[PREQUEL TO RADIANCE]
❝you have one job: convince me, or you may find yourself in the rubble of a ruin that was your own making.❞
ontari nightfall is the newest victor for the capitol to add to their list. she'd heard about the horrors that come wit...
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┍━━━━━━━♔━━━━━━━┑ BLEEDING ROSE ┕━━━━━━━♔━━━━━━━┙
｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ
KIRAN NASSIF'S APARTMENT is in one of the nicest parts of the Capitol. Throughout her experience with the Hunger Games and their aftermath, Ontari has familiarized herself with some of the city. There's the Games sector where the Tribute Center, Remake Center, and anything related to the Hunger Games are located. The government officials live in the Grandeur sector— named after the massive mansions and immaculately-done landscaping. Then there's Eminence for celebrities, the Emporium for the shopping areas, and other sectors that she hasn't learned of yet.
Even though Kiran is well-known, he isn't famous for acting or music, so his home isn't in Eminence. He explains that his sector is called Virtuosity. It's where many of the successful artists live. However, it's so expensive that the sector is still sparse by Capitol standards, meaning each apartment can easily take up three or more levels of a building. Levels — as in entire floors. Not even the Tribute Center is that expansive.
Ontari stares at herself in the mirror inside of Kiran's master bathroom. It's so clean that it doesn't even look like glass, almost as if she could reach out and plunge her hand inside. She'd once heard an old wive's tale of your reflection being you in another dimension. That alternate reality is horrible, so your reflection stops you from going inside. But she can't help but think that she's in the awful dimension. And when she puts her palm to the mirror and feels nothing but the cold glass against her skin, she thinks, good. She wouldn't wish her life on anyone.
She doesn't look as impeccable as she had when she'd arrived. Some of her mascara had smudged under her eyes from the sweat that had coated her skin, her hair is full of static, and there's some lipstick bleeding around the corners of her mouth. She feels odd rummaging through Kiran's belongings to search for something to fix her appearance with, so she decides to use water and her hands. However, the mascara is stubborn, so it doesn't budge, and the lipstick isn't going anywhere. It seems that this will be her look for the night.
The night was... fine. It wasn't particularly enjoyable, but it wasn't horrible, either— then again, as soon as they'd arrived at Kiran's apartment, Ontari had shoved herself into a corner of her mind and hadn't emerged again until she'd stepped into this bathroom, so she isn't sure what exactly happened.
Maybe Kiran had been a silver lining for her first time. She has vague memories of him making sure he took care of her and got her consent for everything. He hadn't left a single mark on her skin from his teeth or hands. Eytelia had warned her of that— how some of her clients might be eager to brand her with bites or bruises as evidence they'd been there. She'd also said how it was common for men to get off and be done with it. So, in an odd way, Ontari feels like she should be thanking her lucky stars.
