like this.

"Right," Gracewyn snapped, cutting off Emlyn. "Well, if you'd have let me finish," She almost hissed and I remembered the Gracewyn who had tried to murder me with a glare alone when I had first met her. I directed calming thoughts at her because if she was too rude to Emlyn then this whole thing could go up in smoke. Because my thoughts were going to help her so much when it came to the decision of whether or not to try and make Emlyn combust with her eyes for interrupting her answer. "I would have told you that my father's fitness resume ran from seven to nine every morning, which included the elite exercises that Peacekeepers do," It was Gracewyn's turn to look down on Emlyn as she totally trumped her. "And I join him every morning before school. That's a hobby of mine."

The crowd 'oohed' at her revelation of strict exercise, which would equal to saying she skydived every day; it was something foreign and different to a majority of Capitol people. Gracewyn batted her smoky eyes at them and the rest of her interview was a competition between her and Emlyn to see who could win the crowd's favour more.

Jonathan was rather subdued on his walk up. It was strange. And I couldn't help a slightly puzzled frown make its way onto my face. From the start of his interview he was polite and charming, and my gut clenched whenever he lent in too close to Emlyn (brave soldier) or tipped his head back and laughed. I didn't realise how nervous I was for him. Then, of course, the point his interview had been racing towards jumped on him.

"So, Jon," Emlyn liked him. She was leaning far too close to Jonathan and occasionally brushing her hand along his leg or arm whenever she thought no one else would notice. "What are your... talents?" She looked at him in a way I presumed was supposed to get a sexual message across. I shuddered slightly at thoughts of what must be going through Emlyn's head, and nothing was pleasant. I thought we were supposed to keep it PG, madam.

"Well," I saw Jonathan turn his head slightly in my direction, almost like he wanted to look at me. But then again that may be my adrenaline-fuelled brain over thinking the situation. Maybe he was just stretching his neck. "I can sing." He breathed out, eager. Emlyn looked rather taken aback, and wasn't reacting, and Jonathan didn't have that much time left in his interview, so if he was going to get this ball rolling he better do it soon. "Would you like to hear?" He blurted out, and I could tell he was worried she was going to say no. But Emlyn just settled further back in her chair.

"Sure, baby," She leered.

"Okay," He straightened up, taken a deep breath and smiling his most winning smile at the crowd. "This is an old song- and I mean old. The guy who sang it was pretty famous, I assume, but my family sing it a lot now. I think it's mostly a family song. Okay," He glanced at his shoes for a moment, a blush seeping into his cheeks, and then he looked up again, opened his mouth and started to sing.

"Wise men say only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you
Shall I stay
Would it be a sin
If I can't help falling in love with you"

Jonathan crooned, his voice deep and soft, but singing to a tempo slightly faster than what suited the song, probably because he was worried about the time limit. But what did I know, really. His eyes were a light blue now, looking straight into the camera and filled with a sort of warmth that made my toes tingle.

"Like a river flows surely to the sea
Darling so it goes
Some things are meant to be
Take my hand, take my whole life too
For I can't help falling in love with you"

I felt something unexpected then. Something swooped in my stomach and my throat kind of closed. I choked a breath and swallowed noisily, my nose twitching. A fear of what was coming hit me roughly next and suddenly I flinched in my seat, Jonathan's voice washing over me, in complete juxtaposition with the terror uncoiling and bearing its terrible head in my belly.

"Like a river flows surely to the sea
Darling so it goes
Some things are meant to be
Take my hand, take my whole life too
For I can't help falling in love with you
For I can't help falling in love with you"

There was silence. You could hear a pin drop, it was that quiet. I wanted someone to do something, say something, do anything. I would have started it but I was trying to cope with the unexpected nerves having a rave party in my belly. I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood, and the silence stretched. Jonathan paled considerably, and looked like a deer caught in headlights. His hands moved nervously to pull on his jacket and he glanced around and caught my eye. He kept staring at me, and I didn't know what to do. But he looked so... in need, so I let a small but warm smile grace my features, and let out a long breath through my nose. He collapsed slightly into his seat, and gave me a tiny quirk of lips in return. Then his gaze shifted, and then, after a year-long twenty seconds of silence, the crowd finally made noise.

"Marry me!" A girl screamed, literally hollered, from the front row, and then the crowd exploded. I had to clap my hands around my ears to protect myself from the assault of noise that was bursting my ear drums. This was louder than anything yet. Jonathan leapt back in his chair and tried to sink right through the back of it, pushing his shoulders into the hard support. The buzzer must have gone off during the noise because Emlyn ushered him away with a slight push and a groping, lingering hug. He looked slightly queasy as he sat back down and the crowd (who had just started to calm down) erupted all over again. A Peacekeeper off the stage gestured for us to rise after about a minute of being all but assaulted by the din, and ushered us off. I waved again, milking it for all it was worth, but as soon as I got out of sight of the audience I let out a huge breath of air and closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. Finally that was over.

I walked over to Jonathan, and hustled him jokingly into an elevator. We were joined by one of the Tributes from Two and both from Six. Jonathan and I stood quietly as the elevator emptied, and on the short journey from floor six to floor seven I began a conversation.

"We know who the fan favourite is," I grinned mischievously at him, and he flipped me off, mirroring Gracewyn on the first night I met her.

"Shut up," He blushed all over again. The elevator binged at my floor by I didn't get off yet. I held the doors open, leaning against one casually so it didn't slide back into place and take me again to floor twelve.

I didn't feel any resentment or jealousy towards Jonathan. It's not like he stole the show from under my feet or anything. In fact, it was kind of brilliant that he got such a good receiving. I was basically happy for him.

"Isn't that the reaction you wanted?" I prodded quietly, curiously. I wanted to know. I mean, if I had the nerve, or a good singing voice, I'm pretty sure that was the reaction I would have wanted. But Jonathan just shrugged uncomfortably.

"I suppose," He sighed. "It went a lot differently in my head," He ducked his head and blushed harder at this, and I didn't know how to approach this new, shy Jonathan. It was kind of endearing; cute, in the way he brought his shoulders up to his ears and scuffed a shoe against the clear glass floor of the elevator. But different to the brash, teasing, flirtatious being I had come to appreciate over the last week. So I gave him a wan, tired smile and exited into the seventh floor, but turning back and giving a salute as he ascended. He grinned impishly back, but was only a shadow of what he was yesterday, and gave me a rude hand gesture in response. I rolled my eyes and, chuckling to myself, walked into the living room. I tried not to think too hard that that was the last time I would see him before we were trying to kill each other.