This is always the funnest chapter for me to write-mostly because I could show off the characters. I always feel like the Gamemakers throw a party during the parade, so there's my headcanon.

Chapter 26: Chariot Rides

~My heart is massive, but it's empty

A permanent part of me, that innocent artery

Is gaspin' for some real attention~

Tamlin Kendal- Head Gamemaker

Tamlin drummed his fingers softly against the desk as he was waiting for the screen to go live. It would only be a few minutes until the chariots came rolling in, and he was excited. From watching the reapings, he personally had a few favorites in mind that stood out to him. If he wasn't a game maker, he would probably be making bets on who the possible victor would be.

"You're just going to make a dent in the desk, if you continue doing that," Dimple commented, handing him a drink of champagne.

Tamlin took the flute of champagne from her, and took a small sip of it. It was a shame that he hadn't had enough alcohol in his system yet, as he felt his heart stammer in his chest as he looked at Dimple, her beaming smile looking at him, or someone else, but all he knew it made his knees feel weak.

She looked beautiful tonight, more than usual. Her russet brown skin that looked like when the sun beamed on dirt, that was just right. Her long black hair was tied in a long braid. She was wearing a beautiful red Georgette Lehenga that puffed out around her legs and clung to her figure nicely.

"It's a habit," He responded back to her dryly, "You should know that by now."

Dimple laughed, the sound of her laugh sounding like bells echoing, creating a beautiful tone that he could listen to for a while, and never get old. Tamlin smiled at her, hoping that she could laugh like that all the time.

A warm feeling passed through his chest, and Tamlin debated whether or not to tell her how he truly felt about her, at that moment. He wished it would never end, but alas- it would be inappropriate. He was the boss, and she was the employee in this situation. Besides, he knew that she probably didn't feel the same way that he does. He wasn't going to create an awkward situation in the workplace, not when the Hunger Games was going on in the foreground. It was a simple crush that he hoped would disappear over time.

"I got to tease you somehow," She commented. She turned her gaze towards the screen that was playing and he noticed that the parade was about to start. "It's about to start… I'm really excited to see what the stylists bring together this year!"

"Same."

That was the end of the conversation as everyone gathered around the front, in order to get a good look at the carriages coming down the road. As usual, two black stallion horses trotted down, carrying a black chariot behind them, with the district one tributes standing on top of the chariot.

It took a little bit for Tamlin to recognize the tributes- Merille in particular. He stood out to him during the recap of the reaping, mainly for his long brown hair. Now, he had short hair- barely long enough to brush his fingers through. It was also moosed back so that any unkempt stands stayed away from his face, with a small golden crown laid on top of his head. He was dressed in a black suit, with the cuffs being white at the wrists. When the light caught on his suit, the silver studs glinted brightly.

His district partner, Affluence stood next to him, all smiles and waves. She matched the theme of what Merille had with a tight, dark blue dress that reached her feet, flaring out at the edges. Her sleeves were spaghetti strapped if they were even there, as a black feathered boa was laced across her shoulders. Her blonde hair was slightly curled at the end, with a small, silver tiara on her head.

"Awww, they look pretty cute," a game-maker said loudly. "A prince and a princess." He chuckled at that. It seemed that it was; displaying the rich side of District 1.

District 2 came trotting by. Kairi was wearing silver armor. His entire body was covered in silver armor, and the only thing that Tamilin could see was his face. He had a helmet that merely covered the back of his head, and not the face. Pandora was quite similar to Kairi. She was also dressed in armor, but while no one could see Kairi's body-Pandora's armor was rather revealing.

Pandora had a short, silver armor-it was rather short. It barely covered her butt, and she had black, combat boots on. Her breastplate ended at her stomach that left her stomach exposed. Her black hair was in a high ponytail, with her face covered in dark makeup. She had a sword at her hip. She looked rather sexualized than showing her to be strong like her male counterpoint.

District 3 was rather surprising. Tamlin expected more among the lines of robots that the district has done since the Games started, but it wasn't. It was different and it took him a few minutes to understand it. It made perfect sense. Breccan was covered in black from neck to toe, even his arms were covered. There was a giant, silver angled telescope on him. It looked pretty adorable on him.

His district partner, Veronica was dressed in something similar, almost. She was covered in a white onsie. There was nothing noticeably marked, besides gray, sparkly, thick lines on her around her wrists, knees and waist. She had gray combat boots on-the same shade as the lines. Tamlin noticed that on her torso, there was the Panem flag on her right breast, with the number on the opposite side. She had a white helmet which covered her face.

"What is it?" Dimple asked, having forgotten about the flute of champagne in her hand.

"Space," Tamlin answered, nearly whispering.

Dimple gave him a confused look so he elaborated further,

"The boy is the telescope while the girl is the astronaut," He explained.

It made perfect sense since District three produced technology and scientists- which astronomers were scientists technically. He had to applaud the stylists for that- they finally thought out of the box for once.

District 4 was a little different from the usual fishermen they did. Brine was dressed in a blue dolphin onesie. He looked really warm in that outfit, however, looked really stiff. It seemed like no matter how hard Brine tried, he couldn't move his hands- well fins- around, so he stood there with a smile on his face.

Audrey, meanwhile, looked the same as her district partner, just this time in pink. Hers was much more rounder, and had a wider belly that made her look like she was pregnant. He had no idea if that was intentional since he heard rumors that one of the trains had a crisis, but it was a coincidence. If there was one thing he noticed is that they used the most stereotypical colors that marked the gender, which was weird but he was letting the stylists have it.

District 5 was a little more difficult to understand. It took a few minutes before the idea came to him, and Tamlin understood it. Killian was wearing a dark blue suit that was shimmery. He could see a few teardrops glued on his face and on the back of his hands. His hair was dyed blue to match the suit he was wearing. Tamlin could barely see the little makeup his stylists added on to him.

His district partner, Kalia, was drastically different from him. She was wearing a plain white, Roman dress. He could see little sparks of blue shooting out of her dress. She had a lightning bolt in her right hand and she was waving it around. Kalia's hair was hairsprayed to stay up. It looked really cool. It seemed that the stylists focused on both types of electricity; Killian was the water, while Kalia produced the electricity.

"That's different," Dimple said. "Usually it's connected somehow."

"Both are connected. Killian is water and Kalia is the electricity," Tamlin responded. "Hydroelectricity."

"That makes sense now that I think about it," Dimple murmured.

District 6 was really different. He thought it would be people dressed in a car costume or a train, just not whatever this was. He never visited District 6, now that he realized it. He was only aware that the district was in charge of transportation. Casey was in a green jacket and on the bottom, he was covered in black. He could see pieces of tires on the jacket. The black portion was just tires.

Joette was different from her district partner. She was wearing a fireman's jacket and pants, with black boots. She looked really cute in it. He could see that Joette was also in a little fire truck to go with her costume. Her hair was not noticeable since it was under a yellow helmet, but she was smiling, and waving to the crowd. Tamlin was a little confused on how it related to district 6… It was fine, he loved the creative outtake the stylists took.

District 7, however, they were a little stereotypical. At least it wasn't trees, Tamlin thought to himself. They finally did something different for once. Grover was dressed in a regular, plain-old lumberjack outfit. He was dressed in a red-and-black checkered, long-sleeved shirt with rips seen at his elbows. He was wearing blue overalls over it, and a black beanie covered his black hair. He also had black boots over his overalls, and a plastic ax at his side.

Finley was better than her district partner. She was covered in a black jumpsuit which was barely noticeable, as green leaves were covered all over her body. She had a halo of green leaves on top of her dark brown hair. He could see dark green makeup covering her eyes, and a couple of bracelets around her wrists. It almost seemed that her stylist wanted her to stand out more than her district partner.

"I really hope they're not favoring one," Dimple grumbled.

Tamlin immediately knew what she meant. From what she told him, her 'tiger' parents favored her two younger brothers a lot. They slacked off, while Dimple was always working her butt off with chores, and making sure she was the perfect daughter.

District seven quickly faded away from the mind, as district eight came onto the screen- wearing stereotypical outfits. Auster was stuck in a patchwork outfit. His shirt and pants were all made up of different fabrics. It just made him look really plain, looking while his district partner looked identical to him.

Dorothea was in a patchwork dress. The dress only reached to her knees, and had short spaghetti straps. She didn't really look too happy to be in it, but she didn't let it show. District 8 was so boring compared to the next district. There was nothing special about district eight, most likely than not, they were going to be forgotten.

District nine chariot came trotting down, and honestly maybe his favorite district so far in terms of the design. He had no idea what one of the costumes had to do with nine, but he wasn't complaining. It seemed the stylist tailored it to the person. He was dressed in a popcorn costume. Pieces of popcorn were on his head, and he looked extremely stiff in the outfit. His district partner was just plain hilarious.

Mary Grace was just an actual Mary Sue character. Tamlin laughed at the costume, because it truly was the best one yet. Her long black hair was dyed in neon colors ranging from hot pink to neon green. He noticed that one of her brown eyes had purple contacts in them. Her skin color was lavender purple, and it almost looked natural on her. Her dress was just multiple shades of colors in a rainbow, but he honestly believed she was a Mary Sue. He wondered what Mary Grace's parents were thinking when wanting to name her.

District 10 came next and instantly, Tamlin stopped his laughing as he looked at their outfits. They looked really adorable in it, and probably would have hugged them as if they were stuffed animals. He always had a soft spot for animals in general, but it depended on the right costume for the person. Animals were precious. Hell, he'd probably be a veterinarian if he wasn't a gamemaker or if he didn't love his job.

Dov was dressed in a little cow onesie. His onsie was black and white, and he could see a little tail in the back. The hood was pulled up, and Tamlin could see black ears on the hood. There was also a little face on it, which just made it ten times cuter. His district partner was a little similar in dressed in an animal outfit, but that was where the similarities ended.

Reese was in a fluffy, white, bunny outfit. She was wearing a bunny head, that had very long ears, and a face- that looked creepy- painted on the head. She was holding a little brown woven basket, filled with blue, yellow, and pink plastic eggs with a blue ribbon wrapped around her hand and the basket.

District ten came out of mind as soon as district eleven trotted down. They were underwhelming compared to the previous district. Demetrius was in a big blueberry outfit. His entire face was covered in violet, and his head had a round blueberry on it. It was pretty clear that the guy was a giant blueberry.

His district partner, Jasmine, was dressed in a similar outfit. She was dressed in a giant apple. She was wearing black pants underneath, and white gloves which made little sense. There was the apple stem as a hat on her head, and she didn't really look that good to eat. It seemed that this year's stylist never tried with the district.

Last but not least, District 12. As usual, there was nothing good about them. It shouldn't be that hard to create something that wasn't boring or overlooked. It seemed like the syslists failed. Flynn was wearing a very ugly coal miner outfit, with a dirty coal miner helmet. Alda was wearing the same exact thing as him save for a few alterations in length, but what disturbed him was the fact that there was a twisted smile on her face. He could hear a few small giggles coming from her part, and he knew she was going to be a force to be reckoned with.

"That was certainly entertaining," Ximena, another game-maker, commented. "Like usual."

"I'm not sure what to think of it," Tamlin said. "There were a few interesting ones."

Ximena laughed a little, "If I wasn't a gamemaker, I'd probably bet my money on Joette, Breccan or Merille… All three stood out."

"What about Mary Grace? Another gamemaker, Percy, chimed in. "Her outfit was unique despite having nothing to do with nine."

Dimple laughed before adding in, "She's a parody character. Mary Sue. I bet you that she wouldn't make it far."

Tamlin heard wheels rolling down the platform. He noticed that Ashish was finally going to chime in.

"My bet is on District 2… They look like the strongest pair," Ashish pointed out.

"Are you forgetting about the outlier districts? There were a few unexpected victors… Celaena, Vernon to name a few," Dimple said.

"It's anyone's game," Tamlin chimed in, "It's may the best tribute win so we'll see."

That broke up the conversation. Everyone went back to mingle with the other gamemakers. The room was filled with buzz and Tamlin smiled. He had a feeling this year's tributes were going to be interesting.

I wrote this chapter two years ago, during this time. I'm on spring break so I'll get a chapter out. I'll probably write a few chapters with updates coming out every other week. Drop a review and tell me which your favorite tribute's outfit was.