After Cashmere, Gloss and Enobaria had entered, I rested my head against the cool glass of the door. I knew that I was currently in no state to talk, but this conversation needed to happen, and sooner rather than later. I took in a few deep breaths to let the remains of my frustration ebb away before I turned to face my soulmates. Once I met their gazes, it was obvious they were all concerned. Enobaria especially who appeared to understand how close I was to totally losing it and ripping Haymitch to shreds with my bare hands. I met her worry with a sheepish grin, slightly taken aback by my own behaviour. Whilst I'd never been the most patient or forgiving person, I was usually harder to provoke into violence.
I cleared my throat, preparing myself for the oncoming conversation. Though, considering how well everything went the first time, I wasn't expecting it to be too bad. I looked at them all once more to be met with patient and content expressions and that was all the encouragement I needed. There wasn't an easy way to go about this, so I may as well just rip off the band aid instead of prolonging their suffering. "There's no simple way to put this, so I'll just come out and say it. All three of you are my soulmates, among quite a few others. I have eleven in total.." Cashmere and Gloss' expressions became instantly reassuring as they had already heard this when we'd been introduced; the reveal was more for Enobaria's sake than anyone else's as she didn't know about my almost extensive list of soulmates.
Though I had informed her about the mentors I was bonded to, she didn't know how many tributes were also my mates. "I know I'd already told you about my existing bonds with each of you, but I thought it was important to go through it in a more private setting so you could process everything properly." Though Cash and Gloss knew the full extent of my soulmates, I hadn't told Enobaria all of them for fear of scaring her off. I was glad now that I chose to do it here. It was obvious how comfortable she already was with the district one mentors and though we'd only known each other for the past few hours, we were extremely close already.
"As well as the mentors I have told you about, I'm also bonded to the tributes from both of your districts and the male tribute from district eleven, Thresh." Before I could carry on speaking, Enobaria cut me off with a small smile. "I know the way you went about telling us was more for me than anybody else, and I'm really grateful for that. Cato probably told you how long I was waiting for you to come along, I swear he knows way too much that kid." At my nod of confirmation she rolled her eyes, "I swear that brute is all mush on the inside." I giggled and nodded once again before pulling her into a tight hug, reassuring her that I wasn't about to give up on her.
After our embrace ended, Gloss quickly cut in to try and lighten the mood. "So, can we see our soul marks today, or is it too soon to see you naked?" Though the innocent expression he used was amusing, it didn't help him to avoid Enobaria's hand slapping him upside the head whilst Cash chuckled, leaning on the wall for support. Whilst he rubbed the back of his head, I took pity on him and gave him no answer. "I'll show you all if you just turn around to let me undress." His eyes appeared to almost pop out of his skull in surprise, though he was quick to spin on his heels and soon followed be Cashmere and Enobaria.
I lifted my turtleneck and threw it across the room, somewhere close to my closet to form a pile with my other worn clothing, soon to be followed by my skinny jeans. Once I was left in a matching set of red lace underwear, I told them that they could turn around. I was once again met with intense leering and a puddle of drool surrounding Gloss' feet. "You're just as bad as the actual teenagers, you should be ashamed of yourselves." I said, rolling my eyes and scoffing playfully; only to be met by a blush from Enobaria and a wink from Cashmere, with Gloss still stuck in his lust driven haze./p
After a couple moments of Gloss continuing to drool, it was Cash this time who stepped I'm and smacked him upside the head. "Hey! What is it with you two and the abuse today? I mean you can't actually blame me right?" He tried to escape his embarrassment but he just dug his own grave before giving up with a huff. He sent a pleading look my way as the other two laughed at his attempt, so I took pity and coughed to get their attention. Their gazes slowly returned to me as they caught their breath, and I saw Enobaria catch a glimpse of her mark on my neck.
She hesitated momentarily before I smiled softly and she took that as a sign to continue. She approached me slowly, like trying to calm a wild animal, before finally reaching me and extending a hand towards my neck. Her touches were featherlight against my skin, causing goosebumps to rise in their wake. I shivered at the contact, nuzzling my face into Enobaria's hand as her caresses grew more confident. Whilst I was being distracted, both Cash and Gloss had also moved closer, staring in wonderment at their marks left on either collar bone.
I saw them moving forward to make contact and decided that we should move things to my bed. With everything that had happened today, I was both emotionally and physically drained, leaving me in dire need of sleep. I lead them all to the foot of my bed before I broke contact to crawl under the covers. After a few moments without company I looked back to see awkward and bewildered expressions on the faces of my companions. I rolled my eyes before pulling back both edges of the comforter. "Get in, I need my sleep." This time it was me who was met with sheepish expressions as they all rushed to slide underneath with me.
Thankfully my bed was huge, so even with the four of us there was a ton of extra space. Even with an abundance of space, we all packed in tightly, limbs crisscrossing only distinguished by skin colour. Enobaria and Cash were squeezed to my left and right sides respectively, with both of their faces nuzzling their soul marks. Gloss was cuddled directly behind Enobaria with his hand resting on my stomach. Before I drifted to sleep, I realised how closely they were mimicking the protective arrangement surrounding me the night before. I smiled to myself with only one thought entering my head, tomorrow should be fun.