People In Glass Houses...

[neclectus]

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.

Comments

[neclectus]

"Oh, I imagine not- but that hardly matters, as none of them are here at present," he told him with a conspiratorial smile. "And you're quite welcome. I'm pleased you were able to come along. Do you have anything like this in the world you came from?"

[orestes]

"Parties? We have them, though I confess I was no more social there than I am here." The parties he'd had the displeasure of attending hadn't generally been so lavish, of course, but it was hard to imagine the Parisian bourgeoisie without some sort of nonsensical celebration or another.

"Something of this complication would likely be reserved for a fête, I think." As the French escaped him, Enjolras ducked his head in a slight apology. It was unreasonable, of course, to expect Timaeus to understand his implication. "That is to say, a holiday, or some other more grand occasion."

[neclectus]

"Then perhaps... allow me to consider this a holiday of sorts that I was moved to grant the Tributes after their ordeal," he suggested brightly. "A festival of recovery, if you will. I do think it is a difficult thing they have asked of you, my friend, a difficult thing indeed, and my heart goes out to each one of you- some, admittedly, more than others..."

[orestes]

"It is a difficult thing you ask of your own people." Anger flashed in his eyes and Enjolras practically spat the words back at Timaeus. Courtesy be damned, how dare this man claim to empathize with them? How dare anyone in the Capitol claim to feel anything at all! All thoughts of reconciliation and forgiveness left him in that moment, replaced by nothing but a righteous indignation. "I do not know which of you I pity more, monsieur. Those here who know not what they do, or your own who you have made to suffer before us."

[neclectus]

Rather than offended, Timaeus looked confused- lost, entirely uncertain as to what he'd done to deserve the tirade. He frowned, taking a cautious step backwards.

"I haven't asked anything of anyone, other than to enjoy my hospitality," he protested. "I'm quite content to leave you to your thoughts here in the dome if that's what you would like, you only have to say so."

[orestes]

"Perhaps you should do so." It's a snap reaction. Normally Enjolras would be inclined to tell Timaeus exactly what he and his people asked of everyone they brought to Panem, but he couldn't be bothered in that moment. His host's tendency to vacillate between attentive pupil and brick wall was grating on him in ways that were not entirely rational.

"Pardon my outburst, sir, but when you ask people to kill each other and die for your entertainment, you should not expect us to thank or forgive you." Good sense would dictate that he left the conversation there. Good sense would say that such a comment was passive and ambiguous enough perhaps to provoke thought without either offending Timaeus or betraying his own uneasiness regarding his present role in their tenuous and immoral society. Enjolras was, of course, never one for good sense. "You may not facilitate the Games, my friend, but you and your countrymen have more blood on your hands than any of us who fight in the Arenas. Your one salvation is that you no longer inflict these horrors upon your own people."

[neclectus]

An element of hurt slipping into his expression, Timaeus straightened up, smoothed his hands over his suit and squared his shoulders.

"I will pardon your outburst, my friend," he said, his words clipped and tight, building in passion and volume steadily.
"This time. But don't think that I enjoy being accused of doing anything less than the best I can for those I can- and while under the hospitality I have extended you in good faith, too. I am an exceedingly patient and tolerant man, and I will indulge you far further than any other fool you can find here in the Capitol, but I am not a dog for you to kick when you feel guilty, someone you can look down upon to make yourself feel righteous. Don't mistake my generosity for masochism."

[orestes]

"Generosity is no excuse for ignorance, monsieur. I thought that perhaps you were different from the rest of them." It was a manipulation and not a particularly adept one at that. Enjolras had always found it more natural to win people over by sheer force of will and courage of his convictions than by any sort of emotional persuasion. Still, angry and overwhelmed though he may have been, and though he wanted to lash out at anyone in the Capitol who might be hurt by it, even he could see that making enemies would not be in anyone's best interests.

It was a delicate balance, to speak one's mind here and not be made to suffer for it. He chewed his lower lip, eyes darting to the soft, grassy floor below them as he spoke. "I am disappointed to think that I may have been wrong."

Letting the sentiment float and settle around them, he looked up, seeking Timaeus' eyes again. "Thank you for your hospitality."

There was but a brief moment in which their gaze connected, before Enjolras turned on the heel of his boot and walked briskly in the opposite direction from where Timaeus was standing. It wasn't a retreat, he assured himself, but rather a regrouping.