Chapter 21. Sponsors

They finally arrived at the Capitol.

Nothing much had changed in the short break Katniss and Peeta had from it. It was still the same – large, magnificent, and luxurious. Katniss knew Gale would hate it.

The only thing that had changed over the time was the fashion trends. Peeta had looked particularly confused when he had passed a woman with gills and scales. He even jumped a little when one of the gills moved.

Effie led the pack through, showing them around. She gave them the grand tour of everything from where they would stay to where their makeup and wardrobe would be done. All the while, Gale wore his disgust on his face. Madge, on the exact opposite hand, was staring out one of the large windows of the building at the Capitol's skyscrapers. She was amazed like a young child.

Katniss held Peeta's hand quietly, not looking at Gale. Since their little session in his bedroom, she felt awkward and could scarcely look or talk to either of them. It was too hard, being in love with Gale and being Peeta's loving "girlfriend." It was exhausting.

"And that's everything for now," Effie decreed as they filed into their new living suite. "I want you four to go get ready and be in your make-up and wardrobe rooms in one hour, mentors included."

"Why?" Gale hissed. "We just got-"

He abruptly stopped and everybody else around him seemed to freeze too.

Haymitch was sitting on the couch in the suite, slouched. All this time, he had been with Cinna and Portia, and the entire group now knew why. What he wore was, as Cinna promised, not over the top, but that didn't help him be any less miserable. He had shiny black boots that matched his tighter black pants. A dark purple shirt hung loosely off his body, unbuttoned to the top enough to show a few chest hairs. His eyes were lined with dark purple eyeliner and were narrow.

"We apparently all have to look fantastic for the cameras."

Gale's mood suddenly lifted. He tried not to choke on his laughter.

Peeta's eyes widened. He was too shocked to laugh. "Haymitch. You look..."

Haymitch narrowed his eyes at Peeta. "If you finish that sentence, I promise you will look ridiculous for the opening ceremonies."

Peeta pressed his lips together, saying nothing more.

"Good answer. Anyway, Cinna and Portia have decided that, since there are only two stylists available for us, we'll do Peeta and Katniss first since they'll take less time then Madge and Gale."

Effie gave him a large smile back before patting him on the shoulder. "Look at you, actually doing your new job. And you look marvelous!"

He scowled. "I look like a fool and this is all your fault."

"I'll take the blame," she giggled before turning back to the group. "Well, you heard the assistant. Peeta, Katniss, head on over to the makeup and wardrobe department. This year, they want to interview everybody involved with the games, so you two will be on while the chariots go. They'll have some sort of special announcements at the end of the showing, but it seems they're prepping for a big show."

Katniss didn't look up at her, but she let go of Peeta's hand with a soft and sarcastic "woo-hoo". Haymitch smirked and walked back into Cinna's prep room while Effie followed, motioning for them to follow.

As they all walked in tandem, Peeta's eyes bounced around the room. "It almost feels like we're going in there."

Katniss hesitated, needing the extra seconds to remind herself to breathe. "I know."

"No," Gale asserted with a heavy level of defiance in his tone. "Absolutely not."

Haymitch stood toward the window, his arms crossed and a pleased smirk on his face.

Cinna stood in front of the sitting Gale, his three stylists behind behind him. They were all waiting impatiently for him to comply, but it wasn't happening.

Cinna was holding a dark grey and black leotard that looked more like it was made of plastic. As it swayed, parts where the material creased glowed a deep orange and red, like heated coals. He held it out toward Gale. "It's a part of being a tribute."

"I'm not wearing that. End of story."

Cinna sighed and looked back at Haymitch. "Haymitch, go fetch Katniss please."

Haymitch sighed and nodded, leaving the room quickly. Octavia sighed as well, looking at Venia and Flavius and speaking to them quietly, but loud enough so Gale could hear. "Who knew such a dreamboat could be so difficult?"

Venia snickered. Gale gave them all a disturbed glance.

Haymitch returned with Katniss after a few more uncomfortable minutes. Katniss crossed her arms and looked at him, cheeks slightly pink. "What have you done now, Gale?"

"Nothing," he replied, crossing his arms.

"And that's exactly the problem!" Venia cried out, pouting her violet lips. "He refuses anything!"

She paused, glancing back at the stylists. "He hasn't let you do anything?"

"No! No makeup, no clothing, nothing!"

Katniss stared at them for a while before looking back at Gale. "Gale! You knew you had to do this!"

"I am not wearing that skin tight... thing."

"Madge has to and so do you. You don't have a choice."

"Madge likes this kind of stuff though!"

"No one likes this kind of stuff!" She paused and glanced back at Cinna. "No offense."

"None taken," he laughed. The entire situation water entertaining enough to buy his patience.

She turned back to Gale and sighed. "Listen, Cinna is the best and he's yours right now. He's not going to make you look ridiculous. I was nervous about this too, but he even managed to make me look beautiful. So stop being a baby."

Gale's eyes narrowed as he looked at her for a long, soundless moment before dropping his arms and leaning back. "Just don't show me any mirrors after you're done."

Katniss smiled and patted his arm. "That's the spirit." She turned to look back at the stylists. "Don't be afraid to be rough with him. It's the only way to get things done."

"You really are enjoying this, aren't you?" Gale sighed, putting a hand on his forehead.

"Always. In fact, I may sit in here just to watch you suffer."

"Get out of here, Catnip."

After Gale and Madge finished, Effie shooed the two off before any others could see them. Peeta stood in the hallway, aimlessly waiting for direction on where the two of them are supposed to go. Katniss stood silently next to Peeta, although not close enough that they were touching. She was staring down the hallway anxiously.

"Who are we even waiting on?" Peeta asked, a little confused. "Effie is their escort, do we have one now?"

She paused and looked at him. "I don't know, maybe Haymitch or Cinna will come by or something. I'm so used to waiting for Effie."

"Same here. Even afterwards, she still pretty much acted like an escort to us back at District 12."

The two continued to wait for who knows how long. It felt like too long. And the longer they waited, the more and more anxious Peeta got.

Finally, he had enough. A Capitol man with dark purple and lavender hair walked by and Peeta immediately stopped him. He blinked at the two blankly, Peeta giving a very perplexed stare. "Aren't you two mentors?"

Katniss looked up from the floor and at the man blankly. "Um. Yes."

"What's going on?" Peeta demanded.

"What? Nobody came for you?" he asked. "The chariots already started going out and the first announcement of the games has already been made."

Katniss looked at Peeta quickly. "Oops."

Peeta's eyes widened a little as he glanced back to Katniss. "How would we know that? Nobody came!"

The man laughed a little before starting to walk away. "I'm heading out now to relieve one of the cameramen. You can just follow me if you're scared you'll get lost."

Katniss sighed slightly before taking Peeta's hand and following the man. "Thanks."

The man led them out the door and down to the area where the reporters had already began to interview various mentors. The last chariot to drive out hosted the wire covered District 3 Tributes.

"We didn't miss too much then," Peeta sighed with relief.

Katniss sighed as well and nodded. "Only some of the careers and we want to stay away from them anyway."

Peeta nodded before looking back as a camera crew started their way towards them. Peeta nudged Katniss to be ready before holding her hand and kissing her lightly on the forehead. Katniss was shocked at first but then saw the reporters. She put a besotted smile on her face and touched his cheek lovingly.

The reporter looked like she was about to melt when she saw this but pushed on. "Katniss Everdeeen, Peeta Mellark, I would hate to interrupt such a loving moment! But if we could just bother you for a few moments?"

Katniss tore her eyes away from Peeta's like it was hard to do but smiled at the reporter. "Oh, of course."

"Thank you so much. Your Tributes haven't come out yet, but judging from your Reaping videos, it seems they are both around the same age as the two of you. Any possible background you could give us about Madge and Gale?"

Katniss glanced at Peeta for a brief second. "Oh, certainly. Madge is the daughter of our mayor and one of our dearest friends and Gale is the eldest of his three siblings. He supports his family alone and he's my oldest friend. Definitely the best choice for a Tribute."

She forced a smile. It hurt.

"So then are the rumors true that you and Gale have, in the past, had a relationship? How does that bode with you and Peeta?" she inquired, practically force-feeding the microphone to Katniss.

Katniss yanked her head back from the microphone and quickly shook her head.

"Oh, no, no, nothing romantic. Just friends. Only friends. Peeta's my one and only," she stated, smiling gently at Peeta, even as images from her and Gale's steamy make out session on the train flashed in her mind.

Peeta gave her a small smile before giving her another kiss on the forehead. The reporter gave an approving and ecstatic squeak, before trying to pull her composure together. "Alright, now that the rumor has been laid to rest, one final question."

Katniss smiled up at Peeta before turning her head back toward the reporter.

"What do you make of the announcement?"

Peeta and Katniss both froze for a moment. Neither had heard what the announcement was and, even with his quick mind, Peeta was drawing a blank. The reporter seemed to get the hint and continued.

"I mean, it must have been a shocker to hear President Coin announce the sponsor gifts would be removed?"

Katniss's eyes widened and she looked up at Peeta, her smile fading. They both came to the same realization.

Madge was in serious trouble.