open;

[onlyimmune]

Who| Ellie and OPEN
What| Ellie has a bit of a good yell, and tries to take her mind off things around the capitol
Where| District 1 suite, Common room, and some places around town
When| Any time after Ellie's death (end week four) to the end of the arena
Warnings/Notes| Language



[Option 1: District One Suites]

Ellie awoke with a choking gasp, her eyes flying open and she sat bolt upright in bed. She was sweating, flushed with adrenaline, her heart hammering away in its chest as if it had just relearned how to beat.

In a way, it had.

It took her a few minutes to remember where she was, the cool dark of her room broken only by the faint glow of the city lights outside her window... screen... thing. Finally, silently, she pulled herself from the sheets and stumbled into the room, clutching her pajammas around her. She raised a shaking hand and scrubbed the tears from her eyes before they had a chance to fall. She was fine. She was fine, and she was alive, and she was back in the city. No matter how very, very fucked up that concept was.

"Shit," She muttered to herself, her voice cracking slightly before she drew in a breath and slipped out into the suite common room in the dead of night.

She needed to find a television.


[Option 2: Common Room]

She was quieter than she usually was. Most of her friends were still in the arena (in fact, nearly all of them), so she kept to herself and tended to watch a lot of it on the television. She hoarded popcorn, building a little fort up around her of blankets and pillows as if she could build herself a cocoon and keep the world away.

When the television flipped to yet another commercial for tribute action figures, she groaned loudly and threw popcorn. "You fucking stole mine, you bastards!"

[Option 3: Out on the streets]

She was still a bit wary, around so many people. Even in the quarantine zone, the sheer population of the place had never been this high, and after weeks in the arena she'd gotten used to people being a thread, and scarce. So she kept to the sidelines, weaving in and out quietly, though she did slip into the pastry shop (and actually bought one, rather than stealing it), coming back out of the shopping and nibbling on it as she looked over the crowd. God, but the capitolites were a strange bunch. At least it made the tributes fairly easy to spot....

[Option 4: In the Park]

When she found the park, she could help but feel her heart lift again. It was one of the things she had really loved about the outside, beyond the walls of the quarantine. Despite the infection, despite the nearly constant danger, being able to actually see natural rather than endless drab concrete was something she relished. So she didn't bother to hide her pleasure as she strolled through the park, knowing she was completely safe (or as safe as possible). She ran her fingers over the bark of the trees, slipping deeper and deeper into the forest. All sense of civilization around her was lost, as if she was entering another world.

Only then she realised she wasn't alone, and that sense of security was shattered.

"Who's there?"

Comments

2!

[hanssome]

[The concept of TV is still relatively new to Hans. He's seen the screens and he's getting used to computers, but to have a system of pre-recorded messages blaring constantly seems odd to him. He can't help but be fascinated by it in a strange way, even if the bright colours and loud noises get annoying after a while.

He'd been intending to walk past, even if the blanket fort piques his interest, but the commercial has him stopping and the outraged exclamation surprises him.]

I don't think they can hear you. [He says ever so helpfully, because clearly she's just confused.]

Re: 2!

[onlyimmune]

[Ellie looks up at the voice, sees a guy that is almost weirdly good looking, and rolls her eyes visibly.]

Yeah, because they totally don't have cameras over every inch of this room.

[She threw more popcorn at the screen, even though it had gone on to show a commercial for wigs made into boat shapes.]

You hear me you dickbags? I want my fucking Wyatt Earp action figure back!

[hanssome]

You make a good point. [One he hadn't really considered, given the fact that he's still just learning the bare minimum here. Alas, every nasty surprise is something he can use against someone else in the future.]

Why would they take your doll? [Because action figure is a silly word and he'll never use it.] I don't doubt they've done stranger things, but it seems awfully petty.

[onlyimmune]

[She raised her hands, her eyes widening.]

Woah, there. You calling Wyatt a doll? Soon as he gets back here I'm telling him you said that!

[She might be teasing. But then she shrugs.]

Don't know. They were in my pockets when I died in the arena, so. You'd think that if I took the fucking time to find them that they'd let me keep them.

[hanssome]

Well, no- wait, what? No! Don’t do that, I don’t even know who he is! [He can sense the teasing tone, but he’ll play along anyway. He looks desperately concerned for a moment before following his dramatics with a soft laugh.]

If only it were that easy. [He sympathises, nodding his head.] I wouldn’t have minded keeping the sword I found, though I can imagine why that wouldn’t be such a good idea. I’m sure they could have been lenient enough to let you keep your.. [Not doll?] Figure. [That sounds awkward.]

streets

[wantwhatiwant]

Ian was mostly staying out of the way, avoiding the capitolites as best he could. He knew he shouldn't be happy for people dying, but at least there were more tributes around now, it made him feel less of a freak.

He spotted the girl and waved at her, crossing over to her mostly because he was being stared at again. "Ellie wasn't it?"

[onlyimmune]

Ellie looked up at the voice, a small bemused smile slipped to her lips as she offered a slightly hesitant wave.

"Uh, yeah. Ian, right?" She laughed a little nervously. "This is, uh, weird. But nice to see you, I guess. You know. Outside of the whole death match thing."

[wantwhatiwant]

"Yeah." he nodded, "It is a bit weird but yeah, nice to see you where the chance of someone shanking us in the back is lower."

[onlyimmune]

"Yeah, tell me about it," She said with a lopsided smile, before running a hand through her hair. "Uh... Sorry about the cornucopia. Never do seem to have a lot of luck, at those things. Didn't mean make you feel like an asshole or something. Just would rather not, you know, bite it on the first day."

[wantwhatiwant]

Ian shrugged, "Don't worry about it, it's pretty much the only smart move to not trust anyone."

Which made the whole experience pretty lonely.

4

[paidinbeer]

A low and unfortunately familiar groan was the response to her inquiry.

What at first could be mistaken as a decorative boulder was in fact, none other then Charles "Orc" Merriman. Back from the arena and apparently no longer human as he had been for that brief time. He was laying in the grass in only a pair of pants with bottles of something strong smelling laying around while a beleaguered escort lingered nearby looking utterly humiliated by their inability to take care of the fifteen year old alcoholic rock monster.

[onlyimmune]

She frowned, making for the sound, stepping around the tree to see Orc on the ground. And, well, smell him.

She waved a hand in front of her.

"Jeez, Orc. Hitting the bottle a little hard, aren't you?" She asked as she stepped over. "You okay?"

[paidinbeer]

He groaned once more and shook his head peering up at Ellie through bleary red eyes. He'd clearly been crying.

"Not hard enough." He wheezed. "Still alive."

Who knew just what had set him off really given Orc's history. At least he was still wearing pants and not attacking people.

[onlyimmune]

She stood a few feet away, frowning down at him.

"Yeah. Right. Because drinking yourself to death would be a great plan," She said mildly, not exactly impressed. "Come on. Let's get some food in you and get you sobered up."

[paidinbeer]

"No." He groaned and shook his head "No food. Just...let me die. Or get someone to kill me." He muttered the last part.

Looking up at her his crumbly features was a mask of shame and torment. "I can't live like this again! I can't...I had skin! I could feel shit! I had sex! Look at me! How could ANYONE do this for so long?" He groped at his face and drug his hands down with the scraping of rock on stone.

4!

[youbarium]

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

Carlos, with his lab coat and thick-rimmed glasses in place to signify that he was a scientist, was in the middle of scraping a piece of bark off of one of the trees. There were similar one-inch marks on a couple of the trees around him where the bark had been stripped away, and at Carlos's feet lay a box with clear, corked test tubes inside.

"I was just taking samples from the trees. I thought I should run some tests on them, see if they're like the trees from home. They look like they are, but you can never really tell without proper scientific equipment."

[onlyimmune]

She stepped back - she was still wary of strangers, especially men, especially alone, and she kept her distance. That didn't mean she was scared, exactly, just cautious. And someone fiddling with trees was weird enough to be wary of.

"Uh... They're trees. What possible difference are you hoping to find?"

[youbarium]

"I have encountered very unusual trees before," Carlos said with gravity. "Trees that are made of metal, trees that bleed, trees that don't actually exist, trees that talk to you until you grow roots and become a tree yourself..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "Where I came from, you could never be sure a tree was normal. You could never be sure anything was normal, really."

He dropped the strip of bark into a clear vial, then corked it deftly and placed it in the box.

[onlyimmune]

She looked at him like he was clearly, clearly insane. (Hey. Beautiful people could be insane.)

And she'd met a dragon.

"... Right. Hokay. Well, I can probably assure you that these trees are pretty much grade fucking A normal. Think if they were about to kill us all, I would have seen them do something before now."

[youbarium]

He looked at her sideways.

"How long have you been here?"

4!

[gardienne]

From amongst the trees, a skinny girl clutching a pink cat emerged. Eponine was dressed in a dirty blue dress that flared at her hips , and an oversized grey hoodie. Her bare feet were stuffed into a tatty pair of trainers, and there were twigs in her hair. But for once, Eponine didn't seem to care about her appearance. Instead, she eyed Ellie warily.

"What do you want, Mademoiselle? You'll go away if you know what's good for you."

[onlyimmune]

Ellie couldn't help the slightly raised eyebrows that arched up her forehead as she got a good look at Eponine. She didn't think she'd seen anyone look so ratty in the Capitol since she'd got there and, in all truth, it actually made her feel a little better. So she carefully put her hands up.

"Woah, not spoiling for a fight, promise. You alright? Why is your cat... pink?"

[gardienne]

"I don't know." She hugged the cat close to her chest, ignoring it's mewling, and even it trying to scratch her. Rather, she kept her eyes fixed firmly on Ellie.
"When I found it, it was such a colour." She rocked back on her heels, and then onto her toes. She shifted constantly, obviously uncomfortable.
"What do you want, Mademoiselle?"

[onlyimmune]

"I was just taking a walk," Ellie explained, motioning back behind her. She looked a little nervous, and in truth, she had little idea what to do with the woman (girl?) before her, but she couldn't just wander away when she seemed obviously upset.

"I like it better out here in the park, you know? You uh... you're not from here, are you. From the Capitol. I'm not either, if it helps."

[gardienne]

"I have lived here for more than a year, Mademoiselle." Did she still stand out so much? Well, that was a silly question really. Of course Eponine stood out. Was it possible, though, that this girl did not know who she was? Was she so new to the Capitol that she did not know of Eponine?

"I am from Paris. In France. Really... Not here. No, not here." She still stared back at Ellie, though she hefted the cat higher in her arms and nuzzled her mouth to its neck.