#Coriolanusxblackreader

[sephirothsplaything]

WINNER TAKES ALL-chapter 3

a/n: I had way too much fun with this chapter btw omfg. the reader is so unserious and i low key love it.

anyways<3

word count: 2508

CW: black fem! obsessive reader, black fem! reader, reader wants Coryo so bad, she's also a fatass hypocrite btw. reader flirts with Lucy Gray! Treech is so cute in this chapter.

You were on your way to the train station,satchel filled with food.

Mostly items you weren’t fond of eating,but food regardless.

It was early in the morning before classes and you were fixed on being the first to meet your tribute before anybody else. It was all planned out in your head. Treech would thank you for being so kind and of course you would drone on about how you’d do anything to get him out of the situation.

Lost in thought, you continue on and you almost miss the flash of red that brushes past you. 

Your head snaps up,seeing Coriolanus waiting in front of the train. He had beaten you to your own idea,somehow.

You think about spinning around and leaving but Coriolanus had already spotted you.

“Y/N.” Coriolanus said. His blue eyes ran all over you. It made you shudder. “You aren’t wearing makeup today.” He stated.

Your bare face had been intentional. You figured it gave you the more down to earth look,more earnest.

You didn’t address him,rather your eyes moved to the white rose in his hand.

“And what do you hope to accomplish with that?” You said, gesturing to it.

Coriolanus’s lip lifted into a slight smirk. As if he’d already figured something out.

“The same reason you have that bag of leftovers.” He said. 

 You hummed in response. Turning back,you watched the trains pass,looking out for the one that would have your tribute on it.

“I see you’ve decided to copy me.” Coriolanus said mockingly.

Briefly, you considered shoving him in front of a passing train. It would attract too much attention, and your grandmother would be less than pleased.

“Or.” You said. You spared him a quick glance. His hair was annoyingly soft looking today.

“You lack the ability to create an original idea.” You said.  Coriolanus scoffed at your suggestion.

“I assume Sejanus doesn’t know what you’re up to?” Coriolanus said. “I know you enjoy checking in with him.”

Maybe you would follow through with the train thing.

“Those tesserae buttons you wore on your shirt yesterday.” You said coolly. Coriolanus blinked at you in confusion.

“You said they reminded you of the maid's quarters,but I'm sure your cousin made them from the tile.” You said.

“I imagine there's not much need for a maid these days,or funds rather.” 

Coriolanus’s face fell into a dark raged expression. The hand that gripped the rose shook.

You gave him a sickly sweet smile. Putting him in his place has always been the better part of your day.

If Coriolanus had a rebuttal,it had been cut off by the screeching sound of the train coming to a stop. The door of the train slid open. A boy stepped down,looking exhausted. You couldn’t remember his name or what district he was from.

You made a note to study up on that later. The boy helps carry down a small framed girl.

Chocolate brown hair. Rainbow dress. Lucy Gray Baird. 

She was pretty,no doubt. She had large brown eyes that you thought put Sejanus’s to shame.

You watched as Coriolanus approached her, the two engaging in conversation. Boredom began to set in. Where was your tribute? This was taking entirely too long.

Your head tilts slightly as you watch Coriolanus give Lucy Gray a smile. 

He was incredibly preformative. 

Walking over to him,your eyes fixed on the small girl. Coriolanus shot you an alarmed look that you ignored.

“I was wondering when I'd get to see the songbird up close.” You said.Your eyes ran over the material of Lucy Gray’s dress. The rainbow pattern had most likely once been brilliant in color,but had since faded with time.

Lucy Gray gave you a confident smile. It was convincing. But you were sure she had become tense in your presence. 

“Well here I am.” She said, hands accompanying her action in a showy fashion.

You took an immediate liking to her. Too bad she would be dead in a week's time.

 “You have a beautiful voice.” You said. Your voice had grown lofty,almost flirty. You knew what you were doing. Coriolanus did his best to hide the annoyed expression on his face.

“Well aren’t you a sweetheart.” Lucy Gray said, her accented drawl was thick. 

Yeah. She was a spectacle for sure.

“I’m sorry, didn’t catch your name?” She asked. Before you could answer Coriolanus cut you off,having more than enough of your antics.

“This is Y/N, she’s my classmate.” He said, trying to keep some level of calm.

Lucy Gray smiled in thought,eyes flitting between the two of you. 

“Oh, I get it.” Lucy Gray said. “I’m sure your boyfriend wouldn’t run off with little ol’ me.” 

The pleasantries immediately dropped from your face. You grew cold at the thought. 

You’d sooner jump into the arena than be attached to him in such a way.

“No,classmate, like he said.” You said,tone flat. A tense silence settled between the three of you. 

Coriolanus pulls Lucy Gray away from you, creating a distance. You found great satisfaction in his discomfort.

Suddenly, a pile of tributes toppled out of the train,being herded around by the peacekeepers. 

Your eyes weeded through all the dirty tributes,looking for yours.

And there he was. His gray jacket was tattered and his hands were bruised. There was a girl by him,his district partner. Lamina,you think her name was.

A peacekeeper grabs Treech by the arm,ushering him to the next train. You walk up to the both of them,not sparing a glance to the white soldier.

“I need a minute.” You said. The peacekeeper didn’t argue. He knew who you were,they all did.

Treech wore a guarded expression as he analyzed you. You offered up the softest smile you could muster.

“They didn’t hurt you on the way here did they?” You asked gently. You spoke smoothly so as not to startle him.

“Why do you care?” Treech asked. He gave you a brief up and down,scowling deeper. With your academy uniform,it was overwhelmingly obvious that you were capitol. 

Naturally,he hated you by default.

“Well I'm your mentor.” You said with an enthusiasm he did not match. Treech scoffed at this.

“So,you’re here to watch me die?” He said.

You’d do everything in your power to prevent that. You had to win. 

“I’m here to help you win.” You said. Treech’s eyebrows furrowed,mulling over your words.

Seeing an opening,you took the liberty of stepping a little closer to him. Upon further inspection,he was rather handsome.

That’s good.

“I’m not actually supposed to be here.” You admitted. More peacekeepers were making their way to the trains. You didn’t have much time.

“But, I really wanted to see you.” You said Treech’s eyes widened slightly at the statement.

“Alright that's enough.” A peacekeeper shouted to the two of you. He dragged Treech away from you. Treech met your eyes as if there was something you could do.

“Be careful with him,asshole!” You shouted,for good measure of course.

All the tributes were roughly shuffled onto a train. You watched from a distance,arms crossed. You silently hoped that the reckless peacekeepers would spare your tribute's face,at the very least.

You looked down at the bag of food still slung over you. Honestly, you weren't sure when you would have the chance to give it to him.

Your attention turned to Coriolanus,who seemed deep in thought. You didn’t have to guess what he might’ve been thinking. Despite being disgusted by him,you knew him well.

He feels hopeless with the songbird as a tribute. Lucky for you.

You watched as he turned to the peacekeepers and then towards the train,contemplating. Then,he jumped into the open door of the train cart.

Unable to hide the shock on your face,you looked around to see if anyone had witnessed…well,his pure desperation.

Coriolanus wasn’t stupid and he didn’t jump onto that train for fun. He had a plan.

“Fuck.” You cursed. He was going to one up you,yet again.  Against your sane judgment , you slip past the chaos of the peacekeepers and step into the train cart as well.

The cart was suffocating, but you swallowed the urge to step off. If he could do it then so could you. 

“What?” Coriolanus said,voice cocky. “You’re following me around now?” 

Well..you were. Among the urge to not be outdone,there was something else slowly boiling inside you. 

Curiosity? No that wasn’t it.

“Are you two in the wrong cage?” A voice spoke. It was another tribute. You remembered his name. And how could you not? Reaper. Another wall on your path to victory.

You had no words for him. There was no denying it,you were scared shitless being surrounded by grimy district. The smell alone was enough to make you hurl.

Why did you come here again?

You shuffled awkwardly to the company of Lamina and Treech,standing between the two of them. You hid the bag of food between Treech’s body and your own. He looked down at it,and then to you.

“No,this cage is delightful.” Coriolanus said. You’d roll your eyes if you weren’t so focused on not shaking right now.

Reaper lunged at Coriolanus,pinning him to the wall.You half hoped he would kill Coriolanus. That would eliminate at least eighty percent of your issues. 

You scooted a little closer to Treech. Maybe he’d take the hint that you were totally out of your comfort zone.

“Don’t rough him up too much,he’s my mentor.” Lucy Gray said. In your fear,you hadn’t even noticed she was sitting there. Her eyes caught yours as she raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Yeah.You couldn’t believe it either. 

“What’s a mendor?” A small voice asked. The little girl from district eleven.

“A mentor.” Coriolanus corrected her. “And you all get one,like he does.” He gestured to you and Treech. 

“So seven gets the pretty girl and twelve gets you,where’s ours?” Another voice asked.

“Just not inspired,I guess.” Lucy Gray said. You didn’t miss the discreet smirk Coriolanus sent her way.

Something about that irked you.

Suddenly, the door of the train opened. You and Coriolanus were tipped off the train alongside the other tributes. It was absolute mayhem, bodies slip and slid as the train shifted.

Unable to stand,you fell to the ground. You felt a hand grab yours,Treech.

You fought the urge to shriek as you were met with the hard ground. Slowly,you managed to stand up.

You were in the zoo. The place where tributes were kept until it was time to enter the arena.

      You felt like dying.

Looking around,you spotted Coriolanus standing with Lucy Gray. Despite only meeting today,it didn’t escape your observation that they seemed to be close already.

That was annoying.

Through the bars,you notice Lucky Flickerman and his obnoxious camera’s already rolling. Every moment counted for you.

You walked over to Treech who was busy brushing the dust off of his ratty coat.

“Come with me.” You whispered to him,grabbing his hand. Treech made his attempts to pull away but you wouldn’t allow it.

“You want to win?” You asked,your eyes were laser focused on Coriolanus and Lucy Gray. They had the right idea,already making themselves known to the camera.

You would do one better. “They need to notice you.” You said.

Approaching the bar,you gave your most winning smile. Lucky noticed you,shock apparent in his eyes,but you knew he’d play along.

“And what a surprise,it seems Mr.Snow’s idea is quite infectious!” Lucky exclaimed. You fought against rolling your eyes. You were the one who arrived first to the train station after all. 

“I can’t speak about my fellow classmates' motivation.” You spoke, Coriolanus eyed you down,not quite a glare, but he certainly wasn’t happy about it.

That made your smile grow slightly larger.

“I was especially eager to see my tribute up close.” You said. You made a big show of turning your attention to Treech,eyes wide with affection. You figured if someone like you made Treech seem so desirable, then maybe the audience would feel compelled to keep him alive. 

Treech froze at your eye contact, seemingly stuck. It looked like you’d be the one doing all the work.

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to be working with district seven.” You said with an eagerness that made you want to cringe. 

“You sir.” Lucky Flickerman gestured to Treech. You gripped his hand tighter.

“Treech”. He corrected hesitantly. Lucky blinked in surprise.

“Right..Treech trust me when I say you are very lucky to have Y/N as a mentor.” Lucky said.

“It's time to go.” A stern voice cut through. A couple of peacekeepers had come to spoil your fun. 

One last thing. You needed to do something drastic. 

You pushed the bag of food to Treech,placing it in his hands. 

“This is for you,I won’t have you starve any longer, okay?” You said. There was no description on your end this time. You had no use for a weakened dog.

Treeches' eyes shifted to Lamina briefly,but you caught it anyway.

“Share with her if you’d like,there's more than enough.” You said. 

A peacekeeper gripped your arm,ushering you to move.

One last thing. A spectacle. 

Ensuring you were in square view of the cameras,you placed a kiss on Treech’s cheek before being dragged off by peacekeepers alongside Coriolanus.

You would never hear the end of it. And you were more than ready for the gossip.

The peacekeepers left you and Coriolanus alone in the halls of the train station. There was silence. 

“I guess I severely underestimated how desperate you’d be.” Coriolanus snipped. If someone else had said it,maybe you’d rise above and let it be.

But Coriolanus always managed to bring out the absolute worst in you.

In one swift motion,you clutched his shirt in your hands and shoved him up against an adjacent wall.

“Stay out of my way,I won’t ask again.” You said. The two of your eyes locked intensely for a moment.

Coriolanus’s eyes clouded with an emotion you couldn’t quite place. And honestly,besides anger,you didn’t know how to address the other emotions boiling in you.

Coriolanus’s large hands softly brushed yours,grabbing them off of him. And you let him.

“I think I like you without makeup,makes you look innocent.” He said. 

Coriolanus took a moment to move your braids off your shoulder before walking off.

That day, you realized a couple things.

Coriolanus would not in fact stay out of your way.

He found pleasure in irritating you.

Oh and one last thing.

All these factors made him ridiculously attractive to you.