Alchol, alternative to feeling like yourself!

[mannersmatter]

Who| Effie and Open!
What| Stressed Effie is stressed.
Where| A few different locations, see post.
When| A night out.
Warnings/Notes| Alcohol. Also, multiple prompts, pick your poison. One's set in the District 12 suite only open to those from 12 or those who might end up there looking for someone or something.

The Capitol art museum, evening|

It was the third party this week.

Effie, of course, loved to socialize. She really did. But after this game, with a tribute in the arena till the end, and the amount of work she had been doing being pretty much the only person playing escort and mentor?

One party was enough. Two parties were a stretch. Three parties? Well, she needed plenty of help getting her through the night.

With a few cocktails in her, the stress of the last few weeks melted away, and she could be her usual charming and gracious self. Perhaps, in fact, she might be over compensation. Anyone who walked past, who's face even triggered a small flicker of recognition, she greeted enthusiastically. A few tributes had gotten invites, escorts, mentors, and of course her own people.

How strange she felt more comfortable with those she was growing use to at the training center? Must be time for another martini.

The Tribute Center Commons, late at night|

Of course the line between alcohol as a social tool, and being a pathetic drunk were sometimes far too thin.

Maybe it was the mix of stress, hurried meetings, and lack of sleep, but somewhere one drink became one too many. And once she'd had one too many, Effie just...kept going.

Perhaps she was trying to make up for the lack of Haymitch and alcoholic self medication going on in her life.

Even still, she wasn't drinking like him. It was a steady stream of fluffy, warm drinks, now curled up in one of the more snug, intimate corners of the common area, an avox always there to refill things. Luckily Effie was a happy drunk, less lucky, at least for those around her, she was also a chatty drunk. And every time that thought, that she felt more comfortable in here than out there came up?

Well, bottoms up.

12's common room, very late/early morning|

The happy drunk was gone.

She'd fallen asleep in the room provide for when she was "working over time." Fallen asleep being a generous way of saying she'd passed out like a fool. And then woken up several hours later to puke her guts out.

Now she was sitting in the dim room, curled up with a glass of water, staring out over the Capitol. Although she wasn't entirely stripped down for her usual over the top appearance, she was considerably toned down. Her make-up, which after passing out, followed by her violent wake-up was left in ruins anyway, had been scrubbed away. Her hair was twisted up into a large clip of flowers and feathers, but it was her hair, pale blond and barely long enough to stay in the clip. Her party dress had been replace by a softer, ankle length dress, something she'd left her that she could sleep in if needed, and still maintain appearances.

The city, even at this hour, was decently active. It gave Effie something to watch as she stewed in her thought. She'd acted a fool tonight, and knew it. And if that wasn't enough, she still had all those thoughts, of the arenas, of people missing, of missing part of herself, swirling around in her head.

Comments

The Tribute Center Commons

[acroodawakening]

It was his first time in the Tribute Common Room. He still was too afraid to leave the Training Center to explore the rest of the Capitol but he wasn't used to being holed up inside all day. He was used to wandering wherever he and the rest of the family thought looked like an interesting direction and living under an open sky.

There weren't that many people in the place at this time of night. As he meandered around the room, he ignored the few that were there, more interested in his surroundings. The clear wall with the water and the fish behind it was fascinating. (A little tiny lake inside! How about that?) He gazed at the pictures on the walls, fascinated by how much more complex the art was than anything he'd ever seen, ran his hands over the smooth surfaces of tables, wondering what some of them were made of, and prodded at a few of the lights wondering how they were burning mini fires inside without any wood or smoke at all.

It was in the process of stepping on a chair, testing its bounce and wondering what it was made of that he noticed Effie, tucked away in her corner.

"Uh. Hiii."

The Capitol people were a strange and fairly terrifying lot. They also seemed very prim and proper and not prone to jumping on things so now he looked a little bit awkward about the fact he was half-jumping on a couch.

"I was just - you know. Figuring out the...whatever this thing is. Yep."

[mannersmatter]

"That, my dear, is a couch."

She giggled merrily, having just made what she considered to be quite a funny little joke, before patting the table across from her.

"You're the new cave men, right? Guy? Come, sit, have a drink with me!"

She gave him a bright grin, her penny bright lipstick smeared a little around the edges, wig slightly off key.

"Have you ever had eggnog? A little rum, and it is just delicious."

[acroodawakening]

It was kind of like being accosted by a very energetic jackrobat. She was just as colorful as one.

And possibly just as much of a leech, given she was one of those people. But he'd keened on very quickly that it was bad to make waves and he felt as if he wasn't allowed to say no.

"Oookay," he said through his teeth as he smiled a very weak smile, trying to keep it from looking that weak. "Suuure."

He sat down across from her, bouncing in place slightly as he sat there as if still testing the bounce, marveling slightly at the novelty of it.

He nodded towards the egg nog. "Sure, that looks...that looks good."

As in, it looked weird but right now he'd drink anything shoved into his hands.

Then he sat there for a moment, hands clasped together, feet bouncing slightly in place on the floor. Unable to really stop himself, he corrected, "I'm not really a caveman. By the way."

[mannersmatter]

She waved for an avox, and quickly a cup of generously liquored eggnog was set before Guy, a little twig of cinnamon leaning against the edge of the cup.

"Oh really? You should tell me about your life, then! I am a bit of a history buff." She laid a hand on her collar bone, looking very pleased with herself.

"Unfortunately, a lot of our records are fairly incomplete, and the farther you go back, the worse it is. So we really don't know much that far back. It is a pity, how exciting the dawn of man must have been."

She let out a soft, yet dramatic sigh.

I put fingers to keyboard and rediculous comes out I'm sorry

[knifewithnoname]

Pruna, for all that she had been trained in stealth could be very noisy, clanging and banging. She did most things with zeal, whether it was out of excitement or anger.

She slams her door and makes her way to the common room, despite it being the middle of the night. The look of her would make her stylists cry, she has come up with a new outfit to protect her from the cold. One which involves most the clothes she has. She is wearing two pairs of tights, three pairs of trousers, who even knew how many tops, a couple of dresses and then some jumpers.

She is currently attempting to do up her coat, which won't zip past all the material, a hat is on her head and a scarf wound round her neck. She is still wearing no shoes.

She can't sleep, and so she is going to go and test weather wearing more clothes will really keep her warmer. Because the Capitol is stupid cold at the moment though it is warm inside. But she likes being outside. It's a dilemma.

She freezes when she sees the woman in the common room, not recognising her at first. She peers at her suspiciously before she gets a good look. "Effie?" She blinked, "Where did all your hair be going?"

heeee!

[mannersmatter]

"Oh, my dear...did you think that was my actual hair? Those are all wigs." She let out a soft laugh, shaking her head. "If I did all that to my real hair, it' fall out within a month."

Standing, she walked over to lean down and help Pruna with her coat, before pausing. Sleep was so far past where she was, it took a moment for her to remember that this was no time for little girls to be out.

"And where do you think you're going?"

[knifewithnoname]

"Wigs?" She said the new word carefully, and thought for a moment, it looked like real hair. "Did you be stealing someone elses hair?" Was that what a wig was?

She let Effie take over the coat zipping and sighed at the question. Usually she would lie but she didn't lie to Effie, she had promised Effie she would behave and she at least tried to keep that promise.

"Sandy did be saying that it do be being so cold at night you can be freezing to death. So I do be needing to be testing my outfit, to be making sure."

DISTRICT 12 SUITES

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy came shuffling out of her room in one of her nightgowns and slippers. But it was too cold for just that so she was also trailing one of her comforters as a massive cloak.

She stopped short when she saw she wasn't the only one awake and squinted for a moment in confusion before recognition set in.

"Effie?" She asked out loud as if she could hardly believe seeing the proud made up woman in shambles like this.

[mannersmatter]

"Evening, Sandy." She paused, glancing to the elaborate clock on the wall. "Actually, I suppose it's been morning for some time now, hasn't it."

She smiled at the girl, patting the couch next to her. "What are you doing out of bed this late?"

She knew some of the Tribute rose early, but this was a bit much even for them.

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy shuffled over to the sofa obediently and took a seat next to Effie, studying her carefully and recognizing the signs of a hard night of drinking all too well.

Almost like being home again, except Effie wasn't passed out yet.

"Woke up and wanted some juice." She explained, though apparently she didn't want it bad enough to leave Effie's side just yet. "The tea gives me cotton mouth in the mornings."

She was grateful for the tea that Effie had introduced her to some time ago, it made it much easier to sleep even if it only dulled some of her nightmares. The particularly bad ones seemed only susceptible to Pruna and her special way of making Sandy feel safe in the worst of places.

"What are you doing?" She asked back though from the looks of things she could guess at least part of the answer.

Art Museum!

[polyturtle]

Among those in the crowds during the party at the museum was Donatello. He wasn't drinking; even after everything, he couldn't bring himself to start hitting the bottle. It was...tempting. But then he remembered how badly it tasted.

So coffee for him, as he was left with his deep thoughts and his deeper anger, staring at the statue in front of him. It had cracks, and part of the woman's foot was missing. But it was clear it was a statue from the world before Panem. And it was surrounded by a salad bar.

Most people probably didn't know who made it, where it came from, or what it was even about. Most were too busy sampling the drinks at the bar in the center of the gallery. Some were excusing themselves already, to throw up in the bathrooms. The few people who came to sample the salad bar, offered him syrup, which he took, said thank you, of course. And then discretely dumped it in the garbage; he had barely eaten, so he didn't need any. Though he'd eventually get to eating something. Perhaps.

Only perhaps because it was a crime, defiling the art like this, like they were little more than party props. And these people didn't even care. The only good thing was that at this party, thankfully, he was not the focus. Drinking was. Thus, he was not obligated to be the center of attention for the moment.

Re: Art Museum!

[mannersmatter]

"Donatello, right?"

She of course knew it was Donatello. This wasn't the first time she'd talked to the man (if that was the right term, but it seemed the most polite) and even if it wasn't, well, how could anyone miss a giant, humanoid turtle wandering around.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? The way they could make the marble so...flesh like."

If anyone in the Capitol made art like this, had these skills...she certainly hadn't seen it. Some of those from 2 had amazing skills with carving the marble, but compared to this is was a pale imitation.

Re: Art Museum!

[polyturtle]

"Yeah...its a Bernini," Don replied quietly, even as he tried to not wince at the sudden presence of the stench of alcohol emanating from the Escort. "Apollo and Daphne. He chased her out of lust, and in order to keep her dignity she asked her father to transform her into a tree."

He had no doubt that there was hardly any artist who could make what those like Bernini did. Not because they were not skilled - but because they were not allowed to. He wasn't a fool. They could only make shadows and imitations, creations of little substance and mind.

"'Destroy the beauty that has injured me, or change the body that destroys my life'. Ovid, the transformation is only halfway in this statue, so we can see how both are feeling as her wish is granted."

Tribute Center Commons

[alldeduction]

Sherlock did not like Effie. That had been the case for a very long time now, and her relationship with John had only made that even tenser than before. Generally, he avoided her - he did not want make up smeared all over him again - and as he kept to himself he didn't find that particularly hard.

Sometimes, however, he found it harder than usual. Like when she was drinking in the middle of the Tribute Commons and making herself altogether a nuisance as he came back in from the city late in the evening.

He could have ignored her, gone up to his rooms, but that little nagging voice at the back of his head that just would not let slights go started egging him, and before he could stop himself he straightened his back and said:

"How many is that, Effie? 10? 11?"

[mannersmatter]

There was the briefest scowl on her face, before she managed to hide it. Tonight had been far too lovely to let this man ruin it.

She knew his question was snide. She had used the same one against Haymitch enough times to recognize it. So she gave him a tight little polite smile back.

"4, actually."

He didn't need to know that that was only while she'd been sitting here.

[alldeduction]

"Oh, don't lie to me, Effie," He said with a smirk as he put his hands in his pockets. "You know it doesn't work." He tilted his head and glanced down at her glass with an arched eyebrow.

"And just what exactly are you celebrating with such gusto this evening?"

Tribute commons

[pythianjudgment]

Terezi never has been the one to sleep at normal hours. Even being a nocturnal species, her life had her sleeping more erratic hours than most. These days, she's prone to wandering the Tribute Center at nearly any hour of the day or night. As such, she manages to find Effie curled up in the corner of the Commons like a very intoxicated caterpillar.

She's never met the Escort herself, but Terezi has smelled her plenty of times in conjunction with footage of Katniss and Peeta to know that she belongs to Twelve. Which isn't immediately endearing considering her relations to the other people from Twelve, but Terezi isn't one to worry about others' opinions too much.

"There are better ways to induce a coma, you know," she says, approaching the woman and lingering only a few feet away.

[mannersmatter]

"Hopefully I will avoid any medical emergencies."

Effie was feeling too good to get too insulted. And once glance at the girl, and she realized she was a troll. And she liked trolls, she was at least 60% sure of. Didn't understand them, but she liked them.

Except for the mean one, but this wasn't the mean one. Clearly.

[pythianjudgment]

"I don't know how. You're not doing anything to dodge them." Terezi folds her hands behind her back and sniffs at the human. She smells...strange. The scent of alcohol is strong, but then there's the usual... Capitol flair that accompanies most of the people who actually live here.

"Did something happen? As far as I know, humans usually only reach this level of intoxication when they're upset."

12's common room, early morning

[setfires]

Cinna arrived that morning and set aside some bags of clothes. He saw her there and smiled a bit. She seemed so subdued and small this way.

"If you were going to start going with the minimalist look, we'll have to think of a color for your eyes. You can't have gold."

[mannersmatter]

She chuckled softly.

"Oh, not at all. This is just...bed clothes." She said, shaking her head. "I could never pull off the minimalist look like you do."

She glanced at the clock, realizing for the first time how late it was. Early, actually. Almost dawn. "You're here early."

[setfires]

"I was hoping to do a little bit of work this morning," Cinna pointed out. Then, after a moment, "I've started to work on my own line too, so that means that I need to put in double the hours. Half here, and half at home."

[pepsi_cola]

"Had a long day?"

Victory likes to think that she slinks into rooms more than walks into them. That's what she's trying to do now, and why Effie may not even notice her until she's less than a foot away behind the couch. She, too, has a drink in hand, although she hasn't touched it so much as occasionally pressed the rim to her lips and thought better of it.

She's trying to be subtle about the fact that she's trying to peak at what the other Stylists are up to.

"You look like you've had a long day."

[mannersmatter]

"Very long."

Effie tipped her head back to smile at Victory, lifting her drink towards her, before gesturing to the couch across from her. She knew the other stylist well enough, but hadn't seen her around much lately.

"Your self?"

[pepsi_cola]

"Terrible," Victory sighs, drawing out that first syllable like it's taffy. She reaches up and plays with a large flower in her hair. The fake lashes make her eyelids feel horribly heavy. "First the don't have us work the Crowning, but then we have to get ready for some surprise event later? Isn't it bad enough we're working overtime with all these Tributes?"

Naturally, Victory hadn't been on the job ten minutes before she was complaining about how overworked she was.