thecapitol | open;

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?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, but instead they had to be assholes. [She gives a slightly conspiratorial smile.]

Wyatt's kind of a bad ass, so I'll let you off this once long as you keep your respect. [She's still teasing, and she tilts her head.]

I'm Ellie, by the way.

If there's anything they're adept at, it's doing that. [He'll skirt around the swear, but the sentiment is prevalent at least.]

I'm sure I'll have nothing but respect for him when I come to meet him. I look forward to it, even.

[His smile intensifies.] Hans.

[Woah there, bright eyes, you'll blind someone.]

Hans, huh. Nice to uh, meet you, I guess. How long have you been hanging out in this shit hole?

Yes, it's a pleasure. [Gotta be polite!!] Oh, well I arrived in Panem about a month ago and then I only made it about three weeks in the Arena until I was back. [He rolls his eyes like gosh silly him getting murdered.]

'Only' three weeks, huh? [She looked a little sympathetic.]

Trust me. Being around in it longer doesn't... doesn't really make it better. Just means you have to watch everyone die before you.

"Hah! I'm making it sound like I'm disappointed, aren't I?" He lifts a hand to his mouth in surprise. "Between my mentor and the fuss we get from the Capitol, it's a little hard not to feel an urge to win, isn't it?" He lifts his shoulders into a small shrug, moving a little closer to sit beside her and her fort.

"I never thought of it that way." He admits, but now he's feeling a little jaded. "How many have you been through-- if it's not too bold to ask, of course."

She would have found it bold, save for the fact that he couched it in that very statement, so instead of prickling about it, she shrugged.

"Two. Which is more than enough for me, thanks. I was uh... I was in the final three, in my first one. Had to watch a lot of people die. It kind of sucks."

Part of adapting here has been adapting to conversations that certainly couldn't be considered polite. Some people are more than willing to go into depth, others close off and some take a little bit of gentle urging to share information.

At her response, he'll draw in a breath in surprise and his expression will show as much too. "It's impressive on some level, I'll grant you that. I can certainly imagine why it would suck, it was bad enough losing just two people I know." He pauses for a moment before speaking up again. "Is there a reason the figure was so important?"

"My action figure?" She asks, looking up at him and thankful for the change in conversation.

"Nah, I guess not, I just... We didn't really have a lot of that shit, back home, you know? So it was kind of awesome to like... walk into a store there and BAM there's shit of all my friends. I just collected a whole bunch." She shrugs, sighs. "Figures they didn't let me keep any of it."

"Mm." He nods, documenting the proper name for it in his mind for future use. One day, he'll know all the words and nobody will judge him, but today is not that day.

"If that's the case you're right. They are.. assholes." There's a little hesitation in saying that, but he powers through it with a smile. "We don't have stuff like that where I'm from either, but I've been told I'm not very advanced." He lifts his shoulders in a small shrug. "What's home like for you?"

She grins when he says 'assholes', the fact that he's unused to it all too obvious and she is all too happy to be a terrible role model.

When he asks about home, though, the smile looks about to fade.

"Ah - it's a shithole. To put it bluntly. Apocalypse, nearly everyone's dead and the ones that aren't have been turned into monsters... It's good times."

It’s only a matter of time until more and more “new” words are incorporated into his vocabulary. The prince charming act wins him points, but he’s also interested in integrating a little more into the tribute culture.

When her smile fades, his is replaces with a look of concern and confusion. “Here I thought the Arenas were grim.” He muses, worrying his bottom lip as if searching for a polite way to put what he’s thinking. “Is it better, do you think? Being here and away from that?”

She shrugged.

"Yeah? I mean, it wasn't, really, before Joel was here, but now that he is, I mean... Sure we die and shit but not for good and then you get here and you can eat whatever you want and you get clean food and sheets and shit all the time, and we don't even have curfew or shit."

"They don't make it easy for you, do they?" He lifts a brow ever so slightly, but he's sure she's tired of hearing about this sort of thing. She'd been a little hesitant to discuss the Arena, but all in all it's just not polite conversation.

"The food is certainly a plus, though. For something called the Hunger Games they really do keep us well fed." His lips will curl up into a small smile at that. "I haven't even tried half of the things they serve here."

"Easy isn't really the point, back home," Ellie said with a shrug, but was more than happy to turn the conversation to food, and it was obvious: her face lit up, a grin spreading across her lips.

"I fucking know, right? It's fucking crazy! You could eat for a whole year non-stop and never get to the end of it!"

Food. Seriously. It's such a classic conversation mover but damn does it ever inspire passion in so many people. Hans is glad when Ellie lights up the way she does, this is a topic he can navigate with ease.

"I want to eat for a whole year, seriously! Everything comes in like, a million different flavours and don't get me started on what they can do with chocolate." He lets out an exasperated sigh before he rests his chin on the top of his knees. "So, what do you recommend?"

Oh, he'd started it now.

Grinning, Ellie launched into a long, vulgar, description of every delicious food she'd eaten here that she could think of.

They were going to be here for a while.

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wrapping this up c: