thecapitol | You settle down for the things you like

Who| Jessica, Albert, and anyone else from District Three!
What| Mingling with each other and meeting with their newest mentor.
Where| District 3 Suite
When| The final week of the Arena
Warnings/Notes| N/A (will edit as needed)

Jessica could be incredibly lazy when it suited her. She enjoyed long, luxurious showers. She relished in lounging around in various states of undress. And most importantly, she required at least nine and a half hours of beauty sleep in order to function at her very best. Even with her plans to dine with Albert firmly in place, she was loathe to emerge from the sanctity and security of her chamber, instead leaving the door tightly closed until after 3pm when she at last rose and entered the communal living space. She wasn't yet dressed for the day, still clad in her ridiculous silk dressing gown as she blustered in and took up a seat on the sofa. Her bare feet with pink painted toenails were kicked up onto a coffee table and she seemed right at home, ready to loaf and lounge the rest of the day away.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Maximus was a good deal more himself, now that Wyatt had returned from the arena, not nearly the brooding silent figure that he'd been over the past month. He'd met Jessica once, when they'd been introduced. You'll be working together, the escort had said, and Maximus had only nodded, as taciturn as ever.

Now, though, he was almost smiling as he walked back into the district suites, humming a long-forgotten tune under his breath as he stepped passed her and fetched some sort of strange future pastry from the kitchen.

"Settling in?" He asked her with a raised eyebrow as he took a bite.

Jessica looked up at Maximus with wide, stunned eyes. She'd been put off by his demeanor when they'd first met, certain that he'd already judged and dismissed her, sure that they would have nothing to talk about, ever. He'd seemed cool and uninterested the entire time they'd been existing near one another. This shift in his personality caught her as drastic and unexpected.

"Yeah, totally." She said, cocking her head to the side. There was something different about him. If she didn't know any better, she'd think he just got some or something. "Thanks for asking."

"Good," He said, swallowing another bite before he continued speaking.

"We'll have plenty of work ahead of us, once the Crowning is finished. I meant to start all of our tributes on a regular training regimen." Straight to business, though he sounded pleased about it.

She couldn't help it. Jessica had to let out a laugh, bright and intoxicating. "I don't know if you've actually seen our tributes, Maximus, but they're not exactly ready to dive headlong into a training routine."

She immediately thought of Marius and how awkwardly floppy he seemed. He was just so... new at life. The idea of Maximus whipping him into shape was not only laughable, it seemed like it could easily turn tragic.

He couldn't help it - his mood was already too good, that he let out a low chuckle at her laugh.

"Oh, I've seen them," He said wryly. "That's precisely why they need training. I won't fail them again, not this time."

Admittedly, Maximus was probably going to be a lot more competent at the physical aspects of training than Jessica could ever be. She recognized this fact, bowing in an overly theatrical way to acknowledge this.

"You work on their bodies, bro. I'll be the master of their marketing tactics. I've got it all planned." She tapped her forehead with her finger.

He arched an eyebrow.

"Their marketing tactics?" He asked. He knew propaganda, and he even knew advertising in a sort of vague way. But marketing wasn't a word familiar to him.

And tactics sounded like war.

"Dare I ask your battle plans?"

"First thing's first," she said, leaning in close with a conspiratorial grin. "We have to make these clowns likable. Right now, they are majorly lacking in likability, don't you think? I mean, people might feel sorry for Eponine, but does anyone actually like her?"

That managed to get a real chuckle out of him, the edges of his eyes crinkling.

"You may have your work cut out for you there," He admitted lowly. He and Eponine had managed to come to a truce of sorts, but they would never be on friendly terms.

She sure did, and not just with Eponine, either. She had thoughts on Marius and Albert, too, amongst others. And the jury was still out on the rest of them.

"See, it's about branding yourself. You have to stand for something and be memorable." Jessica stretched lazily. "You've got an idea of it, I can tell. That whole gladiator thing really works for you. Me? I've got the sex kitten schtick. But what can we do with these guys? Make them less gross, I guess, for starters."

'The whole gladiator thing' wasn't exactly intentional, but he understood the concept. Proximo had drilled it into him.

With sadness, he realised it had been a long time since he thought of the old man.

"There must be reasons that each have been brought by the Capitol," He mused. "I'm sure there are aspects they appreciate from each of them."

"Like what?" Jessica had been wracking her brain trying to figure out the appeal of some of her Tributes, and aside from deciding they all needed lessons in how to dress and how to catch people's attention, she didn't actually get the appeal of most of them. "Eponine's a total brat, Marius is awkward and short, Terezi is blind, Ian is... he's kind of cute but that's beside the point! The point is whatever they're naturally lacking, I'll invent for them."

Maximus gave a bemused chuckle. "Eponine inspires young women in the district - I've seen it, when we were there. They find themselves in her. If she could be a good role model for them, she could go far." He paused, considering. "Marius may be fool with a blade, but he has a large heart and the ability to speak it. Terezi's blindness had never impaired her, and Ian has the vitality of youth to add to your 'kind of cute'." He gave her a rueful smile.

"They may not be gladiators yet," And part of him hoped they never really had to be, "But they are not wholly lacking."

"See, this is why I like you, Maximus." She yawned, stretching out. "You're a thinker, just like me. You see the glimmer in them. That's important, for a mentor. Gawd knows, I wish I had mentors that cared whether I won or lost."

What traces of a smile there had been, they quickly disappeared. He could easily imagine it, the Capitol sending off children to die without caring about the outcome... and it bothered him, deeply. However he knew better that to voice it.

"We will do our duty, to the best of our ability," He agreed in a low rumble.

Implying, of course, that her Mentors had not done their duty towards her.

Truth be told, her mentors really hadn't. They weren't awful people, all things considered, but no one had expected her to stand a chance.

"You're good people." She smiled sweetly. "This is why our kids are gonna win. With you, me, and Eddie, there's nothing stopping us now."

((ooc: omg i am so sorry, i just realized i'd lost track of this log entirely! this was totally my bad, no hard feelings at all if you don't want to continue!))

You settle down for the things you like

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