Hell hath no fury like an 11 year old

[smarterthanthem]

Who| Clementine and Dave, Clementine and OTA
What| Clementine finds out she's not a victor
Where| the District 6 suite
When| A few days after the Ship mini-arena
Warnings/Notes|

[Open in D6]

[The anger is palpable in Clementine's small frame. All the relief of winning the mini-arena has turned to ashes in her mouth with the revelation that neither she nor any of the other winners are Victors. They won't get to be mentors, they won't get out of the next arena. They're going to have to do it all over again after all.

Sure, she's going to get some kind of special care package in the next arena, whatever that means (and she's curious, she is, just she's so furious right now) as well as immunity but...

They didn't warn them before, they let them all believe they were safe from having to die over and over again for days, they let them believe they had a chance of escape when they were fighting for survival on board that ship.

It's amazing the new depths the Capitol can sink to.

Clementine drops the gift basket on the coffee table in the middle of the District 6 suite. She barely wants any of what's inside, better to let her district mates enjoy what's in it if they can. Especially the champagne, because really? It just shows how little concern these people have for them that they put that in her basket.]

[Closed to Dave]

[It shouldn't have been so hard for the two of them to run into each other, they were to and fro in each others Districts often enough after all. But Clementine and Dave seemed to have managed to keep passing each other by like two ships in the night (and that analogy is not a fun one right now) so far.

The memory of what happened to him is probably the worst one she carries of that day. She can't help thinking that if only she'd been stronger, if only she could have pulled herself up, if she could've just...

There had been six winners, six, and as awful as it is she wishes more of them had been her friends. Even though they didn't get to be Victors this time round it would have at least spared them the horror of dying again.

So when she opens the door out of the suite and Dave's right there she's momentarily frozen in place.]

Comments

[aintyourdad]

[ Joel tends to look out of place even in his own district suite, let alone the others. But Clem is back, and Joel knows the sharp sting of disappointment. She won, she should be a Victor, like all the people who won the last one. Those assholes.

So he makes his way to her suite, looking uncomfortable but approaching her without hesitation when he spots her. ]

Hey, kiddo.

[smarterthanthem]

[Clementine's giving the gift basket a look like it's the bully who stole her lunch money at this point, skinny arms folded across her chest.

At Joel's entrance she looks up and bites her lip before looking back down at the basket.]

... I survived, I played their stupid game and it wasn't good enough.

[It's a childish cry that follows but sometimes Clementine gets so tired of trying to be responsible, of trying to act far beyond her years.]

It's not fair!

[aintyourdad]

[ Joel just nods, sitting down next to her on the sofa - close enough so if she wants to, she can get closer, but still giving her some space to choose for herself what she wants to do. ]

Yeah, it's not. They're liars and bad people. [ So you go ahead and be mad, kiddo. Just as long as you don't say anything too incendiary. ]

[smarterthanthem]

They can't just change the rules like this! It's...

[No they can, of course they can, it's their game, the Capitol can do whatever it wants. Clementine kicks the bottom of the table and it's a good thing she's wearing shoes as she does it.]

All the stylists and escorts were acting funny when we came back, we should've known.

[aintyourdad]

[ There's not much he can say to that - the people who make the rules can break them, that's always the way it's been. He's sorry it's screwing her over like this - she deserves to get out, as much as anyone. More than most. ]

You'll win. We'll make sure of it. Next time. [ It's basically empty - words meant to comfort and soothe, rather than mean anything in particular. ]

[smarterthanthem]

[She knows that even as he says it. Joel can't guarantee any such things and while she doesn't doubt that he would try for her sake Clementine knows there's a great many factors to get in the way of accomplishing such a thing, not least that she'd certainly put up a fight to see to his or Ellie or anyone else's survival that she knows.

Clementine appreciates the sentiment behind the statement more than the words themselves. He's here and he's trying, that means a lot.]

I'll definitely try... I'm supposed to get some kind of 'special' care package in the next arena, whatever that means.

That's not a fact she intends to tell everyone, judging that there are some tributes who might decide to come looking for it themselves -- especially if it turned out to be some kind of weapon. Joel however she trusts.]

[aintyourdad]

Could be helpful.

Then again, they've pulled some low tricks with those things before, too. Wyatt once got a package full of heart-shaped chocolates and shit. In an arena.

[smarterthanthem]

[Clementine looks incredulous at that knowledge.]

Well... I guess if they send me more champagne I could hit someone over the head with the bottle.

[aintyourdad]

That's bein' smart. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that almost anything can be a weapon if you're creative enough.

[smarterthanthem]

So long as it's strong enough to break a skull and I can lift it.

[Clementine's anger lessens a little with the distracting topic.]

Do you think it'd break ?

[aintyourdad]

Depends on the bottle and the head.

[ He slides the champagne bottle out of the basket, hefts it into his hand like a weapon, testing the weight of it. ]

This is pretty good glass, it'd take a thick skull to break it. More than one solid hit.

[smarterthanthem]

I know beer bottles are no good, except to make noise for a distraction.

[Clementine watches as Joel weighs it.]

Well that's good to know if it happens. Can't say the same for the rest of the stuff in here.

You can have the champagne if you want it.

[aintyourdad]

You can throw 'em at somebody, too, that stuns 'em for a bit - long enough to get close enough to do some real damage if you need to.

[ He turns the bottle over in his hands. He's got no real use for champagne, but, well. Why not? You never know. ]

Thanks, kiddo.

[smarterthanthem]

Right. I was thinking of Walkers, not people.

[She still slips up on that sometimes. Clem smiles a little, half-shrugging.]

You're welcome.

[aintyourdad]

Easy mistake to make.

[ He sits back a little, giving her a glance. ]

Ever played laser tag?

[smarterthanthem]

Some of them round here do shuffle the same.

[Clementine rests her elbows on her knees and looks mildly curious as Joel brings it up. She shakes her head.]

I've never heard of it.

[aintyourdad]

Ellie likes it, she dragged me into it a while back - Mindy's crowning, I guess. Maybe we should all go sometime.

It's just like tag, except you use toy guns that flash lights to tag people.

[smarterthanthem]

[She considers for a moment before deciding that if Ellie likes it that's a good enough endorsement for her.]

Sounds fun. It'd be good to get some target practice, even if they're just toys.

[And hey, maybe she'll be good at it, she's had enough practice.]

[aintyourdad]

That's the spirit. We'll all go, sometime. [ He doesn't really like it all that much, honestly, he'd rather do something that isn't quite so reminiscent of what he did every day back home for the better part of a year. But he's almost never able to say no to Ellie when she wants something. ]

[smarterthanthem]

Do we team up there or is it everyone for themselves? Because just to warn you I'm pretty good.

[The bravado leaking out is a good sign that Clementine's getting over the morning's surprise.]

[aintyourdad]

If it's just the three of us, probably just for ourselves. Or maybe you and Ellie can team up and see if you can take me down.

[ His lips twitch a little - A JOKE. HE MADE A JOKE. ]

[smarterthanthem]

[Clementine just heard that correctly, right? She smiles, rising to it.]

Well now you said it we have to.

[aintyourdad]

Alright, good. [ His nefarious plan is working! ]

[smarterthanthem]

I'm ready whenever you and Ellie are.

[aintyourdad]

Great. I'll see if she can pencil us in. [ ANOTHER JOKE. He's on a roll today. ]