every little detail | mayor talon

If one were quiet enough, they may have just heard the murmurs coming from the other side of the large, oaken door.

^{"No, I don't care if you want to talk about it. You're going to."
"I barely know the kid, Talon! I'm not going to-"
"Yes! You are going to! If I have to drag your sorry a-"}

As it happened, Miller had not yet learned to always listen, even when words were not directed to him. And also, his business was of the urgent variety. He knocked on the door, waited for the voices to cease. They didn't. So he knocked again, a bit harder than before. Still nothing. He bit his bottom lip, huffed out a breath of air. One more series of knocks, this time with the underside of his fist, and when no call to answer came, he burst in against his better judgement.

"Ms. Irvine I-"

Mayor Talon stood toe to toe with a man in white, a peacekeeper, their faces an inch or less away from one another. In the instant it took him to enter through the threshold, they quickly stepped away, and the man took his leave without saying goodbye. They'd been fighting, Miller realized. Talon placed her hands on her hips, narrowed her eyes as her gaze shot to the ceiling. Breath of something- relief or frustration one and the same as far as anyone could ever tell. After a long pause, her eyes finally flicked to Miller, who was already making haste across the room to snag a remote from her desk.

"What?"

Instead of answering, he flipped on the projector. An entire wall's worth of screen showcased a news reporter decked out in Capitol swag holding a stack of papers in her hands, with a green-screened cityscape behind her.

"-Again, we can confirm that District Six has just been hit with a series of explosions earlier this morning. Local authorities are unable to release any information until further notice, but we have gotten word that this may have been an act of terror. We will continue to update you all as we can."

Talon crossed her arms over her chest. Her first instinct was to wonder if, maybe, maybe she should have seen this coming. A certain conversation, a certain omen, a certain feeling in her gut. It hadn't a surprise when it was her own District hit with this. But she would've been lying if the urge to cover her mouth with her hand hadn't come and gone.

Part of her wanted to smile, because where had Bloom been when Nine was rioting? Where had Bloom been when the Capitol themselves showed up with an entire cavalry? Or when they'd released some bombs of their own? Talon's own history with Six had been a fruitful one, once. Before Bloom was elected. Back when Talon thought that smuggling in numbers was necessary for her continued reign. But now she knew better, and despite the whisperings of shady business deal after shady business deal, Talon was proud to say that, for once, she had nothing to do with it.

But if this was potentially an act of terror, then Nine might very well have been next on the hit list, and she had things much more flammable than books and buildings to worry about exploding. So she did not smile; she was smarter than that. She simply leaned against the surface of her desk.

"What should we do?" Miller asked, now watching her more than he watched the screen.

She never flinched. Never show your cards.

"We wait."