the risk is drowning [open]

the fact that the roof is still accessible to almost anyone in the training center still blows annie's mind. when she was in their shoes, she was told that anyone caught on the roof of the training center would be met with severe consquences.

the funny thing was, not one tribute gave a shit. in fact, annie spent a good amount of time admiring the moon. what were they going to do? it wasnt like they werent going to send them into the slaughter just a week later. there had been even more security measures put in place, ones that annie hadnt seen ever.

either she hadnt been on this rooftop in forever, or someone had tried to do something they werent supposed too.

the moonlight shines down and looking over the ledge, annie could only feel overwhelmed. it had been a long while since she had thrown herself into this mentorship thing, and it was very apparent as other mentors had nearly danced circles around her. little did most of them know, but annie's opinion did have more weight than most. she wasnt going to go into details, mostly because she felt like she didnt know any of the victors anymore.

it was either the ones she knew had gone into hiding, or the new ones were so new that trying to find anything in common between them felt like an impossible task. nixie did try to keep things interesting, in fact, annie was impressed with just how much of herself she gave to these tributes. annie wouldnt even be surprised if they just ignored her outright. her word would sink in the very water they stood on.

she got the feeling that no one would blame her. she had a whole district to think about after all. seven years into being a mayor and she still feels like she has only cracked the surface of the roll. after all, it doesnt matter how many times glamour mentions that she is doing a good job. it could all blow up in her face in an instant.

maybe she needed to put the same amount of herself into being a mayor like she did when she was a mentor. beck, nixie, and talon all came out because of her advice, a part of her did wish there were more, and many times, there were close calls. but none of those were destined to be.

she pulled out a pocket knife that she had stashed away in a holster right inbetween her thigh, another reason why annie never walked around with body guards. she could take care of herself clearly.

she started etching against the metal below her, trying to take her mind off of everything for just a moment. the thoughts felt like ticks to a time bomb that was ready to explode.

she heard the door crack open, she isnt even alarmed. "oh no..." she said clearly, making sure that the other knows that annie is aware of their presence. "... youve found me." she smirked to herself.

tick.

tick.

boom.