"Dance Like Nobody's Watching"
A/N: Yeah so updates be coming fast lmao. Enjoy part 2 of 3 of the party, less wholesome than last one but it has it's moments.
I just want to dance in the pouring rain
Not care if people call me insane
Live and love like I've never been hurt
Come home happy, covered in dirt
Julie Novum, 14, District Three
"No, left! I said left! What are you doing?" Ty continued to spin in circles as Julie smacked herself on the forehead. "Stop spinning!"
"You said left!"
"Yeah, left like two inches, not left as in do a three-sixty eleven times."
Ty grumbled, readjusting his blindfold to keep it from falling off of his eyes as he continued to hold out the tail, attempting to find his way to the donkey.
"You're so bad at this it isn't even funny," Julie said dryly.
"Still better than you," he retorted, and Julie couldn't exactly argue. When she had tried she ended up slipping and falling, nearly stabbing herself with the needle that was attached to the tail.
This was part seven of the 'Epic District Three Julie vs Ty bonanza' and as long as Ty could eventually find his way to pinning the tail he would tie it up three to three. Julie would be in the lead, but the stupid sack race had tripped them both up and Daulton's smug self hopped to the finish line at a cool two miles per hour.
He left the competition after that, going off to search for potential sponsors while Julie and Ty continued their battle. Ty was getting cocky after a couple of wins, but Julie was saving the rock climbing wall for later in the night whenever she needed to knock him down a few pegs.
"Let's go!" Ty exclaimed, ripping his blindfold off as he stood back to admire his work, the tail pinned to the very edge of the donkey.
"Not sure if that's where tail's go, dude." Julie laughed.
Ty shrugged. "A win's a win."
"Yeah, and a loser is a loser." Julie snorted. "Come on then, you won, where are we going next?"
"Attention tributes and visitors." A clear voice broke through the PA system. "Live music courtesy of the following performers will be playing at the center of the plaza, off Presidential Avenue and Sephina Lane. . . ."
The voice went on to list a bunch of bands and singers that Julie couldn't recognize, but the announcement filled her with a burst of excitement. T-Bale may have been in some musicals, but when it came to a dance floor nobody out there was taking Julie Novum down. And their karaoke battles were already the stuff of legend, with Julie fiercely determined to be the one to take the final round in front of the entire Capitol.
"So what's it gonna be, T-Bale?" She asked him, flashing a smarmy smirk. "You got some dance moves to wow the crowd with?"
"Backing out of the contest already?" Ty deflected.
Julie scoffed. "Who said it isn't part of the competition? Dance off on the floor, and then we let the crowd choose the winner."
Ty snorted, tossing down the donkey tail and working his way through the crowd. "I'm a performer, I don't want to embarrass you."
"I remember hearing those same words 'bout karaoke when I challenged you on the train," Julie mused.
"And I won on the train," he said dryly.
Julie shrugged. "Barely. You'd call it a win, I'd call it a rigged system."
"You sound like a screaming banshee when you sing, and knowing you, you probably look like a fish in a bucket dancing."
"Ooh, T-Bale's coming with the fire, huh?" She asked, knocking him on the shoulder. "Better be willing to back that up."
Ty took a glass of water from a waiter, quickly chugged it down, and handed the glass back to the Avox before turning to Julie. "If you wanna embarrass yourself, I won't stop you. I'll be right back. Meet you at the dance floor in a few?"
"Make sure to bring some tissues to cry into when I wipe the floor with you in front of the whole country," Julie called out to him as he briskly walked away.
She dug her hands into her pockets and began leisurely walking back to the center of the plaza, the crowd parting for her as she made her way through. The attention and praise suddenly felt a whole lot more awkward once she was alone. Julie was everything but stage-shy, but it was all a bit much. Just a week ago she thought that getting a lot of odd looks because of her fading pink hair was what it must feel like to be famous. And now she was recognized by every single person she passed by, and being asked for autographs and having pictures snapped of her.
She wondered how Daulton dealt with it. Her brother was such a solitary, individualist person, she couldn't imagine how the constant, ever-present crowd could be bearable for him. For anyone, really. Well, aside from Ty. That guy took praise like a flower took sunlight, he couldn't get enough of it.
Her mind wandered as she walked through the plaza, taking all of it in. All of this for twenty-four kids who were about to go and kill each other in a grimy, cold arena. Julie felt like she was standing at the top of the highest building she had ever climbed, staring off the edge and waiting for the inevitable fall. For her feet to lose their grip, for her hands to go slick with sweat and slip. Or for her to let go.
She grabbed her hand, massaging her wrist and palm as the memory sent a sharp pain there. Julie always said she was the best climber in all of Panem, but the more she thought about it the more she thought she was really just the best at falling. She'd been thinking about that a lot recently.
The dance floor was suddenly in front of her, but her feet didn't feel the pull of the beat anymore. She glanced up, and saw the skyscrapers that reached up to the sky, so much higher than she had ever gotten to climb back in District Three. The night sky was empty, no stars or lights aside from the one that came from the city itself.
Julie felt her feet moving by themselves, and without even realizing what it was she was doing she was walking to one of the nearby buildings, slipping through the entrance and ignoring the calls of recognition that rang out as she entered the lobby.
An elevator opened as a handful of people walked in, and Julie slipped in after them, pressing the top button that read 78. She brought a hand up to her cheek, hiding herself in the corner and hoping that none of them recognized her. The elevator stopped once, and all of them filtered out, leaving just Julie as the elevator doors closed and continued to rise.
It seemed like she was alone for an eternity as she felt the metal rising beneath her. It wasn't her normal way of climbing. She'd much rather be shimmying and jumping across ledges and worming her way up to the top, but she didn't have time for that. Not the energy either, maybe not even the trust that her hand wouldn't slip again, and send her tumbling down.
She winced at the memory, holding her wrist as a flash of pain came, the picture of her laying on the cement ground displaying itself in her head.
The elevator door opened, and Julie stumbled out, holding onto her head as a splintering headache split across her brain. The top floor was entirely empty, and Julie stumbled as she stepped out into the night air, scraping her knees against the metal floor as she attempted to catch herself.
Slowly, she rose back up, the pain in her head slowly receding as the fresh air flowed through her lungs. The entire roof was flat and empty, not even a guard rail present. Julie decided there must have been some sort of force field like they had at the training center, but you could almost trick yourself into believing you could walk over the edge and find yourself walking on air.
Julie made it to the edge, carefully sticking out her feet as she dangled her legs over the edge. She stared forward for a long while, looking at the top of the skyline that stretched on for a short moment before giving way to the darkness of the night. Lower down, buildings light up the city, and even lower than that was the ground, tiny dots all spread across the plaza, huddled together in a tiny corner of the world.
Julie's feet dangled aimlessly in the wind, her body rocking back and forth as the gusts had her hair blowing in her face. The metal was cool to her touch when she brought her palms to it, and she gripped onto the cold, holding it tight.
She wasn't sure what she was doing. Maybe she just wanted to see the world again, one final time, the same way she had back in Three. Not from the bottom, where everything is crowded and small and the tiniest things seemed so important. But from up in the sky, where she could see it all, and realize just how little she knew, how little she had seen.
How little she would see. Everything was quiet, and the cold wind was causing her teeth to chatter, her hands shaking as they attempted to continue to grip onto the ledge. Julie brought a hand up to her eye, and was surprised to see it come back dry.
Glory Fairfax, 11, District One, Victor of the 100th Hunger Games
The music was blasting through the plaza, and the dance floor was packed, bodies crashing into each other as they attempted to find room for themselves. Glory couldn't spot many tributes out on the floor, most of them still being occupied with the games and booths that were dotting the plaza. She spotted the boy from Three dancing with a group of Capitolite teens, and the girl from Nine was dancing opposite the boy from Five. Troy had dragged Vivian to the dance floor and was trying to teach her a dance he claimed to have invented that involved a lot of jumping and a backflip that nobody other than him seemed capable of doing. Glory had said no to the offer to join them, and stayed by herself at a table watching them.
Other than that, Glory didn't know where everyone else was. Hailey was probably still being chaperoned by Marquise, and Glory was grateful to the boy from Eleven for that. Dalton had disappeared into the night, and Mira was still sitting at the banquet table, hands dug into her sleeves as she ignored anyone's attempts at socialization.
"Having fun?" Glory looked up from the dance floor and saw Audra standing next to her, hands awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck.
"A bit," Glory lied, and she scooted over on the bench, making room for Audra. She took the seat and followed Glory's gaze to the dance floor. "Where's River?"
"She likes to be alone most of the time. I could tell she wanted her distance for a little while, so I let her wander." Audra sounded sad, and she bowed her head as she fiddled with her hands in her lap.
"She seems nice," Glory offered awkwardly. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say, telling her that she was rooting for River would be a lie. Troy and Vivian may have volunteered, but they weren't like most Careers. They both deserved to live. Glory wanted them both to live. It would make District One feel less lonely, less dead.
"She's strange," Audra said softly. "I don't think I'll ever really understand her, it's like she exists in her own world sometimes. But she's a good kid, and she doesn't deserve any of this." She paused, then added. "Your kids seem nice, too. Nicer than most Careers."
"It's too bad Nikola allied with District Two instead of Talon and Vivian, we could have been allies," Glory offered.
Audra didn't smile. "You wouldn't want that. Not everyone who's here is innocent."
"I guess," Glory said quietly, and she decided not to push it any further. "Have you seen Hailey at all?" She asked, partly just to keep an awkward silence from falling over them.
A small smile crossed Audra's lips. "I saw her with the boy from Eleven and the pair from Two. She was getting beaten pretty badly in a card game from what I could see."
"At least she's having some fun, then."
Audra shrugged. "The night's not over. There's plenty of time to turn it around, still. I hear there's gonna be a pretty awesome karaoke contest later tonight. And there's a dance floor right there."
"These parties always seem to end badly for me," Glory said. In all the chaos of the arena that followed, she sometimes forgot about the night before she went into the Games. The explosions, the gunfire, her district partner killed before he even got a chance to make it to the arena. Her escort and mentor too. She survived though, even when everyone around her was dying. It seemed to be a theme.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Audra murmured.
"So, what are you going to do, now that you aren't with River?" Glory asked.
"I don't know. I figured I'd check in on you all, and I see Mira over there so I guess that means my mission is complete." She quirked a half-smile. "Last year I got dragged into dancing, you know?"
"I remember," Glory said, and she almost laughed. "You and Levi were doing that silly thing with your arms."
"Aleksey made fun of me for that for the rest of the night." Audra let out a scuffed laugh. Her eyes watered as she bit her lip. "I really miss him, sometimes."
"I watched Prestige play soccer with Melody for pretty much the whole party last year," Glory said quietly. "She made it so it wasn't actually that bad, despite everything."
"It really seems like everyone that actually knew what they were doing is gone, doesn't it?" Audra sniffed, and she tried to smile.
"We still have Dalton," Glory said, and now Audra laughed, a short one as she dabbed her eyes, nodding her head.
"Yeah, thank goodness for that." Audra snorted.
Glory smiled, and she looked at her shoes as they passively tapped to the beat of the music. She heard a familiar laugh and looked up to see Troy moving towards her table confidently, Vivian smiling as they followed after him, holding in their laughter.
"Greetings, Glory!" He announced loudly, the bench nearly collapsing as he dropped himself beside her. "And Audra Lee! It's a pleasure!"
"Nice to meet you," Audra said, smiling.
"Are you certain I cannot persuade you to join us?" He asked, not unkindly.
Vivian pitched in, their voice holding less uncertainty than usual. "It's actually kinda fun," they offered.
"Sure, let's do it," Audra said suddenly, shrugging nonchalantly. Glory looked to her with a bemused look. "One quick dance, either it'll be fun or we'll hate it and go back to sitting here complaining about how much everything sucks. Deal?"
She raised her eyebrow, and Glory bit her lip, fighting the desire to just say no and continue sitting and watching. Continue to be miserable, the same way things had been for the entire last year of her life.
You do deserve it, remember that.
The words jolted her as they echoed through her head. Her head felt light suddenly, and a part of her wanted to throw up, but she forced herself to nod her head anyways. "Okay, one quick dance," she said.
Audra smiled, and Troy beamed, slapping her on the shoulder just a bit too hard as he let out a cheer. Glory pretended that it didn't hurt as she returned the smile, following him onto the dance floor while Audra practically pushed her along.
Troy and Vivian both immediately wandered away, attempting their complicated dance again, full of acrobatics and athletics and energy that Glory couldn't possibly image mustering. Instead she just swayed to the beat, her feet picking up and planting down lazily as she swung to the rhythm. Audra did the same, but with more energy in her as she laughed, brushing hair out of her eyes as it fell down.
"Let me teach you the dance that Levi taught me!" Audra said, having to practically shout to be heard over the music and conversation of the dance floor.
"The terrible one?" Glory yelled back, and they both laughed.
"I mean, yeah. But hey, you wanna learn it or not?"
"Maybe?" Glory replied, and she burst into a fit of giggles again.
"Well I'm going to explain it, and you can either keep doing whatever it is you're doing right now, or do this." Audra grabbed her foot, holding it out in front of her and jumping over it, nearly falling to the ground as she stumbled around on one foot.
"Incredible!" She yelled.
"Hold the applause," Audra shouted back, laughing.
Audra walked her through the steps, and one song blended into two and then three as she attempted and failed, laughing the whole time, and forgetting that anyone was watching, forgetting that there was anything else beyond the music in her ear and the floor beneath her feet.
Talon Olympus, 18, District Two
Talon pushed a pawn to D4, and waited for Lana to take in the information and make her move. She had picked up chess about as quickly as he had expected, and was already playing like an experienced player, thinking over every move carefully. Hailey had dulled to the idea of chess pretty quickly and wandered off, and Marquise decided to follow after "at least until she ends up with someone trustworthy" which Talon decided was unlikely to happen at all.
Maya had headed to the dance floor and asked them if they wanted to join, but Talon decided that dancing wasn't going to be Lana's favorite activity. Chess was more her speed, and the girl was silent as she focused on the pieces, her eyes darting across the table.
The area was quiet, the music distant as only a few stragglers stayed near the edge of the plaza where they had set their chess board up for a game. One of those few people sat at a nearby table watching them, unaware of just how easy to spot they were.
Lana played pawn to D5, and Talon immediately countered with pawn to C4, the Queen's Gambit. While she took in that information, Talon turned himself to their spectator, taking a hand out of his pocket to wave at her casually.
Ciera Ocussia looked behind her, and then turned back to Talon, waving back hesitantly. Talon motioned her over, and again with a healthy dose of hesitation, she walked over, taking a seat next to him. Lana exhibited none of her normal territorial aggression, too focused on the game at hand to be bothered to look up.
"Ciera Ocussia, District Eleven," Talon said simply. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
She eyed him up. "You're the one who invited me over, you tell me."
He shrugged. "Well, you were the one spying on us from across the room."
Lana looked up, giving Ciera an odd look as she captured Talon's pawn, accepting the gambit. Talon played E3. He smiled when she went back to focusing on the game without making any threatening looks or actions.
"I wouldn't call it spying," she said with an eye roll.
"What would you call it?" He asked, his eyes shimmering with interest.
She paused, taking a moment to collect her thoughts as she bit the inside of her cheek. "Your alliance only has four people in it," she said carefully.
"I've noticed," Talon said. "And our opposition has an alliance seven members strong. Quite a dilemma, I'm sure you can figure out."
"Not a problem," Lana said quietly. She attempted to save her hanging pawn, pushing B5, and Talon automatically responded with A4, threatening that pawn as well. Lana's eyebrows furrowed in frustration.
"She's got a point," Talon conceded. "They aren't exactly a very threatening group of fighters."
"Still, numbers do matter," Ciera said. She went quiet for a moment, then said, "And I'm sure you could agree that having five members would be more ideal than having four."
"Depends on who the fifth is," Talon said. He peered up at her, looking her in the eyes.
"Someone smart," she said confidently, and her eyes backed up that confidence as she stared right back through him.
Talon looked back at the board. He laughed. "It's funny, you know. I heard this exact same pitch not thirty minutes ago, isn't that right, Lana?"
"He swore more," Lana said grumpily. She hesitantly pushed a pawn to C6, continuing to attempt to defend her lonely pawn. Talon captured her pawn on B5, and her brow furrowed so deeply it looked like it might fall off her face.
"Different language, same general idea." Talon shrugged.
"Well, assuming it's the boy from Eight you're talking about, adding me and him both would make it an even six on six, so all the better for you," she said.
"And why do you assume it's Udon Chang that wants in on our little alliance?" Talon asked.
"He thinks he's smart and swears a lot, I think it isn't too hard of a guess," Ciera said, and she looked to barely catch herself from eye rolling again.
"Fair point," Talon offered. "And tell me, aside from being a warm body and thinking that you're smart, what is it that you bring to the table?"
"I won't cut your throats in your sleep, and considering you have Nikola Surge in your alliance for some reason, having one more person you can trust not to do that should be something you leap at," Ciera said matter-of-factly.
Talon raised an eyebrow, almost impressed. "And what makes you think my charming ally from District Five would do that?" He asked, mocking offense.
"Not being an idiot makes me think that," she said.
"And you'd turn away from your outlier allies so quickly to join up with the big bad Careers?" Talon asked, looking up from the board for his final question.
Ciera hesitated on this one, her lips wobbling for a moment as she swallowed a lump in her throat. "I'm here to win and survive, not make friends. I don't want to hurt anybody, but that's not gonna stop me from doing what I need to."
Talon nodded his head, and extended a hand towards the girl from Eleven. "Ciera Ocussia, it would be a pleasure to have you with us."
She accepted the handshake tentatively, then pulled back, looking unsure what to do with herself.
"I'll find you in a little while and introduce you to the rest of the alliance, and then I'll explain our plan for tomorrow to all of you. If everything goes right," Talon watched from the corner of his eye as Lana captured back his pawn. "We should be set up to be the lone Career pack standing twenty-four hours from now."
Ciera nodded her head, not asking any more questions as she pushed off and wandered towards the center of the plaza, looking dazed and aimless as she did so. Talon hardly blamed her, turning on your allies at the last moment had to be a difficult decision to make. Still, it was a smart one, and certainly one that would be in Talon's advantage.
He turned his attention back to the board, sighing as he played Queen to F3. "Now I'll take your Bishop next turn," he explained. "And from there, your queen-side will fall apart and the game will already be as good as over."
"What did I do wrong?" She asked, peering up at him with curiosity. The question took him by genuine surprise, and he paused for a moment to think.
"Your pawn was always going to be lost, but you tried to save it anyway. You overcommitted to that goal, and lost everything because of it. One tiny, practically worthless piece, and you lost the game because you couldn't let it go. That's one of the main things chess teaches us," he said. "If you try too hard to save something that's already been lost. . . you'll lose everything else with it."
Lana looked at the board, not seeing beyond it as she took in the information. After a long while, she tipped over her King, conceding the game. "I understand," she said, and it sounded almost robotic, a drilled in command that she had learned to repeat. "Can we play again?"
"Hm?" He asked, snapping himself out of his thoughts. He looked at the board, and Lana peering up at him cautiously, and remembered where he was. He nodded his head, and put a smile back onto his face as he reset the pieces. "Yeah, we can play one more, I think," he said, nearly stumbling over his words.
He averted his eyes to the board as he moved the pieces, and felt his hand locked in place as Lana grabbed onto it. When he looked up, she was looking at him with wide, curious eyes. "What's wrong?" She asked, and it sounded less like concern and more genuine confusion.
"Just thinking is all." He coughed. "Big day tomorrow."
"We'll win," She said confidently, fiercely.
"I know," he said, and he nodded his head. "I know we will." She looked at him oddly again, and before she could ask anything he continued speaking, returning a casual tone to his voice. "Open mic should be starting up in just a few minutes, I think that'll be a good time to rally everyone together. And - we've gotta prepare for our big routine."
"Big. . . routine?" She asked.
"Yeah, of course," he said, smirking as he held in laughter. "Don't you remember? I believe one miss Hailey Hills challenged you and I to a karaoke battle later in the night, claiming she would 'wipe the floor with us.'"
She paused just short of resetting her final piece, looking up at him with one of the unreadable expressions she sometimes wore. She didn't say anything, though, and after a moment put her piece back, and let Talon flip the board so that she could take the white pieces.
"Your move," he said, and she moved the piece, pushing her pawn forward across the squares, out into the center of the board.
Talon's hand hovered over his pieces, and he paused, brain turning as he worked through his next move.
Dalton Faux, 24, District Three, Victor of the 95th Hunger Games
Talking with sponsors dulled Dalton. The liquor that he had pumped himself full of dulled the senses, but could add no excitement to the task he put himself up to. Every Capitolite thought that they were fascinating. That their gossip was worthwhile, their anecdotes witty and entertaining, and the mundane tasks of their life interesting in the slightest. Dalton had done everything in his power to avoid such conversations in his six years as a mentor, and yet tonight he was breaking his tradition and wasting away a night of his life buttering up wealthy Capitolites.
He was taking a break from the mind-numbing activity, sipping a drink as he sat at one of the tables overlooking the dance floor. Most of the tributes had found their way to the floor, and Capitolites fought for a chance to dance with their favorite. Troy was the center of everything, still going strong with his intense dancing, while Vivian attempted to keep up. Nearby Glory and Audra were dancing (terribly) along with a group of outliers including Denver, Jamie, Julian, and Earhart. Hailey was out there too, somehow eclipsing the terribleness of her co-mentors' dancing while Marquise half-danced and half stopped her from knocking into anybody.
A few tributes (Nikola, Juniper, Aphrodite, and Inesa by Dalton's count) were working sponsors, which Dalton could almost respect if it weren't so meaningless this year. With the highlights at the end of the night, and the open nature of the party, it was a better use of time to just enjoy yourself and do something interesting enough to make for a memorable highlight. All the silver-tongued manipulators sipping drinks with wealthy Capitolites would have their night forgotten by all but a small handful of potential sponsors, while the likes of Troy and Denver would be flooded with sponsors from all over Panem.
District Two was still missing in action, while the Career pack from District Four all awkwardly danced, seemingly trying to put up the front of being friends and failing horrifically at it. Udon was notably separate from the rest of his allies, and was chatting with Maya Hoover at the outskirts of the dance floor, who was a part of the District Two Career pack that rivaled them. Sparrow, River, and Persephone had been missing for the entire party, probably off in some quiet corner just like District Two and his final co-mentor Mira.
And that left just District Three. Ty and Julie were both competing for the spotlight, pulling out all the stops as they attempted to one-up the other. They had a larger group of Capitolites surrounding them than any other tributes, but it didn't help that most of those Capitolites were just teens who likely wouldn't be sponsoring more than just an allowance's worth of money.
Julie had a carefree smile as she laughed, rocking herself back and forth to the music while Ty went through some specific dance routine. Their competition annoyed Dalton more than anything else at first, and still annoyed him, but less so than before. It was an odd feeling, caring. He wasn't used to it, and didn't particularly care for it. He looked forward to never having to do it again after Julie won.
"You're really gonna just sit there the whole night analyzing everything like a dork, aren't you?" Audra's voice called out to him, breathless as she stood behind him with arms held wide.
"It's cute, the dancing thing," Dalton said overly sweetly.
Audra shrugged. "It's fun. I can define the word for you if you don't recognize it."
"Preparing your material for the open mic already, I see," Dalton retorted dryly.
"Seriously," she said, sliding into the seat beside her and bringing with her a sweaty smell that Dalton only barely avoided physically recoiling from. "I'm surprised to see you out here at all. I woulda thought you'd be back at the training center already, or at least off with District Two playing chess or something like that. Thought parties weren't your thing."
"And you say I'm the one analyzing people," Dalton took a sip from his rum and coke.
"I've gotten better," Audra said. "For example, that right there was a deflection, not an answer."
"You shouldn't expect an answer when you don't pose a question," Dalton replied.
She smiled smugly. "Still deflecting."
"I'm not much of one for small chat with annoying children," Dalton said sharply. "You can go back to waving your arms like an idiot out there whenever it pleases you." Dalton stood up and made to walk away.
"I saw you talking to sponsors earlier," Audra said abruptly. Dalton stopped, turning around to face her. She didn't wear a cocky smile, instead she showed curiosity. "Four years of mentoring, I've never seen you so much as talk to a sponsor. Why the sudden interest?"
"It's a fairly simple concept, sponsors provide money, money provides items, items which can increase my tributes chance of victory, now-"
"And since when did you care if your tributes won or not?" Audra interjected, and Dalton nearly winced. He sighed, sliding back into his seat.
"Mentoring is dull, tiring, and apparently dangerous," he stated matter-of-factly. "I wouldn't mind finding myself a replacement and enjoying an early retirement."
Audra smiled, though it quickly disappeared as she tilted her head at him curiously. "You care? Don't you?"
"What?" Was all Dalton could say.
Audra scoffed, leaning back into her chair. "You care about her. Not just in some egotistical, selfish way. You genuinely don't want her to die."
Dalton coughed into his fist, making to stand. "Well, it's been a lovely conversation, but-"
"No, I-I didn't mean it as an insult," Audra said rapidly. "I, I mean, I care too. Most of the time, anyways. I get it."
"I wasn't aware you also had a sibling get reaped this year, which one is it?" Dalton said sharply. "The liar or the mute?"
Audra's expression dropped. "It's not really possible, since they're all dead already."
Dalton paused. "Right," he said.
"My point was just that I get what you're going through," she said tiredly. "It drives you insane, doesn't it?"
Dalton shifted in his seat awkwardly. "Why would it do that? Sure, she's family, I suppose wanting her to win isn't all that unordinary. I've taught her everything I know, that's more than enough for her to make it out."
Audra opened her mouth, then closed it, biting her lip. "Julie, she seems like a good kid. I can't say I'll be rooting for her, because River will be in there, but. . ." she sighed. "Yeah."
Dalton nodded, unsure what to say as he sat awkwardly, darting his eyes across the plaza. A short announcement was made over the plaza informing everybody that open mic would start in ten minutes.
"Rumor is there's gonna be quite the karaoke contest during open mic," Audra said cheekily, prodding at Dalton as she flashed him a grin.
"I don't know what you expect me to say to that."
She shrugged sheepishly. "Hey, just saying. I saw you showing up your kids in that sack race earlier."
"That was just-"
"Hey," Audra threw up her hands, and gave him a knowing smile. "It wasn't a question." She popped out of her chair, and began walking away, then changed her mind, turning around. "Still a lot of night left." She looked away, and Dalton followed her gaze to Julie, who was still going on the dance floor, spinning in circles on the ground.
When Dalton looked back, Audra was already walking away, back turned as she met back up with Glory on the dance floor. Dalton turned back to where Julie danced without a care in the world, and glanced down at the nearly empty glass of alcohol in his hand, sloshing it around as he pondered on those words.
Over the blare of the music, he heard the singer's voice chanting the chorus, repeating the words over and over again.
And dance, dance, dance, like nobody is watching
Dance, dance, dance like the world is 'bout to end
Dance, dance, dance like your 'bout to lose it all
And dance, dance, dance, like nobody is watching
A/N: And just like that only one chapter separates us from the countdown and bloodbath. I hope y'all have enjoyed these party chapters, I've really loved how they've turned out and am getting way too attached to these characters right before I have to start killing them off. See you all next chapter (tomorrow probably) with the final party chapter!
Trivia(1 point): Who's winning that karaoke contest tho?