Life's my light and liberty and I shine when I wanna shine;

[emptytrousers]

Who | Kili and open!
What | Kili reacts in his usual way to things he doesn't like
Where | All over! Prompts are below.
When | Week 7, anytime after Monday afternoon but before Saturday.
Warnings | Descriptions of starvation and being stabbed probably! Will update if needed!

(Thread starters are in the comments below if you'd like something to work from!)

Comments

random capitol government building {closed to chris traeger}

[emptytrousers]

As soon as Kili felt he had stocked enough food on his person and he'd gotten one quite horrible looking braid put in his hair by a stylist at his request, he made a beeline for where he'd been told to find the 'paperwork,' whatever that was, to get out of the games. There was no doubt as to his desire to never repeat that experience, especially now that he'd woken back up here in the capitol with nothing hinting that it had all been a dream. The building itself was an intimidatingly tall thing of some white stone Kili had never seen before in Arda. Pushing himself past the front door, however, was only the first of many challenges.

Finding the office for the paperwork in such a place proved nearly impossible. Just when he thought he might give up, he found it and quickly realized he would have more than a few problems. It was written in tiniest print he had ever seen in his life and Westeron to boot. What sort of place was this that made tributes squint and frown at paper to get out of a horrible arena. Fussing, he wrote his name and his reasons for wanting out of the games on the back of the sheet in the neatest set of dwarven runes that he could manage. When he tried handing the paper back, the assistant shook her head at him. It seemed the place to turn in this paper was several floors up.

The longer Kili stayed in the building, he knew, the greater his chances of starving were and those were his priorities. Luckily, he had stuffed muffins and jerky and some kind of cheese cracker into bags, but what if he ate all of them before he could get out? What if the steel carriage broke?

After another hour of wandering the building, the sheer overwhelming number of doors and shakes of head had worn him down. He was half-tempted to rip up the paper in his hands but he didn't know if he'd be able to find the first office again if he could. Curse the sense of direction of Durin's sons. Reluctantly, he dug into one pocket of his jacket for the bag of cheese crackers as he stared at the map on the wall and all of its colorful arrows and diagrams.

"Where in Durin's name am I?" He wondered aloud to no one in particular.

i will get to the cheezits

[quiteliterally]

"While I'm not sure who Durin is, I can tell you where in his name you are." Chris appeared seemingly out of nowhere, the labyrinth of municipal buildings was his wheelhouse, after all. "But first, tell me where you think you are."

It was like a bad troll-under-the-bridge situation. Not that Chris was looking for a particular answer, he only wanted to tailor his help to best suit the strange man's purposes here. Except -- wasn't he a tribute? Chris' smile only grew.

"Kili," he announced, pointing at his face. Why would a tribute be in this building, though? No matter, he just went on smiling. "Your hair looks amazing today. Did you do something different?"

yes good

[emptytrousers]

What? Where had this man come from? Kili glanced around, unsure of how a mere man had snuck past his senses. Then again, mountain trolls had gotten past his watch so he supposed he should not have truly been all that surprised. Still, he knew Thorin would be sorely disappointed to find that his theoretically scout-worthy nephew had been distracted by cheese crackers and a map. Just as Kili opened his mouth to answer, Chris continued with his name. How did...?

Simply standing in the man's presence, however, was almost overwhelming, especially with the intensity of the finger pointing. Was this some strange custom of men that he had never seen before? Kili canted his head away from Chris, as if trying to reduce the nearly blinding level of attention.

"I did," Kili answered slowly, one hand moving up to the dual braids on the right side of his head. "The stylists did. Think it'll make me look more intimidating."

Swallowing, he went back to the first question, holding up the sheet of paper between them. The front side had not been filled out at all, as Kili could hardly read such tiny words.

"I'm looking to turn this in but I've lost my way." Kili pointed back at the map on the wall before scooping up a couple cheese crackers. Y'know. Just in case he might stay lost forever.

[quiteliterally]

"Intimidating..." He thinks about this while he plucks the piece of paper out of Kili's hand and tilts his head. What are these curious symbols, he wonders. They are marvelous, but they mean absolutely nothing to him. "Do you think they're intimidating?"

Chris would have gone with 'handsome' or 'attractive' or 'becoming,' but he wants to gauge the man's self-esteem first as he skims the form for its purpose. He's distracted, however, by whatever manner of snack the man had brought along and he blinks as he watches the man eat crackers of a disturbingly orange color.

"Do you know that almost none of those crackers' components are actually food?" But even he could admit they were yummy, still. He goes back to reading over the form with a frown. "Also, this is a permit to park against traffic. I'm almost 100% certain you were looking for something else."

[emptytrousers]

That's a good question, really, as Kili isn't quite sure himself about whether or not the braids look intimidating or not. Certainly not by dwarven standards, but he the capitol doesn't really follow dwarven traditions or really care much about them. Everything here is confusing and far too bright, it's disorienting in comparison not only to home but the darkness of the Arena as well.

"'m not sure, really," Kili shrugs as Chris looks over the paper. Such a strange man and so excited for everything. He makes Kili look like a sullen rain cloud in comparison and he's known to be inappropriately bright and cheery through thick and thin.

"It's what?" he frowns up at both the news that the sheet of paper isn't what he thought it was and his crackers. Glancing back down at the bag, he plucks another cracker up to munch on. No, they taste like food. Chris must have found some very good pipeweed here in the Capitol.

[quiteliterally]

"Well, I like them," Chris settles on finally, handing the paper back to Kili. "What were you looking for? Perhaps I can help you with the process."

Though this was nowhere near close to his job, Chris delighted in helping people, especially tributes. Though he's tempted to smack the crackers out of his hand, he won't. Maybe he's just feeling a little peckish himself, he had skipped his mid-mid-afternoon protein shake.

"...Could I try one of those?" Yep, he's all in. No turning back now, #yolo.

tribute tower {open to all!}

[emptytrousers]

With the matter of the petition frustratingly ended, Kili had little to distract him from his memories of the games. Not even the small horde of food he began in his room could quite take the edge off of the fear that took hold of him any time he thought to leave the District 7 suites. Doing so without at least a day's worth of food proved impossible. So, as he moved about the tower, shuffling between the tribute center and what little exploring he could manage before his courage crumbled, he left a trail of crumbs behind him. Some days they were bits of muffins, others pieces of jerky, and sometimes he snacked while walking.

After all, there were few animals to be seen in the capitol and he had no idea how he would survive if any of the refrigerators ever ran out of food. Any venture from the District 7 suites usually ended by mid-afternoon so he could either restock or otherwise prepare for another night of getting outrageously drunk. By the middle of the week, this left him feeling quite hungover and no amount of strange capitol flavored things or food could alleviate the constant headache. Or perhaps, that had been caused by the tight braiding in a different style each day and the rapid drain of any patience with how strange it felt to have half of his dark hair pulled back at any point in time.

At one point, he stopped trying to pull the braids down and simply let them fall out themselves, leaving his hair looking nothing like a proper dwarf's should and more like a rat's nest.

[silberfuchs]

Even before the week is half over, Albert's proud that he's managed to bring himself to do some proper exploration of the tribute towers. His mad dash through the building when he'd first awoken doesn't exactly count as all he'd really managed to do was startle half the other tributes and make a general show of himself. Not exactly his proudest moment, though he's had worse, and gathering what information he can is more important here than whatever humiliation he'll need to weather.

Now he's carefully meandering the halls, making note of who is where and what he may need to watch out for in the next arena, be it who to avoid or who may possibly need help. It may not make logical sense when they're all pitted against each other to the death, but they're all alike in this situation as well, from what he can gather. Torn from home, forced into a ridiculous futuristic repeat of Roman gladiatorial games with a futuristic and altogether mind-and-spirit breaking twist of no immediate escape through death, only victory. It's sickening. And so he'll do what little he can to fight the system with kindness.

Today leads him to the middle floors, the broad German stepping off the elevator at floor 7 and taking a look through the hall. His stature means he looks high, which is likely why he misses the much shorter man in his immediate visual scan of the floor.

[emptytrousers]

Within a few days, Kili had to escape the tower, needed fresh air and open space and room to run free if he chose. Of course, he had tucked a wealth of food into every pocket and zippered compartment on his person in case he couldn't find his way back, but he never believed that he would use it as a cushion from a very tall German cyborg. One moment, Kili's mind was filled with thoughts of home and family, his eyes cast down toward the floor as he turned a corner a little too sharply, and the next he was running full-on into someone much larger than him.

In a burst of muffin crumbs and bits of crackers, Kili staggered back from Albert. He blinked up at the stranger, unsure of what had happened at first. Not many could stagger a dwarf, especially not among the race of men. His brows furrowed as he spared another long moment of staring up at the man before looking to the floor and the mess now spread across the tiles.

With a low grumbling, he knelt down to collect his trove of food from the floor.

[silberfuchs]

Albert gives a quiet 'oof' as he's barreled into, stepping back a few paces. He may not have his cybernetics at the moment, but he's still a solid guy and losing his feet is uncommon, especially when facilitated by someone so...

Short.

But the explosion of food and the subsequent confused stare get Albert's brain jumping again and he kneels to help gather everything the little man dropped. "Sorry, are you alright?"

[emptytrousers]

When Albert kneels down to help, Kili blinks for a second over at him. He's... helping? It's such a strange thing to be helped like this. Not that Kili has ever been ignored when he's dropped things or if he truly needed help but dwarves are by and large not exactly a race that helps other races and vice versa.

After that brief moment, though, he smiles and nods. "Yeah, nothing a dwarf can't handle."

He says it with a hefty measure of pride as he scoops up bits of muffins and broken crackers.

[silberfuchs]

A dwarf? Isn't the politically correct term these days a "little person"? Though Albert always found that somewhat diminutive. Dwarf, at least, has the mythological connotation of an entire proud race... or it could conjure up images of grumpy little men whistling as they mine diamonds, so he supposes he can see how it might be a problematic term. Ultimately, his opinion on it doesn't matter; he's five foot ten.

"I'm sorry I got in your way, I've just been exploring the building. I'm new." He gathers the last wayward muffin and holds it out to the shorter man, still crouched. "I'm Albert Heinrich, District 3."

[onlyimmune]

It was the trail of crumbs that had intrigued her first. She'd heard the story about Hansel and Gretel, of course, so she couldn't help but find it amusing, whether or not it was intentional. When she ran across it the third time, she decided to follow it to its natural conclusion.

That's when she spotted the dwarf, and a grin split across her lips.

"Kili! Hey! You're alright!" She said, smiling as she waved and came over to him.

[emptytrousers]

Alright was not exactly the word Kili would use but there was no point to scaring her. Not that he thought he could really be scared in the first place. Still, every friend he saw from the Arena reminded him that what happened there was not a dream, that there were real consequences he had to face at some point no matter how he tried to run from them.

Still, he turned and offered a cheerful smile, not noticing his own trail of crumbs at first.

"Ellie, I heard you..." Kili began, before realizing just how horribly impolite it is to talk about death right out of the gate. So, with dwarven grace and a talented tongue, he segued, "How're you?"

[onlyimmune]

Real smooth there, Kili. Super smooth.

She wasn't exactly eager to talk her death, so she let him change the subject.

"I'm, you know, making it by. Sorry I lost sight of you, back in the arena. That whole thing was so fucked up, and then I couldn't find you again--"

[emptytrousers]

Luckily, he didn't want to talk much of his own either. Funny how that sort of thing happened. He felt bad for losing her much the same, considering how soon she died after they got separated. And Kili had simply hid for weeks after Gabriel destroyed the third floor. Some fierce warrior of Durin's line he was.

Nodding, he reached into one of the pockets on his jacket to offer her a small baggie of crackers. After all, they shared in the Arena, there was no reason not to here.

"I'd be happy to never repeat it," he replied glumly despite the dimming smile. More than anything, he didn't want to go back. He supposed, however, he should try to be braver, considering he was likely the oldest here by decades. But he was not his brother, he did not have a royal bearing or a talent for leadership. He was just Kili.

Re: tribute tower {open to all!}

[sleeplessinalternia]

Like Ellie, Karkat ends up following the crumb trail to Kili. He doesn't recognize the guy from any of the stupid events the fucking Capitol humans have made them all attend, so he suspects whoever this guy is, he's new.

... and some really weird variation of human, too, because he looks like he's an adult or nearly, but he's shorter than Karkat.

"Dude, you're shedding miniscule food detritus."

[emptytrousers]

Kili jumped at the sound of someone behind him and the first thing he saw was grey skin. Orc his mind told him the instant before he realized he was unarmed, except for muffins and crackers. It was a good thing he wasn't, though, as those extra beats give him time to notice the horns and oh he must be like his districtmate.

After another beat, he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "I'm shedding what?"

He glanced down at himself nonetheless, patting down the various pockets to little bursts of crumbs and bits and it hit him. Oh.

[sleeplessinalternia]

"Miniscule food detritus," Karkat repeats, rolling his eyes a little. Humans. "Look, you don't have to carry it with you, they'll give you as much as you want until we're in the arenas again and then you can't bring it with you anyway. Are you new?"

[emptytrousers]

Miniscule food detritus. Kili frowned at Karkat, still not sure exactly what it all means. Food he clearly understood, but everything else not as much. Still, he could hardly track trails of crumbs or detritus around the tribute center for long if he wanted avoid strange words he couldn't comprehend.

"No, I've..." He started to complain, before stopping himself. Maybe he was new, considering he had been in the Capitol only a bare couple days before the arena began. "I arrived not two days before the arena."

the capitol bars {open to all!}

[emptytrousers]

However, despite any moodiness during the day, Kili's spirits were easily lifted with alcohol and the bright, bubbly atmosphere of a well-liquored crowd. Certainly, they were not nearly as lively as a proper dwarven company, but all the colored faces and baubled hands would have to do for now. He never wanted to see another dwarf here, never wanted to watch kin starve and suffer or bleed out on the floor of a miserable museum. Still, after several pints of ale, he didn't particularly care about much of anything anymore. The white liquor, especially, made his nights dazzling with laughter and dancing. Any attention became good attention and he drank in adoring hands who puzzled at the strange braids that donned his hair or how he looked much like a strangely handsome child. No matter how many times he insisted that he was seventy-seven and not a child, they laughed off the matter and he couldn't bring himself to find a new table to sit at.

Regardless of the night's events, Kili would be enjoying himself soon enough again, lifting his stein in a toast to the room before draining it with a dwarf's natural exuberance.

Some nights, though, he would drag a friend or districtmate out with him, if just to have some better company than strangers for a little while. No matter who he brought, though, there remained a hole in his heart that longed for his brother's warm presence and reassurances. Kili knew he should not wish for Fili to join him, but that could not stop the raw yearning that no amount of alcohol could hide.

[wronglychosen]

While he was undeniably going to take advantage of the night life, Zelos liked to switch things up a bit on which bar or party he went to each night. Just being there seemed to get the other patrons of the bar excited, especially since he'd made it pretty far in the Arena before falling.

So it was a red light right away when he actually had time to stay off to the side by himself without anyone bothering him. The reason for that became clear when he caught a peek of a familiar dwarf in the midst of a small crowd of people. He remembered their meeting in the Arena, and the urgency of the moment. But out here, surrounded by music and people, all of that seemed so far away.

Zelos leaned against the bar and waited until Kili came close enough to say, "Hey, if it isn't my dwarf friend! No hard feelings, right?"

[emptytrousers]

Fortunately, Kili had drunk more than enough to not be immediately angry with Zelos. Every reminder of the Arena made it more real and he very acutely recalled their meeting in the cafeteria, how hungry Kili had been and how the sight of the empty fridge made his heart drop. Of course, he could not rationally blame the man for wanting to survive, but dwarves were rarely rational beings.

" 's long as you don't mention my beard again," he slurred out as he tapped his stein on the bartop to get the tender's attention.

He regarded Zelos with a bleary eye but any suspicion departed rapidly with a refilled mug. Instead he reached over to clap a hand on his non-dwarf friend's shoulder. "And if you buy the next round."

[wronglychosen]

Zelos held back a sigh, and just smirked before tapping the bartop to grab the next round from the bartender, carefully not saying anything about the beard comment. "Sure, sure, it's the least I can do right?"

Dealing with drunks wasn't his favourite way to spend an evening out, but hell, why not? He could use a break from putting on his Capitol face. "Aren't dwarves supposed to be able to hold their drink?"

That was a lie, he actually had no clue, but it seemed like a reasonable assumption. Maybe.

[emptytrousers]

With a growing smile, Kili found himself starting to properly like Zelos. After all, anyone who would pay for a round of drinks couldn't be bad, right? Drunken logic is clearly the best logic. He took a long swig from his stein before raising an eyebrow at his new almost-friend.

"Every creature would get drunk after seven pints," he replied with a grin now as bright as his face and ears were red. "We dwarves know how to have a good time."

Altogether, though, he liked talking to someone who at least had heard of dwarves, even if he had a pre-conceived image about the beards that accompanied them.