Chapter Eighteen: Gag worthy
Maize and Cana are barely able to eat their breakfast and down a shake before they are dragged off by their respective prep teams to prepare for the interviews. Before they begin working on her body, Tesoro redid her measurements (had Maize mention that she'd gained weight? She'd never been more proud of herself in her life) and sent them off to Orion.
Yurida and Circo had no problem scrubbing her body clean and once more waxing off all of the hair from her body. Circo happily painted her nails a dark forest green before adding intricate little rhinestones in different patterns, Yurida and Tesoro rubbed lotion all over her body before applying a light green powder that made her body shimmer under the light. Tesoro concentrated on Maize's face, erasing her face with makeup and then redoing her features the way he wants. It was about then that she'd been handed a shake with a straw in place of lunch by Circo.
She can feel the 'smokey eyes' he's drawing onto her face and the color lipstick he's applying on her is a bright blood red that stands out. Yurida is styling her hair, untangling it and applying product to it so that it is soft and malleable. The female stylist is letting the majority of Maize's hair go free, each stand curling beautifully, except for the hair in the front as she pulled it out of Maize's eyes and into two tiny braids that meet at the back of her head. The woman adds a few odd feathers and beads into Maize's hair until she's satisfied. The most painful part is probably the green gem (hopefully not real emerald, because Maize doesn't want to be responsible for anything that expensive in any life) belly button piercing that Circo gifts her. She'd already had her ears pierced for the Tribute Parade so Circo only had to clasp pig golden hoop earrings as he placed green and gold bangles onto her arms and little gold bells around her ankles.
As soon as the prep team steps back to view their final product, Maize steadily ignoring the feeling of being a bug in a glass box for people to gape at, Orion walked into the room with the bagged outfit. Maize is allowed to stand up for the first time in three hours, shut's her eyes per Orion's instruction, and lets the four of them tug it onto her body before helping her step into her shoes (which thankfully weren't heals). Even with her eyes shut, Maize knows that she is displaying more skin that she is strictly comfortable sharing. She felt so unbelievably naked, only wearing a thin thong under it all.
"Open your eyes, dear!" Orion chirruped, "We are finished!"
The girl staring back at Maize from the mirror barely looks like a girl at all. She is like a tantalizing gypsy, with a beaded green brassiere covering her assets (some of the beads going off the brassieres top to hang down over her exposed torso), the belly button ring is on full display surrounded by Maize's smooth looking toned stomach (that for once didn't look like she was half-starved or bloated from malnutrition), and hanging from her waist was a beaded flowy green chiffon gypsy skirt with a slit on the left leg (as if she wasn't showing off enough skin in the first place). She was once more wearing Greek styled sandals except that this time they were adorned with beads to match with the outfit.
She felt like gagging at the amount of skin visible for people to see. Maize wouldn't be reacting so harshly if she didn't know about the consequences of dressing as provocatively as she was now. If she won the Hunger Games, by some miracle or curse really, Maize was screwed.
She'd be the next Finnick Odair.
Maize resolutely looked away from the image, swallowing bile, and plastering a –fake- smile on her face. "I love it!"
And maybe she would have if she was wearing it for any other circumstance (though she doubted it would have ever seen the light of day unless she was going to a costume party during her first life where others would be wearing equally embarrassing/revealing outfits). The stylists gushed to one another about a job well done as they tweaked the outfit a little (as if it wasn't already uncomfortable enough).
The minute that they escorted her out she was bombarded by compliments from the rest of District 11 team as she reunited with a flustered Cana. The steady amount of healthy food and exercise had been kind to the fourteen-year-old, he was wearing a fitted suit and looked rather handsome as the light overhead bounced off his cheekbones. They are led into the elevator for a quick ride down, the interviews were taking place on a stage constructed in front of the Training Center, and as soon as the doors open she can see where all of the other tributes have been lined up to wait for their turns. Music began playing as they announced the host, she could see Caesar Flickerman (his hair an annoying shade of neon yellow this year) already perched in his customary spot under the headlights, a wide plastic smile on his lips as he addressed the live audience of Capitolites seated in front of him. Each interview was three-four minutes long, where Caesar attempted to make each tribute shine in front of the audience.
Maize watched each interview with a blank expression on her face, only averting her gaze when Annie Cresta was called up. She rolled her neck and shoulders languidly once the male tribute for District 10 was called and got ready for her turn. She squeezed Cana's hand in reassurance once (this was the only moment that females actually went first instead of the males) before a stagehand came to escort her.
"This next tribute surprised us all when she volunteered! She surprised us once more in that stunning get-up as the goddess of harvest during the Tribute Parade! Coming to us from District 11! Maize Galloshire!"
The applause was deafening and as the crowd got a view of her outfit turned into catcalls and appreciative whistles. Maize let her red painted lips curl up into a coy smile as she sashayed across the stage towards Caesar, her hips swinging sensually from side to side and the movement was only emphasized by the little bells and beads. She shot a coquettish wink at the audience as she finally made it to the interviewer's side.
"Oh my!" Caser gasped as he went around her, "Look at you! Don't you look positively stunning! Doesn't she folks?" he asked the audience, he was met by claps and cheers of affirmation. Maize simply allowed her smile to widen somewhat and cocked her hip to the right before letting her left leg peak out through the slip in teasing manner. She waved absentmindedly to the crowd with one hand as Casear grabbed her other and led her to the chairs. She sat primly on her seat, her back straight and her left leg completely out of the slit as she crossed it sexily over her right, showing off the skin of her upper leg.
"My, oh my!" Caeser gasped once more as he took in her figure, "You are certainly one of the most stunning young women to ever grace our presence on this stage!"
Maize smiled at the man, "Why, thank you Caesar!"
The man laughed, "Well now, onto a more serious topic, I've just been dying to know! Who was that girl you volunteered for?"
Maize let a genuine dreamy and loving look appear on her face, "I volunteered for my cousin Amla. She's getting married this coming week, Amla's completely besotted with her betrothed." she gossiped in a teasing manner.
Caesar had leaned in as well and laughed once more, "How wonderful!" he congratulated, "Was she there to see you off?"
"Oh yes!" Maize confirmed as let her fingers play with one of the beads, "My whole family came to see me off. I have seven younger siblings, so it was a bit chaotic, but with my family that's not unusual!" she laughed.
"Marvelous! Imagine that! Seven siblings!" Caesar commented, "And was there anyone special there to see you off, a boyfriend or even admirer?"
Maize giggled, "Oh no!"
"No?" Caesar gasped, "How is that possible? You are a stunning young woman!"
"My baba would have had a fit!" she confessed conspiratorially as she leaned in, as if whispering a secret, "He's a tad overprotective!"
Caesar laughed before stating curiously, "I think we were all surprised by that score you received! Is there anything you can tell us as to how you achieved such a score!"
(The for your District wasn't said but Maize could feel it all the way down to her core).
Maize smiled tauntingly, "Wouldn't you like to know?" The crowd cheered, "I can tell you this, growing up in my beautiful District has taught me many things about surviving and plant life... I'm more than ready for these Games to start!" she finished with a coquettish wink, as if she was sharing a private detail of her life, to the audience. Cheers and catcalls filled the air once more.
"I think it's safe to say that we are all ready to see what you have to bring!" The yellow-haired man grabbed her hand and ked her up, before raising her arm into the air in mock victory, "Ladies and gentlemen, from District 11! Maize Galloshire!"
Maize smiled coyly out to the audience once more, before exiting the stage with confidence.
Words: Around 1,606
Edited: December 7th, 2019
(To Konslova: Thank you so much for your review! It made me so happy! I was also a bit worried about how Maize would speak to Finnick. The Games will be starting in two chapters I believe, so I hope that you'll enjoy them! And you'll see what ends up happening with Annie! I actually made a Pinterest board with images that inspired this fic, that includes more pictures of Maize! This model is very pretty! I'm glad that Maize didn't turn into a Mary-Sue! This chapter is dedicated to you and the reason I'm posting before Thursday! Thanks again for reading and reviewing! Go Team Maize!)