Getting to know the enemy//Claude + Aurora

Please aim slow, I know
It's not like you to take the fall
For anyone but yourself.

I hadn't been hungry - the prospect of my upcoming demise and the looming bloodshed was too much for my stomach. The moment I had smelled food I had to choke back the waves of acid that bubbled up my throat. There was no way I would be eating anything tonight. I scraped my fork on my empty plate for a moment, then decided to give up. Standing, I let my fork clatter to my plate and walked out, paying no attention to anything but the small square of floor in front of me. I let my feet pick their path, my subconscious - or maybe it was Claine - guiding me. Only when a door greeted me did I look up. "In you go, may as well train if you aren't going to eat." His voice was almost mocking, but I listened to him anyway. Reaching up, I pushed the door with a hand and entered the large room.

Once again I lost myself to the feeling of utter uselessness I was always washed with here. My footsteps sounded so loud in the empty room, and it took me a moment to realize that I actually wasn't alone. A girl sat at the trapping table, bent over the pieces and looking as confused as I felt. Silently drawn to her, despite the knowledge that she was my enemy, I made my way over. A memory of doing the same thing not long before came over me and I remembered how it had been Soap sitting there, instead of this girl - if my memory served she was from District ten. Soap had been so much more competent than this girl, but then it wasn't as if I was one to judge.

Let me show you a world that you've never seen;
Let me help you unveil what you've been missing.
There is no time to wait;
When you find love you can't hesitate.

I took the seat next to her, watching quietly as I dared myself to speak. How bad could she be, really? Or maybe that was what I was afraid of, making friends with someone I might have to kill. One thing was for certain, at least one of us would die. Ties are not a good thing to make around here. Just as I was going to get up and leave I felt a hand on my shoulder - Claine's hand, patting my shoulder a little too roughly. "Oh buck up, maybe you can have a nice time." I looked at the girl's face, surprised she seemed so unmoved about him being there and saying that. "Uh, don't mind him. He thinks he's so funny." A sudden fear pushed the words from my mouth and I turned from silent to babbling in a second. "I'm Claude by the way. You're one of the District ten tributes right? What's your name?"

I flushed, though I wasn't sure why. Perhaps the impulse that had sent me talking was now leaving me embarrassed at my outburst. Either way, I knew I was red. Nervously, I shifted my gaze from her face to the assorted things on the table. My oncoming fate must be affecting me more than a thought, because I didn't remember ever acting like this before. It felt like I was a young boy telling the girl next door that he liked her. Trying to steady myself, I grabbed a piece of wire and twisted it in my hands. Once again, a flash of a memory from earlier grabbed me. It was like my life was on a repeat, a deja vu that altered slightly each time. I wondered if I would ever break the cycle.

Step right up, shoot an arrow at the target;
My heart is an easy thing for you to hit.
Don't worry if you miss, I'll let you shoot again.
My heart is an easy thing for you to win.

Whoa, you know you did it again.
And ever time I hear your voice,
Well you know I have no choice but to let you in.
Life is short, don't pretend.

She looked like she didn't even know I was there, though she may very well not have. I watched her from the corner of my eye, turning my face to her after a moment. Her eyes were large, as large as the untouched dinner plate I had left at the table. "Aurora, yeah, that's me." She seems to be judging me, weighing me as competition I would bet, and I can't blame her. With death on all of our minds, being only a few days away. "You're from district five, right?" My eyes followed her hand, moving to her right bicep and passing over the flesh enough times to give the impression she was cold - unless it was that she was nervous. I couldn't deny that there was a shiver of something between us, a barrier that left us both wary.

There is a pause, an awkward moment that is somewhere between fear and comfort, before she breaks the silence once again. "Hey, do you know anything about traps? I'm kind of lost here." I gave her a wry smile as I looked at the tangle of wire and sticks that lay before her. Reaching out a hand, I picked at a piece of it with two fingers, trying to figure out where the end of each piece was. In the doing I brushed against her arm, but I ignored it. In my ear Claine whispered about putting myself out there and living a little. Tempted to swat at him as I was, I just raised my shoulder in a small attempt to block him out. I raised my eyes to Aurora's, smiling a little more relaxed than before.

Let me show you a world that you've never seen;
Let me help you unveil what you've been missing.
There is no time to wait;
When you find love you can't hesitate.

I remembered she had asked a question, something of a return after my little rambling, and tried to recall exactly what she had wanted. I think it was my name. "I'm Claude." It sparked as I spoke that it had been my District she had wanted to affirm, and I quickly added, "yeah, District five." Shyly, my eyes slid away from her and I stared ahead of me, a little short of breath for all my inactivity. Claine was at my ear again. "You're so close man, just seal the deal somehow. Flirt or something. It's time you found out what fun really looks like." Growing uncomfortable under his suggestions, I hunched my shoulders away from him and turned my back on my annoying "mentor".

It wasn't the smartest of all moves, though, because it left me facing Aurora with my knees brushing against her leg. How had we come to be sitting so close? Flushing, I looked down at my lap, but my eyes were drawn to where we touched, and a darker blush crawled into my cheeks. Claine buffed me on the shoulder, urging me forward. Rebelling, I tucked my gaze back onto my own thighs, head down and shoulders bent. I don't know if I'd ever felt so awkward before.

Step right up, shoot an arrow at the target;
My heart is an easy thing for you to hit.
Don't worry if you miss, I'll let you shoot again.
My heart is an easy thing for you to win.