I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES

Logan, West Virginia. The Next day.

The sun shine through the windows of the bedroom, waking Coriolanus Snow. He looked over and saw Lucy Grey Baird sleeping soundly on his chest. Coryo grinned as he planted a kiss on her lips; waking her up.

"Morning handsome..." she said with a smile as she returned the kiss.

"That I may always wake up to such beauty as this." He replied as he gently ran his finger along her arm. Lucy Grey giggled as she snuggled up to him, enjoying how safe her capitol boy made her feel.

"Breakfast is ready!" Ruth called out from the kitchen as the delicious smell of Southern home cooking leaked into the guest room.

"We should get our grub before it's gone." Lucy Grey remarked as she caressed her lover's cheek.

"Yeah...my stomach's crying out for food." Coryo replied as he and Lucy Grey crawled out of bed and found that the Howells had laid out clothes for them. They were a little bit, but Coryo was sure that once their bellies filled out, they'd fit good enough. The couple walked into the kitchen to see a huge spread laid out before them.

"It's about time you two crawled out of bed." Ruth said with a smile as the pair sat down at the kitchen table with the other Howells. The meal being served was biscuits and Sausage with gravy.

"The food is delicious, Mrs. Howell." Coryo said with a genuine smile as he piled his plate high and dug into his breakfast. It was such a relief for the capital boy to be able to actually enjoy eating. He had never forgotten the bitter pain of hunger that had stalked him all his life.

From when Coryo was a child during the war, forced to eat paste, to when his grand ma'mm couldn't afford to buy food as regularly as needed, to the academy where even though food was included as part of tuition, he still could not fill his belly; out of fear that the other students would realize that , as Dean Casca Highbottom put it, "the Snows don't have a pot to piss in."

"Eat up Coriolanus, we got a big day ahead of us." Joshua said as he took a big gulp from his mug of coffee.

"Do we?" Coryo asked as he perked up at the man's words.

"While you were asleep, Ruth and I were talking and we figured out a way for you to earn your keep around here." Mr. Howell answered as he squeezed his wife's hand. "Coriolanus is going to come work with he at the auto shop."

"Do you have any experience with cars?" Samuel asked curiously, as he looked worried about having to pick up any slack for what might possibly be a noob.

"Very little, but my friends say that I'm a fast learner." Coryo replied with confidence. Truthfully speaking, he didn't know a whole Hell of a lot about vehicle upkeep or repair; but if this was how he was able to get room and board, so he it.

"All right then, I'll teach how the in's and outs if the business." Joshua agreed with a nod of approval. "Until you can handle it on your own, you can help out in the front office. Do you have any experience with doing office work?"

"I did some secondary work for my father's arms manufacturing company when I was in secondary school." Coryo said with a smile. In actuality, Coriolanus Snow had never worked as a secretary in his life. Such work, like manual labor, was beneath him. But he was not in a position to refuse this work.

"As for Lucy Grey, I thought you could help me keep the house in order and take care of Esther if I'm busy with chores." Mrs. Howell offered.

"That sounds just fine, I'm sure Esther and I'll be the best of friends." Lucy Grey replied as she squeezed Esther's hand. The young girl in turn was mesmerized by Lucy Grey Baird and was glad to have a new friend.

Howell Tires and Auto Shop. Logan, West Virginia. Later that day.

"Boys, this here is Coriolanus Snow. He's gonna be helping us out for a while; so you help show him the ropes." Joshua said as he introduced the blond capital boy to his fellow grease monkeys. They chuckled a bit at his silly name, but Coryo refused to let them see his annoyance. If he'd learned anything from watching the Hunger Games, it was that there was a time and place to kick ass; this was neither.

"Nice to meet you." He said politely as hands were shook. After introductions were over, Coryo was shown into the front office where he was instructed to answer the phone if it rang and handle any incoming or outgoing orders. Samuel was supposed to be showing him how to do it, but he claimed that he needed to catch up on his Social Studies homework. Actually, he was blowing off both of these to talk on the phone with his girlfriend.

Coryo decided to do some snooping while the Howell boy was distracted and looked through his textbook. If he was going to live in this world, he needed to know everything about it. He found that West Virginia was one of the United States of America; which was apparently a global superpower. He drank up the knowledge in the Social Studies textbook greedily as he learned about US history.

What really caught his attention though, was the section on Washington D.C. It was the capital of the US and it made Panem's capital look like a slum. It was a tribute to civilization and order and power. Coryo's heart sang as he looked over the strength the city and government projected. At that moment, Coryo vowed that he would get himself and Lucy Grey out of this backwater and to Washington where they belonged. If he couldn't get back to the old capital, he'd make his home in this one.

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