#135vb

“You heard about eleven?” Abel asked Cain as they stood next to each other in the queue for the bathroom. He was talking quietly, wasn’t quite as drunk as usual, he had a bit of self awareness left in him, for now at least. “Things seems to be falling apart a little in Panem, don’t they?”

“Hey, at least it’s not your party this time” Abel shoulder nudged Slate once he’d run into him outside, pulling his pack of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket. “Not sure if it gets better or worse each time, but Linden is a lovely victor, at least” he smiled, although that didn’t mean he hadn’t been grieving Oxford and Farina still. They would have been lovely victors just as much.

Denver was munching on salmon-covered crackers when she noticed Link. She swallowed what was in her mouth, not about to look rude in front of a victor she had only interacted with once, but not about to pass up the opportunity to make small talk with her.

Denver was waiting on the side of the room for her date to find her. Everyone was in a state of shock, sadness, excitement, fear - it was palpable, and it made Denver feel...she wasn't sure how it made her feel, in truth, but it made her want to get out of there. But Denver wouldn't leave frantic and by herself this time, so she scanned the crowd, catching sight of not her date but of Cain Gunn.

The Gamemaker intern who had invited Denver to the ball had long since vanished, and she was fine with that. They'd only been on a few dates, and she was fairly certain it wouldn't work out, but she'd tried anyway, hoping at the very least to get here, tonight, to the ball. The ball itself wasn't nearly as impressive as the Mentor's Ball had been, but that was to be expected with the Vox not just cutting off trade routes but taking over Capitol orchards to cut them off from food as well. Denver didn't feel much like dancing, but she recognized enough people that mingling wasn't too difficult.