I don't see Zane again until Sionn is helping me into my outfit for the parade. I haven't even seen it yet, I'm only dressed in white underwear and a matching bra when he storms into my room.
"Do you see what they have us wearing? Have you seen the outfit's they've prepared?"
When I hear his voice I instantly cover myself with a pillow from one of the couches.
"We haven't gotten that far yet, Zane. I've only just finished her hair and makeup. Please, take a seat and let Adrianne finish getting you ready." Sionn is extremely calm, not even looking Zane's way as he addresses him.
"Ebony I won't wear it. We're going to look like idiots in front of everyone in Panem." Zane turns to face me and for the first time I see him blush when he sees that I am not fully dressed. "Oh, shit, Eb… I-fuck…" He averts his gaze and looks at his bare feet, trying not to look at where the pillow is clutched to my body.
"Zane, if you'd follow me back to Adrianne, we'd like to get the two of you ready before the parade is meant to begin. And I promise you, if you think you're going to look ridiculous, wait until you see the other districts."
Zane nods and follows Sionn through the door after whispering a hurried apology. I'm left alone in the room and relax onto the couch once the door is shut. I'm not exactly sure what to think, we know the outfits have always been silly, but if Zane is upset over them, who is to say they're not crazier than normal?
I slowly walk over to where Sionn has been hiding my outfit and unzip the sleeve it's hidden in as Sionn walks back into the room. He smiles when he catches me and helps take my dress out of it's cover.
I gasp when I see it. The dress Sionn has designed for me is a light grey and has gears in a cluster from the bust to the end of the skirt in a graceful line. It is strapless, and the skirt billows out and stops just above my knees.
"Here, I'll help you dress." Sionn slips it over my head and adjusts it into place, zipping the back. The dress fits perfectly, not sliding down, and not constricting me either. It's practically weightless. "You look beautiful. Now, just the last touch on your hair and your shoes." He wraps a small silver ribbon around the bun in my hair and adjusts the strands he left in my face. I pull my token out of my dress and let it fall over the edge where it would be visible. A piece of the district to keep it alive.
Sionn turns back to me and instructs me to sit carefully and he slips on high silver heels that make me at least four inches taller.
"Sionn, I don't think I can walk in these." I stare down at the sparkling shoes and click them against the floor.
"Well you won't be walking very much in them. Just to the carriages and then back to your suite afterwards. Now let's quickly practice so you don't fall on your face." He reaches out his hand and helps me up off of the couch. I'm a bit wobbly as I balance, but manage to take a few steps with Sionn's guidance. "See, you're not so bad. Twirl a bit, let us see how the dress flows." He let's go of my hand and allows me to spin slowly. The dress flows outward a bit, and I somehow keep from falling as I twirl and walk, giggling a bit as I do so.
Sionn smiles and asks me to sit. "Now, I'm sure Zane wasn't freaking out about what the outfits looked like, so much as what they do." I look at him, slightly confused. It was an outfit. What more could it do? Sionn notices my confusion and says, "When the carriages begin to move, so will the gears. Don't worry, they're completely harmless and won't do anything to you. They'll just begin to rotate, like you are a moving part of the technology you create."
I stare down at the dress, shocked that something so weightless could hold that sort of technology. When I stood again, I felt the gears. They were cold and hard like the one around my neck.
"Incredible, isn't it? Come let's practice walking a bit and then go find Zane and the other tributes. I expect everyone will be arriving there soon."
Sionn helps me up from the couch once again, and directs me to walk around the room once before he opens the door for me and we head out towards the carriages. Zane is already there standing next to a woman in periwinkle from head to toe. She's holding a light grey top hat with gears along the side that I assumed Zane was supposed to be wearing. He wore a simple white button down shirt with a light grey vest over it that was covered in gears, and a simple black tie and pants. There were a few gears down his right pant leg, and one more dangling out of a pocket of the vest. Once the woman who I could only assume was Adrianne convinced him to wear the hat, he places it on top of his head, and it rests neatly over his hair, exposing his bangs that hang just above his eyes. He looked incredibly well dressed for someone who was dressed by a Capitol citizen.
Sionn takes my arm and helps me walk over towards the two of them and our carriage. Zane spots us over Adrianne's shoulder and his mouth gapes open.
"You look, you—wow…" He stares at the gears on my dress for a moment before moving his eyes to my red face.
"Thank you," I managed to squeak out. "You look wow as well." He laughs at my comment and moves to stand next to me so Adrianne and Sionn could speak to us before we could prepare ourselves on the carriage behind the black horses that will lead us.
"When the carriages begin to move, as you know, so will the gears. Don't be too surprised when they do, and try to keep your composure. There are one hundred thousand people in the stadium tonight watching you, but all you need to do is wave. Don't worry about some not seeing the gears. There are screens everywhere projecting the tributes. After it ends, the horses will bring you back to the ground floor of the hotel. We'll be waiting for you there with Beetee, Wiress, and Courtney. Are there any questions before we leave you?"
Zane and I each shake our head no, and our respective stylists give us a hug before they walk away, chatting animatedly.
"You really do look beautiful, Ebony. The entire dress flatters you immensely. I'm sure the boys back home will be praying they will see you again."
I blush at Zane's comment, and mentally yell at myself for doing it so often around him. "Thank you, but I doubt that. The girls though will be falling over themselves for you, though."
He chuckles under his breath. "No, probably not. But you definitely have some fans here. The District One boy, Troy I think his name is, has been making eyes at you."
I turn my gaze to the District One carriage where the two tributes are getting one last check up on their outfits. Troy is dressed in golden armor that looks like it came straight from a fantasy world. It's plated in the front, and his entire back is open exposing his muscles. The girl from One, Cashmere, is dressed similarly in a Roman Goddess getup. They each wear crowns made of thorns on their heads. Troy occasionally looks up from his stylist to stare at Zane and I, and he grins cockily in our direction.
Unsure of how I should react, I look towards the District Two tributes, Jenna and Damien. The two are dressed in silver Peacekeeper uniforms that fit their figures perfectly. Jenna holds a small shield in her hand and Damien has a mock Peacekeeper weapon on his belt loop. The two stand confidently with their arms crossed watching everyone else.
When Jenna spots me watching, she sneers and I turn my attention to District Four. Gareth, while not the youngest, looks as if he was too old to be participating. His tall build and powerful arms make me peg him as a strong swimmer, as many are in District Four. He wears only green shorts with fish netting draped around him. Sabrina has on a long sea green skirt that touches the floor and a blue top that could pass as a strapless bra. Her bronze hair flows down her back making her look more like a mermaid than anything. Finnick stands with them, giving last minute advice it seemed, and checking out the other tributes.
Keegan and Emmet from District Five look like electric charges. Keegan's dress is much like mine, except it is a navy blue and has little lightning bolts decorating it all the way down to the edges of the skirt, and her hair sticking slightly out. Emmet's hair was styled to stick out on all ends and his suit matched Keegan's dress perfectly. They're preoccupied watching the other tributes, as many of us are.
The tributes from District six, Keely and Lex, are dressed as train conductors, and Oakley and Elwood from Seven appear to be dressed like spring trees. The two districts are so different, but the four are standing in a small cluster chatting casually, even laughing a little.
Zane elbows me lightly and indirectly points over to District Eight's tributes, Tai and Kyden. They're dressed to look just like Capitol citizens with colorful wigs and bright colored clothes. Tai matches her escort almost perfectly, except for the fact that instead of looking excited at the thought of wearing a bright pink dress, she looks in the mountain of fabric.
Over by District Nine's carriage, Priella and Bond stand off to the side as their stylist argues with the stylist for District Eleven. Maelie and Hamlet stand awkwardly off to the side as they stare down Priella and Bond's golden outfits that look too similar to their farmer outfits. Winnie and Spencer of District Ten snicker at the quarrel over by their carriage until Maelie loudly points out that they are dressed to look like old-fashioned cowboys.
Finally I spot District Twelve in their miner outfits all the way in the back of the large room. Aderyn and Coleman are both covered from head to toe with black soot to make their appearance look more realistic.
Suddenly, Zane tugs on the side of my dress and leans down to whisper in my ear, "Sionn was right. After seeing everyone else's outfits, I feel slightly less ridiculous."
I laugh quietly and nod. "At least we look somewhat classy. Some of the districts look like they're about to attend a costume party."
Zane snickers loudly, attracting a few of the surrounding carriages to briefly watch us. The attention is soon lost when the stylist from Eleven makes a loud huffing noise and begins stomping off towards a door, closely followed by the stylist from Nine who clearly isn't done telling the other off. As soon as they disappear, we tributes realize that all of the other stylists and escorts had disappeared, and it was just the twenty-four of us, alone for the first time. The room instantly becomes silent as we take in one another. Each district's tribute stands proud and close to their companion. We each stand as the teams we came with, almost warning the others that we'd be the one to survive.
The hostile silence is broken by a voice over asking each tribute to please get into their respective carriage, the parade is scheduled to begin in less than five minutes. Zane helps me step into ours, and steadily climbs in himself. He watches me carefully.
"Are you nervous?" I look at him, unsure of how to answer. But he seems to already know what it would be, and takes my hand in his. "We may as well continue the trend, right?" I nod and squeeze his hand, facing forward just as our horses begin to trot forward through the large double doors and into the stadium.
As soon as we're through the doors, we're greeted with a monstrous noise of thunderous clapping and cheering. It's only then that I remember the gears on my dress, and peak down to watch. The gears move seamlessly and steadily along my body, and so do the ones Zane wears. He notices them at the same time, and smiles unbelieving at me that anyone could accomplish that.
I look up and see the two of us projected on screen after screen, my shocked face almost unrecognizable. Instinctively, I begin to wave to the crowd like the carriages before us, and Zane catches the memo and does the same, simultaneously lifting our joint hands into the air above our heads. The Capitol citizens surprisingly get louder as we wave our arms and smile proudly all the way to the end of the long strip where President Snow is waiting for our arrival.
Once all of the Districts are together again, President Snow stands and addresses the crowd. "Welcome, tributes, to the Capitol! And welcome everyone, to the opening of the seventy-first annual Hunger Games! We all look forward to what this years tributes have to offer us, and may the odds be ever in your favor!"
The crowd goes wild for his short speech and as soon as it ended, the horses began to move once more into a separate room far away from the commotion of the celebration.