thecapitol | District Tours: Train Ride

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District Tours: Train Ride

Prior to their departure, the Tributes have to suffer a photoshoot, a few interviewers asking them a thousand questions about how excited they are, and more than a few members of their style teams asking the Tributes to bring back mementos. "Don't worry about quality, dears, we can get that all here - we want you to bring us souvenirs for the novelty of it!"

The day of the trip, Tributes are roused bright and early, well before sunrise, and driven in Peacekeeper vans to the train station. It's all rather dour, and not like the start of a vacation at all; if one didn't know what was going on, and if the Escorts and head Stylists weren't chattering excitedly, they might think they were being hauled off to a war zone.

The trains, on the other hand, are plush, fancy things, and there is one per District. There's a single blockaded car for cargo, another for maintenance, driving and Peacekeeping staff, and then several others which are open to the Tributes. A dinner car serves three meals and has small snacks available throughout the day. Another car is an entertainment center with a selection of Capitol-approved films, and a the last one is the Tributes' temporary room. It has a bunk bed for each with sheets that was a truly intense threadcount, and a single massage chair in the back. The Stylists, Mentors and Escorts sleep in the same car, although separated by a partition.

Unfortunately, all the Tributes have to share the sleeping quarters, and it's first-come, first-served.

For the most part, the trip is so smooth that the surface of a glass full of water would not be disturbed. The trips to the closer Districts are a little under a day, but the furthest Districts - 3, 4, 7, 8, 11 and 12 - take nearly 48 hours.

[OOC: For Tributes accepted during the District tours, you can assume they arrived before the departure so they can participate in the District festivities. During the train ride there is still network access. There will only be this post and the party post from the mods for this event, so players are encouraged to make their own of their characters exploring their surroundings and enjoying the Districts.]

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Wine would be a pleasant distraction from his present situation, Courfeyrac decided. Perhaps old Grantaire had had the right idea, to drink heavily and often and keep everyone at a distance with a harsh demeanor and wild ramblings. Since he did not have that particular personality, however, he'd just have to settle for getting mildly intoxicated and staring out the window forlornly. He knew no one on this train, nor did he know where they were going. The translation equipment had indeed kicked in, but he rather preferred giving off the air that he neither understood nor cared about their destination. As far as Courfeyrac was concerned he was along for the ride against his will, biding his time until he was back in the Capitol with Marius and Enjolras again.

He made his way to the dining car with the goal of finding some wine, and truthfully he paid little mind to the other person in the car aside from a curt nod which was to say both 'hello' and 'I'm so out of my element right now it hurts'. His charms, it seemed, were elusive in the here and now.

Gabriel was anything if not classy as he took another swig straight from a wine bottle. What were they gonna do? Kick him off the train?

He hummed and raised the bottle in toast at the new arrival, seeing as he was already happy and bubbly. Oh, what wonderful things alcohol did to the human body.

"Another new face on this train wreck to Hell. Care to partake in the hors d'oeuvres before we all happily burn in the pit?" He stifled a hiccup.

Quite frankly, Courfeyrac did not know what to make of this stranger, but he decided instantly that he had to be the agreeable sort. Great minds think alike, he'd often told himself, and since the man had so generously offered, he saw no reason why he should not partake. Raising his eyebrows, he decided to dig in, picking at the offerings with a bit less distain.

"Thank you," he said, deciding that he should take care in selecting a bottle of his own. "This is quite the spread they've put out for us. It must be a special occasion."

"From my experience, they usually give us fancy stuff like this. We're famous, you know."

He took another swig of his wine before continuing. "On the other hand, I've heard that this is the first time tributes like us are going to these district places, so there is that... Want some wine?"

He nodded politely, accepting the wine. "I have the feeling I shall need this today." Then he found a perch to take up near enough to the other man for conversation. "Forgive my ignorance, but where exactly is our District located? I don't believe I've seen the map."

Gabriel poured in a hefty amount from his bottle into the first glass he reached. Don't worry, he's an angel, it's fine.

"Don't got a map," he told him with a smile. "Far as I know, assuming this is Earth, we're somewhere in North America." He's just filled with answers as he takes another swig. It sucked not knowing. Don't get him ranting.

Gabriel's drinking habits were rather impressive. They'd almost put old Grantaire to shame, Courfeyrac thought. Knowing he could not keep up, he nursed his drink slowly.

"How long will we be gone?" Already he was anxious to get back to the Capitol and to his friends again.

Impressive? Ha. Give him another five minutes and he'll be curled in a ball. Gabriel's drinking habits used to be impressive, before his tolerance bottomed out. Not that he cared, honestly.

"Not sure," he answered again, pretty sure they actually said that one. "A week? Probably? I honestly wasn't paying that much attention."

"Fantastic," Courfeyrac said, slumping in his seat. He had things to do, people to talk to, insurrections to fantasize about. Being stuck hundreds of miles from anyone he knew well would do nothing to aid things. Except, perhaps, to give him a chance to socialize beyond the sphere of Marius and Enjolras.

"Forgive me, I've not introduced myself. I am Courfeyrac. I was resurrected here yesterday."

"Gabriel," he smiled back with a nod. "And glad to see someone else resurrected in this place. We need more Lazarus folks walking around."

Death was worse than this, after all.

Courfeyrac looked somewhat surprised. The people he'd met so far had all been lucky enough to be alive before their initial arrival in the Capitol. "You were resurrected as well? Is that a common phenomenon?"

"It's not totally uncommon from what I've seen," he thought aloud, playing with the stem of a strawberry while thinking. "I think the Capitol picks up folks indiscriminately, whether you're dead or not."

"How inconsiderate of them," came the answer, markedly disappointed. "But then again, the more I hear of these people, the more hollow their hospitality and manners seem to be."

Gabriel shrugged. "It's all in the opinion. Gotta ask yourself - Would you rather be dead?" He looked at the young man for a silent, slightly awkward moment, before he shrugged. "Between you and me, it was pretty boring."

He doesn't comment on their hospitality, cause he's absolutely right.

Boring was one way to put it, though being dead was perhaps the closest Courfeyrac had come to getting any rest in the several weeks leading up to it. "I'm not sure. I had a good death. I died honorably. And that was the end of it. I'd made peace with myself."

"What's better than that?" Gabe shrugged. "Honorably and being a peace sounds pretty good. Sorta how I went out... Guess it could have been a little happier, but it is death after all."

"Indeed," Courfeyrac nodded, taking a long swig of wine. "If one is to die, and in my experience, one always is, then it is better to have solace with the circumstances and control in the situation. After all, it is the final act, in most cases. It is better to have acceptance of this fact than regret. When I am killed again, I fear I may have regrets."

When, not if.

Gabriel won't argue with the when, not if part.

"Well, hey. We were told we only die once... at least, most of us was told that. So long as you get one of the right, yeah? That's more than most."

There was a soft snort at that, possibly an agreement, though not stated outright. He had been lucky in that sense. He'd managed to die on his own terms, believing the cause for which he had laid down his life had been true and just and worth it. How lucky he had been to find that fight, even luckier that he should get to die in it.

"Does it make it easier to die here? Does knowing what the end is like take the trepidation away?"

"I wouldn't know," Gabe shrugs, "I haven't had the pleasure yet."

He wasn't sure if he should be thankful for that or not. Maybe he would just win the next arena and not have to die again... Though, he was fairly sure that nothing could be worse than Lucifer... at least not here.

"Then, I suspect we will both find out the answer in very short order." Which was rather a disappointing notion, but he did not wish to dwell on it. "I do not mean to sound foolish, but this place does not seem to offer up many pleasant topics of conversation."

"Dude, come on, be a little optimistic." There wasn't much of that to be had and he knew it, but still. It was the principle of the thing.

"... You are kinda right, though... The food's good!"

He blinked, sort of stunned by Gabriel. "Perhaps I've forgotten how. I may need some incentive for it, besides the food."

But the other man did have a point. Courfeyrac wasn't a pessimist by nature and it felt odd to him to feel to melancholy all the time. He wanted to write it off as just post-resurrection blues, but part of him was worried that maybe part of his happy spirit died at the barricade. Maybe that part of him would never come back.

"I suppose the wine isn't so bad either."

"That's the spirit."

Gabriel drank from his very good wine, reaching in for another piece of chocolate. "If you're not enjoying yourself, then there's no point in keeping on. You gotta be happy some of the time. That's the point of life."

Basically what he had been telling himself since Lucifer fell...

That's enough to rip the melancholy right out of him. At once, he's the jovial tomcat again, dabbling in the beauty and fun of life. "You know, I was always the one saying that. To my friends, I mean. Live a little, I'd say. You only live once, generally speaking." Unless you're Jesus.

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