I'm sorry this is so late _ This, for those of you who don't know, is a collab fanfiction I'm doing with Blockworld! :D Life just kinda ran away and I was so wrapped up in it that I never thought to do this =_= I'm so sorry DX But here it is, chapter one, I hope you enjoy! :D

OwOwOwOwOwOwO

"You'll be okay," Alois insisted, holding his brother by the shoulders and shaking him gently. "You'll be fine, they'll never ever pick you."

"But what if they do?" the little boy sobbed, spilling more tears than he wiped away.

"They won't, Luka!" The blonde shook him again. "Your name is only entered once, it's impossible that they'd pick you." His brother let out a few indiscernible cries of protest before he was enveloped in an embrace. "Listen to me, Luka. I've kept you safe ever since mom and dad died, haven't I? I don't plan on stopping."

The younger boy slowly quieted, his face pressed into Alois' shoulder as he trembled with weak sobs.

"Now come, we need to choose your outfit for the Reaping." He placed a small kiss just behind his brother's ear, pulling away and smiling reassuringly at him. "You're going to be okay, no matter what happens, I promise you."

They touched noses, as they had always done, before Alois stood up from his kneeling position.

Alois and Luka Trancy were the infamous orphans of District Twelve. Everyone knew them – but not everyone liked them. T o be honest, no one liked them. Alois never knew what they had done to deserve such neglect from the people their parents had always been ready to help and serve, but now the people had turned on them, as if they were nuisances.

Alois was fifteen years old, but it was hard to tell when he was standing next to his younger brother – they were almost the same height. The other boys often made fun of him for this fact – he was small, slender, and feminine. He couldn't help that they were jealous of his looks – or that was what he often told Luka. He was born with a curved waist, slim legs, dainty fingers and long lashes. He couldn't help that. His hair was white-blonde and cut in a way that roughly framed his face, though one often couldn't tell; it was tousled to the point of always looking like bed-head and the grime and coal dust had tainted it nearly black. His eyes were an electric blue color that scared away anyone who chanced a second glance, and he was an expert with knives. Throwing knives, cutting knives, butchers' knives, you name it, he could use it. This hidden talent gave him hope that if he was ever selected to be in the Hunger Games, he just might have a chance. But Luka… he was practically helpless. The little boy was even smaller and frailer than him, even if he did get the larger portion of food Alois brought back to him. And on top of that, Luka wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone a person. If he was selected in the Hunger Games, he surely wouldn't come back alive.

Alois shuffled through the small closet he shared with his brother, and removed a wrinkled white dress shirt along with black pants. They hadn't been black at first – living in a district of coal miners often did that to clothes.

He handed the two articles of clothing over to him. "Here you are," He said. "You've already had your bath, haven't you?"

"Yes, Alois."

"Good, good." He turned away from the closet and pulled a small iron tub from the place they always kept it, just at the foot of their bed. "I need to take mine, then."

"Hurry, big brother." Luka said, pulling on his trousers. "We have to leave in twenty minutes to make it on time…"

"I know." Alois moved to the stove – also in the same room – and put a kettle of water on it. "Hurry up, old thing." He grumbled. "I need warm water." Luka sat on their bed, fully dressed, watching his older brother move the kettle of now steaming water to the tub, pouring it in. He politely avoided his eyes as the blonde undressed and scrubbed himself down, even remembering to get the dirt out from under his fingernails. He cleaned grime from his face and washed the dirt and soot from his hair, exposing its natural golden color. Once he was noticeably cleaner than he had been earlier, he rummaged in the closet and removed his own white dress shirt and pants, pulling them on. The shirt was beginning to grow tight on him; it hugged his waist slightly, showing off the curves he hated with a passion. It was small, but it would have to do. They had to dress nice for the Hunger Games.

He combed his hair back before moving to Luka and doing the same, making sure no hair was out of place on his brother. Then, taking two ribbons from the closet, he tied a bow neatly around Luka's neck, before tying his own. The younger of the two had to reach up to straighten the elder's bow, and Alois let him.

"We best be off then, shouldn't we?" He held out his hand to his younger brother, who took it and stood up, taking a deep breath. "Everything will be okay." The blonde promised again, kissing Luka's forehead. "Everything will always be okay."

The two brothers left their one-room house and joined the throng of others heading to the main hall for the Reaping. They were separated by age, of course, so Luka and Alois exchanged quick hugs and kisses before departing to join their age groups. Alois was greeted by the usual jeering of other boys, which he promptly ignored with gritted teeth. Luka was met with the quietness of children who'd had their names entered in for the first time.

There was tension in the air – everyone could feel it.

After the crowd had settled down, the Viscount of Druitt flounced up on the stage, taking the microphone in hand. "Welcome everyone!" He called cheerily. "Happy Hunger Games!" he was met with the expected silence, but didn't seem fazed at all. He was particularly obnoxious to Alois, who hated the Capitol fashions. Today the Viscount sported long golden hair done up in some strange bun, and an extravagant dress shirt complete with sequins and feathers. His trousers weren't much better.

In Alois' opinion, he looked absolutely garish.

After a small and utterly obnoxious opening speech (which included Druitt snapping snazzy poses for the cameras, which would inevitably replay this depressing occasion to all of Panem), the Viscount waved his hands over the two glass balls filled with slips of paper. "And now," he called, "The moment you've all been waiting for!" He drifted over to the ball on the right. "Ladies first," he cooed, digging his hand deep into the ball of girls' names. He unfolded it with nimble, painted fingers, then called out a name, "Hannah Annafeloz!" Alois raised an eyebrow. She'd be tough – Hannah was a girl you didn't mess with. She was a seventeen year old monster. Beautiful, yes, but also deadly. There wasn't a soul in District Twelve who wasn't afraid of her, except for her boyfriend, Claude, of course, even if some people murmured that he really was afraid of her but wouldn't admit it.

Alois snickered. How childish.

Hannah pushed her way to the front as one of the boys leaned over to Alois and whispered, "Too bad you weren't picked, Trancy."

The group behind him laughed cruelly, but Alois only avoided their gazes. He wasn't a girl, that's why he wasn't picked out of the girls' bowl.

"Ah, Hannah, how splendid!" Druitt crooned, reaching out to take her hand but she jerked it away with a sharp glare. The Viscount only smiled and moved on. "The boy's bowl, then!" Alois' heart thundered in his chest. There was no way it was Luka, that just wasn't even a possibility.

Druitt reached his hand into the bowl, snatching the slip of paper just resting at the top of the pile. He unfolded it deftly and cleared his throat before reading the name aloud. "Luka Trancy!"

Alois' heart stopped.

OwOwOwOwOwOwO

Alright, blockworld, now you can jump in! I was thinking you could write Ciel's part and I'll write Alois' although I think that could get confusing once they start interacting with each other… but for now I think it should be split up, and when they come together, we'll see what we can do from there X'D

Hope you liked it! Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Huggles,

Emzi