pearl {Hunger Games}

The World is on Fire

Madge Undersee really liked being clean. She absolutely hated when she would find bits of dirt under her nails, or saw a speck on her clothes. Gale Hawthorne, however, did not give a damn. While Madge sat on a table wordlessly letting the team of people clean her over and over again, removing every hair from her body, and moisturizing her, Gale was clenching the edge of the table he sat on, this close to killing every single one of the idiots near him. He was sure that somewhere, deep down, they weren't horrifically stupid and knew that in 12 days it wouldn't matter at all. Gale ground his teeth remembering the advice Haymitch whispered to him before he departed: "Let the stylists do whatever they want to you."

Gale sat there for hours being tortured to become their elitist definition of beautiful. He hated it. He hated their bubbly energy and their high pitched voices. He hated how they acted like he was on his way to becoming a celebrity and not dead. Gale could hear Katniss warning him. He knew it was selfish, but he wished she was here right now. The small girl could've calmed him down, made it impossible for him to maim any of the idiots in the room who bubbled on, spoke high, and looked even more superior whenever he spoke. Gale snarled as they applied a gel to his teeth, "...to make them shine like pearls." The purple-haired and magenta skinned man said. Gale hesitantly nodded and waited for it to end.

Madge sat on a table stark naked and nervous. She twiddled her freckled fingers in between each other. Her breaths were shallow like if she inhaled too much she would puke. Her hands lifted to her golden strands and she wonders where her dress was thrown. Her thoughts turn to what garment she would soon wear for the next event: the tribute parade.

The tribute parade was ridiculous. Chariots carrying the two tributes were made to represent their district. And for district 12 it was usually coal-related. Stark naked with coal dust? Possible. Coal miners? Maybe. Madge remembers when one year they had put the girl in white sheer fabric and the boy covered in little white pearls. It was based on a ridiculous rumor about coal. If you put enough pressure on it, coal would turn into pearls. Coal can turn into diamonds, but the pressure is ridiculously high. Madge felt like a pearl sometimes. A shiny toy to her family. She felt different from the coal and diamonds at her school. She felt like she didn't belong, like a fake. Madge prayed to whoever was listening that she would not be dressed like a fool. They listened.

A woman entered into the hygiene room that Gale sat in and effectively shocked him into nudity. The robe around him dropped. Gale shrieked. She laughed. Compared to the people before she looked tame, normal even. Not someone you would see in district twelve, maybe one or two. She had white-blonde hair and bluntly cut bangs. Brown eyes and skin. She wore a simple shirt and pants. Maybe it was the material that screamed rich. She didn't seem to be wearing a lot of makeup, a dark red lipstick, and eyeliner. Gale made a scramble to cover himself and she didn't move from her spot.

"My name is Portia and I am terribly sorry about this." Gale raised an eyebrow and scoffed at the smaller being.

"Most Capitalites are congratulating me."

"For what, your brother getting picked for this deathmatch?" Portia snorted before turning deathly serious. "That was courageous, volunteering for him." Gale crossed his arms and peered down at her.

"He's twelve. I would rather it be me than him." He explained. Portia nodded and looked at him sadly.

"I am here to do whatever I can do so you can make it out alive," Portia spoke softly as if Gale was some sort of wounded animal. She approached him gently.

"Yeah, how are you going to do that?"

"Are you afraid of fire?"

Madge's stylist was beautiful. He was beautiful in an effortless sort of way that no one else in the Capital could accomplish. He had deep brown skin and brown eyes that had flecks of green in them. The only makeup she could detect upon his face was a flick of gold eyeliner that brought out the green in his eyes. He was tall and slim wearing nothing but a black shirt and pants. When he entered the room he had slipped a silk robe onto her shoulders. Madge liked him more by the time he had spoken his first words to her.