Commander Jane Shepard (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
earthborn) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thecapitol2014-03-05 09:57 pm
earthborn) wrote in thecapitol2014-03-05 09:57 pm
When in doubt, act petty and childish [Open]
Who| Shepard, and probably Pruna, Sandy, Duck, and Pillow Fort, and OPEN
What| Pillow Fort!
Where| PILLOW FORT IN THE TRIBUTE CENTER LOBBY
When| Last week or so of the Arena
Warnings/Notes| Pillow Fort, harsh language, possible description of drug use and/or arena doings, Pillow Fort
It took an enterprising mind to understand the subtleties of this art-form. There had to be balance, and tension, or your structure would collapse. Even the most durable of available materials was squishy at best, and you always ended up wanting another inch of length on the roof, another few grams before supports collapsed, or bent. And nothing, nothing would just stand there and hold itself up.
In the end, they’d resorted to thumbtacks, hammered with a shoe or pressed in, to hold up the bedsheets against the walls. Even so, it was better not to lean too close to the stolen couch cushions on the opposite side, or the whole left wing might come down with a series of pops and pings. Well, it was probably fine, it wasn’t as if this were some kind of permanent arrangement, after all.
What? What is she doing? No, not doing, it’s all done.
Shepard has built, with a little help, a pillow fort.
Well, it’s more than just a fort, it’s a castle, an edifice! It took up nearly the whole of the Tribute Center Lobby with a riot of bedsheets, pillowcases, safety pins and couch cushions. Calling it a mere hidey-hole would not do justice to the thing. It’s art. It’s filled with pillows and snacks and safe dark places closed in away from prying eyes. Oh, and Shepard too. She’s an adult, after all, and this is what grown-ups do.
It’s got a door big enough for anyone to crawl right in, and a boldly written sign that reads “Abandon Hope All Who Enter Here” with “bring snacks” scribbled along a corner.
What| Pillow Fort!
Where| PILLOW FORT IN THE TRIBUTE CENTER LOBBY
When| Last week or so of the Arena
Warnings/Notes| Pillow Fort, harsh language, possible description of drug use and/or arena doings, Pillow Fort
It took an enterprising mind to understand the subtleties of this art-form. There had to be balance, and tension, or your structure would collapse. Even the most durable of available materials was squishy at best, and you always ended up wanting another inch of length on the roof, another few grams before supports collapsed, or bent. And nothing, nothing would just stand there and hold itself up.
In the end, they’d resorted to thumbtacks, hammered with a shoe or pressed in, to hold up the bedsheets against the walls. Even so, it was better not to lean too close to the stolen couch cushions on the opposite side, or the whole left wing might come down with a series of pops and pings. Well, it was probably fine, it wasn’t as if this were some kind of permanent arrangement, after all.
What? What is she doing? No, not doing, it’s all done.
Shepard has built, with a little help, a pillow fort.
Well, it’s more than just a fort, it’s a castle, an edifice! It took up nearly the whole of the Tribute Center Lobby with a riot of bedsheets, pillowcases, safety pins and couch cushions. Calling it a mere hidey-hole would not do justice to the thing. It’s art. It’s filled with pillows and snacks and safe dark places closed in away from prying eyes. Oh, and Shepard too. She’s an adult, after all, and this is what grown-ups do.
It’s got a door big enough for anyone to crawl right in, and a boldly written sign that reads “Abandon Hope All Who Enter Here” with “bring snacks” scribbled along a corner.
no subject
"Yeah, I like to get laid, but uh...not. Here," the whole damn building was a reality show deathtrap and much of the Capitol was the same. When she wants to have sex with her boyfriend, it'd be almost anywhere else— and the Arenas were right out.
Romance had...very little to do with it, when you got right down to it. Not much romantic about being the unwilling participant in someone else's snuff film.
"Still, if they keep doing these things three times a year, it's not like we're inventing new and more interesting ways of beating each other to death with variations on steel bars. Window dressing notwithstanding. Sex sells. People are stupid. Guess some things really are universal."
no subject
"If Enjolras is any indication, some worlds are even stupider then others." It seemed like she couldn't go an hour without hating that curly haired waste of space.
no subject
She never went to primary school, go figure.
"Besides, I said people. Species doesn't have to do with it, despite what you'd think," Well that came out a little dark. Time for a topic change, "So is this how it's gonna go? I growl at you when I think you need it, you throw me treats when you think I'm being a good little doggy?"
no subject
She sipped her drink once more "I feel like the growling is ultimately unnecessary, as I stated when we first met, I'm supposed to be here to help you. And apparently that involves helping allies from your world which I have been doing dutifully."
A task that would soon be putting a strain on their budget if she didn't find a new way to sell her district. Even as the winners of the previous arena there had only been so much to offer for sponsorships.
"You are a tribute who for as much as you care, require no training aid. So the only purpose I can serve is to provide you with "Treats" as you put it."
no subject
no subject
"So I am here, abandoning my pride as a mentor to ask simply, what do you want? And don't respond with blackmail like the first time I asked that of you."
She could hardly afford it, in more ways then one.
no subject
What does Shepard want? She regards the ceiling in a brief plea for patience, an eyeroll cast over thousand-threadcount sheets, silk and satin, the visible legacy of luxery treated like so much cheap cotton for the sake of a visible middle finger in the general direction of a metaphorical cell door. What the hell did she want?
"...Look, I don't think you really get my position here. You want something from me, but you don't have anything I want. You can't give me anything of worth, except what I've already asked for. And frankly..."
...and frankly, I would kill everyone here in their beds, if I genuinely thought it'd get me closer to going back home.
But she couldn't say that.
"Sorry about your pride as a mentor, but since they keep bringing people back from the dead, I don't really have any stakes in this beyond personal suffering. I can take that much, I'm pretty tough," Jane sighed and took another pull from the bottle, very aware of how well the surveillance worked, here in the Capitol as elsewhere, "But right now, I'm just waiting for someone to make me a fucking offer, one way or the other. They wouldn't have brought me here if they thought the threats I've seen would actually be enough to hold me back. And I don't think you have the authority. They wouldn't trust someone from the Districts."
no subject
"Well at least we aren't working against one another. I can take some solace in that." But in reality she would take little comfort in this idea.
"I'm sure you can imagine my frustration. You're even more stubborn and determined then I am. The difference being you aren't required to care, you simply do." She took another draw off her drink thinking back to all the times people had lobbed at her words about her inability to connect with people on a basic level.
A thought flickered through her mind though, one she had been ruminating over for some time. "Have you seen the Avox who shares your name?"
no subject
She'd seen the Avox. Almost everyone had, if they were smart enough to figure it out— the broadcast of Ariadne's passing had, at the time, been mandatory. And the one holding her up had been the Avox formerly known as Shepard. If the powers that be wanted to keep the carpets clean, they'd do well to keep this Shepard and that one at least a few hundred yards separate at all times.
"What of it?"
no subject
Finishing her drink she politely held onto it for now till she could dispose of the can.
"No record or reasoning that we can access as to why they did that to her. Could be that they wanted to demoralize all who knew her. Possibly she had stumbled onto something they didn't like. If she was anything like you I imagine she gave them any number of excuses. But as to which one they settled on..." Well she hadn't looked THAT hard into it but she'd done her research.
no subject
She made to put the cap back on her bottle, then reconsidered. One more for the road. And another just for the way life was.
"Suffice it to say that what you've seen out of me so far could be accurately labeled as a remarkable exercise in restraint. Whatever we couldn't see of the Avox's behavior was probably something a little more drastic than threatening to give Claudia a new hole to breathe through."
no subject
"I don't think the stylists have felt so threatened as since we started using tributes from other worlds."
And even if she liked Claudia, it was more important to keep Shepard happy.
"She hasn't tried pressuring you on the pants issue anymore has she?"
no subject
She's got no reason to lie to Azula or anyone else about this: here as at home, Shepard's worst crimes were all a matter of public record.
"Anything else you want to know my thoughts on?"
no subject
"I'll take my leave then, and long for the day when I actually have something you want so that I may shock everyone who knows me by simply giving it to you." The tabloids would surely have a field day with that one if it ever came to be.