#she's not thinking of liberation.....she's just thinking about her own liberation JFKLSDJFL </3

[stillresolved]

@ptternminds sent in: If María had a table to do it on, any kind of surface, she'd slam the pin down on it. Completely misplaced rage, the usual. Arrogance, a sort of elitism she doesn't recognize as such, when she approaches an Avox because everyone else is making her want to set fire to the entire damn place. Her arm doesn't shoot out, but the motion with which she lifts her hand between herself and Aeri is just as sharp. Her fingers unfold to reveal the pin the Avox had adjusted the last time they'd met. "What you did last time...," her voice doesn't bite off as much as her expression would have foreshadowed it to. It's tight. But tightly controlled as well. Putting in an effort. "Could you fix my hair again. Please. It actually held when you did it and they're driving me nuts over there." ((I LOVE SENDING YOU THINGS, DON'T WORRY ABOUT HOW OFTEN I AM IN YOUR INBOX, I'M BLESSED BY GETTING TO HOP IN SOME MORE >:33333 also GOSH María having Aeri's pin is something I can NOT let go, it just had a way too violent effect on me, hope this is okay ♥))

SHE MIGHT HAVE BEEN STRIPPED OF HER TITLE, but does not mean the heiress has been beaten out of her. Not completely at least. Kang Aeri would throw herself into the river first before admitting that the brat lifting her hand is enough to make Aeri flinch. It turns out that avoxes are more than less of indentured servants and more like…property. It’s not like her family would go out of their way to rescue her anyways. Meaning one step out of line with any of the guests and it’s a guaranteed punishment of some kind. Usually physical.

Sometimes it’s worse.

( And if it is, Aeri does not tell her love. It’s better that way. Aeri refuses to let her see Aeri sink any lower. )

But still, Aeri bites the inside of her mouth, clipped fingernails digging into calloused palms. It’s atrocious: aside from the mandatory red gowns they’re all required to wear, all with the skirts loose ( she can’t even style it to her own liking ), avoxes aren’t even allowed to paint their nails. It’s as if they want the avoxes to be the walking versions of traffic cones.

Tragic. And infuriating really. For a country that values appearances above all else, one would think to elevate the style of their servants. One is only as stylish as their weakest link after all.

( Not that Aeri ever thought of them. Not until she became one of them. )

The brat reveals a hair pin though– Aeri’s hairpin. She remembers that one: sleek, gold, with a caprice of diamonds on the end sticking up. It was supposed to be worn the day she would have made her debut in the Capitol. 

Of course, that had to go to shit. And of course, her pin ( and now that Aeri thinks about it’s probably her dress too ), had to end up in the brat’s possession. Aeri glares at her. It should be Aeri in those clothes. Just watching the brat’s behavior over the course of the months, Aeri bets the 74th Victor would relish wearing an avox’s dress. The brat’s so obsessed with fighting anyone and everyone in the Capitol, why not let her descend to the people at her level? Most people in the districts don’t know how to appreciate luxury when they see it.

But alas, the brat still is a guest and if Aeri were to refuse, who knows what her ‘supervisor’ might do. She takes a step forward, one loud enough to reverberate across the floor, had she been in high heels, and snatches the hairpin out of the brat’s hand.

( Just because it’s an order doesn’t mean Aeri has to be nice about complying. )

She studies it. The diamonds shine in under the electric lights and the gold, it looks like it’s been polished. Not recently though; Aeri can see the fingerprints over the middle. It’s probably either the brat’s or her idiotic stylists– none of them would think to wash their hands before handling such luxury, would they?

Lips crease together in disapproval before she grabs the girl by the shoulder and spins her around. Now just looking at the pin just pisses Aeri off. Slotting the pin behind her own ear, Aeri gathers the brat’s messy– but what can Aeri do about it; the brat didn’t even bring a hairbrush along– hair into a ponytail. 

The bun forms itself under Aeri’s calloused fingers and once she knows it’s secure, she sticks her hairpin back in. A strand falls over the brat’s ear, much to Aeri’s annoyance, but she doesn’t try to fix that. The brat likes her hair looking half-assed anyways. 

Satisfied with her work, Aeri shoves the brat towards the dressing room once more although she’s quick to follow behind.

They better not be dressing María Castro in her designs too.