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.
knifewithnoname: (fascinating)

[personal profile] knifewithnoname 2013-12-19 06:51 am (UTC)(link)
She grinned, glad that he hadn't told her off like some adults did around here. She also quickly changed the coward label.

She poked at the muffin and smelled it, and then figured that dream poison probably wasn't all that dangerous and muffins were tasty. So she bit into it.

"Do you be being new here?"
acroodawakening: (073)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2013-12-19 07:19 am (UTC)(link)
What was there to tell off? It was actually a bit of a relief to know someone that young was that ferocious. How else would a child be able to handle all this? It was horrifying enough that there were children here, let alone completely defenseless ones.

"I'm new. They threw me into the middle of the fighting. This is the first time I've been in this place." He added, "Not the dream, I mean, although that's new - and terrifying - but where we were when we were awake."

He asked a question he wasn't looking forward to having answered.

"How long have you been here?"
Edited 2013-12-19 07:19 (UTC)
knifewithnoname: (oh I see)

[personal profile] knifewithnoname 2013-12-19 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
She nodded, "The city? It do be being stupid." But being thrown right into the arena was stupid as well.

"That did be being my third arena, so a long time, not a year though I do no be thinking."
acroodawakening: (037)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2013-12-20 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
Moons and moons then, even if it wasn't a whole year passed. That was terrible. Even if she was a ferocious child - as some children were - as far as Guy was concerned they shouldn't be forced into extra danger, only be nurtured into having the strength to face the danger that came naturally.

"How've you been holding up?" he asked her. "Some kids, I know you can deal with things like this, with danger and death, but that doesn't mean you should have to."

knifewithnoname: (oh I see)

[personal profile] knifewithnoname 2013-12-20 10:24 am (UTC)(link)
"I do be being fine." She wrinkled her nose and reached out to steal more of his food. "I do no be being a baby."
acroodawakening: (100)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2013-12-23 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
"It's not really about being a baby," said Guy. "Where I come from, our young can be - they can be very tough. Especially in caveman families - they're bigger people, a little more ferocious than people like me. They can fight and hunt even when they're very young and our world is dangerous, so sometimes they have to do that to survive."

He tried to find a way to put what he was thinking into words. "But there are other things besides hunting and - and worrying about surviving that you can only do when you're young. Like playing. So we try to make sure they can fight and survive but that it isn't their entire world. So I was mostly asking because of that. I have a daughter back home. I - it makes you worry about children even if they're not yours. If you were having to fight too much and not have enough time for the other things that are fun when you're a kid, I'd want to help you - just like you just offered to help me."
knifewithnoname: (thinking)

[personal profile] knifewithnoname 2013-12-23 12:38 pm (UTC)(link)
She nodded, it was good that they could fight and hunt. Otherwise they would die. That was what happened. She wrinkled her nose though, playing was for tiny babies, Pruna had never played anything. She had always had her work, or training. Sometimes the little ones on the street played but Pruna never understood their games, they were stupid.

"I do no be needing to be playing, and training do be being fun anyways so I do be thanking you for the help but I do no be needing any."
acroodawakening: (148)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2013-12-26 05:44 am (UTC)(link)
"You never play at all?" Guy asked, with a gentle tilt of his head, raising his eyebrows. "Never ever?"

What kind of world did this girl come from where all she did was fight and train to fight? Guy didn't understand it, not when he still played sometimes even as an adult.

"It's a lot of fun. It doesn't make it any harder to fight and hunt, either. Sometimes it even helps. My mate and I, we'll hide and chase each other, and that makes it so we're better at chasing animals."
knifewithnoname: (pondering)

[personal profile] knifewithnoname 2013-12-26 11:14 am (UTC)(link)
"No. Never ever." She frowned, she had never thought about playing as helping with training.

"Well it do be being easier just to be training, I do no be knowing how to be playing."
acroodawakening: (088)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2013-12-27 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
"The thing about playing is that there's no wrong way to do it as long as you're having fun," he said. "And then it helps just like training does. That's what makes it so great."

He leaned a little closer, conspiratorially. "I bet, if I were to get some people together - maybe some of the other people your age -" He'd seen a few, sadly "- and start up a game of hide and find, you'd have a lot of fun."
knifewithnoname: (thinking)

[personal profile] knifewithnoname 2013-12-27 09:57 am (UTC)(link)
"Hide and seek?" She wrinkled her nose, "What do that be being?"

She was pretty sure that this playing thing would be harder than this man was making it out to be.
acroodawakening: (134)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2013-12-27 10:12 am (UTC)(link)
"One person is the finder. The finder counts to a high number to give them all time, and then all the other people playing have to go find somewhere nearby to hide as best as they can. When the finder is finished counting they go and try to hunt for them. If they find them all, the first person they found becomes the new finder. If they don't find them all and give up, then they have to be the finder again and a new round starts."

His gaze went a little distant and wistful as he remembered the times he'd played it when he was young. Nowadays, it was just him and Eep. That was fun, too, though their games sometimes ended in a very different way than they had when he was young.

"It's fun. It's like practice hunting and people have to try to be creative about where they hide. Sometimes they'll do it in funny places right under the finder's nose."
knifewithnoname: (thinking)

[personal profile] knifewithnoname 2013-12-28 06:58 am (UTC)(link)
"That do be sounding like hunting." She could see how it could be useful practice for the arena. Maybe it wouldn't be so boring after all.

"Maybe I can be showing Sandy, she do be needing to be practicing." Though she was doing a great job of not being found tonight.
acroodawakening: (129)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2013-12-28 07:09 am (UTC)(link)
"If you ever need an extra person, you can always grab me."

Might as well practice for when he got home (because he couldn't bear to think it wasn't a possibility). It wasn't going to be long before his daughter could start motoring around and playing.

"I'm Guy. What's your name?"
knifewithnoname: (smiles)

[personal profile] knifewithnoname 2013-12-29 11:52 am (UTC)(link)
She nodded, "It do be nice to be meeting you Guy." Guy was a strange name, she thought. "They do be calling me Pruna."
acroodawakening: (017)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2014-01-03 10:00 am (UTC)(link)
"It's nice to meet you too, Pruna."

He looked at his empty hands.

"I seem to be out of food, so I think I'm going to sneak out and try to find some." He looked over at her and his eyes went wide as if he'd just spotted a potential worthy challenge. "Why don't we see if we can do it without being seen?"

He was going to teach this child to play even if he had to trick her into it.
knifewithnoname: (smiles)

[personal profile] knifewithnoname 2014-01-03 11:22 am (UTC)(link)
She grinned, thinking about it for a moment before nodding. "Okay, we can be doing that." She knew no one would mind if they ate the food, but she liked stealing things, she was good at it, and it was even better if no one would shout if she got caught. Not that she would get caught.

acroodawakening: (003)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2014-01-04 08:24 am (UTC)(link)
Guy gestured for her to follow alongside him and started peeping out at all the other tables to try to find his mark.

He leaned towards her conspiratorially.

"What are you in the mood for? Fruit? More of these weird dough things? I think we should get what would taste best and what would be the best challenge."
knifewithnoname: (excited smiles)

[personal profile] knifewithnoname 2014-01-04 10:23 am (UTC)(link)
"Well the best challenge would be being things at the middle of the table." She scanned the table looking for things she knew and liked. There really was all sorts of food here, some she didn't recognise at all despite her attempts to try everything the capitol had to offer.

"Look! They do be having honey cakes!"
acroodawakening: (003)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2014-01-16 05:03 am (UTC)(link)
"Honey cakes! Well, now we know our target." Guy rubbed his hands together. "What do you think? I think we can use that dessert cart for cover, roll under that table there, work our way up underneath it, and then roll across the aisle to the other table. Sound like a plan?"
knifewithnoname: (pondering)

[personal profile] knifewithnoname 2014-01-16 11:04 am (UTC)(link)
Pruna grinned and scanned the tables, going through what he was saying in her head, working out how hard it would be, where the difficulties would lie and how they could fix them.

"We will be having to be being fast rollers." She said, "But I think we can be doing it." Well she thought she could do it, but surely if he was rubbish he wouldn't have suggested the plan.
acroodawakening: (003)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2014-01-22 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
"I concur," he said, making it clear he took her tactical assessment very seriously. "Okay, are you ready?"
knifewithnoname: (pondering)

[personal profile] knifewithnoname 2014-01-22 06:25 am (UTC)(link)
She nodded, scanning the tables one more time. "I do be being ready." She was crouching already and she began making her way over to the desert cart like they had planned, checking to make sure the man was coming with her.
acroodawakening: (003)

[personal profile] acroodawakening 2014-01-30 08:21 am (UTC)(link)
"Okay. Ready? On three. One... two... three!"

And he scrambled to the desert cart, looking back to make sure she was following.
knifewithnoname: (pondering)

[personal profile] knifewithnoname 2014-01-30 11:37 am (UTC)(link)
She was following and a moment later she was behind the desert cart, crouching low to not be seen.

Next part, rolling under the table. She looked over at the man to check he was ready.

(no subject)

[personal profile] acroodawakening - 2014-01-30 21:15 (UTC) - Expand

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[personal profile] knifewithnoname - 2014-01-31 07:12 (UTC) - Expand

wanna wrap up here?

[personal profile] acroodawakening - 2014-02-01 01:43 (UTC) - Expand

yup!

[personal profile] knifewithnoname - 2014-02-01 10:58 (UTC) - Expand