REIN and SNOW ∞ louis & tom au

Chapter 6

The rush of attention from fellow peers in the hallway and from Tigris and the Grandma'am that night relieved Coriolanus' distress. He was completely fine after dinner when strangers at the zoo gave him notable attention. This time, he is determined to stand behind the bars to avoid "engaging in reckless behavior that could kill a student" or whatever the dean said.

Officials extended the zoo's hours to nine, allowing citizens to see the tributes. Only now, there was no more live coverage than earlier. Coriolanus wanted to check on Louis and suggest he sing another song to draw the cameras back.

As he approached the monkey house, the paths started to get crowded. A commotion was occurring down the front where about a hundred people gathered from one side of the bars to the other. Theodore Malmsey pushed his way through with a cameraman, while Coriolanus climbed up on a boulder to get a better view.

Much to his displeasure, he spied Sejanus Plinth standing at the edge of the enclosure with a bulky backpack. He held a sandwich through the bars and offered it to the tributes who were hanging back, either scared or uncertain about accepting the offer.

Coriolanus furrowed his brows. What was he up to? Is he trying to outdo me by flaunting a bag full of food I could never afford? Why is he handing out sandwiches to them all anyway—that girl isn't even his tribute!

Sejanus' face brightened when he caught sight of a familiar face, and he waved him over.

Coriolanus casually passed through the crowd, soaking up the attention. "Trouble?" he asked, surveying the backpack, overflowing with sandwiches and fruit.

"None of them trust me. And why should they?"

"Uh..." Coriolanus tried to speak, but he was distracted by a little girl who was trying to prod a tribute with a stick.

"Hey, Coryo?" Sejanus captured his attention again. "Do you think you could get your tribute to come over? If he does, the others might too. They have to be starving."

Coryo? He hasn't called me that since we were kids. And even then, it was amiss. That nickname is reserved for friends and family, and I am not friends with a Plinth.

Coriolanus ignored the nickname and thought quickly about the feeding. On the one hand, he already received a demerit today and did not wish to push his luck with Dean Highbottom. On the other hand, the demerit was for endangerment of a student, and he was perfectly safe on this side of the bars. Dr. Gaul (who was arguably more influential than the dean) complimented his initiative. And in truth, he had no interest in sharing the stage with Sejanus. The zoo was his show, and Louis Rein was the only starring guest. Even now, he could hear Theodore whispering his name to the cameraman and felt the viewers in the Capitol watching him.

He spots Louis at the back of the enclosure, washing his hands and face at a faucet that jutted from the wall. He dried himself on his cardigan and motioned Edith over to wash her face as well. He helped arrange her woolly hair into pigtails and adjusted the rose behind her ear.

"Wait...I can't treat Louis like it's feeding time at the zoo," Coriolanus told Sejanus. Shoving food through the bars wouldn't be consistent with the 'gentleman' act.

"Then sit with him and offer dinner, like a get-together," Sejanus suggested.

Coriolanus hated how good of an idea that was and that he didn't come up with it first. "Alright, whatever. What have you got?"

Sejanus lit up. "Beef sandwiches and plums! Please take some for yourself. Ma made extra."

Coriolanus chose two sandwiches and two plums from the pack and crossed to the edge of the monkey house. A flat rock provided a seat, so he sat down and got comfortable. He pulled out a lacy white handkerchief embroidered his father's initials CXS. Never had he left home without a clean cloth in his pocket. There are drawers of them stretching back generations, but he always made sure to pick out the ones his father once owned. He spread out the worn rumpled square of white linen and laid out the food.