Chapter One-Hundred-and-Seventy-Four; Secret, Illegal Training
Stephanie gratefully dove out into the deserted hallway, once more glad to get out of the dodgy, groaning lift as she had been last time. She shook the raindrops from her hair, that had gotten surprisingly damp in their mad dash from the car to the apartment block building, the rain had been so heavy. She also glared balefully at the back of a certain blue-haired head. Electra had jumped up and down in the lift just to annoy her, when she seen how nervous Stephanie was.
"It's perfectly fine. We're not going to plummet to our painful deaths when the cables snap," the blue-haired woman had announced cheerfully in the tight, confined space.
"Haymitch, is she doing this just to get me more riled up for training?" Stephanie had hissed.
"I have no idea what Ellen is up to anymore," Haymitch had conceded drily, stepping ahead of both women to reach Sterlin's apartment door first.
Stephanie had felt an unconscious shiver race up her spine when she had first entered Sterlin's apartment and her sights had landed on the main room. The exact seating arrangement where Seneca had quite bluntly told her he loved her for the first time. How very appropriate that the Gamemaker had chosen a place where people came to learn how to kill one another, Stephanie's thoughts had muttered drolly. Love and Death; it seemed to be a common theme concerning Seneca.
Stephanie had then gaped openly in unrestrained shock as Sterlin – the coolly aloof, small, podgy, bleach-blonde haired man she had met before, leaped from his seat as they entered into the familiar olive green and wood-panelled hall of his apartment.
The man had practically waltzed across the floor, as light on his toes as a ballerina.
He proceeded to then warmly welcome Electra back to his establishment with beaming smiles and words to the effect that he was overjoyed to see her again. Stephanie was shocked; seeing as this was the first Capitolite she had seen treat Electra with anything other than disgust. Though Electra had lived in the Capitol for five years, so Stephanie shouldn't really be surprised that the blue-haired woman was so widely known.
"You and Blondie seem to get along well?" Stephanie teased lightly as they entered into the familiar training 'L' shaped room, via the concealed wall door.
"Well, if you were a little less – useless, he might like you more too," Electra replied easily, grinning.
Stephanie rolled her eyes as she stepped into the familiar changing room, Electra following. The blue-haired woman's infuriatingly cheerful mood had simmered slightly to a more focused air as they entered the dressing room purposefully. Stephanie didn't know whether to be worried that Electra was now in 'full trainer mode' or relieved that she was no longer so gleefully excited to "kick the living daylights out of something!"
Stephanie was just tugging her shirt over her head, when Electra spoke.
"Right, about your indiscreet behaviour concerning Seneca at the party," Electra began uncompromisingly. Stephanie grimaced and Electra snorted.
"Did you really think you were going to get away from talking about it?" Electra remarked contemptuously.
"No, I just…" Stephanie sighed as she opened the nearest locker door, "No. What do we do?"
"Obviously don't insult the President's son in public anymore; leave any quarrels or lovers' tiffs to more private settings," Electra said sardonically. "Avoid one another during public events – "
"Ellen, I'm not stupid enough to go up and try to have a chat and a drink with Seneca in the middle of a friggin public party!" Stephanie exclaimed, exasperated.
"Stephanie, don't be insulted – but sometimes I really doubt your intelligence," Electra said genuinely, as she took the familiar Capitol insignia marked bodysuit from the locker beside her.
Stephanie shot Electra a deadpan look. "Of course, how could I ever find that insulting when you say it so sincerely?" she shot back sarcastically.
Electra ignored her retort. "When you said your two alliance partners noticed things between you and Seneca; what does that mean exactly?"
"I called Seneca by his first name a few times too many. They only ever refer to him as the Head Gamemaker or the President's son – they therefore found my quirk a little too strange not to ask why," Stephanie replied.
"And what did you say?" Electra asked, as she tugged on her bodysuit.
Stephanie grimaced. "Very little."
"Oh no, you did your whole 'it's obvious I'm lying' face as you struggled for words, didn't you?" Electra groaned exasperated.
Stephanie blushed slightly. "Ellen I'm not the best actress with preparation, never mind spontaneously!"
"No – you're the bloody worst actress I've ever met!" Electra exclaimed emphatically as she finished putting on her bodysuit.
She stepped in roughly to help Stephanie as she struggled slightly with hers.
"So what we do?" Stephanie reiterated worriedly.
"Well, I can't imagine that the first conclusion either of your alliance partners would jump to, would be that you and Seneca are playing tongue tango when you're not publically insulting him. Especially not if their only clue was the fact that you refer to the Head Gamemaker by his first name. It's already widely accepted that you're just weird, so we'll just brush it off as that. In the meantime, whatever you do, don't give them any more ammunition to suspect anything between you and Seneca," Electra instructed, finishing helping Stephanie into her suit.
Stephanie rolled her shoulders a little to get used to the clinging material. She threw a half-hearted glare at Electra for some of her assessment of her and Seneca playing tongue tango, but she wisely didn't bring it up.
"Alright – no more ammunition," Stephanie surmised grimly. "But Prall – "
Electra cut over her before Stephanie could even finish. "Stephanie do not argue over keeping Prall in the alliance again," the blue-haired woman warned sternly.
"Ellen, you didn't see Prall at the party. He was furious. I am concerned over how he may react when he eventually finds out I'm about as useless as could be, and I have no 'secret, deadly talent!'" Stephanie explained but Electra was already shaking her head.
"No. Between you, the two kids, and the twin rebels, Prall Underling is the most bloody reliable tribute in your alliance. I've told you Stephanie – it's the Hunger Games, you can't just kick him out of your alliance because you don't like him. You're not in school and the arena is no playground. Necessity trumps personal feelings. So you're just going to have to get over your dislike for him. And let's sort out what you can actually do, before trying to make up an entirely non-existent, deadly talent you can somehow miraculously pull off for actual training."
Stephanie worked her jaw discontentedly, not at all relieved by Electra's words. She didn't trust Prall Underling one bit. Nor did she trust him around Frenkin or Ava; the 'two little lambs' as he had so sneeringly nicknamed them. Electra noticed her expression and rolled her eyes.
"Here's my objective guidance as your mentor – drop the issue of Prall Underling. Grin and bear it. He's your alliance partner, not your friend. You don't need to like him and it would be crazy of you to completely trust him, even if he is in your alliance. However – if you want to still bring this up to Haymitch, here's a thought to bear in mind Trindlesworth. If you express your concerns over Prall Underling to Haymitch again, you are going to also have to tell Haymitch what Prall and your latest little disagreement had been about; namely Prall and Astara being able to see something odd between you and the arrogant, blue-eyed Gamemaker, or 'Seneca' as you like to so familiarly call him."
Stephanie rolled her eyes with a frustrated sigh. The last thing she wanted to do was to bring up the subject of her attraction to Seneca all over again with Haymitch, not after she had already hurt him once by telling him in the car.
Electra nodded once curtly, seeing Stephanie's resigned expression. "Right, ready? Let's go," Electra said briskly, already making for the door. Stephanie reached out to stop her though, chewing on her bottom lip anxiously.
Electra arched a brow expectantly as she looked to Stephanie impatiently. "What is it now?"
"Can I ask your advice?" Stephanie murmured sincerely.
Electra's expression betrayed a slight modicum of surprise as her eyes widened marginally. "You usually refuse my advice," Electra pointed out wryly.
Stephanie snorted. "Yea, only when your advice is about turning up to a party 'rowdy and ruffled'," Stephanie refuted.
Electra grinned fleetingly. "So, what do you want my advice on?"
"It's about what happened last night – between Seneca and me. Given as Haymitch already knows I was with Seneca, should I tell him exactly what happened? It just seems so deceptive to go on like this; pretending I don't know that he knows and ignoring obvious facts…" Stephanie trailed off, eyes apprehensive as they rested on Electra.
Electra looked appraisingly at Stephanie for a few moments, in that unnervingly perceptive way that Stephanie hated. She felt Electra could glean her every thought from her mind with that one piercing look.
"I can't make the decision for you Stephanie," Electra finally said. "My only advice is this. If you do decide to tell Haymitch, make sure you're telling him for the right reasons. As in, you're telling him because he needs to know and not just to make yourself feel better about any guilt you may be feeling, over what happened between you and Seneca last night."
Stephanie frowned lightly in confusion, grasping Electra's arm again as the blue-haired woman made to move off, having said her piece.
"How will I be able to tell that? To know if I'm telling it to ease my own conscience or because I truly think Haymitch needs to know."
Electra sighed. "Well, will it hurt Haymitch to know whatever it is you would tell him?"
Haymitch I kissed Seneca Crane back when he kissed me – he didn't blackmail me or threaten me or anything else. I did it because I wanted to, because I'm falling in love with him. And in those moments there was nothing I wanted more than to feel his lips on mine…
Stephanie shuddered, at the brutally honest words she had forced herself to say in her mind.
"Yes," Stephanie answered certainly.
Electra nodded. "And does he need to know it?"
Stephanie bit her lip again as she thought deeply, before Electra disturbed her considerations.
"Look Stephanie, there's a difference between Haymitch needing to know it, and you thinking he deserves to know it," Electra said meaningfully. And Stephanie was resolved then.
"No. He doesn't need to hear it," Stephanie replied confidently.
Electra smirked grimly. "Then there's your answer," she concluded, "You shouldn't tell him."
Stephanie felt marginally relieved as she exited the dressing room with Electra then. Haymitch was already ready and waiting, arms folded casually.
No, there was no point in telling Haymitch the exact details of her meeting with Seneca last night. He knew already that she had been with Seneca and he knew the important facts about her fainting, more or less. Any extra information she would tell him would only hurt him. And there was no need to hurt Haymitch even more, by voicing the very words he had already tortured himself with her saying a thousand times in his head the previous night.
…
"You seem to be very attracted to the floor today," Electra remarked conversationally as she stood above Stephanie's once more supine form.
Stephanie winced slightly where she lay. Electra nudged her shoulder unsympathetically with her shoe. "Come on, get up!" Electra encouraged in a sing-song voice.
"Ellen, I'm going to – " Stephanie began in a wheezing voice, hand still clutching her winded and bruised ribcage.
"Kill me? Yea – you've said that a few times, but I've yet to see something that even remotely resembles actually being able to hit me first, never mind kill me," Electra smirked down victoriously at Stephanie.
Stephanie growled low under her breath as she glared up at the blue-haired woman.
"Come on Trindlesworth!" Electra called, moving away out of Stephanie's limited field of vision. Stephanie felt unable to turn her neck at that moment for fear her head would simply roll off. "If you threaten to kill me once more without actually making a worthwhile attempt at doing so, then I'm not going to hold back next time," Electra called.
Stephanie whimpered, just as another familiar figure loomed above her. Haymitch smirked down at her, brow furrowed in resigned exasperation.
"Haymitch," Stephanie began worriedly, "Did you hear her? She was holding back that time. She has floored me over twenty-five times and she was holding back!"
Stephanie was becoming more convinced with each passing second that she wasn't going to leave training alive.
"How did she even learn to fight like that?" Stephanie grumbled.
"She actually learnt most of it after her Games," he replied.
Stephanie frowned lightly. "Why did she continue to train after her Games?"
"Ellen was – " Haymitch paused in answering her, his smirk deepening for a moment. "Sweetheart, do you maybe want to stand up now?" Haymitch remarked wryly, given they were having a conversation with Stephanie still lying on the floor.
But Stephanie didn't even blush as she looked candidly at Haymitch.
"I don't even think I should bother getting up, Haymitch. I mean it almost feels unnatural to be in a standing position for more than a minute today; what with Ellen having the time of her life beating me to the floor and my own lack of co-ordination being doubly horrendous right now."
Haymitch managed a begrudging chuckle. The subject of Stephanie's non-existent fighting talents was nothing new to Haymitch. It was something that lurked constantly on his thoughts.
"Think fast Trindlesworth!" The sudden cry came from Stephanie's right. Stephanie flickered her eyes sideways for a split moment, and was just in time to hurriedly roll out of the way before the long, pointed pole hurtling through the air embedded itself in the soft, spongy flooring, where her head had been moments before.
Stephanie struggled up onto her elbows on the ground, chest heaving with panicked breaths, eyes wide as they landed on Electra standing a few metres away, grinning.
"What the hell was that?!" Stephanie shouted.
"A javelin," Electra answered easily.
"My head was there!" Stephanie exclaimed meaningfully, nodding towards were the javelin stood upright in the ground, still quivering slightly.
"Good thing you moved fast then, isn't it?" Electra replied. "That's more like the reflexes I'm talking about!" she added brightly.
"You nearly bloody killed me!" Stephanie squawked, still not having recovered from suddenly seeing the javelin propelling through the air towards her. "What would you have done if I hadn't of moved quick enough?!"
"Your head would currently be on a spike, Haymitch would probably be about to kill me and I would feel mildly regretful," Electra answered, entirely unapologetic.
Stephanie glanced wide-eyed once at Haymitch, before flopping back on the ground and closing her eyes with a defeated groan.
"Ellen, can you try training her instead of trying to kill her?" Haymitch suggested sardonically.
Electra grumbled audibly under her breath, before Stephanie could hear her trudge over towards where she was lying on the floor still, eyes closed.
"Come on," Electra nudged her again, "Let's try throwing the javelin instead of ducking it," she encouraged drolly.
Begrudgingly Stephanie clambered to her feet, trying to ignore the new aches and pains that greeted her with every slight movement, just as Haymitch interjected.
"She hasn't got the upper body strength, Ellen. We already tried and she couldn't even swing an axe about her head," Haymitch said seriously.
"I know, but this is slightly different Haymitch. Swinging an axe requires built-up strength – which she evidently lacks. Throwing a javelin however requires a shorter burst of concentrated energy. It may be more successful," Electra countered.
Stephanie frowned lightly, hating the fact that they were discussing her so evidently in front of her, without asking for her input. But she was too busy trying to massage the aches out of her shoulders to protest much.
"Did I mention she has truly awful aim then?" Haymitch remarked sardonically and Stephanie glowered at him. He shot her an entirely unsympathetic look back.
"Well – let's just give it a try," Electra announced, looking to Stephanie expectantly.
Stephanie shrugged, "Why bloody not," she agreed sarcastically. Electra grinned infuriatingly in response, before clapping an arm around Stephanie's aching shoulders.
Stephanie weighed up the javelin placed in her hand as she tried to focus intently on Electra's instructions.
"Easy, right?" Electra had finished with, positioning Stephanie a measured distance away from the far-off target.
"You should have made the target bigger," Haymitch grumbled.
"Haymitch, she's practicing hitting a person, not a bloody building," Electra shot back, before nodding at Stephanie to take her first throw.
Stephanie did so, trying to execute it with the exact precision Electra had shown her. Compared to some of the other weapons she had trained with a javelin wasn't too bad. The whole process of lobbing things through the air as far as she could was something Stephanie wasn't that dismal at.
However what she was still absolutely dismal at – was aim. Her javelin managed to stay standing upright in the spongy flooring for a few seconds before keeling over to lie flat on the ground, rolling across to the target she had completely missed.
"Wonderful," Electra remarked drily. "You have just provided the Careers with a nice spit to roast you over their fire with, the next time you meet."
Stephanie growled exasperated.
"Haymitch, you did explain to her how awful I was at fighting?" Stephanie asked almost seriously, gesturing towards Electra.
"Haymitch, you did explain to her that this is the Hunger Games?" Electra mirrored her words and gesture and Stephanie scowled.
Haymitch was already glaring stonily at them both though. "I almost like it better when you are both trying to kill one another – you's don't talk as much," Haymitch remarked sardonically.
Electra clapped her hands together suddenly with an affirmative air. "Okay – let's talk!" she announced.
Haymitch shot the blue-haired woman his most unamused look.
"No – seriously," Electra revised. "There's no point on testing Stephanie at everything. We need to get more specific. Instead of trying to mould Stephanie to the fighting and the weapons, we need to mould the weapons and the fighting to Stephanie."
Stephanie frowned baffled, having no clue what the blue-haired woman meant, but Haymitch's expression smoothed with comprehension and he seemed to agree. Stephanie considered it must be a sound idea then.
Plus, any amount of 'talking' couldn't be any worse than having Electra knock her to the ground another twenty-five times.