REIN and SNOW ∞ louis & tom au

Chapter 1

Coriolanus Snow stood before his cheval mirror, dismayed at his attire. Who once was the son of the great tycoon Crassus Snow, a well-respected general in the Capitol who died during the First Rebellion, is now just a teenage orphan struggling to find a prestigious dress shirt to wear for today's Reaping Ceremony.

He had a decent pair of black trousers, but they were made of polyester. A shirt that his father once wore during his time at the Academy days was stained, yellowed, and missing half of its buttons. His pair of laced leather boots he had outgrown gives him a bit of a wobble when he walks.

This is unacceptable, he thought to himself. I'll be made a fool of stepping into Heavensbee Hall like this.

It's not every day Coriolanus has apparel issues in the morning before attending school, considering the Academy provides uniforms required for daily use. For today's ceremony, however, students are instructed to be dressed fashionably but with formality for a pertinent occasion.

He could wear the Academy uniform and explain that he had forgotten to dress up for the ceremony. Or he should call his cousin Tigris and ask that she stop by the black market to find suitable clothing.

But what would she trade? We have nothing valuable. For a moment, he thought of people putting a price on his cousin because the only thing she could sell would be herself. Had the house of Snow fallen that far? Trading bodies for materials?

With Tigris' long nose and box-shaped body, she was no great beauty in the eyes of many, but she did had a sweetness and vulnerability that invited abuse.

She would find takers if she had a mind to. That idea made Coriolanus feel sick, helpless, and honestly disgusted with himself for even wondering.

The national anthem, 'Gem of Panem,' could be heard emanating from within the Snows lavish apartment. Along with the aroma of cabbage boiling in the kitchen hitting Coriolanus' nose.

He walks in on his grandmother's tremulous soprano voice bouncing off the walls as she stirs the cabbage in a large pot.

"Gem of Panem! Mighty city! Through the ages, you shine anew!"

He leans on the entrance frame and watches the woman sing her heart out, painfully off-key. He winced a little when she tried to hit specific notes.

When the war began, she sang the anthem every single day in hopes of building her grandchildren's sense of patriotism. Though the rebels had been silent for a decade now, his grandmother had not. She is a proud citizen of Panem who will condemn any defiance against the Capitol, just as his father had.

His father. A memory Coriolanus hates to think about but also finds comforting during stressful times. He always wondered what his father would say in certain situations or how proud he'd be of his son for making it this far without going utterly insane.

Throughout the war, the Snow family had to sell and trade many of their possessions. Some rooms were left empty and closed off, while others were barely furnished. Even worse, several volumes of books had been thrown in the fireplace to keep the family warm. Watching the pages of his picture books burn to ashes after poring over them with his mother never failed to bring him to tears.

Just the thought of everything threatened to bring him to tears.

Having been in his friends' apartments, Coriolanus knew that most families had begun repairing their homes, but the Snows couldn't even afford a few yards of linen for a new shirt. He wondered how long he could keep up appearances with everyone else strutting around in their newly tailored suits.

Oh, how he loathed the rebels for what they'd done to his family, to his home here at the Capitol. He is now no different than scum of the districts, and that boils his blood over. Even more than the cabbage bubbling to the pot's rim.