Tiberius Germaine

Something here

[cfdew]

She watches him warily as he approaches, making no move to leave. The logical part of her brain tells her he's not a danger to her. The illogical part, well that part is still stuck in the fight or flight mode it's been thrust into earlier in the day no matter how much wine she'd drank to try to drown the instinct out. He stops on the other side of the island however and it is her turn to sigh heavily.

She watches him, eyes meeting his gaze and then dropping away at the emotions she finds there. "Fine," she hadn't truly meant to leave anyway. He is where she feels safe, not at the tower, not at her own apartment, not even fully at home in Four. Where he was was where she felt safe and she wasn't willing to leave her safety, not when she felt the way she did. "I'm not gonna make you sleep on the couch. You're getting to old for that," she cracked a smile at her own joke, but it quickly fell away as the smile stretched the wound on her lip causing it to bleed anew. Her tongue came out to lick the blood away. "Besides I doubt I'd get much sleep in there by myself."

Natalia grabbed her glass of wine and moved around the island, finally closing the distance between them as she wedged herself between the counter and him, pressing herself fully into his personal space. "I don't want this," and she'd refused to put a name on what they were to one another, "to have a price tag on it. He's," her forehead is pressed to his chest now, her voice softer, "taken so much from me. I won't let him take this too."

[tiberius-germaine]

"I'm not much older than you," he defended but the mood sombers quickly with her assertation she wouldn't be able to sleep by herself. He probably wouldn't have gotten much sleep on the couch either, but he'd wanted to offer her the privacy if she wanted.

He'd expected her to retreat back to her perch on the couch when she went into motion again, but instead found her in his personal space. She didn't leave much room between them and even the small step back he took as she squeezed into the palce between himself and the counter didn't provide much more. He took that as her consent to be touched, that she wanted to be near. And so he dropped his arms around her middle, pressing his lips into the top of her hair as she spoke. A small frown turning down the corners of his lips as he held her.

He didn't want to put a price on their relationship either, but he also didn't want to see her continue to suffer. He didn't say this though, not wanting to upset her again. "I know," he agrees instead. He pulls back a little, brings a hand up to turn her face up. "Whatever you decide. There is no me without you," he murmurs, eyes flickering down to her lips, but then seeing the darker coloring under the skin of her neck.

"Natalia, you need to see a doctor," he sighed, turning her head gently to the side to get a better look.

[cfdew]

It did hurt to talk. She can't deny that. Everything hurt. Her head, her legs, her jaw, her upper arm where Valerius had grabbed her too hard, her heart, her mind. She grabbed a washcloth from the drawer next to his sink and wet it, wiping at the blood he'd pointed out on her lip. She'd been about to proclaim herself all better when he spoke again. She leveled a stare across the apartment at him. He'd offered before, to try to free her of Snow's use of her. She'd told him no.

"Tiberius, we've discussed this before and the answer is no," she is irritated that he's brought it up again. "I'm a fucking big girl," though she'd barely been such when they'd met, not even twenty yet at the time. "And I can take care of myself. I will not be bought, not by you. Especially," she's getting worked up now and has to stop her mini-rant to cough, her throat protesting the use of her voice after the trauma it'd sustained earlier in the night, "especially not by you." She loves him, but she doesn't want to feel that she owes him anything. She doesn't want to ruin the realness of their relationship. Some of the people who bought her felt they loved her too, she wouldn't let Snow cheapen what she felt for Tiberius down to whatever dollar amount he deemed appropriate to allow her her freedom, or rather appropriate to sell her to one person for the rest of ever.

"You know what," she's sat her freshly filled glass of wine aside, falling into a fit of coughing again. "I'm going back to the Tower. Mags'll make sure I'm okay." Though she wouldn't let Mags know she'd been hurt anymore than she'd been willing to tell Tiberius she was not okay.

[tiberius-germaine]

Now he's cursing himself for letting the anger at the situation spew up and out in the form of a conversation he knew would upset her in a situation when she's already worked up. He sighs, counts to ten and then stands up. She said she was going back to the Tower, but the fact she hadn't started moving towards the elevator tells him that maybe she's not quite set on it. So he moves towards her, still keeping the kitchen island between them, still all too aware that she's been hurt tonight.

"Talia, I'm sorry. I just..." But he pauses again, shakes his head as he looks down at the counter in front of him. He just what? Hated knowing others put their hands on her. Hated the whole situation. Hated seeing her hurt. But that was his own anger and irritation. His own selfishness wanting to get her out. Though he knows she hurts too, knows she hates her situation as well. "Nevermind."

"Don't leave." There's a sort of sadness in his baby blues, a desperation as he asks her to stay. It's part selfishness just as much as it is part worry for her. He wants to know she's okay. He knows he won't know as such if she leaves. He knows he won't sleep a wink tonight if she goes back to the tower. "I won't bring it up again." Not tonight at least. "Let me get you some motrin and you can sleep. It's late Talia. You can sleep in my bed, I'll sleep out here."

[tiberius-germaine]

He flicks on the light, hand already having been reaching for the switch before she spoke. He quickly reaches to dim the lights back down, not all the way off, but close enough. If she's sitting in the dark, he already knows where she's been before letting herself into his apartment, knows why she's here unannounced, knows why she hasn't gone back to District Four's floor at the tribute tower.

"You know you're always welcome," he calls back, dropping his keys on the table by the elevator and shrugging out of his jacket to hang it on the coat hook. He spots the wine glass in her hand and his eyes scan the open space to find the open bottle on the counter in his kitchen. He pours himself a glass before moving into the living room as well. When he moves to the living room, it isn't to sit next to her, or even on the couch, but across from her. He has learned better than to join her in these moments, to let her come to him or ask for him.

It was only once he was settled into his seat that he noticed the fact her lip was busted. "Tal..." he sighs, dragging a hand down his face, trying to quell the anger the wells inside him. "Who?" Though he isn't sure he wants to know, or that she'll answer.

[cfdew]

The brightness of the light causes her to flinch. The salt from earlier shed tears only burning worse as the light is flung on and she closes her eyes against it. But the light fades to a dim glow and she tentatively reopens her eyes, watching as Tiberius moved about his space and then settles across from her. She hadn't realized the tenseness in her shoulders, a reflex of her own anxiety rather than his presence in of itself, until he settled without touching her and she relaxed. She may have wrapped herself up in the comfort of him already, his clothes, his home, his wine, but she didn't want touched. Not yet. She'd been touched enough without her permission already. She'd call for him on her own time.

She meets his gaze when he speaks but drops it a second later, focusing on the wine in her hand. It's nearly gone but she swirls the little bit of liquid around in the glass and watches it. It takes several minutes before she speaks and she only does so after swallowing the rest of the wine in her glass and walking to the kitchen to fill her glass again.

"Valerius," she speaks and it hurts to do so. Her fingers rub at her neck and she sighs. That also hurt. "Ti, I'm fine." That's a lie. He'll see through it, she knows. They've known each other for several years now, know each other's tells.

[tiberius-germaine]

He doesn't prod when she won't look at him or when she doesn't answer. He knows that if she wants to answer she will. If not he isn't going to press her further. Some nights she wanted to talk, others she didn't. And when she moves, he stays. Unwilling to encroach on the space she's put between them. Her claim of being fine draws a frown to his lips, corners of his mouth turning down.

"No you're not." He asserts, leaning forward to place his glass on the coffee table. Still he stays where he is, studying her, notices her fingers at her throat. Was the busted lip not the only injury? "Your lip is bloody and swollen and it sounds like it hurts to talk." And he was angry. Not at her, never at her, but at the situation, at Snow, at every man and woman who had ever forced themselves on her, knowing he has to face several of those men and women daily.

"Damn it, Talia. I could... I," but he doesn't finish the statement. It's an arguement they've had before. Coriolanus knows he has a special interest in Natalia though he isn't sure just how much Snow knows beyond his interest. Does Snow know that Natalia's here right now? That she usually spends several nights a year at his place? Probably.

[cfdew]

When: During the 47th Annual Hunger Games Where: The Capitol; The apartment of Tiberius Germain Who: Natalia & Tiberius @tiberius-germaine

The woman at the front desk had long since stopped asking Natalia why she was there, long since stopped questioning if Mr. Germaine was expecting her. Natalia didn't know why the woman had stopped, maybe accustomed enough to Natalia showing up or maybe Tiberius had told her himself that Natalia was always welcome. Whatever the reason, Natalia was thankful as she sulked into the building with a bloodied lip and what would probably become a lovely bruise if the ache of her throat was any indication.

The penthouse apartment was silent and dark when she let herself in, but that hadn't kept her from making herself at home. Pouring a glass of wine. Showering. Donning a pair of his sweats she'd pulled from his dresser and a t-shirt that she'd found tossed on his bed. Curling up on his couch. Waiting in the still darkness as she sipped from the glass of wine she'd poured herself. Her body hurt and she couldn't let Mags or Beck or Murphy see her like this. At least not until she'd slept it off. God she just wished she could get out, get Snow and all his goons to leave her fuck alone.

She must have dozed off, glass of wine in one hand, the other holding the shirt she wore to her nose, finding comfort in just his scent alone even when he wasn't physically there. God, she's falling in love. Really, she already has. She won't admit that. Doesn't need the gossip journalists anymore in her business. She startles at the sound of the elevator's ding as it announces someone having arrived. Tiberius, she knows, he never hosts other company.

"I let myself in," she announces from her spot, still curled up on his couch, still in the dark.

[tiberius-germaine]

He flicks on the light, hand already having been reaching for the switch before she spoke. He quickly reaches to dim the lights back down, not all the way off, but close enough. If she's sitting in the dark, he already knows where she's been before letting herself into his apartment, knows why she's here unannounced, knows why she hasn't gone back to District Four's floor at the tribute tower.

"You know you're always welcome," he calls back, dropping his keys on the table by the elevator and shrugging out of his jacket to hang it on the coat hook. He spots the wine glass in her hand and his eyes scan the open space to find the open bottle on the counter in his kitchen. He pours himself a glass before moving into the living room as well. When he moves to the living room, it isn't to sit next to her, or even on the couch, but across from her. He has learned better than to join her in these moments, to let her come to him or ask for him.

It was only once he was settled into his seat that he noticed the fact her lip was busted. "Tal..." he sighs, dragging a hand down his face, trying to quell the anger the wells inside him. "Who?" Though he isn't sure he wants to know, or that she'll answer.

[tiberius-germaine]

Tib: [Caesar, pre-05] Have you noticed the Rebellion impacting business at all in Four? What about life within that District? You have such an interesting position as someone who is from the city but spends so much time within The Districts.

He thinks the question over, turns the answer over in his mind. "I think that goes without saying, Caesar," Tiberius starts, leaning forward within his seat across from the man to plant his feet on the ground and his elbows on his knees. "I mean, I can't speak for the other businesses within Four, for the markets or the shops. But with travel being restricted, the clientele that would usually frequent the resort in Four are not traveling there." It's the truth. Most of the rooms at the resort were vacant and the property was currently bleeding money as he currently refused to lay off the people who worked there. He could afford to keep the staff paid, they couldn't afford not to be paid though. But it wasn't a situation he could maintain indefinitely. "I fear, at some point I may have to close up shop out there until things return to normal."

[tiberius-germaine]

Let her go. Any other time, he'd have let her go with just those words. He'd never been one to stop her, or hold her captive, hold her against her will. She had trauma and he knew that, had seen the scars and bruises, leftover memories of those who'd forced her to stay. Any other time he'd have acquiesced to her plea. Any other time. But now, now he wasn't letting go. Now his arms remained around her as his head bowed, pressing his face into the top of her head. He didn't say anything, simply held onto her, let her beat against his chest as she cried.

"Talia, I can't." There were so many things he couldn't do. He couldn't let her go. He couldn't live without her. "She wouldn't want this for you. She wouldn't want you to die just to be with her." He speaks into her hair, refusing to let any space form between them.

[cfdew]

He doesn't let her go and she deflates in his arms, giving in and giving up. The logical part of herself knows he won't let her go. Not when she was spewing what she was. The illogical part of herself however, just accepted that she'd lost and he'd won. He wasn't going to let her hurl herself over the railing.

Her hands fall flat on his chest where she buries her face, weight sagging into his arms, barely holding herself up. She sobs, truly sobs. Her lungs burn as she heaves in breaths but they just come back out on the wave of sobs. Her body aches, muscles having been tense for far too long. But nothing, nothing compares to the ache that resides in her chest. It feels raw, beaten and hallow all at the same time. It feels as if someone had reached into her chest, breaking ribs and flesh as they did so, and yanked her heart from her chest.

[tiberius-germaine]

He continued to hold her, his arms wrapped around her. His own grief wells for everything they'd lost. Thirty years they'd danced around one another. A constant game of will they or won't they. Nothing confirmed, but so many in the Capitol sure. Some even wondering if he had fathered Natalia's child. They'd talked after the arena had gone down, once he was sure she was okay, that they both were. They were supposed to tell Rose once things settled, finally admitting to the person who deserved to know most who he was. He wanted to be part of Rose's life, but he'd planned to leave the ball in her court. He'd desired that for many years. But had always abided her wishes. He couldn't blame her, wouldn't blame her for his inability to ever have that relationship. Being the child of a victor placed enough of a target on Rosemarinus's back. Being his child only doubly so. What a sensation that would have been?

He doesn't realize that he is crying too, tears falling silently down his face and into her hair. His own grief manifesting in his own way. He doesn't realize until he speaks, tasting salt on his lips, "There is no me without you." He's quiet a moment, pulls back, brings his hands up to cup her face. His own tears are ignored as he brushes her aways with the pads of his thumbs. "We face tomorrow, whatever it brings, together."

[cfdew]

His arms are around her before she can act on her thoughts. His body put between herself and the railing before she can let herself fall over the edge and end it all. Her fists connect with his chest. How dare he stop her? Her tears are falling freely now and a sob rips from her throat as she buries her face against the woven silk of his shirt. She raises her balled hands and bangs against his broad chest again. "Just let me go." She manages despite her inability to breathe. "I don't wanna be here anymore."

She doesn't look up at him, doesn't attempt to move out of his hold. As much as she wishes she could just leave everything behind, as much as she wants to be with Rose, there's a part of her that doesn't. A part of her that wants her to keep fighting. It's that part that keeps her within the circle of his arms. "Let me go, please." Her words whisper out this time, but still she doesn't try to get away from him. "I-I want to be with her." Her voice cracks and that starts a fresh wave of tears down her face. "I ca-can't be here wi-without her, Tiberius. I've always been there for her, always. She... she won't know where to go without me."

[tiberius-germaine]

Let her go. Any other time, he'd have let her go with just those words. He'd never been one to stop her, or hold her captive, hold her against her will. She had trauma and he knew that, had seen the scars and bruises, leftover memories of those who'd forced her to stay. Any other time he'd have acquiesced to her plea. Any other time. But now, now he wasn't letting go. Now his arms remained around her as his head bowed, pressing his face into the top of her head. He didn't say anything, simply held onto her, let her beat against his chest as she cried.

"Talia, I can't." There were so many things he couldn't do. He couldn't let her go. He couldn't live without her. "She wouldn't want this for you. She wouldn't want you to die just to be with her." He speaks into her hair, refusing to let any space form between them.

[cfdew]

Where: Tiberius Residence

When: Night of Day 59

Who: Natalia & Tiberius @tiberius-germaine

She hasn't said a word since leaving Caesar's stage, nearly broke down as they once more passed the room in which Rose had been executed. She could still hear the echo of the gunshot, still see as her daughter's blood seeped from her lifeless body. Was Rosmarinus still there? Had they moved her body? Was Annie still there? Was she even still alive? Would she ever be able to lay Rose to rest? Only Tiberius's firm hand at the small of her back keeps her moving on passed that room.

She is silent the whole way back to his flat, too afraid and too much in shock to say anything. His driver was an avox, but had they informed to someone else? Was his flat bugged? Something had to have happened because surly this was her fault. Surely she was the reason her daughter was dead. Her silence continues as she moved through his flat almost as if in a trance, shoes off near the entrance, disrobing in his room, pulling one of his t-shirts from his dresser drawer and a pair of sweatpants from another.

It's only once she steps barefoot out onto the balcony a few hundred feet in above the streets that she lets herself finally feel. A sob tears itself from her lips, her hand clutching her chest. Nothing could have prepared her for the anguish that had dwelled for the previous hours, subdued and pushed away in the public eye. She has never felt grief like this. This aching, throbbing, pain radiates out until it seems her whole body is ready to implode.

She doesn't notice as she moves across the balcony to the railing, but the cool touch of metal and glass brings her forth and she noticed just how easy it'd be to go over. She gazes over the edge of the cars and people below, so far below they're little more than dots. In a handful of seconds she could stop the pain. She feels eyes on her, paranoia telling her Snow is still watching, a glance over her shoulder tells her Tiberius is watching her and her mind instantly wonders if she could make it over before he could stop her. "It's my fault," she murmurs,glancing down ay the people and cars once more. They all look so carefree, as if the nation isn't on the brink of war, as if people weren't dying.

[tiberius-germaine]

He's watched her in worry the entire time. Tiberius's own heart aches in his chest. He has realized, not for the first time since Rose's voice rang out over the District Four square, just what all he has missed out on. Everything. And there is a part of him that blames Natalia. She was the reason he'd never gotten to be a father to his daughter. She'd pushed him away. But at the same time he had to admit that he had never pushed back against Natalia. Too keen on keeping her happy to do anything that might risk that. But now... Now he would never get the chance to even begin to know Rose, and that too, he knew they were both to blame for. How many occasions had they stayed up late speaking of far off indulgences, far off rebellious thoughts, far off plans of running away? And on how many occasions had he himself lied to the President's face, unabashedly, in order to keep them safe. Or so he thought.

Now he watched Natalia and leaves her be. He lets her move about his apartment, staying at least a dozen or so feet away. He maintains that position, keeping his distance until she looks back at him, until she speaks. Tiberius knows without her even having to say a word what contemplation is running through her mind. The multiple glances over the railing, her words striken with grief, the look of hopelessness in her gaze.

Tiberius closes the distance between them in four long strides, wraps an arm around her middle. If she goes, so does he. He refuses to loose her as well. Not after so much loss. He puts himself between the railing and Natalia, arm still wrapped around her as he looks down at her. "Talia, no." He murmurs softly. "It's not your fault." Not her's alone at least. He shares in that responsibility too. There is a shimmering line of water along his own lower lid, vulnerability finally showing even in the most minimal of ways. "It's neither of our faults." His voice is barely a whisper, trying to hold himself together. No one's watching now, at least not that's in his apartment. No Caesar. No live audience. No one.

[tiberius-germaine]

4) Who is someone Tiberius cared for, who is no longer around?

His mother. Tiberius cared greatly for her, having even taken to personally caring for her in her last weeks. It was a great loss for Tiberius when his mother passed away in 68.

[cfdew]

God damn it, she wanted to push him away as she always did when things got to emotional. She wanted to keep him out, not get too attached, not fall into the familiarity that was him. But by god she'd long since past the point of being able to do so. Being able to keep herself away from him, trying to keep her feelings for him secluded and separate from her everyday life had ended over thirty years ago.

But he was right. He'd always respected her wishes, kept his distance when she pushed him away, let her raise Rosemarinus on her own, never pushed or prodded her for more. She was the selfish one here. She was the one who pulled him along just to shove him away and then pull him back and shove him away. He was the one who was always there, always patiently waiting on her.

Natalia sighed, let herself melt into him, her anger gone just as quick as it'd reared its ugly head. Maybe now she would be done pushing him away. They were on the brink of war and that alone was terrifying. The thought of loosing him or Rose even more so. "Ti..." she paused, not looking up at him but rather hiding in his form as if she were a twenty-something year old girl again, "I'm sorry, for everything." She was quiet for a long moment, fighting with her own instinct to run away from her emotions, from her feelings. "I'm sorry for being so selfish. I don't... I've never deserved you." It was whispered into his chest. "You've always been so good to me and I've just been a selfish ass to you." The emotions had swelled to the surface and the alcohol induced lowered inhibitions caused her feelings of regret and sadness to swell up and out, her own honest feelings coming out for once in her life. "God, Ti, I wish I could turn back everything, start again."

[tiberius-germaine]

He is quiet. He can't disagree with her, but at the same time he knows that he too is to blame. Two people so drawn to each other but at the same time afraid to admit to anything, both hearts so guarded that they'd danced around anything real for three decades. His arms wrap around her, pulling her into his warmth. He turns his chin down, lips pressing into her hair and just holds her. His apartment falls silent again, his mind racing through everything that had happened over the last few days.

He lists his chin again, resting it on top of her head to speak, "Tal, the past is the past." They can't change it, can't change anything that had happened. They need to live in the present and figure things out for the future. "We need to look forward." And that means he needs to keep her and Rose safe. He wished they could get Rose to come back to his apartment. Knowing she is halfway across the city worries him. She's close, but yet too far if something were to happen. There is so much uncertaintity in their world right now. A war brewing. Safety hanging in the balance. Snow questioning. Caesar snooping. He's ever more aware of the possible implications their actions could have on them at any point. Death. Of any of them. Or all of them. "We've got to be careful, I can't loose either of you now." It's a thought that falls from his mouth, words he hadn't even truly meant to say aloud. But fact.

[tiberius-germaine]

Tib: [Caesar, while looking ever gleeful] Did you ever want it to be more though?

Tiberius thinks back to a time decades ago now, a time in which he'd bought an engagement ring, made plans for Natalia's birthday. Those plans had fallen through when she'd canceled them. He hadn't known why until a few months later. This isn't brought up to Caesar though. No this is kept to himself as he shakes his head in the negative, giving a small shrug as well. He doesn't make a voiced answer though, simply waits to Caesar to either move on or prod further.

[Caesar] Enough about the drama and spectacles though! [He scoffs like he isn't a part of the problem.] Tell us about you, my handsome friend! What have you been up to? Besides being ridiculously successful.

Moving on it seems is Caesar's choice and for that, Tiberius is thankful. He lets out a chuckle at the man's question. "Well, Caesar, prior to all this nonsense going on, I'd been hoping to expand my businesses. I'd been looking into opening another resort, doing the market research on where and when to open and working with an architect to begin the process of getting blue prints done." None of it was a lie and he hoped the fuss of a new resort would be enough to keep the topic off of he and Natalia. "And don't worry, I will be continuing with that planning. It just has had a little..." he paused as if looking for the words, "hiccup."

[tiberius-germaine]

Tib: [Character Building] When did he last make a promise?

The last promise he made was actually pretty recent. The night Natalia and Rosmarinus were released from Capitol custody, Tiberius promised Natalia that he would do whatever necessary to keep them both safe. And he has made that promise several times over in the weeks since.

[fatefought]

tiberius wore stoicism like a badge. the germaine name held a reputation and it seems the man before him upheld it. there's a light fire in him currently. ( embers and ash are heat that have become difficult to stomach for coriolanus in the last twelve months. ) the president allows the speech to continue. icy eyes do not leave the tall man during it. it's like he's allowing the words to sink in ; it's as though snow doesn't easily and readily make calls. the morrissey women had an in by having an established capitolite vouch for them. starry eyes can be blinded by the lights however. coriolanus cannot simply disregard that in a flick of the wrist.

" was her time in the arena not an alluring factor in requesting her company, mister germaine ? " snow pauses briefly. " very few victors are fickle and dense. winning the games requires the opposite. it isn't unreasonable to consider that miss morrissey could have fooled even you. she has a long-term inamorato and a daughter that they share. perhaps she did not wish to pull the two down with her. but if she defied panem ... the notion is counterproductive. " there's an emphasis on if.

[tiberius-germaine]

Tiberius's thoughts ponder momentarily to a time over three decades before, a much younger version of himself and of Natalia, a first sight and eventually a first meeting. "A very small factor," he conceded. Her heart and mind had been more alluring to the sponsor than any number of kills could be. She could carry on a conversation intelligently, gave her all to those she loved, was selfless, he could go on. He wouldn't though. He was not naive enough to believe that Snow didn't know his feelings for the woman, no need to confirm those thoughts with words.

"I do not believe," he begins, focuses instead on the possible accusation of Natalia being anything but loyal, "that she will ever defy Panem. She is loyal to the nation and loyal to Capitol." Of that he will always assert. "As you said, victor's are not usually fickle people. Natalia has never shown any indication to be fickle enough to fall for the propoganda of rebellion."

[cfdew]

"That might as well be the same god damn th-" she was shouting over him and his splitting of hairs, but her words were interrupted and cut off at the revelation of a ring. She swallowed hard, glass of wine forgotten on the coffee table as she turned her gaze back to him. The surprise was evident in her molasses eyes, if a little dimmed by the alcohol in her system. But the emotion written in his own gaze caused her to look away again, not wanting to be faced with the hurt she saw there.

"Ti..." His name fell from her lips in a whisper, eyes fixed on her fingers as she picked at the cuticle around her left thumb. She'd never known the hurt she had caused, had never actually asked his opinion on how she went about parenting their child, about pushing him away and raising Rose herself. She'd simply kept him out until she could no longer withstand being away from him. But even then, Natalia had simply dictated how things would go. Everything had been on her terms, not his. "I... I'm sorry.''

[tiberius-germaine]

He sighed, watched her for another moment before pushing away from the couch and moving around it to take the spot next to her. He didn't say anything at first, merely reaching for her hands, separating them and stopping the picking of her fingernails. His apartment was silent in those moments, he trying to regain his own composure and calmness. He hadn't meant to snap at her, but two and a half decades of keeping everything hidden combined with everything that had happened in the previous weeks and then her coming at him like she had had just caused him to loose his cool in that moment.

"Talia... I'm sorry too." He sighed and pulled her closer towards him. "But what I said is true." His words were much gentler than just moments before. "I never wanted to make you upset or uncomfortable so I never said anything, but Tal... it hurt me, it still hurts me that I haven't been able to be as much a part of her life as I wanted to be. I never challenged you because you are her mother," he was being completely honest in that moment, an open book, "and you made it clear you didn't want me to be a father to her. So I kept my distance out of respect to you. I wanted to marry you," he still would if she'd agree, if Snow would allow it, "I would've stepped up and been a father to our daughter. We could've been a family."

[cfdew]

@tiberius-germaine

She'd seen his interview, however short it'd been, from home - no, from Tiberius's apartment. She refused to get to know this as home. She had her own apartment in the Capitol, but even that wasn't home, and she was only at his apartment because she quite literally could not sleep at her own - not without knowing he was safe. Home was Four. Home was the sound of waves lapping at jagged rocks or sandy beaches. Home was salty air and the call of seagulls. This place that celebrated in death was not home and she would not allow herself to see any place in the Capitol as home.

Since the interview had aired, she'd stewed. Sat curled up on his couch in his t-shirt and his sweat pants with a bottle of what she was sure was one of the most expensive bottles of wine in his wine fridge. The wine was nearly gone when she heard the elevator to his apartment open. "Really?" It was all she said, dragging a hand through her hair as she leaned towards the coffee table to fill her glass once more. "We spend thirty years keeping that vulture and everyone else off our backs and you just tell the whole damn country that you love me?" She doesn't get angry at him often, more so since this whole damn rebellion thing happened, but it was more often aimed at him as a capitalite and not him as a person. No, now she was angry at him as a person and her lips were a little more loose with the over half bottle of wine she'd consumed.

[tiberius-germaine]

Tiberius hadn't expected Natalia to be happy what he's shared, but he also hadn't expected her to be quite so upset. He paused behind the couch, reaching up to loosen his tie and sighed. "Talia, I simply said you held a special place in my heart." His jacket was shed, laid over the back of the couch. His eyes flickered to the bottle of wine as she refilled her glass. He himself was cranky, but was trying not to take that out on her. His worries about his continued success or the damages his business might sustain, weren't her fault.

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "What did you want me to tell him? I told him you hold a special place in my heart. I didn't tell him I love you. Or that Rose is my daughter. Or fuck, Talia, that twenty-six years ago I bought a ring, had the perfect plans set up for your birthday, but that you cancelled them with no reason why, that you wouldn't see me when I went to Four, that you didn't show in the Capitol for the Second Quell, and then a year later showed up in the Capitol with a baby. My baby," okay maybe, he was tired of keeping all the irritations pushed away, tired of keeping himself calm. He leaned against the back of the couch, staring down at her with all the anger and hurt and irritation that'd been pent up swirling in his icy gaze, "and I didn't know until that point just why you disappeared from my life and that broke my heart."

[tiberius-germaine]

[Caesar] Mr. Germaine, you know I hate to gossip, don't you? But the latest interview with Sarah Kline brought up multiple things. Care to comment without me having to ask specifics?

Tiberius sits across from the colorful man, comfortably seated in the plush armchair. He'd gotten the third degree after his last interaction with Caesar. He would prefer to not be made to sleep on the couch, kicked out of his own damn bed, by a drunken Natalia once more. His neck still felt as if he had tweaked a nerve.

"Ms. Kline did indeed share a lot." He is quiet a moment. "I can't pretend to misunderstand your intent of digging for further information about Miss Morrissey and I." He calls Caesar out on his question with a soft chuckle. "I can't say it's anything more than I already shared. She holds a special place in my heart, as a friend." There is an emphasis on the end of his statement. "We've worked together for three decades. It's only inevitable to develop a friendship during that time when you work together with someone for that long." He gives a shrug.

[fatefought]

coriolanus has not been one to fully bar victors from the hopes of suburbia: a spouse, broods, and wholesomeness galore. no, he's only been selective of who is to be trusted with such freedoms. these victors' children are not spared from the games. citizens of panem love the thrill of seeing legacies across their screens after all. the hunger games were meant to be fair ... they're meant to show the meaning of sacrifice. sure, there have been victors who have tried pushing the president's hand. the lovebirds from eight are chirping across the country from each other. cecelia's birdcage is a cell. natalia was more moldable though ; the woman from four rarely bit his hand when snow was generous enough to feed the victor.

chuckle booms from within. there's a deepness to it, an amusement that makes the side of his lips curl in a half smirk at germaine's bluntness. " natalia has undeniable proximity. even if you've been hiding away mr. germaine, surely you've seen the footage of mags and finnick. the others well ... the men from four seem rather ungrateful to say the least. with such allegations against four nevertheless, you have to understand the need to tread lightly even when it comes to miss morrissey. don't you ? "

[tiberius-germaine]

Oh he understands. He more than understands. The world of the hunger games has gone to shit in the last days. And as he had pointed out, Natalia is is very proximal to those who had defected. He knows how well she'd do anything to save them, to keep them safe. But these thoughts are kept as just that, thoughts. It doesn't mean he's any more pleased or content to know that Natalia is somewhere undergoing whatever treatment Snow deems appropriate to prove her loyalty.

"Oh, I do understand indeed." He concedes, pausing for a moment before continuing. "However, President Snow, do you not think that in the past thirty some odd years, that if Natalia was complicent in the rebellion, if she'd felt any sort of misgivings towards the nation, that I wouldn't know." Again he was toeing a line. He knew very well of her misgivings against the capitol, against the president. "And by golly I would not be the one to keep those thoughts to myself if she were to be having them. I'm just as much for this country as you are and my interests would never get in the way of that."