~Interviews~
Aurelia Loret
"That is one beautiful necklace. Wouldn't want to be losing that any time soon?" Caesar smiles generously at Aurelia and taking his approach a bit more different this time.
"Thank you. My half-brother gave it to me a while back." Aurelia says fiddling with the chain that held the sapphire gem. Least to say it was comforting.
"So,Aurelia, how's life at home?" He asks her, and she almost sighs out loud. This is a question she can answer.
"It's fine. I live with my parents, and my younger brother, Ben. I don't think I'd be able to live without little Ben." Aurelia waves at the camera, knowing that they're probably watching her right now.
"And is there anyone else waiting for you?" Caesar asks, twitching his silver eyebrows.
"Without a doubt." She answers without a moment of doubt and sure of leans forward. "My cousin Tulip is more than I can ask for. We've been friends since who knows how long."
"So tell me, how are you coping here in the Capitol without her?"
Her smile fades away. "I don't know." There's a moment of silence. "Maybe it's my determination to get back to my family and friends. Or maybe it's the people helping me through it. Who knows, maybe I'm not even able to deal with leaving them in my footsteps."
The crowd is literally in awe as they sit there motionless.
"And how about that Opening Ceremonies crisis; could you even believe what you were seeing?"
Aurelia considers. "I screamed." There is a small ripple of laughter among the crowd. "I thought that I was going to be fried alive in that chariot when the circuit broke. The worst part was watching Nan and Jeret get injured."
"You feel that the tributes around you are like-"
"Family. Like family." Aurelia finishes for him, smiling. "Leaving alliances like parents leaving a family. Us fighting like siblings." The buzzer goes off as soon as Aurelia lets out a sigh.
"Well, good luck to you Ms. Loret." Caesar gives Aurelia a hug before she leaves and then welcomes his next tribute.
~Interviews~
Safin Bayview
"Safin Bayview!" The host announces, enthusiasm crackling through his Capitol accent.
"So, Safin what's your strategy in this year's games?" Caesar asks first off while shaking the seventeen-year-old tribute's hand.
"If I told you it wouldn't be much of a secret." Safin states clearly.
"Mm, I see. Would you mind if I asked you what your favorite part of the Capitol is?" Caesar asks with his silver eyebrow raised yet again.
"Not at all. The skyscrapers are definitely amazing. The food and the people are exceptionally on my list for 'Number One Things to Admire While in the Games' list." Safin holds out his hands as if he's advertising something.
"I couldn't agree more. And what about that eight in training? I bet that will be memorable in the arena."
Safin smiles. "Nah. I think the more memorable moments will be things like getting half my skin torn off by the prep team, short-circuiting in the Opening Ceremonies. You know, stuff like that." The crowd grins and laughs.
"Is there any memories you miss back home? Anything you'd mind letting us know?" Caesar asks calmly.
"Lots of things. Sinking my feet into the sand, groaning at my little sister's whines, eating nothing but seafood for dinner, watching the stupid old dog beg for food." His voice fades away along with the enthusiasm.
"So saying this, do you have any last thoughts on your district or the Capitol?" Caesar asks leaning forward with more anticipation by the second.
Safin searches his mind for an answer and finally finds one. "I think, yes. Definitely. I always knew that the Games change people. I just never thought that the change would be so hard, or so dramatic."
~Interviews~
Nan Weatherall
"Nan! Come on up!" The host shouts again, and she nervously wipes her hands on her petite green dress. The girl smiles briefly at Caesar, and then takes a seat in the chair beside him.
"Nan, I think we'd all like to know your story back home first of all." Caesar asks before Nan can start off with a completely sweet introduction that would steal the crowd away.
"I couldn't ask for anything better. I love my parents more than anything in the entire world of Panem. And my little sister, Elisabeth, is more than I can ask for." Nan says with a pristine smile.
"And do you get on with Elisabeth?" Casaer probes, leaning forward like he's done for all the tributes before Nan.
"Of course. I'd do anything for her. She's got all of us wrapped around her little finger." Nan can see the whole crowd smile at this, as they imagine her little sister, now growing up without her older sibling.
"You seem to be very grateful for a girl your age." Caesar remarks keeping up with his gradual approach with the thirteen year old.
"It's not too hard. There are a lot of things to be thankful for in the Capitol andat home. Like this dress, isn't it so pretty?" Nan smoothes out the small ruffles that have seemed to inch up.
"It's very lovely." Caesar says with the grin that seems to be plastered to his face. "So Nan, being this young in the games, is there anything you're a bit nervous about?"
"I don't want to lose focus." She says with a smile. "It's going to be hard playing the game with ADD." It all makes sense now. The way Nan is trying to put all of her focus on Caesar and the interview.
The crowd is in mixed emotions. "That really is a bummer." Caesar says in sympathy as the buzzer sounds. Caesar gives Nan a hug before she is to retreat to her seat.
The entire audience cheers for Nan while she walks to the backstage entrance.
~Interviews~
Jeret Pillar
"Jeret, my boy!" Caesar kindly shakes his hand, and then sits himself down. Jeret smiles and sets his crutches to the side and plops down onto the plush surface of the lavender chair. "So Jeret, how's that leg of yours?"
"It seems umm… Pretty good I guess. I-I'm just now getting used to my knee-to-toe c-cast." Jeret keeps his head low, shoulders shrugged and a nervous look on his face. The lot of the tributes backstage agrees that it's probably an act of sympathy to get those sponsors (he'll obviously need them for the game).
Caesar leans his head down to his level and puts a hand on his own knee. "Is there anything you'd like to say to the Capitol? To Panem?"
Jeret shakes his head and says "no" just loud enough for the cameras to hear.
The next two minutes are filled with Caesar trying to help Jeret out. The crowd doesn't know what to do. Most of them feel a bit bad for the poor boy. First getting his leg crunched under and iron wheel before the games, and now this.
Finally, Jeret looks up at the camera. Caesar is in urge to try and fit Jeret into the last minute of the interview.
"My first thought on the popping noise in front of me? I don't think I had time to even think about that one before my face hit the pavement." For a moment Jeret thinks about the irony in his life. He pushes his district partner to the asphalt back at home and now he's landing on ground himself - hard.
"But before the incident, how did you think the ceremonies were going for you and your partner?" Caesar asks.
"I loved it. I've never felt anything like it. It's like I'm actually someonehere in the Capitol." Jeret replies, his voice still as quiet as a mouse. Someone here to be used as the Capitol's personal entertainment? Yes. However, being a real "someone" in the Capitol? Not likely.
The buzzer goes off as Caesar asks the final question of the night: "So Jeret, how are you feeling about the district four tributes now that the incident has happened?"
The question, sadly, is left unanswered.
~Interviews~
Toth Attaway
"Next, I give you Toth from district six!" Caesar yells out. The crowd claps loudly. It is as if the entire world of Panem is having a thunderstorm. Toth smiles happily and waves her pale hand to the crowd.
"So Toth, what where your first thoughts when you found out that you where reaped?"
Toth shrugs with a sly smile. "I felt like a shell on a beach. Or an apple on a tree. I was so difficult to reach, but you picked me."
"And what about that little brother of yours. Wes is his name right?" Toth's smile gets brighter as Caesar's question appears in the interview.
"Well, he's the cutest little boy I know. He's always looking on the bright side of things." Toth babbles on about Wes and how she suspects he's reacting to his sister being on "the little talking box" at home in her district.
"You must miss him very much." Caesar smiles. The silver in his eyes show a brown fleck. A starving boy in the district. Allif and her older smoke smell. But worse, Wes and his world soon about to fade into darkness.
It's almost evening, but the bad thoughts are still out for a bit of fun and games. Toth gulps and puts her sweet smile back on her face. "Very." She answers and blows a kiss to her brother figuratively before Caesar changes the subject.
"What about your thoughts on the games?" Caesar asks trying to read through that sweet smile Toth keeps in her face.
"Well, if it ever came to it, which it will, I'd say it's probably easier for me to kill a human being then an animal." She says raising her head toward the camera and then back at Caesar.
"Why is that?" Caesar verifies.
"Cause they're innocent, we're the animals."
The buzzer sounds and Toth stands up. She smiles and blows a kiss to her district after shaking hands with her interviewer.
Soon enough though, Toth reminds herself that she'll be back in her hell-hole, sunshine or not, by the end of tonight.
~Interviews~
Reed Pokey
"And now please welcome, Reed Pokey!" Caesar yells out. The crowd cheers just as they did for Toth. "Reed, that's an interesting token there, mind telling us about it?"
"Surely, this token came from my father's father. The ovals suppose to go to the most intelligent boy in the family. Even though I'm only a child, my father says I definitely deserved it. I believe that all my hard work will be for my family in these games. I think that's the reason why I taught myself to work with the bow and arrows. So I could come home and show my family how hard I worked for them.
"I mean life in district six is hard, even my father had trouble getting a bow into his hands. I was lucky enough to get a brace for it in the first place. I've probably improved a lot since when I was younger and first tried out the weapon." Reed says finally stopping for a breath.
Caesar rushes in between Reed's brake to say something. "And you suspect you can beat your opponents with your special skill."
"Do you doubt me?"
Caesar smiles and shakes his head. "Certainly not."
Reed smiles. "I actually do think that I can win this game if I get my hands on those arrows. I'd hope there would be another set though. My district partner would be an excellent archer too. We'd make the perfect pair of allies."
The camera can barely catch a shot of Toth between Reed's quick words. You can see the shocked expression be covered up with the sweet smile again.
"When I get home, the first thing I'll do is plant a strawberry plant in the front yard. Planting one is something I've always wanted to do. I mean, don't people ever wonder what's behind the fence besides tracker jackers and their nests?" Reed goes on, and with each new word the Capitol starts to have a different opinion about the boy in the bumblebee vest.
Reed opens his mouth for more, but the buzzer sounds. The district six boy waves good-bye to the half-asleep audience and shakes Caesar's hand thankfully. But even the interviewer himself looks bored.
And the gamemakers, well let's just say they're even more excited to kill off the traitor.
A/N: So yeah, this is a super late chapter update. Stuff got in the way of December 26th's update and after that more events blocked my schedule. After the end of December I decided to just take a big break from FF and work on some of my own stories. And to tell the truth, as much as I missed you guys, I felt good about getting back to my old life.
As usual a review would be nice, but I don't expect much other than that. ;)
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Thanks! Hope you enjoyed!
-Fifi
P.S. Change in date for a permanent Beta Reader- February 2nd.
Disclaimer: Not Suzanne Collins and don't own the Hunger Games Trilogy.