Coriolanus Snow X Reader (The Hunger Games)

Part 3

Coriolanus Snow awakens just as the sun begins to rise. It was around 5 in the morning and he was to be at the train station by 6 to meet up with his tribute and begin her preparation for The 10th Annual Hunger Games. He didn't know whether to be nervous or excited, and he couldn't help but wonder what Y/N was like in person, and if his and Sejanus's plan was even feasible. Coriolanus opens his closet and pulls out the bright red mentor's jacket, slipping it over his shoulders and patting down any wrinkles. He then pulls up a red (same red as the jacket) pair of pants along with a crinkly red skirt before fixing his hair, brushing it and taming down any frizziness. Finishing, he slides on a pair of black dress shoes. The tributes from 12 probably don't see fancy dressed people very often, so he thought he'd at least look presentable during his first impression. Coryo stares at himself in the mirror, feeling like something was missing. He looks around the room before his eyes stop at his dresser, where they then lock onto a bouquet of white roses. Right! That's it. The fresh-looking mentor picks two of the roses from the bouquet, sliding one into his jacket to form a boutonnière, and carefully placing the other into a cloth bag alongside the red dress Tigris made for Y/N. Now he was ready; ready for anything. Coriolanus says his goodbyes to Tigris and Grandma'am before sliding into the limousine filled with his fellow mentors that would take them to the train station.

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     Y/N jolts awake when the train starts to shake violently. The train itself was very dark, only having a dim lightbulb hanging from the ceiling in each compartment. There were rats, dead and alive, as well as mold and rotting wood. It was a very old and unstable train that used to be used to transport coal, but is now solely for transportation of tributes. Besides the engine, there were twelve compartments; one for each district. Y/N and Aaron, being from District 12, were alone in the last compartment, which seemed to be more unstable than the rest of the train. The trip was many miserable hours long, and Y/N only got about a minute of sleep through it all. Not only was she exhausted, she was covered in filth, as the train was also filled with dust and grime. What a great first impression she'll make to the Capitol and people of Panem, Y/N thought to herself with a chuckle.

    After what felt like an eternity, the train finally began halting, the tires screeching until it eventually came to an abrupt stop. Y/N immediately stands and heads over to Aaron, who was half asleep. She gently taps on his shoulder and smiles among seeing his blue eyes. "We're here." She whispers to him and helps him up. They were both in the early stages of dehydration; there had been no water nor food on the train. "I'm thirsty." Aaron says, his legs shaking as he stands. "I know, hopefully they'll give us water and a meal here at the Capitol." Y/N reassures him just as the compartment's door slides open and Peacekeepers come rushing inside. One snatch Aaron by the arm and drag him out of the train, not bothering to help him keep his balance. Y/N follows closely behind him and crouches down on the pavement with him; she wasn't sure what to do or where to go from here. There were Peacekeepers everywhere, and she suddenly became very afraid. Not just for herself but for all the other tributes. Most were being pushed from the train and hitting the hard ground forcefully. The Peacekeepers gave them no time to recover, as they grabbed her, Aaron, and all the tributes that succumbed to the concrete and swiftly pulled them up. "Get in a line." One says while pointing a gun at Y/N and Aaron. She nods and does as she's told, getting into a single file line with her fellow tributes. She was at the very back of the line, since 12 was always last and also so she could help support Aaron's weight as he stands.

     A few minutes of waiting pass before a black limousine pulls into the train station. Everyone seems to go silent as soon as the vehicle stops and the doors open. Out comes.. a lot of red. It was like a pool of bright red, that's all Y/N could make out. But as her tired eyes adjusted she noticed they were people. Not just people, but young people. They all looked around her and Aaron's age. Were there more tributes? If so, why did they get fancy treatment? The people in the red jackets form their own single file line. Y/N can't see much from the very end of the line and from being behind Aaron, but she can hear them talking up there. The line starts moving and she notices some of the voices were ones with fear, confusion, and some of anger. However, she couldn't make out what the red jacket's were saying, they were being pretty quiet. Though, as the line grew shorter she did see the tributes walk away with the red jackets. Y/N was so scared. What did these people want with them? Are the red jackets to be their masters and she was their slave? She didn't really want to find out, and right as it was Aaron's turn she begins to back away with him. Unfortunately, this got her nowhere as the Peacekeepers just pointed more guns at them and forced them forward.

     "Hi! I'm Sejanus, and you must be Aaron?" A male red jacket says to Aaron while reaching out a hand before remembering what Volumnia had said about getting too close to the tributes. Luckily, Mr. Highbottom had gone out of his way to let them meet up without a barrier, under Peacekeeper supervision of course. This meant that this first impression meant everything as they may not have a chance to talk without something in between them again. Y/N huffs and clings onto Aaron, trying to protect him. Sejanus grins and turns around to whisper something to the last red jacket behind him, who Y/N couldn't see yet, but she assumed that one was hers. "I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to help. I'm your mentor." The red jacket called Sejanus tells Aaron, pulling out a bottle of water from his bag and handing it to Aaron. "Here. Drink up while we walk to where you'll be staying. Unfortunately, I can't stay with you after this morning, so I'd like to get to know you personally as we walk." Sejanus says and grabs Aaron's shoulder, directing him to start walking. Y/N steps in front of Aaron, "I'm going with him." She says firmly. Sejanus shakes his head. "I'm afraid that's not possible. There's someone you have to meet first, but I promise you you'll see him again soon." Aaron's mentor assures her before walking off. Y/N's eyes stay locked on Aaron all the way up until he was completely out of sight, and even then she still didn't want to look forward. Unfortunately, she couldn't ignore the red jacket in front of her forever. The faster she got talking to him over with, the faster she would see Aaron again.

Y/N slowly turns her attention to the red jacket in front of her. Who was... just a boy. A boy that looked like he should belong in a royal castle, not in the ill-fated Capitol of Panem. He really did look like the definition of a Prince. He had shoulder-length light blonde hair with perfect waves throughout it. And, his eyes. Y/N finds herself getting lost in his bright blue eyes. She always thought Aaron had the bluest eyes of anyone she knew, but this guy just filled that spot. He looked nervous and unsure of what to say to her. She didn't really know what to say either, but decided to break the ice with a cheesy pick up line. "You know, I always knew the Capitol was ugly on the inside, but I guess I didn't realize ugly people could be so.. pretty on the outside." Y/N says, her face immediately turning red with embarrassment. What was she thinking? She wasn't about to let herself flirt with someone she just met, and especially not with someone from the Capitol. "Uh.. I'll take that as a compliment, thanks?" The boy says with a chuckle, his face just as red. "I'm-" Y/N begins but is interrupted by the red jacket. "Y/N. I know. I've been watching you. On- the screen I mean. Not.. not stalking." He laughs and shakes his head. "Anyway, I'm Coriolanus Snow. Most people call me Coryo, though, so if that's easier to say I'm fine with that too." Coryo tells her. "Coriolanus Snow. Fancy. I think red jacket may be easier than both of those, to be honest." Y/N giggles. "So I assume you're my mentor?" She asks and Coryo nods in response. "Do you like.. mentor my way through battle? Because I'm sure we both know just by looking at me that I'm not going to win these games, so if I were you I wouldn't waste time on me." She sighs and looks up at Coryo who begins speaking again. "Not exactly. I'm here to take care of you. To care for you. It may not seem like it at times, but I really do care. Sure it's my job and all, but Y/N, I've known you for what? 5 minutes and you already intrigue me. You may win, may not win, but I'm here to make sure that if it comes down to taking a final breath, it will not go in vain. I'll make people love you and take interest in you like I do already. Okay? I promise my goal is to help and only help." He looks directly at Y/N and his lips form a small smile. Y/N wanted to believe him, she just didn't know yet. Coriolanus seemed like a good guy, but Y/N knew what the Capitol could do to even the most genuine people. At this point, she really had nothing left to lose and decided to start off by trusting him. Whether that trust would last is still a mystery. "Let's get you back to your other tributes." Coryo says and the two walk together side by side to where the rest of the tributes were staying.