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.
splendid_roman: (Hand on chin)

Re: Gabriel

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2013-12-16 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Ian had been staring at the food, wondering whether it was likely to jump up and bite him. He looked up as someone wondered over, but didn't bother pasting on a smile. "I wouldn't count on it being edible," Ian warned him.
casaerotica13: (cmon now)

[personal profile] casaerotica13 2013-12-16 10:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Gabe stopped and looked over to the guy. "Ain't it all in my head, anyway? I could eat you, if I wanted to."

And he meant that in the nicest way possible, honestly.

"Then again, I guess you don't need a dream world for that, but you get my drift."
splendid_roman: (Thinking)

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2013-12-17 10:57 am (UTC)(link)
"I suppose so," Ian said slowly, taking a step away from the man. "I just wouldn't put it past them to have the food give us nightmares or something like that."
casaerotica13: (dr sexy)

[personal profile] casaerotica13 2013-12-17 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh. He blinked back to the food that. "Now that's just cruel... I'm willing to sacrifice myself as the test dummy, if you'll have me."

Nothing will come between him and food.
splendid_roman: (Thinking)

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2013-12-18 11:38 am (UTC)(link)
He shrugged. "All right." He wasn't going to stop someone from eating if they were determined to. "I don't think eating here will make you feel any less hungry when you wake up, though."
casaerotica13: (Default)

[personal profile] casaerotica13 2013-12-18 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)
"That's fine," he answered, grabbing up a cake, "I'm one of those types who doesn't know what it's like to be hungry anyway."

He noted that skill probably won't help him in the arena, but he ignored it and took a bit anyway.
splendid_roman: (Raising an eyebrow)

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2013-12-19 12:29 pm (UTC)(link)
He raised an eyebrow. "I take it you haven't been in the arena yet."
casaerotica13: (actual chipmunk)

[personal profile] casaerotica13 2013-12-19 08:58 pm (UTC)(link)
He smiled back and spoke through his cake. "Haven't gotten that cherry popped yet."

He wasn't looking forward to it, either.
splendid_roman: (Smiling)

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2013-12-19 09:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Ian smiled back. "Well, it's..." He cast about to find a good way to describe the experience. "Not something to look forward to, particularly," he came up with in the end. "And certainly not somewhere with an abundance of food."
casaerotica13: (Default)

[personal profile] casaerotica13 2013-12-19 10:14 pm (UTC)(link)
"So, I've heard," he answered, walking back over to the guy with a couple of cakes in hand. "Not really looking forward to it, to be honest. But, hey. Nothing like living in the moment."

He held a treat out to him. "As you can see, I've yet to go into some sort of horrible nightmare realm, so I think they're good."
splendid_roman: (Thinking)

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2013-12-20 10:24 am (UTC)(link)
Ian hesitated for a moment but then took the cake. "Oh, why not. What's the worst that can happen?" He took a bite and then frowned - but not due to the taste of the cake. "I shouldn't have said that, it's asking for trouble."
casaerotica13: (aha)

[personal profile] casaerotica13 2013-12-20 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Gabe just chuckled. "Where I come from, jinxes are never boring, so at least there's that to look forward to."
splendid_roman: (Laughing with Barbara in The Romans)

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2013-12-21 07:20 pm (UTC)(link)
"They never are boring, that's the trouble." But Ian chuckled too. "I'd quite like to be bored for once - I think I've forgotten what it's like."
casaerotica13: (sup bro)

[personal profile] casaerotica13 2013-12-25 07:53 pm (UTC)(link)
"You know, I gotta agree with ya. Being bored is pretty great. Get up to all kinds of stuff."

He also remembered the days when he wasn't bored. The last time he actually broke a sweat. Those weren't good days for anyone.

He didn't expect these to be a lot better, but he nibbled on sweets in the meantime. What else was he supposed to do? Sit there and panic?
splendid_roman: (Smiling)

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2013-12-26 03:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Ian chuckled. "That's probably why they don't give us the opportunity to be bored. If we're busy we have no time to plot a way out of here."
casaerotica13: (sure buddy)

[personal profile] casaerotica13 2013-12-28 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
"Some people are good at multitasking," he shrugged. "Back where I'm from, that usually just gives their prisoners the gift of surprise."
splendid_roman: (Raising an eyebrow)

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2013-12-28 10:15 am (UTC)(link)
"Their prisoners?" He raised an eyebrow. "You hung about with jailers, where you're from?"
casaerotica13: (well gee)

[personal profile] casaerotica13 2013-12-29 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
Oh. He had to think about that and nearly smiled at the similarities. "You know, I probably did and just never put two and two together. So yeah, I guess you could say that.

"Before I ditched that circus, anyway."
splendid_roman: (Isn't he a splendid looking Roman?)

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2013-12-29 12:52 pm (UTC)(link)
"So what did you do after that?" Ian wondered.
casaerotica13: (sure buddy)

[personal profile] casaerotica13 2013-12-30 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
"Traveled the world. Saw the sights. Lived for once." He smiled at the happy memories. "I loved, lost, punished the wicked, exalted the good. Mostly I just hid from brothers. Also, I discovered candy." He did lots.
splendid_roman: (Smiling)

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2013-12-30 03:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Ian chuckled. "That was a lot. It's probably just as well you got it in before ending up here. I'm not sure how many of those things you'd be able to do here."
casaerotica13: (sup bro)

[personal profile] casaerotica13 2013-12-31 01:24 am (UTC)(link)
"Well I can keep hiding from my brothers, so that's a good enough plus for me right now."
splendid_roman: (Laughing with Barbara in The Romans)

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2013-12-31 04:50 pm (UTC)(link)
He laughed. "That's a good enough reason for anyone."
casaerotica13: (im amazing)

[personal profile] casaerotica13 2014-01-01 08:40 am (UTC)(link)
"So what about you?" Gabriel finally asked. Enough about him, for the time being. "Hang out with jailers, too?"
splendid_roman: (Smiling)

[personal profile] splendid_roman 2014-01-02 10:49 am (UTC)(link)
"No." He shook his head, still smiling. "I used to do everything I could to get away from jailers. Not much hope of that here, though." He sighed.

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