thecapitol | Living inside the shell

Entry tags:

Living inside the shell

Who| Mindy, open
What| The victor returns to the Capitol.
Where| Various Places
When| After being patched up
Warnings/Notes| Mindy, so foul language and descriptions of violence.

After the last few weeks, it was a breath of fresh air to be back in the Capitol. It was not something she would have easily admitted to herself, but at least here there was a sense of ease, knowing that she didn't have to be watching her back for death.

Mostly.

It was strange too. She almost felt alien, coming back here with the win. Death had at least made her an equal: now she was an object, to be striven for or hated or stared at or asked questions to. The crowing would come soon enough, she knew that, and what a pain that would be. Words to say,things to plan, and really, all she wanted was to make sure all her friends were all right. certain ones would hare her now, of course, but that was expected. She had, after all, let the games' nature affect her.

She was more than happy to be restored though: all the bleeding and the aching had taken a toll on her, and she was ready for aching she at least only inflicted on herself. There were several ways of going through with this.

1. The Training room. It was always Mindy's "go to" place, and even now there was no reason not to go. She was aware of the stares and the whispers, but she ignored these: after all, she'd come here last time after her defeat, why should her victory be any different? Mindy is hard at work on the treadmill, looking to see if she can increase her speed. There was a lot to think about, and this was the perfect way to NOT have to do that right now. Cut everyone out, hear some mindless music, run like the wind. Easy.

2. Eventually though, there's a place she needed to go: over to District 12, at the top tower to see Sandy. She hated, more than anything, to apologize or even explain herself unnecessarily but in this case it was needed. Sandy wasn't just some girl to her: she was one of the first friends she made, and after what she'd done, she needed to at least talk to her about it. The girl might not listen or care, but Mindy still needed to explain herself. She might run into anyone in District 12 though.

3. In her own tower, she made the unwise choice of attempting to sleep. After that, she thought a mushroom trip might have been more peaceful. Now she just had visions of the worse things in the Arena: beheading, throat slitting, bombs going off, and all of the dead looking at her as if she were the cause. It was pretty gory, and Mindy had awoken wide eyed and breathing hard. So anyone in the Tribute tower, especially in her District, can see the girl sitting in the room now, oversized shirt on, watching a replay of the games, almost glassy eyed.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Like who?"

Harley was making tea of all things, heating up the pot and playing around with a green pill that contained the leaves.

"And how bad we talking?"

"Sandy. I had to shoot Wyatt in the back. I blew up a friend of mine with dynamite after I shot his legs off, but in my defense, he turned into a guillotine. Not to mention that one cute kid I killed to start. I did everything the stupid fuckers wanted me to. And the worst things is, I think I'd do it again."

"And you'd win again. So that's fine." Harley plopped the pill into her cup making nearly instant tea. Sauntering back over she set herself down next to Mindy.

"And don't worry about those guys. Sandy has died more time then I have. And Wyatt even more then her. Fact is I'd guess most of those people you killed have died more times then you and after awhile it's mostly a relief. No more starving, no more sleeping on the ground."

A pause "Or are you more concerned that you ended up giving the Capitol exactly what they wanted?"

"You never know. It all comes down to who I meet. Do you see that Initiate guy or the kind of shit that Venus can do to you? These guys are pretty hardcore. Not that I would say no to the fight."

At the mention of Sandy, Mindy lowered her head a little. "Wyatt would get it. But it was a personal thing to Sandy. She didn't expect me to fight her, or at least, not then. She felt like it broke our alliance. Stupid. An alliance in the Games can only be temporary until, well, you get down to it."

She could starve. She could sleep on the ground. What she couldn't do was stay compliant about it.

"I know what they wanted from me. Moment I made Cornucopia I knew I had to abandon the high road. Killing 'the bad guys' sounds nice, but they're mostly made from the games. So you become the 'bad guy.' What bothers me is that none of the ones I killed were bad guys: not that Shion kid, or Sandy or Wyatt. I killed to get to the end, and at every moment, I had to remind myself I was shit for it."

In other words, SHE was the bad guy.

Harley's face was less sympathetic and more relaxed as she slid an arm around Mindy and pulled her into a hug.

"So you're a villain. Big deal, I've made a whole career out of being a villain. I mean sure ya coulda waited until you absolutely had to break the alliance but might as well traumatize her as soon as possible. That way she has the rest of her life to either grow past it and become stronger because of it...or have it develop into a horrible paranoid psychosis. Either way it should be entertaining to watch!"

The worst part was probably that even she didn't know if she was totally joking.

Mindy nodded. "I wanted her to be at her best. I was thinking too hard about what you told about me about Snow White. I didn't want that kind of shit to happen to Sandy, so I wanted to give her a chance to cut loose, which would only work if I killed Pruna. You can see some of this is luck: Pruna is a fucking excellent fighter and Sandy had that mask on. I could have died at any minute. Apparently I'm a traitor that likes to live dangerously."

She'll let that slide.

Harley nodded and sipped the tea offering it to Mindy.

"I can see your train of thought. Sounds to me like what's bugging you the most is the kid. Everyone else is letting it roll of them, but she's not gonna let it go so easy huh?"

Mindy drank a little.

"It was personal to her. She trusted me. She didn't expect me to go against her, let alone kill Pruna probably. I don't expect her to be forgiving anytime soon."

"But just because you knew logically what would happen, don't make it any easier for your heart to handle."

Hopefully the tea would help, it was the kind of tea some tributes used to calm their nerves and help them sleep. Harley had only used a small amount given how tolerant she was to drugging. Who knew with Mindy though.

"So what are ya gonna do now mentor? Work our butts off down in the training hall in vain hopes that we'll all be winners some day?"

"No. She'll never get that either: its that part of my brain I have to shut off, insist it will be better for her. She showed drive after, and she needs that. I wanted the people watching to see that. If she gets more sponsors now, that'll be a good thing."

Mindy tasted something different in the tea, but she went with it. Might help her relax, but sleep? Not likely.

"Of course I will. I want us all to be winners!"

Not likely, but she could give it a shot.

"Good luck with that." Harley chuckled and seemed to produce a cookie from her dress. "I mean it's not like I'm not trying my best out there. But there's only so much you can train for. And with how little reward there is on the other side, it's a wonder anyone even wants to be a mentor."

She knew the truth of it was even the mentors didn't want to be mentors. Most of them anyway...she had a suspicion that if the games ended tomorrow, all the mentors of her district except maybe Mindy would welcome a peaceful quiet partyless existence.

"Least you'll never have to do any of that again." she commented and as if the News Feed was mocking them it cut to a scene of Harley dieing in the elevator being smothered to death by Susannah.

"Agility. Speed. Strength. Firearms. Swimming. Obstacle course. Camouflage. Come on Harley. All of you could use improvements, me included. That's why I'll be training too. I don't believe in ordering around people without putting in your dues."

She didn't care what the other mentors did: she wanted her guys to live longer. They deserved that much.

"No. Instead I get to have the Capitol up my ass and watch people I get along with mercilessly slaughtered. Fun times."

"What kinda attitude is that." Harley teased poking her in the side. "You're as bitter as Eva and you haven't lived nearly as long. They'll never buy it." She snickered.

"You're just lucky I don't mind getting bossed around."

At the mention of Eva her eyes narrowed into slits. "I don't act like I'm on PMS every day so I doubt I can be quite like Eva."

Bad blood there.

"It's for your own good. I'm trying to stop you guys from dying, you know."

"Maybe not yet, but it's possible if you keep lingering on your mistakes like she does." She reasoned and reached for the remote.

"At least you're smart enough to let yourself feel like crap when you're alone and not out there where everyone can see. I mean the cameras are watching you right now too but this is still better."

"It was my first innocent kills. I'm bound to brood for a little bit. I'll get over that in time."

She glared. "Well yeah. I'm not going to make a spectacle out of it. I have a reputation. Tomorrow will be business as usual, fuck this noise."

"Aw, but being noisy is my favorite part."

She didn't let go though, she kept her free arm around Mindy in a one armed hug.

"Well if you're dead set on brooding I'll keep ya company. I don't feel like going to bed alone tonight anyway. Laying in bed by myself gives me time to think. And thinking is a dangerous pass time."

Mindy snickered, thinking of a certain Disney movie she'd heard that before. In this case, it was pretty appropriate.

"I wouldn't mind that. If I stay in, having you for company isn't the worse thing."

"That all depends on who you're asking~" Harley teased herself and flicked the TV away from the carnage and channel surfing. Unfortunately thanks to censoring dangerous ideas most of the Capitol TV channels were garbage.

But watching garbage with a friend was better then sitting alone.

"I don't care about anyone else's opinion," Mindy lied. That was a pretty strange thing to say. She sat with the girl as she flicked.

"Who thinks that anyway?"

"Oh a few of the more boring serious tributes and mentors." Harley commented idly. "I think Eva's coming around but she's a real slow burn. It takes all kinds to make the world go round though."

"I could give five shits what Eva thinks," Mindy said. "You're fun. We could use a little bit of that in my opinion."

"I'm a good distraction." She commented peacefully. "Playful and fun and easy to disregard afterwards."

Which also meant easy to forget in some cases, but she'd like to think she was above that...she hoped.

"Nah, I wouldn't disregard you," Mindy said, laying her head on the girl's shoulder a moment. "That sounds stupid, like you don't matter. It's bullshit."

Harley grinned and her smile gleamed wickedly in the dim light of the TV.

"The people who matter don't care. And the people who care don't matter...or something like that. I have my girls, you among them. That's all that matters to me. Making you and them happy."

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