thecapitol | District Tours: Train Ride

Prior to their departure, the Tributes have to suffer a photoshoot, a few interviewers asking them a thousand questions about how excited they are, and more than a few members of their style teams asking the Tributes to bring back mementos. "Don't worry about quality, dears, we can get that all here - we want you to bring us souvenirs for the novelty of it!"

The day of the trip, Tributes are roused bright and early, well before sunrise, and driven in Peacekeeper vans to the train station. It's all rather dour, and not like the start of a vacation at all; if one didn't know what was going on, and if the Escorts and head Stylists weren't chattering excitedly, they might think they were being hauled off to a war zone.

The trains, on the other hand, are plush, fancy things, and there is one per District. There's a single blockaded car for cargo, another for maintenance, driving and Peacekeeping staff, and then several others which are open to the Tributes. A dinner car serves three meals and has small snacks available throughout the day. Another car is an entertainment center with a selection of Capitol-approved films, and a the last one is the Tributes' temporary room. It has a bunk bed for each with sheets that was a truly intense threadcount, and a single massage chair in the back. The Stylists, Mentors and Escorts sleep in the same car, although separated by a partition.

Unfortunately, all the Tributes have to share the sleeping quarters, and it's first-come, first-served.

For the most part, the trip is so smooth that the surface of a glass full of water would not be disturbed. The trips to the closer Districts are a little under a day, but the furthest Districts - 3, 4, 7, 8, 11 and 12 - take nearly 48 hours.

[OOC: For Tributes accepted during the District tours, you can assume they arrived before the departure so they can participate in the District festivities. During the train ride there is still network access. There will only be this post and the party post from the mods for this event, so players are encouraged to make their own of their characters exploring their surroundings and enjoying the Districts.]

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He sighed. "I wish I could send ya home."

He pulled her close and gently wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Then don't share a bedroom with 'im. We'll bring out a couple blankets and ya can sleep in here. Or ya can sleep in there when he's not sleepin'." Not that he knew who "he" was.

She stiffened when he hugged her, actively refusing not to give in to her desire to just be loved by somebody.

"I do not think they will let you." Her voice cracked. "They want to laugh when I look at him and sigh when he remembers I am alive. Oh, I HATE it! I hate this whole place."

She pushed away from Eliot and kicked out, hard, at the table in front of her.

"They forget we're people, not characters in a movie." Most of them did, anyway. The ones that remembered were usually the worst.

She shrugged. "And what can be done? Monsieur Marius will never look at me, and always now, they will keep me by his side, so I might see his happiness with Cosette whilst I have nothing."

He sighed, remembering Anna, who he'd wanted something more with, who was now missing. He both hoped and feared she was dead. "We find ya someone else."

He lowered his voice. "Or we make it look like ya have. Give 'em somethin' else to look at an' they'll eventually forget about your feelin's for Marius."

She shook her head. "They will have me with anyone, Sir. Howard. Orc. Ian... Monsieur Aunamee. But it is not like that... well, perhaps with Howard, yes. But I didn't love him."

She sighed, and patted her hollow belly. "It is just... empty, you know? Always so.... I am a ghost, Sir. And at home, I would have Montparnasse. He would make me feel. He would pull my hair and drag me to his bed and it would hurt... but well, you know? It made me feel...For just a moment... I want someone to need me. I want them to want me."

"I know," he said quietly, his own eyes slightly haunted. He's spent years felling like that. Her talk about Montparnasse made his blood boil, though. Eponine deserved better than that.

"Ya need a family. Here."

That made her half smile at least.

"Have you not heard, Monsieur? I am on posters for orphans, though I am not one. I have Eva and Sigma... But love. Proper love. That is what I want... But I do not get what I want. One day, I shall learn."

"And ya'll get it someday." He was almost certain she would. She was a sweet, likable girl. A boy her age would be blind not to see that.

"No..." Her smile was bitter. "It is not for a woman such as I. Not for me." She sighed, and tried to brighten her expression. "But you should not be talking me out of a mood. You should not have to listen to me."

"I wanted to." It really was that simple. He cared about her. He didn't want to see her lose herself and she looked like she was in danger of that.

She half smiled. It was brief, but it was there. And she nodded her acknowledgement, her thanks, though she vocalised neither. Quite frankly, she was lost, despairing. She needed....something. She needed someone to tell her what to do, so that she could simply follow orders. She needed something to argue back against so that she remembered that she was alive.

"You should find someone to entertain you, Sir. My Pa always said I weren't fit company for a gentleman." She drew up her knees and half shrugged, before staring at her black pinafore and grey tights covering her legs.

District Tours: Train Ride

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