WINGS - Coriolanus Snow

TWO

CORIOLANUS HAD SPENT THE WHOLE MORNING THINKING OF ARIA, stuck in that awful cage with not a friend in the world, or a penny to her name. As soon as the chance arose, he headed straight for the zoo to see her. Upon his arrival, he caught sight of Sejanus Plinth crouched down at the cage, offering food to numerous tributes, but none of them wanted to approach him, which was a little embarrassing. Coriolanus studied him carefully, not wanting Sejanus to come into contact with his own tribute, Aria. Even though it sounded silly, it was as if Sejanus was trying to one-up him, and Coriolanus wasn't going to allow that to happen, not with Aria. When Sejanus caught sight of him, the bright, beaming smile on his face almost made Coriolanus feel guilty. Almost.

"What are you doing, Sejanus?" he asked.

"I'm trying to give them food, but none of them seem to trust me... and why should they?" Sejanus replied, dejected.

Hearing this, a snotty, self-important little girl strode up to them. "It says please do not feed the animals," she pointed at a sign outside the cage with her short, stubby finger.

"They're not animals, though. They're people, just like you and me." Sejanus responded gently.

"They're not like me!" the girl squealed in disgust. "They're District!"

Sejanus huffed and turned away, clearly not keen on arguing with a little girl.

"Coryo, do you think you could get your tribute to come over? It might help the others to warm up to the idea of taking food from me."

Coriolanus agreed, somewhat reluctantly. He took some food from the bag Sejanus was carrying and waited for Aria to spot him. Once she did, she walked over and knelt down opposite to him, behind the cage bars.

"Are those sandwiches for anyone in particular?" Aria asked, and if there weren't cameras around, Coriolanus thought she would surely be drooling.

"For you," he answered as Aria gratefully took a sandwich, beginning to nibble at the corner.

Coriolanus watched intently at Aria eating, starting to think that maybe he was drooling himself. He had missed his lunch at the academy today, meaning he could feel his stomach growling at the thought of food.

"Take one," Aria commanded, "it'll be like a little picnic."

He hesitated for a moment but let his hunger get the best of him, sinking his teeth into one of the sandwiches. Seeing this, the other tributes were put at ease, knowing the sandwiches hadn't been poisoned or tampered with in some way. Majority of them began to approach, hastily taking a sandwich from the hands of Sejanus. All tributes but one had now wolfed down their food. The only one who hadn't was a boy from District 2, the one that Sejanus was supposed to mentor.

"Please, Marcus, take it," Sejanus pleaded, but was rudely ignored. Seemed personal, but to Coriolanus, it was no skin off his back that a tribute didn't want to keep his strength up. Better chance for Aria, that's all. Although, fat chance that skinny little Aria would be able to beat him, even in a weakened state.

Seeing the charity work Sejanus was doing, the reporters approached him but were brushed off. Instead, they made their way over to Coriolanus, who they knew would be more than happy to give a few words.

"We're at the zoo with Coriolanus Snow and his tribute, Aria Thorne. Another student just passed around some sandwiches. Is he a mentor?" Lepidus questioned.

"Yeah. He's my classmate, Sejanus Plinth," he responded begrudgingly, not too happy to be sharing the spotlight with his classmate.

"Why is he bringing food for them? Have the tributes not been fed already by the Capitol?"