thecapitol | Children are resilient [closed]

Entry tags:

Children are resilient [closed]

Who| Clementine and Bruce Banner, Clementine and Jet, Clementine and Dave
What| Clem spends time with her friends after they get out of the arena
Where| Numerous locations
When| Through week 3/4
Warnings/Notes| Possible depressing conversations but also cute stuff!

Waking up like this again... at least it had been quicker, at least this time she had a previous experience to go on.

Clementine doesn't cry now, though she feels queasy as she sits up from the bed and resists the urge to retch -- not that it would do any good, her stomach is completely empty of anything to throw up. After a few minutes of sitting and letting herself settle though she feels marginally better, enough to get up, change her clothes (of course putting her hat back where it belongs on her head) and contemplate going out to face the Capitol.

She's trying very hard not to think about the minutes leading up to her 'death', not even to consider it now. It feels like she's fighting a losing battle though, trying so hard not to be resentful or angry and failing.

Clementine knows that if she stays inside it'll be worse, the tribute centre and the Capitol will be a better distraction than sitting and brooding in her room.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A couple days back and with a lot of her friends still in the arena Clementine's starting to get stuck on how to pass the time. Sure, there's places she can go, things she can watch or play but it's not really the same without her friends.

She laid on one of the couches in the commons, trying to ingnore the televisions that are all playing scenes from the still ongoing arena when she spots Jet. Instantly she sits up, remembering meeting Albert a few days before she died and what he'd told her about him... "Jet!" she calls, sitting up and giving him a wave.

He'd only woken up yesterday and he'd spent the whole thing just about anywhere Jet's legs had taken him, just needing to go out and use the eyes he was very grateful to have back. The only time he'd come back had been at night when he'd moved his stuff from his room to Albert's room in the D3 suite.

There was no way he was going to stay on his floor when the damn guy who'd blinded him slept a few doors down. It had less to do with him being worried that Nasir would attack him outside of the arena and more that Jet couldn't promise he wouldn't attack the other man himself. He was still just a little pissed at everything that had happened because of the Syrian's actions.

However, today he was less in a rush to go everywhere, resulting in an uncharacteristically late start to his day. He'd been headed through the commons, no destination in mind, when the sound of his name made him pause and a smile spread across his face when he spotted Clementine waving to him. He waved back before heading over to where the girl sat and plopped himself down next to her.

"Yo. Guess we both got the axe, huh? How're you doing?"

With the lack of faces being projected into the sky, it was harder to know when people died...not that he would have been able to see hers even if they had, but clearly they'd gone around the same time. It sucked, he wanted her to win--actually win and have that win honored, not have the damn capitol rip the rug out from under her like before--he just hoped however it had happened, it hadn't been too bad.

Whether it was or not, the day's 'plans' fled his mind; checking up on his young friend's mental state was a lot more important.

"That's one way to put it."

A very accurate way and she appreciates the lack of sugarcoating. It's one of the reasons she likes Jet in general.

Clementine sucks in a breath and let's it roll out slowly, hiking her thin shoulders up in a light shrug. "I'm okay, it's actually not so bad the second time." and it's not really lying when she says it. Still bad, but not as bad. "How are you? I met Albert last week, he told me what happened."

Hopefully bringing it up was okay, she just wanted to make sure.

His arm finds it's way across the back of the couch behind her, meant to be a subtle and unobtrusive form of comfort if that's what she wanted. Her assessment that it wasn't so bad the second time he nods in response. He felt the same. Even falling through the atmosphere back home a second time hadn't been as bad as the first because he'd accepted what he'd done and had thought of it as penance for letting everything get as screwed up as it had.

Not that it had stuck. The second death in this place had been pretty gruesome and still left him with nightmares, but at least he'd known he'd come back that time.

Her bringing up 'what had happened' made his thought process stutter. He shrugged nonchalantly, but his eyes kept ahead, avoiding hers. "M'fine. It's over, so it's not a big deal."

More like he still wasn't willing to face the things he'd started to think and feel while stuck in his own sightless mind and the thought of what that had been like made his throat tighten with terror. It was something he was more than willing to bury away along with the memories of Kevin eating him alive.

"Do you want to talk about anything that happened? Or would you rather hear my personal idea of good arena-medicine."

As far as Clementine is concerned the death itself is the least worst part. This time she hadn't been able to turn into a Walker, she hadn't been able to bite anybody. It had been quick, a moment of pained pressure and... then she woke up.

Pruna pulling Sandy away and leaving Clementine to the roombas, that was the worst part. It made her think of Ben for a moment... Ben running away and leaving her because he was scared of the Walkers, for his own life... Pruna had been scared for Sandy, she thinks.

Reasoning with herself about it doesn't make it sit any better with her though.

"Okay." she says to Jet's gentle rebuff on the topic, she knows better than to pursue that. "I think I'd rather hear your idea about arena medicine." she decides after a moment.

Jet's smile is back in it's place and not forced as he glances over at her.

"Yeah? It's this: doing something. I know, it sounds simple! But I promise it works."

The cheesy delivery is meant to get a smile from her and he stands and offers her his hand.

"How do you feel about ice cream and then we'll see what's around to do, huh?"

Clementine blinks and then snorts despite herself. Reaching up she grasps Jet's hand and let's him help her up off the couch.

"I never say no to ice-cream." she agrees. It was probably actually her favourite thing. Dairy and things that had to be kept cold like that just didn't exist anymore back when she first got to the Capitol, it was no wonder she indulged so often now she was here. "You got a favourite flavour?"

Her hand in his and Jet starts them off towards the front doors, considering her question as though it were a really important one.

"Rocky Road. What's yours?"

Talking about ice cream was the most mundane conversation he'd had since showing up in this place...and it was nice. For at least a couple hours, they could pretend things weren't the way they were and maybe even have a little fun.

The city was rife with activity and it was easy to suddenly loose themselves in the crowds. It was a lot like New York except cleaner and with a bit more space, another comfort he allowed himself to have.

Clementine blinks in surprise and then grins, "Mine's Rocky Road too. You've got good taste. Finding out they have it here was like the best thing ever."

There, now he has certified approval from an eleven year-old. Jet's in the good books.

"I probably eat more ice-cream in the Capitol than anything else."

Which is why she easily remembers the way to the ice-cream parlour she, Mindy and the other kids favour. She realises on the way it's good she's going with Jet, she'd forgotten that she couldn't spend money at the moment thanks to being caught helping the jailbreak. Crap.

Her compliment makes him grin. He'll take that approval, it meant more to him than approval from a hundred random strangers anyway.

"Yeah? Good, might as well enjoy it. When I was back home, I'd eat sweets all the time, including ice cream. Frannie, she was kinda my sister, would always tell me I'd just get fat, but you know what? That's what metabolism's for."

Once they get to the shop, he holds the door for her before following her over to the counter.

"Get however much you want, it's on me."

Good thing he'd intended to buy for her anyway.

Clementine giggles when he says that. "It's hard to imagine you being fat."

She slips in through the door ahead of him and looks delightedly at display of ice-cream. "Thanks Jet, I still can't spend any money of my own. It's lame." her fingers rub over where the cuff is hidden by her sleeve without thinking as her eyes scan over the bright colours, lingers on the rocky road of course. "I hope they lift it soon."

She ends up asking for a scoop of rocky road and a scoop of cookie dough on a cone. Two ice-cream flavours, she was really living the life here. For added fun she gets sprinkles and chocolate sauce on it too, and a flake.

Once the assistant hands it over she doesn't hesitate to take a lick while waiting for Jet to get his.

The thought of the capitol cutting her off and the reason that had been done in the first place left a sour taste in his mouth, but he was bound and determined not to let it show or ruin their day out.

"Don't worry about it, if you need anything at all between now and then, just let me know, I hardly ever buy anything for myself so I've got plenty to spare."

He let the conversation drop peacefully while they got their ice cream, his own choice consisting of a scoop of rocky road and a scoop of mint, then pays for their ice cream and indicates they should sit on the bench outside. Once there, he casually picks the conversation back up.

"It might be hard to imagine, but I'll let you in on a secret: when I when I was only a few years younger than you, I was a pretty chubby kid. I had one of those big families that constantly shoved food in your face because they thought I wasn't eating enough."

He wants to ask her what her family was like, but considering his own answer to that question--barring the stuff he volunteered--he didn't feel he should put her in that kind of position either, just in case it wasn't something she wanted to talk about.

"So, I know we said we'd figure out what we'd do once we were out here, but what kind of stuff do you like to do, Clem?"

"Do you actually know how much money you have? I never found out." but she didn't go spending crazy amounts either so that was alright, she supposed. It wasn't like they'd make them pay it back in addition to forcing them to fight to the death.

Right?

Actually, it's the Capitol, nothings probably beyond them.

She sits down and occupies herself trying to eat the ice-cream quicker than it can melt and get over her fingers to start with, listening to Jet talk while she does so. "That sounds pretty nice. I only had my parents, really."

Clementine had been an only child but was starting to learn what it was like to have brothers and sisters here. It was new and enjoyable experience.

The question is one she has to think about, "Um, well... I like drawing. And video games." thanks to Ellie and Mindy introducing her to them. "I'd kind of like to go to school too."

"No idea, but since I don't use it often, I'm guessing it stacks up fast enough." It didn't really matter, he'd never once come across a shop that had snubbed him for anything, the shops were some of the nicest thing about the whole damn place. Of course, the fact they were only being nice because they enjoyed watching him fight and die didn't escape him.

He waited patiently for her answer, a huge smile breaking out on his face when he heard it. "Yeah? Me too. Although, I've always kinda sucked at video games, they were after my time."

Being born in 1945 when the most exciting game growing up were the ones you could find at a carnival, waking up in the early 21st century to all these strange video games had taken some getting used to. He'd gotten the hang of it eventually, but when the only person he played with was Joe who'd grown up with their existence, Jet never had a chance at winning. But he still had fun.

The thought brought a wave of nostalgia with it; he missed his best friend. He'd been in Panem for that first arena and then he'd vanished and still Jet hoped he and Pyunma had found a way out even though part of him knew at this point that it was less than likely.

He kept his peace about his thoughts, keeping their atmosphere comfortable and easy-going, a much preferred state of mind to be certain.

"...what about if I made good on that promise to teach you how to ice skate? Might not help in any other arena, but I promise it's the closest you can get to flying on the ground."

"When was your time? I didn't play many before I got here, but my friends took me to the arcade. I'm not that good yet either." Compared to Ellie and Mindy Clem got her virtual butt kicked a lot but she was working on that. Back in her world her parents hadn't been big on letting her play them a lot, she basically only ever go to do it at friends houses, then of course the power went and there was no way to do those things anymore.

Clem keeps working on her ice-cream, "Really? I think I'd like that. It's kind of embarrassing to fall on your butt on television." but at least she'd got off lightly on the outfit she'd been forced into compared to others.

He laughed.

"1962. Would you believe me if I told you I was born at the end of World War 2?"

He wouldn't believe himself if he didn't know better, he looked like he was in his early twenties at best. He just happened to have looked that way the better part of three decades. Of course, he'd looked eighteen for roughly forty-five years before that, most of it just didn't seem to count when he'd spent it frozen.

He turned his focus back to his ice cream, debating for a moment on if he'd tell her more. There was a part of him that contradicted how he viewed Clementine most of the time. She was a kid and he wanted to protect her, yes, but he also knew she could hold her own and didn't always need to have her hand held, anyone with eyes that could see beyond age could see that. But, at the same time, he found himself wanting to keep what Black Ghost had done to him and his family out of her consciousness, as though he could protect her from that evil if he didn't give her any details. It wasn't like he could spin it as an adventurous story about a hero this time. Then again, was it really any worse than the threat the capitol posed?

"In 1964, me and three others got frozen by these asshole scientists and stored away for nearly forty years, so by the time I woke up, technology had gotten pretty fancy to say the least."

"It wouldn't be the strangest thing I heard here." she decides after a moments consideration. "That was a pretty long time ago, right?" Forgive her on not knowing the actual dates, her education has been lacking.

Clementine's met a few people who are older than they look or claim to be, none of them she's ever had reason to believe was lying about it. Some of the stuff she's seen makes that pale in comparison.

Really, after dead people got up and started walking round there shouldn't be much she couldn't open her mind to.

"That's... wow. I actually don't know what to say to that."

His free hand fell to her head, just sort of resting there in an affectionate way.

"Don't worry about it."

He ate a bit more before something seemed to occur to him that brought a huge grin to his face. It was something he hadn't thought about in years. His voice took on a storyteler's tone like a narrator of one of those old superhero movies.

"It wasn't all bad, you know. It unleashed The Invincible Cyborg 002, protector and friend to all. He was a regular hero, saving people from burning buildings, getting cats out of trees and, of course, stopping the insane, evil Skarl from taking over the world!"

He sold it, more for her benefit and amusement than his own, the only thing that kept him from losing all face was the fact he knew she didn't know about his call number. Jimmy had liked the story, maybe Clem would too. He hoped so, he had to make up for talking about such a downer when he was supposed to cheer her up.

The hand on her head is okay, she smiles at it.

By this time Clementine's down to the cone, her teeth crunching through the wafer, her fingers and the area around her mouth sticky from the ice-cream. She feels better for it, a little full but if they're going ice-skating she's sure that will go away soon enough.

Sitting out here and eating ice-cream with a friend, it's almost normal, like the arena and its horrors are just some bad dream.

"Huh?" Clementine blinks up at him when he starts speaking again, the expression on her face a little startled but definitely listening. "A hero? A cyborg is like a robot, right?" she grins, imagining a friendly robot getting a cat out of a tree or fighting a bad guy.

"Well...sort of." He gulped down the rest of his cone before going on with his explanation. Anyone else and he'd have been annoyed by the misconception, but he'd had to explain what a Cyborg was to Jimmy too, he didn't mind.

"Cyborgs are people who have parts of them replaced with anything from metal to complex robotics. Robots were never human, no matter how much they act like it. See?" It was an important distinction.

"Sometimes, people get made into Cyborgs without their wanting it...and sometimes it's done to save people's lives, either way, it's kind of what you make of it and, in this case, 002 made the best of it he could by helping people with what he could do."

Jet stood and offered a hand to her, even if they were a little sticky. They'd find somewhere to wash up on the way.

"Ready to move on?"

"Oh. I see. It's like -- I guess if someone lost their arm in an accident they could get a metal limb and that would make them a cyborg, right?" Clementine nods as Jet goes on with his explanation. "I get it."

"002 sounds like a good person."

She takes his hand, sticky fingers on both sides and stands up. "Yep. Let's go, I'm looking forward to falling on my butt again."

"Yeah, like that."

He chose not to say anything about what she said just in case something came out that gave him away, but a faint spread of color rose in his cheeks that he tried to hide by looking around for where they needed to go.

"I'll try to not let that happen. Except maybe once, it's a healthy experience." He smirked and led her off in the direction they needed, his hand squeezing hers gently.

"How's your balance, anyway? Like, on a normal basis."

"It happened in the arena!" she protests, sticking her tongue up at him as she holds his hand. "That counts as once." Clearly it didn't need to happen again, in her expert opinion that is.

Clementine takes a few seconds to think about it. "I think it's pretty good. I'm good at climbing stuff."

"Oh, right, of course." He just grinned at her, teasing her was swiftly becoming one of his favorite things.

"That's good, you'll probably be all right once you get the hang of it." That was his guess, at least. He was very good at ice skating and he suspected his own balance and grace had something to do with that, but he was hardly a professional, he could really only show her what he knew and teach it to her the best way he could and hope for the best.

Well...and hope she wasn't Albert who just fell over left right and center no matter how many times Jet tried to teach him. His partner was a lost cause, Clem likely wasn't.

Once they got to the rink, he payed for both of them and got them both skates to put on. "Be sure to lace 'em all the way up so they're secure. You should try standing up and walking on the blades themselves, it's not too hard and it's good practice."

Clementine gives Jet a suspicious look for that, clearly she has her doubts as to his sincerity. She's determined not to go down on her butt again, that's for sure, it had hurt the first time.

"So how long did it take you to learn?" she asks as they approach the ice-rink, scouting her would-be teachers credentials. Honestly she's just curious and it's something to talk about, a way to get to know Jet a little better. "... did you fall over a lot?" asked with a small grin on her lips.

These skates are a lot less glitzy than the one's they gave her to wear in the arena and, heeding his words, Clementine laces them all the way up as tight as she can manages and making sure the laces weren't trailing. "Uh... okay..." at least the normal ground wasn't slippery like ice was.

Clem pushes herself up from her chair and holds her hands out to either side, wobbling a little. "This feels really weird."

Children are resilient [closed]

For Jet

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