stranger things [charade]

[cass]

opal earnest

Opal Earnest was happy. The simplicity of the word happy was completely and entirely enough to summarize the blossoming heat that flooded her chest. It was easy enough to say happy, because it was an emotion that had not lingered long enough in her system in the past few years for her to properly recognize it. But now she could, she could remember this indescribable feeling of lightness that consumed her, that flowed through her veins and made her very feet feel as though she was walking on air. The last time she had felt this way she had been with Potato. By his side walking amongst the fields, staring at strawberry’s. She had been on the rooftop of the Training Centre holding him tight as they were married, in her bed beside him as she fell in love with him again and again and again. All the while this intoxicating feeling overriding that pure terror of that moment.

Tonight, to celebrate she had put on her nicest dress, the material was soft against her skin and even though it did not cover up her prosthetic leg entirely she did not care. She felt confident, she felt comfortable for the first time in years. She couldn’t help, but glance at herself occasionally as she strolled past the windows that lined the streets. Each sideways look almost sent her giggling, but she covered her mouth, turning her gaze downwards as the Capitolites moved out of her way. No one stopped her in the streets for once, perhaps it was because she did not look like the Opal Earnest that had appeared on screen for the past nine years.

Humming to herself she skipped onwards, until the familiar neon signs of her favourite Capitol breed bar appeared. It was a special kind of bar, where the music flowed into a dance floor, were people actually danced instead of wasting away the night on a stool, fingers glued to a glass of whiskey. The warmth in the room as she entered made her feel even more grateful for her dress choice.

The bar wasn’t quite full, but there was enough people around that when the music started for the evening it’d be lively. Opal moved towards a stool off to the side, positioning herself so that she could see anyone who entered and left the place. For the briefest of moments her happiness faded, stomach twisting uncomfortably. She knew this feeling all too well. She was nervous, confusingly so. Biting her lip, she turned towards the counter, signaling the bartender.

”What can I get you, Opal.” Charles was a burly man, intimidating to the untrained eye, but to those that knew him he was anything, but scary.

”Your best drink for calming nerves, please.” She said.

Charles smirked and she ignored the look, turning to stare absentmindedly at the door. She couldn’t entirely fathom why she was so nervous, Katelyn was Katelyn. Katelyn was her best friend, the most beautiful and kindest person she knew. It was the same reason why she couldn’t understand why her blood boiled so much every time she heard someone say ‘the bachelorette’, why it had been a vicious struggle of willpower to ignore every single remaining episode of that stupid show.

”Calming nerves?” Charles slid the glass over, giving her a perplexed look.

”Yeah,” Opal responded, hands fumbling for the glass, eyes glued to the door.

Charles snorted, realizing that all of her focus was on her current task. ”You’ve been coming here for years and never once ordered anything, but your usual.” He remarked, leaning forwards to peer at her. ”You meeting someone?”

”Yeah,” she muttered, paying the man no attention.

”Is that why you’re dressed up so nicely?” He asked, a cheeky twinkle to his eyes.

”Yeah.”

”You on a date?”

”Ye-What?!” Opal spluttered, spilling her drink. She spun, turning her attention fully onto Charles. ”What? No, no way. It is not a date.” Scowling she grabbed a napkin, wiping up the mess as Charles broke out in laughter. ”It is not a date. I’m meeting a friend.” She growled, glaring at the older man.

Scooping up the glass with the remaining drink she spun on the chair. But as she turned to face the door once more she found herself in another mess. It was by some pure luck that she did not spill the drink, this time managing to get it to the counter. ”K-Katelyn,” she said, cheeks suddenly burning. Was she flustered? The District Eleven victor was standing right in front of her. When had she gotten there? Opal stood, moving away from the bar, after throwing Charles one more glare. The man hid his laughter this time, turning to serve another customer.

Opal faced the younger victor, a bright smile forming on her face. ”Kate, you’re here.” And all at once the tightness in her stomach eased. 

[charade]

KATELYN PERSIMMON

For once, there was no need to console all of her friends. No need to pat everyone’s back and tells them to keep their chin up. For once, the platitudes and kind words had paid off for someone. She was glad. Opal deserved a break. A year with only one casket. It had been a decade since Opal had won, and not a single tribute had made it back until Justice. She knew all too well the kind of relief something like that could bring. It was somewhat similar to the relief she was feeling that evening. Tinselton was preparing for the finale of his show and she was off the hook for several hours as there was not much else she had to do. He had applauded her performance with Glamour and it filled her shame to hear someone like him approving of such an action. At least the show was almost over.

And at least his busyness had afforded her enough free time to answer Opal’s call. She wanted to hang out, some bar Katelyn had never heard of.

It had taken her all of two seconds to agree. She needed a break from Tinselton and his show. It would have been nice to see everyone, buy it just wasn’t possible. Mace was busy, and she couldn’t face Harbinger again, not without at least talking to Navya. Kirito needed her help with something, but the place he wanted to go was apparently closed at this hour, so she’d be helping him the day after the finale. It’d be cutting it close too, because in a few days they’d all be shipped back to their respective districts for Justice’s victory tour; well, except for Opal. She’d be on the tour too. Katelyn entered the bar in question, hoping she wasn’t toooverdressed for it since it wasn’t like the place was Ignis. At least she had decided to leave her hair down instead of tying it up.

After a moment or so, she spotted Opal by the bar, wiping a spilled drink up while talking to the bartender, so she headed in her direction. Opal didn’t turn around until she was nearly on top of her, and it seemed that she had startled the brunette with her presence. Startled, mayhaps, but she recovered quickly, offering a smile. “Kate, you’re here.” Katelyn nodded with half a smirk on her face. “Uh, yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” She stood there with her hands on her hips for a moment before shaking her head and chuckling quietly. “Hey, Congratulations. You earned it.” She said with a tired but pleased smile, pulling the other victor into a brief hug.

Of course, Opal had dressed up, not that she needed to, the district one victor always looked well put together. The lacy white dress made a good contrast for her dark brown hair, and the little piece of fabric keeping her hair down was a nice addition. Katelyn could see more than a few heads turned in their direction; true there was a pair of victors in the bar, but she imagined her friend’s outfit had just as much to do with it. Likely her own as well. By now all of Panem had probably seen at least one episode of the bacherlorette. Unfortunately. But she put those thoughts out of her mind, tonight belonged to Opal, Justice and district one.

Katelyn flounced onto a stool by the counter, letting it spin to face her friend and the rest of the bar. “Guess I’ll be welcoming you and your charge to eleven for once, instead of the other way around.” She said lightly.
“I imagine it’ll be quite the ordeal trying to keep his libido from embarrassing your district’s pride.” She paused for a moment, and looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully, before meeting Opal’s gaze.

“Well, then again, that might be what people like about him.” She laughed, partly from the absurdity and partly from exhaustion. She ordered a cranberry juice from the man behind her and turned back. “I imagine the last few days were pretty nerve-wracking for you.”

"I'm a realist, and an optimist,
but I swear to you, I'm not getting over this."

table coding (c) ghosty

[cass]

opal earnest

She was breathtaking.

It was no wonder that heads in the bar were turning to look at them. Katelyn radiated confidence and beauty with the tight blue dress she wore. Opal grinned, taking her in in one quick sweeping gaze. Her hair rested on her head, golden strands falling around her shoulders. She always looked amazing. It made more sense, with Katelyn standing before her dressed like that. Opal had always seen it; she’d just been foolish enough to think that no one else would. It sucked, honestly, because not only was the entire Capitol realising she was a stunner, but they also got a small glance into who she was on the inside. It was hard to think that only a few people got to see those parts of her, especially now, when Katelyn was the figurehead of a dating show. She was the highlight of the Capitol, running around in gorgeous outfits. Dancing with beautiful men and women. As much as Opal knew that Katelyn, at first, wouldn’t have found much joy in the very thought of it, it was hard not to have a change of heart when you ultimately got to know someone.

Her train of thought was instantly disarmed as Katelyn hugged her. Giving her a quick squeeze back, they pulled apart, taking up their seats once more. “I imagine it’ll be quite the ordeal trying to keep his libido from embarrassing your district’s pride.” Opal groaned, turning to Katelyn to give her a smirk. ”Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about that.” She snorted, taking a sip of her drink. Charles hadn’t been kidding, the drink was strong, leaving a burning trail all the way down her throat. Sliding the glass away from her she looked in his direction, signaling him for her usual. Another one or two of those 'nerve' ones and she wouldn’t be able to even think straight.

”If he tries anything funny I’ll kick out his prosthetic leg and watch him hop around,” she said with an amused snort. Who was she kidding, though? She’d let him do what he wanted. The kid was alive. Her smile returned, unable to be kept at bay. He’d hugged her, the first thing he’d done when he’d woken up, he’d thanked her. Never in her life had she thought or believed she’d hear someone thank her for bringing them back. There was nothing she could say, no words that could describe that pure, chest-tightening relief and joy that had filled her. He was real.

”Yeah, but at the same time anything I felt has been drowned out by the outcome.” She looked downwards as Charles passed her a new drink, the ice clinked against the glass and she buried her smile inside the moment, hoping to remember this warm feeling forever. In reality, in the ten years it had taken her to achieve this Katelyn had already done it twice, and there was no scale she could use to tell anyone how much she admired that. It was fucking hard. It was amazing.

”What about you? What have you been up to?” She asked. Even as she asked that question she was forced to relive those few awful hours where she’d watched Glamour put his hands all over Katelyn, or that obnoxious Capitolite that thought he could cook. Her smile faltered for a brief moment, and she reached forward to touch Katelyn’s hand. ”Are you okay?” She didn’t know how else to ask. "You know, with everything."

Opal would never be okay with it if she were in Katelyn’s position. The hardest part was the fact that they both knew why she had to do it, but in the eyes of the public neither of them could say it.

[charade]

KATELYN PERSIMMON

Katelyn started to laugh along, but stopped when she thought about having essentially done the same to Harbinger when she fell off of the horse. Then there wasn’t any humor in the mental image anymore. Instead she focused on what Opal said after that, about how she felt about the outcome drowned out any other feeling. That was something she could identify with, recalling her first year as a mentor and the final fight between Kirito and Wyatt.

She’d nearly passed out after Kirito had killed Orion with a single blow to the eye the day before that. At eighteen, she’d never expected for her first, and only tribute (that year due to the quell twist) to make it back home. But something she’d taught him had sunk in. Something. Who could have expected for Harbinger to repeat that same feat under her tutelage the year after, killing not one but two careers after losing a leg, before ending district seven’s chances again. In the past, she’d tried to explain that they’d largely done it on their own, Harbinger especially, but she understood now that she had had an effect on them, no matter who was actually willing to admit it.

It was a dark thought to think that it could be decades before it happened again, now that the Capitol was bearing down on them. The thoughts came in like vines slowly creeping and digging their roots in, but she pushed them away again. No sense in brooding about it when she was supposed to be congratulating Opal. Even if her friend was asking about her. “What have I been up to?” Katelyn answered wryly.“You should be able to find out as soon as the next episode airs.” She hummed the theme music to the show and added jazz hands while she did so. The mirth evaporated from her face only a moment later when Opal asked whether or not she was okay.

The gears in her mind started turning. All she had to do was put on a brave face and skate over the details, focus on the positive and keep it moving. Opal reached for her, hand touching hers, and then she remembered how Opal had been there for her for Iain had died. Comforted her. Or tried to. It had been unreal watching the streak come to an end. Losing Weaver and Iona had been the salt in the wound this year, filling her with rage instead of depression. This vague suggestion of the rest of them being safe if she did whatever they wanted her to, was just a way to back her up against the wall. What had she said after Iain? That they had to try harder. But then, what had it gotten them? Iona and Weaver killed only minutes apart. Maybe next year…

No, no, she couldn’t think about that.

Katelyn laughed bitterly and held her friend's gaze, placing her other hand atop Opal's. “No, no I’m not okay with everything.” She admitted slowly. "Doing this show has been hard. Romance isn’t something that should be manufactured. Cultivated. It should come naturally. Or at least, I think it’s supposed to. I don’t know.” Katelyn shook her head. “I don’t know anything anymore.” The confusion about whether or not she developed real feelings for any of the contestants was like a dark cloud descending on her mind.

“But hey, this should be your night, right?” she deflected, trying to change the subject. “We should be celebrating!” Katelyn motioned to the bartender. “Get her another one of whatever her favorite is. On me.” She grinned and took a sip of her juice. “Are you ready for the victory tour? It’s been some time since you’ve visited the other districts.” She finished perkily upbeat.

"I'm a realist, and an optimist,

but I swear to you, I'm not getting over this."



table coding (c) ghosty

[cass]

opal earnest

Opal listened, frowning as Katelyn spoke, unwilling to bring up her own bubbling emotions about the entire thing. Katelyn was struggling enough with it all as it was. Chewing on her lip she glanced downwards for a moment as Katelyn began humming the tune to the Bachelorette, waving her hands as the song went along. That ripred-awful tune that was like fingers against a chalkboard to her ears. It took Katelyn a moment to work up to an answer, to her second question, as though, at first she wanted to ignore it and play a dazzling game of district and deflect. Katelyn didn’t, instead placing her warm hand atop Opal’s (oh the control she needed to not think too much about how warm her hand was) before answering her honestly.

Opal understood, she got it. Granted she didn’t know what it felt like to have the idea of love shoved down your throat, but she had had the privilege to marry the man whom she’d loved, the privilege to fall in love and be with who she wished. ”It should come naturally. But the hardest part is realising that you are in love with someone. It’s not as easy to see as you might think. Sometimes they’re the very sun, and sometimes they’re just always there, the person you turn to, the one you seek out. It’s more subtle but just as beautiful.” She said.

Opal sighed heavily, leaning back in her chair, “but be careful, don’t mistake affection for love. You can tell the difference, it’s in the smaller details.” She looked at Katelyn, giving her a reassuring smile. She wanted to help her, it hurt Opal to see her so confused and uncertain. She hoped that by the end of this new fight Katelyn would be stronger, some part of her knew that Katelyn would, and if she wasn’t Opal would help her, no matter what.

Katelyn Persimmon was the master of deflection. Opal smirked the change of topic as subtle as black on white. She ran with it, nodding to Charles as the man brought another drink over. Laughing she faced Katelyn, ”it’s been just a few years-“ she snorted –”it’ll be alright.” She mused, mind moving to the disastrous scenes that probably awaited her and Justice in District Seven. She almost cringed at the thought of what that was going to be like, another victor for District One at the cost of District Seven. How pleasant.

The hum of piano keys caught Opal's attention, distracting her for a moment. Her favourite part about the bar was the live music. It was charming. It ranged from slow, stunning songs, to upbeat tunes that had you dancing until you were exhausted. Turning away from Katelyn for a moment she watched the live band take their positions. The lead singer stood at the microphone, motioning the people that hung around the edges to come onto the floor. That was enough for Opal. With a one, two, three they were off. As soon as the first note struck she was up on her feet, the rhythm as familiar to her as Ky’s smile. It was one of her favourite songs, an echoing testament to the true and undeniable beauty of love.

A fresh excited smile took over, eyes blazing with excitement she turned to Katelyn, grabbing her hand and tugging her upwards. With a delighted laugh she said, ”this song is beautiful. We have to dance.” It was hard to keep her cheeky grin at bay. Before Katelyn could protest she dragged her forwards and to the dance floor, tugging her into position.

[charade]

KATELYN PERSIMMON

It was strange to be on the receiving end of advice for once. But who better to talk about love than Opal? She’d been married. A whirlwind romance that had been cut short by the Capitol. Opal would have a better understanding of these things than her. She agreed that it was supposed to come naturally, but it made Katelyn feel a tad glum to hear her say that the hardest part was figuring out when you were actually in love. That sometimes it was like a slap in the face and other times it was a gentle but constant tug. That didn’t help. The difference between love and affection was in the details. Katelyn decided that it would make more sense after she’d gotten some rest. It had to, because the finale was in the morning.

And then, with about as much warning as she’d given Glamour when she had pounced on him, her friend surprised her.

Katelyn cut her eyes sideways at Opal, but allowed herself to get pulled to the dancefloor as a sardonic grin stole over her face. “Fine. Fine, fine. You’re lucky I’ve been dancing with the contestants.” Here’s hoping I don’t drop dead from exhaustion. Thankfully, it was a slow song, the singer on the stage crooning about the little things he loved about his girl. It was easy, comfortable. It didn’t require a ton of energy or practice to dance to, she could just sway. She smirked as they held hands. Opal was another dance partner that had to look up at her since she there was a difference of a couple inches. Out of habit she glanced over Opal’s shoulder half expecting to see a camera drone or two, but the air was empty. This wasn’t part of the show.

She was glad that she’d drunk a few cups of coffee before she headed out because if not, she might have been dead on her feet.

Or completely dead on her feet, because she was feeling half-dead as it was. Katelyn was grateful that the song was soothing at least.“A few years.” She repeated, harkening back to what Opal had said a few minutes prior. As if ten could be considered such. The people in district seven probably thought very differently, considering how frequently one of their tributes had made it to second place only to die in the last couple of years. “That’s one way of putting it.” She shook her head a little, tossing her hair. “But you’re right about the second part. It will be alright.” Opal had survived so much over a decade of being a mentor. Dealing with Justice and his victory tour couldn’t hold a candle to that.

A yawn worked its way out of her mouth. She was running out of things to say about district one’s victory and she was just so tired. “I failed them.” She said flatly after a moment, unable to ignore everything going through her head. “It’s bad enough that I’m burying kids I don’t know, but for the Rhodes and Miristioma’s to lose someone one year after the other after Kirito and Harbinger came home one year after the other...” she paused. “It’s just cruel.” She swayed in time with Opal and shook her head. “Two empty seats at the next holiday get together.” Her eyes turned upward in thought for a moment. “Although there'll be a new addition. Navya’s going to have a baby.”

After a moment, she realized that Opal probably wouldn’t know who that was and rectified her mistake. “That’s uh, Harbinger’s wife.” She nodded tiredly. “Yeah, that’s one conversation I’m not looking forward to having. I hope she understands that neither of us wanted him to take part in the show.” She left it unsaid that she found him physically attractive, even though he drove her up the wall most of the time. The man was insufferable and she needed to forget about him for her own sake.

“I don’t know if the families can take another hit.” She said honestly, reminded of the reason she had agreed to do the show in the first place.  “But this is nice. I can forget about the world for a moment.” She said, taking a deep breath and focusing on the music in the background with her eyes closed.

Sometimes, a moment was all you needed.

"I'm a realist, and an optimist,

but I swear to you, I'm not getting over this."



table coding (c) ghosty

[cass]

opal earnest

If you asked her, she wouldn’t be able to tell you what made her feel so on edge as they danced. It could have been either the comments that Katelyn said, dragging the contestants into the moment, or the very proximity of having Katelyn hold her so closely. Perhaps it was a mixture of both. Regardless, it was harder to focus on where she stepped the more she realised how close Katelyn was, the more she realised that she had to tilt her head upwards. Why had it taken her so long to realise that Katelyn was taller than her? It had been the same way with Potato, easy enough for her to rest her head in his chest when they hugged. She felt safer in those moments, as though the true reality of the world was barred by his warmth. But as much as she longed for these moments, as much as she adored holding onto the people she cared about she could see the very exhaustion etched onto Katelyn’s face.

It pained Opal, watching her friend practically struggle to keep her eyes open. It hurt her even more to know that the stress Katelyn was under was something Opal could not mend. ”You know, it would be easy enough to just tell everyone that secretly your in love with me and can no longer continue with the show.” She smirked, turning her gaze to the side to stare at her hand, entwined with Katelyn’s. ”I’m sure they’d be impressed, the scandal of it all.” Her laugh was more strained than humorous, a mixture of her own confusion and uncertainty.

With Potato it had been so easy, so easy to tell that she was in love, so easy to know where her heart belonged. But the more time she spent by Katelyn’s side the more her confusion set in. Her advice was for naught, for someone with such stellar opinions of the ways of love, she hardly knew anything about it at all. Here she was dancing with the woman that made her heart flutter. The younger victor that had her glaring at the television screen, bitterly wondering what sorts of things those Capitolites were doing to her. Opal Earnest would never admit that she was jealous. She had yet to admit to herself that her feelings were anything other than a tinge of concern for her friend. Besides, what would thinking about it do? What would admitting it achieve?

“I failed them.” The statement jerked Opal back to attention, and she swung her head around in surprise. Opal’s grip tightened on Katelyn, unwilling to let her go. It wasn’t often she heard Katelyn talk like this, it wasn’t often she admitted to anyone how she was truly suffering. Opal understood oh so well, she knew what it was to like to stare at each empty space, to stand before to more graves time and time again. She knew what it was like to fail. It was because she knew this and had lived it for so many years that she knew it was something you could beat.

There was something off note about the way she spoke about Harbinger, the hesitancy in her voice as she brought up his wife. But Opal dismissed it, knowing that to lay claim to rumours was cruel enough, and if Katelyn wanted to talk about it she would. The one thing Opal could not and would never ignore was the look on Katelyn’s face, it made her chest tighten. As always she was at a loss for words, unable to summon the correct ones to instantly banish any problems Katelyn had.

Untangling one of her hands she cupped the side of Katelyn’s face. ”No matter I’ll always be there for you, Katelyn Persimmon. I know you can do this.” She dropped her hand, instead turning to walk Katelyn off the dance floor. ”You’ll always be safe with me.” She muttered, before turning to face her. With a concerned look she said, ”you’re exhausted, Kate, let’s start walking back. The city can be beautiful at night as well.”

[charade]

KATELYN PERSIMMON

When Opal had cracked a joke about having an out to the show, Katelyn had laughed. “Knowing Tinselton, he’d find a way to spin it to his advantage.” She had said, before going on about tributes and death and the games. After she’d closed her eyes, she felt a hand on her cheek and – it was comforting. She nuzzled it without thinking, before pulling her head back with a blush and laughing awkwardly. So much time was spent looking out for other people that it was endearing to know that someone was looking out for her. Opal was there for here when it got tough; when there were things that she couldn’t verbalize to the guys she had successfully mentored.

Hell, the only other person she had been able to talk to about such heavy things was Arbor Halt. Mace was a good friend, but he wasn’t exactly verbose. Mr.Halt, she’d talked with several times, and always about the same thing. They were the only two mentors who understood the burden of having brought home multiple victors and damning their district’s future chances in the process. He’d tried to look out for her too, in his own way. Is he worth it? He had said to her; he had tried to prevent her from making the same mistake that he had, because damn him, he’d been right.

Why had he done that? He didn’t owe her anything. She added it to the pile of things she had to think about when she wasn’t exhausted and focused on her dance partner. “Oh, is it that obvious?” she said sarcastically in reply to Opal mentioning that she was tired. But she followed her out of the bar and into the night. She could agree. She’d already seen how beautiful the night sky could look in the capitol from the roof of Ignis. The walked slowly down one of the Capitol’s sidewalks, passing under glowing street lamps and the lights of whatever places were still open.

Here and there Capitolites milled around and she found herself questioning whether or not they knew what sleep was. Katelyn wrapped an arm around Opal to steady herself but left it there, treading down the road and half using her as a crutch, thankful that despite her tiredness she wasn’t dizzy. ;“Thanks for inviting me out, even if we only stayed for a little while.” It’d still take some time to get back to the training center, but she felt like she was running out of things to say again. She turned to look at Opal and noticed just how close their faces were and how the lights were reflected in her friend’s eyes.

She laughed merrily. Opal always looked her best, always radiated something. It must have been those district one genes. Seemed like everyone from that district was bred to look attractive. Maybe that was why Snow favored district one. “You know, maybe it’s the fatigue talking, but I don’t know what’d I do without you, Opal.” She meant it. Odds were she was still going to cry herself to sleep after she got to her quarters, but at least she knew that Opal was always going to have her back.

"I'm a realist, and an optimist,

but I swear to you, I'm not getting over this."



table coding (c) ghosty

[cass]

opal earnest

They were outside and into the fresh air in no time. The echoing sounds of the ending of the song followed them out and into the night. It wasn’t too late, but as they left it was as though the last few weeks finally caught her. She almost stumbled, catching herself at the last moment. With a tired sigh she stepped onwards, suddenly feeling comforted by the thought of her warm bed. For a day or so it seemed that there was now only two people she had to worry about: Justice and Katelyn.

Taking a deep breath, she felt the cold slide down her throat, refreshing and comforting at the same time. How many nights had she spent on top of the training centre staring at the stars? Wondering if they were real or not? How many nights had she gazed at the plants that covered the roof questioning which ones had been there when Potato had been by her side? She wasn’t sure of much any more, those nights told her that much. She could almost count on one hand those few things that she did know. She was sure of the warmth that encompassed her as Katelyn wrapped an arm around her. Opal wrapped her own arm around Katelyn, steadying herself as they continued down the street.

The chill in the air wasn’t uncomfortable, it felt just right. Many of the Capitolites remained on the street, wandering as though they seemed to have both no place and everywhere to go. They didn’t stop to stare at Opal and Katelyn as they wandered onwards, moving closer and closer to the training centre. Katelyn turned to face Opal as she spoke, their faces were shockingly close, and suddenly it was almost impossible to judge the distance that sat between their gaze. Luckily Katelyn turned away laughing before she could notice the blush that assaulted Opal’s cheeks, they burned brightly as she stared straight ahead, trying to hide her smile.

”Soon it’ll be another year before we see each other.” There was a wistful note to her voice as she turned her brown eyes upwards, gaze dancing over the stars that shone brightly before her. The distance towards the training centre was growing shorter, she could see the bright lights of its cold exterior.

It seemed, however, that the night was not yet out of surprises. “You know, maybe it’s the fatigue talking, but I don’t know what’d I do without you, Opal.” Opal almost stopped in her tracks, once more finding herself unable to control the flutter in her chest and heat on her cheeks. ”So it takes a completely exhausted Katelyn to admit that you’d be lost without me,” she mocked, raising an eyebrow in Katelyn’s direction.

Before she knew it the pair was stepping into the training center, heading into the elevator. Her fingers tapped the buttons for each of their floors. Some part of Opal wished her floor wasn’t only seconds away. But as the ding struck she knew it was time for them to part. She knew that she couldn’t follow Katelyn into tomorrow’s battle. Untangling herself from Katelyn’s side she turned to face her, mustering up every bit of courage she could in her tired state. ”Goodnight, Katelyn,” she said, before leaning forwards and gently pressing her lips against Katelyn’s cheek.

With one last gentle smile she stepped out of the elevator, the doors closing behind her.