thecapitol | The Bodies In the Streets

Entry tags:

The Bodies In the Streets

Who| Closed to Guy, Mindy, and Hawkeye
What| Hawkeye and Mindy get Guy back to the Training Center and put a blanket over his cage to calm him down. Possible bonding may ensue.
Where| The City and then his room in the Training Center.
When| Shortly after Guy's revival and then freakout
Warnings/Notes| None so far

The two of them would happen on it the same time, the street where Guy was hiding in the bushes. There was that funny building shaped a bit like a glass mushroom, the shops, and the street corner he'd shown them with his communicator.

The bushes were in front of a restaurant and so thick that even though most of their leaves had fallen off, he was still pretty thoroughly hidden by the branches. The only things visible were his feet in their furry boots, peeking out from a gap at ground level. Right now, he was nervously wiggling his toes.

He didn't plan on coming out, not until one or both of them came right up and got him.

If he was going to make the walk through the unholy terror that was the Capitol back to the Training Center, he needed something to hide behind the whole time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That wasn't fair. He can continue to carry himself like a proud meat shield because he at least knew he was a willing barrier between the crowd and the spooked guy. He doesn't particularly find the swarm enchanting, and in fact the group of citizens pushing to get to say their rehearsed lines of admiration to their television favorites was about as enchanting as jungle rot before an amputation. But he wasn't a stranger to crowds or pushing, and the words of admiration and stupidity were new but easy to tune out if only he kept the thoughts in his head louder than what was around. The headache was rising and it just wasn't fair, though. That he wasn't freaking out as badly as Guy, and he did at least have the courtesy and sense to feel enough sympathy for Guy to crowd in closer and swat away a hand or two, didn't mean that he enjoyed the foolish spectacle. So why was he stuck with policing duty? Mindy had proven herself the veteran of the group, why didn't she step up?

Because the crowd was getting rowdy- too rowdy- and the mindless praises of the drones were getting under his skin. The crowd wouldn't budge when he stepped forward, attempting to part them. Because the loose grin was turning tight and he felt himself recoiling at some remarks and wanting to tell them to shove that potato up their ass, down their throat, anywhere it would fit and get lost. He wanted to tell them to drill a hole in it and fuck it then give it a ring, if they loved it so much. He would have, too, but right after he catches sight of Mindy's silent plea and he steps back and bumps into who he thought was Guy and he realizes he bumped into a woman, instead, he stomps his foot on the ground and booms, "I, that please some, try all, both joy and terror," like some mad performer. Which, in fact, he was. And seeing that he gets the crowd to hush for a full second and that managed to command all eyes on him

hell, why not?

Hawkeye turns, a jerky movement, so he faces his two pals and the half of the crowd he had had his back turned to. "Of good and bad, that makes and unfolds error-" and he lifts his hands and the lady who had had her hands on Guy clasps them on him again, giddily, obviously delighted at the prospect of a show. Well- screw her, Hawkeye figured, because she was frightening his caveman and further crowding him in turn. It was an act of faith, really, when he swept his hand over her head, snatched the wig and placed it hastily on his own head in all its shimmering violet glory, leaving the woman shrieking and with an embarrassing cut showing, and shouted "So old and white as this! 'tis foul."

And the crowd erupted in laughter at her misfortune. The woman couldn't seem to make up her mind if she wanted to run or stay and fight but she at least wouldn't have her mind on Guy's muscles again any time soon. And Hawkeye didn't quite look like he wanted to stop and he even adjusts the wig, his prize, so it stays better. But no, he's not grinning. He kind of wants to. "So keep your grubby hands offa us!" He roared, the intimidating tall man in the purple glittery fairy wig. "We have diseases you've never heard of! Do you know how long it's been since my last hydrophobtoncer shot? Years!" And with that emphasis, no one would say he wasn't at least mad, and present company may just be infected. The crowd, almost as one, steps back with alarmed murmurs.

Edited 2013-12-16 03:02 (UTC)

Guy could only stare at Hawkeye in slack-jawed astonishment at first.

The expression made a slow transformation to a huge, ridiculous grin and then a fit of the giggles followed shortly after. Even as he stood there cold and uncomfortable and covered in paint, the laughter dug its way out from where it had been buried by the fear.

"Now was that a solilo-thingy?"

Edited 2013-12-16 03:34 (UTC)

Mindy was ROLLING. Of all the things you could do in a situation like this, that was just about the last thing that she expected. But once he started talking about diseases, Mindy did her best to look intimidating (it was very VERY easy for her to do). The crowd started to edge away, and now was the perfect time to take their leave.

"And here I thought today was gonna be boring," she remarked, once they were out of earshot. For curiosity's sake, and pretty bad lack of school, what was that?"

"A solilo-thingy indeed," he answers Guy in a drawl, his hands finding their way back to the wig he'll keep as a souvenir. It was fluffier than he'd thought, and he draws in a breath and sticks out his chest and feels like a bulldog. Or Noah, parting the Red Sea. He taps Guy's shoulder and motions to a gap the crowd had now made, motioning that they should move and move towards it he does, even snarling and yipping at any man who would turn to stare. Hydrophobtoncer was a very serious condition, ya know, and he beams when he spots Mindy playing the game.

When they leave the citizens, he continues, "I think it was King Lear. I forgot the part in the middle and had to skip all the way to the end." And he was strutting and didn't quite realize it.

Guy trundled along, still clinging to Hawkeye's sleeve, but he was a little less timid this time, and every so often, he'd just look over at the wig and snicker a little bit. It was a good distraction from the city around them.

The trip back to the Tribute Training Center was mostly uneventful and after getting pointed to it by an avox, they found Guy's room in the District 6 suites.

Just in time, too. All that time out in the cold meant he was starting to get just slightly on this side of hypothermic.

He didn't exactly jump into bed in his room, though. Mainly because he didn't know what it was, something they'd realize when he started poking at it experimentally.

"What is this thing?"

The Training Center Mindy was more than familiar with. District 6 suite, not so much. Still, she was doing the whole moral support thing, so she was here willingly. She figured that right now, running around in the col, he was going to be getting pretty sick.

"A bed. You sleep in it. Now hurry and get under the covers. You can't just go running around the place like that in winter, its how you tempt real death. Just go and wrap a blanket around yourself."

Ok, so now she was, without thinking about it, playing concerned mom. Better she doesn't thin about it.

"Hey," she says to Hawkeye, "why don't we get him something warm to drink?"

Christ, he hated the elevator. It wasn't such a long ride and for the most part, Hawkeye stood still like the adult he was supposed to be. He kept mostly quiet too, humming only every other minute and behaving himself as he played Seeing Eye dog for Guy. They were shown into the room and Hawkeye remarked how much it looked like his, and suddenly felt a little less spoiled, despite the fact that the room was decently different.

He glanced at Mindy for a moment, and could only nod along as she explained what a bed was. What the heck kind of world did Guy come from, if he didn't know what a bed was? If he didn't have one before, he'd understand, but. Scratch that. It was just strange, even years later.

He had moved to grab one of Guy's wrists firmly. He counted.

He slapped the guy on the back, afterwards, though it wasn't too hard. His words, however, were. "Wear a shirt next time, at least. Don't they have winter where you're from?" And he turns to Mindy and nods. "Yeah, sure. I want one of us to stay with him, though. Make sure he gets tucked in. I wouldn't say no to telling him to shower, get that paint off himself."

Guy yanked all the blankets off the bed and piled them on the floor, then tossed all the pillows down with them, making it into something of a nest.

"I was in a panic and I didn't know it was so cold. I didn't know somewhere could even be that cold. We have winter, but that's the season where it's just warm instead of really, really hot," Guy said, teeth chattering.

For now, the bathing would have to wait. The paint was already dry anyway, and he really needed to warm up before he did anything else. So he squirmed under the blanket pile until he was completely covered and even pulled part of the blankets over his eyes so only his mouth was visible.

"How do you shower as an action? A shower is like a rain shower, how does a person shower?"

"You know, you are allowed to sleep ON the bed," Mindy said. "It'll probably be better for your back. Your world sounds like its in the tropics then. Guess that makes sense. It didn't help that the games weather was actually pretty ok too, nothing too frigid."

She could totally not do frigid right now. Cold was bad enough.

"Look...there's been, like, amazing advancements since your time. Now you can go into a room where you can actually turn on and off something that will pour water on you, hot or cold. And there's even soap, which cleans your skin. And shampoo, dude. Seriously."

He snorts at Mindy's explanation. "That's an advancement from my time!" Damn the shower tent of the 4077th and damn the cold water. Damn the shortages and the heat waves and the days the water ran green. He didn't comment on Guy making a nest. He wouldn't know how.

But he was serious about following Mindy's suggestion and getting the boy something hot to drink. Wasn't it funny? Him following the suggestion of a little girl? Hah. He turns with a quick pat to Mindy's back and creeps the door to Guy's suite open. He only steps out long enough to ask an Avox for something that wouldn't upset the fella's stomach-- they had to know more about him than he did. And apart from booze, how would Hawkeye know what the strange people of the Capitol had to drink? It's a couple of minutes at most, and Hawkeye never really steps out of the room. He returns to the edge of the bed with something in his hands- gives it a sniff- and he lowers the cup to Guy.

Hawkeye then invites himself to take a seat on the edge of Guy's bed. He figured, since the boy wasn't using it himself, that it wouldn't matter. And he just observes, this time around, and his brows shoot up even if no one sees and he quickly removes the wig from his head and scratches his hair. He's silent company for that moment, mind reeling and wandering. Naturally, this couldn't last long. And he was at such a loss with what to do for Guy, that he found himself asking, "So where are you from?" Because he had the hunch he'd like to talk about it- to escape this place through story, if nothing else.

The whole time Mindy was talking about showers, Guy had been mouthing 'blah blah blah blah' sarcastically. It was a sore spot for him, since Lestat had said all that stuff about him being dirty. He planned to clean up maybe a little more often than usual but in his humble opinion baths were highly overrated.

Guy sat up just enough to sip the drink - hot cider - and it meant the blanket over his eye briefly slipped off.

"Are you talking to me or -? Oh, you're talking to me." Not Mindy.

Guy put the drink down on the floor next to the nest and hunkered down again, pulling the blanket back over his eyes.

"I'm from Tomorrow. It's a place that doesn't have all these tall things and people crowded together. Everyone wanders and hunts and gathers food to get by and a few people live in caves but most people are nomads like me. We just wander the world our whole lives, seeing everything in it, and it's great because the world is so big and amazing."

He dredged up the words he'd heard in the arena.

"A guy I talked to in the arena said where I was from sounded liked the past where he was from. He had words for it: 'prehistoric' and 'paleolithic.'"

Edited 2013-12-24 03:23 (UTC)

Mindy had tried explaining the bathing thing, although she did look a little surprised at the mocking.

"Hey, don't underestimate cleaning. Makes sure you're at least recognizable, and you don't smell like shit."

She could be nice and patient in explaining, or she could just be blunt. Guess which won out?

"Actually yeah, you sound like what people would call cavemen in my times. You're sorta depicted as these hairy, grunting lumbering guys that dragged your wife by the hair for some reason."

And were locked out by your dinosaur dog, apparently.

The 'tall things' Hawkeye realized must be the skyscrapers, towering and streamlined and dwarfing any imagination from his own time. He still wants to be convinced that Guy is only from a very underdeveloped part of the world- the world he knows- but then the part about living in caves makes his attention snap to the possibility that-- that hey, he's talking to history. And his nose scrunches a little in thought, and his brows furrow lightly.

So how was it that everyone was speaking English?

And the power of everything he didn't understand was so great, he was sure he felt a headache coming on. The sensation burst through when Mindy did- and Hawkeye didn't let a single moment of silence go between the end of her words and his rushed repair- "Those are caricatures- cartoons- exaggerated in one extreme for all they're worth. There are actually studies, centers all over of people trying very hard to understand-"

and wasn't it weird? To think that those kinds of centers might exist in this world, trying to figure out the lives of the creatures, hardly human by these new standards, who had lived so long before? What the hell had become of Crabapple Cove?

He's not even sure he's going to help, and he prepares to state the obvious in the least problematic way he knows. "There's not a whole lot left of the prehistoric. Time moved on, and it doesn't care to preserve a lot of the things we'd like it to. Now, that was back in my time. That's 1953." Not that it'll mean anything to the fella wrapped in a blanket. "And this time's ahead of mine by a mile. Now- how we all ended up here, I dunno." It felt like a newsflash streaming over and over in his head: everyone you know is dead. But if they were fine here, displaced, the folk back home must be fine, left alone where they had been. Right? No? Christ almighty, what a headache. What a heartbreak. "It's new to all of us. Having us not know what's going on is part of the game."

Guy pulled a face at Mindy's description even despite Hawkeye'es quick save. In fact, that expression was even more irked by what Hawkeye said, even if his eyes weren't visible.

"What? Why would I drag my -" Yes, he was incensed. "I love my mate. I'd never grab her by the hair."

There was a brief pause as he considered something.

"That said, she used to do that to me, but when I made it very clear she was being too rough, she stopped." He held up a finger. "She's very, very gentle now."

Which was a good thing because otherwise she'd break him in half.

"We don't hurt each other. What kind of sick people hurt the people they love? And also cavemen and nomads are different - they're two different peoples. All human, but different. My wife and her family are caveman, I'm a nomad - we're built differently. And what - what centers? What's a center? What do you mean they study us? How can they understand people that died that long ago? Sherlock said I'm like people that are at least 10,000 years older than people like all of you. What is there left to study?"

Edited 2014-01-03 05:31 (UTC)

And here of course, Mindy's extended knowledge of cavemen ended. This was one of those times she wished that her dad had not home schooled her, but what could you do? She never thought her faint knowledge of cavemen woul come into question.

"There's a lot I don't know, sorry. But yeah, we have centers because humans want to know where they come from who they descended from. They trace the history, date bones of men from that time and..."

Wait. Hold on.

"Hey," she addressed Hawkeye. "Back up. You're from Nineteen Fifty THREE?! I could have...yeah, I guess that makes sense if Guy is here..."

She was half mumbling to herself now.

Edited 2014-01-03 05:39 (UTC)

Sitting on the bed like it was the one which belonged to him, he couldn't offer even a hand on his shoulder. He wants to swing his legs and offer condolences for a misinterpretation he never would have thought was wrong, but he stills and frowns at the mention of the so very casual abuse. Then he wants to rattle on about strange sex practices -'sick' depending on who you ask- but realizes a moment later that he shouldn't. What he focuses on again is 'built different', but his interest had never been in studying history. Next up is 'Sherlock' and the headache pulses and Hawkeye barks out a laugh, short and sharp and high and entirely irrelevant to the adventure thus far. And God, he hopes it's not misconstructed as being directed at Guy's woes.

He sobers in a blink, though he's bright-eyed and with an energy that hadn't been in him for long moments before. He supplements Mindy's explanations, and makes a note to try and understand the subject himself. He shrugs, though he doubts it'll even be seen. "We're curious buggers." But 10,000 years were astounding. What the hell kind of technology did the Capitol have? "And our bodies are more resilient when left alone in the end." As opposed to being blown to powder. "Dig deep enough, you'll find anything. Gold. Bones. Oil. Atlantis. China."

Now he swings his legs and even bounces once on the mattress. He takes the movement and lets himself lay down on his side, facing the other two. He ought to check Guy's temperature soon... but what the fuck was the normal temperature for a caveman? --sorry, nomad?

He turns to Mindy, mockingly affronted, the despair well hidden. What? Dear God, what? Was he 10,000 years from the past? "I'm sure as hell not from '29! I already did my time!" He shuffles around, makes himself comfortable. He addresses the room next, his voice like he was a professor at a lecture hall. "Somewhere alone the line, we started using numbers to refer to the time we were living in. Then some important guy was born and we switched the counting the other way- reversed it and starting counting forward instead of backward." Because he remembered Guy saying he was from Tomorrow, whatever that meant, and he wasn't going to talk more about his time, because it not being everybody else's was wrong. "Numbers are easier to remember than names."

"Bones? Bones?" The blanket was already covering his eyes but Guy covered the rest of his face with both hands.

"Don't tell me people are digging us up."

The hands dropped and he abruptly sat upright.

"How can people - what, does that mean somewhere down the line someone's going to dig up a tar pit and find my -"

He broke off because he didn't want to drag the conversation down, even though it was getting pretty miserable for him. (Not Mindy or Hawkeye's fault, it was the culture shock, it was inevitable, and at least he was getting it from friendly faces. Could've been worse.)

Slumping back down on the blankets, he turned over and swept the whole blanket over his head, nestling down in it so that he was just a lump, only his mouth showing.

"All because of numbers. Enough numbers pass on by and it's magically not a grave anymore, it's something to prod at because they're curious. I mean, how would they feel if someone dug up their grandma's grave?"

Edited 2014-01-08 08:40 (UTC)

"The idea is to find hints of the past," Mindy said, realizing exactly how fucked up all of this must be sounding to Guy. Personally, she doubt she would care if someone dug her up: she would be dead, after all. A body was pretty much a vessel until it wasn't, and then you went to whatever was next.

"Pretty much, people want to know as much about what they used to be, where they evolved from. It's been a long time past, and some just want to know. The more people know about their past, they figure, the more they can attempt to try and fix their future."

Or something like that. Hell, she wasn't an anthropologist.

"Sorry about that," she said to Hawkeye. "I missed getting a formal education. "Too busy getting doing other things."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The Bodies In the Streets

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject