Rope Him In ( Cato x District 10! Reader x slight! Marvel) Pt. 2
Summary: In which Cato falls for a tribute from 10.
A/n: This is on ao3 too btw. Also, sorry for the slow start I kind of want to semi-flesh out the story, but Cato comes in the next chapter.
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Chapter 2 : The Train Ride
Your legs shaked up and down as you waited inside the Mayor’s building. You sat in the lounge room where all the tributes were sent to say their final words to their families. ‘This is it.’ You thought to yourself as your head spun. The room felt as if it was closing in on you as the paranoia set in. Grumbling came from your stomach and you couldn’t tell if you wanted to throw up and shit your fear away. You told yourself to keep breathing, but you were finding it harder and harder to do so.
“Five minutes.” The peacekeeper said to your brother and father as Amaranto flung the door open. He wheeled your father in who still had that thousand yard stare.
Scared didn’t cut how you were feeling. Emotions are unpredictable, and you were prone to outburst when you didn’t know how to handle them. Letting out a loud sob you began to bang on Amaranto’s chest, your fists landing on it surely making bruises. “YOU LIED!” Your angry weeping began, “YOU SAID I WOULD BE FINE!” Another yell. Of course it wasn’t his fault, but you needed someone to blame for the circumstances you were put in.
“No no no, listen.” He tried calming you down, but you only flailed in his arms. “(Y/n) I SAID LISTEN!” He yelled again, but you still threw punches at the poor boy’s chest.
“ENOUGH!” Came the bellowing voice of your Father, stopping both you and your brother.
“(Y/n), You are not going to die out there.” Your father spoke.
“W-what?” Your voice cracked.
“You heard me girl. You’re not dying in that arena. You’ve got skills, just need to fine tune them and apply them to the games.” He spoke, his dark eyes fixing on yours. “Just think of them like animals.”
Just think of them like animals.
Amaranto also looked shocked. It was his turn now to console you.
Your body has gone limp. That rush of adrenaline was long gone and you sat on the floor confused as to what he meant by skills. You were the bottom of the barrel when it came to working in the slaughterhouse. The only reason you hadn’t been fired was because Clarabell was always there picking up your slack.
“Papa’s right (N/n).” Amaranto spoke, Grabbing one of your braids he sighed, trying to hide the tears forming in his eyes, “You’re not dying out there. You’re gonna come home to me and Papa, and live a long life. Hell, you may even come home to a farm of your own! Just like you’ve always wanted.” He started to break down toward the end and it shattered your heart. The last time you saw Amaranto cry like this was when your mother died.
“Pa. Amar.. I love you.” You said. Their words were sweet, filled with hope, but they couldn’t distract you from what you already knew. You would die in there, and leave the two of them poor and mourning over your dead body.
The last three minutes were dedicated to you hugging them in silence, with the occasional “I love you” thrown in the air. Eventually your five minutes were up and you were so blinded by your tears that you couldn’t even tell that the peacekeepers were coming in.
“WIN! (Y/n)! COME HOME! GET ROPE!” Amaranto yelled as he was forced out the room by the peacekeepers. His last words struck a memory with you. Rope. You hadn’t used one since the 6th grade. Before you could reminisce on the past, Pradian came into the room, his chicken-like top off and instead replaced with a lavender blouse. “Ready dear?” He asked with that Capitol accent.
Wiping your tears away with your sleeves you nodded. It was difficult to walk, you were still weak from all the distress. At one point during the walk to the train you toppled over, the only thing preventing your body from meeting the floor was Buckley’s wall-like body. It was embarrassing how he had to escort you all the way to the train.
Meanwhile Pradain kept criticizing the smell of 10, the heat of 10, and how “Those cows would look cuter in pink.”
“He’s weird huh?” Buckley whispered into your ear trying to lighten up the mood.
“I’m not sure that’s the right word.” You told him.
In the distance was a sleek metallic train, it stretched for miles. As you approached the doors of the cart you would be going into, a man and woman stepped out. You recognized them as Ramsey Peckett and Dolly Gleewood, previous victors of the games.
“I’m sorry you got picked.” Dolly said sympathetically as she wrapped her arms around you.
“I’m Ramsey. I’ll be your mentor.” The man said as he reached to shake Buckley’s hand who was just a few inches shorter than him.
“Alright Alright, save the chit chat for later- we’ve got to stay on schedule.” Pradain shoved his watch in the face of the two mentors causing them to roll their eyes. They lead the two of you into the train.
It looked almost surgical. Silvery metallic colors decorated the cart, white couches were perfectly placed across from each other, the table was a dark wood- one you didn’t recognize. The only color in the room were lavender and teal flowers set in the center of the table, surrounded by lidded silver plates.
“Go on, eat up- I know I am.” Pradain smiled, the blue on his lips making his teeth seem whiter than they were. He sat down on the table and removed the lid from one of the plates exposing the precious delicacy. It was a honey colored ham, surrounded with herbs and the prettiest tomatoes you’ve ever seen.
Buckley didn’t hesitate, he sat himself down next to Ramsey and practically devoured a whole cantaloupe.
“Aren’t you going to eat dear?” Dolly asked, confused as to why a starved girl like yourself wasn’t touching the lavish confectionaries in front of you.
“I will, just don’t think I can hold it down yet.” You told her, opting to take sips from a glass filled with orange liquid. It tasted delightfully sweet yet had a nice tang to it. “What is this?” You asked her as your sips became more fervent.
“That’s peach and mango juice.” Dolly said, cutting into her own slice of ham.
“Calm down boy, food ain’t going nowhere.” Ramsey scolded Buckley, who was still scarfing different foods down his mouth. He reminded you of the pigs when they would come out to eat. The way they wouldn’t leave room for air.
“You’re gonna get yourself sick, We don’t want that now do we?”
Buckley hesitantly stopped. He started to actually chew his food and you watched with awe as he shut his eyes enjoying the flavors of the Capitol food.
“‘S good.” The boy said, the freckles on his cheek stretching as he fit the food in them.
“Right so then, how about we get to know each other first let's say… 15 minutes, and then we’ll move onto the actual mentoring.” Dolly spoke as she looked over to Ramsey for approval.
“Are you both our mentors?” Came your voice, which was quiet compared to the chewing of your fellow tribute.
“No. I’m assigned to Buck here, and you’re all Dolly’s.” Ramsey corrected. “We could join together and mentor the both of you if that's what you want, but remember only one of you is going to come back.” He said with a stress filled sigh.
Buckley put his utensils down at that comment. Suddenly the food didn’t seem as appetizing.
There was silence in the room. Both you and Buckley couldn’t look at each other for a while. Eventually you picked up your own fork and began to slowly fill your stomach with food. You were hesitant to try any of the meat since you knew it came from 10, and it just felt wrong for you to eat it, so you opted for just fruits and grains.
“I’m alright with a joint mentorship if (Y/n) is.” Buckley said finally, causing both the mentors to look at him.
You wondered why he said that. He most likely didn’t see you as a challenge. Buckley Wheaton was 6’3, muscular, and had the most honey brown hair you’ve ever seen. His whole body was littered with freckles, and his eyes matched that of his hair. You wondered what they fed that boy back in 10 to make him as much of a unit as he was now. Rice, you assumed, since that was mostly what was available.
The mentors turned their heads to look at you now. You were in the middle of eating a berry that was colored like an angry red. “Sure.”
“Not much of a talker.” Ramsey said, eyeing you.”Good luck getting words from that one Dolly.” He laughed.
Dolly only smiled at you sweetly.
“Nah, (Y/n) is such a talker.” Buckley came to your defense. “Shoot- 8th grade? She wouldn’t shut up about how she was going to write to the Capitol and ask for our horses back. She’s smart too! Top 5 in our class back when we graduated.” He told the mentors.
Sure you weren’t on bad terms with Buckley, but you also weren’t buddy buddy with him. Your curiosity only grew as to why he was being so damn nice to you.
“Buckley’s got strength. He’s agile too. Saw him pick up a cow once after chasing it down town for a while.” You spoke. “Rumor has it he’s got good aim too. You know, I saw him once, when I was with my Papa, he and some of his buddies were messing around with some slingshots, tryna aim at some bean cans” You chewed some food before continuing. “And he knocked down every single can to the ground.”
Buckley looked at you with a toothy smile.
“Aww how cute.” Pradain cooed from where he sat.
“So what's it like being a victor?” You turned your head to look at Dolly, whose curly hair was being tied into a bun.
“It’s about as comfortable as it gets.” She says, “It’s great until the reality of it all sets in.” She speaks, her hazel eyes looking longingly at the table.
“Well that’s grim.” Pradain side eyed her. “Ramsey, give me a happy answer.” He rested his chin on his hand as he turned his attention to the male victor.
“It's got its perks. I mean for one you get a whole house to yourself… you don’t have to worry about starving anymore.” He listed.
“How come we don’t see you around in the district?” Buckley asked, wiping a drop of food from his shirt.
“No need to be out.” Dolly says, “The attention it attracts is a little too off putting.”
“Yeah, the only time we ever really come out is during the night.” Ramsey says, “Of course that’s just personal preference, but like Dolly said, we have everything we need back at home.”
“Then there’s the visits to the Capitol.” Dolly says, sounding a little irritated.
“Pft, you speak about it like it isn’t the most grand place to be. The Capitol is luxurious, filled with the most up to date technology and the highest fashion in Panem.” Pradain flaunts his nails around.
“Enough Victor talk. Let’s get into mentoring.” Dolly gets up and excuses herself to the white couch where she waits for the rest of you.
A few hours pass by. Most of it is filled with questions on how to win the games, how to survive, how to not get caught by the careers. The mentoring is then interrupted by Pradain’s squeal of excitement.
“We’re here!” He gets up to look over at the window. “Come! Come!” His hands go to both yours and Buck’s shoulder as he pushes you two alongside the window. You see a wall of brick before your eyes get punctured by the white light reflecting off the Capitol’s walls.
Millions of faces painted almost like clowns fill your range of view. Buckley can’t help but burst out into laughter. You on the other hand look quite disturbed. The people on the other side, however, seemed delighted to see you. Their mouths formed into triangles as they hollered to greet you.
“Welcome to the Capitol!” Pradain says gleefully.
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