BORN TO DIE; marvel sanford x reader

CHAPTER ONE; the capitol

"we salute your courage and your sacrifice"

...

AFTER ARRIVING IN THE CAPITOL, you were almost immediately whisked away by a prep team.

You were hosed down and washed, your skin scrubbed so then you were basically shining, almost all your body hair was waxed off.

They were 'beautifying' you, preparing you for your stylist.

Soon you were lying down and waiting for your said stylist. The tribute parade was that night, and you hoped you wouldn't look absolutely horrible. You had seen some of the designs before.

But luckily for you, your stylist wasn't exactly horrible at her job. Well, that's what you thought until you got a look at Derek.

Both of you wore silver and other metallic colours with an intricate headpiece that looked like some kind of abstract sculpture that was dumped onto your head.

You almost wanted to laugh at how ridiculous you both looked.

And as your stylist was finishing up your makeup in front of the chariot, you saw Marvel Sanford for the very first time.

He was getting touch ups on his outfit, one stylist brushing his cheeks with a powder while another adjusted the bright pink feather boa that hung over his shoulders.

You met his eyes, and watched as he looked you up and down. That was when you wished you didn't look so utterly stupid.

Judging by the outfits he and his district partner wore, you could tell the two of them were from District 1. Luxury.

You examined the first two districts' tributes from the corner of your eye.

The boy from District 2 was big. He was tall, muscular, and looked like he could murder you with his bare hands. His partner was a shorter, possibly a little younger, dark-haired girl with a fierce look on her face. She seemed like someone you shouldn't turn your back to.

The girl from District 1 had long blonde hair that was covered by an insane, peacock looking headpiece. Her outfit was all bright pink, just like her partner. She seemed to be loving all the stylists around her.

You eyed the District 1 boy again as he climbed up onto the chariot in front of him. He kept his own eyes trained on you until you looked away.

You weren't going to say that you found him attractive, because that was insane.

You started looking away from the Careers and around at the rest of the tributes. Just from their own outfits and costumes you could tell which district was which.

But upon seeing District 12, you were caught a little off-guard. The outifts they wore weren't like the typical coal miner outfits their district usually adorned year after year. They wore tight, dark bodysuits with the girl having shadowy makeup and her hair braided around her head.

Then the music started playing and District 1's chariot started moving. You faced the front of the chariot again as District 2 went next, your chariot following.

The crowd was insane. Capitol residents took up every single seat, each one of them jumping around, cheering and clapping as each chariot came out.

You raised your hand and started waving to the audience, like you could see the districts before you doing.

Derek, the poor kid, seemed to be so nervous, so with your free hand you poked his side. He turned his head towards you and you gestured to your hand as you smiled and waved. He understood.

The way to get sponsors and survive was to get people to like you. You wanted this kid to have some kind of a chance.

Then, the audience erupted into even louder applause and screams. You weren't entirely sure why, because you didn't really remember seeing any insane outfits that stood out that much.

But when you turned your head slightly and caught a glimpse of the District 12 tributes right at the back, you were shocked at the sight of flames.

They were on fire.

Literally.

For once, District 12 had upstaged every other district, and that scared you.

All the chariots came to a stop and President Coriolanus Snow stepped forward to speak.

"Welcome. Welcome." Snow spoke after silencing the audience once the music concluded. "Tributes, we welcome you. We salute your courage and your sacrifice. And we wish you Happy Hunger Games. And may the odds be ever in your favor."

You were already getting sick of hearing that.

After getting off the chariots, you were quick to remove your headpiece, much to the dismay of the stylists surrounding you.

The horses were being tended to and Derek slowly took off his own headpiece. You looked from him and down to the headpiece in your hands with a small snicker. The younger boy laughed a little too.

"Come on, come on." The two of you were soon ushered out of the room. "You two have the entire third floor to yourselves."

As you were led out the room, you made eye contact with the boy from District 1 again, his arms crossed as an amused smirk sat on his lips.

You ignored him and followed your stylists to the third floor.

The two of you were shown around the floor. Everything from the decor to the walls was glamorous. Nothing you were really used to.

You were shown the living room, kitchen and dining area, the bedrooms you would be staying in, along with the bathrooms.

That night, while eating dinner, you and Derek did not exchange a single word. You didn't want to become friends with this kid, just in case you had to be the one to kill him.

Beetee did most of the talking, he was doing his best to give the two of you pointers before training started the next day.

You and Derek both ate in silence before going to your separate rooms.

While lying in your bed, you thought back to the tribute parade. You tried getting some kind of idea surrounding your different opponents, but you wouldn't really know until training, or even the arena itself.

Remembering the parade made you think about the boy from District 1. It would be an absolute total lie if you said you didn't think he was attractive, but you didn't get a close look at him.

Maybe he was just ugly and you couldn't tell from afar.

That didn't matter to you at that point anyway. All that mattered was getting a good night's sleep before you started training the next day.

You needed to be prepared.