etcircenses: (Default)
Panem Events ([personal profile] etcircenses) wrote in [community profile] thecapitol2013-12-15 06:36 am

The Crowning of Enjolras

WHO| All Tributes and Victor, plus a few Capitol guests
WHAT| The Crowning of Enjolras
WHERE| The Tribute Center
WHEN| A few weeks after the end of the Arena
WARNINGS| Forced medical experimentation, needles.

The atmosphere surrounding the Crowning is both tense and secretive. The style teams flutter around listlessly, having received no information from which to draft their designs. Newspapers take bets on when it will be announced where the Crowning is being held, descending into grousing when no press release is given. Peacekeepers pour in and out of the Tribute Center, accompanied by scientists who occasionally pull Tributes aside and look at the veins in their elbows. Even the Avoxes seem jumpier than usual.

Aside from the Tribute Center's new giant marble statute of a nude Enjolras, posed like the famed David, one could almost forget the party is supposed to be celebratory.

When the day arrives, the Escorts and their assistants don't lead the Tributes to their style teams to be gussied instead. Instead, they hush the Tributes and bring them to their bedrooms, where a Peacekeeper, a white-coated citizen and several Avoxes await them. The Escorts instruct the Tributes to lay down in their bed and close their eyes, and a needle is inserted into their arms that the Escorts insist will 'take them to the party'. It's soon followed by a series of sensors taped to the forehead.

Just relax, the Escorts say, and they do their very best to make sure their Tributes feel minimal anxiety. If the Tributes resist too much, more Peacekeepers are called in, and the Tributes are forced into submission.

The first effect is a sort of paralysis - not the terrifying inability to move, but a signal to the brain that says why move? Moving is so much effort. It's quickly followed by drowsiness, and then a chill that radiates from the needle into the body, and finally, unconsciousness.

And that is when the party begins. The Tributes, now dressed in luxurious 1830's French clothing of a quality beyond even what their Stylists could manage, wake up in the front row of a large stone theater setting reminiscent of, simultaneously, Greek and French architecture. The floor of the theater is filled with buffets of every imaginable sort of food. Rose petals fall from the sky, which displays a sunset worthy of award-winning photography.

For his part, Enjolras sits in a throne made of books on the ring of the amphitheater, flanked by Marius, Cosette, Eponine, and bizarrely enough Venus Dee Milo and Ellie, seated on lush pillows and carpets made of dinosaur skin (with the heads comically attached and eyes lolling).

"Welcome, welcome, our Tributes and Mentors, to the first ever somnofestival, sponsored by Hypnogogia!" Caesar Flickerman, noted talkshow host and Games presenter, appears in a fabulous sequined toga in the center of the amphitheater. He doesn't need a microphone; the acoustics here are flawless. "And congratulations to our Victor! Let us hear it for Enjolras!"

He awaits applause.

"As you may have noticed, you're inside a shared dream, due to the just fantastic technology from the Capitol and certain, ah, biological contributions from our dear favorite Aunamee." He holds a hand out and gestures to Aunamee, anticipating wild applause. "We thought that for our most philosophical Victor yet, we should celebrate in a way that's a little bit…cerebral."

Caesar laughs and gestures at all the food, then puts a cheeky finger to his lips. "By all means, enjoy yourselves. Even the most indulgent desserts here won't show up on your hips tomorrow. The party only last three hours, so you might as well get started!"

He vanishes into thin air, leaving the Tributes to celebrate. Occasionally, the Tributes will hear voices in their heads - chatter from the Peacekeeper and scientist and Escort still in their room, in the waking world. Otherwise, this is a party like any other, if somewhat surreal in nature.

-/-

The party begins the same way for all the Tributes. For an unlucky few, however, it soon diverges as they come under an unfortunate glitch in the system.

They'll look around and find only a handful of their fellow Tributes around them. The sky, rather than being a magnificent splay of color, is now blank white, and yet the lighting in the theater seems dim. A sense of panic, detached from any conscious thoughts, surges forth in them like the tide.

For them, this isn't a shared dream. This is a shared nightmare.
orestes: (pic#7217213)

Never! c:

[personal profile] orestes 2014-01-02 11:33 pm (UTC)(link)
It's good that she clarifies, as he's never been particularly adept at reading tone in English, and his own self-criticisms are enough to turn any reference to his victory into some sort of insult. Still, it's Cindy and she's never been anything but kind and helpful (if perhaps a little bit too teasing) to him, so he feels foolish for thinking her statement could be anything more or less than it simply is.

"Thank you," his voice seems strained and tired even in his head. It's easy, however, to move to accommodate her and the large dress. There's even a certain comfort in it, and he feels a little bit guilty for thinking that when she clearly isn't having a pleasant time of it. "I suppose it would be no great revelation to you if I said that I was less than pleased with the outcome."

Of course it wouldn't. The evidence of what amounted to a temper tantrum over his unfortunate, and entire unintentional victory was immortalized forever, recorded on one of their awful video tapes to be replayed and rerun until he's content to never see his own face again. He frowns, though not at her so much as at his own unwanted memory. "I am sorry to have left you alone here for so long. We should begin again immediately."

It's convenient, he thinks absently, being too angry to care about things like subterfuge. Perhaps less than advisable, even if they were all in some terrible shared dream, but convenient all the same.
undercoverprincess: (one pill makes you larger)

:D

[personal profile] undercoverprincess 2014-01-07 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
"Not much of a surprise, no." Cindy nodded. Enjolras was one of the guys who could do a lot more good when he was in the Capitol, versus being in the arena. There were all kinds of fighters out there, and he wasn't the killing in the arena kind.

Thing was, winning this whole thing was not what he was about. She shifts, debating between folding her arms or keeping them dangling by her side. She needs to appear... something.

"Still, this way you don't have to worry about having to go back into the arena." Smiling, she looks around, raising an eyebrow at his statement. He might not care about it right now, but then, she is the one who's done the subterfuge thing most of her life now.

"That's sweet of you to say." Cindy gave a more sultry smile, leaning a little closer. "We should begin immediately. You know where I'm staying, it hasn't changed yet."

Then her voice dropped softer. "Don't worry too much. I was able to get one out while you were in the arena, so that might throw off their scent. And I may have found us a friend."
orestes: (pic#7217276)

[personal profile] orestes 2014-01-09 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
At that, he perks up visibly. To any curious onlookers, it probably seems like nothing more than an excited flirtation. His own tone is carefully controlled, despite his enthusiasm. And honestly, if they are truly in a dream of some kind, Enjolras wonders if all the subterfuge is even really worth it. If they could invade his very dreams, what exactly could he hope to hide? "You shall have to introduce us. Unless, of course, I know him already."

He pulls away ever so slightly, gambling on Cinderella's good will as he places an arm casually around her shoulders. It's no different than any gesture he might exchange with Combeferre or Courfeyrac, but the Capitol did love to talk. Fortunately, their all too vivid imaginations would provide them with an easy excuse to exchange secrets.

"I have heard rumors that they have another event planned for us. The stylists in my district are more communicative now that I am seen as their colleague." Which was at once soul crushing and advantageous. He pushes those darker thoughts from his mind, trying to make good use of her advice.
undercoverprincess: (He thinks we're having an affair)

[personal profile] undercoverprincess 2014-01-20 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
"Her, actually. I'll have to find some time for us to sit down, get something to drink." There was the chance that everything they said was being recorded, and they all knew what was happening. But if you thought of it like that, then it was better to just hand in the towel now. And Cindy had never been a quitter, and there was no chance of that happening now.

Tilting her head slightly to the side to see his arm, she keeps her laughter inside and the smirk on the out. She'd love to see what people's reactions were to something like that. It does make it easier to talk, however, and she shifts a little bit closer.

"How things change when you win something, now you're the best friend they always wanted." Cindy shakes her head a little. "Another event, though? You've been here longer then I have, have they done that before? Something big so soon after a crowning?" What were they planning this time, and how long would that be taking?