The MCR Games

Gerard's POV

I'm pretty sure I've just had the most painful experience of my life in the last 20 minutes. I've been scrubbed down with a hard sponge, rinsed with a power hose, and they waxed my face. They waxed. My. Face. They also felt the need to examine parts of me that I'd prefer they didn't.
Maybe the stylist's visit will be better than this. At least they didn't shave my head. They didn't touch my hair at all in fact. It's still long, red, kinda greasy. But not too noticeable.
Now I'm stood here, alone. Wearing absolutely nothing. I cringe at the idea of being seen by anyone else like this, so I wrap the black silk robe around me that was laid out on the chair.
The door opens silently and a woman walks in. She doesn't look like she's from here either. But she must be. Her hair is long and an ivory shade, the ends colored dark sapphire.
She examines me with bright blue eyes. I just hope the robe is all she needs to see.
"Hello." she says. "I'm your stylist, Aster." she says, extending a hand. I shake it reluctantly. No matter what they look like, I'm not too fond of the Capitol's residents.
"Now, you're Gerard, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Fantastic, got the room right. My first year, you see. Now, turn around for me."
I turn around, and I can feel her eyes moving over me. However, I can't tell what she's thinking.
"You can face me again." I turn to face her, glad I'm actually able to tell what she's looking at. "So, I'm guessing you're nervous, right?"
"Of course."
"Well...I can tell you safely I have something much different planned for this."
"Different?"
She takes a seat, and I follow her example. "You know how most years District 12 is dressed in skimpy coal miners outfits, right?"
"Yes..."
"Well, I think it would be best to change something up a bit."
I quirk an eyebrow at her.
She checks her watch. We only have about an hour, I might as well show you what I have in mind. Excuse me for a second."
She stands up and walks out of the room, returning five minutes later with a hanger with the costume wrapped up inside. "You can go change into this behind the changing panels over there." she says, pointing to a large, opaque panel of dark fabric.
"Thanks." I say awkwardly, walking over and getting changed.
Once I've finished, I walk out into the room and she stands up, looking over to make sure there aren't any kinks.
It's a simple black one-suit with metallic crystals adding color, and flames designed intricately onto the black fabric.
"Wonderful." she says. "Now what to do with your hair..."
Fxck. My hair is something I'm actually pretty picky about.
"Well, with the coal theme, you know, about how coal eventually turns into crystals and the flames it's used to produce. Actually, flames..." she's thinking hard about everything, I can tell.
"We could chalk the ends orange. That could represent fire pretty well."
"Whoa whoa whoa...chalk?"
"Don't worry, and average hair chalk, washes out just fine."
I relax a little at this, but I'm still keeping guard.
"I'll get your prep crew in here to finish off on that, and then I think we're good to go!"
And with that she leaves me. I think I'm just going to zone out until the chariots come for us.

***************

My hair's finally all chalked up, and we're out here by the horses, waiting for our cue. Katniss is next to me, back to being silent again. I wish she would just loosen up.
Aster and Cinna, Katniss' stylist walk over to us.
"You're about to be let out for the entrance. We just wanna wish you good luck." says Aster.
"Katniss, why are you so nervous? You're just standing in a chariot. It doesn't mean as much as it's made out to be. You'll be fine." says Cinna. She gets a little less tense at his words, and we hear a trumpet sound.
"That's your cue, come on, into the chariots!" says Aster, helping us up.
It's a lot higher up here than I expected, I feel like I'm three feet taller. And as soon as our stylists step back, we're jolted forward. The force pushes us back a bit, but I manage to stay secure. But our chariot hits a small rock on the ground and Katniss nearly falls out, but I catcher her and steady her.
"I don't need your help." she whispers.
"Clearly you do."
I can hear the cheering from the crowd as soon as we're there. Each of the costumes are great, but I don't think anyone pulled it off as well as Aster did. We're wearing something different.
And as our chariots slow to a stop, I feel more confident. I think I might actually have a pretty good shot at this...

Notes

Two chapters in one day? Unusual for my stories... Anyway, I really hope you guys enjoy, and as always, happy reading. ^_^