The Crowning Of Clara Murphy

[etcircenses]

Who| Everyone.
What| The Crowning of Clara Murphy
Where| A refurbished former-medical building within Capitol. 
When| Starting from late afternoon, going into the evening and late night.
Warnings/Notes| Don't forget, peacekeepers are on high alert and will notice any rebellious activity or odd behaviour. 

The theme of the ceremony is corruption and dystopia, with a distinct nod to futuristic aspects and, of course, robots. The room is stark, clean, and foreboding, all done in metallics, crisp whites, and the occasional bit of robotics set up as art. It speaks as an unholy cross between a medical office, a military base, and an extremely well kept prison.

The ceremony is both a chance for Capitolites to have fun and be grateful for the grand and glorious Panem which in no way exemplifies any attributes of dystopia, while also working as a not so subtle reminder to the troublemakers out there of what can happen when things get out of line. Which they surely won't, with all the peacekeepers around.

Tributes are dressed in all manner of thing incorporating chains, rope, caution tape, muzzles, bars and cages, prison stripes, and uniform orange-- all things reminiscent of imprisonment and restriction. Some tributes may be made to look scuffed up, like cartoon-ish depictions of hardened thugs. There are a few references to robotics, and that of evil and corrupt military men and police officers, but all tributes will be marked by some manner of cuff or chain that clearly denotes them as “criminals”.

They’ll also be given a “prison number” that is actually indicative of their district association and an arbitrary letter next to it, for example, someone from district six will have 06 and the first letter of their name. It will be temporarily tattooed somewhere visible on their skin. It can be washed off but it will take more scrubbing than would be done in a single day, let alone a crowning.

The only exceptions to these rules, are those who have been brought to the winner’s table; all those who can be deemed as cyborgs, scientists, and of course, the victor herself. Her throne sits at the head of the table, a robotic contraption that appears almost as though it might encase her. For a crown, Clara has been given one that seems to bear resemblance to a white picket fence, which, when made into a crown, looks far sharper than the idyllic home setting it’s meant to represent.

Avoxes are all dressed as members of the corrupt Detroit military police. The uniforms are naturally given a more sinister edge. None of them are comfortable. All of them are serving “Detriotto” staple foods.

Around the crowning, flat hologram projections of hockey games can be seen. They show the games of a team called “The Rouge Wings” and alternate that with the less spectacular showings of what appears to be a young boy’s hockey team. Commercials fill the times between promoting the work of Capitol’s peacekeepers, showing appreciation for them on an individual level, encouraging obedience in citizens with pleasant clips of peacekeepers speaking to children, and suggesting recruitment in the truly good and noble of Panem. Capitolites may nod along to these as they giggle at the sight of decorative signs, that are most certainly from Clara’s lesser world, about obeying, consuming, and so on, to a less than favourable government. A few posters feature Clara Murphy’s face in four colour palettes, all humorous jabs at dystopia proclaiming; “MOTHER MURPHY IS WATCHING YOU”.

But hockey games are not the only things that can be seen on the projection screens; if tributes take the time to look, they may see their own face projected above in profile and facing forward views like that of mug shots. Though, how the capitol has managed to get these pictures may be entirely a mystery. Besides these mugshots, criminal records are displayed, listing crimes from “lied to their parents” to petty theft to murder. Whether these records are true or not may be up for much debate.

In the mean time, there are plenty of things for party go-ers to do, such as take part in the David For A Day egg and spoon race, in which tributes will all have a chance to dress up (with wigs and matching clothing of all sizes!) as the mysterious David, compete against others, and should they win, be dubbed David For A Day, winning themselves a banner they can wear and a spot at the victor table.

There is also an obstacle course available dubbed the "Clarence Boddicker Memorial Prison Funhouse" designed to look, you guessed it, like a prison. Fun for all ages and demeanours!

For those looking for retreat, there’s a small section cut away from it all, designed to be a pleasant backyard patio setting opened to a starry night sky and small surrounding garden, in stark contrast to the rest of the place. There’s a small area for dancing in, that can really only accommodate one couple at a time, but is nevertheless perfect for a romantic scene. Only two songs play over speakers here, one perfectly fitting, the other a little more jarring. It’s also here that party go-ers can get their picture taken with a life sized ED-209. Many more much smaller ED-209’s can be seen around and within the crowning party. As well as the occasional roomba, which fans of the last arena will surely get a chuckle out of.

As the crowning nears it’s end, those at the victor’s table will be given paintball guns filled up with red paint. They will be ordered to bring the criminals to justice! The criminals being all the other tributes. Those hit with paint will be made to wait within the Memorial Prison Funhouse until all the criminals are apprehended and forced to do their time! No one will be allowed to go back to the tribute tower until all the criminals are caught.

Comments

[Closed to Alex]

[seestheman]

Clara had been fairly certain, just from the way Alex kept his distance from her after she got out of the Arena, that he was still neurosuppressed. She doesn't know why she's so surprised by this. Maybe it's because she had hoped that he would come back to normal when they were in the Capitol. Or that whoever it was who made these decisions would give her back her husband after winning the Arena. There's a difference between being certain about it and seeing the truth for what it is. And seeing that deadened look in Alex's eyes as she sat next to him at the Victor's Table was all the proof she needed.

After escaping from the table and the festivities for a bit, Clara returns to the main hall to find Alex. And when she finally does, she almost freezes up. She'd rather not talk about any of this stuff in public, but she's running out of options since she can rarely find him the rest of the time (and god, it feels way too much like those last few weeks back home), so she's going to swallow her pride and drag him somewhere relatively quiet if he gives her the chance.

"Alex, baby, can we talk?"

[yourmove]

Alex doesn't seem to care one way or another about the Crowning - he looks at the ED-209s and the muzzles and faux hand-cuffs and his face doesn't so much as twitch. "David for a Day" doesn't get a rise out of him. He stares forward as he sits next to his wife, his own seat set lower than her throne and reinforced to hold his weight. Alex does spend the time to go over everyone's criminal records, at the very least.

He's not authorized to pursue any of them. Not after his assault on Mr. Cassidy. It's the closest thing to frustration he can feel when he can stand there and ID several Tributes who should be executed before they continue their criminal careers.

He moves to the main hall to keep any eye on things - intoxication getting out of hand, foul language, rough housing that would require a warning. He's still there when Clara seeks him out, Alex turning to stare at her with that same look he'd had when he confiscated her knife in the Arena.

"Of course. What did you want to talk about?" Alex can easily multi-task, recording and processing his conversation with Clara in real time while keeping an eye on the rest of the room. "Congratulations on your win, by the way."

[seestheman]

Clara can't help but be angry with herself for being unnerved by the look in Alex's eyes. It's a rational, logical reaction, even though she's had weeks to get used to seeing him like that, but at the same time, it's not right at all.

This would all be so much easier if she were just trying to break things off with him (as horrible as it is for her to admit that to herself). But the fact of the matter is that she can't do that. Not when, despite logic and common sense considering their current situation, she still loves him too much to do that. Especially over a relationship that's purely for the cameras. (And, more importantly, not when she knows that there's still the possibility of getting him back someday.)

"Oh, um, thank you," she says. It's one thing to hear it from everyone else, but this is Alex. Though, maybe part of it is that this is the first time they've spoken in weeks. There's no excuse for that, really. This isn't like when he was acting like this back in Detroit and OmniCorp was playing keep away with him. There's a handful of floors between them and she was too chicken shit to step in an elevator and go down to see him.

"We need to talk about us." As much as Clara would love to dance around this, she can't. This conversation needs to be had and she's finally worked up the nerve to have it and refuses to back down. "But I'd rather not talk about this in front of everyone else, if you don't mind us stepping away for a few minutes?" By which she means a hallway or somewhere that isn't a wide open area filled with people she knows who might see her cry if it comes to that.

[yourmove]

"I don't mind."

Then again, he doesn't seem to mind anything these days.

Alex ends up heading for the patio, decked out to look like their one in Detroit. He assumes a familiar looking setting would be a better place to put Clara at ease than taking it outside the entire building, back out into the Capitol proper. The last time he saw this was in a dream back in China, induced into REM sleep by sedatives. It's not an exact copy, of course, but it's a fairly good approximation. It's the closest thing to "home".

He faces Clara, chin tilting down so he can look her in the correct eye. Even with the amount of makeup the stylists put around her eyes, he can tell she's tired - even the glass eye, swirling with glitter frozen inside, can't hide that. Not from him.

"What did you want to talk about?" Alex goes through a list of possible topics involving their non-verbal interactions, conversations. He selects one that seems to be the most immediate, logical choice to start with. "I apologize I wasn't able to keep you safe in the Arena."

That seems the most obvious. She had still won the Arena, but she had been injured in the process. It doesn't cross Alex's mind that when Clara says "us", she means their relationship - non-relationship - and that it could mean anything from emotional to physical intimacy to even a possible divorce.

[seestheman]

Clara isn't sure whether she's upset or relieved that, of all the spaces he could have chosen, Alex chose the space that the Capitol set up to look like their backyard. She saw the space earlier, of course, but there's a difference between knowing that the space is there and being in it to have what she's pretty sure might be one of the hardest conversations she'll ever have. Part of her's tempted to sit down on one of the patio chairs that looks like the ones they bought at a flea market years ago, but decides against it because she's partially convinced that, if she does, her resolve might end up being weakened and she won't be able to go through with this.

It's bizarre, the way his apology hits her. She doesn't expect it at all, mostly because she doesn't think he really has anything he needs to apologize for in the first place. "Alex it...it's fine. It wasn't your fault that..." She trails off. That she lost an eye because she wandered off on her own? That she lost a hand during her encounter with Black Tom? That she won because Carlos decided to shoot himself instead of win? That they were ever brought here in the first place? "...any of it happened."

She knows that it's some sort of miracle or stupid dumb luck that she won at all and that she should be glad to be free of the Arena, even with the steep cost. No one's ever accused Clara of really being a logical person. She had a plan, she was going to get Alex and Dr. Norton and Dave and Clementine out before she ever tried to get out herself and now...well, she doesn't know what to do now. The best that she can think of is get in as close with the rebellion as possible and hope that she can convince them to find a way to help her put Alex back to normal(ish).

"Before I say anything else, I need you to know that I love you, Alex. I can't imagine a world where I don't, but the truth is that with the way things are right now...it's hard. I'm sure that you've heard about me and Rose by now and," she stops herself for a second, taking in a deep breath to steady herself. Most of it isn't true. Neither of them are in love with the other, to the best of her knowledge, but Alex can't know that (even though she'd love nothing more than to tell him that all the emotional parts are a complete lie), "it's all true. I'm so sorry. I hope you can forgive me, but if you can't, I understand."

[yourmove]

Alex pauses, although he’s already been monitoring her emotional response in real-time and recording it to dissect it later. For a moment her confession actually drags out something close to a faint frown – a tiny line appears between his eyebrows, a muscle ticking at the corner of his mouth. It might seem like she’s managed to get him actually react before it collapses back into that mask-like state again. He blinks twice, rapidly, before his face goes neutral.

“You’re under stress from the Arenas, your victory. Among other things.” Another pause, Alex searching for how to approach this in a fair, constructive fashion. “You’re in need of emotional and physical intimacy that I can’t provide anymore. You can’t be at fault for seeking it elsewhere.”

Clearly taking Clara to this place hasn’t helped in that aspect. He thought the night vision, the fresh night air with the smell of a barbeque would help ease her agitation levels. He stares down at her, seeing the glass eye as logistically it’s there, but not seeing it like the old Alex Murphy would. It’s merely there, a part of Clara now to be updated in his profile. Same went with her hand. His head tilts a fraction, trying to parse out what else to say. Logically he knows she hasn’t hurt anyone. The neurosuppression makes him incapable of any feelings of hurt or betrayal. That said, there’s still a small nugget that forms at the base of his core, like a phantom sensation of a stomach ache. A glitch, maybe. He can’t identify it. Alex decides to report it for tonight’s maintenance, after the Crowning.

“It’s acceptable if you find your intimacy and stress relief with someone else,” Alex goes on. He seems to hear his voice as if from a distance. Another thing to note. “While Rose is not someone I would…personally recommend, the important thing is you’re happy.”

There should be pain in his voice, anger or sadness or even a resigned wistfulness. It’s flatter than normal now, Alex staring at Clara as if he’s forgotten how to blink. He doesn’t think to go in for a hug or even hold her hand, lie and say they’ll figure a way to get through this together. Clara saving his life started the divide between them. The suppression necessary to improve him as a cop, as a Tribute, only sealed the deal. They all know it. Alex stands there, statue-still, watching Clara’s voice in high resolution, her face outlined in red. She seems upset. This relationship with Rose doesn’t seem like it’s working today.

[seestheman]

Clara knows it may make her a terrible wife (and human being, for that matter) to be delighted at the beginning of a frown on his face. She wouldn't be, except for the fact that it proves that whatever the Capitol did to him isn't perfect. There are cracks in the programming and that means that there's the possibility that she can try to get him back. She just hopes that, if she does managed to get him back, he won't hate her for the things she's done or will do. And then as quickly as it appeared, it's gone again which hurts, but doesn't change the fact that it still happened.

"I...thank you for being so understanding, Alex." If Rose wasn't a factor, she'd be trying desperately to convince him otherwise. That they could find a way to make this work and that the physical stuff doesn't really matter as long as she has him (even though she'd be lying, though just as much to herself as to him). Of course, if Rose wasn't a factor, they wouldn't be having this conversation and she'd be trying to convince herself that it was just fine to pretend that everything's okay between them so as not to cause a stir.

Clara isn't at all surprised that he doesn't approve of Rose. She's a (supposed) traitor and with whatever the Capitol's done to him, he's prone to having a mistrust of her. Which is a shame, really, because she's pretty sure that, if things were different, he'd probably get along with her. Of course, if things were different, Clara probably wouldn't have ever found herself in a position where she's in a fake relationship with Rose. "I want you to be happy too," she says, a sad smile on her face. "I promise, I'm going to find a way to make things right."

She wants to reach out to him. It's silly, and she knows it, but before their lives had taken a turn for the surreal, just being able to reach out and hold his hand or hug him or anything, really, made her feel safe and like things were going to be okay. And now she isn't even sure if that'd be okay or if that would be crossing a line.

[yourmove]

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm happy with the way things are," Alex's voice comes out somehow flatter than normal. "You've already made the important steps by working on your needs."

The words sounds hollow, unconvincing, and not just in that neutral, we're-strangers way, either.

He stands there, his hulking chassis towering over his wife as he struggles to say more. Act. This isn't to the point and easy like it should be, like it was he accesses databases and checks up on the upgrades after he wakes up from sedation. They didn't factor in extended social contact, especially with closer relationships like wives, and he realizes that this is a chink in the suppression. They'll have to work on that, he thinks. He can make suggestions before they put him under after the Crowning. There's this vague, barely formed sense that Clara is still waiting for something as she looks up, her eyes searching his face and again, she looks a mixture of sad, agitated.

What Alex does know is he has a job to do. While he isn't authorized to carry out sentencing or even arrests, they haven't blacklisted him on other services - the "fluff" ones, the ones that in reality people like Raymond Sellars only thought had worth as PR snapshots. Remembering how to wave. Helping cats from trees and little old ladies across the street. A man's handshake with the flesh hand God gave him (also brought "popped" against Alex's graphene armor).

He defaults to that. Clara may require physical contact and while he can't offer her sexual pleasure, he can at least offer his hand. His hand comes out, rigid, and because he was still thinking of handshakes, he goes with the hand they supposedly saved. He takes her hand in his, his grip still stiff but at least warm even though he doesn't tangle his fingers in hers: he holds Clara's manicured hand like he was about to shake it, but doesn't.

"Don't worry. The Capitol takes good care of me," Alex assumes that sounds encouraging. His eyes drift over to her glass eye, glittering in the warm glow of the backyard. "You're a Victor now - they'll do the same to you if you have any requests."

[seestheman]

Clara isn't sure if it's just wishful thinking or something else that makes her think she hears something in his voice that makes it hard for her to believe him. Even with the suppression, there's something that just seems off, even for him. She wants to scream or yell or argue that he can't mean that. She knows that it would never happen, but she'd love for him to just snap out of it and say that this is all some sort of elaborate prank or that someone from the rebellion got in contact with him and this is all part of some sort of undercover thing to help bring the Capitol down.

Alex grabbing her hand only makes things worse in some ways. She enjoys the contact, but it's so formal and not like them in the slightest. But the fact that he's making some sort of effort is nice and somewhat unexpected considering how well her attempt to hug him in the Arena went. She almost considers moving slightly to try to catch his hand in a more natural handhold, but doesn't. It wouldn't look right, considering the relationship she's supposedly in at the moment.

She can't risk the Capitol having many doubts about her and Rose. It's one thing for her to be conflicted, it's another thing entirely for her to hold Alex's hand and try to smile at him like nothing's different.

Clara has a lot of requests and she knows the Capitol would never fulfill them. She wants him. She wants to go home. She wants to know that David will never be brought to this place and will be left in Detroit where he'll be safe. She wants the Games to end and for the Capitol to stop being so monstrous.

"This wasn't supposed to be the way things were supposed to go. I had this whole plan that involved you getting out of the Arenas before me and we were going to spend the rest of our lives together and be happy." She can feel it, the tears that are threatening to spill that she wants to stop before they start. "Honestly, I have a hard time believing you wanted things to turn out this way. Or that you're actually happy with all this."

Of course, she doesn't dare point out that, even if he somehow doesn't, she remembers them talking about trying to find a way to get away from all of this. That would just get both of them in some sort of trouble and she doesn't dare risk it.

[yourmove]

Holding her hand doesn't seem to have any immediate, positive effect. Maybe she requires more prolonged physical contact.

"I didn't need you to look out for me."

Alex seems actually puzzled by the idea despite the suppression smoothing everything over. It doesn't compute in his neatly ordered world: that's not how you're supposed to participate in the Arenas and they both know it. His fingers twitch involuntarily in her hand, a little spasm that registers as a small spike in his EEG feed to his handlers back at the Tribute Tower

"I'm satisfied that you're a Victor, Clara, and that you will be able to fulfill your emotional and physical needs," Alex takes it slow and while Clara can't see his HUD, he's pretty much on red alert here: his sidebar is on fire as he scrolls through several hundred responses in real time, searching for the right thing to say. "I'm satisfied I can be helpful to the community when my Peacekeeper application is approved," When, not if - Alex believes his credentials are good enough for the Peaceekeepers. "I'm alive, in good health. My needs are covered."

Why wouldn't he be happy? It's one of the few times he actually has something that could be mistaken for a facial expression - he's almost frowning now, a tremor running through his hand that's stronger than the last one. If Clara is happy, then he's happy. Or at the very least he's satisfied with the outcome and that equates happiness with his current dopamine levels. Clara Murphy is an adult, perfectly capable of making her own (legal) decisions. It's not his business who she socializes with or engages in sexual intercourse with so long as she abides by the Capitol's laws. He would have thought that by giving her is approval, she would be happier to be free to pursue her needs. The tears glimmering in Clara's eyes say otherwise.

"You're crying," Alex observes. If she continues to cry, she will ruin her makeup and need to have it retouched.

[seestheman]

There's something about that sentence that sets her off. Did the suppression really change that much between them? She knows she shouldn't be too surprised by it, between his behavior under it in Detroit and in the Arena, but there's something about the way he says it that makes it sink in how far he is from the man she married. She knows she should probably keep quiet and not respond for the sake of her personal state of mind, but she can't help the small stab of anger and frustration. "Of course I did, you're my husband. We're supposed to be a team," she says quietly, as if it's more to herself than to him.

Out of everything she had expected him to say, the possibility of him applying to get out of the Arena and join the Peacekeepers definitely wasn't on the list. Oh, sure, the thought has flitted through her mind once or twice, but it was one of those worries that she could easily wave off because she'd been so certain that it would never happen. Sure, Alex is a cop, so it makes some form of sense, but the Peacekeepers seem less like an effective police force and more like an army.

Maybe that's the point.

On some level, she has to admit that she's a little relieved at the idea if it means not having to go through losing him again and again. Of course, she feels like she already has lost him in a way, not that she'd ever say it aloud. At the same time, it's hard for her to accept it because she's sure, deep down, that he wouldn't be on the Capitol's side if he weren't being manipulated by them.

"I'm not crying," she says as she takes in a deep breath to try to steady herself. It doesn't count as crying if the tears don't actually fall, right? That's what she's going to go with at the moment. "The Peacekeepers? Really?" She's trying to find a way to say this without sounding painfully anti-Capitol so there won't be any suspicions of her having connections with the rebellion, which is easier said than done. "Why?"

[yourmove]

"But there's no such thing team victories in the Arena, Clara," Alex presses the point, pauses, and then concedes, "The Katniss-Peeta one was a rare exception and not likely to be repeated."

Clara seems to have trouble understanding the concept of the Games, which is just as well that she's a Victor now and not a repeat Tribute.

While she also seems to believe she's not crying, Alex would say otherwise. Her tear ducts are active, more active than they would be through normal blink-rate and the daily amounts of eye lubrication for an average woman of her age. They produce more tears than would be necessary for blinking, the tears glistening and looking like they're ready to fall if she keeps it up. From the deep, measured breath Clara takes, he assumes she's aware of them and wants to save face, possibly save her makeup so her stylist team won't have to retouch her eyeliner and eyeshadow in the middle of her Crowning. For a moment he debates arguing with her about the crying but decides against it. Low priority. It's not his job to watch what she does or doesn't do to her makeup.

"It makes sense," Alex gives one of those new tics he developed since he was crafted into a chassis. It's a quirk of the mouth, something in his voice - even flattened as it is - like a verbal shrug. "Used to be DPD, now I can do the same job here, helping those who need it. I have the credentials," he adds. "You don't think I'm qualified?"

Clara seems...less than ecstatic. Maybe this was too much to process all at once.

[seestheman]

As tempted as Clara is to keep pushing the issue, she knows that it probably isn't worth wasting her breath arguing this. Without the suppression, Alex could be stubborn to the point of being pigheaded and with? Well, she isn't quite sure she wants to know. And even if she does, right now doesn't seem like the best time to find out. Instead she just lets out a frustrated sigh.

Which probably only makes it more obvious how on edge and precariously close to crying she is. She's cried in front of Alex before. Hell, she's not exactly sure that she didn't cry a little bit on that afternoon when she approached him on his motorcycle. But there's a huge difference between crying in front of someone in a mostly private moment and crying in front of them when there's most likely a number of cameras around recording the event.

"No, no, it's not that. Not exactly. I mean," she takes a breath so she can marshal her thoughts for a moment. What's the best thing to say in a situation like this? 'No, baby, I don't want you to join militaristic police force that I'm opposed to because they're hurt my friends and had a hand in the destruction of an entire District' is probably enough to get her arrested for being subversive. "The type of crimes that are a problem here aren't that much like the ones that were issues back home."

There's an and in her voice that she isn't quite sure she should say, mostly because of how much she's afraid it might sting to bring up. The best thing she can think of doing is pushing through the potential awkwardness and just say it. "And a lot of your experience back home was in undercover work. Going out there to hunt down rebels doesn't seem like something that matches up with your skill set." Not that she can see him doing undercover work ever again, considering he's pretty damn conspicuous these days. It's one of those things that crossed her mind a few times at home too, but she never had an opportunity to bring it up.

Was thinking of thread wrapping in a bit?

[yourmove]

"I'm aware of that. They're worse," Alex says agreeably. "We both know I can't perform undercover work again but the chassis's abilities more than make up for that. I won't need to go undercover if the Capitol requires me to hunt rebels."

Maybe it wasn't his original skill set - OmniCorp made it his new one. The Capitol in her generosity continues to improve upon OmniCorp's work. Alex briefly has [VERBAL REASSURANCE - TELL CLARA SHE OPENED YOUR PROFESSIONAL HORIZONS] open in his HUD and he's almost ready to select it. For some unexplained reason even he doesn't seem to be aware of, he doesn't; instead he dismisses that option, the tab vanishing from his internal screen.

"I'm much more safe here than I was in Detroit," Alex motions at the graphene armor. "So are you. Criminals like Vallon won't come after you here, you have stability from a Victor's life style. This is a good thing, Clara."

He says it like he's reciting again, but there's still that undertone of confusion, the slightly puzzled frown like he believes there's something still...wrong about this. If it's David she's worried about, he's sure he can request through the official channels that he be brought in like they were.

Sounds good!

[seestheman]

There's a strange, twisting feeling in the pit of her stomach. The possibility of the Capitol using Alex to hunt rebels, especially within the ranks of the Tributes, has occurred to her before, but she never thought it would actually happen. More that it was some sort of horrific, nightmare than something that could actually be reality. She wants to protest, to tell him that she hates the idea of him hunting down her and her allies, but she knows that will probably end with her losing her tongue, at best.

As much as she'd love to talk him down and convince him that there are other options, she knows it won't work, not with the way the Capitol has a hold on him. It's best for her to just keep her mouth shut, which is why she just nods to show that she understands, even if she doesn't agree.

Or she does until he gives her an opening. It's hardly there, but there's something and she wants to believe that it's doubt. "A good thing? In the Arena I could at least help people. The most I can do out here is encourage sponsors to send gifts. And Detroit may not have been the safest place, but it was home. Can you really say that about the Capitol?"

Could you thread end next post?

[yourmove]

"The Capitol can be a safe place, if we all work to keep it so and remind the Districts to do their valuable part," Alex points out, as inhumanly patient as the suppression makes him. "We can start a new home here."

As for helping people in the Arena, Alex has also seen firsthand how people treat law and order in the Arena - they don't seem to be interested in it, and, in the cases such as Mr. Cassidy, they take advantage of any openings and abuse them grossly. If there is change, it has to happen in the Capitol proper, maybe by educating the Tributes about the importance of Capitol and their place in Panem. Peacekeepers and Victors should be able to work hand-in-hand.

Alex reviews the conversation with Clara in high-speed, parsing out keywords and any facial expressions. Topics covered ranged from CONGRATULATIONS, DISCUSS: RELATIONSHIP, and REMIND CLARA ON THE CAPITOL'S GIFTS. Looking at it the conversation in a general list format, Alex decides that for now, they've covered everything they need to and he should free her up so she can continue to mingle at her Crowning.

"Give it a chance. Of course I'll be there to assist you in any way I can," Alex pauses. When he leans in to kiss Clara, it's cold, mechanical, with no feeling at all when his lips brush against her cheek. "Enjoy your night."

Aaaaand thread wrap!

[seestheman]

Clara can't quite believe that Alex really believes anything that he's saying. Or that he's really sounding like some sort of Capitol made PSA about why everyone should put their faith in the Capitol. (With all the cameras around here, she wouldn't be that surprised if this actually did make its way into a PSA.)

She tries not to show it, but the way he phrases it takes her by surprise. With how this conversation went, she wouldn't be that surprised if he had said 'you' instead of 'we.' It's not enough to make her think that all it's going to take are a few well landed words to try to make him throw off the suppression, but it's enough that it helps her hold onto her hopes of getting him back.

And those hopes are the only reason she doesn't recoil at how wrong it feels when he kisses her. Or why she tries not to acknowledge the fear of what it means that there's no passion or gentleness or anything close to how he used to kiss her, even if it was just on the cheek. "You too," she says softly before watching him walk out of the room.

It's only once he's gone and she's sure that she's alone that she finally allows herself to cry.