Kaz came in about 15 minutes later, looking very unhappy about the situation. He wore a matching suit along with a red bow tie. His hair had been shaved down to a buzz cut and dyed a light blue, which matches surprisingly well with his eyes.
"Fuckers had to fight me to dye my hair," he grumbled to Wren. "And this suit fucking sucks."
"Your old one was much better," she agreed, looking down at her dress. "Of all the fruits and vegetables out there, why a watermelon?"
"It's the tastiest, I guess?" he said with a shrug. "Logic doesn't really apply when it comes to fashion, so we just gotta deal with it."
Wren almost snorted. "True. These people are the farthest from logic as I've ever seen." She ran her fingers through her hair, which was a now a bit longer than chin length.
"Hm," he said, studying her new appearance. "I liked your hair the way it was. Did they rub the callouses off of your hands, too?"
Wren nodded, opening her palms and looking down at them. "Now it's gonna hurt like hell loading up bags, until I build up new ones."
"I mean, if I make it back to load up bags," she added with a sad look on her face.
"Hey," he said, lifting her chin up and smiling. "Enjoy the attention you're about to get. We can worry about that when we get there."
Wren shrugged. "Alright." A bit of hope glimmered in her eyes but she tried not to show it. "Let's go see the other tributes."
He gave her a playful pat on the head. "Yeah, let's do that."
(I don't remember this part from the books. You're gonna have to guide me though this)
(I'm pretty sure they didn't include it in the first book but in the second book I think she met finnick when they were waiting for the introduction ceremony to start. At least that's what I remember, don't quote me lol)
(Let's go with that, then)
Wren wandered around, staying close to Kaz. She spotted a little twelve year old from District 5 and felt her heart melt. She tugged on Kaz's hand. "That poor boy! We've gotta go talk to him."
He shrugged, letting her tug him in the boy's direction. The kid looked beyond overwhelmed, staring at everyone that passed him with wide eyes and a scared look. When he saw Wren and Kaz approaching, he took a small step back.
"Hey, it's okay," Wren soothed as they stopped about two feet in front of him. "We're not gonna hurt you. Promise."
Kaz knelt down in front of the kid, smiling in a friendly way.
"Your hair looks weird," the boy said, pointing to Kaz's head.
"Yeah, it does, don't it? It used to be pretty long, but the stylists made me cut it." He ran a hand over his head.
"Was it blue before?"
"Nah, that's new, too."
"That's dumb." The kid smiled, then offered out his hand. "I'm Kahwi."
"Nice to meet you," Kaz said, shaking his hand before gesturing up to Wren. "That's Wren."
Wren smiled and waved at him. "We're from District 11. Where are you from?"
"District 7," he said, showing his freshly scrubbed hands. "They tore away my callouses."
"They did the same to us," Kaz said, showing his hands too.
"These Capitol people don't know the definition of hard work," Wren complained, crouched down as well. "All they do is sit around and eat and show off their clothes and pet their pretty little lap dogs." A small smile tore at her lips, though it was subtle.
"They aren't that bad," the boy said. "I can understand why they want us to look our best. We're gonna be on TV, after all."
Wren shrugged. Maybe she was being a bit harsh, after all, they were sending them off to die, but she would never say that in front of Kahwi.
The green-haired man was back once again, chanting, "Places, people, places! The ceremony's about to begin!"
Wren got up and gave Kahwi an encouraging smile, then gestured for Kaz to follow her. Their chariot was pulled by two brown horses, and the chariot itself looked like a wheat field, with stalks of golden wheat flowing off of it, it almost looked real. It looked like home. She got up on to it, holding on to Kaz for stability.
"Is that really necessary, or are you just looking for a reason to touch me?" he asked, giving her a playful grin.
"O-of course not!" She blushed brightly. "I just didn't want to fall." She turned her head and smiled a bit, as she half did it for stability and half just for touching him.
He watched as the other chariots began moving forward, giving Kahwi a small wave as his cart pulled out. The man next to the boy looked capable enough, which pleased him. He glanced over at Wren as the cart for District 10 pulled out. "You ready?"
Wren nodded, breathing out a shaky sigh as their cart began to pull out. Music pounded in her ears as thousands of Capitol residents cheered. God, that's a lot of people, she thought, looking around at all the people with dyed skin and hair. She faked a smile and started waving at the crowd, though it obviously looked forced and she was horrible at it.
Kaz didn't even bother with the waving. He just shuffled a bit closer to Wren, looking uncomfortable for the first time that she'd seen.
"Too many fucking people," he mumbled to her, frowning slightly.
Wren nodded in agreement but continued smiling and waving. "You've gotta get them to like you. Then they might sponsor you. Smile. Wave. Do something."
He began waving slightly, still frowning. "I didn't realize how much bullshitting I'd have to do."
