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.
saveswithsong: (Eve - oh you're adorable)

Rat

[personal profile] saveswithsong 2013-12-16 09:29 am (UTC)(link)
Rat fought. Rat would always fight. He had already started getting suspicious as soon as he had awoken. It reminded him way too much of the Correctional Facility. Too clean. So clean it had to hide blood and lies just as No. 6 had. It didn't take long for the Escorts and Peacekeepers to find him. And some asshole in a lab coat. And so he fought them. He fought them as hard as he could. He was only one unarmed teenager and they had body armor, but he did succeed in knocking off a helmet and bloodying the nose of the wearer. His hair had come untied partially and provided a useful handle to hold him when the asshole in the lab coat finally stuck him.

The world slipped away and he was dreaming. He wore an ivory gown, with a wide, pleated neckline, voluminous sleeves and skirt. His hair was twisted up and decorated with flowers. And then when Caesar introduced the Victor and his friends he had trouble staying in character. He laughed a bit, keeping it as dignified as he could. Victor Hugo's revolutionaries won the battle to the death? Well, look how far they've come. He ran his eyes over all of them, and turned to the rest of the group. He wondered if the dream wine and spirits would have the same effect. It might be useful to get information.

(OOC: Rat makes a really convincing woman, just as an fyi. He'll be happy to charm your boys to get what he wants )
twoklimmen: (I'm the one you're looking for)

I am so so sorry

[personal profile] twoklimmen 2013-12-17 05:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Practically incognito, tonight the Doctor felt eager, for once, to meet new people. Joining the crowd rather than sulking alone as usual, Sigma spotted what he believed was a lovely young woman in a white dress, and realizing that they had never spoken, took it upon himself to approach her.

...But perhaps this introduction would be a little bit different than the norm, as Sigma was, in fact, 45 years younger tonight and was itching to see if he still had his charm. If she was new, she'd simply never see him again outside of the dream and no harm done, right? It was all in good fun and he didn't mean anything by it.

Sigma slid in to where Rat was standing, smiling coyly at him. "..Hey there. You're new around here, aren't you, miss?" No, that wasn't quite right, was it? He couldn't rely on good looks alone to charm a lady. "...Can I get you something to drink?"
saveswithsong: (Eve - oh you're adorable)

Last edit I swear also you have nothing to apologize for

[personal profile] saveswithsong 2013-12-17 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, well that didn't take long at all. He raised his fan and fluttered his eyelashes above it. "Ah, yes, I am quite new. This was all very abrupt. I would be happy to accept a glass of wine from a gentleman such as yourself. I'm Eve," he said, offering a lace-gloved hand to him for a kiss as a true gentleman should.
Edited 2013-12-17 21:06 (UTC)
twoklimmen: (You're just playing a part!)

:D

[personal profile] twoklimmen 2013-12-18 06:36 am (UTC)(link)
Before 'Eve' had even opened her lips, Sigma felt himself charmed by her instead, contrary to his intentions. It had been so long since he had spoken with a woman who wasn't Akane that he was finding the current situation already enjoyable.

Though it was not a gesture common to his time period, he assumed that it was to hers, and immediately took her hand and kissed it reverently. Perhaps if he truly were still young and immature he would have blushed from doing something odd to impress a girl, but his older self was well seasoned in doing strange things for a pretty face. Jumping in front of a rotating sawblade included.

"Certainly. Won't take a moment." He nodded and turned his back on her only to retrieve their drinks from the buffet line nearby. Alcohol in their appropriate stemware lined the table, and he plucked two glasses from the assortment carefully. Making his way back to 'Eve', he offered her a glass of red wine.

"My name is Sigmund," he lied, though it was a name similar enough to his that he would respond to automatically, "It's a pleasure, Eve. I am sorry you must be caught up in these Games with the rest of us."
saveswithsong: (Eve - on stage)

Re: :D

[personal profile] saveswithsong 2013-12-20 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
He took the glass with a grateful nod, and took a light sip. "The pleasure is all mine," he replied to the introduction. "It all sounds dreadfully macabre. Though they seem to have chosen combatants well with gentlemen like yourself involved. I must say that they can throw quite a lovely party."

He slipped in a bit closer, somewhat conspiratorially, eager for his response.
twoklimmen: (When there's no time)

[personal profile] twoklimmen 2013-12-20 04:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Sigma took a long swig and stared into his glass, becoming a little red from either the wine or because the distance between them was shortening. He hummed contemplatively. Would a strong combatant impress her? He could certainly try to pass as a fighter with his muscular build, but didn't trust his ability to lie to women with confidence after being out of the market for so long.

"Well," he began at last, "I don't particularly like to fight if I can avoid it..." Sigma fidgeted with his glass, rolling the stem from finger to finger. "But, that does not mean I have a low score, either, of course..." He lifted his hazel eyes to her.

"These parties are so lovingly crafted because they are all we have left to make us feel like men," he admitted. "There are some here," he seemed to be implicating the male Tributes among them, "who will treat you with dignity until the moment they're released in the Arena, and then prove themselves animals. Dishonest, wouldn't you say...?"
saveswithsong: (Eve - oh you're adorable)

Apologies for the way late!

[personal profile] saveswithsong 2013-12-31 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
Rat was beginning to pick up on some of this guy's uncertainty, but he didn't let any of it show. "Oh, do you think so? How dastardly! I hope I would be able to count on you for protection, my good sir. I can only hope I don't hold you back."
twoklimmen: (To analyse - to think things through)

Never apologize, I was busy too!

[personal profile] twoklimmen 2014-01-06 09:15 pm (UTC)(link)
This comment finally elicited an uncertain pause from Sigma. He had had no intentions of meeting with this girl outside of the dream, but he could not let her down so ungraciously. He began to speak, his words sour in his mouth; how terrible a man he was for breaking a promise to a lady before it had even been made...

"Yes, of course," he lied. An honest man until now, this seemed slightly stilted, though what followed came more naturally. "Do not worry. I believe there are some things more important to protect than one's own life."

To offset his perhaps failed attempt at flirting, Sigma decided to give Eve a chance to speak. "I have been here for a year, now. If there is anything you wanted to know, I would be happy to fill you in..."
saveswithsong: (Eve - on stage)

Re: Never apologize, I was busy too!

[personal profile] saveswithsong 2014-01-08 06:51 am (UTC)(link)
He took another sip of his wine and looked a bit disconcerted. "It's not terrifically ladylike..." he started, his eyelashes fluttering as he lowered his gaze for a moment before looking back up again. "What keeps people from just hiding until they're one of the last few remaining?"
twoklimmen: (What have you found?)

[personal profile] twoklimmen 2014-01-11 05:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Perhaps it was the wine beginning to have its way, but as Eve fluttered her eyelashes Sigma sighed longingly. She was so beautiful, how nice it would be to have a companion once more. How unfortunate their meeting could only last one night; Sigma cursed his age and the experiences he had never lived out.

The Doctor paused as she spoke, glass frozen just before his lips. That was a good question, one he pondered quite often. "They have their ways," he began solemnly. "Sometimes they will threaten to hurt your loved ones. Other times they will actually act on it, bringing them from your world and throwing them into the Arena." This statement seems to hit a nerve with Sigma; though he tries to hide it, the flinch that ripples across his face is unmistakeable. "Other than that, they will sic some twisted plan on you if you still refuse. Sometimes animals, sometimes the environment. Still, despite all of that... if no one fought, there would not be a Game..." Dangerous words to say in a monitored crowning, perhaps...

He beamed at her, though his smile was quite sad. "Forgive me! I've become quite grim."