CHAPTER XVII. REAPINGS RECAP

"Symbols are nothing but the natural speech of drama."

-Tennessee Williams

CORIOLANUS SNOW (33) - PRESIDENT OF PANEM

Coriolanus was bored, rather he was miserable as he awaited the television feed from the Reapings for the 26th Hunger Games. It was an odd feeling, knowing he wasn't responsible for killing the children he was about to see in the most entertaining way possible, or at least, he wasn't as responsible as he had been in the years prior. It was somewhat refreshing, knowing he could focus on bigger and better things, such as what happened to Victor's after they won, and how the Games could be made better, without having to deal with all the fuss of putting on the Games themselves. Coriolanus was elated to finally be where he wanted; the face of the Games, without worry too much about the Games. He had other issues still, such as the rascal that was Lucien Grayson, who was sweet at times yes, but most of the times loud and obnoxious. As if those Clade kids were annoying enough, at least they didn't look like the finger on somebody who had spent too long in the bathtub, but wasn't that all babies? Yes, yes it was.

"I can't believe we have some time for the two of us for once," Livia, who had become a tad bit more annoying since giving birth sat down next to him, "I feel like we haven't had alone time in forever."

"We have alone time when we sleep," Coriolanus grabbed the bowl of grapes Livia was carrying and popped a few into his mouth, "We need to watch this now."

"But we haven't had sex since the baby," Livia, clearly tipsy stroked the rough part of Coriolanus' beard, "This may be our only chance for who knows long."

"Livia. Reapings." Coriolanus rolled his eyes and turned on the television.

Maybe he should've had Bellamy, the lady who was nannying for Lucien watch Livia too. He hummed along as the Panem national anthem played, practically, but not actually shitting himself with excitement as the ceremony from District 1 began to play.

"They had two Volunteers!" Livia exclaimed, choking on what the hell was in her wine glass, whatever it was not being strong enough, "Isn't that ridiculous?"

"That always happens in 1, 2, and 4," Coriolanus sighed, knowing he was in for a long night.

As for the Tributes from 1, they seemed, well average. The boy, Eros looked young for his age, but his bright blue eyes practically shone through the screen, leaving even Coriolanus captivated. Fila, that was the name of the girl, had red hair and freckles, making her a bit of a diversity candidate. Very nice to see!

"He's handsome," Livia cackled once she saw the boy from 2, prompting Coriolanus to throw a grape at her cheek.

She did have a point though, Bellawhatever, Bell, was atypically handsome, but so was Coriolanus, which was a given. Moira looked rather somber, even though she had volunteered, and well, he couldn't blame her for being sad, since well she was probably going to die, but she quite literally asked for it. Career District's have gotten boring anyways!

"There's two redheads now," Livia at it again with another incredibly astute observation, this time about the District 3 girl.

"You have quite a good eye," Coriolanus mocked her, pouring her a second glass of wine in hopes it would knock her out.

The girl did indeed have red hair, and she seemed shy, but that was all Coriolanus had to say about her. The boy though, oh he was a piece of work. The Escort called out his name, then he volunteered for himself. He was also wearing a top hat and looked like a first rate buffoon. Oh, it appeared he had stolen the Escort's ring. Clever little bastard!

Sadly, poor Kingston from District 4's big volunteering moment was overshadowed by the girl sitting next to him, fully dropping dead on the ground. The reporter said that it was his sister who had just died, so that was definitely awkward. Lana, the girl, not to be confused with Liana from District 3, oh who was he kidding, Coriolanus was already confused, looked scary, but scary was good at times.

"Doesn't he look like he needs a haircut?" Coriolanus gestured at the raggedy locks of the District 5 boy to Livia, who bless Panem was finally passed out on the sofa.

But yes, Clancy appeared to be a bit of a cryptid, with an odd look on his face like he knew something, or at least he thought he knew something, whatever the hell that meant. Ares, his partner appeared to be more relaxed, oddly as though she was expecting this to happen.

Well that was fucking fresh! The girl from 6 who looked high off her ass Volunteered for the Games. Coriolanus was guilty of a few mistakes when he was drunk, but never would he do something that could so easily get him killed. Surely she didn't have any better reason to Volunteer. The other kid fell asleep during the Reapings which was quite embarrassing, and surely wouldn't bode well with the Capitolites.

Marcel, wow! She looked like how Livia looked back in the day and how Coriolanus wished she looked like now. He was certainly hoping other people would see their enchanting physical similarities and give her gifts because wow, she was a sight. The boy Palmer appeared robotic, definitely calm, and way less like somebody the Capitol would get into which sucked for him, but there could only be one Victor anyways.

8's girl Teresa looked almost too old for the Hunger Games, but she was eighteen so that made a bit of sense. She looked like she had an attitude, which could either be a good thing or a bad thing. The boy Challis was definitely younger, appearing to be on the more mischievous side of things, which was good when it came to being in the arena, if he survived the bloodbath that was.

For Panem's sake why did Saf from District 9 have to dress like she was fucking homeless? Yes, there was a chance that she actually was homeless, but maybe she could pretend she wasn't for the day. The boy Alarico was holding another boy's hand which was disgusting, not the fact that they were two boys but the fact that they were in love or at least appeared to be. Love is love and love is awful.

Piper of 10 looked like one of the more normal people in the arena, which went a long way if everybody was as nutty as Coriolanus hypothesized them to be. She had this girl-next-door charm to her that he somewhat enjoyed. The boy Alabastor was a mess, trying to run away from the crowd which made Coriolanus excited to throw grapes at the television screen, already knowing the worst was yet to come for the kid.

Yet another stupid decloration of love, yes this was only the second one, occurred at the District 11 Reaping. The girl Dephra's boyfriend yelled about wanting to go instead, and Coriolanus couldn't help but laugh at the stupidity he showed, almost to the extent he nearly forgot about the boy Pith, who seemed shy and forgettable anyways.

And finally, there was District 12, which was still Coriolanus' least favorite District after he saw Etta and Morgan, who both had typical over-the-top reactions to being Reaped. Nothing could possibly be worse than Christabel Rose and Simon though, but Morgan's wailing certainly put him in the running.

It appeared to be a fun batch of kids, definitely ones Coriolanus wouldn't envy raising himself though, since Lucien had taught him that there was no point in raising kids anyways, they stink. He growled to himself in the darkened room, his wife still asleep, and the only light coming from the television itself. He wanted to know what the girls had in store for these demons, and Coriolanus couldn't wait a second longer.

So that was just a quick little recap to remind everybody who all our amazing Tributes are, and the next chapter will be the first part of the train rides to the Capitol, which means the Tributes will be interacting for the first time. Very exciting!

Have a good day everybody!