thecapitol | Life's my light and liberty and I shine when I wanna shine;

Even before the week is half over, Albert's proud that he's managed to bring himself to do some proper exploration of the tribute towers. His mad dash through the building when he'd first awoken doesn't exactly count as all he'd really managed to do was startle half the other tributes and make a general show of himself. Not exactly his proudest moment, though he's had worse, and gathering what information he can is more important here than whatever humiliation he'll need to weather.

Now he's carefully meandering the halls, making note of who is where and what he may need to watch out for in the next arena, be it who to avoid or who may possibly need help. It may not make logical sense when they're all pitted against each other to the death, but they're all alike in this situation as well, from what he can gather. Torn from home, forced into a ridiculous futuristic repeat of Roman gladiatorial games with a futuristic and altogether mind-and-spirit breaking twist of no immediate escape through death, only victory. It's sickening. And so he'll do what little he can to fight the system with kindness.

Today leads him to the middle floors, the broad German stepping off the elevator at floor 7 and taking a look through the hall. His stature means he looks high, which is likely why he misses the much shorter man in his immediate visual scan of the floor.

Within a few days, Kili had to escape the tower, needed fresh air and open space and room to run free if he chose. Of course, he had tucked a wealth of food into every pocket and zippered compartment on his person in case he couldn't find his way back, but he never believed that he would use it as a cushion from a very tall German cyborg. One moment, Kili's mind was filled with thoughts of home and family, his eyes cast down toward the floor as he turned a corner a little too sharply, and the next he was running full-on into someone much larger than him.

In a burst of muffin crumbs and bits of crackers, Kili staggered back from Albert. He blinked up at the stranger, unsure of what had happened at first. Not many could stagger a dwarf, especially not among the race of men. His brows furrowed as he spared another long moment of staring up at the man before looking to the floor and the mess now spread across the tiles.

With a low grumbling, he knelt down to collect his trove of food from the floor.

Albert gives a quiet 'oof' as he's barreled into, stepping back a few paces. He may not have his cybernetics at the moment, but he's still a solid guy and losing his feet is uncommon, especially when facilitated by someone so...

Short.

But the explosion of food and the subsequent confused stare get Albert's brain jumping again and he kneels to help gather everything the little man dropped. "Sorry, are you alright?"

When Albert kneels down to help, Kili blinks for a second over at him. He's... helping? It's such a strange thing to be helped like this. Not that Kili has ever been ignored when he's dropped things or if he truly needed help but dwarves are by and large not exactly a race that helps other races and vice versa.

After that brief moment, though, he smiles and nods. "Yeah, nothing a dwarf can't handle."

He says it with a hefty measure of pride as he scoops up bits of muffins and broken crackers.

A dwarf? Isn't the politically correct term these days a "little person"? Though Albert always found that somewhat diminutive. Dwarf, at least, has the mythological connotation of an entire proud race... or it could conjure up images of grumpy little men whistling as they mine diamonds, so he supposes he can see how it might be a problematic term. Ultimately, his opinion on it doesn't matter; he's five foot ten.

"I'm sorry I got in your way, I've just been exploring the building. I'm new." He gathers the last wayward muffin and holds it out to the shorter man, still crouched. "I'm Albert Heinrich, District 3."

Kili would certainly be more insulted at being called a "little person" or a "little man." After all, the dwarves are a proud race and the finest metal crafters in all of Arda, as well as grumpy and miners. Regardless, the archer's neck is already hurting from the way he has to look up at his new companion. Albert's nearly as tall as an elf, really.

With Albert's help, he gathers up those last bits of muffin and accepts the final one from the man's hand.

"Kili, at your service," he replies with a short bow that results in a few muffins dropping back to the floor. With a frown, he bends down to pick them up again. "District 7. When did you arrive here?"

Kili. That gives Albert pause too. What a strange name... granted he's heard stranger. 'Jet' isn't exactly common either. Perhaps Kili is a moniker too. He'll go with it. "During the last arena, so not long ago. I just recently... woke up."

What an awkward way of putting it, and Albert's stomach twists at the lack of lexicon and the need for it at all. They're going to continue to have to 'wake up' over and over after each grisly death. The light in Albert's eyes dims somewhat at the thought, but he manages to shove the entire train of thought aside for now. He won't air his baggage to a complete stranger. "And you? How long have you been here?"

On the same token, Kili would argue that Albert is a strange name, but he'd been hearing all kinds since arriving and it's not really in his place to judge, considering the traditional way of naming sons in dwarvish culture.

Looking up from where's picking up the bits of muffin, Kili replies, "Oh. Yes."

'Waking up' is certainly a way to put it, despite the innocent implications of such a phrase. It sounds almost natural, as if being horribly murdered after practically starving to death were a normal, everyday thing.

"I arrived two days before it started," he continues, standing back up again. "The arena, I mean."

He keeps quietly hoping he'll never have to see a second one.

It's painfully awkward standing here trying to pass that all off as normal. Something in Kili's tone makes Albert think he's of the same mind, something about the way he replied 'oh. yes.' with a hint of finality, implying he understands all that entails. He may not want to share his baggage but it seems it's not just his, now is it.

"I'm sorry." Someone should say it and the Capitol certainly won't, the mentors won't, no one brought up or indoctrinated fully into this culture of perpetually airing snuff film will apologize, not really. So he'll do it. Someone should do it. "It's not easy, I know."

Kili's not entirely sure what to expect in response. So many Tributes skirted the issue, never quite speaking of death in the arena, never quite acknowledging what's happening there. Some were filled with hope that perhaps next time they would all unite against the common enemy and refuse to participate. Yet others seemed perfectly content to simply enjoy the Capitol's bars and wealth. While Kili had certainly spent many evenings already drowning himself in alcohol, the bright lights and heavy atmospheres of the Capitol bars never completely distracted him from what waited down the line.

But Albert doesn't dance away from the heavy topic, no. Instead, he faces it head on and Kili glances up at him in open surprise at the apology.

He remembers times back home, when Fili would apologize for their uncle or simply acknowledge that Kili felt overwhelmed by the expectations Thorin continued to raise around them. It's strange, he knows, but this moment with Albert feels almost like those, that Albert almost feels like his older brother for just a brief second. Kili doesn't wonder why for too long, instead choosing to take comfort in it, to hold onto the feeling as long as possible. And, just like home, it was his job to make his older brother smile, to cheer him up when responsibility hung too heavy on his shoulders.

So, Kili offers out a muffin that hadn't been entirely crushed yet, his expression brightening with a desperate smile. "Do you like blueberries?"

The suddenness of the completely off topic question gives Albert a stunned pause, then he grins and laughs shortly, a bark of amusement at Kili's attempt to lighten the mood. "Yes, I do. Thank you."

He takes the muffin gratefully, still chuckling a bit. "I haven't had a blueberry muffin in ages. It hardly makes up for everything else, but they at least do treat us well when not in the arena." He takes a bite and chews it thoughtfully, swallowing before continuing to speak. "So, do you often wander the halls bestowing muffins on strangers?"

When Albert laughs, Kili's own expression brightens into a wide grin. It's such a relief to have something familiar here, even if it's just his ability to make Albert smile for a second. He plucks his own muffin from another pocket and munches away on a lemon poppyseed one, pleased as punch for just an instant until the arena is mentioned again. This time, however, he fights to keep the smile up, to not let it sag under the weight of the reminder.

"Not before today," Kili replies with that same smile, letting himself get attached in the next heartbeat. He needed someone like Albert, a brother, a guiding light, someone to reassure him even when all the world wanted to drown him. In return, he would try to bring joy to every day, to renew smiles, to feed positivity into every conversation.

Although, it does give him an idea. "Should I?"

"Well it certainly did me a world of good." He hadn't even felt like eating that morning so his stomach is clamoring for him to down the rest of the muffin quickly. He takes another bite and pauses at the taste of lint instead of a blueberry.

"I think, perhaps, you should probably carry them on a tray next time, though."

Kili smiled even brighter at the verbal confirmation that he had helped Albert, even after the mention of carrying them somewhere besides his pockets. He takes another firm bite of his own with a bubbly grin before shrugging.

"Not as convenient as my pockets, though," he replies, until he finds some lint in his own.

He sticks out his tongue and plucks the foreign bit of dust from it, furrowing his eyebrows. Oh. Yes. Maybe he really should carry the muffins somewhere other than his jacket.

The timing and reaction are both too perfect and Albert can't help another short laugh, though this one muffled since it's at Kili's expense and he doesn't wish to be rude. Frankly, he likes the shorter man quite a lot even on this first meeting. He seems very genuine, something that's lacking in the Capitol from his understanding, and there's that underlying level of earnestness that reminds him of both Francoise and GB at once. He finds he wants to protect it.

"Why don't we find somewhere to sit down and talk?"

At Albert's laugh, Kili chuckles a little himself, his grin taking over his face despite the lint he's just plucked off his tongue. This brief moment almost feels like home, like it's Fili laughing at his antics rather than a stranger and Kili can't help but find relief in it all. So much so that he doesn't even hesitate in answering.

"There's the common room," he proposes with his wild grin, full of an eager warmth and excitement to make another friend, arena be damned.

"Sounds good, then." Albert motions for Kili to lead the way, polishing off his somewhat linty muffin with a couple more bites. He'd been dour earlier, the lack of freedom inherent in their predicament hitting all the wrong buttons, but Kili somehow sheds some light for him and he's loathe to disengage just yet.

With a bright grin, Kili nods and goes back to munching on his muffin while he does indeed lead the way back toward the elevator, not that they got far to begin with.

" 's down on the bottom," he replies cheerfully as he smiles up at Albert, eager to show him everything about the building if needed. His curiosity had certainly gotten the best of him when he first arrived. "Lots of chairs."

As if that were the defining feature of the room.

"Interesting that there would be a common area for everyone when we're kept so divided in general." That doesn't quite tack, to Albert's mind, and he looks to Kili to see if he has any thoughts on the matter. Maybe it's more for seizing up competition? But then why would anyone willingly utilize it?

Kili briefly considers Albert's words as the doors open up to the aforementioned common room. He doesn't think them particularly separated, since they're able to move about the tower as they wish, but it's still nice to have such a place as this where they could truly sit and talk if they needed.

"But they let us go about the tower as we feel," he replies with a small shrug, leading the way to a particularly comfy pair of chairs Kili has tried out once or twice. " 's not like we're truly all that divided."

"Which is also surprising in and of itself. It makes me a bit uneasy." He looks at the chair for a moment, then sits. "Though I suppose if they were obvious about our captivity they would have more trouble, seeing as people tend to band together against obvious oppressors."

He looks moodily out at the rest of the common area, not sure he should even be discussing that sort of thing aloud, but there doesn't seem to be anyone else about at the moment to overhear.

It seems that Albert has some experience with being oppressed in one way or another, but Kili can draw his own comparisons quite easily.

"My uncle hates elves," he replies, glad to contribute to the conversation in a way that might actually be meaningful. "They turned him and our people away when they needed them most. 's natural for a dwarf to hate elves now."

He's not even sure they were friends once to begin with but they certainly aren't now, though that brings up another thought in his mind.

"Beorn told us he doesn't like dwarves," he muses aloud, "But moreso he hates orcs like we hate orcs. He helped us then. If everyone hated the Capitol..."

But he cuts himself off in an instant, reminding himself of the avoxes, of what could happen if he misused his tongue.

"Elves..." He looks at Kili with his brows drawn up. "As in... with pointy ears and magic?"

Does that mean Kili isn't just a dwarf but an actual Dwarf? In the Nordic sense? He'd thought that was just mythology but he's seen so many things he'd thought weren't possible or didn't exist by now that it may be better just to believe.

"Pointy ears, yes," Kili replies with bright smile, glad to talk about home in some small way. "Magic, I'm not so sure of. We've a wizard in our company: Gandalf. He does magic, I'm sure."

"Gandalf?!" It's been a very long time, but Albert's a well read guy and Tolkien, as the father of modern fantasy, is on that list. Then again, so were Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Victor Hugo and that didn't stop fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and tragic scamp Eponine Thenardier from existing here. What in the hell is going on?

"I've... heard of him," Albert finishes lamely. He needs a good stiff drink.

Life's my light and liberty and I shine when I wanna shine;

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sorry for my slow!

It's cool I've been slow too