-Pepper French, 15, District 8-

Pepper wiped her hands on her dress as she watched Jamir leave the stage. Even with how talkative he was, everyone still loved him. She had a lot to contend with. So far there hadn't been anything even close to a bad interview – even the ones that weren't as memorable were objectively good.

For a moment, part of her wondered if she oughta be that bad interview – even bad attention was attention, right? No, she knew that once everyone heard the story she had to tell, they were going to love her.

And she didn't have much longer to wait.

She watched as Sabine Marcellus was announced to the stage. She was wearing a white dress that went halfway down her thighs with a strapless neckline and pleated at the bottom, along with black shoes and tights with black gloves to the elbows. She had a headband on with a white rose and a black satin choker around her neck. The crowd loved her when she slowly moved on the stage. The PA in the back looked nervous at how slowly she moved, but she obviously wasn't interested in help.

She didn't even take Caesar's hand to help her sit down on the loveseat, though it looked like a bit of a struggle for her. It took her so long to come out that the actual interview felt somewhat short, and not much of note happened. The one thing that Pepper could admire about her was how honest she was, even when it made Caesar gasp and cover his mouth in shock at her being so blunt.

The crowd applauded for her and despite the sluggishness, nobody came to help her move any faster off the stage. Caesar, whether he was supposed to or not, was respectful enough to wait until Sabine was out of sight before announcing the next tribute.

"From District Seven, welcome… Bucket Tanzer!"

Pepper noticed he still hadn't put his jacket back on – he had taken it off in a hurry after Kama- well, Maverick's interview, asking the PA to take it out for him to wear on his lap for the rest of the time, no matter how short. But the PA practically threw the thing back at him, telling him to get back in line. Pepper was sad that such kindness was treated that way, but at the same time… She didn't need other tributes getting so much good press for being nice to each other. He still hadn't put the coat back on, wearing it over his shoulder in almost an act of quiet defiance as he walked out on stage.

His coat, like his vest, was white and bejeweled with gold patterns. Underneath he wore a white shirt with a black bowtie, white pants, and black dress shoes. He looked sharp with or without the coat as he put up a hand to wave to the crowds.

Nobody commented on the coat, moving the interview forward with some wholesome banter between Caesar and Bucket – he talked about being trans back home, changing his legal gender and name back home before the reaping. And he talked about how one of his biggest dreams was finding his name. He made Caesar try out a few of them with him – Sean, Cody, Ron, Lelsey, and of course, he had to make sure that he wasn't a namesake of the interviewer himself. And oh how they laughed when Caesar leaned into the humor of calling him Caesar as well, making weird faces all the way.

But Pepper had to make herself look away from him, knowing that she was next and she had to get in the zone, and not worry so much about everyone else. Like that was going to happen. But she really had to try now.

This was her one chance to make them look her way. She couldn't fuck it up.

She nervously smoothed herself from top to bottom – slowly lowering her hands to touch her scalp, not used to her hair being straightened and flatted down, despite how many smelly chemicals and how many hours her prep team spent to do it. Then, she ran her hands down the sides of her dress, until they reached the flared skirt. It made her big for once – well, bigger, still not big compared to the older tributes and Careers, nor was she small like the younger tributes. But now she at least took up a little more space.

And she really did feel beautiful. The dress was a cool blue-green with lilies in soft yellows and oranges down each of the ruffles of her flared skirt that went down to the ground and covered her feet – wearing flats, not heels like most of the older girls.

The PA gestured for her to step forward as people were clapping for Bucket and she took a deep breath. How was she to go after that? She would have to just do her best, keep her head up, and… Make it work.

It was finally her moment.

"Please welcome Pepper, uh… French!" Caesar spoke slowly, as if he was going to say the wrong name. But he didn't say the wrong one and she just had to be thankful for that as she stepped out on stage. The light hurt her eyes for a moment, lashes sticking as she took a slow blink to adjust to it, before getting her bearings back and powering her way over to Ceasar.

She just had to tap into a character and commit to it. People liked characters. They didn't like normal little girls. So she would be a character. She just had to learn to act.

As awkward as it felt, she plastered a smile across her lips – boy she wished she had some sort of cute red lip rather than this more appropriate nude color. She just had to stand out, she was trying so hard to stand out.

"Welcome to the Capitol, Miss Pepper."

"Oh, thank you," Pepper said. What angles hadn't been pulled yet? More importantly, which angle can she pull off at this point. "Happy to be here." No, no, she sounded so… Generic!

Family. Family! Just ask me about my family already. But she couldn't be pushy, people didn't like that. Well, unless it was Ritter but Ritter already won so he could do whatever he wanted.

She just had to sit and bide her time. How long was too long? She couldn't lose her chance!

"Alright, well, tell us. If you could go anywhere, where would it be? You know there are so many places in the Capitol you have yet to experience!"

"Well…" Pepper thought about it for a moment. "I guess anywhere," she said, but no, they wouldn't remember her if she was too vague! "I mean, art museum!" She had seen an ad for one last night. She found art a little bit boring, but she was committed to it now. "Yeah. I like art. I mean, I uh, like to make characters and write, so I would like to see them brought to life somehow I think."

That got some oohs from the crowd, and she sat up taller. She knew how to speak, she knew how to put words together, she could get them to like her. She had to.

"Oh, there is a lot of art to see here in the Capitol, so you'll be pleasantly surprised. Looks like we have a creative spirit that would fit in perfectly!"

Perfectly. Yes, she liked being perfect. She spread out her teeth to give them a big smile, really feeling like she could belong here and she wanted them to agree.

"So Pepper, take us through a normal day in your life. What is a day in the life of Pepper F?"

Pepper had to resist making a face at being called Pepper F. What were the odds that someone else got reaped that shared her name? No matter, she had to just get to her family and she could finally get her chance to stand out.

"Well," said Pepper. "Let's see." She thought about it for a moment because she had to showcase everything she could. "When I was younger, I used to be awakened by my Mom. But she just works so hard now, she is usually at work by the time I need to be awake." Was that enough to say? Did people like it? "The working isn't good for her. She's sick. The Victor money would really help her."

The crowd oohed and aahed, and Pepper took a deep breath. Yes, okay, this was working. "Thankfully, I have my sister. Dottie. She's my best friend and also takes a lot of the parenting duties. Well, because… Our Dad left a while ago." She put her head down for a moment and the crowd murmured in sympathy. Sympathy, good, good. "Then, my other sister Ginger helps me get ready. She's got the best style sense and is really creative. She has to be, she's been turning a lot of her old masculine clothes into femme clothes to pass better."

"To pass? As feminine?" asked Caesar.

"That's right," Pepper said, hoping that was tasteful enough. "I could really help her with the Victor money too, to feel more like herself. But she was there for me and we bonded over being queer together." She wasn't sure she should say that word, but it just came out, and the crowd was murmuring amongst themselves so she smiled a little more. "They always make me get my little brother out of bed. Checker. He's soooo annoying and sooo gross. But he'd do anything for me. So I deal with his little goober self anyways."

The crowd laughed at that and Pepper sat up taller. She was getting them, she knew that if she could just tell her story they would accept her and love her!

"So anyways… We all go for class in the mornings, but my older sisters go to work in the afternoons. Pretty soon I'll have to go to work too, to get our family more money for my mother. Well… Now, possibly not."

"This really seems to be a much-needed golden ticket for you."

"It really is an amazing opportunity," Pepper said, nodding gracefully, or as gracefully as possible.

"So what do you do after school?"

"Usually I just sit and write," Pepper said with a shrug. "I like to escape to a different world. And my girlfriend supports me when I write. Thank you so much Rhae, I love you Rhae! She's the best. She's so protective of me."

"Oh, we love to see young love!" Caesar said as the crowd was clapping and cheering for her. Applause, wow! She beamed.

"Yes, and I would be amiss if I didn't mention my best friend Buffy, they're awesome. Oh, and Cormac. He's so fun and goofy. You know how I met him?"

"How?" Caesar asked, leaning towards her with wide interested eyes.

"I met him at the hospital," she said with a sigh. "I was there with my twin sister. Piper. We were…" She squinted. "Six. And he was there getting treatment for leukemia. He was the only thing that made me smile after she died." She put her head down in a quiet reverence as the crowd aaaawed for her. She nodded in acceptance of their sympathy. "We couldn't afford medicine to help Piper. But we can save my Mom now, thanks to this opportunity. I intend to take it." That got them cheering for her again, and she put up her face. "Thank you Cormac. You did it all for me. I…" She bit her lip. Should she do it? She was so inspired by Jamir! "I… I think I have feelings for you, Cormac," she said quietly, and that caused a gasp throughout the crowd. "I'm so sorry Rhae! I love you too! I think… I think I love both of you!"

"Oh my," said Caesar, and the crowd was awing and clapping for her.

"I'm sorry, I can't help how I feel," she said, taking a shaking breath and shaking her head, swallowing a lump in her throat.

"Well, how very brave to profess your feelings like that," Caesar said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I guess we'll have to wait with bated breath to see if you can make it work with them both."

"I guess so," she said quietly.

"Well, you have had quite the life then! But I want to hear a little more about Pepper in the time we have left." She noticed he didn't call her Pepper F this time.

"What is your personal philosophy?"

Pepper took only a few seconds to think about it – she didn't have a lot of time. "My philosophy is to live every day like it's your last. After losing my sister, I know now. You never know when will be your last." She put her face down, taking a deep breath which shook just a little bit.

"Everyone, here is Pepper French!" Caesar said. The applause on the way out was way louder and Pepper knew that she succeeded with what she had to do.

She was grinning as she walked off the stage and saw Mav waiting for her with a hand outstretched.

"Wow, that was… Brave," he said, and Pepper smiled as she shook his hand, feeling good for the first time since getting reaped.

"Thanks Maverick."

They all looked up hearing the crowd applauding for the next tribute – Pepper's district partner, Nico Rinaldi. With what everyone knew about him, it didn't feel like coincidence that he was dressed in a gray pinstripe suit. At least they didn't put a stupid hat on him. Instead, he was wearing a plain white shirt and black and white plaid tie with a matching pocket square. He looked sharp as he put a smile on his face and walked out on the stage.

And of course, he had to put his best foot forward. He fit right in with Caesar, making Pepper grit her teeth a little at the thought that they were going to forget about her so soon. He seemed pretty sincere to Pepper, though maybe that was her being naïve about things. He talked about his family, of course, as soon as Caesar could get a word in he was asking Nico about his father – the disgraced mayor of the District that let crime run wild – while having his nose buried deep in multiple heinous things including sex trafficking.

Nico denounced his father loudly and proudly, talking about how different he was from him and the evil he caused. He even got a little tearful, which made the crowd ooh and ahh. Pepper narrowed her eyes for a moment, disgusted at them being so easy to please by his theatrics. They sent him off with a plethora of applause, and even Antigone was clapping for him in the back when he came in.

Pepper just closed her eyes, wishing for an interview to soil the night more than her own. Was she too boring? Did they not like her? She didn't know now…

Doe Howard was announced from District Nine. She was wearing a red dress with just a tiny V-neck, a ruffled skirt with an interesting seam pattern that went down to her knees and had a red bow around her waist. She was the unimpressive interview Pepper wanted – she was cute, but shy, and stuttered through most of her time. Her family and friends were all but forgettable, as if the details hadn't even been paid attention to by the author of life.

She got some applause – was that quieter than Pepper's? She thought so. She deserved less applause. She was boring.

Her District partner came up next – Carlisle Grey. He was wearing a navy suitcoat, a dark blue dress shirt and tie, with a navy vest with golden flowers embroidered on it. He was pretty quiet, but of course he was asked immediately about his arm – well, lack thereof. What happened? Everyone wanted to know. Sometimes Pepper thought it wasn't their business. But anything to put on a good show. He talked about the combine accident that took off his arm – and also tanked his family's grain business. He did open up after that about what it was like to feel so responsible for his family's well-being at such a young age, and how he was treated as he was recovering. The crowd loved that of course – and Caesar was so sure to play up the bravery and strength it took for him to recover.

He was well-applauded off the stage, and went to stand by himself when he came back, only going for a glass of water when others weren't looking.

Of course, everyone was anticipating the next interview – the ever mysterious Thirty Three from District Ten. She was walked out by a Capitolite that had a façade of trying to keep attention away from her, wearing black. But it didn't matter with the neon green hair, bright blue skin, and many body piercings. Brook, however, looked… Surprisingly princess-like. She was wearing a blue dress with a tall neckline – maybe so she couldn't accidentally flash anyone – and short sleeves. There was pale blue embellishments going down into a slightly darker shade with tulle falling in waves around her feet. The girl wasn't at all interested in the loveseat and the aid that was with her was obviously just drinking the attention up as she talked only briefly about the girl – things that they all already knew as well. Rescued from a child trafficking ring, considered feral… Pepper felt like they took time away from that interview in favor of Sabine's slow exit, as it seemed to end fast. The aid went to get the girl again and take her back. The girl didn't go with her, but just wandered back on her own where it was quiet. The aid took her to the water cooler, not having a problem just letting the water flow into her hands.

Meanwhile, her District partner was next up, and the crowd was unsure how to react to the announcement of Gus Proctor, and he was obviously unsure how to handle the crowd either as he shuffled a little on the stage. He by far the most casually-dressed – but Pepper envied him as he looked nice and cool. He was wearing a white T-shirt with black suspenders and shoes, and khaki pants.

He seemed in somewhat good spirits through the interview, despite pauses for deep breaths in between questions. He talked about his family, apparently powerful people based on how Caesar reacted to him talking about his parents. He talked about his work babysitting, and how it helped him bond with his District partner.

Brook.

He was adamant that her name was Brook. She didn't even look up hearing him talk about it from where she was hunched over practically in a corner. But the way he talked about her was kind and humanizing.

The crowd awwwed at him and even when he said things that barely made sense, they were laughing with him. With? At? Pepper didn't know. He looked confused, so she was pretty sure it wasn't with. Either way, the applause for him seemed pretty loud – was it just because Thirty-Three's interview was so lackluster? Or because he was that good? He wasn't that impressive to Pepper.

Speaking of Pepper, it was time for her. Pepper C. She had tried to avoid her name twin, but it was hard when the girl from Eleven was just boasting and bragging at every stupid station. And of course, tonight she looked gorgeous. She was tall, strong-built, and totally glam. Pepper thought her dress was big, bit it was nothing compared to Pepper C. She had a red gown on, with a bejeweled bodice going into a big ballgown skirt with sparkles going down the bright red tulle. On her neck and shoulders was a cape decorated with a leaf-like pattern going into a see-through red tulle. This was before Lauren said that she had a monopoly on caped femmes so sue me.

She talked about her training score, her confidence in her ability to win, and how much she loved the Capitol and everyone in it.

"So, what do you think about your name twin? Pepper French, District Eight. What are the odds we get tow lovely ladies with the same name in one year?!"

The crowd was laughing and clapping, and Pepper looked at the screen, glad to be recognized. Hopefully people would remember her!

"Well, that doesn't even matter. I haven't even talked to the girl. I already know that I'm the superior Pepper!"

"Wow!" Caesar said, and the crowd absolutely ate that up.

"Bruh," said Gus quietly, as Bucket loudly sipped his water.

"Don't listen to her," Bailey said right away.

"She's just stirring the pot," Maverick said, but Pepper wasn't listening to them. She just couldn't help but think… Why her? Surely they liked her, but she wasn't special. Why couldn't she be special!?

The girl blew everyone a kiss when she came back in, pulling all that dress behind her and grinning as if she won the lottery.

Pepper just sat for a moment, gritting her teeth as she watched the next interviews, glad that this night was almost over. She was just waiting for it to be over.

Kunal Lindberg was up next and everyone went crazy when they came out. They had their hair put up but a dramatic face of make-up on that framed their eyes and brought out their lips. They were wearing a half-unbuttoned black shirt, black pants, and shiny black shoes, but the main event was the shawl (cape? Shawl? Cape? For copyright reasons, shawl works) they had on that had gold and blue gems in straight lines coming down on each side, making dazzling patterns as they stepped out.

Unfortunately, the most memorable part of their interview was their outfit – they started out trying to play the brute angle but got too excited to talk about their dreams of being an apothecary back home – explaining their love of nature and their belief that the earth is magic or whatever. Yawn.

Then came District Twelve, which Pepper wanted to go by quickly but always dragged, even when she was forced to watch interviews sitting at home as a child. Kennedy came out first, dressed in a dress that was cut like a blouse at the top with capped sleeves, and then had a tan bodice and pleated skirt, a sash tied around her small waist with big ties that had buttons on the ends of them.

Kennedy was so happy to be there, beaming as she went right over to Caesar. If Pepper thought Jamir was bad and never shut up, this girl put him to shame. Caesar could barley get a word in – even when she asked him questions and he opened it to answer them. It was a painful three minutes. You are lucky you get to skip hearing about it in detail, thought Pepper. I sure wish I didn't have to.

The last interview was just as much of a dud as the one before. Even Farley's outfit was boring compared to the rest – a simple long-sleeved pink shirt, a plaid gray tie, and gray pants. He was more than excited to show off his socks which had a hot pink argyle pattern. The crowd clapped like they thought it was cute, but even the tributes around Pepper were yawning – including Kunal, who Farley talked about ad nauseum. He went into talking about his many siblings, who were heard crying at the reaping, and of course, saved the "great finale" for the end – the clear crystal he wore around his neck. He talked about finding it one day and how it had only brought him good luck since. Like being reaped was good luck. Yeah right.

He had a sad look deep in his eyes but the smile never left his face, and he drank in the applause like it was tremendous and he had just ended the night on the strongest leg yet.

As soon as he came back to the holding room, he struck a pose in the doorway, expecting more of a response than he got, with only his District partner giggling and clapping for him. Not even his ally had the energy to deal with him at that point, they were all fucking tired.

And as they were escorted from the back-stage area back to their floors for the night, the realization quickly loomed.

The Games start tomorrow.

The time for waiting and pretending was over.

Tomorrow, people would die.

Would Pepper be one of them?

~.~.

A/N: A heavy, wordy first interview chapter meets a lighter, lazier second interview chapter? Celticverse CLASSIC right there.

Anyways, I'm done, fuck you all, see you next chapter for special child angst with Ornstein, Astra, and Bucket.