thecapitol | I've Got the Darkness, Baby [Open]

Entry tags:

I've Got the Darkness, Baby [Open]

Who| Eva, open
What| The 9th District Mentor hits the town.
Where| Throughout the Capitol
When| After the most recent death announcements
Warnings| Baron Bartlett in one of the subthreads, and everything he entails.

Only one Tribute down from her District: the blonde man, she hasn't met him yet. Some Mentors would take this as a positive sign, but Eva finds it hard to feel very enthused by this. At the very best, she's still going to lose two more before this awful Arena's over.

She'd like to throttle whomever decided that a giant ice rink was a good idea. Back in her day, they were in a canyon. The resources were, of course, at the bottom, which only encouraged the people who took higher ground - like her - to pick people off faster. An entertainingly bloody bonanza of falling bodies and flying arrows, and most importantly, it was quick.

To get away from the images of people huddled up in indistinguishable, shivering balls, Eva goes out for the evening. If anyone asks, she'll claim boredom with the proceedings. She visits a the Training Center, then a restaurant and the performing arts district. All the while she taps her lower lip thoughtfully, as if considering something complex and far-off that requires some metronomic habit to keep straight.

[OOC: Come meet her at one of the subthreads below or just run into her in the street.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Certain persons don't need a reservation at the restaurant - Sponsors, of course, don't, and generally Mentors are assumed to be going there to meet them. Eva's beyond the age where people figure she'll be bid on and passed around like she was in her youth, but the perk seems to have remained, and as such she makes her way to the VIP entrance.

A blackout restaurant - perfect for someone who always feels as if they're being watched. Regardless, she dressed up for it, in a sleek black dress and a spray of white and red sequins and paint on her face in accords with one of the current trends. A glittery pin of a red bird clips her hair up - but it's a cardinal, nothing that could possibly be mistaken for a rebellious gesture.

She looks at home in the ordering room, a plush and dimly-lit chamber that feels like velvet all over. The menu is faintly glow in the dark, to get visitors into the mood.

She sees other people entering the room, another Victor and a Sponsor. Her stomach turns a bit as she sees the Sponsor, but it doesn't show for even a moment on her face. Perhaps she can chit-chat with them for a while, spare the Victor at least half an hour of being alone in Bartlett's company. She pats at the seat of the booth next to her and gestures that they should join her.

"Come on now, let's make it a party. Baron Bartlett, let an old lady pretend she's still pretty enough to bid on." She smiles. "And you're Ariadne, aren't you?"

Edited 2013-01-28 23:01 (UTC)

Baron's body is supported by these metal contraptions that almost levitate him. The spendors, as he calls them, ease some of it tension on his knees from his massive, round body weighing down on them. It means that they're almost always a weird mechanical smell around him, masking whatever body order he would have.

He hadn't been touching Aridane until then, just pleasantly telling her how the restaurant worked and suggesting things for her to taste while they could see their menus. He was very, very good at having the air of a man who only wanted to treat a beautiful woman... as if he wasn't thinking of her as nothing more than an object.

At the sound of his name though, a fat fingered hand moved to Aridane's back. It was almost a possessive gesture, as he worried that whoever was addressing him would try to take the attention of the new Victor. When he saw Eva he only laughed.

"I haven't the faintest idea what you mean, my dear, you're still well in your prime," he said, laughing it off, playing 'bidding' as if it was only a date, not what it really meant. Never what it really meant in front of others.

Ariadne had opted to let her Stylists do her up however they saw fit for the evening out - she refused to call it a 'date', as that would simply sully the word. It resulted in an outfit almost as outrageous as Eva's: a deep blue dress that clung in all the right places, and embellishments of gold, her hair curled and pinned up with a gold pin that - if you looked closely - was almost reminiscent of the Mockingjay. Of course, if asked, she thought it was pretty, and nothing more. However, one would have to be close enough to smell the perfume dabbed behind her ears in order to really see it properly, as a few well-placed curls fell over it.

Small blessings, really. The last thing she wanted was unnecessary questions.

She managed to school her reactions a while back, when she started doing this sort of thing with the odd sponsor, trying to woo and charm them into supporting her District. The Tributes needed something, and the Morphlings just weren't providing. And so, when Baron touched her back, there was no sign of a wince, no outward change to the smile she had carefully plastered onto her face. Brown eyes flitted to Eva, taking in the other woman's appearance. She recognised her vaguely, but Baron's comments were what clued her in: the woman before her was another Victor.

"I am," Ariadne replied mildly, forcing her smile to expand slightly, unsure if she should offer her hand for a shake or if Baron might give her a look at that. "It's nice to meet you."

Eva laughs as if she's flattered by the Baron's comment. "Modern technology can keep my face looking pretty, at least, but you'd shudder to see the rest of me. That's a pretty interesting piece you have yourself, there."

She makes the decision for Ariadne and reaches out for a handshake. "See, kids these days, they don't even know who I am. Of course, I only have about thirty Victors to memorize when I played. A pleasure to meet you too. Your spear-throwing in your last arena was something to behold. If I had an arm like that I wouldn't have had to give that poor boy an involuntary nosejob."

She drums her fingers on her thigh and then reaches and fiddles with the small red bird in her hair. In a way, she's talking to fill the space, feel out the situation. "Baron, look at how nicely she's dressed. She's not a first-date kisser, I don't think."

"Oh, these new Tributes rarely are," Baron commented. "And the new Victors come from that pool, don't they?" He smiled at them both, looking from one to the other. He had mastered that 'kindly rich man' look, but there was something dark and hungry in his eyes. "It's to do with no being raised with our history, I'd imagine."

He commented on this lightly, as if it was no bother at all that they were pulling people from other worlds. Of course he didn't care about that, as long as they were entertaining.

"I hope that you haven't felt too much at a disadvantage, my dear," he said Ariadne. "Eva would be able to help you if you feel too overwhelmed."

Ariadne's smile didn't even falter when Baron looked her over; she felt like she was being sized up like a slab of meat, and even so, simply turned her smile on him for a moment. It slipped into the realm of being almost sheepish for a moment; she hated herself for creating such a persona so easily. For going along with any of this. It felt like it was leeching away at her very soul.

She leaned forward, accepting the handshake firmly, her smile twitching into the genuine at the compliments. "Thank you. I think it helped that it wasn't my first time in the Arena; I had time to practice," Ariadne replied mildly, playing up the modest qualities she'd been told went over well. Not that it was much of a stretch for her. There were just enough flickers of herself in the act that it went over well.

Lightly, she brushed one curl away from her face, smile fading a little bit, "Not too overwhelmed. I do wish it were easier to learn about the past Victors; right now, I'm going off of word of mouth. I'm sorry for not recognising you immediately." The last comment directed towards Eva, naturally.

"Well, you'll have to treat her like a lady, then. Court her, get her father's permission, all that good stuff."

Eva doubts there's anything she can do to keep the Baron from planning awful things for Ariadne tonight, if that's his intent, but she can plant the seed of an idea there. And do nothing more, because she's traded her voice for her facade and delusion that there will be justice someday. Someday, there will be a revolution, and she'll find that her voice has only been dormant, not erased. She hopes.

She waves a hand. "There's video footage of the old matches around, if you ever wanted to watch those outdated things, but I don't think they'll be that useful to you. The circumstances were different there, and people acted accordingly. Far fewer alliances and far scarcer trust when killing people was actually murder for good."

She examines her nails and twitches one hand. The side of her mouth pulls into an off-kilter grin, as if she just made a joke that fell flat. It's not a very good cover for the way the deaths at her hands still bother her, but she hopes it gets lost in the dim light.

"And of course I'd be willing to impart any wisdom to you about...adjusting to all the attention after the fact." Navigating Sponsors, she means, but she isn't about to say that in front of the Baron.

"Why yes, that's a brilliant idea," Baron said. "You should stay with us Eva, help teach her a bit more."

His voice is so pleasant that it's borders are too sweet. There's a glint of something in his eyes, like a hungry man who just had a nice steak placed in front of him.

Whatever he's thinking, it can't be good.

"They're interesting enough," she offered up with a mild smile, "I sort of enjoy digging into the past like that. It's no good if I just ignore all the Victors that came before me."

Ariadne was managing to ignore not only that pleasant - saccharine - tone of voice Baron was using with them both, but also the look in his eyes. It didn't bode well in the slightest for her or Eva, though more likely just her. She was barely containing her repulsion to begin with; every time he opened his mouth, she only felt it more.

She tipped her head a little at Eva's comment, the pause, the meanings hidden between the lines, and finally nodded a little, "I'd like that. If not tonight, then maybe another day."

"With an invitation like that, how can I refuse?" She reaches over and pats Baron on the thigh. Eva's been around the block enough times to recognize the look on Baron's face, and her chest tightens slightly wondering if she's made it worse for Ariadne.

"Yes, well, if you aren't busy tonight I believe I'll have time. Most of my Tributes are still running around shivering their rears off." She wrinkles the corners of her mouth as she squints at the menu, considering an item. "If the good gentleman wouldn't mind."

A waiter comes by, and Eva says "I'll have that," pointing at some sort of fish.

Edited 2013-02-01 22:27 (UTC)

"Oh yes, the new Arena. I must say, when they revealed what it was I was shocked! It's been so long since the last time we had a snowy field. It's a true delight. A true delight."

Baron doesn't seem to mind the fact that the last time there was a snowy Arena most of the Tributes had frozen to death. If anything he seems to find the whole thing hilarious.

"All right," she replied, offering Eva a small smile despite the nervousness or the sense of dread in the pit of her stomach. Ariadne made a quick selection, choosing something else that looked particularly interesting to her - some kind of bird, it looked like - before turning her attention back to Baron, eyebrows imperceptibly raised.

"A delight? How is that a delight?"

Eva raises an eyebrow, an easy smirk on her face. "Why, Baron, did you buy stock in unisex snowsuits before the unveiling?"

She leans back. "Personally, I prefer arenas where the smarter contestants are rewarded. I don't like watching them linger."

Baron chuckles a bit. "I'm afraid I'm not among those with that sort of inside information." Though he imagines snow suits will become in fashion.

"Finding out the new ways the Arena will be set up has always been a delight, my dear," he tells the other woman. "The anticipation and surprise... It's very enjoyable."

"There's always something to be said for the Tributes who can think their way out, it's true. I find them more interesting to watch than the out-and-out bloodbaths," she pointed out, feeling slightly ill at ease at the fact that they were discussing something so horrifying at a restaurant. But then again, the entire Capitol was like that. It was just how things were.

"I suppose it is interesting enough, you're right. Even when I was a Tribute, there was a little bit of anticipation when we were sent up into the Arena for the first time."

The waiter comes by and asks them if they want a table together or separately - Eva asks for a party of three before the Baron or Ariadne can interject. It's presumptuous, but she smiles as if to say, 'since we're all having such a nice time...'

"They really weren't as creative in my day. It was sort of a rotating deal between forest, desert, cliffs, forest, desert, cliffs. The canyon my Games were set in was a bit of a, well, revolution at the time."

She tugs at the red bird in her hair. She might be exaggerating a little bit about how basic the arenas were, but technology really has taken a step forward in the last few years.

The Baron doesn't seem to mind her joining them at all. In fact he seems pleased by her choice. It is always better to have someone around to see how much control he has who actually understands what it means. The average citizen has no idea what bidding is or how it works, and with good reason, but another Victor? Another Victor will have a very good idea and that only adds to the humiliation for Ariadne and to the pleasure for Baron.

"Oh yes," Baron recalls. "I remember those days. My company helped made some slight inventions that contributed to improvements, though most of the really good stuff is under complete control of the Gamemakers."

She didn't mind at all being joined; if anything, it would save her from things getting too bad, perhaps. Though judging by the setting, she doubted it. Still, it was a vague hope that Eva's presence would help her in any way, if in no other sense than the fact that she had someone else to speak to.

"I'm glad they've moved away from that, then. Some of the recent Arenas have been nothing short of amazing, as far as the construction goes. What I want to know is how they always manage to build them; the turnover between Arenas is so fast, they'd have to start planning months in advance, possibly even years. The reactor, for example - they'd have to have come up with the idea years ago for it to have worked out in their favour, even if all they did was find an old reactor and put it to use again. If they built it, even longer than that," she mused, latching onto the topic easily. Perhaps derailing the topic a little bit, but she really did find it all fascinating.

There's something comforting about the pitch black they're descending into. It's like crawling into a womb, a lair, a dark cave where no one can see all the cracks in Eva's veneer. In the dark, the tension goes out of her body like strings cut from a marionette; the proud shoulders stoop, the tilted head bows to the floor, the spine arching like an overladen sapling as she finds her velvet seat.

"I sometimes wonder if there's a binder somewhere of blueprints and layouts for a hundred years of Games. The designs alone are truly incredible, much less the construction themselves." She makes a humming noise in the dark. "Ariadne, you sound as if you've worked with design before."

"Ah yes, like the Quarter Quells used to be. At this rate, they'll go through all of their ideas much sooner than they meant to, won't they?" Baron mused. "It's a good thing all of the best minds are on it. I'm certain they'll be ever more innovative."

Baron settled into the Darkness too. He greeted it like an old friend. He put his hand on Ariadne's leg, knowing that it was close. His fingers were round and puffy and they slipped up her thigh, moving inward. No one could see, but she could feel it and he could assume that Eva could guess what was happening.

Edited 2013-02-11 04:36 (UTC)

The darkness was almost disconcerting to Ariadne. Not because she was afraid of the dark - she knew far worse things to get caught in than that - but because of what it would doubtless hold in store. Alone, or with just Eva, she'd be fine, but there was a reason Baron chose this particular restaurant for their little 'date', and she was sure it wasn't because of the cuisine.

Eva's tension left her, and Ariadne's merely made her stiffen further. Not enough to be noticed, but her guard was brought up even more than previously. It didn't seep into her voice, and for that, she was glad.

"I'd love to get my hands on those. They'd be nothing short of amazing." Swallowing, she recrossed her legs subtly beneath the table, making it seem more as though she was getting comfortable than trying to avoid Baron's already wandering hands. "I was an architecture student before this," she continued, addressing Eva's last comment, "Maybe the Gamemakers will start hiring the people they bring in for it. I can't be the only one with that kind of talent."

Eva isn't oblivious to what's probably happening in the dark, but it's easier to turn a blind eye when you can't see. Normally she has to turn a blind eye and play her part in broad daylight. Here she can curl her lip and breathe deep and no one's the wiser.

It takes a special sort of sociopathy, she thinks, to sit by and wait for dinner while the woman next to you in molested. Then again, Eva is the victor of a murder game. Sociopathy's in her wheelhouse.

"I'm surprised you never tried for the, oh, what's it called, the release program. The Capitol loves artistic types." In the dark she rolls a napkin into a tiny tube with her hands. "And I think it's a wonderful idea to pull people from the games and have them give their creative insight. Think of all the things they've seen that we can only dream of."

Baron's hand tightened on Ariadne's thigh and pulled it closer to him, directing her to open her legs again.

"Oh we do," Baron's voice says as he squeezes her warningly, not wanting her to try and cross her legs again. "Love them, I mean. Art is so important for life, isn't it?"

"I was about to, and then I won. It became a moot point," Ariadne replied, glad she didn't have to give any unnecessary gesticulations in this setting. It was about one of the only good things. She swallowed hard in the dark, turning a glare on him knowing full well he'd never see it, letting him wrench her legs back open. Her thigh tensed a little beneath his touch, but she forced herself to relax after a moment, her hand instead clenching at her seat. Something he wouldn't detect quite as easily; she knew full well she had to give off the air of being relaxed even beneath his unwanted touches. Pursing her lips briefly, she went on, "Absolutely. There's something about being creative that opens up everything to you. Like it's a whole other world you've never seen before."

"Mm. I wish I had a creative bone in my body," Eva says, trying to ignore the sound of fabric moving in the dark. "I'd love to see that sort of world. All the glitz and glamour of the Capitol doesn't always touch that...that incomparable human effervescence, I want to say."

She sighs to herself. "Not that the glitz and glamour isn't marvelous."

Noire Restaurant [Closed]

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tw; here's where Baron turns into a predator.

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