[Flowers] • The Hunger Games

Twenty Six

It was that time of the year again.

The full-body decontamination that the Capitol preformed on them. All to be primped and primed for partying with the Capitol's elites. Asteria laid down on the table, already three washes deep. Twelve was a particularly tricky district when it came to cleanliness. Soot and ash particles from the mines covered everything in their district in a thick blanket of coal. It got into your hair, under your nails, even embedded into your skin. They preformed treatments and multiple washes to try and combat the grime. But she'd never be completely clean of the coal, and there was an odd sort of comfort to that fact.

She got the pleasure of being dressed by Cinna. While Madge was the true diamond of the night, the designers were also given their respective mentors to dress. And since Gale and Asteria weren't currently on speaking terms, that left the girls paired together.

"I don't think I've told you before, but you're absolutely gorgeous, Asteria." Cinna complimented, running a hand through her hair affectionately. She gave him a smile as she sat there.

"Thank you, Cinna." She told him.

"You don't see features like yours in the Capitol. The dark hair and eyes, olive skin. Trademarks of your district that make you stand out anywhere else." He said. "Everywhere you go, you're a twelve. Remember that." He nodded to her.

Remember that.

He began working.

She was dressed youthfully. In the same sort of dress they'd paraded Madge around in. But her own was a soft yellow, with real white flowers delicately sewn into the material. They looked like they may have been daisies or something of the sort. Her hair was curled and tied up partially, framing her face without getting in the way. Cinna weaved in an assortment of yellow and while wildflowers as he worked.

"You ever stop and look at flowers?" Asteria asked him.

He stopped, smiling down at her for a moment.

"All the time." He told her. "Me, I prefer daisies. There's something beautiful in their simplicity. You?" He asked.

"Moss roses." She found herself saying, smiling a bit. "And Magnolias. They remind me of people I know." Cinna smiled, too.

"Lovely little things, Magnolias. They can mean a lot of different things. They're supposed to be good luck, as well as a sign of stability. Others say they represent nobility. But one of my favorite meanings is perseverance. Magnolias are one of the oldest species of plants in recorded history, once the tree is planted- they'll keep blooming every year for generations."

"Yes, my mother had a tree when she was younger." Asteria explained. "Every year, there were new blooms. Regardless of how harsh the winter had gotten."

"Most people think that Magnolias are gentle, delicate flowers because of their beauty. But they're rather resilient little things, aren't they?" He asked. His eyes flickered to hers for a few moments as they paused.

Asteria guessed that they were no longer talking about flowers.

"And yet the flowers die anyway." She said.

"Such a shame— to love something death can touch." Cinna shook his head as he resumed work on her hair once again. The light flowers really brought out the cold, dark undertones her hair held.

"Yes. It is."

She would describe how she looked as delicately deadly. A wildflower sprouted from the earth in front of a headstone. The poisoned mushrooms growing from a long-forgotten deer skull. The yellows and whites of her outfit contrasted those black and brown features of hers to manage to be both beautiful and terrifying at the same time.