All I Know So Far • The Hunger Games

Suspicious Minds

    

     "You know, when I pictured someone asking me to be their maid of honor, I wasn't expecting it to be for a fake wedding." Carver plops down in the seat August had set up for her in front of the vanity. His crew picks and plucks at her face, ensuring that her appearance will be perfect. Thankfully, there's not as much waxing as there was when she first entered the games as she's practically a half-time resident in the Capitol by now.

"It's just to keep up the image." August waves off his assistants as he moves to attach the fake eyelashes to Carver's face. "Just be grateful Katniss came up with the idea. With how you three were doing, there's now way Snow was satisfied. You three sounded like you were reading from a drilling manual."

"Really? I thought my breakdown in Four would've been enough of a show to pacify everyone." She says sarcastically, making August lightly slap her arm scoldingly. "What?" She raises her eyebrows. "I have to get my attitude out now before the party."

"We're lucky there's no cameras in here." Augustus grumbles. "You'd manage to get us both in trouble."

Carver rolls her eyes, knowing it's better not to speak badly about the President with other people besides August in the room. His team of beauticians continue to pamper Carver, applying the rest of her makeup and styling her short hair. "Do you think we should put some extensions in?" One of the women prepping asks. "We can't do much styling with how short she cut it." She points out distastefully.

August narrows his eyes, "I think a simple curl with golden streaks throughout it will be just fine." He replies curtly. "I'll worry about extensions if President Snow requests it." He says in a reprimanding tone that makes the woman become skittish.

Carver watches amused and relieved that August picked the small battle to fight for her. He defended the one and only choice Carver could make about her body. She couldn't have much autonomy with being forced out to Snow's Benefactors. She had a very specific image to uphold, and thankfully the reaction to her cut hair was a positive one when she originally did it.

The brunette is forced out of her chair and onto the pedestal in the center of the room to dress her. Her face is now decorated with a generous amount of makeup, lighter than others to keep up the vision, but still a lot. Her lips are covered by a sparkling pink sheer gloss as highlighter dusts her rosy cheeks. Her eyeliner is winged and eyelashes curled, allowing her to appear more seductive. Golden eyeshadow that matches the streaks in her hair is delicately applied, tying in the golden strapped heels that now adorn her feet.

Gold seemed to be the color of choice for Carver. Gold or blue was the usual go to. One brings out her features, the other indicates her status as the Golden Girl of Panem. It only seemed natural for the brighter of the two colors to be chosen for their final stop on the Victory Tour.

She's just grateful that the dress itself isn't gold. It's a simple matte black dress that hugs her legs tightly and moves down to her ankles. The top of it covers her shoulders and left breast before the fabric slithers down, covering her right breast in a sash-like form. Her cleavage and upper abdomen are separated from her lower abdomen by a thin layer of black fabric that leads into the skirt below. Two black roses adorn the dress, one on her right shoulder and one on her left hip. A detail the President is sure to be akin to. The dress itself is made of a thin material that doesn't cover much. The bottom half of the dress is long with, as she expected, a large slit on the side to show off a different part of her body. The last time Carver wore a dress that covered every body part was her interview with Caesar before the Hunger Games.