OPEN Valentine's Day Plot

[thebiddingbaron]

WHO | Everyone
WHAT | Baron sends Valentine's Day gifts to Tribute Tower.
WHEN | Valentine's Day!
WHERE | Tribute Tower
WARNINGS / NOTES | Warnings for drug use and all of the things that go with that. Possibly also sexual themes. The OOC post for this is here.




On the morning of February 14th when the Tributes come down for breakfast they're greeted by an impressive holiday themed spread. Pink and red baked goods, chocolates shaped like hearts, beautiful red and pink flowers, adorable stuffed animals all line the table.

On the table is also a sign in cursive that reads:

To our beloved Tributes, Victors, Mentors, Escorts and Stylists. Enjoy your holiday. -- Bartlett Industries

Most of the sweets are completely harmless, but if the Tributes taste the chocolate covered cherries or caramels they find themselves suddenly acting very strangely...

Comments

Outside the Training Center

[tailforbrains]

Neeshka has flopped down on a bench out in front of the training center, in a very nice coat and stylish hat with holes for her horn-tips and colorful tail-wrap, and she is positively lounging. Because life is good, guys, and she's had a whole lot of sweets, including some funny chocolates with cherries inside. Who can turn down cherries, right? Riiiiight?

She's still munching on a couple cookies from the spread, in fact, even while she waves to everyone who passes by... and pets a few of them with her tail. And steals from some of them, in a rather blatant fashion. Inhibitions, they are gone, inasmuch as they were there to begin with.

[the_marshal]

Wyatt had been spending his time since the arena in his room. Waiting for the phantom pain - that invisiable knife between his ribs - to fade. Waiting for the nightmares to weaken.

He'd have been content to remain there, but there was a weight on his shoulders. A heavyness that could only be lifted by doin' what needed doin', sayin' what needed sayin'.

He went to her floor first, but they directed him down main room and there - through the lounge windows - he spotted her.

Hands in the deep pockets of his long coat, he approached the bench, boots crunching across the snow. His shadow falling long, face hidden under the brim of his hat.

[tailforbrains]

If he'd died a week or two back and approached her then, maybe Neeshka would have been mad at him. Hells, maybe if he'd died a day earlier and approached her then, she'd have at least put on a show of being annoyed. But today? After downing half a box of drugged chocolate cherries?

She caught sight of him and broke into a lazy, toothy grin. "Wyaaaaaatt!" she exclaimed, and hopped up to bound over and throw her arms around his neck. And her tail around his knee, for good measure.

[the_marshal]

When a man was expecting a right hook, there's very little he could do to defend against against an embrace.

Startled, and knocked off balance - in the more ways than one - he struggled to keep them upright, staggering back through the snow.

"Neeshka, what are ya-"

Nope. Not enough.

They went down into the snow, the breath sucked out of him in a rush as his back struck the hard ground... and one of her elbows snuck right into the softest part of his gut.

[tailforbrains]

And Neeshka, unharmed herself since she had her big cushion of a man to land on, just burst into a violent attack of giggles. She buried her face in his coat, not bothering to get up, but did at least remove her elbow from his belly.

"Sorry," she managed between giggles. "Didn't mean to, uh, knock you down." Be glad she doesn't know modern slang, or she might have said something else, and be laughing even harder.

[the_marshal]

Spots danced in front of him, flashing in bright colors, and snow was leaking down his collar, icy cold against his neck, but he still chuckled - if a bit breathlessly.

All said, it was still better than her bein' upset with him.

"I take it," he muttered, "Ya ain't so mad anymore."

[tailforbrains]

"Why would I be mad at you?" Neeshka countered, with the ineffable logic of someone who has quite forgotten just about any problem she might've had, thanks to a bit of fog in her head. Recovered from the giggle-fit, she sat up a bit to brush snow off him-- though not move very far to do it. "You're okay?"

[the_marshal]

"You were mad enough when I left, I figured-"

He broke off, several little things suddenly, with bolt of clarity, occurring to him. She was sitting on him. She was grinning down at him like the canary that caught the canary. She had giggled.

He blinked.

Was that her tail wound there 'bout his-

He stilled. Instantly, almost painfully aware of every inch of his body. "Yeah. Yeah, a'course. This ol' hide's been a heck of a lot worse." His eyes flicked to the side, wondering how people were watchin' this. "But I, uh, can't quite get up till you do."

Unbidden, he wondered if he would have to move her himself and experienced a moment's blinding panic over just where he was supposed to grab her.

[tailforbrains]

"You big baby," Neeshka said, but she did back off to let him up, hopping to her feet and sticking out both hands, as if fully expecting to help him up. Her tail wasn't far from his ankles, either, like she'd rather not get too far from him just then. She was halfway oblivious to his discomfort, and halfway amused by what of it she could perceive. "Khelgar at home could've picked me right up, you know, and he's way shorter than you are."

[the_marshal]

He clambored up to his feet - unaided - grabbing at his hat (which had fallen during their little tussle) and slapping it against his knee with one hand as he rose. The other hand dug into his collar, pulling out snow.

"Sorry to disappoint," he muttered, eyes still roving over the crowd.

He could have told her that where he came from men didn't just go grabbing on a lady, or go rolling around on the ground with her. Not a good man anyways, and not if he wasn't said lady's husband, but wasn't sure gettin' into the hows and how nots of courtship was the best idea just now.

Not here. Not with her lookin' at him like that.

He swept a hand through his short, coffee-colored hair and settled his hat back on his head, finally looking at her again, his blue gaze appraising.

"You alright?"

She didn't look particulary sick or nothin'... maybe that's just how folks got on after a fight where she was from?

[tailforbrains]

Now she was just confused, and looked a bit hurt that he didn't take her hands. She tucked them awkwardly into her coat pockets and rocked from her heels to her toes and back again, like an antsy kid. "Well, yeah, I'm fine. I guess landing on you kind of broke my fall." She grinned, a hair less brightly than before. "I didn't mean to knock you down, anyway. So. Totally not my fault, right?"

[the_marshal]

"Nah. No fault involved. Yah just surprised me, is all."

He swept at his backside, brushed powdery white from his shoulders.

"I was more expectin' something small and hard comin' toward my head like. Not - that."

Now they were both awkward and he didn't know what to do about it. It wasn't that he minded exactly - she was a fine woman. But it just wasn't something that one did under so many watchful eyes. In private maybe, if she'd wanted-

His thoughts broke off, his heart pounding.

"It's alright. I'm just glad yer not mad at me anymore."

[tailforbrains]

"Hells, I stopped being mad, like... weeks ago." That was an exaggeration, really, since it probably wasn't weeks ago, exactly. But it felt like weeks ago, right now! She sidled over again to loop her arm through his, if he let her. "I mean, I came back, right? Besides, I was more mad at that bitch who cut me down so fast, anyway. Did you know she actually made fun of me before she did it?"

Expression a little sour again at the memory, but only a little, she tugged at his arm, trying to get him to walk with her back to her bench.

Re: Outside the Training Center

[shambler]

R hasn't discovered the candies yet. He's still working on the not-double-dead thing. Zombies, as a rule, take awhile to get things squared away and when you spend so much time walking dead, you expect that next big step into Nothing to be, well, permanent. Light's out, and then waking up again isn't supposed to happen.

So here he is. Still trying to figure out how he feels about being normal-dead instead of dead-dead.

When in doubt, shuffle around aimlessly. It's a lot easier to get a shamble in when his body isn't locking up from the cold, R staring wide-eyed at the Capitol as he abuses the elevators for all he's worth because they're there. Riding up and down like each trip might be his last. Eventually he makes it to the Training Center, just in time to get felt up another Tribute's…tail? The tail makes him turn: the horns make him stare.

“What...are you?" It's a perfectly valid question, coming from a dead guy with a muzzle. As far as he's concerned, the horns and the tail stand out way more.

[tailforbrains]

When that cute little behind turns out to be part of a zombie, Neeshka's tail abruptly zips away from his thigh and curls reflexively around her own calf. Which is now on top of the bench, with the rest of her, as if he's a bug she has to escape from. There's even a little squeak of startlement, and a hand reaching for a knife that isn't there anymore.

It takes her a beat of staring to realize she'd been spoken to. "Whoah."

And then a beat more to realize it was a question. "Uh. I'm a tiefling. Part demon. And you're a zombie. Who's talking. Zombies don't talk."

[shambler]

Whoah is right. It's nice and short and to the point.

"Think...again," R gives a hunch of his shoulders. Oh, the Dead talk. Most of them not with words exactly, but there's ways to get conversations going, even if it's through body language and grunts. Actions speak when words are on their way out. He recognizes that groping around for a weapon and thinks it's probably a good idea he hadn't run into her in that cold wasteland. She would've been more on the ball than Atticus.

He has no idea what a tiefling-part demon can do, how they're different from the humans aside from the, y'know, tail and horns. Other than that, she reacts an awful lot like a human.

"I'm," he checks again mentally. Yeah, "R" still feels right. "Rrr."

And you? R tries and fails not to stare at the tail.

[tailforbrains]

"Is that annoyance, frustration, or some kind of name in zombie-talk?" Neeshka asks, curiosity overcoming habit. He has a muzzle on, so he can't give her any diseases, and since he's not attacking on sight-- and he's talking, and all-- he must not be the kind of mindless things she's used to.

Even so: "I'll have you know I've killed tons of zombies. So don't get any funny ideas." Though she says is without malice, and she's already uncurling from her defensive posture and staring at him, right back.

[shambler]

Funny ideas? He’s a zombie, thinking about a Living buffet isn’t going outside of the box here.

R’s eyes go from the tail, traveling back to the tiefling’s face almost reluctantly. “Name,” he grunts and for a second he wonders if zombies can even eat tieflings. It’s not like he had many options back home, so all this stuff is weird. R tries to ignore the almost confrontational way she stares at him. Considering that his kind probably tried to eat her multiple times, he guesses that’s fair enough.

“You,” R attempts to be civil. “W…what are you…doing?”

He gives a limp sort of point at the candies in her hand. They don’t look half as appetizing as she does, but hey, it’s called making conversation. So he’s rusty.

[tailforbrains]

"Your name is Rrr. I suppose that makes sense. For a zombie. Nice and easy to say." Since she's assuming she's safe, now, she's uncurling the rest of the way and even standing up. Up on her feet, she peers at him in undisguised curiosity. "Eating. And people-watching. What are you doing? Since you're obviously not trying to eat people, not with that on."

She points-- with her spaded tail-tip-- to his muzzle.

[shambler]

Glad to see she approves of the name too. The tail going that close to his face reminds him an awful lot like a knife weaving there though. The last knife he saw, he got stabbed with the thing, and usually the Living are huge fans about sticking sharp, pointy objects into things like him. Like, they really, really like it. (Maybe it’s a compulsion). R wishes this tiefling didn’t have to point the muzzle on his face out. Rub it in, why don’t you.

“Thanks,” R says dryly, sounding for a second surprisingly coherent. He bungles it up the next moment. “Not eat…eating. Obv..vi”

“Obviously” is apparently too much for him. So much for impressing the other Tribute. R goes back his kindergarden level mastery of English.

“Why do you,” R rattles in his lungs, “watch them?”

He eyes the food in the tiefling’s hands. They don’t look like the food rations he’d seen the Living run around with before. Maybe it’s special tiefling food. Yeah, that’s it.

[tailforbrains]

"Because they're interesting! And funny. And cute, sometimes. I thought you were cute before I realized you were dead." Inhibitions, what're those? Neeshka never was very good at keeping her mouth shut, even before the whole cherries thing. Now she's even worse.

She considers a moment, cocking her head at him, then offers him the second half of her cookie. "Want one? I mean, can you even eat real food?"

[shambler]

He's cute? R guesses he's got some points for having all his arms and legs attached - plus he didn't drip intestine on her head - but cute? R needs a moment to digest this. He's sure the cookie is a lost cause already but he's curious enough to reach out and take it anyway. Or try to take it. He misses the first time when the tiefling's tail gives a little flick off to the side, at the corner of his vision, his eyes immediately shifting over. R runs his tongue over his blackened lips and then tries again for the cookie. Maneuver hand out like...so, stretch stiffened fingers...and...bam.

He has the cookie in hand. Mission accomplished.

The zombie bites down and nearly coughs it up. Ashes. Like eating grit with asphalt chunks inside. Really?

"Ngggh," R complains around the cookie as he chews mechanically. Neeshka has bad taste and someone needs to say it.

[tailforbrains]

Well, he was cute when viewed from behind, and with rosy drug-created lenses on. Neeshka isn't quite so keen on him now that she can see his hands and face, and all. It's entertaining watching him grope for the cookie, though, and Neeshka is tempted to yank it back playfully. Lucky for him, the thought comes too late, and he already has it.

She giggles at the look on his face as he chews, ignoring his implied commentary on her taste for what's the more likely reason for his taste. "Guess zombies don't eat real food, after all. No candy for you!"

snap typos D:

[shambler]

It's probably for the best she didn't jerk him around like that, because R would've easily fallen for it - multiple times. A laser pointer could probably be hours of undead entertainment.

"Candy is like..." R sticks out his tongue and looks like he's trying to mock gag. Yes, it's just that gross, tiefling. Look at all the half-chewed food. Real winner of a man here. "This?"

He'd try the candy too, but at this point, R isn't expecting anything different from them or her taste. All he knows is Living food doesn't do it for him and he can't string together the words to get into an argument with Neeshka about what counts as "real" food. She gets off this time.

I totally didn't even notice >.>

[tailforbrains]

"Kinda. Smaller and different texture and stuff, but still pretty much the same stuff! I won't make you try it, though. I guess it's just an undead thing." Neeshka makes a face at his open-mouthed example. Zombies. They got n manners at all. But what can ya do?

Taking pity on him, maybe, she graciously suggests, "Go ahead and spit it out, if it's not gonna work for ya. Just, you know, don't spit it out on me. Because that's just gross."