( open ) i think i found hell, i think i found something

[thatwasme]

Who| Barbara Wilson (AU) & OPEN
What| Another District 9 Mentor has arrived back in the Capitol just in time to help get Tributes together for the upcoming District Tour.
Where| The Tribute Training Center: Elevator, District 9 Suites.
When| January 3rd
Warnings/Notes| None at this time.

She'd worn the same sort of smile since she boarded the train in District 9, the kind that seems unselfconscious and to belong to someone of cheerier overall demeanor. Barbara has had years to perfect that smile, masking whatever thought process was going through her mind. Right now it was the freezing killing people off every day (not just night), and the perpetual worry about Alfred. Consternation mixed with fear of what it might mean if she couldn't pull this off, and how ridiculous it was to care so much for someone she was basically never allowed to see.

Yet it'd been intimated that there might be a way to find him a working cure, if... If she were back in the Capitol.

Barbara was all smiles and small talk on the way to the Tribute Training Center, feeling the tower looming like a presence in her subconscious as they drew close. "See you all later," was a half distracted platitude at the entrance, bracing herself internally before she walked into the den of the news hungry and the excitement craving. The Capitol, a place feared and envied, so caught up in it's own largess as to almost be comical, if one didn't have to bear the weight of all that entailed on their shoulders. She shunted that thought off to the side, bringing up parts of Alfred's most recent contact, analyzing what he's said.

I have to find a cure. The thought mobilized her, sending her through the front doors with a smile and a wink for the nearest camera. She'd come dressed exactly like she'd come out of the fields according to some romanticized version of farming: fresh cut somethings trailing as a scent where she moved, hair tousled, mud splattered up the side of sturdy, patched jeans, her shirt a blouse that would be wickedly impractical to do actual fieldwork in. The point wasn't practicality. The point was setting a certain mindset, so the impractical shirt, paired with the worn pants and the unbound hair and bit of alfalfa she rolled around between her fingers, it didn't need to be real. It needed to seem like what someone wanted to be real.

She wound her way through with a few nods of her head and a call or two of "How's the family doing?" No one really wanted to hold her up, not with the apologetic looks she shot them for her state of dress. They'd be happier for her getting cleaned up, though for now it was enough of a Capitol version of a novelty to think of a Victor who did any sort of work in the field being in such a rush to be there for the next event they came at a literal drop of the hat. The headlines almost wrote themselves.

( A ) The elevators were on the ground floor when she reached them, darting forward and holding a hand out to prevent the doors from closing. "Ha!" she exclaimed, sliding in and tapping two fingers over the Door Close button. "Just in time!" She waved at someone outside the elevator's closing doors, finally turning to examine anyone else heading up or down once they're closed. "I didn't want to get caught up waiting when the one thing I want most in the world right now is a hot shower!"

( B ) Once she made it to District 9's suites, she barely spent time looking around. Barbara cut a straight path toward the mentor's rooms, bag slung over her shoulder. She ran her free hand through her hair, breathing out slowly, keeping a ghost of a smile on her face for the sake of whatever was watching now. "Greetings from home, Eva," she called out, unconcerned if the older woman was even around to hear what she was saying. A cursory knock on an open doorframe was her other announcement, scanning the room for any obvious signs of inhabitants.

Once she judged it clear, she'd step inside, carefully setting her bag down on the bed and starting to undo the buttons on her blouse. She hadn't been kidding about that shower earlier.

Comments

(B)

[revvinguptheharley]

Harley was always on the lookout for new friends...or enemies...or victims. And as a new voice rang out into the suites she had to investigate.

Lounging about in a loose T-shirt with a cartoon bunny on it and shorts she had been having a relaxing afternoon of arguing with people on the network about who made the best couples and spreading rumors about which tributes were on the verge of a mental breakdown. Petty chaos ultimately but it was soothing to her.

With the promise of a new face she slid out of her room and on a whim dove dramatically behind the breakfast bar like she was under fire.

She peered ever so cautiously around the counter top to try and catch a peek at the newcomer and their possibly baffled expression.

[thatwasme]

Barbara had heard movement, and even partially registered where it was coming from. Her expression was less baffled than it was cautious, pausing with her back to the wall and her legs spread to best support her weight. She was a moment away from being able to either shed or utilize her pack as a weapon or time stall.

It's not supposed to be the smooth reaction, but the twitch of her lips in the half second after does manage to look natural. She didn't lose her ready pose, but she seemed less tense as she stood there.

"People normally start conversations with hellos, not tumbling."

Now she was settling in to the ease of smiling at a stranger, even though not many here were truly strange. Their faces had been all over televisions screens if they'd been there long enough.

It's just different, finally being in the immediate vicinity of people trapped here from another place entirely. She waggled the fingers of her free hand at the hint of a person peeking from around the counter top. "I promise I don't bite."

[revvinguptheharley]

"Aw, not even a little nibble?"

Harley popped up like a jack-in-the-box and proceeded to casually start making a sandwich as if nothing was out of the ordinary. She seemed to be spreading some kind of creamy fluff over the bread. Her ruby red lips were curled into a playful smirk.

[thatwasme]

Barbara kept a friendly, amused countenance. "I'm not really the nibbling kind." She'd tensed again when Harley had come up so quickly, watching the whole sandwich making process like it was a lot more interesting than it's generally considered. "Unless you're volunteering your sandwich. That I wouldn't say no to!"

Shifting her pack on her shoulder, she shot a good natured smile Harley's way. "I don't know about you, but traveling always leaves me hungry."

[revvinguptheharley]

"Ooo~ You're a daring one." Harley laughed and proceeded to add more sweet things to the sandwich. Crunchy little squares, colorful marsh mellows and a layer of what looked to be half melted chocolate. When she put the next piece of bread on top she slid it across the bar where Barbara could get to it.

"Consider it a gift to the newest dorm member of team gloom and doom." She declared with a cheer. The sugary concoction would be enough to hurt weak teeth.

Good thing most of the tributes had Capitol strength dental work.

(A)

[hit_girl_mindy]

Argh. There was always someone just coming in, right? At this point Mindy was too tired to object: an intense training session and her arms felt like lead, giving her a thrill of at least accomplishing that much. The blond popped in, all energy and bubbly, and somehow, Mindy thought she looked familiar. But no, what first popped into her head was weird, too weird.

"You and me both," she said. "I may have overdone it a little at the training center. Don't be surprised if you fall unconscious befre you get to the showers is all I'm saying."

[thatwasme]

She found herself laughing, amused at the idea and the stark contrast between now and what it had been like before. The Training Center had been about last minute survival skills for the smart, posturing and making deep impressions for the confident.

Very few had ever been truly confident. It usually showed in the eyes, even for the Careers. Being raised your whole life for this moment didn't make the knowledge of what was about to happen easier to swallow. Besides, Careers had never been the only ones who won.

She thought of Annie, and the flood, and she shivers. "Aah, when you say it like that, I can't tell if it's something to look forward to or avoid! What were you working on?"

She knew Mindy's face, but that felt beside any point. Watching the Games created an artificial environment of "knowledge" on all Tributes. The unending nature of this quell wasn't dissipating that particular culture.

[hit_girl_mindy]

Hmm. This was a new situation, and so far, this girl wasn't someone she knew yet. She seemed ok enough, albeit strangely familiar in the face, but other than that? She was a mystery.

"That just depends on how you handle the games, I guess. I'm not trying to have a handicap, so I'm making sure I'm in it for the full throttle. Dying felt shitty enough the first time. Next time, I might not get someone good enough to quicken the death."

She shrugged. "Body. Reflexes. Suspension. Kinda try to do a bit of everything, make out where I need improvement."

[thatwasme]

Everything Mindy says highlights how wrong and unnatural all of this really is, making Barbara's skin crawl. What would it have been like with any of the people she'd run the games with had been able to come back? To go, again and again?

She didn't have the time to think about that kind of horror. Snow was asking for more on his hands by keeping this going time and time again; cheapening Death by showing they had the power to reverse the process.

Yet they still let people starve, and did nothing while they froze night after night.

She wasn't here to think about those things, and she reminded herself of that fact. A cure. Her end goal, and that was all.

"Working on compensating for reach and size?" Barbara held her head to the side, evaluating the younger woman. "What about general survival skills?"

The things people don't find all that glorious.

A

[splendid_roman]

Ian smiled at the woman. "This is the best place to get one." Not being used to such powerful showers that were reliably hot, he had found the ones here an eye-opener in that regard. "Have you come far?" he asked, spotting her bag.

[thatwasme]

"Depends on who you're asking," she said, offering a crooked grin. "I just got in from the districts. Burr! You wouldn't believe how cold it is this time of year!"

She hadn't mentioned which, but it was a self-evident process; she'd pressed the button for the 9th floor once she'd boarded.

[splendid_roman]

"It is winter." Although he was thinking of winter weather like he was used to in London, rather than here. Wherever here was exactly. "But at least it's always warm in here."

[thatwasme]

"The Capitol's big on creature comforts." She smilesd shrugging one shoulder. "Are winters where you're from much like this?" Small talk was easy enough to fall back into, the more she made herself engage.

Engaging was key around the Capitol, paired with careful consideration of who and what one was engaging with.

B!

[polyturtle]

Don had just come back from...well, where he was wasn't exactly a place he could be followed yet. He'd been on the roof, doing something he hadn't done in a very, very long time. Not since before he'd arrived in Panem, even.

He'd meditated. And not just going away and relaxing, he did a full, deep meditation, in full seiza, for an hour. It...helped. And at last he came down, quietly coming in to talk to Eva--to see a new face in the beginning state of undress.

"...Hi."

He then went to go close the door.

[thatwasme]

Barbara glanced up at Don, eyebrow quirking up at the reality of seeing someone who has been... Giant turtle. More of a reminder of the horrific places muttations might go in the early days. She can admit to herself for a moment she legitimately has no idea what to say. Turtle.

She smiles anyway. "Hey. Sorry, I was just about to hit the showers -- what's it you like to be called?" You're a turtle.

She kept unbuttoning her shirt, largely apparently unconcerned. About the only difference would be a door separating them would mean a louder call out to continue the 'conversation.' With the giant turtle that's been fighting in the Games.

[polyturtle]

"Donatello. Don. Either one."

At least he was a polite...ish turtle who wasn't going to ogle her. He didn't close the door all the way when she spoke, but his back was still turned.

"You're new here, I take it."

[thatwasme]

"Don, got it." It stayed true with what she knew in a general sense, but she felt like asking was important.She continued undressing after a moment guaging what he'd do; staying outside the doors was polite enough for her to decide that her airheaded persona would be single minded to the point of not caring. Modesty was a matter of perspective.

"I'm just in town as of an hour ago, just about. You planning on sticking around the next half hour or so Don?"

b;

[relatability]

He didn't realize the woman was here until he heard her voice echo through the suites, at which point he emerges cautiously from the room he was assigned to to locate the source of the sound.

He's not worried. He takes light steps, ready to dash back if necessary, but he knocks on the door with a confident hand.

[thatwasme]

Barbara had hoped that Eva would be around. It's not a lack of understanding that the faces she'd seen attached to District 9's name weren't in the same facility. By a certain amount of default, there was nowhere else they could be for long.

She answers the door with her shirt half open, smiling in reflex at the unfamiliar face. He's not dressed like an Avox, and she doesn't recognize him from anything televised. New, or something else?

"You're definitely not Eva. Hello!" She says, offering a hand for shaking, apparently unaware or unconcerned by her state of dress. Granted, a white sports bra looked wasn't much to look at, but it was clearly also not a complete undershirt to her blouse. "I'm Barbara. You are...?"

[relatability]

She certainly is cheerful. Not taking her an an immediate threat, he releases some of the tension in his shoulders and rolls back slightly on the balls of his feet. The cheerfulness emitted from her (that he takes at face value) is seriously disturbing.

And at ease? He assumes she's unarmed under whatever she's wearing there, especially with her shirt unbuttoned like that.

"... It's Jean. You used to this place?"

[thatwasme]

She leaves her hand palm up between them, turning from a handshake like greeting to a peace offering by posture alone. The name Jean is definitely new attached to a face like his, and she figures he's more likely to be a new Tribute than any part of a stylist team, or an escort.

Canting her head to the side, she exhales softly, a small snort of amusement. "To this place? Familiar, but not used to, it's all too fancy for me." Too rich, too gratuitous, too Capitol. "Though I figure you're asking how long I've been around. I'm a mentor here for D9," she drawls, smile stretching a little wider, "So I reckon I'm used to Panem, all right. I was born here after all."

[vissernone]

Eva no longer lives in the District 9 Suites, and hasn't for a long while. She's only visiting to check on everyone and get to work before the next Arena starts. She isn't expecting to hear a familiar voice.

She heads over to Barbara's room, not daring to get her hopes up that she'll get to share the load with someone again. When she sees her former protege, she hustles over and opens her arms for a hug, despite Barbara having already gotten her shirt off. She never hugs without asking first; she hates her space invaded more than most.

Being revived has not been kind to her, and she looks much worse for wear than the last time Barbara saw her. She has deep pools of darkness under her eyes, and one side of her mouth twitches to the side and sticks there. She's wearing sunglasses because bright lights still sting her eyes and make her brain constrict.

"I was afraid I'd be left to try and train these hopeless cases by myself forever."

[thatwasme]

There's a pang of guilt that shoots right through her stomach when she sees Eva. The kind of nightmares she started having right after this whole system changed, followed up by their realization in the last Arena.

Barbara moves in at Eva's open armed invitation, wrapping her arms around a woman she didn't always see eye to eye with and giving her a tight hug. Eva fell into the 'safe' category, one generally populated with children and close friends, if she had any. She tended to bridge the gap in displays of apparent affection by using small touches on the arms as attention directors. Hugging wasn't something she's indulged in since her own games.

As she hugs Eva now, she feels a yearning for that ease of affection and mutual human contact she hasn't had since childhood. Eva inviting her in at all tells her how bad it's really been.

"Sorry I took so long," she says, waiting for cues from Eva to read when she needs to step back. "I've been hung-up in the district longer than I figured I would be."

The district has been safer from one set of dangers, and the worse for another. Coming back into the Capitol meant playing by the Capitol's rules. If it was worth it in the end depended on results, and how the sentiment of Capitol citizens, enforcers, and President Snow currently flowed with regards to Victors and their Tributes. Not well, looking at how the 8th of the Quell Games had gone.

[vissernone]

Eva's hug is tight but brief, warm but not loving. She cares for Barbara - she cares for all her Tributes - but now that Barbara's graduated from the worst education one can have, they're more equals than the constructed relationship of Mentor and Tribute once created.

In some ugly way, she's always resented Barbara. A somewhat educated young woman like her didn't feel like a true resident of District 9. Eva learned to read by stealing Peacekeeper rule sheets. Of course the one District 9 Tribute to survive since Eva's time was one of the most educated.

"We'll be heading back to District Nine soon. I haven't been in quite a while." With nothing to return to but sad memories, or worse, inaccurate ones that will be painfully corrected by seeing old locations, Eva tends to stay in the Capitol. She tells herself it's so she knows her enemies. She's very good at lying.

"How much have you been told about our lot so far?"

[thatwasme]

They're survivors of the Games, and the Capitol that follows. They're both good liars, if not all in the same ways.

Barbara steps back, reclaiming her own space, features relaxing more than her shoulders ever do. "Not much," she admits, mind casting forward to what this trip back will be like, knowing they'll turn around to come right back here again. "You'll hardly recognize the place. Everything's neat as can be."

She pauses in consideration. Eva has made her point of never looking back. Barbara has embraced it, looking to make something out of what she didn't have. Both had their reasons, but she wonders how well Eva will take the dip back in her old pond.

Her own skin is crawling being here now, knowing she won't be truly leaving for good anytime soon. She can't afford to, and she's not the only one who knows as much.

"It's been a cold winter, too," she settles on saying. "The perfect kind for ice skating!" Chipper. She makes it sound chipper, but that brightness doesn't reach her eyes. Cold enough to freeze water was more than cold enough to freeze other things too.