rogue river

“Hey! Hello! Look! It’s Primrose Everdeen, the elusive, yet badass leader of the Black Eagles, she’s right behind you!” Skye yelled, amused that this woman did not even notice her at all. It was kind of funny that her parents got their wish and she was really invisible. Her feet hit the floor, as she got up and walked about halfway to the woman staring at the artwork. She started dancing, her boots twirling on the hardwood floor. She has to notice me now, right?

Allegra was entirely in her own head space, the noise Syke was making not making it past her ears. She began to run her fingers down the painting, feeling the bumps and ridges of the acrylic material against her skin. At this point, she decided to turn around, her heart skipping a beat as she saw that she was not alone in this room. “Holy fuck,” she said, signing with her words. “You scared me half to death, how long have you been in here?”

He hadn’t even noticed that she had been signing, given how worried of the situation and how it made him look he was. ‘’I don’t know your right floor. This is District Three. But… um, welcome to the Tower.’’

She nodded, a sort of way of saying thanks without actually needing to say it, a small smile appearing on her face in tandem with the head motion. “Are you new too then? Or are you just too cool to know floor plans off the top of your head?”

He looked clueless at the woman in front of him and tried an awkward smile, instead. Her joke had been incredibly bad, but that didn’t block his own embarrassment. ‘’I’m… not on steroids?’’ was his only confused remark, but quite understanding who she was. He knew everybody in the District Three staff by convenience, and she couldn’t be part of it. Nobody was old or unstylish enough to be demoted, the way he knew it.

Their interaction was growing more and more confusing as time went on, so she figured she’d cut the jokes and just come straight out and ask what she was dying to know the answer to. “I’m not on the right floor, am I?” she asked, no longer signing with her words as he wasn’t signing back to her. “I’m Allegra, new escort for eleven, and I’m pretty sure I’m lost.”

“I think that’s lucky for both of us,” she agreed. “I think spending time with you and learning an entirely new language might be one of the best things to happen to me this year.” Remy giggled, running a hand through her hair awkwardly. “I’ll make sure I wear a good shade of lip stain, then. Better make sure they’re attractive to stare at.”

Allegra grinned. “Remy Winslow, District Seven Escort, I think that these games are going to be a very enjoyable time for the both of us,” she spoke, a bit of rosy color added to her cheeks. “I’m sure that no matter the color, your lips will be nice to look at, I can assure you.”

Clover knew the man all too well, back from her time in the sex ring under snow. She hadn’t seen him in years though always having suspected that Lysander’s presence was enough to scare him away. “I haven’t seen you on your own in such a long time, Sunshine.” his voice alone sends shivers down her spine, but she refused to let it show as he placed a hand on her shoulder: “Who is to say that I am on my own right now.” Hr look was almost defiant as she distanced herself only for the man to come closer again, old habits seemed to always die hard.

The hug threw her off though and it was all that she could do to not topple over. Perplex she held onto the younger girl taking minutes to process what was happening. 

That’s very sweet of you. Thank you. She signed back in the end as she realised what had happened.

Allegra nodded in response to Clover’s thanks. It wasn’t needed, she didn’t do it because she knew who Clover was or because she wanted to go out of her way to make the victor feel safe. She just hated men who acted like that with a burning passion, hated men who acted like the world revolved around them. Of course, she responded, smiling. I’m Allegra, by the way, new escort for eleven, pleasure to meet you.

“Oh, Allegra,” Satine said with a good-natured eye-roll. “I’m sure you say that to all the girls.” It was bothering her a little that she couldn’t sign fluently yet, because she was convinced that it would make the conversation easier for Allegra to follow. “I’m sorry, I’m still terrible at all this.” She rocked up onto her toes, back down again. “Will you be around for 121?” she asked hopefully.

She laughed, shaking her head. “Trust me, Satine, I don’t, I’m not one for empty words,”  she said, exaggerating her words. “Don’t apologize, the fact that you’re even trying is good enough for me. I will, I’m the new escort for district eleven, although now that I’ve met you, I hope that one day I’ll make it to whatever district you’re working for.”

Allegra’s smile disappeared, and Satine immediately assumed that she must’ve said something wrong. But then it came back, and Satine’s returned along with it. “He can’t swim,” she explained. “Besides, there aren’t many swimming pools in Eight.” Satine had started to grow accustomed to the near-permanent blush that seemed to be permeating her cheeks throughout the entire conversation. “I might be,” she replied, a little uncertainly. “Is that okay?”

In her time talking to all sorts of people, she had never come across someone from eight. She had never heard about what living there was like, had never gotten a description of the landscape and the culture, so to hear that there were no swimming pools was a surprise. However, she didn’t want to dwell on Satine’s brother anymore. “I would say that’s better than okay, thank you, Satine. You are quite stunning as well.”

Satine tried to ignore the obvious innuendo and instead chose to focus on the part before it. “That must’ve been scary,” she said apologetically. “My brother is fourteen.” She couldn’t imagine Marino without his hearing but, then again, about a year ago she couldn’t imagine her step-mother without her sight. There was no predicting something like that sometimes.

She clasped her hands behind her back as Allegra pulled away, twisting her mother’s wedding ring on her finger absently. Bringing her hands back round to the front, she signed That’s a very pretty name. It suits you.

Her classic flirty smile disappeared for a moment as Satine’s words settled in. Was it scary? Maybe at first, but nowadays, she couldn’t have been happier. “Tell him to stay away from the bottom of swimming pools, may he have better luck than I did.” Satine’s next words brought the smile back to Allegra’s face, and she momentarily placed her hands in her dress pockets, smiling at her feet as she tried to formulate a response. “Satine, are you calling me pretty?”

“I’d like to learn,” Remy replied. “I’ve always wanted to, with the Avoxes in the tower. Some people here are fluent, but I’ve never taken the time to really sit down and study it.” She quickly glanced the woman up and down, wondering what was up with the influx of gorgeous new escorts but not minding their presence in the slightest. 

She nodded, a little sheepish from her theatrical exaggeration. “Of course. Good to know, thank you.” Her cheeks tinged a little red again, thankful she picked out her favourite rich lipstick for the night. “And I’m sure you’ve looked at a lot of lips,” she tried to flirt back, but realized too late that her comment was about as far from flirting as you can get. 

The first step to learning sign was being eager to learn. It wasn’t something you could half-ass, but as she listened to the woman in front of her speak of learning, she figured that she really wanted to learn, that it wasn’t just lip service to someone who couldn’t hear the words she was speaking. “Maybe you just haven’t found a good teacher. How lucky for you that I stumbled upon you today, I happen to be the best teacher in the entirety of Panem. Although, I must warn you, it’ll mean we spend a fair amount of time together, a fair amount of time of me staring at your lips.”

He looked at her wrists, and then back at her, until she hovered his palm over her hands to silence them temporarily. A smile of mischief was hiding poorly against his lips. Placing his wrists above her hands, he signed, over her, in response. At first, he just raised a finger, so he could focus properly on what answer to serve away, as if he was telling her to wait by, because the words were just on the tip of his tongue. He looked up, too, for the process of thinking to be more dramatic in the usual theatrical manner that he used often. Even then I still prefer to use my tongue, he signed quickly, no more and no less than three simple gestures.

As his hand hovered over hers, she stopped, watching him mull over whatever he wanted his response to be. She ran her teeth over her bottom lip as she waited, her eyes remaining, unwavering, on him. And when he signed his response back, she too took a moment to “collect her thoughts,” running a hand through her hair as she did. Is that so? she signed, taking her own sweet time with every hand motion. I’d love to see your skills in that area up close, I think I could learn a thing or two from you.