thecapitol | My life on the DC list.

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My life on the DC list.

Who: Harley Quinn and you
What: Creative fundraising
Where: Just outside Tribute Tower
When: April 10th
Warnings: None yet but it's Harley so be on your guard for flirting and violence. Also mentions of prostitution.

For every fancy party and corporate sponsorship that provides funds for tributes there has to be an amount of give and take. And for awhile Harley was more then willing to give so long as she had a much more significant amount of take.

But her brash and outgoing nature could be exhausting, especially to the frilly white gloved Capitol upper crust. What had been quaint and charming was now rude and annoying. It had gotten so some of her most loyal pay for play sponsors who had been all too eager to kiss and tell weren't even answering her calls anymore.

And so Harley decided a grass roots campaign was her best option. Sitting in a deck chair outside of the Tribute tower she was in shorts and a loose tank top with her logo on it, three red diamonds.

Sitting in front of her was a simple wooden booth like a child might sell lemonade from and indeed there was a pitcher of lemonade and a plastic cups. Next to the booth was a cooler and hanging from the front was a sign advertising:

"Kissing booth & other stuff
Kiss on the cheek 1As
*Kiss on the lips 3 As
*Tongue 5As
**Get punched by a Mentor 1As
Punch a mentor 5As
Cup of lemonade 1As
Ice 1As
Otter pops 1As (Not made with any actual Otter)
Glitter bomb 2As
Autograph 2As
Photo 5As
Slice of pie 1As
Whole pie 3As
Get hit with a pie 3As
Other requests can be discussed.
* Not for anyone under 18
** Not for anyone under 16"

It was hardly the most elegant solution but it was a start at least. And it gave Harley an excuse to sit outside in the nice weather and eat Otter pops out of a cooler.

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Psii cautiously circled before approaching the booth. Anything out of the ordinary around here usually meant impending doom. At least he recognized the person running it. The diamonds on Harley's shirt were at odds with their red color, meaning that they probably weren't a reference to troll symbols of romance. Still, Psii had to pause for a moment and recalibrate, wrenching his eyes from his District Mentor's boobs to the sign in hopes for a better explanation of her activities.

Kissing booth & other stuff

He felt he was not nearly smooth enough to ask for a kiss, even in jest. And, in true troll fashion, he felt the same way about the punches. Let some other Troll Casanova handle that.

"....I don't even technically have money for lemonade," he finally concluded. He could always use his financial irresponsibility card and go (further) into debt, yet he was hesitant to be beholden to anyone, least of all the Capitol. "But I gueth I can athk how you were even allowed to thet up here."

He could understand a Capitolite setting up a food cart or something, but a Mentor or Tribute? Psii was still used to the idea that as glorified slaves, their rights were stripped, and their entire lives were policed and prohibited.

Harley tilted her head for a moment considering his words and tapping her chin with a painted fingernail. The nails had the same black and red base coloring with a black or red diamond over it.

"Well I guess it might be because I never asked. I've never been too great at all that red tape mumbo jumbo. I mean I tried for awhile but fat lotta good that did." She shrugged and sat up in her deck chair adding "And you don't get charged, you're one of mine. The money you gave me would just go back to supporting you in the arena anyway goober. Whatever you want or need you just say the word and I'll try my best for ya."

"That'th what you're raithing money for? I didn't know Mentorth did that. I thought they jutht.... mentored."

He surreptitiously glanced around, making sure he wasn't scaring any of her customers away.

"What I want or need at the moment are thingth no one can give me." Freedom, for example. "But I gueth if I had to make a requetht for the arena, I'd thay thend me thingth that can't be crafted, like firtht-aid kitth. Don't bother with food, I can uthually get my own."

He was no Disciple, but he was learning fast how to hunt more effectively. He had some practice back home, and in the last arena.

"Well sure we do." Harley chirped brightly "Problem is your District is stuck with me as a Mentor and for awhile I was doing great at raising money but these days..." She sighed and pouted her lips "Well let's just say I'm not going on as many dates with the rich and charitable these days."

Her bad reputation for being rebellious and downright dangerous was finally outweighing the novelty of sleeping with her which meant even the most depraved of Capitolites were calling for other mentors and ignoring Harley's attempts to contact them

"The Coordinator is supposed to help raise money too." She added "So it's not all on me thank goodness. But I'm sure we can hook you up with some firtht-aid kitth's for you."

Harley was proud of herself that it had taken her this long to break down and finally tease him a little about his manner of speaking. It had been a struggle not to jump right into it.

He rolled his eyes and briefly stuck out his tongue at her for making fun of his lisp. Just another day in the life of the Ψiioniic.

Dates. Psii was no stranger to being obligated to pail, and he had been surprised he and the other Tributes weren't required to give their genetic material here. He did the math: It was worse than the requirement for adult trolls to have their quadrants filled. Harley was partly responsible for more than four lives, but she went into it knowing that only one Tribute, at best, would make it out of the arena alive. It was a losing battle no matter how he looked at it, and hardly worth the price. Psii couldn't speak for his districtmates, but he didn't want anyone sticking out their neck for him.

"Thankth for doing all that for uth. You didn't have to. Forget the kitth, I don't need anything. Trollth are uthed to dying untimely deathth in fightth, not thtarving or getting thick like a chump."

She pouted and then whined "But I waaaaaana." she slid from her deck chair approaching him with her hands outstretched attempting to place them on either side of his face so she could look into his eyes.

"You may not think so, but you're important. Any one of my tributes could be the one to save more tributes in the future. So if I gave up on you then I might as well give up on all of em."

Or something nobelish like that.

"I got lucky, and I lost a really good friend to get out of the arenas. If I have any say in it the next winner from District Nine won't have to give up something quite that precious or suffer as much." A surprisingly steady tone of voice accompanied this part. For the first time in a long while Harley sounded more like Harleen Quinnzel and less like Harley Quinn.

If he didn't know her, he'd bat her away. He valued his personal space when he'd grown up among trolls who were just as likely to take his hand off as shake it. As it was, he cautiously let her put her warm human hands on his cooler, rougher skin and let her say her piece.

His face was not as cool as it could be, as yellow began to flush the gray of his cheeks. Her supportive touch was getting too close to one of the platonic romances of trolls, and he was finicky about that quadrant to begin with. Casual sex came easier than talking about his feelings. He gently peeled her hands off and brought them together in front of him.

"I've already been through all that back home, tho no need to protect my innothenthe or any bullshit like that.... But thankth. I'm pretty thet on not dying. The deathth are real, and there'th alwayth a chanthe I might not come back."

"See, at least you get it. There are some tributes out there who still don't believe the deaths are real." she laughed in a belabored sort of way and for a moment her eyes looked very far away.

"I still remember when we found out how easy it was for them to make new bodies for us. It was back in this awful desert arena. I was teamed up with Donnie the turtle...did you ever meet him? He was so fun!"

Especially after Harley had helped push him into madness.

"We had been "Killed" in this arena that looked like my candy dreams come true. When we woke up in the desert it was like the worst bait and switch ever. Then on these TVs we could see what was happening in the other arena, including our bodies which were left to rot."

That had been the straw that had broken Donnie. After that he was a bloodthirsty killing machine, even killing Harley once she'd annoyed him enough.

"Dethert dethhert? Wow, that'th the lametht joke ever."

That was all he could do, jadedly rate the Gamemakers' creativity when it came to killing them. It was the same on Alternia, where killing was sometimes relegated to high art.

"No, I never met The Turtle." He took it for a nickname, like a troll's title. Something official, but not a hatchname. "Take my word for it, I have vithionth that alwayth come true. They returned with my powerth in the thpathe arena. The deathth are real."

His reaction however makes her laugh.

"See? That's what I thought! I mean normally I love punny humor but...sheesh."

She probably would have liked it more if she'd been allowed to stay on the candy side.

Harley's smile faded a bit and she looked curious now leaning closer.

"See anything really good when the powers were on? If you can't talk about it just blink twice real hard." She winked as if that was somehow less suspicious.

He rolled his eyes at her "subtlety." Then he grew serious, gazing far off into memory.

"I thaw my own death, along with everyone elthe killed in the exthplothion. That'th how I knew what the bunker looked like. I dethcribed it to SS, and he thaid he knew where it wath. He wath my only friend; I made thure he got in and thurvived."

It had been frightening, not knowing if he was going to see his friend again, but he knew he had to sacrifice himself so Signless could live. That was how he'd operated on Alternia as well, whether Signless knew or not. He had a gift with people and the power to galvanize them into action. Panem had done its best to bring Signless down, and Psii had to remind him of the ideals he stood for.

"Wowzers!" She exclaimed looking appropriately impressed. "Can I pat you on the back or something that's like...one of the most nobel things a fella can do for his friend. Even if the Capitol don't appreciate self sacrifice some of us offworlders still see how important it is."

This coming from the girl who got herself killed in her first arena trying to protect the daughter of one of her sworn enemies.

"You pretty much are a big walking trope for people who can see the future though. Heavy is the burden of those who can see the road of fate unwinding and so on. Are your visions ever wrong?"

"You can pat me on the back ath long ath you don't thtab me in it," he quipped with the smirk and swiftness that came with quoting a common phrase. With trolls, it was half serious and mostly literal.

"That'th why I don't like my vithionth. They're alwayth right, and they're alwayth about doom." His mood darkened again. "It'th not thpethial or noble, jutht a pain in the ath theeing all my friendth dying. I can't help picking out their voitheth. It'th even more of a pain when I tell them they're going to die and they don't believe me."

"Yeesh, I could see why you'd be happy to be rid of them then. Maybe once you finally win you won't ever have to have another...it's weird to think about the Capitol's depowering actually being a good thing for a change."

Not that it was the first time Harley had met someone who was happy to be depowered.

"Have you ever managed to at least...soften the blow from one of your visions? Like how you saved your boy in the arena?"

"Well, it'th.... not like I want to get rid of them exthactly. Telekinethith ith pretty damn utheful, ethpethially when I can't reach the remote."

The ghost of a smile flitted across his face, then was gone as quickly as it appeared.

"It'th a double-edged thtabbing implement. The vithionth warn me of impending doom tho I can prepare anyone who might lithten. If a friend benefitth from my forethight, then it'th worth it. Doethn't happen often, though. Motht of the time, people don't lithten to me."

She laughed out loud at his entirely practical use of "telekinethith" powers "You're a regular couch potato after my own heart." she praised.

"And we might as well change your name to Cassandra at this rate. Where I come from we had a story of a girl who could see things like that. And she tried to warn the whole city of it's impending doom but nope! No one ever wanted to listen!"

Winking at him she added "Personally I think it's in the presentation. I mean you've got plenty of suckers out there looking for guidance in their lives. That's probably something that all humans share if not all intelligent life. We want to have a purpose right? A direction to head in so we feel like we're not wasting out lives. Around here they chose to find that purpose listening to their government overlords."

An exaggerated eye roll because where's the fun in that.

"I guess you're kind of proof though that sometimes a surprise is better then planning ahead. I wouldn't say no though if I could get your powers turned back on full time. I'd just make sure you had plenty of treats to sooth your poor nerves after they kicked in."

Psii would like to meet with this Cassandra. Two of a kind. Too bad people put more stock in armored sociopaths instead of real clairvoyants.

Harley surprised him with a curve ball, one that contained offers of comfort. In some ways he was still very much fresh-off-the-ship. He wasn't used to kindness in Alternian culture. Only the strong were fit to survive. His first instinct was to brush it off, tell her not to worry, he'd dealt with this since before he could comprehend what his visions were....

"Thankth for that. I'm not uthed to thith many people looking out for me."

Admitting that he needed looking out for was embarrassing.

"I'll thee you around," he added hurriedly.

"You take care Psii guy." She blew another kiss after him before allowing his escape. He was probably her favorite tribute, not that she'd admit that to the others in her district.

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My life on the DC list.

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I'm sorry my email lost this ;_;

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