The Reckless And The Brave - Chapter 3
Pairing: Jalex, Riassadee, slight Rydon.
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Each year, the Capitol of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to fight to the death on national TV - until Alex Gaskarth, of District 11, and Jack Barakat, of District 7, change everything.
Warning: Character death.
Disclaimer: Fictional. Title credit to All Time Low. Based on The Hunger Games.
Author's Notes: Listen to 30 Seconds To Mars' "Kings And Queens" during the parade scene.
Masterpost
After the train pulls into the Capitol station, Maja leads them through bright-colored crowds and the constant click and flash of cameras into a car waiting outside, which drives them to the Tribute Tower. Now, in the tower's Remake Center, Alex stands under the shower. Back home, it was just a tepid trickle that failed to leave him feeling clean. This is an actual fucking hot gushing shower that energizes his body as it warms his skin.
The Remake Center has twelve stations for girls and twelve for boys, each with its own dressing room and shower. When Alex steps out of the shower, his prep team - one guy and one girl - rub lotion all over his body and spray his neck and wrists with perfume, and he winces at their touch before they finally hand him a white terrycloth bathrobe. As she produces a nail clipper and file, the girl informs him that Tay is getting much more prepping.
A young man with eyeliner and full lips approaches their station, carrying a black duffel bag marked 11. Compared to anyone Alex has ever seen from the Capitol, his clothes are pretty old-fashioned, like the clothes that people wear in District 11. "I'm really sorry I'm late," he says as the prep team greets him with too-big grins and then starts to pack up and leave. He smiles warmly and shakes Alex's hand. "Brendon. Nice to meet you!"
"Alex."
The stylist's smile fades and is replaced by a sympathetic expression. He turns away and sighs before speaking again.
"OK, so the Tribute Parade is later tonight." The tributes usually wear outfits symbolizing their home districts. "This is your chance to make a good first impression." A useful item from a sponsor can be the difference between life and death in the Games. "District 11 has only had five victors, is that right?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Well, obviously that's not gonna be attractive to sponsors. So my partner and I worked really hard to come up with something unique, something that'll get people's attention. And to be honest, we're proud of it." Brendon opens his bag. "What size are you?"
"Small."
The sky is now dark and the Capitol lights are burning. Brendon and Alex step outside, into the courtyard in front of the Tribute Tower. Alex wears a green collared shirt, dark green trousers, black dress shoes, and a masquerade-type mask - made of real green leaves and red and purple raspberries - covering the upper half of his face.
Twelve black chariots, each numbered 1 to 12 and about to be drawn by a pair of black horses, line the perimeter of the courtyard. The tributes from District 4 wear swimsuits and sandals. The girl wears shell jewelry, and the guy holds a foot-long conch shell. The tributes from 5 wear tuxes and top hats covered with tiny, flashing light bulbs; the ones from 7 wear wreaths and capes made of oak and ash leaves; the ones from 8 are dressed as spiders; and the ones from 12 wear miners' helmets and jumpsuits.
Tay waits by the second-to-last chariot, wearing a mask similar to Alex's, only hers is trimmed with apple blossom. So are the hem and cuffs of her dark green T-shirt dress and the straps of her matching wedge heels. She's holding a conical basket filled with fruit. The Cornucopia. Like the giant golden horn in each Hunger Games arena, filled with weapons and supplies.
As Brendon and Alex approach, the guy standing next to her extends his hand for Alex to shake. "Ryan Ross."
"Alex."
"Looks good! Looks real good!" Brendon beams as Alex and Tay take their places on the chariot. "They're gonna love it!"
"Oh, also, I was just gonna show you... watch this!" Ryan picks an apple from Tay's basket and tosses it into the air - where it explodes in a spectrum of red and yellow and green, eliciting a chorus of whoas from the other tributes.
"Motion-activated," Ryan explains. He picks another apple. "See how the top is cut out? It's been hollowed out. There's a motion-activated explosive inside." It takes a few seconds for Alex to notice an incision around the stem of the apple, like the top of a jack-o-lantern.
Suddenly, the Tribute Tower clock begins striking nine, and the courtyard gates open. One after another, the chariots begin to pass through the gates onto the High Street.
"Good luck!" says Brendon as their chariot begins to move.
"Don't worry," adds Ryan. "You guys look amazing."
The Capitol's High Street is an explosion of glamour - extravagantly fashionable outfits, intricately decorative makeup, hair dyed in rich, vivid colors, the occasional masquerade mask - illuminated not only by blinding streetlights, but also by strings of colored lights and the flashes of cameras. Alex and Tay smile and wave as the spectators cheer and applaud.
Just before every intersection, two tall screens on either side of the street display footage of the parade. Alex watches as the boy from District 4 touches the narrow end of his conch shell to his lips and blows, releasing a deep, trumpet-like boom audible even over the roar of the crowd. Behind Alex and Tay, the tributes from District 12 simultaneously grab their belt loops and pull. Their pants tear right off. The guy is wearing black cargo shorts underneath, and the girl is wearing a black miniskirt. Under their shirts, they're wearing black tank tops.
Halfway down the High Street, Alex takes an apple from Tay's basket and throws it as high as he can. When the explosion lights up the sky, the cheers are deafening. Tay throws another apple, and then another. It's not long before they appear on every video screen. The crowd goes wild as Tay raises the Cornucopia basket above her head triumphantly.
The chariots finally pull into the Capitol's huge plaza and stand in a semicircle in front of the Justice Building. The slim dark figure of President Havok rises from the balcony and appears on the plaza's two giant projector screens.
"Welcome."
His eyes and voice are even colder than Maja's.
"That was incredible."
"You know, I think you guys are both gonna win."
"Not to mention it was my idea." Ryan gives Brendon a cocky smirk.
"The clothes," Brendon clarifies. "The fireworks were - "
"Don't listen to him." Ryan covers Brendon's mouth with his hand. "It was my idea."
Everyone is in a better mood at the dinner table in District 11's Tribute Tower suite than they were this afternoon. Alex almost doesn't care about the Games anymore. As their waitress - the same one from the train - carries their empty soup and salad bowls away, he wonders if there's secretly something between the two stylists.
The Avox girl returns, carrying a plate piled high with Yorkshire pudding. Behind her, two young men bring in a tray of roast beef.
Alex recognizes one of them immediately.
It's Alex's first year. He and the other twelve-year-olds stand closest to the stage. The short film plays on the projector screens. Maja takes the stage and speaks a few crisp words of welcome.
And then she picks the name of a sixteen-year-old boy.
"James Flyzik."
He feels a chill of surprise. So that's what happened. When District 11's victor of five years ago places a slice of beef on his plate, their eyes meet, and Alex wants to cry.
He can't sleep.
His chest is aching again. He doesn't know what Flyzik had said against the Capitol, but he can still see the Avox's green eyes when he shuts his teary brown ones.
If I don't play their games, they'll cut my tongue out. Either way, I'm fucked. We're all fucked.
At least Flyzik had kept his heart and only lost his tongue.