shiningeyes: (Sweet and Kind)
Miss Gritta ([personal profile] shiningeyes) wrote in [community profile] thecapitol2015-08-10 03:03 am

So Heavy In Your Arms

Who| Miss Gritta and you? (open prompts abound!)
What| The large purple princess has finished adjusting. Now she has to plan and prepare. And learn to handle the kind of psychological aggression that the Capitol has at the ready.
Where| Training Center, around the Capitol, and the District 7 suites.
When| After the credit card cutoff, before the mini-arena
Warnings/Notes| n/a, will update if needed


Around the Capitol

If it wasn't one thing here, it was another, Gritta was coming to learn. The constant alarming events and bad news made her long for the comparative stability of the Castle Terminal and the petty political bickering of Shadow Royalty. At least there, she was guaranteed to be both properly fed and treated with respect. But if it was to be sink or swim, she would swim. She would swim as hard as she could. Jason Compson had somehow proposed that she star in a children's show, of all things... but it wasn't all that bad, once she found herself in the studio and reciting morality lessons and signging songs with puppets. It hadn't gone to broadcast yet, but she was still compensated for her work, and that was what mattered. Couple that with an endorsement contract for decorative nail decals and she no longer had to panic about where her next meal was coming from.

For instance, her current meal was coming from this lovely cafe, where she was seated in the sunlight. Did sandwiches taste better in the sunshine? Was coffee more pleasant on a sunny day? She'd have to answer that one with a 'yes'. Zed's fixation with the wonders of the light made far better sense, now. Sitting here, right in this moment, things feel good. The darkness of this city was far away, as was the fear of pain and terror in an arena. She was a free young woman, earning her own way, answering only to herself. At least for the moment. She'll savor it, just as she savors her lunch. Down goes the last triangle of club sandwich, and as she chews, she considers ordering another. The only thing that would make the moment better would be company.

Training Center

The fear of pain and terror in the arena was, on the other hand, far closer when back in the Tribute Tower and put to work in the training center. Her protests did very little to prevent it from coming to this, dressed in dull monster-sized workout gear and made to run laps. The trainers had assessed her as ploddingly slow, and far too timid to make much use of any of the weapons, but they could at least work on her endurance. It is only the very sturdy construction of the training center that keeps the ground from shaking with her every footfall. It has only been one lap and a half and she is panting, miserable, and desperately wanting to stop, but they said they wanted five out of her before she'd be free to go, so she is going to try her very hardest to manage that. To fail would be unthinkable. She'll succeed out of spite, if nothing else.

She's at risk for plowing into someone, but at least she's not moving very fast. It likely won't hurt much.

District 7 Suites, post-exposé

It had been a quiet evening in the District 7 suites, and Gritta had been content to rest her sore limbs and watch a little television. She had even popped some of the popcorn she had purchased with her own money, and set it out for others to share. Let no one call her greedy and thoughtless. She's happy to chat with anyone that comes by or sits down or passes through, if they seem amenable to it. It's important to get to know as many people here as possible. She's still working out who would be an ally and who would be an enemy.

But popcorn and pleasant company is forgotten when the current show ends and a new exposé starts up. It's about her and Zed. Whatever minor fascination she feels about being the sudden center of attention shrivels and dies and becomes horrified can't-look-away shock once it really gets going. It paints her as a scheming villain, and Zed as a love-struck innocent. And the things it implies about her and General Schwarz...

To her credit, she makes it to the end of the broadcast before raising from her seat and fleeing for the safety of her room. She slams the door shut, crumples into a heap, and weeps noisily. It's all wrong, every bit of it. And now everyone will see her that way. Everyone will know the most private parts of her life, twisted up all horribly.

She'll be better come morning, probably. But for now, she's a mess, and needs to work through it. A knock on the door may or may not be disregarded, depending on who is doing the knocking.
whydoyoushine: (hey you)

D7 Suites, who let him in

[personal profile] whydoyoushine 2015-08-10 04:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Gritta's not the only one affected by this expose, though Zed's own response is considerably different. He'd been getting something to drink in the District 1 suites when he saw it, and it was probably a minor miracle that he didn't spittake a mouthful of wine everywhere once he realized what was going on. This expose was so hilariously wrong that it was a work of art. Sure, he was weeping while he watched it, but that was more or less a function of laughing so hard that such things became unavoidable. Really, anyone in the District 1 suites likely would have heard the man's uncontrollable laughter and figured out that the expose wasn't what it seemed.

Some time later, after he'd composed himself enough not to take a drink and have it almost immediately propel itself out his nose thanks to the sheer force of his laughter, he realized that he should probably go check on Gritta. Probably. It was just the sort of thing that would upset someone as delicate as her.

Getting up to the District 7 suites was fun--by that point, everyone had to have figured out who he was trying to visit and why, a fact which threatened to have him lose his composure yet again several times on the way. At least it meant that no one really questioned why he was up there.

But right, right, Gritta...Gritta wouldn't be taking things nearly as well. Got to be serious. Zed sighs and composes himself before knocking on that door. "Oi, Gritta!" There is no need for him to announce himself any beyond that and a constant, incessant knocking. He's not planning on leaving any time soon.
whydoyoushine: (pony!)

good luck getting answers out of him

[personal profile] whydoyoushine 2015-08-13 02:58 am (UTC)(link)
"You saw the TV, then?" Oh, that's good, he doesn't even have to ask if she's seen it. "Wasn't it ridiculous?" And there he goes, trying not to laugh again at the memory of it.

...hey, no one ever said he was good at handling delicate situations.

"Come on, no one's going to believe that thing." It's ridiculous, everything is ridiculous, that she is not letting him inside is probably a bad sign.
whydoyoushine: (profile thinking)

[personal profile] whydoyoushine 2015-09-05 04:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Of course Zed tries the doorknob. It goes hand in hand with his failure to listen. "Well, it's not like you really act like that." He shrugs. "People can figure that out."
whydoyoushine: (talking)

[personal profile] whydoyoushine 2015-09-25 12:24 am (UTC)(link)
"But they've showed you on the TV before," Zed points out, shrugging. He remains oblivious to much of her distress. "I've killed people in the Arena, it's not like they think I'm a murderer." And here, he's got to badly stifle a laugh, because no, they think he is a lovestruck fool, and everything is hilarious.