Vesta Maxim, Hunger Games Interviewer, 31

Three months before the Reaping

Tranquil.

That was the first word that came to Vesta's mind as she sat silently in her dressing room, thumbing through a book about the current and previous presidents of Panem. Many people who didn't know her personally were always surprised to find out just how serious and passionate she was, and that she cared about more than just presenting the Games. Onscreen, she was a bubbly and chatty presenter, who was bright-eyed and, almost quite literally, a ball of energy. Enough so that it annoyed her slightly that she had allowed it to become part of her onscreen persona. It came naturally at first, when she had first secured the job as presenter and interviewer of the Hunger Games, when she was twenty-five, young and fresh out of university. However, off-screen she was much more settled and earnest, someone who could hold a more intense conversation without scrambling for words or fumbling over her words. She enjoyed deep talks, meaningful talks that stuck with her. It was partly the reason she got into this career in the first place.

A knock on her dressing room door before it opened, snapping Vesta out of her world of reading, and bringing her back to studio. Her assistant, Lucius, stood at the door with a gentle smile on his face. He was a good assistant, he kept her up to date with everything going on in the studio, like when guests arrived, when she was needed and most importantly, he knew how to make a good cup of coffee. He had been here almost a year now and he had grown on Vesta quite a lot within that time, more than she cared to admit.

"Mr. Mikos is here, when you're ready to start, Ms Maxim." He told her in a calm tone, but with a hint of excitement in his eyes.

He was a big fan of all things Hunger Games, he once told her, so he was very much looking forward to today's interview between Head Gamemaker Cassius Mikos and herself. She was looking forward to it a little too, considering Cassius was new the position, a first in her career since she had first started working here. A new person in charge meant fresh ideas and a new perspective on things, something she was looking forward to seeing. She only hoped that he did well during his first year, considering all the training he had gone through to get to this position.

Vesta placed her bookmark at the page she was reading, closed, and then gently placed down the book on the counter of her vanity mirror, turning to scrutinize her appearance one last time before the interview began. Fierce golden eyes stared back at her; strong determination held within them. She fixed her short curly hair one last time, so that it would keep out of her eyes and mouth, but what she approved of the most was stylist's choice in what she was wearing for today's interview. A teal pantsuit, to match her turquoise hair, with hints of gold here and there throughout it, along with a plain white blouse. She used to worry about keeping up with all the new trends going on throughout the Capitol but as she got older, she realized she didn't need to worry about such silly things. As long as she dressed somewhat fashionably, nobody would truly care, they might even go as far to start a new trend based on how she looked each year.

She adjusted her outfit slightly, fixing the collar of her blouse before standing up and smiling at Lucius, walking past him, with a brief "Thank you" on the way out. He followed her, listing off the topics she would be covering in the interview to refresh her mind, even though she knew exactly what she would be saying. Vesta, calmly but quickly, made her way to the studio, where everything was being prepared and where some finishing touches were being added. This interview was taking place in the same studio where they held the tribute interviews every year, all interviews surrounding the Hunger Games were carried out here, not just solely the tribute interviews. Which meant Vesta was very familiar with the studio and its surroundings, there was very little about here she didn't know, she could probably walk through the building blindfolded and still know where she was going. The point is, she knew everything about here and everything about her job. So, when she saw Cassius standing by the chair opposite hers, she wasn't surprised or thrown off-guard.

"Mr. Mikos, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." She said with a friendly smile, as she approached him.

She shook his hand, and briefly took a moment to analyse his face, more precisely, the swirling sapphire blue tattoos surrounding his eyes, clearly meant to match his hair and eyes. It wasn't the strangest choice of style that Vesta had come across, there had been far stranger, but it was what caught her attention initially. She had seen pictures of Cassius before this interview, but meeting him in person was different.. he seemed to be a little more tense than his predecessor was during these interviews, but who could blame him? It was his first time leading the show, having all the focus be put on him.

"The pleasure is all mine, Vesta. And please, call me Cassius." He replied, smiling warmly back at her as he gestured around them. "It's pretty busy here, huh? The only place I've seen busier than this is the Gamemaker Centre during a finale."

Vesta chuckled, nodding her head as she tried to picture an image of how crazy it must be to be in the middle of such a busy place, it would probably make the busy environment here seem like a casual walk through the park. One thing was for certain, she didn't envy that part of Cassius' job.

"I hope that you enjoy this interview, it can be a bit stressful sometimes. After all, it is the first time the people of the Capitol will get to see their newest addition to the Hunger Games world. Naturally, you might be nervous."

"Well," Cassius started. "I'm nervous as hell, I won't lie, but Pax has built me up for this, so as long as nothing unexpected happens, I think I'll be okay."

"You're not the only one who is nervous, my friend. I've gotten so used to Pax over the years that having a new figure appear makes me worry about all kinds of things, what to expect, what not to expect." She confided, hoping it might ease whatever worries Cassius had.

However, before either could say anything more, the live director was beginning to call for everyone to get to their place, announcing almost obnoxiously loud that they would be starting in a few moments. Vesta gestured for Cassius to sit in the chair opposite hers and sat herself down, mentally preparing herself to return to her bubbly and exciting personality that the Capitol knew and loved. She took one deep breath before looking at the camera and listening to the director count down, ready and prepared to see how this interview would go.

"Hello Capitol and welcome, welcome, welcome to this year's Hunger Games Insight Interview! However, this year is different from any of the others these last few years as we have a new Head Gamemaker! For the first of hopefully many more times, welcome Cassius Mikos!"

The camera panned over to Cassius, who smiled warmly towards it before looking back at Vesta.

"So, I have to ask the question on everyone's minds right now! Can you tell us what the arena is going to be? Any hints or clues as to what we might expect this year?" She began, wiggling her eyebrows a little him with a hopeful expression written across her face.

Cassius couldn't help it and let a small laugh escape from his lips at the sudden question, at how upfront it was and just how much Vesta had changed in the short amount of time they knew one another.

"Well, I'm afraid if I gave it away now, there wouldn't be any suspense leading up to the actual Games, would there?" He retorted, raising a questioning eyebrow at her to further his point.

"Awh, no even one little hint?"

"Nope. You and the rest of Panem will have to wait and see. I can't give away my first arena just like that." He said, snapping his fingers quickly.

"Okay, well if you won't tell us anything about the arena, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?"

With that, Cassius seemed to fall right into place, relaxed and spoke to Vesta like the cameras were not even there. He spoke about how he trained for this position for four years under Pax, the pressure that came along with training, as well as the upsides to both the training and the job. Pax had always made it sound as easy as cutting a slice of cake but after his many years, the passion had begun to fade, which is why he stepped down in the end. But that meant it could pave the way for new, younger minds to create even bigger and better arenas. Eventually, after almost forty-five minutes of interviewing, they began to wrap it all up, urged silently by their live director.

"So Cassius, is there anything you would like to say to the people of the Capitol to finish up our interview with?"

The young man remained silent for a few moments, contemplating on what exactly to say directly to the people before smiling charmingly at the camera and speaking.

"I may be new to this, but keep your eye out because this is only the start of what's going to be a very interesting Hunger Games this year. I have a lot in store for this year's tributes, so just you wait."

A/N: Heyooo! Dropping off another prologue, this time through Vesta and a little bit more of Cassius, since I love writing about him lol. Submissions are still open for each of the featured tributes so feel free to submit a tribute, maybe even two if you're kind! Not much to update on, I've been working on this for a lil while but I was able to finish it properly because I'm on Easter break, thank the gods! I can't promise I will have a strict update schedule, but I plan on working hard on this partial, I'm already super excited with each submission as they come! I can't wait to get to intros next!

Submissions will close on MAY 8TH, so mark that down, once it hits May 9th, I will not be taking any more submissions! But that gives people plenty of time to submit your tribute by!

That's all for now, I look forward to seeing the submissions to come!