WINGS - Coriolanus Snow

TWENTY-FOUR

"IT'S TEARING ME APART, CORIOLANUS," Aria said as she laid in bed with him. "How can I go out there and pretend everything's fine? How can I go against my District like that?"

"We have to, Aria. We have to do it if we want to survive," Coriolanus said. Aria was having difficulty adjusting to the Capitol again, and even Coriolanus didn't feel like he belonged there, despite having lived there his entire life. He hadn't even had the chance to see Tigris and his Grandmother.

"Do you think after all this is over, they'll let me go back to District 12?" Aria asked.

"Why would you want to go back? Living in the Capitol feels terrible, yeah, but it'll be even worse in District 12," Coriolanus replied, confused.

"I can hardly stand anyone here in the Capitol, they're all so prodigal," Aria said.

"I just thought we could live here, y'know, find a nice apartment, live a normal life."

"I'd rather be dead," Aria replied abruptly.

"So you really want to live in poverty in District 12?"

"Maybe we could change things in Panem. Change the system, the cruelty..." Aria trailed off when she saw the look on Coriolanus's face

"Aria, stop. Rebellion is what brought us here in the first place. We just need to accept that we're lucky to even be alive," Coriolanus said.

"We aren't lucky. No one's lucky in Panem except for the rich."

"We are rich, now."

"And that can be taken away in a single second. It probably will be, too, when we stop being relevant."

Coriolanus could deny it all he wanted, but it was true. When the next Hunger Games came around, Coriolanus and Aria would be old news, living in a shabby apartment.

"Then we need to make an impression at this party," Coriolanus said, referring to the event taking place at the Ravenstill household. Aria was dreading it, as she knew it would be filled with self absorbed rich kids and their parents. It was 'optional' for Coriolanus and Aria to turn up, but they knew that if they didn't, Gaul might take that as a reason to execute them. She had already requested that they at least made an appearance to publicly apologise to the President and his family for their 'rebellion'. It would be humiliating, but they didn't really have a choice.

Aria decided to wear something for the Capitol to view her as a sweet, innocent little girl, so perhaps they'd take pity on her. Aria didn't like the idea of anyone pitying her, but it was necessary to ensure her survival.

She put on a rose-gold dress, long and floaty, paired with gold heels. This was out of her comfort zone, but she managed to give it some individuality with some metallic hair clips and a heart locket — the only thing she'd bought with her newfound money. She had insisted to Coriolanus that they print out a photo to put it inside, and he reluctantly agreed. When you opened the locket up, you could see a picture of Aria sticking her tongue out and Coriolanus smiling at her with uncertainty but also admiration.

Aria didn't necessarily enjoy her new lavish lifestyle, as she didn't even take advantage of it like other people would. It felt wrong for her to spend all that money whilst she knew, although not all of them had been nice to her, the people of her District were starving. Nobody deserved that.

"You ready, Aria?" Coriolanus asked. His hair had grown back since being a Peacekeeper, though it was shorter than the first time he and Aria met, and he didn't have his curls. Aria liked it buzzed, but she knew that the Capitol would prefer it like this. Still, she'd ask him to buzz it off again once their fame died down. She couldn't really tell him what to do with his hair, but she knew he'd listen to her anyway.