The Boy In Love // THG Peeta's POV

The Parade

I shivered and rubbed my arms again. It was an odd feeling to touch my skin after having it so thoroughly scoured and polished. The prep team had deliberated for what seemed like hours on whether or not to remove my scars, and they had ultimately settled on letting my main stylist decide.

So here I was, alone in a freezing cold room with only a small towel around my waist, awaiting judgment. The only door whooshed open suddenly, startling me as an elegant caramel skinned woman entered my prison. The first thing I noticed was an absence of the garish Capitolesque style, her outfit simply a black silk blouse and a gauzy white skirt.

"Peeta, a pleasure to make your acquaintance," she said in a dulcet yet slightly husky voice. "I'm Portia." She extended a delicate hand to me, which I shook, eliciting a small yet genuine smile.

"Are you new?" I asked, never having seen her in any of the previous games.

"Yes, I used to work behind the scenes, but my dear friend Cinna requested to work with your district so I followed."

I raised my eyebrows. "You asked for 12? Why?"

She smiled and handed me a robe. "Why don't you put this on and we can have a chat."

I furrowed my brow, but shrugged on the robe anyway, following her out of the room and into a small parlor. The parlor contained a sitting area and a table laden with food that made my mouth water.

We took our seats, and she wasted no time in getting down to business. "Do you want the scars gone?" Portia blurted out.

"What?"

"We can do that, you know. I just don't know if you want us to."

I put some odd orange rice on my plate and picked at it. "I don't."

Portia smiled. "Good. Now I have an idea of your character. On to the opening ceremony. My partner, Cinna, is the stylist for your fellow tribute, Peeta. And our current thought is to dress you in complementary costumes," says Cinna. "As you know, it's customary to reflect the flavor of the district."

I raised my eyebrows. "So... coal miner's outfits?"

She giggled. "Oh heavens no, that is so played out. We are going to be focusing on the coal. And what do we do with coal? We burn it."

My eyes widened with fear and Portia cocked her head to the side with a grin. "You're not afraid of fire, are you, Peeta?"

°°°°°

"It's not real flame, of course, just a little synthetic fire Cinna and I came up with. You'll be perfectly safe," Portia said as she put the finishing touches on my outfit, a simple black unitard defined by the eye-catching cape and headpiece made of fluttering streams of orange, yellow, and red.

She used very little makeup on me, just some highlighting and contouring, and my hair was a little shorter, but in my usual style.

Once Portia pronounced my ensemble complete, she paraded me out in front of the prep team to be oohed and aahed over before whisking me down to the bottom of the Remake Center.

We were one of the last posses to arrive, with most of the other tributes already in their chariots. I would have continued to assess the other costumes, but I caught sight of Katniss and suddenly I couldn't breathe. She looked positively regal in that chariot, beside those coal black horses.

Cinna greeted me and then helped me into the chariot. I trained my eyes ahead, suddenly very afraid of being set on fire. I could feel Katniss trembling beside me, but I was far too afraid to speak to her until she leant over and whispered to me. "What do you think?" she asked. "About the fire?"

I gritted my teeth. "I'll rip off your cape if you'll rip off mine."

"Deal," she replied. "I know we promised Hay Mitch we'd do exactly what they said, but I don't think he considered this angle."

"Where is Haymitch, anyway? Isn't he supposed to protect us from this sort of thing?"

Katniss smiled slightly. "With all that alcohol in him, it's probably not advisable to have him around an open flame."

And then, despite being nervous about the Games and more pressingly, petrified of being turned into human torches, we laughed. In spite of everything, we laughed.

The opening music of the Tribute Parade began as a pair of huge doors swung open to let the chariots out. The tributes from District 1 rode out towards the City Circle and the Training Center, which would be our home/prison until the beginning of the Games.

In no time at all, our chariot was approaching the door. As the District 11 tributes rolled out, Cinna appeared with a lighted torch. "Here we go then," he said, and before we could react he set our capes on fire.

I gasped and braced myself to truly understand the feeling of all those loaves I baked, but there was only a faint tickling sensation. He let out a sigh of relief. "It works." Then he gently tucked a hand under Katniss' chin. "Remember, heads high. Smiles. They're going to love you!" He lit our headpieces and hopped of the chariot.

Portia blew me a kiss goodbye as we exited the doors, and just like that, they were gone.

Katniss leant over and spoke into my ear. "What's he saying?" She asked. I assumed she meant Cinna, but I had no idea what she was talking about so I thought on my feet.

"I think he said for us to hold hands," I said, grabbing her right hand with my left.

The crowd's initial alarm at our appearance quickly changed to cheers and shouts of "District Twelve!" Every head is turned our way; every eye is trained on us. I froze up, terrified of all the attention, until I caught a glimpse of Katniss beside me.

In the deepening twilight, the firelight illuminated her face. She seemed to be leaving a trail of fire behind her. I saw her lift her chin, put on her most winning smile, and wave with her free hand. Katniss was radiant, her figure wreathed in flames.

She noticed me staring, and glanced at me with a small smile before looking back out at the crowd and blowing kisses. That smile brought a grin to my lips, and I waved to the crowd as well, filled with an odd glow, my fingers intertwined with Katniss'.

The crowd screamed our names, desperate for our smiles and waves. No one will forget us. Katniss and Peeta. The girl on fire. And the boy in love.

°°°°°

You guys have no idea how long I've wanted to write that last line. I hope you all liked it! <3

-Siren Song