"Really? Again? Come on, just leave me alone." She said, frowning as she felt The Collector's fingers lift her off her perch. Her pleas fell on deaf... neck, however, and The Collecter carried her off to the bathroom to freshen up. "Seriously, how many times are you gonna make me do this?"
The Collector put the pouting head on her shoulders, and answered in the head's voice "I'll stop if you just admit that you're beautiful."
The instant control was given back to the head, she rolled her eye. "Fine, whatever, I'm beautiful. A work of art." She paused, then gave a cold laugh to herself "A Picasso, judging from the sideways nose."
"Just for that, I'm braiding your hair. Hope you don't have any plans for the next two hours" The Collector said, pulling a stool up to the bathroom mirror and opening her makeup kit. The face that looked back at her was certainly one of the more 'unique' in her collection. It belonged to Ida, a rosy cheeked woman in her early thirties whom The Collector had, by means of kidnapping, saved.
Ida'd been stuck in an abusive relationship for years, emotionally dependent on a man who showed her boundless love, loyalty, and devotion most of the time but who would, on occasion, fly into fits of rage and lash out at everything around him, including her. After a particularly nasty outburst, Ida tried to flee the house, and at the thought of her leaving him he went berserk. He broke her nose, dug deep scars in her cheeks with his nails, and even put her left eye as he pummeled her. If The Collector hadn't been strolling around the neighborhood at that time, he would have killed her. The Collector used her magic to break him apart and hid all of his pieces all over the woods (save for two, which she kept in her cabin and tortured from time to time). She actually didn't collect Ida's head that night, instead calling an ambulance for her before slipping off into the night, but when 3 weeks later she ran into Ida again, this time on a highway overpass with Ida leaning over the edge, The Collector knew she had to save Ida from herself. She had to show Ida that she was still beautiful, that she was still wanted, and that she could still be happy.
Staring at the scarred, eye patch wearing, crooked nosed woman's head, The Collector could still see the underlying beauty. Her remaining eye was big, bright green, and was framed by perfectly curved brow that allowed each movement to carry so much emotion. Her lips, though a small scar ran across their right side, were plump and curved into a beautiful smile (though the Collector had never gotten Ida to smile on her own free will) with big dimples that made her look ten years younger. And her hair, now that all of the pulled parts had grown back, was gorgeous. Auburn brown, naturally wavy but with little frizz, and reflective to the point of dazzling the unready eye, it framed her face beautifully when properly done up.
Despite being a natural knockout, and despite the Collector's repeated attempts to touch her up and show her her true beauty, Ida refused to see it. She continued to sulk and put herself down and demand that she simply be put back on the shelf and left alone until the heat death of the universe. Or dropped down a well. But, this time The Collector had a plan. After giving Ida yet another makeover, The Collector intended to...