thecapitol | People In Glass Houses...

People In Glass Houses...

Who | Timaeus Nadir and guests
What | Timaeus is hosting a picnic get-together/catch-up.
Where | The picnic will be taking place in the Tropical Habitat Dome.
When| We'll be using a bit of wibbly time so that people who want to attend can.
Warnings/Notes| None as of yet.

(This is an opportunity for me to make some new CR as well as catch up with ongoing relationships, but I also want to encourage tagging around between characters! Feel free to do whatever you like in the setting with whoever you like! Also I will be backtagging this so don't feel you've missed the boat if you haven't tagged in immediately <3)

Timaeus certainly knew how to organise a gathering- even if it wasn't an outrageously opulent celebration to be held on one of his own yachts. This one was to be held under the expansive dome of the Tropical Habitat- the entire location rented out for the day to Timaeus and his guests, a loosely private affair- formal invitations as such hadn't been extended, but those welcome knew they were. Naturally, all tributes and victors were included in this group.

The Dome was a beautiful piece of architecture in itself, though antiquated when compared with the technology used for the Arenas. Rather than invisible forcefields, the climate of the interior was separated from the outside by elaborately curving steel and glass. Inside, tropical plants of all types thrived- there was a still, green pond and, deeper inside, a cascading waterfall. Butterflies in hundreds of colours, sizes and shapes flitted about, tropical birds swooped between the trees, brightly coloured fish darted in the water.
Blankets and cushions had been scattered in the main clearing with hampers of food, but there was plenty of space for the guests to break away from the gathering if they so desired- the dome was full of winding paths through the greenery- some even climbing around the trunks of the largest trees and leading to viewing platforms above. In a temporary gazebo in the clearing, a string quartet played music that wasn't quite the classical pieces Tributes were familiar with.

Timaeus himself seemed in a brighter mood than he had been for months, more than happy to make conversation with anyone who approached him- though he was certainly keeping an eye open for particular individuals. Some that he'd met, some that he'd lost and had returned to him, and others still that he had yet to meet.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

His escort had made it sound like he had to go and he still wasn't quite sure what he could get away with saying no to. He didn't know if refusing to do certain things might lead to him getting punished.

One thing was for sure, his stylist sure liked to punish him. Apparently, it had been decided that he wasn't allowed pants or a shirt for some reason, which made no sense given that he was used to far more tropical climes and the Capitol dipped down to temperatures Guy had never even experienced before. Luckily, even though it seemed his life was going to spent in a never-ending series of loincloths from now own, the furry boots went up to his knees and he'd bargained for some leg wraps that went a little higher, tied to his legs with leather strips. Between that and the furry cloakish thing, he'd managed to not freeze to death on the way to the party. Barely.

And the moment he got there, he stopped freezing altogether. It was warm and comfortable. Nice and humid.

Actually, it was more than that. The dome was home. It was as if just a tiny little bit of Guy's world had been transplanted to another universe worls away. Everything would've fit in perfectly back home, from the plants to the fish to the butterflies, and the sight of it brought such a profound and powerful wave of homesickness that he felt tears welling up in his eyes. The arena had been a little too green to provoke this reaction but this had just enough touches of color to reach deep into his chest with a crooked finger and pluck a chord that reverberated through the rest of his body and made his knees feel weak.

He felt as if there was a hole in his heart that was empty and filled at the same time, and for a little while after he arrived all he could do was look around and take it in, arms wrapped tightly around himself.

He was so absorbed in it, in fact, that he almost bumped into Timaeus without seeing him.

One of Timaeus's favourite things about throwing parties was the opportunity to bask in the gratitude and pleasure of his guests- and at a pinch, bare-faced awe would do just as well. While the little wild boy was a little too overwhelmed to take much notice of him, Timaeus had certainly noticed the tears at the corners of his eyes. Undoubtedly, the young man was overcome by the beauty of the Dome.

"My apologies," he chuckled as he twisted just enough out of the way not to be jostled. "It seems you didn't see me there. One of the new crowd, aren't you? So glad you could make it. Timaeus Nadir, at your service- and you are..."

Hey, hey, he was a little wild man. But yes, he was overcome by the Dome and yes those tears were glistening something fierce, which was why he wiped at his eyes before turning to the man.

"Guy," he answered, "Guy Crood."

The way his eyes darted towards the man made it clear he didn't know what to make of him. He was one of them, after all, part of that rabble that made up the city, one of the people that watched them die for fun.

And yet he seemed perfectly friendly and polite.

It was one of the most awkward social situations he'd ever been in. How did you even start a conversation with someone like that? Several scenarios that he didn't dare voice flipped through his head.

'Hi, I'm Guy. It's a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to dying again for entertainment value so you have something to watch on that thing you call TV.'

'Hi, I'm Guy. Lovely party. It's a really impressive sight - even if it absolutely doesn't make up for the face that my daughter might grow up without a father. Thanks for that.'

'Hi, I'm Guy. Nice to meet you. Do tell me about your sick and dysfunctional society, I'm so very interested.'

He didn't know what to make of it so he stood there with something of a timid expression on his face.

"I'm new. Yes. I am very, very new to this whole -" Without moving his head, his eyes scanned around the dome. " - thing."

It sure was a thing.

Guy kept rambling, waving a finger around as he kept looking around the dome.

"With all the people. In one place." Apparently he could only manage sentence fragments right now. "Since. There aren't that many where I'm from."

Hey there, that was a full sentence. Right on.

He smiled, naturally completely oblivious to Guy's inner monologue but enjoying his halting speech all the same. It was flattering, finding himself capable of reducing the tribute to speechlessness, and he rather liked the idea of comforting him and putting him at ease.

"You're doing quite fine," he assured him amicably. "Far better than I would if our situations were reversed, I'm sure. Did you find the food? There's nothing better than biting into a cool, sweet piece of fruit, sitting by the waterfall and watching the butterflies, hm? And actually, come to think of it, we might be able to coax some over..."

Impressed, horrified. Tomayto, tomahto.

"Yeah, you'd be dead," Guy said, nodding vigorously, following after Timaeus. Then, realizing how that sounded, he quickly amended, "I mean if our situations were really reversed. Like if you were dragged into my world. Which - that's - I mean a lot of people would be dead in my world, including some of the other Tributes, so it's really, uh, nothing to be ashamed of. And if you were dragged into my world, I would definitely teach you - or anyone else that happened to be dragged in by whatever random circumstances did the dragging - how to survive. I bet you'd have it in you to survive if someone showed you all the tricks."

Yeah, that wasn't awkward at all.

"It's just, uh, rough place. You know. Bears. Giant bears. Butterflies, too, but boy, those naughty, naughty bears."

He added, still gibbering, "You mentioned fruit? I like fruit. We have that where I'm from."

"I'm glad to hear it," he laughed, apparently unfazed by the idea of his death in another world. "Just wait a moment- ah, here."

He plucked up one of the hampers, carefully balancing it on a rock and opening it up to reveal the bounty within. Each basket had a slightly different selection within, but there was no shortage of fruits and other delicacies inside.

"Please, help yourself- it really won't keep after today, and as you offered to teach me the tricks to your world, perhaps you'll allow me to assist you in mine mm? You'll be delighted to hear we have very few bears. Try the grapes. Quite exquisite. We can see if we can tempt over some of our flying friends too, ah, here. Melon, I think, if we leave some out on that branch..."

Guy grabbed a piece of melon because it was the most familiar fruit and sat down on one of the cushions, picking at it.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked slowly. "I mean, doing all these nice things for us? This little...party."

That was the word, right?

He tried to find a way of diplomatically wording his thoughts, especially after Joan had made it quite clear how much trouble he could get in for saying the wrong things at the wrong times.

"The Arena is...harsh. Painful," he said slowly. "That's just the reality of it. I'm not going to pretend it's not - you've seen it. So to say I don't have the best first impression of - of this world and the people in it, especially when I got thrown right in without having my questions answered - would be an understatement. Why are you being nice to us?"

He added quickly, "I'm not accusing you of anything or - aah, criticizing anything - I'm just trying to understand." He nodded. "The people here - you - are all very obviously complex and complicated people and, well, you know how it is. I'm a simple guy from a simple place, just trying to get my bearings. I just want to understand you."

Ugh, playing dumb. Ugh ugh ugh ugh.

But he figured it was safest. If he was going to probe at that this thing and try to understand why he was here, what these people saw in such carnage, it was best to make it so those probing questions seemed like someone slow and stupid just trying to understand things bigger than him.

He raised an eyebrow. "Would you rather I wasn't nice?" he asked curiously. "You really mustn't worry, Guy, I've had insults and accusations hurled in my face before and really all it does is make me less inclined to waste my time on people determined to be rude. I'm happy to engage in civilised discussion, and if that's what you'd like, I'd be delighted to indulge you."

Gently, he plucked up a piece of melon and placed it on the branch, taking a seat beside Guy and settling back to watch. It wouldn't take long for the butterflies to be attracted to the sweet fruit.

"The Games are by necessity violent and harsh, but they serve a purpose. I'm surprised no-one's explained that to you."

"Well. I've been told that, uh, children used to fight in them," he said slowly. "So I am glad at least that my being here has stopped that...stuff. But no one's really explained why it was even necessary to make innocent children fight to the death at all."

He held up his fingers a tiny bit apart.

"Still a liiittle fuzzy on that part."

"To prevent war," Timaeus told him simply, settling comfortably as he watched the bait. A curious butterfly flitted close by but didn't alight, fluttering away instead.

"There was a war, back in the Dark Days, which left society in ruins. We simply couldn't afford another, and so our leaders found a solution. The Games, I'm afraid, are entirely necessary- and of course it's far preferable to most of us, the way they are run now. The vast majority of Tributes are adults, and, more importantly, the vast majority come back when they die. Isn't that better? And then when you are here, we take care of you, our heroes. Our, hmm. Our saviours, if you like."

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