SWAN UPON LEDA; hunger games

chapter 2

[act one; chapter two     -     always an angel, never a god]

    She was being plucked and prodded and waxed and wiped clean of all innocence and girlhood. She could feel it be sucked out of her with every question she didn't know how to answer and she could feel it bounce off of her heart with every tug on her skin and hair. She felt like a doll, not a human. Like a bird with clipped wings, kept within a gilded cage.

    The people around her, the ones with extravagant makeup and too-bright clothes, were void. They showed no emotion, nothing at all. They were blank pieces of paper, too bright, too empty. They peeled a wax strip from her leg, faces a perfect show of marble stillness at her wince.

    "Why are you doing all of this?" She questioned. Her eyes watched them, trailed their every movement, as they seemed to float around the room, unfazed. "Hello?"

    No answer.

    Until, "They are preparing you for me."

    Whiplash hit her faster than what she was ready for. Leda's head spun towards the door, only to be greeted by a tiger-faced woman. She was tall—much taller than Leda—with feline features and a tiger-striped pattern tattooed onto her skin. She was beautiful in the most exotic way.

    The first thing that Leda thought to say was, "What's your name?"

    The woman smiled down at her. "You can call me Tigris."

    Leda pushed away the hands on her skin and on her body, sitting up. She stuck a hand out. "Leda."

    The stylist nodded her head, shaking the girl's hand. "Let us get you ready for the world to see."

———

    Leda had to admit that Tigris was...magnificent at her job. She had been gentle, unlike everyone else, as she dressed her, did makeup, and did her hair. She had been soft and aware as her hands touched Leda's skin, as she tugged and pulled on her hair, as she stripped her down and built her back up again.