Coriolanus Snow - Head Gamemaker
The Capitol had plans to go all out this year in honor of the Quell, and so far, they had not disappointed. Coriolanus wasn't in charge of planning the events before the games, such as the Parade and the interviews, as that was all Lucky, but he was required to attend the events. To celebrate the conclusion of the first day of training, Lucky planned a banquet for tributes to mingle amongst themselves as well as potential sponsors.
"Thank you for being my date," Coriolanus took his cousin Tigris' hand and helped her get out of the coach they had driven in to get to the grand ballroom.
"What else would I do?" Tigris laughed, placing her feet on the ground.
"Maybe style your Tributes?" Coriolanus chuckled.
Tigris had spent the past few years working as a stylist during the Games, which she enjoyed thoroughly. She was assigned to District 1, which was by far the easiest of the Districts to style. All she had to do was pick out some sort of sparkly fabric and mix it with velvet, as District 1's the District of Luxury, and it's easy enough to dress like luxury. Coriolanus felt for the other stylists though. It was definitely a challenge to make appealing outfits based on District 6's theme of transportation or District 9 and grain.
"You know it barely takes me any time to dress them," Tigris sighed, making her way towards the entrance of the ballroom.
The ambiance of the room was absolutely phenomenal. There was an array of gold and white balloons under the ceiling and sparkly table cloths on the tables. There was actually quite a bit of glitter, and it was practically everywhere. In the center of the room there was a dance floor, where Capitolites were dancing, as well as two of the Tributes.
"That's Brycen and Sapphira," Tigris pointed at the Tributes, "You should meet them!"
Coriolanus followed his cousin to the center of the room where the pair was dancing. It wasn't a particularly romantic or rather sensual waltz, but rather a more casual foxtrot.
"Hello Brycen and Sapphira," The pair stopped dancing when Tigris approached them, "I want you to meet my cousin Coryo."
"Coriolanus," He grunted, "Or you can call me Mr. Snow."
"Why thank you for greeting us Mr. Snow," The girl, Sapphira, curtsied, "I'm thrilled to make your acquaintance."
"It's a pleasure," The boy, Brycen, extended his hand which Coriolanus shook, "Thank you for taking the time out of your day to come say hello."
"I like to see what I'm working with," Coriolanus muttered.
"Pardon?" Sapphira gasped.
"It's nothing." Coriolanus said, "Your dancing is lovely."
"Thank you sir!" Sapphira clapped her hands, "Brycen and I were in cotillion together back in the day."
"I guess we still remember a thing or too!" Brycen nodded.
"Well it was nice meeting you guys," Coriolanus had decided the conversation was going nowhere, "I'll see you during your Private Sessions. Best of Luck."
He walked away and left Tigris to mingle with her friends. He decided to make his rounds and talk to some of the other more esteemed party guests. He told Lucky how wonderful the party was and how he was absolutely thrilled for the Games to begin before wandering over to a table where Mags Flannagan and Micah Fairforge were sitting and chatting.
"Mind if I join?" Coriolanus gestured towards one of the empty chairs.
"Sure thing!" Micah pulled out the chair, "How's planning for this year been."
Coriolanus talked about how the arena he had designed was going to be unlike something either of them had ever experienced. Especially Mags who was in the first Games with a different arena, establishing the tradition of a new one every year. Of course none of the previous arena's had been like this years. There had never been a building inside of the arena, but for the Quell, it just made sense.
"That's absolutely insane!" Micah said after hearing a summary of the plans, "Why couldn't you have come up with that last year."
"You would've wasted it." Coriolanus scoffed, "This year's Games is going to last longer than yours, and we need an arena that suits it."
"Why are you so mad about me winning quickly?" Micah laughed, "You always bring it up like I committed some sort of a crime."
"It was just disappointing, Micah," Coriolanus got out of his chair, "Now I must talk to more important people."
That of course was President Aaron Ravenstill, whom Coriolanus hadn't spoken to in a few days. Constant communication was vital between a President and Gamemaker, but the President had been sick at home quite a bit.
"Excuse me sir!" A girl ran up to Coriolanus as he made his way across the room, "I have got to introduce myself to you!"
"I have somewhere to be." Coriolanus was not pleased.
"Well I'm Sam Hillgaze and I'm the Victor of the 25th Hunger Games!" She said.
"Then I can talk to you after you win." Coriolanus walked away.
He didn't have the desire to speak to somebody so pompous, especially when he was clearly in the middle of more important matters.
"I'm glad you could make it tonight Mr. President." Coriolanus sat besides the President at his small table in the back of the ballroom, "It's been some time has it not."
"I apologize tremendously," He exclaimed, "I just had a bit of a scratchy throat, but I'm well again."
"Not to worry. Not to worry," Coriolanus said, "Your health is what's most important."
The two were served parfaits by an Avox, which they dug into immediately.
"This is divine Coriolanus," President Ravenstill declared after his last bite, "I have an extremely positive feeling that this year's Games is going to be a hit."
"Well needed after last year," Coriolanus shook his head.
"Last year wasn't that awful," The President said, "But this year can be so much better if you put your mind to it."
Oh Coriolanus would be doing way much more than simply putting his mind into it. By the time the Games were done, President Ravenstill's jaw would be on the floor.
Velvette Wilmington - District 8 Female - Age 16
Ever since Velvette took Logan's advice to live her best life in the Capitol, the whole experience had become miles more enjoyable. The chariot costume she was forced to wear was hideous, but the process of being pampered made up for it.
"Let's go get more desert!" Logan said after eating what must have been his third parfait.
"I'd rather stay here." Velvette sighed, "The President has just arrived."
President Ravenstill had come through the doors approximately 10 minutes prior. Velvette had no idea whether or not he knew her face, but he was the reason she was in the Games at all, even if he didn't know what she looked like. The more Velvette thought about it, the more she realized how absurd it was that the President's granddaughter had so much power.
"Well suit yourself," Logan began to get up, "I'm going to go make some friends for us."
"In that case I'll come with you." Velvette followed him.
The pair had been having a bit of trouble making alliances the past day at training. They decided that they personally wanted to stay together, but they knew that they would need somebody else to be on their team. They'd tried to speak to the Tributes from District 5 but they were both so shy it was painful, as was the girl from 10.
"Hey!" Velvette approached a boy that looked slightly younger than her and Logan, "What's your name?"
"Cedar." He replied, "District 7. What do you guys want from me?"
"We were just curious what you were making," Logan gestured to the can of soda he had and the icecream he was getting from the buffet.
"This is a rootbeer float!" Cedar exclaimed, "We made them all the time back at home."
Velvette and Logan followed Cedar to a table where he promised to teach them how to make the elusive root beer float. They watched in awe as he put the ice cream into a drinking glass and then poured the soda over it, causing the ice cream to fix and form a thick layer of sediment.
"How the hell did it do that?" Logan exclaimed after the demonstration, "I want one!"
"No idea," Cedar watched Logan get up, presumably to get supplies for his own root beer float, "Science or something."
"So you seem interesting," Velvette told Cedar, "How did you get elected?"
Cedar told Velvette the story about how he hurt somebody when he was younger and was now facing consequences for it. The kid deserved it way more than the President's granddaughter deserved what Velvette had done. Velvette told Cedar about Logan and her strategy of enjoying the remainder of their lives.
"That sounds like something I can get behind!" He exclaimed.
"We'd love to have you," Logan said as he returned with two root beer floats, "Velvette this is for you."
"You really think I could be your ally?" Cedar asked.
"You can definitely be our ally!" Velvette took a sip of her drink, "You introduced us to this!"
Isaac Galavan - District 9 Male - Age 14
Isaac was so relieved to finally have friends. He'd never truly clicked with anybody back home due to all his trauma, but Xan, Louis, and Brandon really understood him. He wasn't always the person he currently is though. His mother's death affected him in a lot of ways. He had a very good relationship with his mother, and when she died he went into denial for a week. When he accepted it was true, he just stared at the wall for months. He would hardly eat, he wouldn't sleep. He finally decided that he couldn't be happy without his mom, so neither could anyone else. That's why he became a jerk.
Zippeena's death affected him in a similar way to his mother's but wasn't as severe. He had lost two people he cared about, and so had his father. Isaac and Bright are very close, they talk to each other about everything, but Isaac has never told him about him being a bully. Isaac thinks he needs to keep that a secret, because it would be like losing another family member for Bright. Bright would have lost his kind, caring, son that he was before the fire. The boys were family to Isaac now, and they didn't care about his violent past.
"I still think it's so neat that you socked that guy!" Brandon said during the banquet party the Capitol had thrown, "And I totally understand you."
"Your cow technique is still absolutely amazing!" Isaac exclaimed, "And Louis, I'm so sorry about that bitchboy Ryan. You deserve him."
Isaac really admired them. Xan had such an amazing way with the ladies, and it was an absolute shame that none of them could see how incredible he was. Brandon was not only a powerful warrior, but an extremely nice person, and ultimately just wanted to protect his family. And poor Louis was so terribly misunderstood.
"Bros," Isaac said as they were eating, "Not to be gay or anything but I think I'm in love with you guys."
"That's not gay!" Xan said, "You're tight as fuck."
They all fistbumped.
"So what's the move for the arena?" Isaac asked.
"Well Louis and I have been talking about it," Brandon started, "And I think we should obviously go into the bloodbath and fuck shit up, and then get some weapons and thrive."
"I like the way you dudes think!" Isaac exclaimed.
Surely this wasn't the final strategy, but it sure was a good beginning. They'd need a plan for after the bloodbath, but they could just play it by year. Either way, Isaac was so blessed to be doing this with his best friends!
I had the idea for a banquet and I couldn't get it out of my head so this is it! Next is obviously more training.
Alliance Update:
Careers - Brycen Rosenthal (D1M), Sapphira Starlett (D1F), Ammo Lawson (D2M), Hosanna Guerra (D2F), and Sam Hillgaze (D7F)
Wholesome Gays and Adira - Jacob "Pow" Powell (D3M), Ada Barr (D3F), Luca Pargus (D4M), Adira Price (D4F), and Summer Lindell (D9F)
Hashtag YOLO - Cedar Ranthine (D7M), Logan Webster (D8M), and Velvette Wilmington (D8F),
The Fraternity - Xan Freight (D6M), Isaac Galavan (D9M), Brandon Colt (D10M), and Louis Staker (D11M)
The Babies - Simon Steel Clade (D12M) and Christabel Rose Clade (D12F)
Not Yet Allied - Bariq Fossil (D5M), Wendy Roofer (D5F), Winona Morgan (D6F), Willadeene Rhodes (D10F), and Tulip Everly (D11F).