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The 25th Hunger Games ((Blair&&Lady))

Lucien looked at her, absently rubbing his thumb over her knuckles before letting go and gently wiping her face clean,”Well, you haven’t had the kind of day you have had, in years either.”He muttered talking just because he knew there was nothing he could say to make her feel better, but knew he couldn’t stay silent either.

“Well, I’ll get you home cassie,I will.”He muttered rubbing her back shifting his hold on her as he closed his eyes, resting his cheek against her head, knowing there was nothing he could do to make he feel better. Tensing a little at her words he swallowed. Stay with him?Really?He swallowed because he couldn’t even consider it, not when he knew he was violent if startled awake, or if he was dreaming. But…

“Okay. Just for tonight.”He muttered before standing slowly with her in his arms, not even setting her down as he walked to the dresser and dug out a t-shirt and a pair of boxers, glad that there was always clothes for him here.”Here.Go change, then we’ll get some sleep.”He said nodding towards the bathroom as he sat her down.
 
"Just for tonight." Cassie sniffed and nodded, stumbling on her heels toward the bathroom. When she returned, her face was clean of smeared makeup, and she wore the baggy clothes he gave her. It felt nice to have him near - something familiar and comforting. She may not have seen him for six years, and he may not be the same Lucien she remembered, but she still trusted him... She just wasn't sure that he could save her in the way that he was so determined to. After all, he would not be in the arena with her. Once the game started, she was on her own.

Now, all she had to do was decide if she was going to let him off the hook immediately, or fight for her life and give him hope.

Sliding into his bed, she rolled on her side and looked over at him. There was a good twelve inches between them, but she could still feel the heat that radiated off of him. Her mouth was about to open to say something, but she was interrupted by the sound of a persistent knock on the door.

"Lucien!" Theta called, irritation in her voice, "I need to speak with you. Now. In private."
 
“Just for tonight.”Lucien agreed smiling a little as he changed into sweats before climbing into the bed, leaning back against the headboard as he read the book he’d brought with him. Tensing a little as he felt her watching him he glanced towards her before stopping. Frowning a little as she glanced towards the door, looking annoyed that theta was interrupting his evening. Pressing a finger to her lips to keep her silent he slid out of the bed before heading towards the door, opening it just enough to slip outside, and careful to make sure theta couldn’t see in. having every intention of keeping up the seduction plot, because he knew cassie wouldn’t want anyone to know she had panicked.

“What?”Lucien growled, looking just as sexily mussed as one would expect from someone having sex, but that was his normal look. Looking at the woman in front of him he walked towards the living room, to give them the privacy theta had asked for.
 
Theta walked into the living room and turned on her heel with an obvious amount of irritation. "WHAT did we just talk about?" she snapped, looking absolutely livid, "Have you lost your mind, Lucien? I never thought you'd sink low enough to take a tribute to bed." She narrowed his eyes. "And while I could see her potential, you have pretty much squashed that. The crowd saw you take her away, and they are already buzzing with gossip. Do you know what that means?" She moved over to the bar, grabbing a glass and pouring a heft amount of liquor in it. She may not be an alcoholic, but she knew when she needed a drink. "It means this can go one of two ways: They can swoon over the idea of star-crossed lovers and sponsor her until the very end. She may survive off their charity." She took a sip of her drink and turned back toward him. "Or they will grow jealous, because the women of the Capitol love you. They don't want to see you with another woman, especially a tribute. They will feed her to the dogs."

She sighed and downed the rest of her drink. "Then you have Snow, who will be pissed off either way, because he will think you are playing him for a fool by using romance to keep your tribute alive. He will have the Gamekeeper wipe her out with a wildfire or hurricane in a matter of days, just to remind you who has the upper hand."

Pausing, Theta gave him a good look. "So stop being a fucking perv for two seconds, and be a mentor. We need the win, and you know it."

It was clear that Theta did not have any sort of attachment toward Cassie, and she did not see the connection between her and Lucien. She, of course, thought Lucien was being the man whore that he presented himself as around everyone... But she had a point, and she wanted another victor for her district. If she didn't get a win soon, there was a good chance they would fire her at the end of the year.

"Actually, I personally don't care what happens in that bedroom of your's," she grumbled, "But that's where it needs to stay, alright? I will be making an announcement in the morning that Cassandra fell ill, and that was why you led her out of the ball room."
 
Lucien sighed quietly as he ran his fingers through his hair, listening to her rant as he collapsed back onto the couch after getting a glass of whiskey himself. Sipping it he sighed quietly. “She was having a panic attack, theta, I didn’t seduce her. I knew they’d view her as weak if I just left her, so I brought her back. Even snow being pissed off, is better then the tributes thinking she’s weak. Snow I can deal with. The women I can charm into seeing that I’m still there’s to buy like they would jewelry.”He shrugged a little before sipping his drink.

Eyeing her he looked hurt for once, at her words, before his face smoothed out to a blank look again. “I know we need to win.”He said after a moment, ignoring the twinge that it gave him to think that even Theta believed that he was the man whore he pretended to be. He only did it, because it was the only time he felt something,even if it was just self-hate. He didn’t feel quite as empty.

“You’re worrying to much. Its just the first night, things will have time to get so much worse then them thinking I seduced her.”He shrugged a little, trying not to think that he should be going out for the night, he knew there were women waiting for him, but he couldn’t bring himself to want to go have sex.
 
Theta shook her head. "There is no such thing as worrying too much," she snapped, "My ass is on the line, and I won't stand here and let you screw me over." Her eyes narrowed, and it was clear that she was not fazed by the idea of Cassie having a panic attack. She's been around the block a few times. It wasn't exactly rare for a tribute to be scared out of their minds... "Do what you have to do, okay? Find her strength and go with it. Her first session in the training room is scheduled for five tomorrow morning. Get her there early and see if she can do something. I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but nothing would be more intimidating than a pretty girl with a deadly talent. It's up to you to find that talent."

She smirked a little and downed the rest of her drink. "Don't keep her up all night, and don't be late. Breakfast will be served after training."

With that, Theta left the room to deal with other things before bed. When Lucien returned to the bedroom, Cassie was sitting on the edge of the bed. It was clear that she was trying to listen to their conversation, but to her frustration, she couldn't hear them through the thick walls.

"What was that about?" Cassie asked worriedly.
 
Lucien grinned at her, “Screw you over?Will you just let me screw you?”He chirped, looking amused before sighing as he slumped back into the seat, forcing himself not to do something. He didn’t want to get up that early, that was torture. “Fine. I’ll find something deadly.”he said frowning in annoyance at her words, because he had said he wasn’t sleeping with her, so he wasn’t. it annoyed him that she didn’t believe him. Sighing he stood.

Looking amused that she had been trying to listen, he grinned brightly, a smile that said he knew he was just going to say something she wasn’t going to like. “Oh just a warning to not keep you up all night with sex.”He chirped as he settled back into bed.”we have a early morning training session, so we better get some sleep.”he said despite his teasing words about sex, he had every intention of getting some sleep.
 
"Great," Cassie grumbled, then slid back onto her side of the bed. It wasn't as hard to fall asleep as she had predicted. A mixture of the overwhelming day and the cloud-like bed she was laying in put her right to sleep, thankfully. After all, she needed the rest.

The next morning, Cassie did not wake up on her side of the bed. Instead, she was pressed against Lucien's side with her right arm dangling over his torso. It took her a minute to not only realize where she was, but who she was cuddled up against. When she did, she blushed and pulled away from him, hoping he didn't notice. Maybe she had only been there for a few minutes? One could only hope. The last thing she needed was to be humiliated...

Slipping out of the bed, she glanced out the glass doors that to the balcony. The sun was rising, and she couldn't help but notice how beautiful it was. One would never know that they were awaiting their death in such a beautiful place. It wasn't the water that surrounded district 4, that was for sure, but it was still pretty to look at.
 
Lucien smirked sleepily as he cracked a eye to watch her look out the window.”You know, if you’d just lowered your hand a little bit, we could have both had a great morning.”He teased, his voice full of sexual promise and teasing, more of the charming teenager he had been then the bitter adult he’d grown into.

Sitting up he ran his fingers through his hair, before stepping into the bathroom, shutting the door just enough to get some privacy, but not keep him from talking to her. “We’re going to see just how good you are with knives. Then maybe swords, if we get bored. Then a bow.”he said rambling because he didn’t know what to do, because he hadn’t had a tribute he cared about before, but it was painful to consider cassie in there, and it was literally paining him to see her here, with him, in this moment.
 
Cassie blushed a deep shade of red, and she turned back to the window in order to hide it. She wasn't sure if she was blushing because she was embarrassed, or if she was blushing because she still had that childhood crush for him...

"I hardly believe we will get bored," Cassie murmured, walking farther back into the room until she was standing in front of the dresser. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror above the dresser, studying her newly darkened hair and polished face. While she'd never admit it, she knew she looked pretty. It was just the circumstances that made her feel ugly...

After going to her room to change in a pair of tight, black athletic pants, a pair of tennis shoes, and an army green tank top, Cassie moved down to the training room. As she waited for Lucien, she moved toward the left side of the room and grabbed a beautiful set of knives. She smirked a little, looking around the empty training room, and strapped the pouch of knives to her hip. Taking advantage of the fact that no other tributes could come in at the moment (until group training), Cassie decided to get in some practice. With an incredible form and precision, she began to throw the knives at a human-shaped target, easily hitting it with each throw.
 
Lucien took his time to get ready, changing into a pair of boots, a snug pair of cargo jeans and a wifebeater, looking as deadly and fit as if he’d just walked out of the arena yesterday, instead of nearly 6 years before. Looking at her as he stepped inside he smiled slightly, “Well, I see that you’re right. We wont have to work to hard at knives. But I would like something else, in case there are none.”He mused

He knew there would be knives, at least some version of it. And he knew that he could beg, borrow, and g et her some knives as donations, but he would feel better if she had something else to rely on if he utterly failed in taking care of her. For once, not minding the fact that he was going to be trading sex for trying to get his tribute what they needed.
 
Cassie turned and smiled, feeling quite proud. For a moment, she forgot about her plan to get herself killed in the cornucopia, and was quite excited with the idea of him thinking she was good at something. It made the little girl inside of her blush with flattery. "I guess," she said, wrinkling her nose at the idea of learning to use a bow, "But they always put knives in the arena... Especially if someone gets a good score on them." She raised her eyebrows at him, because she knew she had a point. Of course, she was not thinking he go to extreme measures to get them for her....

She went over to the target and began to take the knives out of it, putting them back in the holster on her hip. She kept one in her hand, effortlessly twirling it between her fingers with an eased expertise. It was clear that she had done a lot of practicing over the past six years.

"Have any information on the other tributes yet?" she asked, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.
 
Lucien raised his eyebrows a little before shrugging. “True, but it also might get them to only put one in the arena.”He pointed out because it had happened to him. While there were usually a few swords, the year he had gone in, he had shown promise with swords, and in a perverse amusement the gamemaker had made sure that there was only one, for the tributes. Lucien had had to fight tooth and nail to get anywhere close to getting it, and in the end he’d become better at hand fighting then anyone would have ever thought, just to get them. Though, considering what he was going to be doing to get them, he hoped for more then just one knife.

Watching her for a moment he shrugged. “Your typical, annoying brats from the career districts, the scared kids from 11 and 12, and the annoyingly talkative girl from 10.”He shrugged, because he disliked talking anymore, and while he understood some things, he also knew that the other mentors lied to him just as much as he lied to them about his tribute. It was a game for them, and the only one they played with each other, each trying to get through the game with their tribute alive. “So far, I see no signs of another knives master, but…”He shrugged a little glancing at his watch, trying to not feel as disturbed as he was. He knew that as soon as he saw her to breakfast, that he was going to be busy running not only her training and everything, but between capital women who wanted a piece of him. Running his fingers through his hair he nodded towards the knives.

“want to try a knife fight?I’m not as good as you, but I can handle a knife.”He said, his smile turning a touch perverted at that, because well…after so many years playing the man whore, he slipped into the role easily, especially when he was feeling off balance, and being with her again, made him feel weird.
 
Cassie frowned a bit. "How can you practice knife fighting? I can't practice stabbing you." She pressed her lips together and crossed her arms over her chest, not looking comfortable at the idea of coming at Lucien with a knife. She may be good with a knife, but she was by no means a natural born killer. The idea of it scared her, especially when it came to a man whom she held close to her heart since childhood.

"I have a feeling you aren't telling me everything you know," she said, putting her hands on her hips. She slid the knife that she had been twirling back into its holster. "But that's fine. At least I will go in with an open mind." She rolled her eyes in a sarcastic manner before moving over to him, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

Glancing up, she noticed the district two mentor walking in with his male tribute, Alec. He was a frightening-looking boy that was Cassie's age, looking tall, muscular, and mean. Just the sight of him had Cassie shaking in her boots, but her fear was set aside when she noticed the boy looking her up and down like a piece of meat... It was one thing to know the guy was going to kill her, it was a whole other thing to have him oogling at her like that.

"Can we just go to breakfast?" Cassie mumbled, looking away from Alec.
 
Lucien frowned at her, “You could practice trying to get in close to someone who’s at least twice your size. Not everyone’s built on your scale, Cassandra.”He scowled, using her real name instead of her nickname to show he hadn’t appreciated the joke, even if he wasn’t aware of doing it. Looking annoyed he smirke a little. “I hardly ever tell anyone everything.”he said unwilling to tell her what he had been really thinking about instead of the tributes.

Turning his head a little he looked at the tribute and mentor, tilting his head a little in a salute at his fellow victor before nodding. “Breakfast sounds grand. Then to see what else is on the plate for today.”he said as he left the room with cassie, giving the male tribute a similar look to the one that he was giving cassie, though the look he was giving was promising a slow painful death instead of sex.

Walking with her he sighed quietly as he got a plate of food for himself, not looking forward to the rest of his day.
 
Cassie narrowed her eyes a little at the sound of her full name, but didn't say anything back. She was not in the mood to argue with the one man who she could trust at the moment... She needed him. Then yet, she wasn't sure if it mattered at this point. She was still not sure if fighting in the arena would be worth the prolonged heartache.

Once in the dining room, the fixed her play with tons of wonderful breakfast foods. If she wasn't a tribute, she would have thought she had died and gone to heaven with all of the eggs, meat, potatoes, and bread surrounding her. "I guess the interviews are tonight," Cassie said, looking up at him from her food, "I can't wait to see what crap they are going to dress me in..." She narrowed her eyes a little, then went back to eating.

"That Alec guy creeps me out," she admitted after a moment, "Something about him..."
 
Lucien snorted, looking amused as he started to eat. “Probably some ridiculous sort of dress that will make all the girls swoon, and all the guys want to see you with it off. Thank god I’m male. Only so much they could do with a suit.”He said teasing her a little before nodding. “he bothers me to, which is why I wanted you to practice fighting, since he’s definitely big enough to make fighting him a bad idea.”He sighed tiredly even as he looked around the room, his mind already elsewhere, as if he was turning over what he was going to be doing while she was at a interview. He had no doubt that while she was getting ready to be paraded around, he was going to be flat on his back working on earning forgiveness for acting like a love struck idiot with her the night before.

Even if it had been because she was panicking, and not that he was seducing her, he knew there was going to be a punishment for acting like that.
 
Cassie sighed a bit. "Fine," she murmured, "I guess the hand to hand fighting wouldn't hurt..." She gave him a look that said she was overwhelmed about everything, but didn't say anything. Instead, she determinedly dug into her food and ate until she knew she'd be physically sick. May sound crazy to most, but eating something other than fish to a District 4 tribute was a delicacy.

Later that evening, Cassie was dressed and ready for her interview. She glanced around the waiting area, trying to not to look panicked at the fact that she could not find Lucien. He had yet to give her any pointers, and as much as she was against putting much effort in surviving, she was not about to let her brother or anyone else know that. She was going to put on a good interview for the loved ones who chose to watch.

"Lucien!" she snapped, seeing him walk through the door. "Where the hell have you been?" Her eyes looked desperate.

Interview outfit:
green-one-shoulder-floor-length-chiffon-trumpet-mermaid-prom-dress-with-pleating-oet0185-a.jpg
 
Lucien stopped just in side the doorway, looking pale and drawn, offering her a small smile.”Sorry. lost track of time while visiting with some of the capital ladies.”He said the truth and lie mixed. He hadn’t lost track of time, but been detained, and he had been with the women. He felt horrible and tired, and most of all, in need of a good shower and scrubbing until his skin was raw.

“Don’t look so worried. The interviews are easy. You’re female, be cute, be adorable, and they’ll love you.”He said shrugging because at the moment he was feeling emotionally raw, and didn’t want to deal with this. Even if he needed to, he knew that he needed to take care of her, but she didn’t want to win, didn’t even want to try, so the man was feeling emotionally raw enough to be harsh with her.

He smiled slightly as he looked her over."You look well. No one would know you have no intention of surviving."
 
"There are plenty of females out here that can be cute," Cassie snapped, "I'd just... blend into the crowd with that. I need something better."

At his last words, pain could be seen flashing through her deep blue eyes. She hated that she was starting to feel guilty about her plan... He had away of getting emotions out of her, raw as they may be.

The lights started flashing in the room, signalling that they were going on air. The first tribute was led to the stage, then the second... It felt like ten seconds had gone by, and they were calling her name. At the sound of it, she went rigid, and she had to take several deep breaths before crossing the room. She didn't give Lucien another look, because she knew that it would do no good. He'd just make her more nervous and guilty...

Once on stage, she smiled for the cameras and went through all the basic questions : Was she scared? Was she excited? Did she like the food/clothes/luxuries? It was went smoothly, but a bit boring. She could tell she was losing the audience's interest, and she knew she needed to do something quick. She needed the sponsors, she needed something dramatic... And that's why she did something very, very impulsive.

"So, sweet Cassandra, do you have anyone you have left at home? Better yet... Do you have anyone you wish that you could have here with you?" Caesar asked, leaning forward.

The crowd was silent, and Caesar's voice was suggestive... And she ran with that.

Cassie bit her lip and looked at Caesar through shy, flirty eyes. "I left my brother at home, of course," she murmured, "But... I have someone here with me."

"Oh?" Caesar commented, his eyebrows raising.

"Lucien," she said, "I... Well, I've been in love with him since I was a child. Now I finally get to be with him... Well, for a little while."

The audience gasped and gave sighs of sympathy, and Caesar's face lit up with the new found gossip.
 
“Well, then be unique cassie. You need to find it yourself, there’s only so much I can do for you.”he said shrugging a little before sighing softly as he realized he’d hurt her. But he had no apology for the words that were true. And maybe if she felt guilty enough, she’d try. Staying with her until it was her turn he moved over to watch from the side stage, amused that the mentors got to watch from here, when they knew just how nerve wracking it was for most of the mentors to be near the center of attention, even if no one could see them watching.

Looking relieved to know that she was answering well, he shifted to watch the crowd, which was home he was watching the people instead of cassie when she made her announcement. Barely noticing the camera as it focused on him, he shifted, raising his eyebrows a little. As if he had been well aware of what the girl was going to say, even if inside he was cursing her for even thinking about it. Oh yea, someone was going to take a strip out of his hide for this, because he knew the ladies of capital would assume that he took advantage of the young beautiful woman near him, instead of just being with her.

Rubbing a hand over his face as he listened, he just knew that the rest of this game, was going to come back and bite him in the ass.
 
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