Tribute Parade
-Kunal Lindberg, 17, District 11-
They couldn't possibly have felt more out-of-place there. They thought they were out of place back home – well, that was nothing compared to this. It was like a whole new world outside that window – no, that sounded too romantic. It was like a fucking alien planet.
It was still hard for Kunal to believe that these were real people that they were interacting with. They seemed like mascots – characters, actors, not someone that would actually be real. And unfortunately, their District partner was much of the same. Kunal wasn't sure if she was provoking their escort on purpose or if she really felt like her opinions on Castiel Bellevue were that important as they watched the recaps. Luca Lewis was adamant that they were going to be part of the greatest Games to ever exist, talking about his academy days with the Head Gamemaker and being old friends from school – only mentioning in extremely brief passing that he didn't get recommendations from the Academy after exams finished, which brought him to escorting.
He wasn't… Bad. Not like Kunal had observed escorts act in previous years. Just very weird. And Chaff just made everything worse with a beer in hand, burp at the ready, and some ridiculous comment about how the Head Gamemaker was very publicly married twice over and only ridiculous people would look at that and think they were in real high standing with them. Ugh, it was so much bad energy for Kunal to be forced to absorb – and that was without Donavan Osten being there as an absolute leech of all happiness. To think that someone that volunteered would end up being almost zero help to the tributes that were here and forced to go through this.
Kunal was almost glad for the space at this point. It seemed clear that Chaff was going to support Pepper due to her fighting spirit, leaving them with Donavan who had barely said two words to them since getting reaped.
They reached for their hook – shit, it still wasn't there. They had foolishly left it at home in their haste to run out the door and visit Nalin. Nobody had the time to go and get it, so Kunal had been left without a token.
Until…
Kunal had the ground up dried leaves in a small vial. Nalin actually visited them – they were shocked to see him. And in that goodbye room, he gifted them this to take as a token. This was their big adventure. He had always told them he wanted an apprentice that had life experience, that had been through a great journey of living. Those were the ones that made the best apothecaries. And this was Kunal's great journey. They just hoped that they could escape it with their life, which… Was a pretty grim thought in District Eleven.
No. If Chaff could do this, so could they. They just had to keep their head down until the moment was right.
"Put your chin up now."
The voices of their stylists snapped them out of their thoughts as they raised their chin a little bit. It was challenging to put this experience into words. The experience of being milled around by their prep team – the people that barely seemed real that were going to make them look nice.
"This is your debut into stardom!" The buzzing of the electric razor scared Kunal at first and still made them get tense when the woman put it up by their neck. They leaned back, and that just caused the team – all women – to laugh.
"Don't be afraid of a stupid little razor now," said one of the girls who was shorter and had bubblegum hair that had to be a wig. That couldn't be real hair. It was too colorful! It wasn't the color of real hair…
"It doesn't hurt," said the slightly more compassionate one with blue skin, holding up her own arm and putting the razor on it to show them.
"That don't look like any razor I've ever seen," Kunal said, swallowing a lump in their throat as the last of the team – a woman that also had blue skin but much darker hair – grabbed their chin and held it up. The razor tickled at first and then started to feel just a hint warm and irritated as they were shaved down.
"Built like an ox, this one," said dark hair as she held onto them, her long nails digging a little bit into their skin.
"Love it when we get the strong working boys like this one," said blue-skin. It was as if they weren't even there.
"I don't think I'm any of those things," Kunal said, relaxing once the prep team's hands were no longer on them. They were a weird plant-loving enby.
"Nonsense, baby," said bubblegum, and they stared at themself in the mirror with the ladies moving behind them. "You're gonna do great."
"Might not get any bets but tributes without bets have won before!" said blue-skin. It was supposed to be a kind comment, they thought… But it wasn't very reassuring.
"Thanks," said Kunal half-heartedly because at this point, it was the thing to say to get them to stop talking faster. At least, talking right to them.
"This is the longest hair I've ever seen on our Eleven boys," said dark hair, making a face as she took one of their dreads between her fingers and pulled it like it was a used tissue.
"It's a mess," said bubblegum sagely, as blue skin was the one to pull the band that kept them up and tried to comb through them with her fingers.
"That's why we have scissors," said bubblegum, and Kunal jumped up from the chair.
"Scissors?!"
"You can't go out there looking like that," protested blue skin right away.
"My hair," said Kunal right away. A lot of Eleven's working men had their hair cropped short but Kunal wasn't that. "I'm not a working man, I'm a weird apothecary enby."
That made the women get quiet.
"An enby?!" asked bubblegum, clasping her hands together. "Wow!"
"We've never had an enby from this District before. This is history!" said blue skin. "Oh everyone's going to be paying attention now."
"Maybe some people will bet on you after all," said dark hair.
Kunal just stared for a moment. If they didn't already feel like a zoo animal, now they really did. "It's just part of who I am," they said finally. "And my hair is part of me." Getting it braided was a journey and despite the hardships, they'd taken care of it best as they could.
"Go swap out with Aurelia," said bubblegum, pointing at dark-hair.
"No, you go swap with her," said dark-hair right away. "I'm staying here."
All of a sudden, the women wanted to be their stylist. All because of that one piece of information? It seemed a little bit silly. But it was true, as they were still bickering when the door opened and a woman decked out in green plaid was standing with a rare sight since Kunal had arrived in the Capitol – someone with dark skin.
"I thought we could use Aurelia's help," said the woman, sending the younger girl in the room who gestured Kunal towards the chair. They could hear the three women all giving cases to green plaid – who must have been the head stylist – to stick around.
"Don't worry about those guys," said the girl – Aurelia – as she looked at Kunal's hair. "I'm just gonna get these nice and tightened up and clean for you."
Kunal looked at her in the mirror, and at the prep team, and for once they felt a little special. They did feel like this was their debut into stardom. Whether they liked it or not, they were about to be one of the first enby faces to grace Panem in years, right beside Cayman Geier and oh yeah, the Head Gamemaker. And they had to be ready for whatever that brought – they already knew how cruel District Eleven could be, and that was just a tiny place full of dumb farmers. Nothing like the scale of this.
But if being enby could change the stylist's opinion on them, maybe it was something they could use to their advantage. They needed things they could use to their advantage. Sometimes it wasn't always the brutish type that left the Games, and Kunal was no small horse. Maybe they had a shot at this after all.
Kunal was able to relax when their hair was done, and had to admit that it was necessary maintenance by the time she was done. They noticed that dark-hair was given the boot to go deal with Pepper – good fuckin' luck, sweetie – and when Aurelia was finished with them, the lady in green plaid came over and held out a hand.
"You must be Kunal," she said through green lips. What kind of paint was in make-up that could make them that vibrant?! "I'm Rochelle, I'll be your stylist. You gonna be a winner for us?"
"Duh," said Kunal, trying to act confident in the face of her confidence as that seemed to be what she wanted. And sure enough, that earned them a smile from her and even a handshake – they hadn't shaken hands since Pepper at the reaping, despite meeting so many new people. Guess it was a form of decency mere District kids didn't really receive form others.
"Very well then," said Rochelle as she snapped her fingers. "On the pedestal with you. Robe off." She said it so nonchalantly, but it didn't feel nonchalant to Kunal as they hesitantly stepped up on the little raised pedestal and held the robe for a moment. "I haven't got all day."
Kunal just felt so exposed when the robe came off. Their body was something they liked some days, despised others. But here it was. They stared at a spot on the wall, straight ahead, to try to forget that she was looking at them, but they could somehow still feel her eyes. And yet, deep inside lived that burning desire to be good enough for her so they stood up tall and tried to be brave. Bravery would be greatly favored in a situation like this.
"They did well," she finally said, tossing the robe back to Kunal. "Don't get too comfortable in that, we're bringing out your costume now."
Kunal tried to not let it show that they were uncomfortable, but they thew on the robe unceremoniously anyways and just watched for a moment as a rack was rolled in by bubblegum and blue skin that was covered.
"Can't wait to see this actually on a person!" said bubblegum as blue skin also gushed about it.
"Behold!" said Rochelle, throwing the covering off of the rack to show Kunal a…
"That's a banana costume."
"It's banana inspired," said Rochelle. It was banana shaped alright, and decorated in gradients of brown, yellow, and green that Kunal wasn't sure how to feel about. "It's classier than just a banana."
"But it's still going to look like- it's still-" Kunal bit their tongue, not sure how to say it. "Going to be slightly, uh…" They cleared their throat. "Phallic." It was going to jut out from between their legs like a penis! Who thought of this?!
"Phallic?!" asked Rochelle, really looking angry at that insinuation. "It's not phallic, it's a banana. Everyone will see that." She went over to get the first piece of the costume – spandex – and grabbed Kunal's leg to lift it up and put it in.
"It's not a cucumber," said bubblegum. "That idea got shot down."
"Bananas aren't phallic," said Aurelia, tilting her head to the side.
Kunal just sighed as a pair of girls helped them step into the bottom part of the costume that stuck out between their legs. Oh God, why them? That was the first thought.
But the second thought was one that they'd had before back home, and welcomed now more than ever.
How can I use this?
~.~.
Chariots were loaded up with the twenty-four teenagers that would be fighting to the death in the coming days. It wasn't quite a record crowd – of course everyone had blown their savings and camped out to get the best spots for last year's parade since it was twice as long and twice as many tributes to see. But it was still pretty sizeable and definitely a net gain for the hardworking professionals that organized the event each year.
The crowd was waiting in anticipation as the broadcast of Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith displayed on the tops of the high skyscrapers that surrounded the area, the summer dusk heavy, humid, and warm like a blanket over the street. On the other screens in the area was a countdown to when the doors would open and the festivities would begin.
The countdown was all the way down to ten minutes when the mentors were finally taken out to their spots to sit and watch the parade. The stylists had the tributes well in-hand of course to help them onto the chariots. This was the first opportunity since the reaping for the mentors to catch up with their friends – and of course, gossip about their tributes.
The escorts were with them, each of them looking proud. Angelique was with Whimsy and Platinum, trying to get her cousin to see her from all the way down there, but Castiel was preoccupied sitting with President Snow, paying utmost earnest attention to him and drumming their fingers nervously on the railing.
Solaire had to keep tabs on Jack and Talon, which was no easy task with how much they liked to socialize – and how Talon was already going to District Four to figure out which of them was mentoring the volunteer for the year to see what he could find out. Unfortunately for him, Cayman was walking arm-in-arm with pretty thing Rian Evangelos, the escort for their District, and chatting jovially.
"Which District will have the worst costume? Bet me! Who will bet me?!"
"It's always District Twelve, honey," said Rian with a chuckle because she had strong opinions about the costumes. That was why watching the chariots with her was so much fun! And the hooking up was fun too, but Cay was strictly business right now as he was focused on their promising volunteer. Still though, it wasn't a bad thing to have some good arm candy.
Malcolm O'Brien had a pretty easy job this year as Chrome and Gio both followed instructions well and had a good working relationship with the old jaded escort. Chrome stayed close to the escort – almost like a father figure to him after a somewhat dysfunctional home life growing up – and Gio just looked around in awe and quietly talked to ghosts.
Mags was originally trailing behind Rian and Cayman – those two kids, aye yay yay – but started a little bit when she looked over at her arm getting grabbed, relaxing when she saw who it was. "You're lucky I didn't punch you in the throat."
"Mags." Platinum looked at her for a moment, and she just frowned. "I know who she is."
"I was worried you might."
"I see his eyes in my dreams every night still, I can see them on someone else," Platinum sighed and opened his mouth. He had been rehearsing what to say, but he just… Couldn't form words. So he just held the fish hook on his necklace for a moment. "That's Katalina's granddaughter."
"She would be Drake's great niece, yes," Mags said, looking at his face and frowning. "Has no training."
Platinum just cursed a little bit and shook his head. "I know," he said. He had kept in touch with Drake's sister for a little while, but time had set them all on different paths as he had become a father and she settled down as well and had a son. "I just didn't want to say great niece, that makes us sound so old…" he said with a small chuckle, but the truth was that Drake wasn't here to be old. He was stuck at eighteen. And it was Platinum's fault, he was the one that threw his once ally out a window to win. He tried not to think of it, but the image of Drake's face hanging on that railing was burned into his eyelids.
Mags just looked at him, and Platinum rubbed his face. He was stuck between loyalties, and didn't know what to say to her. Mags just frowned and reached over to squeeze his shoulders a little bit.
"You don't need to say anything," she said, remembering how young and lost they she was and how much he helped her as a young Victor. "I know what's on your heart," she added, reaching over to squeeze his hands around the little tokens.
"Thanks Mags," Platinum said, taking a bit of a shuddering breath as he was reassured by her. She was going to do her very best and he knew that she was a good mentor. But it still made his stomach churn a little bit.
"You're welcome," she said, offering a small smile. "Don't let your tribute down, and I won't either. Then we'll be there for each other. Right?"
Platinum wiped his eyes a little bit, finally releasing his grip on the fish hook and letting out a shuddering sigh. "Right."
"Move it, you're in my way." Sadie Fowler pushed past them, arms crossed, just waiting for this to be over. Her tribute had been about as useful as a block of dirt thus far, and she wasn't very optimistic about his chances if he couldn't get himself together. But at the same time, a deep part of her felt for him and wanted to help him. He was like her little brother – not too far in age either – and she felt soft for him. But she was too soft in her Games and they taught her a lesson about it, so she had to hold it back. It was just hard.
Flavio was singing a song as he swung the red skull jeweled necklace around and Cay's eyes immediately went to the shiny jewelry before rolling when they saw it wasn't gold. Silex hummed along to the song next to him, but quickly picked up the pace when he saw his wife getting bombarded by Jack and Talon. They were nice, but Silex still wasn't in the mood to talk strategy – and Kamaria still wasn't totally sure which tributes were going to make good allies. He hadn't gotten very far with her yet, but… There was still time! They just had to get through the parade first!
Fauna had the District Six team together, with a hand on the backs of Cash and Noelle to make sure they didn't get separated. Just to make sure they didn't get separated! That was all! Did she feel a little weird touching Cash? No! He was just a cute Victor. That was all.
Noelle had a hand on her hip as she was looking around, still not used to being on this side of things. She had an easy one this year with Bailey – as long as the girl kept her eyes on the prize – and it seemed like Cash got along well with Jamir, so all in all it was smooth sailing so far.
"Oh hey!" Noelle said to nobody, suddenly veering off to the side – quickly absorbed by Chaff and Haymitch – and leaving Cash alone with Fauna.
Fauna tried to protest, but Noelle was too quickly gone. Leaving her, alone. With Cash. Okay, not a problem! It wasn't weird.
Fauna dropped her hand from Cash's back as she felt her cheeks heating up and felt awkward having it there with Noelle gone! Where did she even go?! But Cash just looked over, noticing it, and smiled.
"Don't be nervous," he said, reaching out a hand to her, which she took quickly, despite blushing about it. He was too nice! "We've done it before, we'll do it again." He sighed a little bit.
"I know," she said. She was totally just nervous about chariot rides, that was all. That was why she was nervous. If he believed that, she would go with it. "It's always such a big event."
"For some reason," Cash breathed, but he just stood up taller. "Well even if Noelle gets lost, we won't," he said, anxious for this to start already.
"Right," said Fauna. He really helped her become more confident – it was part of why she never applied for the promotions! – and she tried to help him in return. Friends… Helping friends. Yup.
"Hey Fauna!" Osiris showed up with a wave to his old friend, alone. He gave her a shit-smile and Fauna quickly blushed, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Lost your mentors?" asked Fauna, giving him a look that said shut the fuck up.
"Yeah, those two are like herding cats, but cats that have the same mind and want to disappear," Osiris said with a sigh, but he was frowning.
"You look down. Everything okay?" Cash leaned over to talk to him as well.
"Difficult one this year," Osiris said, sighing a little bit. "Nico already hates me."
"Sometimes you just can't control that," Fauna said with a small frown and Cash pursed his lips because he couldn't blame either party. Osiris was doing his job, trying to help, but Nico… Well, he was just reaped and given what could likely be a death sentence.
"I know," Osiris said. "It's just… A rough go," he said softly.
Cash had never seen him like this – usually he was pretty serious and upright. "All you can do is your job," he said. "It's up to him whether or not he lets you help."
"I'll bring you a nice shower steamer tonight," Fauna told him, knowing something was really bothering him he didn't want to share.
"Oh there comes your team," said Cash with a chuckle at Bronx and Ritter together. "The old married couple themselves."
"They're not married," said Osiris, pretty quickly.
"I mean they act like one," Cash told him with a bit of an eye roll. "So… How are they?" he asked as he looked at Ritter signing a bit and Bronx staring out into the street.
"Ritter's having a great time with Nico," said Osiris, grinding his teeth a little bit at that. "Pepper seems to be trying to listen to Bronx. He's doing his best despite… Things."
"Yeah," Fauna said, frowning over at the two of them. She knew only a little bit from Osiris about Bronx's recovery and knew it was especially difficult for him as he had finally divorced his wife – his wife that Osiris was, of course, convinced he never really loved. Of course Osiris would say that, though. "Well, I'll be sure to take care of you and make sure you take care of yourself too."
"Fauna? Advocating for self-care? Never," Cash teased her, reaching over to poke her cheek which made her blush and giggle.
"Only because you helped me first," she said, and Osiris was just grinning again.
Just past her was the District Seven team. Sidonia had things under control and perked up when Marlowe went to Platinum, trying to follow with Luther to keep the team together. It had been a rough couple days for District Seven – with Marlowe handling Sabine and Luther taking care of Bucket. They didn't deserve this. There was a sad aura around both of them as they talked quietly.
Oz Tolvaj had already lost his mentors for District Nine, but didn't care. He was totally relaxed, red mask around his face, and trying to find the best viewing spot for the ride while Pierce and Brody lived near the back, silently judging together and not willing to give away anything about their tributes. The other mentors knew this and didn't even bother trying with them.
Beside them, Inspektor looked like he'd seen a ghost, and even Ottlie looked shaken. Chaz was talking loudly about how District Ten is being reduced to a laughingstock and not cool like the tributes they used to reap, while Ottile didn't even have it in her to shush him, letting him ramble on and on.
Districts Eleven and Twelve had gotten together since everyone arrived – pretty soon after – and Noelle was talking to Cash and Haymitch about her team while Donavan went to join Nine towards the back and Violet quietly and obediently stood by their escort, watching them.
Luca Lewis was going on loudly to the young mentors about his knowledge of Castiel Bellevue, the Head Gamemaker, and it was obvious that the group of three young Victors was laughing at him more than laughing with him. Meanwhile, Cloelius Horatio Demetriou Jr. was looking around, trying desperately to find someone close to his age, but all these people were old and boring! He tried to butt his way in with Luca, Haymitch, Chaff, and Noelle, but was quickly shut out, loudly complaining about it and even throwing his white hat on the ground for a moment before quickly putting it up and checking for any dirt marks.
Whimsy was just able to get to Silex as the countdown was reaching its end. The Career mentors were interested in talking to her about what the alliance might look like and trying to get information about Dazzle out of her, but she had to shut them down or else she would crack and spill the beans – keeping a secret wasn't something she could say she was good at! And that was why she had to find Silex right now!
Silex smiled when he finally got to her, opening an arm for a quick hug. "Hey," he said, knowing they didn't have a ton of time and just wanting to be with her before they both had to go back to their floors and focus on their respective Districts and tributes.
"Hi," said Whimsy, about to speak but Silex was talking.
"Did you see the pictures your Mom sent of Irina? So cute! I love the little outfit she bought her-" he said, as the countdown was down to seconds.
Whimsy did see the pictures – and she did love those booties, her Mom had such good taste – but she had to stay on topic and pulled him down a little bit by the collar. "I'm pregnant," she said, trying to be quiet because she couldn't trust anyone to close their fat mouth.
They were trying, but knowing they both had to mentor again, they stopped trying. They must have stopped trying too late because she packed a test to take on the train after getting a few inconclusive ones the night before the reaping and boom. Positive test.
Silex just chuckled for a moment. "What?" he asked, before his eyes widened. "WHAT?!"
"Shhhh!" Whimsy said with a giggle, because she didn't need everyone hounding her even more today. "I got my first positive on the train. My first two positive tests."
"Oh my God," said Silex, full of joy and still confusion and a little bit of stress but that was cutoff when the timers reached zero and finally the doors opened. It felt like it had been a whole extra point of view of time in those ten minutes.
"Here come the tributes!" came Caesar's voice over the loudspeaker.
Castiel Bellevue stood on the balcony as Coriolanus Snow stood beside them, swallowing a lump in their throat. This was the culmination of everything they had worked for, unfolding right in front of their eyes. They took a deep breath, knowing that Julio was in the crowd with their parents and children – even bringing Zoey out for the occasion. They worried about her with all the people and the lights, just glad that they had access to private balcony just in case it was too much for her. They could just barely spot the balcony in the distance – memorizing where it was on the map just in case.
They tried to stand tall and strong like Julio told them, but boy it was hard when they felt so nervous. Thankfully all they had to do was stand there and put on a brave face. They were… Used to doing that.
Cas watched the tributes – their tributes – rolling out on the chariots, and it made everything become so much more real.
District One was the first as always to arrive, and like every year their costumes looked spectacular. Cupey and Dazzle were wearing matching bedazzled bodysuits – reflecting off the lights and casting glorious reflections into the crowd. They were covered, though, in a soft royal purple cape that flowed in the wind of the moving chariot. Castiel was surprised that neither tribute had pants – it was that kinda bodysuit - and their legs were just right out there looking strong with Dazzle's sparkly heels and Cupey's jewled boots.
Dazzle was smiling and waving to the crowd – she wasn't the most beautiful tribute District One's ever seen, but she wasn't by any means ugly. She tweaked her glasses and stood tall. Next to her, Cuprian stood tall and looked ahead – a little surprising considering most Careers tried to amp up the crowd, but respectable all the same as he looked like a king up there.
District Two came out next, to the great applause of the crowd. To nobody's surprise, golden armor was the theme of the chariot – why fix what wasn't broken, right? Isabella was dressed in a golden chest piece and galea helmet with a great red plume, and a flowing white skirt on the bottom. Ornstein was dressed in by far the most elaborate armor that District Two chariots have ever seen. It was very jagged, well-textured, and the helmet was a work of art. From some angles, it appeared feline, from others wolf-like, and from the front, almost dragon-like, with flowing red banners coming from the layered scales of the top.
Isabella was tense, staring straight ahead, and Ornstein's face couldn't be seen which was a good thing as he was shaking a little bit with fear as the chariot rolled down the street, both of them tuning out the crowd that was cheering for them.
The cheers got much quieter when the District Three chariot rolled out. Astra was wearing a full-body suit that was black with a bunch of green binary code on it. Besides her, the only word to describe Mickey was… Blue.
Over the speakers, Caesar explained to the crowd that he was dressed based on what was referred to as a blue screen of death to District technicians, when a computer was about to give out. Castiel chuckled, but that tribute had a faraway look in his eye that they didn't know how they felt about. It hurt them almost. But they just took a deep breath. All their dreams. Right here.
Mickey smiled and waved to the crowds. Meanwhile, Astra turned this way and that, putting up a hand and flipping her hair and causing people to cheer a little bit, but not nearly as much as the Careers.
Careers.
Here came District Four.
Antigone was wearing a dress that billowed out resembling a seashell, pink from the bottom and ruffling up to the top, where it was a solid pearl color, and her hair was decorated with pearls. The crowd oohed and aahed at her outfit, and even Cas was impressed – that was hard to do! Next to her, Damian was not to be forgotten about. He was wearing black from head to toe – but there were iridescent patterns that shimmered when he moved his head, off of which hung a small spherical light resembling an angler fish.
The crowd ate it up as Damian was grinning at the crowd and waving. Antigone was a little bit stiff at first, but she was slowly warming up to the crowd, and she just gave a smile when Damian looked over at her for a moment to check on her. The crowd ate that up with a lot of applause – and then anxiously looked over to District Five.
It was obvious to Cas and everyone else that Kamaria was not at all happy in her outfit. The dress was plan black, modest and knee-length, and on it were blacklight patterns in the shape of lightning bolts. A blacklight shone on the dress in flickers resembling the lightning bolts. It was a nice-looking outfit, Cas wasn't sure what the problem was. Maybe because Ornstein was coming quickly to be known as the electric tribute after what he did at his reaping? Interesting. They took a note, it tickled their curiosity.
Kermit was wearing a bright yellow suit that made him look just a little bit boxy with the wide shoulders and decorated with all sorts of gauges and knobs, made to look like a power generator. He looked nervous next to Kamaria, and it was an underwhelming reaction from the crowd, despite the cool-looking costumes.
District Six rolled out next. It was soon clear that the theme for the year was safety, with Bailey dressed up in a dress made out of seatbelts, with one buckled up across her chest. She was making it work anyways with a bright shining confidence. Next to her was Jamir, who… Oh no. This was the one of the year, folks. He was halfway hunched over as he was made to be a giant walking car seat. He could barely even stay in the chariot as his costume was so bulky and he couldn't even put up an arm to wave.
The crowd was talking and laughing together about District Six when Seven appeared, and many of them went quiet for a moment. This chariot was definitely unique this year and people buzzed quietly about it as it went.
The tributes matched – dressed up in Paper Mache – Sabine in a fun little dress and Bucket in a suit made of white paper folded and glued.
Cas thought about that stupid Paper Mache tree they had made in detention that fateful day when they met their spouses, and couldn't help but smile, before that sad feeling overtook them once more.
Sabine couldn't really sell it as she was holding the side of the chariot with a death grip, focused on not falling over in the stiff costume she was given to wear. Beside her, Bucket was also frozen – at least he didn't forget to smile, as the smile was ear-to-ear across his face as he felt the wind in his hair. He still had a beard drawn on like at the reaping, but this one was at least a little more convincing, obviously the work of his prep team.
District Seven got a fair amount of applause before District Eight's chariot appeared around the corner. Everyone was interested as this was a first for the Games – a little person had been reaped. They were all interested to see Nico, who was encased in thread, wearing a cardboard tube around himself to look like a spool of thread. They could barely see his face, which made the audience laugh, but made Cas feel bad for him. He was still standing up tall and what little they could see of his face screamed confidence.
Next to him was a burlap sack – er, wait, right, that was his District partner. Who was she? Oh, she was one of the Peppers. The burlap sack was jumping around and waving her arms, big smile on that face as she was trying to get attention, but it was hard dressed like that next to the colorful spool of thread.
District Nine came next, as people were starting to talk about how the best chariots had come and gone. They were quickly proven wrong when they caught sight of the District Nine tributes. They were matching, with Doe in a dress and Carlisle in a suit that were white, but covered in giant pieces of macaroni making different shapes on the outfits.
Cas chuckled at that – and then felt bad, this was these tributes' first impression! – but it was still pretty funny. Zoey used to love doing macaroni art even though she always made a huge mess that Julio had to clean up. Maybe they could still do that. They had to do everything with her that they could.
Unfortunately the costumes made the tributes somewhat of a laughing stock as Carlisle glared straight ahead and Doe just stood there in a state of total shock, blinking a few times as the chariot went past them, revealing the trouble District. District… Ten.
Cas barely wanted to watch.
The girl, Thirty-Three, was not able to be seen by the crowd. She was hunched over, practically inside the chariot, vocalizing and crying out of fear. She had been wrestled into a flannel and jeans for the ride, her hair slightly neater than before and the new addition of bangs, which covered up most of the tattoo on her forehead with the number that she was still being called. Her District partner didn't look much better off. He was dressed like a cowboy as well, actually wearing the hat, with an impressive belt buckle of the number Ten decorated with gold, jewels, and diamonds that caught the light. But he didn't catch much of anything either as he was pulling his hat over his face and covering his ears with his hands.
Cas prayed for the chariots to move faster, just so they didn't have to watch it anymore, when Coriolanus spoke.
"Death can be quite merciful."
Cas's stomach dropped as they watched the Eleven chariot follow behind to a crowd that was loud – some of it rowdy and some excited still.
Pepper – the other one – was appropriately dressed, in a dress with a bell shape and a little stem hat on her head. The dress was beautiful gradient of reds, yellows, and greens that brought out her skin tone and the strength in her pose, keeping her head up high. She was one to look out for, with the life and energy behind her eyes.
Next to her stood an outfit that tried to be high fashion with a crescent-shaped and elaborately-decorated headpiece, but was thrown off by the completion of the banana shape that jutted out from Kunal's crotch. Cas covered their mouth, honestly shocked that this costume got past all of the vetting processes. Kunal looked strong regardless of the banana costume, and had a serious resting bitch face.
If the crowd was more energetic after that showing, they quickly deflated when District Twelve's typical coal miner chariot came rolling out. Same old, same old. A lot of the crowd couldn't be bothered to applaud for them. They were young, they were poor, their miner outfits looked recycled from last year and barely even fit them.
Farley was standing on the chariot, hands pulled into himself, looking around and bouncing on his feet as he nervously looked at the crowd. It was overwhelming and it was clear he was scared – Cas couldn't even blame him. Beside him was Kennedy, the lone twelve-year-old, who was smiling calmly and waving despite a wild and nervous look in her eyes. Probably very obedient and trusting of the mentors. Poor girl.
They took a deep breath as the horses all stopped and the chariots parked in front of their balcony. Cas had to play a part of their own. The tributes played the part for them, Cas was now going to return the favor. So tall they stood. Proudly they looked upon the twenty-four teenagers who had come here to be part of their little show, their livelihood. They relied on Cas, and in return, Cas relied on them. It was a mutual relationship of dramatics that they shared.
Cas put up their chin.
They found it in them somewhere to smile, to look interested in the president's speech. It was all a game, they were playing just as much as the tributes were at this time. So they just took a deep breath. They had to be brave. They put on the show that everyone wanted to see.
And, they expected their tributes to do the same.
~.~.
A/N: Didn't expect this to get so long, but I didn't expect mentor bullshit either lol. So there we go, love the mentor bullshit, it was Necessary.
Next chapter: Post-chariots with Gus and Astra.
