THE LAKES,
CHAPTER FOUR

APPEARANCES AND FALSE NICETIES

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ASTRID BLINKED AS Roman's curious voice drew her away from her flurrying thoughts of the party that concluded just a few hours earlier. "You okay?"

Astrid's eyes fell on Roman, who was comfortably sitting on the seat across from the edge of her hotel bed, which she was currently sitting on, and nodded. "Just contemplating."

"Snow?" Roman's eyebrows assumedly quirked upwards.

"Snow, Katniss, Peeta. All of it." Astrid blew out an exhausted breath as she just crossed her arms over her chest, the girl fighting the sizeable urge to just plop down on the mattress and sleep away all of her troubles.

"I know what you mean." Roman nodded in full agreement, the boy slumping against the seat he was sitting in and tilting his head back to rest against the head of it. "This constant pressure gets tiring."

For some reason, Astrid felt a slight sense of disagreement with Roman's privileged statement, and she shrugged, not preventing the following words from tumbling out of her mouth before she could force herself to stop them from doing so. "Yeah, but it could be worse."

"What?" Roman's eyebrows perplexedly creased inwards as he lifted his head to look at her.

When Astrid caught herself possibly about to defend Snow's decision to not use them for whatever nefarious purposes he used others for, she just nonchalantly shrugged. "I just mean, we could be in deeper shit, Roman."

After a few seconds of contemplation, Roman just slowly nodded, dwelling on the words as he thought back to the other day on the train, in which she had reminded him of a similar sentiment. "Yeah. True, I guess."

Astrid's voice sounded again after a brief moment of ruminative silence from the boy opposite her, and her eyebrows quirked upwards. "Ready for our appearance tomorrow night?"

Roman huffed a small chuckle in an effort to keep the mood lighthearted. "I don't know if anyone's ever ready for any of Caesar's shows."

Astrid felt an entertained smirk tug at the corners of her lips. "True," another moment of comfortable silence passed between the pair before the girl spoke up again, "we have to be super careful with how we answer certain questions, though, so just s-"

"Say that we don't know the answer if he asks us anything remotely 'controversial', and move on. I know." Roman cut her off in order to finish the sentence, flashing her a pointed smirk as he did so. "Years of media training pays off."

A small smile appeared on Astrid's face at the playful statement. "Sure does."

Roman's, previously directed, smirk shifted into a kind smile as he stood up, gently patting her shoulder as he began to make his way out of her room. "We should probably get some sleep before appearing on national television. Jupiter will kill us if we're not 'bright eyed and bushy tailed'."

"Reasonable suggestion." A small chuckle slipped past Astrid's lips at the boy's witty remark, watching him approach their adjoining sliding doors that led to his hotel room.

"Night, Astrid." Roman mused as he slid the door open, stopping at the doorway and turning to face the girl as he awaited her response.

Astrid allowed her small smile to grow as she nodded once. "Night, Ro."

•

Astrid blinked as she surveyed her own outfit in the mirror. She was currently in her designated dressing room backstage, preparing to appear on Caesar's show. No nerves, whatsoever, were resting in the pit of her stomach, much to her expectation and delight.

She had done these shows countless times before, since she was fifteen, and at this point, she had lost count of exactly how many interviews she had done. Besides, no nerves were required when all she had to do was put on an overused act for the cameras—nothing new.

Though, instead of focusing on her mental satisfaction, Astrid's source of discomfort was her entire outfit.

The ankle length silver dress that she was wearing was significantly too tight, the thin heels that she had to wear too constricted for her liking, and her unnaturally curled, pinned-up hair prematurely producing a thumping headache that she knew she would have to fight off the following day.

A stunning dress for attending a Capitol party was one thing, however, one for a television appearance was another. In person, it was easier to get away with a few minor outfit flaws or exceptions, whereas on tv, anyone could rewind or pause the screen, thus adding the extra pressure of making a long-lasting impression on the audience.

Astrid despised these occasions, not because of the influx of exposure and attention, but because she knew she had to experience several hours of discomfort for only a few minutes of a brief appearance.

"Nervous?" As if on cue, Roman's voice sounded from the doorway, the boy pushing off the doorframe as he approached Astrid.

Astrid turned to face him, shaking her head as she did so. "Never. You've known me for how long?"

Roman's response to the comical question seemed to falter on his tongue as his eyes flickered over her body in a quickly analysis of her outfit, taking it all in. "You look...wow, I mean...you and Leah killed it."

Leah had been Astrid's stylist from the beginning of her Hunger Games journey, and she was renowned in the Capitol as one of the most popular, talented stylists—besides Cinna, of course.

A tight-lipped smile overtook Astrid's features, and she glanced down at her outfit before meeting Roman's impressed eyes once more. "Thanks. It was mostly all Leah, but I'll take it."

Roman smiled back at her, and before they could continue their complimentary conversation, they were suddenly whisked away by Jupiter and their other escorts to their designated positions backstage.

Caesar's booming, overly enthused voice was greatly entertaining the crowd, wild applause and cheers sounding across the studio whenever he made a humorous joke reinforcing his role as the entertainer.

"Your cue is coming up." Jupiter faced the two, her earnest, concentrated and sparkling eyes flickering between the pair in anticipation. "Ready?"

Roman and Astrid both affirmably nodded in unison, and before they could even conceptualise how much time had passed since they were ordered to stand in their set positions, their names were already called from the stage in one of Caesar's classic, buoyant introductions.

Making their way to the front of the stage, both Astrid and Roman plastered on friendly, wide grins, happily waving to the crowd as they approached Caesar, who had stood up from his comfortable couch and extended his hand out for Astrid to take. "And, there they are, folks! Our Victors from District Five! Let me help you out there, Astrid."

Astrid took his hand and allowed him to guide her to her seat, a beaming, jovial smile painting across her lips as she thanked him gracefully.

"Wow, look at the two of you. Stunners. Absolute beauties." Caesar's eyes travelled back and forth between the pair as he shook his head slowly for dramatic effect. "This is why you're our favourite Victors, you never miss with the outfits. Now, thank you both for being here, I can most definitely speak for all of us in the Capitol when we say that we're so lucky to have you."

"There's nowhere else we'd rather be, Caesar." Astrid let out a performative laugh as she faced the audience with a glowing beam, who were more than entertained at the statement, roaring applause sounding as soon as she spoke the words.

"Thanks, Caesar." Roman plastered on a convincingly lively smile as he kept his eyes glued to Caesar; likely an effort to conceal his incredible disdain for the entire spectacle—if he even bothered to survey the audience for longer than a minute, he wouldn't be able to continue the interview without glaring at each and every one of them. "We're always super happy to be here."

"Say that with a little less hesitance next time, and maybe, just maybe, we'd believe you." Caesar animatedly joked, eyes widening as he continued, the man bellowing out an overzealous laugh once he finished his sentence. "Just kidding! Oh, you should've seen the look on your face, Roman, you were like a deer in headlights!"

Astrid raised her eyebrows at the jest, and she released a vivacious laugh to conceal her boredom and unwillingness to continue the entire exchange, while Roman just huffed out a reluctant, uncomfortable chuckle from his seat beside her. "You got us, Caesar, that's for sure."

"We all know you adore us." Caesar quipped with a wide, Cheshire Cat-like grin as he waved off the exchange. "Now, now, moving swiftly on...I understand you both were in attendance for the President's party last night, hm?"

Roman simply nodded in affirmation. "We were."

Caesar 'tsked' in fond remembrance of the event as he briefly held a hand to his chest. "Magnificent, wasn't it?"

Astrid slowly nodded in some form of strained agreement, as if she was deep in profound thought. "Oh, as all Capitol parties are."

"Naturally." Caesar mused.

"We both had a great time. Truly." Roman spoke up with a tight-lipped smirk, and Astrid could tell, for certain, that he was resisting the unbearable temptation to tell Caesar how he truly felt about the so-called, 'magnificent', party.

"Now, all of us are eager to know if you two are...or have ever..." Caesar's eyebrows teasingly tugged upwards as his tone slightly and suggestively dropped, the words accompanied by a wiggle of his index and middle fingers directed towards the pair.

At the implication, Astrid felt her cheeks heat up, despite the fact that nothing romantic had ever happened between them, and she turned to glance at Roman beside her, who lowered his head, a small, dry smirk spreading across his lips as he slightly shook his head and scoffed in bubbling exasperation.

Astrid knew the boy long enough to know exactly what he was thinking, how the cogs in his head were turning. Of course they'd ask us this, they know exactly what they're doing, et cetera. She could tell, just from observing his reaction, that his patience was starting to wear thin. His usually calm and collected exterior around the Capitol seemed to lower more and more these days, and Astrid didn't like the idea of the consequences that could arise if he had fully cracked.

And so, choosing to take over the conversation with a lighthearted quip, Astrid plastered on a grin and faced the host, deciding to twist the connotation of Caesar's taunting words into one of pure humour. "Well, Caesar, that's only for us to know, and for you to find out."

Caesar's eyebrows raised at the joke, and he choked out an amused laugh. "I don't think even I could've thought of a better answer to that! While we have you both, how long do we have you two here for?"

"A few long days." Astrid stated, maintaining her faux-peppy facade.

"Lovely, so we have a few more opportunities to see your beautiful faces around." Caesar flashed the audience a smile. "Don't forget about us when you head back to your district, though. We won't let you, anyway!"

Astrid forced herself to huff out a chuckle as she just nodded. "Yes, well, how could we?"

"Always so polite, Astrid." Caesar just smiled at the pair, signifying that their interview time was up as his eyes intently flickered between them. "Well, that concludes our short time with each other, I wish it were longer. Thank you, Astrid and Roman, we'll catch you both soon!"

•

AUTHOR'S NOTE
filler chapter until we get more finnick and astrid (very soon!) 🫶

© voidvaleska