The Black Widow | A Hunger Games Fanfiction

The Interviews

The last event of the lead up to the hunger games was this evening and I was about as ready as I'd ever be. The interviews were quite easy to prepare for and all I would need to do would be to adopt my Capitol persona and make the crowds love me. How hard could it be?
Well, my stylist seemed to want to make my job far more difficult than it had to be.
"It's see through," I commented as Victoria removed a long pink dress from a bag,
"Not entirely," she defended, "There's some gold to cover what needs to be covered." She knew that didn't make a difference and I glared at her. Even if the dress hadn't been made entirely out of a translucent pink mesh, it would've been very revealing. The dress had a neckline that extended to the gold belt at my waist, where the skirt spilled to the floor with slits up either side all the way to my hips.
When my dress was on (which was difficult since I was convinced it would tear with any movement), I put on the gold heels and jewelry. Next, Victoria started on my makeup- pink eyeshadow and lips with dark lashes. I tried to talk while she did it,
"So where's Cinna today?"
"Don't talk, you'll crack your foundation,"
"But I'll need to talk, I'm about to do an interview,"
"Play up the mysterious angle,"
"But,"
"Shh." I glowered at her, but Victoria just motioned for me to smile. I wanted to punch the smile off her infuriating face. How could she tell me not to talk? Just to smile? I bet Jupiter's stylist wasn't giving him the same advice.

"Now I'll be back in an hour," Victoria told me, "Don't do anything to mess up your outfit while I'm gone." The door slammed behind her as she left and I was alone. It was eerily quiet without Victoria there and I just ran the print of my index finger over the sharp edge of my thumbnail. I wondered how much blood would be on my nails by the end of the games. Either by victory or death.
I just sat there thinking about it for a few minutes before the door to my dressing room slid open. At first, I thought it was Victoria back to check on me, but instead, it was Cinna who crept into the room. He slipped silently into the room and hung the white dress bag that he had been carrying over the rail.
"What's that?" I asked and he unzipped it in answer. Inside, there was a dress very similar to the one I was wearing but so much nicer. And I couldn't quite put my finger on why.
Until he told me,
"The fabric isn't see through," he told me, "but at a glance, it will look as if it is. There's also more gold on it so that it looks like it's actually part of the design instead of just there for modesty." Immediately, I slipped off the dress I was wearing and put on the one Cinna had brought. I instantly felt better and less exposed. It made me feel more confident about tonight.
"Thank you," I breathed, "but why are you doing this?"
"None of this is right," Cinna replied, "we are sending children to die for our entertainment. We've already taken enough from you; we don't need to take your pride too."
"Then why do you do this?"
"When I'm a stylist, I'll be able to make a difference. All I need to do is intern with Victoria for four more games and then I can take on my own tributes."
"But how will that make things any better?"
"Anything is better than this," Cinna said, holding up my discarded dress. I guess he had a point.
"Will Victoria notice that we swapped it?" I asked but he shook his head,
"She won't have enough time to notice, let alone swap it back. Now I need to go hide this before she gets back." I smiled as he disappeared out the room and I was alone once again.

Cinna was right: Victoria was back late enough that she didn't notice that the dresses had been swapped. This new one really was much prettier I thought as she led me to my place in line- I was second.
Jupiter took the stage as Caesar's invitation using the same cocky smile I'd seen him practice in the mirror before. It was enough to make me want to laugh. But of course I wouldn't- Jupiter's interview was forgettable. I didn't want to make him be remembered as the boy whose district partner thought he was a joke.
Soon enough, it was my turn and Caesar Flickerman welcomed me to the stage. I smiled and waved flirtatiously out to the audience, blowing kisses as I made my way over to Caesar. I greeted him with a kiss to each cheek before sitting down in the chair opposite him,
"May I just say that you look radiant tonight," Caesar complimented me,
"Why thank you," I said putting a hand over the centre of my chest and allowing a practiced blush to creep to my cheeks,
"So Miss Gold_"
"Please, call me Rose," I interrupted. Developing the bond with the Capitol was essential; that was easier on a first name basis.
"Alright Rose," Caesar smiled, "Would you like to explain your training score of a nine?"
"Oh I would love to Caesar," I giggled, "But where would be the fun in that?"
"Pretty please," he asked,
"Well," I began leaning forward, "I guess I could show you."
"Could you now?" he questioned, "and here I was thinking tributes weren't allowed weapons."
"It's not that kind of talent," I lied huskily. Caesar let out a surprised chuckle and turned to the gamemakers,
"It sounds like you got quite a show." I smiled,
"Oh they sure did."
"And how are you planning to tackle the arena?" Caesar asked, changing the subject before the content strayed from what was appropriate for the child audience. Because child murder was fine, but sexual innuendo was a step too far.
"In the same way I tackle everything in life," I said, "With charm and grace."
"In a fight to the death?" Caesar teased,
"Oh I find those virtues quite applicable in a range of situations," I told him as I leaned back and crossed one leg over the over. It showed more of my leg than I wanted but I doubted anyone in the Capitol would be complaining.
I just hoped my family weren't watching this.

Finally, my interview was over and I left the stage, waving as I went. I went back to my room to watch the rest of the interviews on TV, missing only Mason's interview on my journey. Hildegarde was talking to Caesar, but she wasn't getting such a positive reception. She was clearly going for the strong, domineering angle but it wasn't working so well. It never did for the female tributes. 
Morgan's was quite successful. He talked about how he was volunteer but was reaped anyway. Then, he went on to talk about his family and compared District 4 to the Capitol. The audience seemed to love him, cheering and awwing. I might have to reconsider his threat level to me.
Oceane and the rest of the tributes' interviews ranged from forgettable to downright pitiful. Clearly none of them were performers, but that didn't mean they wouldn't get sponsors once they had shown off their fighting prowess.