Cato barged into Clove's room without knocking, and almost got hit by a knife that flew right by his head and lodged right into the wall beside him. "Geez, Clove!"
"I've told you not to sneak up on me." She said, staying rooted to her spot, watching him with a careful eye.
"You've told me a lot of things." He said, moving towards her slowly. She countered, moving away. "I think it's my turn."
"You have said quite enough for one day, Cato." She said in a steady voice. They were circling each other.
"I know that I said things I shouldn't have."
"You did. But they were necessary, because now we can get on with the games and not be distracted." She sounded too calculated, like she had rehearsed every word.
"I know that I hurt you, and I know you will never admit that to me. I also know that isn't what you want to say to me. So just say whatever words you have for me, I deserve them." He said, holding his hands up in surrender.
For a second she looked unsure, and then she pulled out another knife. He guessed she had taken more than one knife from the dinner table. "YOU FREAKING SELFISH, TEMPER-TANTRUM-THROWING, ASSHOLE OF A RAT BASTARD!" She screamed, throwing the knife at him with reckless abandon, and he dodged it, moving out of the way at the last second. She paused, breathing hard, calming herself before speaking again. "I should slit your throat right now." She said, pulling out another knife. Did she take all the freaking silverware in the Capitol? Cato thought to himself.
"Okay..." He said hesitantly, "I deserved that." He stood up. "And I really want to explain myself."
"Don't bother." Clove said, turning away from him.
"Clove, would you just listen to me for once in your life!" He said, finally bridging the gap between them. She turned around right as he reached her, holding the knife at the ready to plunge right into him, causing him to freeze. She didn't though. They stayed that way for a few seconds, and then he said, "Can I just tell you what I have to say? If you don't like what you hear, I'll leave okay?"
She brought the knife down to her side. "Well?" Clove asked, raising her eyebrows at him. "I'm waiting."
"Right. Well I didn't mean all that I said to you Clove. Brutus saw you come to me last night... he said... well he said a lot of things that got to me. He got in my head. You know that's my weak spot." He saw a flicker of amusement, but not enough for him to be forgiven yet. "Then I realized, I don't give a damn what Brutus or anyone else says. We may be crazy, violent, and insane, but we are all of those things together. And we may have no idea what the hell we are doing, but I don't care, okay? We'll figure it all out Clove. Please?"
She looked at him without emotion for a few seconds. But then, just when he thought she was gonna just stab him and cut her loses, she dropped the knife, went up on her tip toes, putting her hands on the sides of his neck. Because of how short she was, she couldn't reach his lips on her own; she could pull him down to her, but for once, Clove didn't want to use force. She wanted him to kiss her because he wanted to kiss her. So she waited there for him to close the gap between them. "Thank you." He said softly, in a very un-Cato-like way, and then crashed his lips down on her. It was different from the times before; Cato could tell she was still a little angry at him, but she was holding that back. Instead, it was gentle, and amazing. Something they had never done before. True when they got caught up in the anger and passion it was great, but this was different.
She pulled away suddenly, letting her own hands wrap around his neck. "But if you ever, and I mean EVER talk to me like that again, I will cut you up into little tiny pieces on the spot, understood?" Sweet moment over.
He deadpanned her for a second, and then said, "You are such a drama queen." He couldn't help smirking as he repeated her earlier words.
She rolled her eyes, her own smirk on her face. "I'll take that as a yes." She said, going along with his ridiculous repetition of their earlier arguments, before pulling him down to kiss her again.
By the next morning, all of the tributes had finally arrived in the Capitol. This mean it the opening ceremonies would begin tonight, and it was time for them to begin preparing for the Tributes Parade.
Clove found herself being shuffled off and separated from Cato, and this made them both uneasy for some reason (even though they knew there was only a thin wall in-between them). Without Cato and her knives, Clove was once more on edge (Enobaria wouldn't let her bring the butter knives she had collected from the dinner table to an area with other tributes, for their safety apparently). Clove now knew for sure she would not be able to break off her alliance with Cato when need be in the arena, considering she couldn't even be apart from him without feeling uneasy for a few hours.
Her prep team consisted of very typical Capitol people; they were all very wild-looking. They had neon hair colors, pastel skin tones, jewels implanted on their bodies, and eyelashes that she was certain were longer than her actual fingers. Clove was very thankful she had not been born in the Capitol in this moment.
After her prep team had cleaned her (with multiple baths that Clove did not feel was very necessary), waxed her, buffed her nails, blow-dried her hair, and used a salve to get rid of her bruises (that she'd gotten from Cato), she was ready to be seen by her stylist.
For most people, being naked in front of people was awkward. Clove never really minded it. After waiting for what felt like forever, her stylist came in. "Let me look at you." He said, motioning for her to spin around so he could survey her entire body. So she did. His name was Cicero, and Clove immediately decided she didn't like him. His hair was orange, his skin was yellow, and he had cat eyes.
But, Clove knew she needed his help. He was there to make her beautiful and present her to the Capitol, to possible sponsors. She suddenly remembered Cato's words from the other day, 'There's nothing wrong with pretending you like them, even if you don't. That way you can use the people and things around you to help you win the games.' In this moment, she just wanted to growl back, 'easier said than done.' But then she heard Cato's voice ring in her head again, 'You want to win, don't you?' That thought resonated with her. She did want to win, and so she decided she would try to be nice.
"So, Cicero, what is our plan?" She said as she sat back down on the table. She was trying to keep her tone as pleasant as possible, trying to keep her words from twisting or being rude like they so often became. She just tried to make herself earnestly excited to hear what he had to say, even though she really wasn't.
He looked taken aback for a few moments, and then simply said, "Interesting."
Clove clutched the edges of the table she sat on tightly. She was frustrated that her attempt to be nice to this man was not going as she had hoped. She was trying so hard not to be bitchy, but it was driving her crazy. "May I ask you what is interesting?" Clove said as politely as possible, just trying to keep her voice even.
"You seem different then they described you. I've heard you... well, that you did not get along with people well in general."
Clove clutched the table harder. She grit her teeth, taking a breath, then looking at Cicero. "Look, I'm gonna level with you; being this civil to someone is killing me. I am not a people person, I do not like people in general, that much is true. But so is this; I want to win. And I will do anything within my power to make sure that I do."
Cicero took Clove's chin in his hand, holding it up, inspecting her face. "Now that is something I can work with." He said, not talking about her looks, but about her spirit. It seemed her little mini-speech had caused him to actually take her seriously. Clove was surprised to realize that she herself had gained some respect for him as well. "Our plan," he said, answering her earlier question, "is to dress you up in a costume of tarnished gold with silver accents to make you look like the Gods and Goddesses that some of the ancient civilizations used to worship before their destruction. Our goal is to place you on a pedestal above the other tributes and make sure they and everyone else knows you are better than the others in every way." Clove decided she didn't mind Cicero so much after all.
When Cicero was finished with her, she was wearing a gold band circle headpiece with eagle wings on it; it looked like a crown. She had on a gold armor-like costume with a gold skirt and grecian sandals. Her whole body was covered with a shimmery powder that made her look like she wasn't even human. Her face had no dark make-up, just simple gold eye-liner. Her face generally looked pretty fresh-faced. She looked at herself and realized that she looked like a fierce warrior angel. Yes, she definitely didn't mind Cicero.
When she was finally escorted down to the chariots, she saw that Cato was in a costume that basically matched her own. As soon as they saw each other, they stuck to one another like glue.
Cato looked her up and down. "You look nice. I'm glad he didn't put you in something ridiculous... did play nice with your stylist?" He teased.
"Believe it or not, I did." Clove said, nose in the air. "I would go as far to say I don't even mind him."
"Whoa! Look at you getting along with actual people." He said, smirking deeply. "Who are you, and what have you done to Clove Carson?"
She gave him a light punch on his arm. "Oh shut up you."
He changed gears quickly. "There's the District 1 tributes." he nodded in the direction of a blonder girl and a brunette boy in luxurious costumes of feathers, jewels, silk, satin, and anything else you could possibly imagine. "Let's get started working on that alliance." He started moving toward the District 1 tributes.
"But Cato, I was already nice to one person today!" She said, pulling him back by his arm, exasperated at how he expected her to once again be civil with new people.
"And did it really hurt that much?" He said, looking down at her expectantly.
"A little bit, yea!" She said honestly.
He rolled her eyes at her. "Clove, I know you hate people, but I can't do this alone, okay? I need you. I'll even do all the talking if it makes you feel better."
She sighed. "Fine." She said, following Cato over to the District 1 tributes.
"Hi, we're the District 2 Tributes. I'm Cato, and this is Clove." He said, extending a hand to the District 1 boy in a show of good faith.
Both the boy and girl seemed pretty receptive. The boy was a pretty handsome brunette with a deceivingly lean body. He was tall and did in fact look strong. "I'm Marvel." The guy said, shaking Cato's hand, and then held his out for Clove to shake. She knew Cato would yell at her later if she brushed Marvel off, so she tried her hardest to don her fake smile, and she shook his hand. He seemed nice enough. That wouldn't stop her from killing him when it came time in the arena, but maybe an alliance with these two wouldn't be too bad.
The girl had blonde waves falling down her back, and a slender and curvy body, green eyes, and she was definitely pretty. She saw Cato looking at her, and she would be lying if she said it didn't bother her. He realized she saw him and stopped looking her up and down. "I'm Glimmer!" The girl said in a peppy, high voice holding out her hand to Cato, who quickly took it. Their handshake lasted a little too long and her eyes lingered on his body for too long in Clove's opinion. Yup, this alliance was going to make Clove homicidal for sure. For the second time in one day, Clove felt that she immediately did not like this person. In fact, she was pretty sure she more than just didn't like her.
Glimmer looked to Clove, looking at her as though she was jut a second thought, and as if she thought Clove was nowhere as dangerous as Clove actually was. Mistake. Glimmer then held out her hand to shake with Clove, clearly thinking they might get along. Big mistake. Cato watched her closely, clearly not sure if Clove was going to go homicidal maniac on Glimmer. "Hi Glimmer!" Clove said in her sickly sweet voice, taking Glimmer's hand in her own. "It's so nice to meet you!" She said, not able to resist squeezing Glimmer's hand hard as she could.
"Ouch!" Glimmer cried, pulling her hand back, holding it tenderly. "Not so hard! That's my waving hand!"
Clove wanted to roll her eyes so bad and just be like Are you for real? But she didn't. She held her tongue; mostly because Cato was looking at her like he was gonna kill her later. So she put the fake smile on and said, "Oh I'm so sorry! My bad."
"It's fine." Glimmer said, still pouting, and then turned her attention to Cato. "So Cato," she said, seeming all bubbly and happy again. "can I do anything for you?" She said, basically sticking her chest out, placing a hand on his shoulder, oozing charm. Good lord that girl bounces back fast, Clove thought. She saw Marvel roll his eyes at his District partner's antics. Clearly he knew how she got.
"What Glimmer means, is what brings you our way?" Marvel said with a friendly smile, clearly thinking along the same as Cato. "An alliance?"
Cato snapped his gaze off of Glimmer and then nodded to Marvel. "Exactly. You in?"
Marvel nodded. "Sounds great to me."
"Yay! Goody!" Glimmer said, actually jumping up and down and clapping.
Clove looked at Marvel, saying under her breath, "Is she always like this?"
Marvel grinned, being the only one who heard her. "It grows on you."
"I doubt it." She said, turning back to Cato.
"Right so we will talk to the District 4 tributes later since it seems they want us all to start getting ready." Marvel nodded in agreement with Cato.
"Bye Cato!" Glimmer said, waggling her fingers at him as they walked away. He smirked, clearly loving the attention.
Once they were back to their chariot and out of the District 1 tributes line of sight, Cato grabbed Clove by the upper arm. "What was that all about, huh?" He said in a low growl. "That move was deliberate!"
"I don't know what you are talking about. I was deliberately trying to be cordial."
"Don't play dumb with me Clove; we both knew you did it on purpose." He said giving her a little shake. "Seriously, Clove. It's no joke. We need them to like us, remember?"
"Sorry, Cato." She said ripping her arm out of Cato's grasp. "I don't like Glimmer."
"Big surprise there, you don't like anyone." He said.
"That's not fair, I've been trying really hard!" She countered.
"You could've fooled me!" He shot back.
"Well, maybe if you pulled your head out of your ass for five seconds, you might've noticed!"
"I noticed you almost broke her hand!" He pointed out.
Clove shrugged. "I didn't though; doesn't that count for anything?" He looked exasperated, and didn't respond. Right as the District 1 chariot pulled out, she finally said, "We're are here to kill them all, Cato; including Glimmer when the time is right." He said nothing as their chariot began moving. Because he was thinking how right she was; and how in the end, one of them would also have to kill the other. Glimmer and Marvel would be as easy to kill as anyone else when it came down to it, but not her. Not Clove.
Later that night, when they returned to their suite, after being outshone and upstaged by District 12 (the most ridiculed district of all!) they were livid. They were on fire. The crowd love it; they ate it up, and both Cato and Clove were furious. The first thing Clove did when she entered the suite was to go grab another knife off of the kitchen table. Once in the living room, she was pacing like a zoo animal that had lost it's mind from being in a cage for too long.
"Now, now, I know this is something you two are very unhappy about-" Wanda started, trying to keep from a total major meltdown. Not helping.
"Miss Renior, I think it would be in your best interest not to get them started-" Brutus started but before he could finish, Cato exploded.
"Unhappy? UNHAPPY!" Cato bellowed, grabbing a chair, throwing it against the wall. It splintered and broke into pieces.
"Here we go." Enobaria said, rolling her eyes.
"OH NO I'M NOT UNHAPPY WANDA!" Cato said with the crazy look in his eyes and the sadistic smile on his face as he smashed a lamp on the ground. "I'M FUCKING ECSTATIC, ACTUALLY!" He shouted, and in one swift motion, he overturned the coffee table so hard that it actually broke.
A piece of the table skidded a few inches and ended up in front of Clove. She stopped her silent pacing, looking over at Cato. "And are you quite finished?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at him.
"Oh don't even get me started on you right now!" Cato said, pointing at her, the crazy-amused look still on his face. "I guarantee you would rather i focus on those idiots from District 12 then on you!"
"And what is that supposed to mean, Cato?" She said in a way that suggested he shouldn't answer her question. but Cato was never good at picking up on Clove's subtle clues.
"It means how are you so calm right now? Do you wanna win at all Clove? Or do you wanna die?" He shouted at her. "Is that why you almost ruined our chances of an alliance with District 1 by almost breaking the girl's hand?"
"What?" Enobaria said, eyes narrowed. "Is that true?"
"It was an accident!" Clove sputtered, caught off-guard. "Besides, she's a total dipwhore, Cato!"
Cato shook his head at her. "Don't you get it, Clove? We need an alliance with them. We need to crush 12! Because if we don't, and things go this way for the rest of the games, we won't have ANY sponsors and we WILL die! Is that what you want? Huh? Is it?"
Suddenly, Clove let out a little scream. Before Cato could finish goading her, before he could even register the knife leaving her hand, it whizzed right by his head and lodged in the wall.
"Good heavens!" Wanda exclaimed.
"Clove. You are wearing thin on knife privileges." Enobaria warned.
"Oh would you just shut up for once Cato?" Clove finally screamed, ignoring all of them and focusing on Cato; her fury was finally showing on her face. "Yes, we get it, this is not good. But what have I told you about being weak, about having temper tantrums? Because last time I checked, 18 year olds do do these things! Act your age, act your district, and calm down! Keeping calm and coming up with a plan is the only way one of us is gonna make it through alive!"
Cato went over and grabbed the knife dislodging it from the wall. Then he turned around and looked at her. "See you keep saying these things; but I've seen you throw plenty of fits of rage before." He said, still looking insane as shit, walking towards her. "Plenty of knives too." She actually found herself back up a step, and caught herself, mentally cursing. She would not fold to him. "Face it Clove; no matter how much you scoff at me, you and I both know you are just as angry and twisted and fucked up as I am." He said. "You act like you are better at containing your outbursts and insanity than I am, but you can barely talk to people without maiming them or threatening them in some way. At least I can talk to people!" He was right in front of her now. H took another step towards her, and she found she didn't want him to touch her. Not here, not now, not in front of people. She didn't want to freak out. She couldn't lose her cool. There team could only stand to have one explosive temper at a time, and right now his was in full swing. So she kept backing up.
"Cato, it's not my fault that people are a blathering idiots, okay? What have I told you about-"
"I think we had this conversation earlier- we both already know you tell me a lot of things; things you don't necessarily do yourself." He said; he was really off the deep end this time. Clove was nervous again. She searched his eyes and couldn't find any reason in it. She was in trouble this time.
"Cato. Pull it together. This is not the time for this." Suddenly she felt her back hit the wall. Shit. She was really in trouble now.
"It's never the time Clove, is it? But you know what?" Cato said, cocking his head to the side. He was now only inches from her face. "I think this is just the time." He stabbed the knife in the wall right beside her head, causing Wanda to jump.
"Would you two please stop stabbing the walls! They didn't do anything to you!" Wanda said, her voice more shrill than usual.
"Cato, I think it's enough." Enobaria warned, standing up off of the couch. "Clove, do you-"
"I'm fine." She said; she would die of embarrassment if her mentor was going to have to come to her rescue. "I can handle him." She said, and was sure she could. "You know I'm not afraid of you Cato. So why even bother with this right now?"
"Because I want to hear you admit that I'm right. Right here, right now." He said, taking grip of her upper arms. " I want to hear you admit that you are as blindly and murderously angry as I am right now. I know you are! I also know you will refuse to admit it in public, but I don't care. This is hardly public anyway. So admit it."
"Cato, I am blindly and murderously angry. But I know how to control myself. You clearly don't. Now stop this; if you have to keep screaming and break things, you will do it in the privacy of your room." She gripped his collar. "If you don't want me to dice you up into little pieces right here and right now for trying to bring me to your level of foolishness, then you and I will go back to either my room or yours right now and you are going to get out your little fit and then calm the fuck down you childish drama queen. Okay? I'll even let you throw you're little temper tantrum tonight; in my room. But tomorrow, we are going to be level-headed, and calm and we are going to figure this thing out." She said. "Are you with me?"
After a long period of silence, Cato pulled the knife from the wall and handed it to her. "I'm with you." He said, and then held a hand out, gesturing for her to lead the way to his room. "After you." He said. Clove couldn't tell if his rage had subsided or if he was just containing it momentarily. But she didn't care. She hated causing a spectacle in front of others, and she was just relieved it was all over.
"Oh and stop smirking, you're still in trouble." She said as pushed by him, grabbing the front of his shirt as he rolled his eyes at her, pulling him after her.
As she went, Clove could swear she heard Enobaria said. "I don't know how she does it." Sometimes Clove didn't know how she herself did it. She just thanked the lord that she seemed to have enough power over Cato to keep him from destroying everything in his path.
As soon as Clove got him into her room, she tripped him and he lost his balance. He fell backwards and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her down with him. "What the hell, Clove?" He shouted angrily at her.
She straddled him, one hand on his neck, the other holding a knife to his neck. "Before we go any further, I just need to clear up one thing; Glimmer is a fucking ditzy, whore of a bimbo. And if I ever catch you with her I will kill you. If you look at her too long, I will make you regret it Cato."
"Like I give a shit about her; she's boring." He said. "But I still accept your challenge."
"Cato, that wasn't a challenge; it was an advisory label to explain to you that having anything to do with her will be hazardous to your health-"
"Yea, yea, you'll cut me I know. Hit me with your best shot." He said smirking.
"Cato I'm warning you, t's not a challenge!" He flipped her over, pinning her down.
"Shut up and kiss me you crazy girl." He said.
"Cato this is not a joke. Cato-" She shouted one more time before her cut her off, kissing her hard. She eventually stopped fighting him and kissed back; she never resist him for long.