thecapitol | OPEN

Who| Joan and OPEN!
What| Joan working in the detention center infirmary, keeping her head down
Where| Detention center infirmary
When| After D11 battle, before Snow's assassination
Warnings/Notes| Mention of violence, injury, death, and STDs

When Joan woke up in the Capitol, it was the first time in a long time that she had been brought back to life in Panem. Tough conditions and mandatory training in District 13 had made her whip-thin and wiry. Exactly how much her time with the rebellion had transformed her became starkly apparent when she woke and found herself soft, still thin and athletic but without the strength and toughness she had acquired. It gave her a strange sense of loss. She had struggled with the rebellion, with the initial attitudes of her erstwhile superiors, with being tested and punished, with finally reaching a sense of mutual respect and working hard to be ready, to be useful. The memories remained, but the physical proof was gone.

She fully expected to be interrogated, tortured, brainwashed. Sent to kill her friends. And maybe that would have happened months ago. But now they just sent her to work in the infirmary with a promise that any subversive activity would not go well for her. They needn't have bothered. Joan knew that her position at that time wasn't one where direct conflict would help anyone. And she would never take advantage of her role as a doctor to harm people. They must have known that, since she'd patched up many enemies in the Arenas.

There was one subversive act that she did indulge in, however. The moment she had access to scissors, she hacked off her hair, giving herself a rough utilitarian pixie-cut, like the one she had sported in 13.

Now she moves through the infirmary, quiet, her eyes downcast, taking care of the people who come in sick or injured. With other detainees she's gentle, kind. With their captors she's spare and perfunctory. She's keeping her head down and her ears open, and hoping some opportunity to reconnect with the rebellion presents itself.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

With no need for food or sleep, Luna's back to infirmary duty around the clock once she's patched up from the battles. She's there when Joan is brought in, and surprised to see another offworlder - and unlike the troll who'd come in not long after she was assigned here, she recognizes Joan's face. It's softer, different, but still identifiable as the one from the pirated broadcast from which Luna had learned there was a rebellion at all. For Joan to be working here in the infirmary they must have a strong hold on her, she figures, because that's how they have Luna here. She'd guessed the same of Terezi.

She doesn't say anything right away. She's tending to a patient when Joan is brought in, and the staff doesn't care for her enough to introduce her specially. Luna doesn't mind, because after her shameful encounter with Jeremy on top of her role in recent propaganda she isn't raring to talk to another rebel. It's only when she looks over to check on the new arrival and sees that Joan's cut off her hair that Luna speaks up, out of shock more than anything: "Are you all right?"

What a terrible question that is, asking if she's all right. Luna follows it up with something that doesn't sound much better to her own ears - a logical question when Terezi had virtually no medical background, but an insensitive one coming from a potential Capitol figure. "Do you need any help?"

Joan is focused on familiarizing herself with the layout of the main treatment area when the woman speaks to her. She turns to face her, eyebrows raised, surprised. She doesn't realize that it was her hair that had prompted the question, but she recognizes the woman, having seen her working in the infirmary in 13. Maybe she's just surprised to see her in the Capitol, and assumes that they've been treating her terribly? The fact that she then alters her statement to be more "correct" would support that theory.

"I'm fine," she says. "Thanks. I'm just new here. Kind of. Trying to make sense of how things are run."

Either Joan doesn't recognize her, or she doesn't care. That's okay. Luna thinks she can run with that for now. She gives the other woman a small smile, shy but friendly, and moves to get closer rather than talk from halfway across the infirmary.

"I can help you with that. I've been here for a few months now. I'm in here almost all the time, so I know how things work around here pretty well by now." Although that doesn't really do anything for her original question. "How much experience do you have? In, um, human medicine at least." She adds that mostly because of Terezi again, but it's fair enough of a question anyway - Luna wouldn't want to assume too much or too little of Joan.

"I'm a doctor," she answers. "With a specialty in trauma. But that's true of anybody here," she adds, with a small, wry smile. "You worked in the infirmary back in 13, right? I'm pretty sure I recognize you."

She wonders why Luna is working here. Joan will practice medicine on anyone who needs it, but she knows that trait isn't necessarily something everyone will share.

That gets more of a reaction out of Luna. She's visibly surprised, and after a moment that turns into something more troubled. "I didn't think you'd have noticed me," Luna admits, and it's true. "To be honest, I didn't want many people to. But you're right. I was there for a while before I...before I ended up here."

She skirts around the topic of death, for all that any ex-Tribute must be used to it, and focuses on the present. Maybe Joan will be rescued someday, but Luna doesn't see her current situation changing anytime soon. "It's good that you have experience. If you'd like, I can explain how the schedules run here."

"I'm good at noticing things," she says, matter-of-fact, more to make Luna feel more comfortable than to toot her own horn. Luna doesn't have to say more than she has for Joan to put the pieces together. Like she said, they've all had enough trauma to know it frontward and backward.

"I'd appreciate that. It will be good to start seeing people as soon as possible. Gives me something to do."

Luna gets the logic in that: the times she's not working or seeing people are the hardest for her here, and thankfully those times aren't often. She smiles sympathetically and nods. "I understand. Let's get started, then."

She launches into an explanation of how the shifts are scheduled, listing off the medical staff with some notes about when they're usually in. Luna's gotten familiar with it all after months in the infirmary, but she tries to keep it simple to avoid overload. "It might be different for you because you're another offworlder," she notes. "I'm a...special case, so I'll be here most of the day. You might be scheduled for less, depending on what they want from you."

Joan takes it all in, making mental notes of who is working in the infirmary and when, resolved to find out which ones are offworlders, and which ones might be rebel sympathizers. She'll have to be careful to make sure it's not apparent that's what she's doing, of course.

Luna's comment catches her attention, and she tilts her head. "Why are you a special case?"

Luna debates the merits of hoping another vague explanation will be enough, but decides against it. The rest of the staff know what she is; it's not really something she can keep a secret anymore, and talking about the matter has gotten easier. "Although I look human, I'm really a robot - a machine, made up to look like a human. I don't need to rest the way humans do, though, so I'm just...here, all the time."

She gestures to the entirety of the infirmary, trying her best to keep her body language neutral and unassuming to cover her own mixed feelings on her situation. Joan's, though, is a different story. "But they won't do the same with you. I don't know what they intend in your case." And there's a hint of worry behind that statement, because Luna doesn't trust the Capitol to have good intentions for any offworlder.

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