Chapter Text
A Brief Pause, For Dramatic Effect: Alara
The wave of triumph Alara has been riding in the wake of Voltaea’s successful interview crashes into the cold reality of the situation at hand - “Tonight’s our last night together.”
I can’t bear the thought of that. “Only for now.” She corrects, shaking her head in disapproval.The air hangs heavy between them - Alara can practically taste the tension. Don’t look at me like you know me better than I do, darling, because you don’t - The sad expression Voltaea looks down at her makes her head spin. Let’s distract ourselves from that, shall we? - “But, nonetheless -” She grips her girl’s hand tighter. “Let’s make it count.”
They push through a set of doors at the end of the hallway leading to the back of the building, where the limousines park during the interviews to wait for the tributes to finish. Leading her girl over to the one parked at the farthest end of the lot, she knocks on the driver’s side window and the man inside nearly leaps out of his skin in shock before rolling it down. He blinks at her a few times, like he can’t quite process what he’s seeing, before his eyes light up in recognition and he manages to sputter out - “Oh! It’s you two. I, um. What can I do for you?” His cheeks burn a fierce red and he tosses aside a handheld reader he’d clearly been sitting here scrolling through while he waited - Oh! And open to the Capitol Inquirer! Word does travel fast. A quick sidelong glance at her girl tells Alara she hadn’t seen a thing - But that’s our second close call of the evening, and I can’t have you worrying about your public image when you have a Game to win.
The man’s eyes dart between them nervously and Alara wraps an arm tightly around her girl’s waist - Was this the show you were looking for? “You can take us back to the Tribute Tower, preferably before we get caught up in the worst of the departing traffic.”
“I’m really not supposed to leave without having your group all together, so-” I don’t have fucking time for this-
Alara cuts him off - “You can drive us back, or you can step out of my way and I can do it myself.” The man nods and fiddles with something by the window. Click - The limousine’s doors unlock behind her - Now, was that so hard?
As she opens the door and gestures for Voltaea to enter, she hesitates, whispering - “Alara, wouldn’t it be just a few minutes longer to wait for-”
“Don’t you start with me too, darling.” Rather than venom, her voice is tinged with a touch of sadness she hadn’t intended to show. Honesty it is, since I can’t seem to contain myself this evening. “I hope you won’t hold it against me, but I want you all to myself unti-” The tearful sob that chokes off her last word isn’t intentional either - Gods help me, I might end up crying more than Ismene this year if I don’t get it together! “... until the time comes.”
Voltaea doesn’t say another word about it - just leaves a kiss on her cheek as she climbs into the back of the limousine - I hate that you pity me. That thought doesn’t stop Alara from laying her head in her girl’s lap as they settle into the plush back seat. A pleasant shiver rolls down her spine that coils into a shameful heat in her core as Voltaea scratches lightly at her scalp - And I hate that you use my own tricks against me. The engine hums to life and the car rumbles lightly underneath them as her eyes flutter shut - And I hate that you’ve made me weak. A soft whisper from above her sends her heart into her throat - “I love you.”
Gods, I hate that I taught you how to be so perfect for me - “I love you too.” Because I’m never going to be able to live without you again.
In spite of the unpleasantly sticky feeling fabric of Voltaea’s dress sticking to her cheek - Sorry darling, I hadn’t realized how absolutely awful this felt when I gave my assessment earlier - Alara finds her mind wandering further away and her eyes growing heavier by the minute. Just as she’s about to drift off entirely, her girl asks - “Do you really know how to drive?”
She opens her eyes to see a very excited looking Voltaea beaming down at her - “Oh, well…” How best to avoid disappointing you with my ineptitude? “No, actually. But only because I haven’t tried. It can’t be that difficult, can it?”
To her surprise, Voltaea doesn’t seem any less excited by this knowledge. “If… when I come back, do you think I could learn how? Maybe we could learn together?”
Already planning our future, then? That will make some of what we need to discuss tonight a bit easier to digest. “Darling, when you win, we can do whatever makes you happiest.” But I’ll wait until we’re home for that. Another minute goes by in silence, Voltaea shifting awkwardly every few seconds until Alara finally asks - “Are you feeling uncomfortable? I can move if you’d like-”
“No, no - it’s not that. Um.” Now Voltaea just looks flushed - “Do you think I went too far in my interview? I was trying to make sure my ‘ vulnerability ’ was more convincing than Cymbria’s, but I’m worried I said too much about… you know. Back home.”
“I mean, you did make District life seem rather monstrous.” Alara quickly justifies this when she sees the way her girl’s face drops at her words - “But! That’s only going to make the crowd in the Capitol happier. They love feeling like they’re rescuing us from something.” And a certain someone in charge of everything prefers them to see us as pets over people, too. That part she leaves out - I don’t want you dealing with him yet. Though I do need to make sure you’re doing what he’s asked…
Voltaea sighs heavily - “That’s kind of what I was worried about. I’ve been thinking a lot about… well… everyone back in Five today, and trying to figure out what we’re going to do-” She cuts herself off when the divider between the driver’s seat and the back slides open and the man in the front tells them they’ve arrived.
When they shut the doors behind them, Alara tries to pick the conversation back up - “You were saying?”
Her girl hesitates, eyes darting around wildly, then - “Let’s go somewhere private first.”
“Of course.” Let’s break up the monotony a bit, shall we? They stride through the lobby hand-in-hand, Alara saying a silent prayer that her girl doesn’t pick up on the hushed whispering that follows them as they pass. I really should have warned that boy to wait a few extra hours… but he was efficient, I’ll give him that. She presses a button for the top floor as they step into the elevator and Voltaea spins around to give her a questioning look - “I have a thought, bear with me darling.”
It takes all of ten seconds from the time the elevator starts moving to when Voltaea blurts out - “Can I know what the thought is?”
Like looking in a mirror - “You have even less patience than I do about secrets.” Her girl tries to make a show of rolling her eyes and scoffing, but she melts into a flushed smile the moment Alara starts to laugh.
Once they’re on the top floor, it’s only a flight of stairs to the rooftop. If anyone else is up here tonight, I swear to every fucking god - She pushes through the doors at the top to reveal a blessedly empty roof, surrounded on all sides by the ever-glowing splendor of the Capitol skyline. Warmth suddenly leaves her as Voltaea disentangles from her side and runs to the railing at the edge of the roof to look down at the street below and calls out excitedly- “Alara, have you seen this!? We’re so high up!”
She doesn’t have the heart to tell her she’s seen it a thousand times on a thousand nights before. Not when it feels like she’s seeing this place for the first time anew - Don’t you dare take this from me. “Fourty stories, give or take. I honestly haven’t counted since the last rebuild - it got a bit old to relearn everything after the fifth time or so.”
“That must have taken so much material to do - this place is huge…” Voltaea trails off again and leans over the railing again. “I don’t think I’d survive a fall again, if it was from this height.” Is that why you’re acting nervous?
“I wouldn’t worry too much about that here, darling.” Alara fishes a tube of lipstick out of her purse and chucks it over the edge. There’s a buzz and it comes flying back over - though she makes a poor attempt at the catch and it clatters across the rooftop. “Forcefields. They really don’t like it when we kill ourselves before the cameras are rolling.”
“Huh.” With that, Voltaea falls silent and stares out over the city. Alara wraps around her back and pulls tight, letting herself lose her edge - just for now - to bask in the intoxicating contrast of warm body heat and cool night breeze. They’re going to have to pry me off of you with a crowbar tomorrow morning. Her thoughts dull around the edges, and she’s about to shut her eyes again when her girl speaks up - “You said I wouldn’t have to be alone, right?”
“Never again, my love.” she mumbles into the exposed skin of Voltaea’s shoulder.
“Does that mean you’re moving home with me when this is over?” The blissful delusion she’d been crafting for herself that they were both on the same page about their future arrangements shatters in an instant - Her heart beats wildly - Fuck. She can practically taste the smog just thinking about that place, hear them all jeering at her, feel the thick haze of dust in the air coating her skin, see the people she’d left behind all those years- No.
In a quick motion, she spins her girl around to face her and before she can think, chokes out - “Stay.” raspy from the tightness in her throat. I’d intended to make a smoother segue into that topic, but apparently nothing I plan matters these days - She clears the hoarseness and says, more softly - “With me, here. I-”
“But what about-” Don’t make this any harder on me. It’s humiliating enough to have to ask.
A single finger to her lips silences whatever her girl was about to say - “Please, darling… let me finish.” She takes a breath to steady her racing pulse - “I brought you up here tonight because I wanted to ask you what you thought of this place. And I need you to tell me now, honestly - do you like it here? Do you ever wonder what it would be like to have more in life than you do in the Districts?”
“I…” Voltaea hesitates again - Don’t do that tomorrow. Her eyes light up as she looks back out over the city, brighter still when they fall on Alara again - she quickly scrunches them shut - “I don’t know how to say it without sounding awful.”
“Voltaea.” Alara sharpens her tone, just enough to see her girl twitch - “This is childish, don’t dodge the question.”
With that, Voltaea cracks, throwing up her arms and yelling - “Of course I wonder, okay!” When she hears her own voice echo back to her off a nearby building she flinches and quiets herself - “It’s incredible here. Not the people - besides you they’re mostly weird - but everything else?” She gestures wildly to the city around them - “It’s more than I dreamed of. But that’s not the point - what about my sister? It’s not like my parents would want her to come with me. I don’t even know if she’d be allowed to and I can’t just… leave her like that. And what would I even do here? It’s not like I’m cut out to be on TV like you are.”
“Fuck your sister, what about us?!” Alara spits out the words before she can stop herself and the shattered look she gets is instantaneous - shit. She reaches out to take Voltaea’s hand but she wrenches it away - Okay then, damage control. Damnit, Alara, think! Her teeth grind, muscles tense - the tears are flowing before she has a chance to think. Don’t say anything before you’ve thought about how to - “I can’t go back there, not after everything that’s happened!” Idiot. “Every Reaping Day they drag me back to choke on that fucking smog, and that’s torment enough! You don’t understand how awful it was for me-” She chokes on a sob and her voice falters. When she looks up at her girl again, she sees tears streaming down her cheeks too - Oh?
“I… fuck.” Voltaea sniffles and stumbles over her words. “I hate it there too, you know. But if I leave her behind… I mean… you know my mother, right?” Oh, I do. More than I’d like to remember. But wait! If that’s all you’re worried about - “What if she-”
“You want to get your sister out of your mother’s clutches, is what you’re saying?” Voltaea nods and wipes the tears from her cheeks - This could work, maybe. I’ll have to do a bit of follow-up research, but for now- “Part of your winnings includes a house in the Victor’s Village - what if you gave her that house? She’d have her own space, a better life - no need for all that extra tesserae and none of the suffering you had to go through.”
The suggestion gives her pause, but after a moment she says - “My mom would just take it over, she wouldn’t let Ohma get away with a whole house without letting her in on it somehow.”
“Darling, do you know how many lawyers there are in the Capitol?” she shakes her head. “Neither do I, exactly. Only that every third person I meet seems to work as one these days. I’m sure at least one of them can help us come up with a way to keep her from it legally.”
“Really?” Her expression perks up slightly - Getting closer, that’s good, I can recover here . It falters again and Alara nearly screams when her girl comes back with yet another excuse - “I’d never get to see her, though…”
Relax, Alara. Softer touch - Tentatively, she takes Voltaea’s hand again. At least you’re not running away now - “Do you think that would be all bad, though? If we could live like this every day?” Voltaea’s expression is difficult to read - her brow furrows, but a smile keeps creeping into the corner of her lips - Just one more reassurance, perhaps? “You could still see her on Reaping Day, of course. Perhaps they’d let us ride in the night before for a visit if you feel so inclined.” I would rather drag myself face-first across a carpet made of shattered glass than spend a night visiting your family, but if it makes you happy- Voltaea’s expression starts to soften, the smile forming in earnest now. I’ll find some way to manage, I suppose.
“If you really think I can visit… I think I’d want to go more often than that-” For fucks sake, and just when I’d adjusted to the idea of one night. “But even if we couldn’t… I would do that. As long as you’re here. And you, um… still want me here, I guess.”
Alara laughs - she can’t tell if her girl is being serious or fishing for a complement. I just spent all this time begging you to stay, and you still think I don’t want you here? Before the confused-looking girl in front of her can say anything else, she pulls her into a kiss. Voltaea doesn’t hesitate to kiss back and pull her tighter - Alara stops long enough to mutter against her girl’s lips, “Darling, I need you here-”, before diving back in. Just as she lets her hand trail over Voltaea’s hip, she gasps-
“Wait. We should go inside first-” I’m not fond of waiting. Alara’s touch wanders across her thigh - she slips under the more revealing side of the asymmetrical dress - “Someone could see us-”
“Remember what I told you about modesty, my sweet?” Her fingers find Voltaea already soaked - Clearly, it doesn’t bother you that much.
“I… have to… fuck- ” Her girl curses breathlessly as she starts to trace her fingers slowly upward - Let me just relieve you of these, since you’ve already ruined them - and crouches to relieve her of her underwear. “ Don’t be modest. ” Voltaea whispers as Alara pulls them downward - Her girl steps out of them without protest and Alara tosses them over her shoulder.
“ Good girl .” As soon as she says the words a firm set of hands plant themselves on her shoulders and push her backward - She falls backwards out of the crouch, catching herself before her head hits the ground - But this is going to kill my lower back tomorrow - “What are you-”
Voltaea leaps on top of her with an ear-to-ear grin - “Not being modest.” - then crashes into a kiss that rips the air from Alara’s lungs - I suppose I invited this upon myself, didn’t I? Clumsy hands fumble at the back of her dress and pull at the zipper - Stuck, of fucking course. Before she can reach back to help her girl unstick the thing, a loud rip of fabric tells her she’s too late - Darling, you didn’t!
“Voltaea!” She pulls out of the kiss and gasps loudly - “Do you have any idea how expensive this was?!”
“Probably costs more than I’ve made my whole life-” And then some - All that actually comes out of Alara’s mouth in response to that is a half-stifled moan as Voltaea bites down softly on her earlobe - I can’t believe I’ve been so transparent! Her girl rips the dress the rest of the way off - What kind of cheap fucking fabric is this?! - and throws the shredded remains to the side to struggle out of her own. The glass shoulderpiece shatters when she lets it drop - “That probably did too.”
“My, we’re feeling destructive this evening, aren’t we?” Alara slips the sleeve off her girl’s shoulder, running a sharpened nail down the length of her arm - I love that little shiver you get when I do that.
Another gasp falls from her lips when Voltaea slips a leg between hers and presses at her center - Fuck, I’ve showed you too many tricks. “Not destructive-” She loosens the pressure but Alara’s hips rock forward to find it, thighs clenching together desperately trying to hold the feeling in place - Don’t you dare move - “I just needed to see you look at me like this one last time before tomorrow.”
And just like that, the fire in her chest turns to ash. It’s the way she says it, like she’s trying to be firm even as her voice cracks around the edges - that’s what makes Alara’s heart drop into her stomach. Did I… somehow fail to show you love? “Look at you like what, my sweet?”
Voltaea, detecting the shift in her demeanor - Or am I crying again? - moves so she’s straddling her lap and says, choked - “Like you’re proud of me.”
“Darling…” Alara pushes herself upright, wrapping her arms around the girl in her lap - “I… have I not shown you that I’m proud of you?” As she says it, a memory strikes of Voltaea - soaked, small, writhing with self-loathing and guilt on the floor of her shower - Perhaps there have been a few indications that I was less than pleased with your performance, but that was before…
Her girl doesn’t say anything at first. She just sits there, eyes glassy with tears, staring straight through Alara’s soul - “Please don’t make me go tomorrow.” The tears start falling in earnest - “Can I please just stay here with you?” If I could… fuck. “Please?” Voltaea’s expression is pure panic - wide-eyed and pleading.
“Voltaea…” Every other word she can think of sounds completely inadequate, so Alara just lets her girl’s name fall from her lips like a desperate prayer.
“I’m scared that I’m going to go in there tomorrow and then… that’s it.” Voltaea looks away, and for the second time since they’ve met tells her - “I really don’t want to die.”
DON’T MAKE ME THINK ABOUT THAT AGAIN - Alara grabs hold of her girl’s chin and spins her back to face her, voice rising - “Then you better go in there and kill every last one of them, because I swear, if you don’t come back to me-”
“Alara-”
“No, don’t you dare Alara me right now.” She shakes her head violently and presses a claw into her girl’s chest - “You don’t just get to waltz into my life, steal my heart, give me hope for the first time in a decade, and then die while I watch from the fucking sidelines!” This was your choice, you asked for this, you’re not getting out of it that way - “If that means you fight, you fight. If that means you run, you run. If that means you have to betray your friends? I don’t care if you have to wring little Coulomb’s neck yourself - you had better be ready to do it !” Voltaea stares down at her with an odd, questioning look - “Just come back with our fucking crown.” The last part sounds pathetic to her ear, like begging - I’ve never had to beg in my life, that alone should be enough for you.
Her girl pauses - then stands and stretches for a moment before silently offering her a hand to pull her upright. Please say something? Anger recedes into something far more vulnerable . As Voltaea grabs her dress and pulls it on, minus the shattered glass pieces lying on the ground next to them, Alara is suddenly struck with a feeling she hasn’t experienced in twenty years; Self-consciousness? At my age? I really should have brought something else to wear… or - gods forgive me for betraying myself like this - a brassiere? Damnit!
When Voltaea finally speaks, it’s more measured than before - almost calm - “I don’t think I’ve seen you cry this much before.” As if I wasn’t feeling naked enough. “It’s… cute?”
Alara scoffs, looking away to hide the warmth creeping into her cheeks - Cute?! - “I’m glad my distress is apparently adorable to you-”
Voltaea cuts her off - “I don’t mean it in a bad way!” She sighs - “I just mean that it’s nice that you want me so much that you… um… lost it. That’s all.” And you couldn’t have found a less mortifying way to put that? A hand on her cheek pulls her back to look face-to-face with a now much less fearful version of her girl - “I’m not going to let you down.” But how could I stay mad at that face?
Alara’s next words taste foreign - Forget love, I really don’t say this lightly - “I… trust you.”
They stand in silence for a while, Voltaea eyeing the shredded scraps of Alara’s dress strewn across the floor like she might still be able to make something of it if she can just find the right way to put it together - “How are we going to get you back downstairs?” Oh, aren’t you sweet?
Straightening her shoulders and steeling herself to chase off the last of that unnerving sense of modesty that had washed over her, Alara gestures to herself - “I’m sure anyone we stumble across will enjoy the scenery.” Gods, I really hope we don’t run into anyone. Voltaea rolls her eyes - but there’s a faint smirk on her lips - At least I know you enjoy it, if nothing else.
They still make a half-hearted attempt at finding something in the scraps to cover Alara with, but the only piece of fabric they find long enough to tie all the way around her is barely wide enough to cover her nipples - At this point, I’ll take it. Once she’s dressed - or whatever we’re going to call this - they make for the exit, Voltaea taking one last look back over her shoulder at the skyline and whispers something she can’t make out - You’ll see all of this again soon enough.
The walk down to the elevator is quiet, uneventful - peaceful, even - right up until a sickeningly familiar drawl oozes out from a dark corner behind them as they pass through the room at the bottom of the stairs - “ Oh my - Alara! And… friend . I wasn’t expecting to see you here in such a state of…” Ismene steps forward, clad in a white, lace-trimmed nightgown and carrying a mostly empty bottle of pinkish wine “…undress.” Voltaea tenses on her arm, shaking - This is the last thing we needed tonight.
“ Ismene .” It’s the coldest tone Alara can muster with her nerves running hot like this - “Do you actually get anything out of following me around like this? Or were you just feeling particularly pathetic today?”
Ismene brushes right past the question, waving her off - “I was just on my way to the rooftop to perform my annual grief-screaming ritual-” Ugh. Even her lies are melodramatic! “When I heard someone coming down the stairs and decided to let them pass first. Imagine my surprise to see you of all people here-” Surprise? Bullshit. “-wearing what looks like half a scrap of fabric and dangling off of who I can only assume is your newest chew toy-” she reaches out to poke at Alara’s makeshift covering but a much quicker hand darts out and grabs her before she makes contact.
“You don’t get to touch her. Not if you want to keep walking.” Both women whip their heads around to look at Voltaea, who’s staring daggers at Ismene, digging her nails deeper into her wrist. Well! This isn’t how I thought you’d react, darling, but I won’t complain- “She’s mine.” Oh my!
Alara is wholly unprepared for the way her body responds to those words. Flushed from the chest up - heart racing, heat building - her stomach spinning itself into knots like she’s been struck by a schoolgirl crush for the first time; I am yours, aren’t I? Interesting. She looks to her girl, still locked in a glare-off with Ismene, each waiting for the other to make a move - I can’t say I’ve ever had someone rescue me like this before, even if it is just from embarrassment.
After what feels like an eternity of tense, eerily unblinking stares between the two, Ismene finally just smiles and says - “Thank you.” For what? Indulging your lunacy? She pulls her hand back slowly, keeping the stupid, smug-looking smirk plastered across her face the whole way. “This was fun.” Enjoy it now, because I’m going to find out exactly what you think you’re up to sneaking after me like this. With a wistful sigh, she turns for the stairs, calling out as she walks up - “She is perfect for you, Alara - I’ll give you a point for that one.” I hadn’t realized we were keeping score today.
The two push hurriedly through the doors and into the elevator, Voltaea breaking the tense air between them as soon as they’re closed in with nothing but raw panic in her voice - “She’s not going to tell everyone is she?!”
“That you threatened her? Not likely - it’d be a sign of weakness to admit she’s intimidated.” I might have to remind her if she gets out of line, though.
“Alara - she saw us! You guys work on a gossip show together, there’s no way she doesn’t tell everyone what she saw!” Voltaea is shaking, she leans back against the wall as the elevator lurches into motion.
Well… maybe it is a good time to try and broach the subject, now that we have an opening? “Voltaea, darling - even if that were true, would that really be the end of the world?”
“Are you kidding?! You could get in trouble for this, couldn’t you?! There must be a rule that says we’re not supposed to do this kind of stuff together! Not to mention everyone back home would know I’m a freak-”
“For gods’ sake Voltaea, you’re not a freak!” Alara grabs her girl’s hand and tries to pull her back upright. “And if anyone were to imply something so slanderous, I’d be more than willing to part them from their tongues-” Voltaea slams her eyes shut once she’s standing again, grabbing hold of the railing like she’ll fall if she lets go - If I’d known you’d react like this… fuck! This is going to be harder than I thought. I suppose we’ll postpone discussing our newfound publicity until after you’ve won - “And besides! Ismene is a career alcoholic with at least half a dozen fist-sized holes in her brain. I doubt she’ll remember this at all come morning.”
Voltaea is still unconvinced -“But don’t you guys hate each other?! If I were her, and I knew something like this about my enemy… she’d be stupid not to use it against you!” Ever the strategist, gods I love that about you. But-
Alara laughs - “Darling, we don’t hate each other. Whatever gave you that impression?”
“You did! You said on the train that you were rivals, and I’ve seen you guys argue on your show - It takes up half the time in some episodes we’ve watched!” Voltaea looks exasperated - she’s let go of the railing to gesture wildly at Alara as her voice cracks.
She has to admit - “I suppose I can see how you might have gotten that impression.”
The next thing her girl says nearly gives her a heart attack - “So does this mean you don’t want me to go after those kids from Eight?” That man has called me TWICE about this now, you HAVE to kill them. Especially after your little outburst with the Peacekeepers put us on thin ice.
“NO!” Alara reacts too fast, too loud - calmer, softer touch - “ Look , I said I didn’t hate the woman, not that I wasn’t above tormenting her for my own entertainment.” You seem committed to this idea that you’re doing it for me - I won’t dissuade you.
Voltaea rubs at her temples like the mere thought of this unsolved puzzle makes her head hurt - “Okay, now I really don’t understand what the deal is with you two.”
“I… oh! I think we’re here.” The elevator stops and she pries her girl off the wall to lead her back to their room - ignoring the gaggle of staff gathered around the weepy little brat on the couch. She positions herself between Voltaea and the rest - Can’t have you getting distracted with him now, not when I have so little time left to have you all to myself… “Alright, as I was saying - It’s more like… ugh, hang on, you like your sister, so that may not be the best analogy. Hmm.” Alara pauses, thinking - “I mean, we’re competitive, no doubt - and I do say with some regularity how much I despise her. I’ve even threatened to kill her on a few occasions. But… well…” Her girl still looks confused, but the aura of anxiety she seems to carry about it wanes with every step - “Look, It’s a complex situation. We’ve been living in close proximity for a long time now.”
Voltaea nods thoughtfully - “I guess you’ve known her longer than I’ve been alive.”
Something about that fact makes Alara’s gut churn and she quickly brushes past it as they reach their suite -“I’d rather not talk mathematics on a night of leisure, darling.”
“Mhm.” Voltaea lets go of her hand and brushes past her, stripping off the dress on her way to the bathroom. When she reaches the door she turns around with a cheeky-looking grin - Gods I hope this means you’re feeling better, I can’t bear another round of tears between us. Her tone is teasing - “Is that because it makes you feel old ?” Oh you little- She slams the door, cackling as Alara flips her off and chases after her. Brat .
The shower turns on just as she reaches the door - And now you lock me out of my own bathroom!? For a moment, she contemplates picking the lock - Though I am a bit rusty. Thinking better of it, she opts to sprawl out on the bed instead, stripping off the last scrap of fabric from her ruined dress and tossing it to the floor. She stares at the bathroom door for a long moment - I might have time, while you’re occupied . She glances over at the television - Don’t be stupid, she could hear - Before fishing around in her bedside drawer for a spare datapad that she’s fairly sure she has in there for reading - I really should catch up on my list while you’re away, but this takes precedence. It’s nearly dead when she pulls it out - Where did I put that charger? Ugh. No time for that. - but there’s enough battery left for at least ten minutes of reading by her measure.
It takes three of those to navigate her way to the newsfeed application that she’d disabled and stashed in a folder, a punishment for repeatedly hounding her with notifications about her own public intoxication incident during last year’s Games - As if I wasn’t the most up to date person in Panem about it. Her palms sweat as she opens the program - load, damnit! When she finally gets it to load and sees the trending page, with her name plastered right next to the #1 spot - We fucking did it, darling! Look at that! Though still trying to compose herself so she doesn’t scream out in excitement, she can’t help but click the link to see what exactly people have been saying about the news- just a peek, not too long.
Her heart slams into her ribcage like a jackhammer as soon as she sees the first headline - those rats at the Capitol Inquirer are going to pay for this - “Alara Vox: Panem’s Prettiest Predator?” Predator?!? The slamming grows faster still, her throat tightens - Relax, Alara, breathe. You knew there’d be some controversy, it’s to be expected. She nearly chokes on her own spit when she sees the author’s name, sickening recognition sweeping over her in an instant; Agrippina Finch - This is why I slapped you, you sun-rotted cunt. She has to dig her nails into her thigh to stop herself from grinding her teeth so hard that they break. Come on, there has to be something at least a little more flattering -
The next link is just a citation to an academic paper titled “Ethics in Mentorship” with “#AlaraVox written in the tags, posted by the Capitol University’s official account - Not reading that, thank you . “The Look (LIVE NOW): Talking Vox” - a brief peek at the livestream shows a roundtable of middle-aged women screaming about the news as they flip through the pictures and debate what’s really happening in them in what she finds be the most obnoxious way possible - I can’t stand to listen to these shrews any more, let’s mark this as a neutral finding. “Apollo & Artemis of Panem Tonight discuss District Five’s most interesting news in years - click here to find out what it is!” - You don’t have to ask me twice, darling. A clip plays from the late night show, a set of twins dressed in opposing pink and green outfits each perched on an armchair with a screen behind them.
It cuts in with the girl twin throwing up her arms in frustration - “-but we can sit here all night and talk about if it’s right, or ethical, or whatever - that’s still not going to stop me from thinking it’s hot! I mean, look at them - they’re smouldering at each other in this shot!”
The brother shakes his head and groans loudly - “Ugh! Look, okay, I might agree if she wasn’t like, fourteen-”
“She’s sixteen-” Alara corrects in perfect sync with the woman on the screen.
“Still, that’s barely l-” She shuts down the datapad abruptly as she hears the bathroom door creaking open and shoves it back into the drawer. Voltaea steps out wearing nothing at all - Perfect . She walks to the bed and slides in under the silk sheets without a word.
Alara rolls over to look at her girl - gorgeous, divine, home for the last time in… gods, it could be a month if things drag out - and pulls her tight. “If I could keep you like this forever, I would.”
Voltaea wraps a leg over hers to bring them even closer together - “Just don’t let me go tonight, okay?”
“I’m never letting you go, darling.”