thecapitol | (no subject)

(no subject)

Who| Timaeus Nadir and all his guests. If you are in the Capitol, you've been invited!
What| A spectacular Viewing Party and opportunity for tributes to get sponsorship
Where| The Victoria Ascendant, on the lake
When| After the most recent death roll!
Warnings/Notes| Probable skeeviness of the Nice Guy variety.

Welcome to the Victoria Ascendant, latest in the Ascendant line of luxury yachts as built by the Nadir company. Tonight, the Victoria Ascendant is the stage set for a spectacular party, also paid for by the company and specifically designed and organised by a team of event specialists overseen by your host for this evening, Timaeus Nadir- wealthy eligible bachelor, melodramatic heir apparent to the company chair, frequent sponsor of the Games. The Victoria Ascendant is fully equipped with every obscenely luxurious item imaginable, and practically drips opulence.

When first welcomed aboard you will be assured that your every need will be seen to, your every desire catered for. Staff are on hand to answer any questions you might have or guide you to various areas of the ship, provide you with food, drink, or suggestions of how best to take advantage of the Victoria Ascendant's many amenities- they are here as hosts, but also as salespeople for those of the guests with money to burn- this party is serving more than one purpose. Tributes who responded to their invite will also receive a delicate, hand-written note in a golden envelope as they board- the content of which will be posted as a reply to their response to this post.(I'll do this once your character turns up.)

Although the Victoria Ascendant has a magnificent dining room for formal, sit-down occasions, the food for the party will be circulating the various lounge areas and decks. There is also a buffet table, for those of you who prefer to help yourselves, and a fully stocked bar. Provided are a baffling variety of foods and beverages, seemingly unconnected- but each tribute will find that if at any point during their stay in the Capitol they have requested a particular food or drink item, it is available here. Or, at least, the closest approximation the catering staff could conjure up. Seating is provided in intimate groupings around tables for the most part, though there are large, sprawling couches against the walls. Central to the dining area is a magnificent aquarium filled with brightly coloured fish. Anyone looking closely enough will recognise them- varieties of piranha- but don't worry, they've been more than adequately fed and the glass is thick.

While there are various screens displaying the Games throughout the ship, Viewing is also taking place on an enormous screen, set up in a seperate lounge area with full floor-to-ceiling windows all along one side. Here, staff wait to take bets or help organise the giving of sponsor gifts. Large, comfortable couches line the room, and the central table overflows with a spectacular arrangement of edible flowers and fruit.

Later in the evening, you will be told that the firework display is about to begin, and invited to go up onto the main deck to watch. The fireworks themselves will be launched from smaller boats across the lake, and the display is set to be truly spectacular. It will be set to some music that Tributes may find familiar- various melodies pulled from the most recent Arena. The large swimming pool on the deck is open, but it is too early in the year to be comfortable to use. Instead, it is being used as an unusual centrepiece for the evening. Floating in the illuminated water is a gigantic iceberg, sculpted into a stylised model of the current arena and populated with frozen figures. Eagle-eyed Tributes may be able to spot themselves depicted in ice- more often than not, the moment of their deaths are the pose of choice, if a little tweaked for the sake of a more dramatic scene.

Enjoy!

Adachi · Ariadne · Asha · Atticus · Beck · Blaine · Calico · Callista · Chris · Diana · Don · Eddie · Eponine · Eva · Gaila · Glinda · Harley · Howard · Julie · Kurt · Marty · Maximus · Momoko · Neffa · Parker · Peeta · Phil · Pruna · R · Sigma · Some · Thane · Timaeus · Topher

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He was watching everyone, in between glimpses of them in the crowd that unfortunately surrounded him at any given moment. But Peeta was still trying to talk to tributes. Any tributes, it didn't matter if they were for his district or not. Did districts even matter, now? It was groups of eventual friends fighting against each other, now. No more silence between them.

But Peeta does the same thing Blaine does, coming up to him with a bright, cheerful smile. The party is nice, but there's the underlying message of it. And that's always more worrisome.

"Having a good time?" Peeta asked, looking at the food. "First time I came to the Capitol, I almost made myself sick with how much food I ate, and how good it is."

Blaine had a moment of pure surprise. "You're Peeta Mallark," he said uselessly. Of course Peeta knew who he was, but still the celebrity worship was there in Blaine's voice and face.

The story of Katniss and Peeta had been such a source of hope for Blaine. If he and Kurt could sell the two-people-in-love angle then maybe they would both make it out of this in one piece. Blaine believed that Peeta and Katniss had changed everything with their love, and he was almost positive that he and Kurt could do the same thing. He had no way of knowing how much of the 74th Hunger Games had been a show for the cameras.

"I mean, of course I am having a good time," he added automatically, recovering from the shock with a small, slightly embarrassed but still charming, smile. "This yacht is amazing. I wonder if I could get one if I won."

If he hadn't brought anything to do with love up, they wouldn't be in this position. None of them would be; the games would go on like normal, and none of these poor people had to be involved. No one would have to be ripped from their home on another world and brought to fight to the death.

But then he would be dead, and Katniss would be dead, and Peeta didn't really want to be dead. But he didn't want this, either. His mother used to say all the time that you couldn't have your cake and eat it too. When he was young he thought it was a terrible joke, but now he knew what she really meant.

"That's right," Peeta grinned. "But call me Peeta." Blaine had an instant likeability to him. No wonder people would want to sponsor him. "Maybe you could? Just start letting everyone know how much you like sailing as soon as possible, and you could have someone buying you a yacht before... you know it." He thought he would say something different with that, but 'before you know it' worked better.

Blaine chuckled a bit in a way that said that he doubted that would happen, but he appreciated that Peeta said it. There was no hint of the fear of sponsors he had, or the worry that came at the thought of owing them anything.

"What about you, Peeta?" he asked. "Do you like sailing?"

Owing them was something you really had to think about later. Peeta hadn't given it a second thought when he was in the game. You needed the sponsors to survive, and that's all that mattered. It was once you've won that you had to consider what you were going to give up in gratitude.

"Oh no," Peeta shook his head. "I'm a baker, not a sailor. I prefer to keep my feet firmly on the ground. I don't even know how to swim, I'm pretty much useless in anything more then a bathtub."

"A baker?" Blaine asked curiously. "I thought you were a painter?"

"That's right, I'm a painter now," He had to give a sheepish shrug at that. "Deep down I'll always be a baker. My parents own the bakery back in District Twelve. That's actually where I got my painting skills. I used to frost the cakes back home."

No, you know what? That's not quite right. "I still frost the cakes. And the cookies. And I bake bread, and tarts, and whatever else that will fit in the ovens. I'm a baker."

Blaine's eyes lit up a bit. "Really?" he asked. "Could someone make an order?" He could already think of what Kurt might say to a customized cup cake.

His face definitely showed his surprise. He'd never had someone want to make an order before. Even back home, people didn't make orders. No one really had enough money for special orders, and people came in and took whatever they had.

"Yeah, you could make an order," Peeta said with some very apparent happiness. "I'll have to see if they let me use the kitchens, but I would love to make something. I miss it."

Blaine nodded. "I'd love to order some custom cupcakes for Kurt," Blaine offered. "Let me get some funds together first, and then we can talk about it?" He didn't like the idea of just making Peeta do something for free. "Um, I don't know if you know Kurt?"

He wasn't sure if Peeta had watched he and Kurt make out the first night in the Arena, or the way that Blaine had been so broken by Kurt's death. As he thought about it, he hoped that Peeta hadn't. Blaine had explained Peeta and Katniss to Kurt in the Arena, had claimed that their love had changed everything. He was sure that having someone say something like that had to be embarrassing.

"Of course. It's not like I'm going to be going anywhere anytime soon, you can always find me at the district twelve suites," Peeta smiled, though he knew even all of that was up in the air. They could all "disappear" at any given time, and then what was going to happen? Sometimes it felt like it would be easier if they just killed them all now.

"You know, I haven't met him yet. I know of him, but we haven't met in person yet. He seems like a nice guy." Peeta really hadn't had much of a chance to watch all the recaps, though he was slowly making his way through them. But he was all for some love making a difference. A good difference. Not the kind that they had started, because it only seemed to bring trouble to everyone else.

"He is," Blaine agreed earnestly. "He's the most compassionate person I've ever met." When he realized he might start waxing poetic about Kurt he stopped himself.

"I think it would be nice to treat him," he added at the end.

He was tempted to ask him to go on. If he really wanted to play up this romance, then he'd have to wax poetic about his... well. His. Boyfriend? Boyfriend. It wasn't that Peeta had a problem with the thought of two men in love. But he knew that, in his own mind, calling Katniss his 'girlfriend' wasn't really the right word for it. To him, it was so much more, and he was getting the same feeling from Blaine when it came to Kurt.

"I don't know, it might be a little tough to treat him better then all of this," Peeta waved a hand around. The ship, the Capitol, whatever you wanted it to be; he was joking, though. "But I'll do my best to make it stand out more then the rest."

Blaine smiled a bit but there was something strained and sad. "This is all glitz," he pointed out. "I get the feeling something from you would help be from the heart."

"People like glitz." That needed to be said, because it was right. People here did like glitz. But even more then that...

"But what people like more is if it's all genuine and from the heart. So what I can help with will be from the heart. As long as both of you are ready for it. I won't lie, it's not always easy. But I want to help."

"Being honest with my heart is something that I need to do anyway," Blaine pointed out. "I think I can survive everyone watching me do it as long as it helps."

"Then you already have a head start," Peeta nodded, more then a little impressed. He reminded him of, well, him, back when he was starting out with this whole thing. But Blaine was more of a veteran then he would ever be, seeing as he would go into multiple arenas.

But the biggest arena was outside of it. And that took some getting used to for some people.

"If you ever want to talk more, at some point? I'm in the training center, top floor. Anytime, day or night, it doesn't matter."

"Thank you," Blaine said with a nod. "I'll take you up on that. And I'll still want to make a custom order for cupcakes."

"I'll do whatever I can to make sure they let me use the kitchens. If I have to, I'll get Katniss to help me out," Peeta grinned. "Just let me know when you want them. I'll talk to you later, then."

What was it, only a few minutes away from Katniss? Probably best to get back to her now.

Blaine nodded then. "Yeah, let's both get back to our partners. You have a good night. It was a pleasure to meet you."

"A pleasure to meet you too," Peeta said, bowing his head a little with a smile, before disappearing back into the crowd.

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