The Tributes of Twelve | Newt x Reader

6 | The Stylists

"So, y/n," he says, and I guiltily swallow the large amounts of chicken in my mouth. I dab my mouth with one of the stupid napkins along the side of the plate.

"What?" I ask, probably quite rudely. I was enjoying the food.

"About your costume for the opening ceremonies," he tells me. I groan inwardly. Of course. Usually they dress the Twelve tributes in these horrible coal miner outfits that look nothing like the ones we use at home.

"What will I be wearing?" I ask.

"Well, for starters, Brenda, Newt's stylist, and I, were thinking to dress you in similar outfits that make you seem more unified."

"And?"

"Well, we wanted something that would make the audience group you both together, in a sense," Thomas says. I raise my eyebrows, as if telling him to continue. "So, we'll have you in a dress, and him in a suit."

My first, childish, thought, is how good Newt would look in a suit. But I come to my senses fast and don't share that thought with Thomas. Instead, I ask, "What does that have to do with coal or coal mining?"

Thomas grins, as if he wanted me to ask this question all along, and says, "Well, you see, we're going to make you look good. Not in coal miner's outfits, like every other year, no, the dress and suit are going to signify what the district does for the Capitol. You supply us coal, so we're going to focus on that, rather than the mining of the stuff. Understood?"

"No, not really," I snap. "So why the-"

"Shh, y/n," Thomas says. "What does coal look like?"

"A black lump," I respond, scowling slightly.

"Yes," Thomas says.

"I'm going to be put in a dress that makes me look like a lump of coal."

"No," Thomas groans, "I'm going to put you into a regal black gown, dark, and easily fired up, like coal. Fired up in a metaphorical sense, by the way. We're going to put you into a black gown that makes you look notorious and dark. Good?"

I sit there, stunned. Not once has a stylist focused on a district's industry like this. It's crazy, but a devilish smile makes it way to my face as I realise making me look new and different, and 'notorious and dark' could just work.

I stand in front of a full length mirror a few hours later in the 'regal black gown'. It's made out of floating black material that trails down to the floor on both my sleeves and at the hem of the dress. It looks almost like a wedding dress, but black. Grey and black makeup fills my cheekbones and my eyelids, curling up towards my eyebrows, looking almost like smoke. My lips no longer look pink, but are covered in the same shade of black as coal. Which is the point, I guess. My hair is curled and tumbles down loose around my shoulders, and a laurel wreath made from black metal curves around my head, making me look like some kind of royal figure from the past. The bottom of my hair is tipped with black and grey.

In short, Thomas has succeeded in making me look 'dark and notorious'.

"Ready to go, y/n?" My stylist himself says, and offers me his hand. I still don't accept, though. Just because I look like a dark, evil royal figure doesn't mean I've forgotten about Newt. We walk out of the room together, and Thomas tilts my head up higher.

"Remember, y/n, you're above them all. Dark and notorious," Thomas says, and then I almost smile, before remembering to be what he's told me to be. Sereia, Evrin and Locliel accompany us, and they're all giggling away, proud of themselves. I want to vomit.

Well, at least I want to vomit until Newt walks in. I can see what Thomas meant by wanting to make us 'unified'. He wears a dark suit, all black like my dress. The shirt clings to his chest tightly, and is tie is made from a black to dark grey at the bottom which rises into a shade of white, like used coal. The tips of his blond hair are also darker than usual, though it's not as noticeable as on my hair. A black laurel wreath sits on his head, too, but his face is practically clear of makeup, which makes me slightly jealous, but happy, because he still looks like himself. Even though Brenda and Thomas, and both of our prep teams, plus Minho and Ava, whom I haven't seen since this morning, are in the room too, his eyes are focused on mine as he walks in. His eyes look up and down my body, and he looks amazed.