Hebe's night sleep was restless, but without the usual plague of nightmares. She was glad. She wasn't sure she'd get over the humiliation of her tributes hearing her screaming and crying through the walls of the train.
Ambrosia came to wake her up earlier than usual, chirping something about setting a good example for her tributes. She didn't resist, clambering out of her bed and rummaging through her closet to find something 'suitable' to wear. After all, what would the Capitol do if she wore the same outfit more than once?!
Finnick wasn't there yet when Hebe got to the dining car, and she was glad for it, content to sit in silence and wait for Victor and Annie to get there.
The only thing she could bear to think about were strategies for the games. Hebe figured that the more she thought about it, the more likely she was to come up with something brilliant. But, as of the moment, she had no real clue.
Allies shouldn't be a problem for them at least. While Victor may not be keen on her sister, tributes from 4 were pretty much locked into the career pack from the get go. Hebe of course had been an exception to this rule, but Annie had no reason not to ally with 1 and 2.
The main worry for her was revealing their connection. Yes, it would guarantee sponsors, and secure Annie as a favourite to win. But, the other tributes would be increasingly wary of her because of it, and the careers were prone to turning on their allies, as Hebe could testify herself.
There was one thing she could reassure herself of, and that was that she wouldn't have to do much work with her tributes today. They would spend most of the day with their prep teams, meanwhile Hebe and Finnick would be at a Capitol party sniffing out sponsors.
She just prayed that Estella had come up with a good design for once in her life. At least district 4 wasn't too difficult to design for, as there are hundreds of designs you can make to do with 'the ocean'. Hopefully their parade outfit wouldn't be as atrocious as the one she'd worn for her victory tour in district 3. She hardly thought the Capitol would be intrigued by a pair of twin lampshades.
Finnick strode into the room only a few minutes after Hebe had arrived. She shot him a quick smile as he sat down next to her, and he thankfully returned it.
"Morning."
"Morning. Um, did you have a good night's sleep?"
Hebe immediately kicked herself for asking such a dumb question. What victor ever slept well? All of a sudden she had a strange knack for making awkward situations with Finnick even worse.
Luckily he didn't seem irritated by it, shrugging, "It was alright. Better than usual."
"Have you seen Ambrosia?"
"Yeah, just passed her in the corridor. She's on her way to wake them up."
Hebe nodded, taking a deep breath to prepare herself. Almost like she was setting herself back into 'mentor mode'.
Only moments later, Annie and Victor arrived, Ambrosia following behind them, wearing a garish emerald green outfit.
As soon as the escort landed in her chair she began babbling about the itinerary for the day.
"... And then your stylists will take you to the chariots and it'll be time for the parade! Of course, we'll be there to discuss things before you actually go on the parade, but until then, Hebe, Finnick, any advice?"
Hebe quickly jumped in, remembering the speech Finnick had given her, "Let your prep teams do what they need to do, you may not understand it, but they know what they're doing and they want to help as best they can."
"Hebe's right. Don't make a fuss and don't argue about it,-"
"Rumours spread fast in the Capitol." Hebe finished for him.
Finnick turned to give her a surprised smirk, both of them remembering the argument they had had right before Hebe went to her prep teams.
The rest of the group watched the exchange with confusion, but were quickly distracted again as Ambrosia continued with her spiel, further explaining the tribute centre and their quarters.
Once she was done, and Victor and Annie had finished with their questions, the escort dismissed the two tributes, sending them back to their rooms. Hebe excused herself shortly after, walking quickly down the corridor and going into Annie's room, not bothering to knock.
Once again, the girl was sitting on her bed, almost like she was waiting for Hebe to arrive.
"I knew you'd show up." Annie said cheekily, budging up so her sister could sit down beside her.
"Yeah, yeah, of course you did."
"I did!" She exclaimed, "So, any further advice you wanna give me?"
"Hm, not really. Finnick covered most of it."
Annie gave her that same sly look she always did when she mentioned Finnick, and Hebe rolled her eyes.
"You're seriously still making a big thing of this? You're about to go into the hunger games for fuck's sake!"
"Hey," Annie said, holding her hands up in mock surrender, "I'm just glad you two are talking again. I was worried I was gonna have to cancel the reservation for the wedding venue."
"You are psychotic."
"And? That's exactly what the hunger games are about."
Hebe snorted, trying to smother her discomfort at the way she talked about the games so flippantly, "At least we don't have to teach you humour for Caesar."
"Exactly. I'm practically the perfect tribute. Anyway, what are you up to today?"
"Capitol party." Hebe scoffed, her expression turning sour at the thought.
Annie's face suddenly fell, "You're not… y'know… working? Are you?"
Hebe sighed, "No, not today. Hopefully Snow will give me a bit of respite. At least until the games start."
"I'm so sorry." Annie whispered, tears welling in her eyes. In the whole day since the reaping, this had been the most emotional she had been. It broke Hebe's heart to see that she was getting so worked up about someone else's misfortune when she wouldn't even spare a moment to consider her own safety.
"Hey, hey, it's ok. You don't have to worry about me. Just worry about yourself from now on, yeah?"
"Alright." She responded, wiping the unshed tears from her eyes, and wrapping her arms around her friend.
Hebe returned the embrace gladly.
After they arrived in the Capitol, Finnick and Hebe gave their tributes a few last minute pieces of advice before they greeted the crowds for the first time.
The two mentors followed behind their tributes, waving and smiling at the crowds as they went. It seemed that their screams went up an octave as they noticed the two famous victors, thrusting their hands out over the boundary in hopes of catching a hold of a piece of one of them.
Whilst the tributes were sent off for their first session with their prep teams, Finnick and Hebe were directed immediately to their stylists to get their outfits for the party.
Finnick peeled off first, giving her an encouraging nod before disappearing into a room. She managed to catch a glimpse of Antonio inside the room before the door was shut, and it was reassuring to know that at least one of 4's stylists would stay the same.
Meanwhile she continued down the corridors until she reached the room that would have Estella inside. She couldn't help but yearn for Tigris in moments like these. It would make her feel better if she was here, not only for herself, but for Annie. And whilst she knew Estella couldn't be a complete idiot, Tigris was an undeniably safe pair of hands that Hebe would feel comfortable placing her sister in.
It also helped that she actually liked Tigris, and vice versa. Estella seemed to have taken against her the moment they met, although that may have been because she detected the victors discomfort every time they spoke. She was somehow more snooty and less helpful than Ambrosia at the same time. Hebe would have dealt with her being a stuck up bitch if she actually had the portfolio to back it up.
Nevertheless, she had to make the decision to put her faith in the new stylist, and stepped inside the room, hoping that she would have something more modest for her to wear today.
"Hebe, finally." Estella said, breathing out a rather dramatic sigh of relief as the victor walked in the room. Immediately Hebe regretted putting her faith in the woman.
"Estella. What have you got for me today?"
The woman turned around sharply, flicking her long, yellow hair as she did so, and picked up the black bag with her pointed white nails. They were so sharp they rivalled Enobaria's teeth, and Hebe was certain they could do some damage if the woman was given the opportunity.
Luckily, however, today she had been blessed with a good design for the woman. It was a simple, yet elegant, cerulean silk top, with a black pencil skirt adorned with navy brush strokes to look like ocean waves.
Hebe gratefully took the outfit from the woman, shedding her current clothes and shimmying into the tight skirt.
They didn't engage in small talk as she got ready, Estella either disliked her too much or she was too engrossed in her work. At least it was refreshing for someone from the Capitol to dislike her rather than fall at her feet.
She carefully adjusted the neck of the top so it sat how she wanted, and added some shimmer onto her eyes and cheeks. And then, much to Hebe's dismay, she finished the look with a pair of black heels for her to struggle to walk in.
"There. Now, hurry on, I have tributes to prepare for." The woman snapped, practically pushing Hebe out of the room and out into the corridor where both Ambrosia and Finnick were waiting for her.
The group was then driven to Snow's mansion once again, and Hebe had to remember that she was there to help Annie, and not to get too caught up in memories of the past. However, that was difficult when it was so similar to that party that had ruined her life, the one straight after her victory tour.
This time, there were journalists to document their entrance, their cameras clicking and flashing at the group as they climbed the steps up to the entrance. Hebe did her best to push down the knot in her stomach and instead smiled and waved at the Capitol citizens who screamed for her attention.
They were just as tactile as they had been then, if not more so. They ran their fingers across the embroidery of her skirt and the sleeves of Finnick's jacket. The pair laughed it off expertly, acting like the wandering hands of the Capitol didn't bother either of them.
Eventually, the Capitol citizens had to let them go, and the group entered the main body of the party.
"So, we're all going to split up, yes?" Ambrosia said, her voice more serious than usual.
"Sounds good to me." Hebe responded, straightening her skirt.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you? It's your first year doing this after all." Finnick asked, looking down at her with slight concern.
"No, I'm all good. It's just promoting our tributes right?"
He nodded.
"Then I'll be fine."
"Right, so, we'll meet back here in 3 hours, and then we'll take the car back to the remake centre."
The two mentors nodded at the escort, before the group split off in three different directions. Ambrosia immediately went over to her group of friends that were in the main room of the party. Meanwhile Finnick went for the Eastern wing, leaving Hebe with the Western one.
As she milled about the Capitol party, she couldn't help but notice the acute excess that they partook in. It was only early afternoon, and yet there were still people laughing drunkenly more than likely on their fifth or sixth glass of wine. People were using the 'vomiting tonic' to throw up their food, before rushing back to the buffet table to restock their stomachs.
It made Hebe slightly sick herself to watch, the way they were so inconsiderate for the resources they used, as well as how quickly they shirked responsibility at such a party. She remembered back to the way Ambrosia had immediately abandoned her own duties as escort as soon as she entered the party at the end of her victory tour.
These were the people responsible for running their government, or overseeing Panem's food production and yet here they were, effectively betting on the deaths (and murders) of teenagers. It was no wonder the districts were starving.
Within the first half an hour she was approached by countless government officials, all of whom seemed more interested in gambling on the hunger games than their jobs that affected thousands of people across the nation.
She had to remind herself that, as selfish as it may be, their negligence of the districts was currently working in Annie's advantage, and that if it helped her sister win, then she had to continue to work with these people.
For the next hour or so, she did just that, turning on the charm as much as she could, laughing at every bad joke they made, and never missing an opportunity to steer conversation towards the games, and, in turn, her own tributes.
But she was slightly on edge the entire time, waiting for the one person she really didn't want to see to make his orange appearance. And after a while he did, slinking his way into a conversation Hebe was having with a shrill Capitol woman, who said she was a painter, and was apparently always looking for new 'inspiration'.
"Oh, I would love to visit District 4, the sea is just so very beautiful. Of course I have never seen it in person, but the pictures of it are simply breathtaking."
"Well, I can assure you, the sea is not the only thing from District 4 that is breathtaking." A pompous voice said from beside Hebe, and she quickly whipped her head around to greet its owner, forcing a wide smile.
"Mr Dovecote. What a pleasure to see you again."
He gave her a smarmy grin, somehow believing her to be genuine, before turning to the woman Hebe had been speaking to.
"I'm so sorry to interrupt, but me and Miss Cross have some catching up to do, don't we?"
The woman quickly excused herself, and Hebe tried not to make her irritation apparent. She had been just about to begin her pitch about her tributes when Felix interrupted. But, she decided to make the best of her situation, besides, the man may be more likely to sponsor Annie because of his infatuation with her.
"It's lovely to see you again." She lied, giving him a fake smile.
"Indeed, it feels like so long since you've last visited the Capitol."
Hebe couldn't disagree more. It was never long enough between visits to the Capitol. But, of course, she didn't say that, instead giggling and saying, "Well you know I can never stay away for long."
As she spoke she touched him lightly on the shoulder, whilst shooting him a flirtatious wink. It was difficult for her to dispel the bile rising in her throat.
"Of course not. It is lovely here. But I have to say, I was surprised to hear you would be mentoring this year."
"Oh really?" Hebe tried not to show her happiness that he had steered the conversation to the games already.
"Well you are young and rather… inexperienced." He said, his voice almost slimy as it filtered over to Hebe. She wondered what kind of 'inexperience' he was talking about, and if it was the more unsavoury type, then she was almost certain he got some kind of sick pleasure about her inexperience.
But, she played off her disgust well as usual, giggling and saying, "I suppose you could say that, but with tributes as good as ours, they don't need all that much training. So it's not much of a problem if I am, as you say, inexperienced."
"Oh? Do you find them to be promising?"
"Yes, very promising. They're a very talented pair, those two. I believe both of them have a clear shot of winning."
Felix mused this for a minute before asking, "Well, despite your youth, I do trust your judgement. You are a very intelligent young woman."
"Why thank you."
"So tell me," He continued eagerly, "If I were to, say, put money into one of them, which would you suggest?"
Hebe tried not to show the outright delight on her face. He had practically promised her a donation, and one that would go directly to Annie. She pretended to think about the question for a moment, before emphatically answering him.
"I would suggest the girl. She's one of the top students in the academy."
"Well, if I decide to sponsor someone, it will more than likely be her." He said slyly.
"Oh, thank you, I really do appreciate it!" She said, taking his hand and shaking it, before holding it a moment longer, "You really are a very generous man."
He immediately fell for her flattery. For once she had to agree with Snow; this man was a complete and utter idiot.
She gave him a few more flattering comments and gratuitous looks before excusing herself, and returning to the buffet table. After all that bullshitting, she was exhausted. Hebe grabbed a few canapes and quickly ate them to quell the rumbling in her stomach, trying not to concentrate too much on how she had no idea what they were.
She stood there for a few minutes, mentally decompressing before she went back to trying to reel in more sponsors. But, just as she was about to return to the party, a harsh voice called out to her.
"Cross. Good to see you again."
Hebe looked to the side, grinning as she saw those familiar, razor sharp teeth.
"Enobaria. Enjoying the party?"
"Fuck no. Although it certainly looked like you are. You've got Dovecote wrapped around your finger already then?
Hebe shrugged, "There has to be some perks to Snow's little arrangement. Why not use it to get some sponsors for my tributes?"
"I can't blame you for that." Enobaria grinned at her again, "Speaking of tributes, have you spoken to your's about any alliances yet?"
"No. Why, you wanna call dibs?"
"Not yet. Mine haven't seen them in action, for all I know they could be a shitshow."
"I can say the same about your's."
"That's true. But there's nothing wrong in having a chat about it, is there? If they're decent in training, we're open to an alliance with 4 this year."
Hebe laughed, "How do you know we're open to an alliance with 2?"
Enobaria shrugged, "I don't, but I figured you'd be more responsive than fish face."
She rolled her eyes at the older victor, "Of course, how could I forget about your little feud."
"Not my fault he's a prat. Whatever, just thought I'd let you know that the offer's out there."
"I'll let you know then."
Enobaria stuck out her hand and the girl quickly shook it.
"Good luck with the job Cross. I'll see you later."
And then she was walking away, back towards the other side of the party, leaving Hebe with lots of thoughts and a room full of Capitolites.
The rest of the party went by without much consequence, and Hebe managed to seemingly entice a few other sponsors into keeping an eye on 4's tributes. By the time she was due to meet Ambrosia and Finnick she was exhausted and eager to leave.
She made her way back to the main room of the party and immediately spotted Finnick near the doors, as well as Ambrosia on the other side of the room finishing up a conversation with someone. Hebe hurried over to her fellow mentor, and as he caught sight of her he grew suddenly more relieved. She tried to ignore the happiness in her stomach at the way he was clearly glad to see her.
"How'd things go?" She asked, giving him a small smile in greeting.
"Decently well. I got a couple of people interested for definite, a few others just seemed more interested in talking to me than about the actual tributes."
Hebe hummed her assent, having met more than a few of those types of people in the span of the afternoon.
"How about you? Were you alright on your own?" He asked.
"Yeah I was fine, about the same. Dovecote cornered me, but I managed to practically confirm that he would sponsor Annie."
Finnick stiffened slightly at the mention of Felix, but when he heard about the sponsorship his face softened again, "That's great."
"Oh, and I saw Enobaria."
The man's expression soured when she mentioned the woman but Hebe chose not to comment on it.
"What did she want?"
"She basically implied that 2 and 4 should have an alliance for the games. She was probably including 1 in that as well."
"She wants to go back to the old career pack then?" He mused.
"I guess so."
"What did you say?"
"I said we'd consider it. There's no reason to outright refuse at this stage."
"Good. I expect that Victor will want to ally with the careers for certain. What about Annie?"
"She'll probably be up for it as well."
"We should make sure to mention it at breakfast tomorrow then. Before training starts." Finnick said, looking slightly lost in thought, more than certainly formulating new strategies for the games.
"Good idea."
At that moment Ambrosia glided over to them, immediately quizzing them on the different sponsors they had received interest from. It seemed that they had all done relatively well for themselves, and the escort swiftly led them out of the mansion and back to the car that would take them back to the remake centre.
It dropped them off at one of the back entrances and the group rushed ahead to get to their tributes before the chariots pulled away.
Luckily they were only just arriving when they got there, Estella and Antonio leading the pair of tributes towards the chariots.
This year they seemed to have gone for a safe option, dressing the tributes up as merpeople. Annie was in a long, skin tight dress that flared out at the ankles, whilst Victor had a shelled breastplate and a kilt made of seaweed. The pair looked slightly awkward in their costumes, obviously feeling slightly overdressed and gaudy.
The two mentors waved over their tributes, Hebe letting a sly smile rest on her face at Annie's irritated expression.
"Nice dress, Ann."
The girl didn't respond, instead flipping her a middle finger as the older girl laughed at her irritated expression.
"This is ridiculous. How come I'm dressed as a mermaid, meanwhile you got all those cool outfits last year?" She whined, adjusting the tight fabric of her dress.
"Because you've got a shitty stylist." Hebe whispered, making sure Estella didn't hear her.
"Just my luck. Oh, and the prep teams, when they had you did they, like, wax you?"
Hebe sighed, "Yeah. Hurts, doesn't it?"
"It hurts like hell. Especially… y'know," She lowered her voice, "Down there."
Hebe winced slightly, thinking of the first time she went to visit her prep team, "Yeah, it's pretty painful. You get used to it though."
"It better."
Before they could talk anymore, Finnick and the stylists were leading them over to the chariots.
"All right, Annie, I want you to smile and wave to the crowds until your hand falls off. Make sure to get across some of your personality. Victor, I want you to wave, but no smiling. We don't want you to seem rude, but you can't seem too friendly either." Finnick instructed.
"And remember, nothing is ever too over the top. The cheesier, the better." Hebe chipped in.
The pair nodded, and then the stylists sprung into action, fussing over the tributes and adding the final finishing touches to their looks. Finnick, Hebe and Ambrosia gave them reassuring smiles as they waited for them to set off in their chariots.
When they finally went, the group stayed for a bit to watch them on the large screens in the auditorium. Both of them played their roles well, Victor doing his part to intimidate almost as well as Annie was able to win over the crowds.
After that, it was a bit of a blur for Hebe. Suddenly they were leaving, and taking that underground cart to the tribute centre where their tributes would resurface. When they got back, the mentors congratulated the two tributes, and Ambrosia swiftly led them up to their apartment for dinner.
This time they didn't share the elevator with anyone, so there were no tributes dressed as trees for Hebe and Finnick to draw their amusement from.
The apartment was the same as it had been before, and Hebe let out a small chuckle at her sister's awed expression.
Dinner was excellent as usual, and Hebe couldn't resist piling her plate high with delicacies from all over the Capitol, although her table manners were slightly better than they had been, mostly due to Ambrosia's nagging.
And then, once their meal was over, it was finally time for Hebe to address the grey cloud that had hung over her head for the last six months. She just had to hope that he forgave her, even if she wasn't certain she deserved it.