Task 007. The Interview
Her dress was less flashy than Sable knew Brighton had always dreamed. The interview dresses were supposed to be showstoppers. Hers was better, she thought, than her parade outfit, but that wasn't saying much. The grandeur of the previous Games was lost without the resources that made it so. Sable didn't mind. Less flashy was more comfortable, more in her element. Sable had never been one to be the star of the show. She walked onto the stage with feigned ease made easier by the lack of fanfare, marveled that a limited audience had still managed to attend despite everything going on, and grinned at her host.
Calix Crystal offered Sable - well, Brighton - a hug before indicating that she should take a seat in the chair across from him.
"Brighton," he began when the cheering calmed down, "one half of the current most talked-about couple in Panem. How has your time been in the Capitol so far?"
"It's everything I dreamed it would be," Sable said. She knew she needed to praise both the Vox and the Games to truly sell her role not just as Brighton but as a tribute. "I've been waiting since I was a little girl for my chance to be here, and to get to come to such a beautiful city under such important circumstances? To represent my country while the stakes are the highest? I couldn't ask for more." Perhaps it was a little over the top, but blame that on nerves. If Brighton was mad about it, Sable would never know.
"Well, I'd say you could always ask for love, but it seems like you've found that already," Calix said. He winked at her, and Sable laughed.
"I have indeed," she said. "Tiberius, my husband, and my partner in all things."
"Including in this Games," Calix pointed out. "Tell me, what made you two decide to volunteer together?"
"Oh, it was the Academy's decision." Sable corrected, before trying to walk it back. "But Ty and I could not have been more on board. Both of us want to win more than anything, what is marriage if not supporting each other's dreams and helping each other achieve our goals? One of us will get everything we've ever worked for and wanted as the final triumph of the last Games. It feels poetic and romantic, and I couldn't be happier."
Calix clapped his hands together, evidently thrilled, and Sable wondered how much of him was an act. Who was the real Calix Crystal?
"Now Brighton," he continued, "you know only one of you can win. Are you worried you'll have to face down each other in the end?" Sable shook her head immediately. She'd anticipated this question.
"Statistically speaking, it's incredibly rare for district partners to make it to the final two," she said. Calix leaned forward, seemingly fascinated. "And we're going to fight by each other's side as long as we can, but that doesn't always work out geographically in an Arena. I may not be there to protect him, or vice versa, and that's okay. That's the Games. One of us will make the final two, and whoever that is will be the final Hunger Games victor."
"Incredible," Calix responded. "And what do you plan on doing, as victor?" Aside from mourning your husband, his eyes seemed to ask. But Ty wasn't her husband. And he certainly wouldn't mourn her when she died, even if she was dying for him. For his family.
"I'll start with supporting our troops as best as I possibly can," she said, her smile never leaving her face. "Contributing to the war effort is so important. I'm not sure how best I can help yet, but wherever is needed, that's where I'll go." Calix nodded sagely, and Sable thought about how quickly he'd flipped loyalties to the Vox, and wondered again what, under all his showmanship, was real.
Maybe none of it was. Maybe she and Calix Crystal were the same.
"That's an incredibly admirable goal," he told her. "Now, one last question for you, Brighton, before I bring your other half out here onto the stage. Why should people bet on you?" Sable laughed then, as if Calix had told the funniest joke in the world.
"I mean, who else would you bet on?" she asked, as if betting on Sable-as-Brighton were the most obvious, natural conclusion in the world. "I'm not just the best, I'm also the most fun," she said. "You can't go wrong." She grinned Brighton's mega-watt smile into the camera and winked.
"Well, there you have it folks," Calix said, standing up out of his chair and indicating for her to do the same. "Brighton Delvaux of District One!"
Music played as Sable left, waving to what she pretended was a crowd of her adoring fans. Brighton's fans.
She hoped she'd done enough.