Cleopatra Datari (District 4 Mentor)
Tonight was supposed to be so much fun. It was supposed to be the last chance for all of us, mentors and escorts, to get together and blow off some steam before we have to leave for our Districts in the morning.
I should be at least three or four fruity drinks deep by now. Listening passively to the steady beat of awful music, my words oh so eloquently slurring as I shamelessly flirt with my girlfriend Aquilina and her delicious twin brother Sextus. My stunning sapphire locks contrasting oh so elegantly with the sun-kissed skin of my face and shoulders as they cascade softly down the back of my midnight black silk dress. My vivid emerald eyes and seductive smirk offering a silent, alcohol-fueled promise to make what's left of the night the best of our lives. If only one, or preferably both, of my companions, are brave enough to take the plunge.
Instead, I'm sitting here in a stuffy little side room with no cocktails and an equally bored-looking Dahlia. Who, despite all evidence to the contrary, is not only capable of looking incredibly sexy when she wants to but is absolutely slaying it in that shockingly revealing little cyan feathered cocktail dress.
What was I complaining about? Oh, that's right, being forced to sit here and listen to Alexander as he drones on and on about how important it is for us to gently prod our future tributes in the direction of maintaining the traditional career alliance.
You know, because the only reason the alliance has lasted for as long as it has is that the old career mentors forced their tributes to work together. Not because it makes sense for the six best-trained and prepared tributes to team up and cull their more dangerous competition before they can get lucky and take one or more of them out instead.
I can't believe I'm missing my own going away party for this.
"Cleopatra?!"
"Yes, Alexander?"
"Have you been paying attention to anything I've been saying?"
"Do you want an honest answer to that? Or would you rather I stroke your ego and pretend that I've been hanging on your every word?"
"I would rather you take this seriously like Dahlia and I are. But I'm willing to settle for you paying attention if it's not too much trouble."
I can't help but laugh at that. Not because anything he said was particularly funny, some of it was a little funny, but not funny enough to justify my laughing. No, the reason I'm laughing is that he's totally oblivious to the fact that Dahlia is paying even less attention to what he's saying than I am. She's just better at pretending to pay attention than I am.
But I'm not going to tell him that. Dahlia is more than welcome to do so if she wants. And if the amused look on her pretty face is any indication, she's seriously thinking about doing just that. I don't think she will, but the fact that she's even considering it isn't a good sign for Alexander or his frankly laughable assumption that he's going to be calling the shots when our tributes inevitably end up in an alliance with his.
"Would the two of you please wipe those stupid smirks off your faces and get serious for a second?"
"Oh, I'm sure we could. Dahlia might even be willing to get serious for a few minutes if you ask her nicely. But I won't."
"And why not? Why do you insist on making this more difficult than it needs to be? Seriously, Cleopatra, you're acting like a child right now."
"If you didn't want me to act like a child you shouldn't have treated me like one. This isn't a difficult concept to understand, Alexander. It really isn't."
I don't think he knows how to respond to that. He looks like he wants to yell at me, and his face has turned a delicious shade of crimson, which is actually sort of impressive since he had his skin dyed a fairly light and pleasant shade of mauve just a couple of days ago, but that's not really the point. No, the point is I've finally gotten under Alexander's skin. He wants to scream at me, but he either can't or won't for some stupid reason.
I, however, don't have that problem. And since Dahlia doesn't seem to be willing to help me put him in his place, even though we both know he deserves it more than anyone ever has, I'll have to do it myself.
"Look, Alexander, you're not telling us anything we don't already know. Which wouldn't be a problem if you weren't wasting our time."
"I'm not wasting your time."
"Yes, you are.
"We should be out there with our friends and colleagues. Drinking and dancing and having a good time. But we're not. We're sitting here, listening to you talk about things we already know we have to do and in all reality won't have to try very hard to make happen.
"Working with the other career district tributes is something every career has drilled into them from day one. They don't need us to remind them of the benefits because they know them better than we could ever hope to.
"All they need from us is to be semi-competent at managing their sea of sponsor money, to be tactical in how we deploy their sponsor gifts, and to stay the hell out of their way.
"Cleopatra is right, Alexander. You may want to hear it, and you don't have to like it, but she is right. We probably won't need to do much of anything once we actually get our tributes, and there's nothing we can do right now."
I don't think either of us was expecting Dahlia to pick now to finally say something, but I'm glad she did. Because within seconds of the words leaving her mouth, Alexander finally realizes he's not going to win this argument. And the soul-crushing look of defeat in his eyes as he realizes that he's lost is almost enough to make this whole thing worth it.
"I think you both are being stupid about this, but I'm clearly in the minority. So, fine, I'm sorry I expected the two of you to take our job as seriously as I do.
"Just go back to the party. We can worry about the rest of this later."
"That's the first worthwhile thing you've said all night.
"Come on, Dahlia, if we hurry, I might still be able to find Aquilina and Sextus before they get too drunk and become immune to my charms."
"Why do you need me for that?"
"Oh, I don't. But I've always performed better with an audience, and I don't think Alexander is in the mood to watch me try to pick up my girlfriend and her twin brother."
A/N: So I honestly went back and forth on whether or not I should post this chapter. I think it gives everyone a fun little peek inside the mind of our District Four mentor, Cleopatra, and a fun introduction to the personalities of the other two, Dahlia and Alexander. And it also helps to move the timeline forward to just a day or two before the Reapings, which in the end is why I decided to post it. I hope everyone enjoys it :D
In other news, there is only ONE spot left to fill! We just need the second District 11 tribute to finish filling out the roster! So, if you or anyone else has ever wanted to submit to a SYOT, or you just enjoy creating outer district tributes, this is your time!
Other than that please remember to drop a review if you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll look forward to seeing all of your smiling faces at the next update, which will be the final pre-reaping update! :D