Interviews
-Antigone Rodriguez, 18, District 4-
She felt like she would never be ready.
And yet, she didn't have a choice. She had no problem standing in heels, but her legs shook a little bit just with nerves. Nerves? She hadn't felt this way since she went to her first party, but it was very much the same feeling. Will they like me? Will I fit in?
But now, instead of social gratification, it was a matter of life or death.
She barely recognized the face that stared back at her in the mirror. Sure, she had dressed up before, but she had never had so much make-up on her face at once. Her hair put into big sexy waves and left down – heavy extensions filling all of the space around her face, her bangs straightened so they fell perfectly on her forehead. Her eyes felt heavy with contacts – just for the night, they promised, though it seemed like they were trying to get her to put them away because they were pink. And they didn't at all match the rest of her outfit – especially not the dramatic dark red matte lip they did for her face, so heavily contoured it practically changed the shape of it.
She looked up when she heard a quiet gasp in the doorway and quickly turned around, relaxing only a little bit when it was just her escort there.
"Oh look at you!" Rian said, coming in to head towards her with open arms for a hug. Antigone had no problems hugging her escort – she was nice, but made the tributes put in the work, which Antigone could respect. She was willing to work hard to survive. "No question what angle you're going to take tonight."
Antigone pulled up on the neckline of her dress a little nervously. No kidding. She didn't know why she was to be the sexy bombshell – she was far from the slimmest tribute here. She wasn't tall and slender Bailey, or tiny Astra, she was a big girl! But with shapewear it looked like she only had the weight in the good places – whatever that meant. "I wasn't ready for this," she confessed.
"Well, it's nothing you can't handle," Rian said, looking at her and narrowing her eyes. "No quitters here."
"No quitters," Antigone repeated, but she took a deep breath, feeling insecure.
"You know how to make 'em all drool," Rian told her. "You just gotta go out there and do it."
Antigone wished she had her escort's confidence. Sure, she was used to flirting – but with young couples, not millions of people the night before she was to go into a death match! She wasn't sure she could do it. She looked up hearing a cleared throat and saw Mags there, watching her for a moment.
"One more thing," Mags said, coming over with something very familiar in her hands. The necklace Antigone had been wearing on and off for the past few days. She twirled with her finger for Antigone to turn, which she did slowly. "How much hair will they put on a person?" she mumbled to herself. "You know when I was here in your shoes, they didn't even curl my hair."
"Wow," Antigone said, unable to even fathom a time that the Games weren't this… Well, this superficial.
"Amazing what it's become, huh?"
"Yeah," said Rian, and Antigone couldn't tell if she was being serious or sarcastic like Mags.
"And our District's well on its way to another Victor," Rian said, smiling proudly at Antigone as she was adjusting her necklace to make sure it wasn't going to pull on her hair, displaying the small fish hook on her chest – like anyone would be looking at it rather than the cleavage that was on full display for all to see.
"This will be the biggest opportunity of your life," Rian said. "Just like a big giant party, right?"
Antigone swallowed a lump in her throat, trying to push back her worries. "Yeah," she said weakly, not sure how much she meant it.
"Ooooh, ladies!" Cayman's voice came from the hallway. "Come on, it ain't no wedding, bring out the girl already!
Rian rolled her eyes a little bit at him, but she was still blushing a bit hearing his voice. "We do ought to get moving," she said, squeezing Antigone's shoulders to look into her eyes. "Just like we practiced."
She stepped down and gave them a quick nod to watch her, stepping heel to toe, one foot in front of the other, out to Cayman and Damian. Mags just shook her head, and Antigone smiled, before reaching up to touch her teeth, worried the lip stain got on them as she stepped down and fixed her posture, doing her best to make Rian proud with her walk as they went out to the hallway.
"Oh wow," Damian said when he saw her come out, his mouth falling open a little bit. He quickly cleared his throat, his cheeks flushing just a little bit as he bit his lip to hold back a smile. "Hi Antigone."
"Hello Damian," she said, slowly taking him in with her eyes. "Ready to go?"
"Depends on if I want everyone else seeing me be a blushing idiot," Damian said with a laugh.
"I would hit you upside the head, but honestly, can't blame ya," Cayman said as they ran their fingers through their ponytail. "Them seeing you blushing is definitely better than us being late and the producers having a fit."
"They know from experience," Mags said with an eye roll as she started to lead the way. Antigone noticed then that Cay and Rian were holding hands as they went next – she didn't even notice when they started holding hands at this point.
Damian noticed too, looking at Antigone with a raised brow and an arm outstretched. He wasn't bronze and cute like Dev – or a skinny twink like Merlin – but Antigone still wanted to be on good terms with him despite him being a volunteer and took his arm as they stepped together through the hallways to the backstage wings. And… It was a lot more chaotic than she would have expected with District teams crowding in and frantic-looking PAs ran around trying to make sure everything was right before the cameras turned on.
Antigone could feel eyes on her – surely because they just got there, right? No… People were definitely staring… She resisted the urge to cover up and just stood up taller.
"District One to your spots," said one of the PAs. "Girls first, boys second, please don't forget! District One!" It took a moment before the two of them stepped out from the crowd to find their spots. "District Two please, we need the two tributes. Everyone else, start getting in order, please!"
Antigone waited until the Three tributes dressed in blue came forward, the boy holding the hand of the girl to help her safely to her spot. And soon enough, she was going with Damian, making sure that he was behind her. She knew that she was well-secured, but still had an irrational fear of her tits slipping out on national TV. Wouldn't that be something?
"District Five! Quickly, please!"
She felt sandwiched close – Mickey in front and Damian behind. She didn't even try to look for her ally in line, because well… Little person. She just tried to stand straight to keep her boobs from awkwardly touching Mickey and her ass from awkwardly touching Damian. Now that the moment was coming, her heart started to pound even harder.
"Hey all, make sure you don't lock your knees!" Damian said a little loudly, but not so loudly he disturbed the PAs calling for District Eight. Antigone was tempted to look behind her, but she felt way too claustrophobic to turn right now. "If you lock them tightly, you'll lose blood flow to your legs and fall over, or worse. Bend your knees a little bit."
"It sure would be something if someone passed out during an interview," Mickey said, putting his hand on Astra's shoulder. "Bend."
"Right," Astra said, taking a deep breath.
"She looks pale. Do you think she needs water?" asked Damian.
"I don't know," Antigone said, taking his advice as well in her dress and realizing that her knees were locked and the last thing she wanted to be known for was passing out.
"Excuse me!" he said to a PA, but was quickly shut down as they ran right past him.
"District Eleven! We don't have time to wait for Ten. Come in quickly!"
"Just breathe," Damian said. "You're gonna stun them all out there like you stunned me," he told her, and patted her shoulder a little bit from behind.
She calmed a little bit under his hand. "Thanks," she said softly. He didn't have to be nice to her – they weren't allying together and he was a Career- but she appreciated it.
"District Ten, come now, this way." The last to arrive was the pair, unsurprisingly. There was a woman in Peacekeeper dress with the girl, who was clinging now to her District partner as they entered. The Eleven tributes stepped back, quickly helping them find their spots just as the call was made for five minutes.
It was a pretty quiet five minutes, with only whispers from District partner to District partner as the clock was displayed on the small monitor to them in the top corner of the room as well as to the increasingly rowdy crowd. She watched every single second go by with a growing sense of dread, practically spooked by the loud music that played to start the ceremony as Caesar Flickerman was announced. He was dressed to impress in his midnight suit – his hair, lips and eyelids all colored that same forest green that they were for the recaps and score reveals.
Antigone could barely hear what he was saying – not that the audio wasn't clear, it was just that her head was swimming at that point – but before she knew it, the PA was standing next to Dazzle, holding up a hand for a stop before the applause started and she pulled the curtain aside to let Dazzle walk out to the crowd's applause.
She was wearing a dress with patterns that shimmered almost iridescently over a medium pink background. Two spaghetti straps held it up and the slit in the leg revealed silver heeled sandals to match. Her make-up was very natural and light, her big wire glasses still on her face as she walked confidently over to sit down next to Caesar.
Antigone snapped back into it to watch her interview, now acutely aware of everything that was happening while just a few seconds ago it was a blur. Of course Caesar started every interview the same way – a few easy questions to warm her up, before letting the tribute guide the rest of the interview.
She kept a very subdued angle, not giving away too much in her answers, not even the warmups.
"So, Dazzle, what would you say is your driving force for being here?"
Dazzle's glossy lips went up in just a hint of a smile. "I'm here to find out secrets. And maybe along the way I'll reveal some of my own too."
That got an oo from the crowd and some more applause for her as the interview continued.
Soon enough, the mysterious Dazzle Hewitt was presented to the crowd and then she was quickly replaced by her District partner, Cuprian Pearson.
Cupey's outfit was somehow both traditional and modern at the same time – with a similarly iridescent gold pattern on a suit that glimmered as if metallic, with a white shirt embroidered with soft gray patterns – even on the ruffles that went down his buttons. Even the pocket square matched. His brown hair was styled neatly out of his brown eyes, which squinted in the light as he went to sit with Caesar.
His interview was very middle-of-the-road. He wasn't too friendly, but he also wasn't dismissive of Caesar's questions. At first Antigone wondered if it was due to nerves, but it continued this way the entire three minutes. That little bit of strength within his gruff attitude shone through to the crowds. She wasn't sure why, but they loved him.
Then it was time for District Two. The PA gestured for Isabella to step forward, and everyone followed suit, giving them all a little bit more space. The curtain opened for her and for just a second, she turned to look at her District partner before she carefully stepped onto the stage. Those were some serious heels they put her in – Antigone didn't blame her for taking her time!
Her short hair was tousled and showed her natural curls, her legs looking slim in the flared bottoms to the pantsuit they had put her in. On the top, a black jacket with flared sleeves showing a black lace inner-sleeve, which matched the black lace that rested on her chest where the jacket was open a little bit, connecting around her neck almost like a collar necklace.
Isabella was out of her element and it wasn't hard to tell. She passed it off well enough through giving very short answers, not exposing too much about herself or her life back home. Even though she was quiet and strong, attention was brought to her training score- the highest of the bunch, which made her sit a little prouder.
Her only real advantage was being from District Two and that in itself was enough to make the crowd love her, even if she was as expressive as dirt, and they clapped for her enthusiastically when her time was up.
After her was announced Consus Ornstein. The District Two boy was wearing black shoes and dress pants much like Isabella, but his shirt was a lace-like black pattern embroidered with gold on top of see-through mesh, and around his shoulders he wore a cloak of black with matching golden embroidery.
He stammered at first – something that obviously threw him off – and he took a deep breath before answering the second warm-up question from Caesar. Once he was able to get through those, he talked about his upbringing – the family he left behind to train, the enemy he defeated in order to take the stage and be there that night, and his love for playing the saxophone.
"So, you left your family… Where did you go?" Caesar asked, his brows creased.
"Well, I met my guardian and trainer when I protected his daughter from some boys trying to scare her. Siri, she's younger than me. And my trainer is Pryderi. I'm so thankful to him for everything he's done for me. Truly."
That gave the crowd an aw, and the first noise to come out of the tributes since the interviews started.
It came from in front of her.
She could hear the labored breaths, worse, she could see the shoulders start to shake up and down. She put a hand on his back – feeling the velvet, almost royal coat he was wearing – hesitantly. "Mickey?"
She locked eyes with his District partner, turned to look at him hearing him make such sounds. She frowned right away and looked at him with true concern in her eyes. "What's wrong?"
But he couldn't articulate it. He could barely speak.
"Water. Please, now!" Damian said to the PAs, one of which ran off and he turned towards the other ones. "Lower him down so he's sitting."
"Right," Antigone said, and Astra just stepped back to let her do it, holding the bottom of her face with worry as Antigone worried a bit about her dress popping when she squatted down to help him sit gently. She barely wanted to lean over it was so tight.
Damian took the water when it was delivered, passing it to Antigone who was half tempted to take a sip with how nice and cold it felt in her hand, before she got herself down again (not at all gracefully) to offer it to him.
"Did you remember something?" Astra asked, holding her dress so that he wouldn't get a straight sight down the gaping hole that formed because her breasts were small.
"I … I don't know," Mickey said, setting down the water to hold his head for a second.
"Astra!" hissed the PA, gesturing her along and grabbing her arm to pull her up away from Mickey. She barely had a moment to recover before she was staring at the crowd clapping for her for a second and then slowly moving to join Caesar. And it was hard for her. She was wearing an hombre gown – the bottom dark navy decorated with shining butterflies, upwards with a lace pattern to a lighter powder blue at the top. The bodice was also a light color with silver gems and filigree. It was a lot of dress for such a small girl to handle but she did so as bravely as she could, though she collapsed a little bit into the loveseat by Caesar and put her head in her hands.
A few deep breaths and she was sitting up, breezing through the questions. She shared about her home life – her parents and siblings, gushed about her boyfriend, talked about her internship teaching art. Wow… But of course she kept going, talking about how she was unsure she wanted to go back to it, felt beat up by the work and the people around her, almost as if she was in therapy.
The crowd wasn't sure if she was sympathetic or just pathetic by the end, and neither was Antigone.
"Are you okay?" Damian asked Mickey, holding up a hand.
"Fine," said the ginger, taking his hand and allowing him to help him up as his name was announced, and just like nothing he was back to smiling, as if nothing had even happened earlier. Thankfully they didn't put make-up on the boys or else they could have noticed – the era of guyliner was thankfully (or regretfully) officially over.
"What did she mean, did you remember something?" Damian asked Antigone quietly.
She turned to look at him for a moment and then just gave a small shrug. "I… Don't know," she said quietly, but she couldn't think too much about it and stepped forward, finally for the first time feeling like she had some personal space as she pulled up her dress and took a few deep breaths against the tight fabric.
"Antigone?" Damian asked, and she turned to face him. "Your clasp." She looked down but before she could fix it, he was gently pushing her hair to the side to pull the chain around so that it was safely in the back, dropping the pounds and pounds of curls back on her back gently.
They looked up for the rest of Mickey's interview – the most painfully boring and bland interview so far, and that was saying something. He talked about District Three, Astra, and his Capitol experiences in a way that was perfectly normal, and yet so bland. It was… A little creepy how quickly he could switch from his breakdown backstage to seeming so normal and calm up there on stage. He was in a dark blue velvet royal coat, done up with gold buttons to the collar. On the bottoms he had flowing white pants (a girl's worst nightmare) and tall black boots. On the top, a white shirt with just a few ruffles showing from the tight coat with a golden pin on the collar.
He didn't at all play into how stylish he looked and instead of a bow, gave the crowd a lame wave.
Suddenly the stop hand was being held up at her, and her legs started to shake.
"Good luck," Damian said, and she heard her name over the speakers.
"Antigone… Rodriguez!" She bit her lip to keep away the nerves, straightened her posture, and tried to remember every piece of advice Rian gave her as she tried to strengthen her legs without locking her knees, clicking heel then toe, one foot in front of the other, and walking on the stage, running her hands through all the hair she had now as Caesar smiled at her. His smile was… Nice. It looked… Kind, up close.
She could do this. She could just… Be herself. Everyone liked her, she was the life of the party. And she was dressed to slay in a black sparkling gown, open down the front of her chest, tight around the hips, slit all the way up her leg. On one side, a normal glittering neckline – the other side had large decorative feathers bursting out from it – a little bit of party on an otherwise formal evening gown. Well, if her cleavage wasn't the party, which for a lot of people back home, it sure was.
Caesar's face was unnatural, but she focused on the smile instead of the forest green lips as she slowly lowered herself down next to him.
"Welcome to the Capitol Antigone!" She smiled back at him, before she reached up and touched her teeth.
"Th-Thanks," she stammered out, feeling… Awkward. No, this wasn't what Rian was teaching her, she didn't want to disappoint her escort!
"Look here, lookie," Caesar said, taking her chin to make her look at him. "Show me." Antigone wasn't sure what he meant so he just smiled, baring his teeth at her, and she blushed as she showed him her teeth and Caesar made a show of examining them, as the crowd was laughing.
"All clear," he said. "Do I have any on mine?" he asked as he leaned towards her. His breath smelled minty fresh and Antigone looked a little awkwardly before she shook her head, trying to make her voice work for her. This wasn't how she was used to making first impressions at all – but this was different from everything she knew!
"Very good, I was worried back there," Caesar said, sitting back to give her some space. "So, Antigone, might I say you look stun-ning!" he drew out the word, and in response the crowd applauded for her in this sexy dress. It felt… Weird. But she was starting to vibe with the energy of the crowd. "So, Antigone, excuse me if I am being too forward, but I think our crowd can't wait any longer to know. Is this beautiful lady on the market?" That got him plenty of whistles and cheers from the crowd as they obviously wanted to hear the answer.
Antigone blushed at the question – then again, why wouldn't she expect it with how she was dressed?! She tapped her fingers on her knees a few times, thinking about people back home. "Well…" she said slowly, not sure how to answer. She just wasn't quick-witted enough to lie, so she shrugged her shoulders. "It's… Complicated," she said.
"Complicated?" Caesar asked. "How so?" He tilted his head to the side, and she really did believe that he was interested in what she was saying.
"Well…" she said slowly. "I am kinda a wild party girl," she confessed, suddenly feeling ashamed and awkward about it, which she wasn't used to, shrinking back into her seat a little bit. She thought about how proudly she wore her unicorn headbands back home. How confidently she strutted into the room, expecting to pull attention over to her. And here, she felt like a fucking loser all of a sudden.
"Well you haven't been to a real party until you've gone to one here in the Capitol," Caesar told her. "Too bad we don't have a pre-Games party for our tributes, you seem like you would thrive in that scenario."
"I guess so," she said with a small chuckle, trying to get over the awkward feeling and find her confidence again. Did they like her? She still didn't know. "Honestly… I'm just a sitting duck right now. Waiting for… Waiting to be noticed," she frowned a little bit. "Just kinda waiting on the side to see if they feel the same about me…" When she talked to Marnie about the boys, she was hopeful. When she told the girls about their adventures, she was proud.
But sitting here with the spotlights on her, dressed up like this, telling the whole nation about it… It felt… Embarrassing. She felt like a fool.
"Waiting on the side?" Caesar asked, looking at her. "Did I hear you correctly?" He cleared his ear with his pinky and leaned towards her. "Surely not."
Antigone felt her face growing hot and she stared down at the stage. "It sounds silly saying it out loud, I guess," she confessed with a small chuckle.
"The real silly thing is for a beauty like yourself to be sitting on the side for anyone," Caesar told her, and Antigone stared at him for a moment, trying to process the words he was saying. Even if it was all out of formality… She believed him.
"Oh," she said softly, dumbfounded for a moment and just blinking a few times at him.
"Well, you show everyone your grit and walk back on this stage with a chip on your shoulder, then you get your pick of the crop, right?"
Antigone still didn't fully believe she wanted to pick someone that wasn't them. But at the same time… They had each other. She was just a unicorn to them, and obviously they weren't interested in pursuing her further. Why should she spend so much time worrying about what they thought of her? She was more than just their sex toy… She didn't know where the rage toward them was coming from but it started deep in her chest and moved quickly through her veins.
She could do better. They were fools for not seeing it. This crowd only knew her or a few moments and they already loved her. If Merlin and Dev didn't, that was their loss. Not hers.
Her lips spread into a smile and she looked at the camera finally.
"Right."
If they didn't want her before, they were never going to truly want her. The time for waiting and hoping like an idiot was coming to an end. She was better than that…The applause she got for saying it made her feel just a bit like she was floating and soon she was showing her teeth to the crowd again in a full grin. They loved her. They accepted her.
"Alright, well, tell us more about yourself. What's one thing that people don't know about you?"
Antigone thought about it for a moment. She leaned forward towards Caesar, acting like she was going to tell him a big secret as the crowd leaned in, anxious to be part of it. "I'm from District Four," she said. "But I actually don't like seafood."
"I feel like that's sacrilege!" Caesar said, putting a hand over his mouth and facing the camera, knowing exactly where it was – well, one of the nine that were trained on them.
"You gotta keep my secret, okay, my Dad's a fisherman," Antigone said. But she barely even knew him, at this point, either.
"Of course," Caesar said, acting with her and playing it up with a big wink. "Here's some food for thought. What is the best piece of advice you've ever been given?"
"Really bringing out the good questions this year, huh?" Antigone asked, and the crowd clapped in response. She knew the advice she was holding onto – her advice from Mags. But she just cleared her throat. "Don't fall off a building."
"Don't- huh!?" Caesar said, and a few in the crowd called out.
"My great Uncle," Antigone explained, sticking her chest out – to put attention on the fish hook. But she was sure Great Uncle Drake would understand her using her cleavage for clout while talking about him. "Drake Fellington from the First Games."
"Your great Uncle is Drake Fellington!?" Caesar asked with a big dramatic gape.
"Yes, my grandmother is his sister Katalina," she said. "She's still doing well, waiting for me. That was her advice for me when I got reaped."
"Well, I mean…" Caesar looked in the cameras and shrugged a little bit, while the crowd was laughing. Sorry Great Uncle Drake.
"Now that you talk about him, we can definitely see the resemblance. I'll need a side-by-side sometime!"
"That's what I've heard," Antigone said, really finding her footing now.
"Alright, I think we have time for one more quick question, depending on everyone's reading speeds. What are you most excited about going into the future?"
Antigone thought about this. Before the interview started, she knew what she would have said – getting back to her boys. But now… She wasn't sure. "I guess…" She thought about it. "I'm most excited to see my potential." She had more than she thought… She hoped.
The buzzer startled her even though she knew it was coming soon – almost like a fire alarm – and her heart continued to roar in her ears as Caesar showed her off to the crowd and she took her final bow. Then, carefully, she stepped off to the side, where the others were waiting that had been interviewed. Cupey practically had his nose touching the screen in that room, brows creased, while the others were drinking water and standing in District pairs. Nobody greeted her, the Careers all focused on Damian's interview as he was announced and stepped out, waving to the crowd and smiling.
He looked sharp and simple in a white dress shirt, rolled up at the arms and unbuttoned a little at the top, a black belt, and tight gray dress pants with black dress shoes. He gave Caesar a grin and a hearty handshake as they sat down together.
It was actually the most that Antigone learned about him in those three minutes. He was kind, but a little guarded. But for the interview, he really let down his walls, talking about his Moms back home, about struggling to with his identity for so long because he'd never been in love before. How a lot of his overcompensation for kindness came from that place of trying to belong, trying to find a way to love someone like he saw all around him, not be… A freak. She felt her heart breaking for him as she saw the vulnerability on his features, just wanting to give him a hug (but not in this dress, too much titty in this dress).
She quickly snapped out of it when the crowd was cheering for him. It was the fastest interview to her, maybe because she was done and could relax, or maybe because he really was that engaging with the crowd. Damian came back and Antigone looked up, but looked back down when his allies were the ones to greet him and not her. They just made the briefest eye contact as he came past and Caesar was announcing Kamaria Silvera from District Five.
Kamaria was wearing a dress that was both interesting and age-appropriate, a high collar with white lacey sleeves and layered ruffles for the lacey skirt, separated by a black bow around the waist. As nice as she looked, Kamaria didn't look very happy about it, coming out on the stage with a look that was almost impossible to read as she sat next to Caesar.
Now that Damian's interview was done, Antigone was mostly just waiting for Nico's interview to come around, anxious about how her ally was going to do and feeling an empathetic anxiety for him deep in her chest. But it was hard to not listen to Kamaria talk about her story when it seemed so interesting. She avoided talking about her family, giving only a brief mention to the younger girl that was clinging to her at the reaping, and instead focusing on her boyfriend. That raised some eyebrows, but Antigone wasn't bothered – she had her first boyfriend younger than that. If anything, it was just surprising how seriously she talked about him.
She never gave a name, which made it more mysterious, and told the store in such an endearing way that Antigone just had to listen. Kamaria talked about her big dreams – to someday have a home with him and raise his baby sister together as he was orphaned. It made the crowd sympathetic, but made Antigone frown a bit. She was so young, only fifteen. But she knew that age didn't matter for parenting if love was present – hell she watched Marnie have her baby so young, but that was with the support of her parents and family. Kamaria didn't say a thing about her parents at all…
That wasn't even the big bomb though – no, that didn't happen until close to the end. Kamaria found the camera with an intense gaze and that was when words came out that changed… Well, a lot.
"Oh, by the way, I'm transgender." The crowd gasped for a moment, stunned into silence, murmuring amongst themselves. Caesar blinked dumbly but before he could speak, the tribute continued. "I'm a boy. Call me Maverick."
"Oh," said Cupey, and Damian whistled a little bit.
"Wow."
"Yeah…" said Antigone, as Caesar took a moment to really let that set in before clearing his throat and trying to pry more into that with the time they had left.
"That's one way to end an interview," Mickey said, before giving a small awkward chuckle.
"No kiddin," Astra said quietly, as the crowd was giving Kamaria – well, Maverick – a ridiculous amount of applause. Antigone looked around, noticing the One tributes talking to each other quietly for a moment, and they all looked up when… Maverick came back in. He stared at them all for a long moment and Antigone wasn't sure what to even say. Thankfully, Damian spoke for them all.
"Good job, Maverick."
The boy blushed a little bit, but couldn't help but smile for a moment at all of them before he looked away.
"Thanks."
"Pretty ballsy. Or, well, brave," said Cuprian, before they all went into an awkward silence as Kermit Fisher was announced and walking on stage.
The poor boy was wearing black pants and shoes, a black turtle neck with a charcoal collared jacket over it and a dark navy coat over with red trim and one red sleeve. His cheeks were rosy despite his dark complexion and it was obvious he was a little overheating, but he was taking it in stride. What moreso worked against him was the fact that he was going after that interview and it obviously threw him off – he just stammered through his interview and it felt like it took forever to her, and the crowd as well. Everyone was quiet when he came back in, running a hand through his hair. As if he knew he did a poor job, he just sighed and put his face down to get a glass of water and sit.
It was hard to not look up when Bailey Page was announced from District Six. She was wearing knee-high leather boots, a leather mini-skirt with silver zipper and buckle, and a long-sleeved leather jacket with silver zippers attracting the eye even though it was zipped up. She flipped her short hair and pumped her fists to encourage the crowd to cheer for her.
Antigone grit her teeth a bit through the interview. Bailey didn't stammer at all, sitting up tall with slender legs stuck out and talking with the utmost confidence. She talked about her job back home, delivering car parts to shops – and the dangers that came with doing it in such a crime-ridden place like District Six, where car parts could go for a pretty penny. She talked about how the Games didn't scare her, especially not her competition, and kept the confidence even when the volunteers were mentioned.
She obviously loved the applause and when she came back to the other wing, she grinned at the tributes and put up a hand in greeting, giving them a confident wink. She could hear the Careers murmuring to each other quietly as her District partner, Jamir Marshall, was announced.
Jamir was dressed simply – he was wearing a nice gray suit with a white pocket square with a navy stripe that matched a navy turtleneck. He was obviously overwhelmed with the nerves and excitement as he chattered for almost the entire time, barely letting Caesar get a word in.
Antigone looked around, before she heard something that brought her eyes back to the screen.
"I just have to shout out my great partners."
Antigone looked at his face as Caesar was going to pull the microphone back to himself, but Jamir didn't let him.
"You all got to see Nolan, he was with me at the reaping. Sweetest guy you'll ever meet once you get to know him, but also kinda awkward, like me. Oh then we have Aliyah, we wouldn't be able to function without her, let me tell you."
"I've met a few who are polyamorous like yourself," Caesar said, but he was cut off by Jamir.
"That's because it's just a great way to live," Jamir said. "It's special and unique to have three instead of two. Instead of having one person to love that has your back, you have two people that will never leave your side. I get the best of both worlds, having one of each. And Aliyah is more than happy with her two special boys."
Two special boys… Antigone's newfound confidence was quickly wiped away, her lips turning into a frown.
At this point some of the tributes were talking, most not paying any attention. But she was. She listened to every word. The smile that filled his face and lit up his eyes made her heart start hurting right away. Nobody looked like that when talking about her… As hard as she tried to make their lives better, she didn't matter to them.
The crowd gave out the awwws like they were a hot commodity, and it was so obvious that he barely even cared about them. He was just genuinely excited to talk to a whole nation about the people he loved. Would they act the same about her if they were here? She didn't act that way about them… She just felt so sad and desperate… But here he was, so… Happy.
"Here."
She looked up when she heard a voice and Damian handed her a tissue. She hadn't even realized that a tear broke out of her eye until she had the tissue in her hand and used it to dab at her eye as the buzzer rang and there was a close-up of Jamir, grinning at the crowd applauding for him.
And yet she was here with her heart fucking broken. So much for her newfound confidence… It was so easy to pretend, but at the end of the day, she was still here, tapping on the glass.
Waving through the window.
Waiting for something that would never come.
~.~.
A/N: Formatting weird as hell, but here we are. It's not a Celtic story without anticipating one chap for interviews and then realizing that was not gonna work and then splitting it into two.
So much for being done with interviews forever, aye yay yay. Anyways, hope you enjoyed and this'll bring the pre-Games chap count to 20 which is satisfying so meh.
Save me from this hell. (Edit: done with interviews, working on night before. I'm also Durnk.)
See ya next time.