thecapitol | (no subject)

WHO| Everyone!
WHAT| A Halloween Ball
WHEN| Halloween night
WHERE| The Tribute Center
WARNING/NOTES| None atm. Please tag in your subject lines if anything comes up.

The Capitol had been winding up to this for weeks. More and more extravagant decorations had begun to appear all over the city. Gruesome alleys dripping with gore, houses transformed into creaking, ancient cobweb covered dwellings, flickering ghosts haunting windows and doorways. The citizens themselves had becomes more and more extravagant as the days crept closer, dripping in glitters spiderwebs, hair teased to coil around pumpkins and crows, and decked out in meticulous costumes, often celebrating past victors, and even current tributes.

The ball at the Tribute Training Center wasn't anywhere near the only party that night, but it was the most extravagant, and the most sought after. The decorations had gone towards the classic (perhaps the goverment realizing other areas might move too close to home.) The building had been transformed into a spooky, ancient looking mansion, over taken by spiders and lit with flickering candles everywhere. The tables were spread with unimaginable heaping of treats, from grotesqueness mock organs to sparkling jewel colored sugar covered candies. Avoxs move about, for once literally ghosts, covered in their own shrouds of spider webs and sheer gauze, holding plates of smoking drinks.

Attendance for the Tributes was mandatory. As were costumes. And oh boy did their stylists go all out for this one. It was a parade and a party all rolled into ones and they weren't going to slack on that.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Mine."

And she gave him a look that suggested he better be please as punch that she had come up with such a wonderful idea.

He continued staring out at the crowd instead, pursing his mouth to keep from saying anything unfortunate. At least he knew well enough to know not to say something to Effie, of all people. Even the stylists could take his comments better than she could.

So he held his tongue, swiping a drink from a passing waitress, and then another for good measure. The second, he offered to her by way of peace offering, though his silence and the pinched look on his face probably told her exactly what he thought of her idea.

Anyone passing by to those matching pursed faces might also assume they were related. But when he took the drink, her face relaxed a bit, and she gave him a gracious smile.

He could learn.

It was more than she could say for the rest of her team.

"So, I mean...besides certain things, how are you settling in?"

Draco was, after all, young and impressionable, and had been raised by a mother who would never let him have a drink while a lady went without (unless she had openly stated she didn't want one, of course). He could indeed learn, even if he didn't want to.

He sniffed, settling for a long sip of his drink. "Fine. I suppose. At least some of this isn't quite so different from back home." Even if he couldn't use his magic. That was the worst part of all of this.

"Oh really? What is home like?"

Effie would admit, she did find all these worlds fascinating. She had always enjoyed history, and it was sort of like having many different histories to study. Different worlds with different ways.

"Well, I don't know. It's home. That's all it is," he replied, frowning over his glass. "I've never had to describe to to someone before; they always just know."

It was more the feelings that it evoked that what it actually was like, anyway, but he couldn't put words to that either.

"Well, you'll want to tell everyone about it. Catch their attention. make them want to listen."

She was proud of herself, turning this into a lesson and a social event.

"And how's that?" He asked, the furrow in his brow deepening. Certainly, they'd asked him about his home before now, but he'd never said anything about it. He'd downright refused, managing to do so pleasantly enough, brushing kisses against the ladies' hands and distracting them just enough for them to have forgotten the question they'd been asking him in the first place. It worked well enough.

"Well, make it seem amazing. Make them want to know more, about it and you. If they want to know more, they'll want too root for you."

She smiled, hoping he was getting it. He was a good looking young man, and had the right attitude. When he tried.

Well, that did make sense, in a way. If they were rooting for him, then they would sponsor him, and if they sponsored him, then maybe he wouldn't die quite as brutally this time around.

It was like something clicked, and it showed on his face.

"Oh," Draco murmured. "Well. I suppose I...could give that a go."

Oh, she loved seeing that moment on a tributes face. Clapping her hands, she smiled broadly at him.

"Good boy. I have faith in you."

But Merlin's beard, was Effie ever annoying. Draco forced a small smile to his face, trying to bite back a comment about her giddy clapping, and pretended to be charming as ever. "Of course you do. I can do anything I set my mind to, especially get sponsors. Don't worry about that."

Well, that was a at least something. If nothing else, this whole brood of trouble was making them very marketable.

"I think, then, I will leave you to socialize, and go so some soclizing of my own." She said, glancing down to make sure her outfit was all in place. "Does everything look right?"

"You're still going to lose that gem if you keep touching it," he pointed out, one brow arching as he gave her a cursory once-over, then looked away, scanning the crowd for someone he could flirt with for a while. "And yes, everything else looks fine. I don't think anyone will notice anything anyway."

"Oh! Yes!"

She might as well just go fix it. Giving him a small little pat, she bustled off to go glue that back on.