thecapitol | People In Glass Houses...

Who | Timaeus Nadir and guests
What | Timaeus is hosting a picnic get-together/catch-up.
Where | The picnic will be taking place in the Tropical Habitat Dome.
When| We'll be using a bit of wibbly time so that people who want to attend can.
Warnings/Notes| None as of yet.

(This is an opportunity for me to make some new CR as well as catch up with ongoing relationships, but I also want to encourage tagging around between characters! Feel free to do whatever you like in the setting with whoever you like! Also I will be backtagging this so don't feel you've missed the boat if you haven't tagged in immediately <3)

Timaeus certainly knew how to organise a gathering- even if it wasn't an outrageously opulent celebration to be held on one of his own yachts. This one was to be held under the expansive dome of the Tropical Habitat- the entire location rented out for the day to Timaeus and his guests, a loosely private affair- formal invitations as such hadn't been extended, but those welcome knew they were. Naturally, all tributes and victors were included in this group.

The Dome was a beautiful piece of architecture in itself, though antiquated when compared with the technology used for the Arenas. Rather than invisible forcefields, the climate of the interior was separated from the outside by elaborately curving steel and glass. Inside, tropical plants of all types thrived- there was a still, green pond and, deeper inside, a cascading waterfall. Butterflies in hundreds of colours, sizes and shapes flitted about, tropical birds swooped between the trees, brightly coloured fish darted in the water.
Blankets and cushions had been scattered in the main clearing with hampers of food, but there was plenty of space for the guests to break away from the gathering if they so desired- the dome was full of winding paths through the greenery- some even climbing around the trunks of the largest trees and leading to viewing platforms above. In a temporary gazebo in the clearing, a string quartet played music that wasn't quite the classical pieces Tributes were familiar with.

Timaeus himself seemed in a brighter mood than he had been for months, more than happy to make conversation with anyone who approached him- though he was certainly keeping an eye open for particular individuals. Some that he'd met, some that he'd lost and had returned to him, and others still that he had yet to meet.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Your perspective is still quite valuable--I assure you that you know more about the subject than I. Though you must get tired of explaining, I should have thought as much, but...well, you have a very amicable presence. Inspires trust, I suppose."

Julian wondered if perhaps he was laying it on a bit too thick, but hopefully he'd read the situation correctly. Timaeus had certainly seemed receptive to flattery. He moves toward the indicated rock, sitting almost gingerly and arranging himself to be comfortable.

"Well, where did all this start, I suppose. What was it, 75 years ago?"

"The first Hunger Games was 75 years ago, yes. A little longer now, I suppose- it used to be an annual event, but things have changed quite dramatically since the Gamemakers started to bring in people from other worlds," he began, finding it fairly hard not to get distracted by Julian's eyes- they really were his own. It was like looking at a reflection of himself that was a complete stranger, both fascinating and unnerving at the same time. Had he really been that handsome, that young? He supposed he remembered owning that face, but it had been so long....

"Though of course the Games themselves were a consequence and reminder of the war before them, so it wouldn't be quite correct to say that the first Arena was where everything began," he continued. "Honestly, it's bewildering to me that your escorts and mentors don't prepare you more thoroughly themselves. You would think at least a rudimentary history lesson wouldn't have been too much to ask of them..."

Edited 2013-12-12 09:42 (UTC)

"Well, they were a little rushed. I came into things quite late, as I'm sure you noticed--afterward I suppose they thought my reading about it was enough. I can't fault them, really, they seemed quite preoccupied." And Julian hadn't exactly made it easy to talk to him, what with locking himself in his room and making it known quite emphatically that he did not wish to be disturbed.

"It's a fascinating difference, really. Considering the brutal wars of the past in my own world--well over 630 million dead, over two wars in a 60 year period...no one is quite sure, records from that timeframe are scarce at best. Most of the major cities were destroyed, that much is certain, and there were entire regions poisoned by nuclear fallout."

And yet, absolutely nothing like this had ever existed. As far as Julian was concerned, something had gone terribly wrong. It wasn't fascinating so much as horrifying.

"Ah, well, perhaps that would have happened here too if not for the Games," Timaeus suggested thoughtfully, the numbers far too vast for him to truly grasp. He knew the Dark Days had been bad, but the scale of the bloodshed was something he didn't have a firm handle on. He just knew that someone in the Capitol had decided that enough was enough and put an end to it.
"There was a war here too, but the Capitol, having superior technology and so on, won it decisively to prevent further bloodshed- and the Games began as a remembrance. We've been at peace since, which sounds like it's quite an achievement! 630 million dead... there aren't that many people in all of Panem- nowhere near that many."

"As have we. There hasn't been war on Earth for over two hundred years."

And they hadn't even needed to sacrifice any children--or, indeed, anyone else--to accomplish it. There had been wars between the Federation and other forces, Julian could hardly deny that, being as they were in the middle of one. And there had been missteps along the way. But as a whole, he was completely convinced his world had turned out for the better.

"After the loss of 630 million people, I would imagine your world would do just about anything it could to prevent further war," Timaeus agreed easily enough, his smile warm and amicable. "I'm glad it succeeded as well as the Capitol has succeeded here. It's encouraging."

Well, Julian had been hoping that he'd ask how they'd managed it. After all, he was quite proud to say that it took no further killing. But that didn't even seem to cross his mind--of course, after so long it was a cultural fixture. Unless he was completely mistaken, Timaeus hadn't been alive to see a time before the war and before these 'Games'. It would take more than a simple conversation to change that.

"So it is."

Julian smiles pleasantly. "But this has been a bit of a heavy conversation for such beautiful surroundings. You said you were a businessman? What is it that you do, Timaeus--oh, I'm sorry, may I call you that? I'm not being too familiar, am I?"

"Familiar? No, not at all. Please, be my guest," he laughed. "I much prefer it to Mr. Nadir anyway- never could get used to sharing that one with my father. But yes, you wouldn't know, would you? I'm in the luxury business- yachts, actually. I'll have to show you around the Victoria Ascendant next time we're both available- I designed her myself. She's the largest yacht ever built, and equipped with every conceivable convenience. I even held a viewing party aboard her a while ago- a roaring success, by all accounts, very satisfying."

"Understandable, I'd rather not share a title with my father sometimes, either." His relationship with Richard was mending, but there were still years of hurt there to overcome.

"That does sound fascinating, I would very much enjoy seeing her." Julian smiles, continuing on as if he was completely comfortable with the situation. "I can't say I've been on many sea-faring ships. Only a few times, when I was younger--my mother's family is from the Mediterranean Coast area, my grandparents lived in Fethiye, in Turkey, for years. They'd take us out on their sailboat for the afternoon when we visited."

Timaeus chuckled, his eyes bright with amusement and joy at finding commonality with this stranger with his face. How bizarre and wonderful it was to have him here! It was almost worth the vague but unsettling thought that Julian Bashir had been brought to compete in the Games as a message or a threat.

"My father founded the company- he's senior partner in fact, though he's quite infirm these days. Has been for some time. You can imagine- as a younger man I hated the idea of building on his foundations rather than striking out on my own, but I suppose the indignation of not being the, ah, trailblazer- the adventurer and so on- it wears off with time. Or, indeed, when out sailing. Sailing, I find, tends to help all kinds of bad moods. You should join me some time, mm?"

Julian, on the other hand, is quite concerned--perhaps not quite the right word--about the commonalities he's recognizing, how much this man is like him. Wanting to be a trailblazer, to be where the adventure was in their chosen profession? That was one of the reasons Julian had chosen Deep Space 9 as his posting.

"I'd be happy to. It has been a rather long time--I've not been back to Earth except for official business for years. Doesn't leave a lot of time for sailing."

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