Obliteration Imminent [Sera/Atticus]

[Underleaf]

Sera watches the microwave hum and spin her bowl of noodles with rapt attention. Her family had never been well off enough to own a microwave, let alone a refrigerator. It took a couple of people staring at her strangely to get her to stop playing around with the fridge's door. Sera liked the kitchen in this place, the artificial lighting and electronic appliances made her feel safe.

If I win the games, not only will I get to not die, but I will also get my own microwave and refrigerator and electricity. I can keep the lights on all night if I feel like. Sera tries to give herself a pep talk of sorts.

The microwaves beeps, and Sera swings open its door only to lightly scold herself on the noodle bowl. She was still not used to operating such sleek equipment.

"Ah, shit!" she recoils just a bit and leans her back against the counter. She then runs her now red finger under a cold tap.

The Capitol is full of it, but the standard of living they enjoy here is hard to argue with. There's not even any rust in the water!

[mat]

atticus manor

Atticus tries to give the tributes space in the hotel. He's never been good at reading what his tributes want from him– or what anyone wants from him, for that matter. Even with the kids, he could never discern their hungry cries from their tired or sad ones. He tidies the bookshelf in his bedroom, reorganizing them from the last year. Its lack of alphabetization has been irking Atticus since he got back to the Capitol. Certainly one of the escorts doing as they are the first to think silly pranks like this are a good time for everyone.

"Ah, shit!"

He leaves the Ravengaard novel face-down at his desk and hurriedly steps outside toward the kitchen. It didn't sound… horrible. Not in an "I just stabbed myself on "accident" kind of way…

Atticus inspects the scene at the kitchen sink, where Serelis has her hand under a stream of cold water. A little further down the kitchen set is an open and heated microwave. Everyone's been there. He's told Silas and Maddox a thousand times: don't touch the stove while it's hot! A simple and seemingly obvious piece of advice that consistently gets overlooked.

"Did you burn yourself, Sera? That microwave's a piece of junk." Atticus scavenges the medical cabinets, searching for something that'll do the trick. "I'm just looking for a medical kit. Leave your hand under the water."

Perhaps this will be a good lesson for medicine.