Blood and Roses

Ricochet took the elevator to the upper level of Snow's estate where her apartment was. There were halls and stairs and elevators that led to every room of every floor from her apartment so she was always around if Snow needed her. Of course, another guard would take her place at Snow's side but she was never really comfortable unless it was her at his side. Coiled and ready.

Her apartment was sparse and empty. There were no photographs of her family or of Snow's family; no paintings or fashionable photoshoots on the walls. The walls were white and there were no doors, the walls curved and cut in to block the bedroom and bathroom from the living area and kitchen. There was a wall of windows to her left overlooking the mountain range in the distance and the busy colorful life of the Capitol below. The estate was perched higher than other buildings in Panem, the city's center, and all the life happened below her. Below them.

She untied her hair from the back of her head and let her wavy hair fall down to the middle of her back. She pulled off her boots and left a trail of clothes from her living room to the bathroom and by the time she reached her show, she was nude except for the dog tags around her neck. Tags she never took off of her body. They hung to just beneath her breasts and the little shocks of cold as they brushed against her skin had her skin erupted in goosebumps. Ricochet started up the shower, so hot the steam was already fogging the window as she pulled a fluffy towel from the bathroom closet and set it on the sink. She stepped in and let the water beat at the grime and sweat of the day. The mountains were often cooler than the rest of Panem and it was winter but Snow kept his estate unseasonably warm and the only relief was the cool airy place of her apartment. Ricochet could not, however, stand cold water. It seized up her system and she only confronted it when she needed to.

Pouring sweet smelling lathers into her hands to work into her thick hair, Ricochet relaxed under the water and scrubbed at her scalp and then her body, sun kissed skin glowing under the shimmer body lathers she was gifted for some promotional extravaganza Snow had brought her to.

Once she was clean and rinsed, she turned the water off and wrung her hair out before stepping into the bathroom, wrapping the towel around herself. She stopped dead when she sensed something was off. She listened and heard pages of a magazine flipping in her living room. Someone was in her apartment. Ricochet quietly crept into the living room, seeing a shape sitting on her couch, idly flipping through a book or magazine she had setting on the table. She pulled a letter opener from the desk as she passed and just as she was about to bring it down on the person's neck, he reached up and caught her wrist.

"Hardly a way to greet a guest," he tsked her and she rolled her eyes as she muttered,

"Odair," he grinned and winked at her as she pulled her away and dropped the letter opener to the floor. He stood and took in the sight of her in a short towel, water still sliding down her shapely legs and toned arms. He purred and reached for her but she stepped out of his reach, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm here to keep you company, do you need help drying off?" he asked with a charming smile and Ricochet scoffed, a crinkle in her nose as she looked him over. A fine button down shirt the color of the sea and his eyes and dress pants. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you," he sang stepping closer and Ricochet glared.

"Any closer Odair and you go back to Four in pieces," she warned and he held up his hands up defenselessly.

"Alright, but I am to escort you to your party," he told her as she turned and headed for her room. "I've seen you naked before," he called after and she scoffed again,

"Half of Panem has seen me naked before."