Disclaimer: Suzanne Collins owns The Hunger Games and Cinna. I'm simply fleshing out his character a little.
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He's always loved fire. As a child, he filches his mother's lighter from her tiny, stylish purse of the week and hides it until she stops looking for it and buys another. Then he spreads a non-flammable cloth, one of those provided to every household in case of an accidental fire, on his bedroom floor and lights a small pile of hand sanitizer. He loves looking at the bluish light flickering across the walls.
There is a bonfire the night that he meets Quintus. He doesn't like men, but homosexuals get further in the Capitol's beauty market. Something about knowing that you can gossip with your stylist about hot guys keeps women coming back. He doesn't like women either, so why not? He watches flickering orange wash across Quint's face as Quint grunts and thrusts.
Propose and present a plan for this year's Hunger Games. How would you style a district of your choice? He's finished with his beauty school assignment- he sketched several bright outfits for District Five which give off colorful, non-toxic chemical fumes- but he's disappointed that he couldn't incorporate fire into them somehow. The slim book he leafs through contains a list of each District's assigned activities, each item with an accompanying photo and short synopsis. There. An image of fiery coal attracts his attention. District Twelve. A slow smile spreads across his face as he sits back and begins to imagine a swirling, burning skirt.
When his ebox pings, he knows what the message will be. A colorful invitation to the greatest stylist competition of the year. The prize for the winning partnerships: a District to style in the Hunger Games. He'll ask Portia, the quiet one with the creative mind equal to his own, to compete with him. And two children, chosen in a month, will wear fire as a crown.
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If someone would offer to beta this, I'd be overwhelmingly grateful, since I know it needs help. Mer, over and out.