AN: So from this point on I'm just going to put Lavender's nickname "Ven" unless someone specifically calls her by her full name.
Chapter Two: Hell on Heels
Ven was staring out the window in a form of awe; she could see the beginnings of the Capitol district appearing in the window. Compared to District 12 it was massive, and even she couldn't deny its beauty. She felt like she was betraying her District for thinking for a moment that maybe life would have been easier if she was from Capitol, but then she realized if she had been from Capitol then she would be a completely different person. Had she been born in the Capitol she would most likely have been like Olympia, a girl who was willing to paint herself ridiculous colors, wearing wigs and not to mention the crazy clothes. She couldn't help but wonder, if she hadn't been born in District 12, would she still have been as nurturing and family oriented? Or would she have been heartless and selfish?
"Wow, it's pretty amazing isn't?" Ven jumped when she heard Toby beside her, she didn't realize how deep in thought she had been.
"Yeah, sure I guess." Ven said trying to hide the fact that she had been caught off guard, something that could cost her, her life in the Games. Toby seemed to sense she wasn't in much of a talking mood and gave a slight nod and slipped away from her to leave her with her thoughts again. She noticed a reflection behind her and sighed, Haymitch was staring out the window from behind. It seemed like he hadn't noticed she was looking at him.
"It's really ugly there isn't? Once you get a closer look I mean." She said quietly, Haymitch took a step towards the window with a sigh. The two seemed to slip into a comfortable silence for a moment before speaking up.
"Behind the glam is…" He seemed to struggle for words to describe it.
"I'm not going to lie, I'm terrified. I don't want to die Haymitch…I'm still…I'm only eighteen. And the thought of killing someone…I don't want to become a monster…or a murderer. I just want to stay me, and to just continue my life working in the mines like my father and his father before him. And to maybe one day have a family…I just don't know what I want. All I know, is I don't want to die. I don't want to be another forgotten and nameless tribute. Yet, if I win at what cost is it? To be haunted by the Games. I've seen the Victors…I've seen what it's done to them and you. You may put on an act that it doesn't bother you…but your eyes, they don't lie. The pain…and the torture and the never-ending cycle where you have to go back every year and attempt to help new tributes live when you are still struggling yourself." He looked at her with slight surprise at her words yet at the same time he seemed almost relieved at her insight.
"And that is why you have potential. You see past the bullshit of the Games. I promise I will try to get you as many sponsors as possible. But you have to make them love you. Get them to eat out of the palm of your hand. And if you really mean what you said, don't let them change you." He said as the train pulled into the station. She could hear Capitol citizens screaming her name, and even a few were screaming that they loved her. To be honest it disturbed her, these people shouldn't even know her name.
As she stepped off the train she felt a wave of nausea people were trying to grab her and they kept calling her name. Toby however was encouraging the attention, from the people calling his name. The two were then led towards a building labeled remake building, which made the two tributes from District 12 look at each other in confusion for a moment. Toby was then grabbed by what Ven assumed was a woman with bubble gum pink hair that went to her waist in tight ringlets and she herself was then grabbed by a man with dark hair and a dark purple velvet jacket and leather pants, he seemed relatively normal except for his almond-shaped cat eyes. She wanted to resist but figured that it would be pointless.
"Alright dearie strip down and put this on." The man said handing her a silk robe, Ven's eyes went wide the thought of stripping in front of a stranger was awkward enough, not to mention the one asking her to do so was a man.
"W-what?" She asked as she stared at the man who was tapping his foot impatiently.
"Honey, please you aren't my type. Which is why I'm here and not with your fellow tribute. The name is Augustus. And your stylist will be here soon, until then I need to get you prepped. Which means washing off all of that…what is that coal dust? And if needed waxing, let me tell you some of the past girls I could have sworn they were baboons with how much hair they had on their legs! Ew!" Ven gave him a weird look at his words and shook it off as Capitol being ignorant of how fashion is not important in the lower districts. With shaky hands she reached the buttons of her dress to change into the robe. It was at this moment Augustus realized how awkward it was for her.
"Tell you what; I'll step over here for a moment. The stuff to wash with is over there. When you are all done just call me. Best way to make it the so-called Capitol clean you should scrub at least a layer of skin off, at least that's what they do to the poor tributes from other districts." She was actually surprised by his offer and smiled at him with a relieved sigh. She looked at all the scented soap and shampoos and sighed, she decided on the sandalwood scent. After she scrubbed herself and rinsed she quickly put on the robe.
"U-um…Augustus? I'm finished?" He quickly came in with a smile and waved a hand towards a table signaling her to lie down. She felt exposed laying on the table as he inspected her muttering to himself.
"Hmm…it looks like you have actually heard of a razor. Makes my job easier, but I'll still do a touch up by waxing alright?" She just nodded wanting the process to be over. "So tell me what's it like living in District 12? It must have been nice having close family like you do there. I've never seen anything beyond Capitol. And I rarely see my family to be honest." He seemed genuinely curious. And she was a little surprised that he mentioned that to her.
"I suppose…" When he noticed she didn't feel like talking he gave her a sympathetic nod. After he had brushed out her hair for her he looked up at the door with a smile. A woman with short blonde hair and a hint of pink in it stood in the doorway.
"Gus, you better not be causing problems. By the way, thought you'd want to know Odair is here. If you hurry you might get a quick look. Now let me do my job and scram." Augustus let out a howl of laughter before walking towards the door and giving the woman a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Love you bitch! And don't worry you're in good hands here." Augustus said with a laugh and a wink towards Ven before leaving the room.
"Sorry about the spaz. I'm your stylist Nova. I'm supposed to make you desired by all of Capitol and Panem. But I don't want to just make you desirable I want you to be remembered for more than just your body like they do for other districts. We aren't going to put you in revealing clothes because anyone can look desirable that way. We are going to put you in clothes your grandmother won't kill me for. Now let's make those Career bitches jealous what do you say?" At this Ven was a little surprised, and found herself chuckling.
Nova had put Ven in a beautiful black gown with a tiered ruffled skirt; the bodice was a strapless corset like with a sweetheart neckline on it was hand sewn gold embellishments. She couldn't believe how beautiful she felt in the dress. She had on simple black heels that made her small 5'3 frame at least 5'6.
"Now for your hair, it won't be too fancy because you'll have a hat." Nova said with a smile as curled Ven's hair making it in perfect waves and pinned it in a side bun with some strands loose in the front. For her make-up she did a black and grey smoky eye with a peachy pink lip color and for her nails she painted them black. "Perfect, those Careers don't stand with getting sponsors to love them with you looking like that." Nova said with a smirk as she helped Ven up. She turned to hand her a miner's helmet with a wink." Ven raised her eyebrow at the helmet surely her stylist was joking right?
"You want me to wear a miner's helmet?" She asked hesitantly her stylist just chuckled.
"It has a strobe light, figured you guys from District 12 would have fun giving the crazies of Capitol and the Careers migraines." Ven outright laughed at that something told her she would get along really well with her stylist.
"I think I love your foul little mind." Ven said as the two began laughing even harder, she was now positive they could become great friends.
"Now let's go before your laughter tears wash away your makeup. " Nova said as she led Ven out to where the chariots were. Ven looked at the horses with wide eyes; they were far larger than she ever imagined them to be. She walked up to the horse for her district and tilted her head in curiosity as she reached a hand out to pet the large black horse.
"Strange aren't they?" She quickly spun around to see Haymitch drinking from a flask. "Don't worry it's just apple juice with carbonated water. I'm still sober." She gave him a smile. "And by the way what's with the helmet? The rest looks…you look…" Her smile grew as she laughed she watched him stumble for words.
"Thank you. And it has a strobe light to as my stylist said to give migraines to the Capitol crazies and the Careers." After a moment he grinned and let out a howl of laughter. She joined him in his laughter which caused several people to look over at them in confusion. Haymitch gave her a wink before helping her onto the chariot. She smiled at him as she attempted to hide her blush, even though he was seventeen years older than her she wasn't going to lie, Haymitch Abernathy was still an attractive man, haunted by the games but still handsome.
"Just remember to breathe, crazy fact about breathing it's been proven it helps keep you alive, at least through the damn parade. And don't worry unlike the poor District One tributes you have actual clothes on. From what I hear they are only covered with only rhinestones and sequins." Ven's eyes went wide before she gave an awkward laugh. With one last lopsided smile he nodded to Toby who walked over to them and climbed onto the chariot. Toby wore a suit that matched Ven's dress and he had a matching helmet too.
"Good luck you two, and make sure you give them one hell of a migraine." Haymitch said with a chuckle as he walked off.
"You ready for this?" Toby asked with a sigh, Ven could only shake her head. She hated large crowds and she was about to be thrown out into one of the largest crowds in all of Panem.
"Alright you two, when you are ready then hit the button on your helmets to turn on the light. Give 'em hell you two!" Nova said with a wink before the chariot began moving. The two couldn't help but gasp a little at the bright lights and the cheers of people from the Capitol it was overwhelming.
"I have an idea, they want a show? Let's give them a show." Toby said with a smile, he held out his hand for her to take and she smiled at him with a quick nod. Once they joined hands they both turned on their helmets. The bulb moved up towards the sky and immediately turned into a spot light, the spot light moved around grabbing attention from the people before flickering like a strobe light it moved around drawing the attention, of everyone who looked at them with curiosity. It even attracted the curiosity, of a few tributes.
"Nova is a genius!" Toby said with a laugh as he saw some of the Capitol citizens scream in excitement and reach out towards them as if they were the most valuable thing in all of Panem.
"Nova, have I told you that you are a genius yet tonight?" Haymitch asked with a smirk as he saw people immediately turn to look at his tributes completely ignoring the others.
"Nope, but please do continue to remind me Abernathy." The Stylist said with a laugh as she sipped her glass of whiskey. "I can't help it that I'm original and I don't dress tributes in the same costume every year. And hey, you've got company." She said nodding behind Haymitch. He turned to see a few men and women from Capitol with eager smiles.
"Mr. Abernathy? That exquisite female tribute of yours, I wish to sponsor her! I MUST!" Said a man with blue skin and hair, Haymitch gave a smile, but on the inside he wanted to hurl. He knew what men like him wanted with tributes; they weren't looking to sponsor but to hopefully spend the night with her. Many previous victors were sadly in that position. After a few more potential sponsors approached him and left he sighed, he hated dealing with the sponsors, having to beg them to notice his tributes and save them, and then damn them the life of a victor if by chance they survived the games.
"What's got you in la-la land Abernathy?" Haymitch tilted his head back in his seat and noticed a few of his fellow victors and sort of friends of his standing behind him, the one who spoke up was Finnick Odair, an eighteen year old who was the victor four years ago.
"Just dreaming about life away from Capitol, you know the grand life of the Victors." Haymitch said with a smirk, there was a booming laugh from behind him coming from Chaff one of Haymitch's drinking buddies, well he supposed it would be former really soon.
The Parade had finished and the Victors all headed to the elevators to meet up with their tributes. Ven immediately saw Haymitch and smiled before having Toby, help her walk over, she still wasn't used to heels and her feet were killing her.
"Not bad you two, not bad at all." Haymitch said as he offered an arm to Ven who was still having trouble in her heels. The three of them entered the elevator and were then joined by the two tributes from District 4 and their mentors Mags and Finnick Odair. The second the doors closed Ven bent down to take off her heels with a satisfied sigh, she threw them into the corner of the elevator much to the amusement, of the people in the elevator with them.
"What? You've never had to wear those damn things! If the games don't kill me then the high heels will." She said as she leaned against the back wall and slid to the floor with a yawn.
"Then I suppose I should be grateful I'm naturally tall?" Finnick Odair said with a flirtatious smile and wink, much to his surprise Ven just blinked at him once before shrugging.
"I suppose so. But I like being 5'3; it is average height and good enough for me." She said closing her eyes. She only opened them when she heard someone slide down onto the floor next to her, turning to her left she saw the boy from District 4 smiling at her.
"Hi, I'm Logan." He said with his own flirtatious smile, Ven just laughed in his face as she shook her head.
"What is with the guys in District 4 thinking they are a gift to all women? So just spare me the flirting please." Her response made Mags and Haymitch burst into a fit of laughter and Toby began to chuckle.
"Haymitch, I like her. I like her a lot." Finnick said with a grin. The elevator gave a ding and the tributes and mentors from District 4 walked out to their floor. She couldn't help but smile tonight was definitely an interesting night. She found herself humming an old song she remembered her mother singing to her as a child and smiled to herself, she remembered her mother used to always come up with crazy ideas she had about Capitol and what she thought it was like. If only her mother were here to see it, to tell Ven that she was going to be alright if only she was still alive for Ven to tell her all about her time in Capitol. When they reached their floor the elevator made a ding and the doors slid open, Toby immediately rushed out of the elevator to look around the penthouse. It was Haymitch who held out a hand to help her up, she wasn't expecting him to have much strength as he did so when he did pull her up she stumbled a bit into his arms. The two looked at each other a moment, she found him to be intoxicating, it seemed like hours not the few seconds it had been before Toby called out to her from the other room.
"VEN, YOU HAVE GOT TO SEE THIS VIEW!" The two jumped apart as if they had been lit on fire. She quickly grabbed the shoes she had thrown on the floor and walked out of the elevator with a blush, she had to get a grip, in no way was it smart to fall for Haymitch Abernathy. For starters he was her mentor for the Hunger Games, and chances were she was going to die. And secondly it wasn't the brightest idea to be with a Victor not when Capitol practically owned them; she knew she could be used as a manipulation tool if the Capitol saw it fit.
She walked into the open spaced penthouse and looked around in awe she had a feeling that she could fit at least ten of her house in one room alone. She had to agree with Toby, the view of the Capitol from the penthouse was the most amazing thing she had seen.
I hope you guys like this chapter, it's kind of just a filler and an introduction to Nova. Let me know if you want to see more of Augustus, I can keep having him make an appearance. And if you want more Finnick, Mags or Chaff let me know.
I will point out though if you want a Victor to make an appearance it has to be a Victor from BEFORE the 69th Hunger Games. So those with names at this point are: Mags, Woof, Lyme, Seeder, Beetee, Wiress, Blight, Chaff, Brutus, (obviously) Haymitch, Enobaria, Gloss, Cashmere and Finnick.