thecapitol | The Crowning of Mindy McReady

Entry tags:

The Crowning of Mindy McReady

Who| Everyone ~~who's anyone.~~
What| The Crowning.
Where| A warehouse on the edge of town.
When| Starting from early evening till late into the night.
Warnings/Notes| Be sure to check the linked thread for plot purposes, even if you don't tag into it.

The party is brightly colored.

The theme, subtly, is super heroes. Boldly paints city scapes are splattered across the walls, and hallways are made to look like dingy, potentially crime ridden alleys. From the upper walkways of the warehouse, party goers can get hooked into harnesses and swing out over the dance floor. Above them, tributes and VIPS can find themselves on a clear plastic dance floor levitated above everything, looking like they're hanging in air.

Masks are passed out in plenty, and capes are easy to find, while brightly colored drinks themed around super powers are plentiful. None of them actually work, but many of the Capitol people are happy to pretend, mocking super strength or invisibility with each new beverage.

Under the dance floor a catacomb of tunnels and rooms full of obstacles is splashed with black light receptive colors. Party goers are given vests and laser guns, marked green for villains and red for heros, and set loose to hunt each other in the laser tags playground. The screens in the dance floor keep a running tally of which side is winning, displaying the players on the screens around the room, along with clips from the arenas.

About half way through the night, everyone is gathered to the main stage for a special announcement.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The sponsors puffed, unaccustomed to being interrupted, or to having to share, but Wesker just sipped his drink and slanted the painted woman a smirk.

"Shouldn't that have rhymed?"

She rolled her eyes "Of course not, you'd be expecting that." She countered though it was true, Eddie would have faulted her for not asking an actual riddle.

"Now come on Frankenstein, real quick then I'm outta your hair and you can go back to intimidating people with money."

"Play nice, Mrs. Quinzel, the parachutes don't grow on trees," Wesker purred.

The sponsors preened, but he said it more to irritate Harley than to praise them.

"But yes, the stylist team was behind the idea. I approved."

Wesker always had the final word.

Ask the two stylists he'd sent packing. One on a stress induced medical leave, the other on a very mysterious, hushed, circumstances.

She relaxed just slightly "I'm not sure if that's more or less of a relief, but it beats the alternative. A good friend of mine invented that look and never got the chance to enjoy it here." She wagged a finger at him.

"Don't bring shame to the name buster. I wanna hear a riddle."

"And play my cards so early?" he drawled, arching a pale eyebrow. "The night's still young."

He tipped his head. "How about instead, I give you a line, and should you need help -- you can come find me for another later."

Harley offered an exaggerated roll of her eyes.

"Everything's always gotta be by your rules doesn't it?" She muttered

"Seriously how did you ever win with that kind of attitude? Alright let's hear the line."

Because yeah she was gonna be indigent about it, but he was still playing a game with her and she loved games. Even if she lost.

"Never back down from your terms, Mrs. Quinzel. Especially when you're good at something."

And people said he wasn't a good mentor.

Tsk, tsk.

"First line: I am the part of the bird that's never in the sky."

Not a bad bit of advice. She might barrow it if she ever wins.

For now she takes the line and considers it. That sounds up to Eddie's standards at least.

"An egg?" She guessed without fear of being wrong.

His mouth curled, a sharp smile that did nothing to warm his pale features.

"No, I'm afraid not."

Strike one.

He sipped from his glimmering glass again, draining the last of the ghostly green liquid.

"Care to try again or would you care to steep over it for a while?"

"As much as I'd love an excuse to get away from you, now I feel like I gotta answer this." She reasoned and brought her gloved hands up to massage her temples.

Repeating the question to herself she pulled some interesting faces as she pondered it, even going so far as to make a bird with her hands and flap its wings in soulette on the floor making it fly between the shadows cast from the various people standing around. The entire process took two minutes during which the sponsors were probably somewhere between amused, uncomfortable and confused.

"Wait wait wait...their shadow? It can't be that easy can it?" She snapped her gaze back to his in disbelief.

Wesker watched bemusedly. He reached out once as a avox passed to help himself to another drink, but was otherwise silent, otherwise still but for the slight bob of his head as he followed along with her antics.

He was almost impressed when she worked it out.

"Well, well, look who's top of the class," he smirked. "And you didn't even need the second clue."

He offered an elegant bow - in miniature, only from the shoulders.

"I am a shadow."

She let out a cheer completely dropping her dislike for him long enough to celebrate.

"Just because I'm a goof doesn't mean I'm not smart! I graduated college you know. I'm technically a Doctor." She declared dramatically much to the approving chuckles of the sponsors.

"Eddie would have appreciated that riddle. So I guess I don't have to get all indignant."

"Believe me, Mrs. Quinzel," he sipped and smirked again, lights playing off his suit and his glass in the same lurid shade of green. "I wouldn't be in it if I didn't approve."

The irony just tickled him.

She couldn't help but eye him suspiciously for that.

"Yeah I imagine you don't do much you don't wanna, do ya bright eyes?" She pondered. "I mean except for being a "Guest" of the Capitol. None of us wanted that but boy were we surprised to see how super fun it was!"

She offered an unstable grin with wide eyes, tilting her head just slightly to unnerve everyone except Wesker. She knew he was too solid to be bothered in the slightest by her antics. This show was now primarily to amuse herself and unsettle the sponsors.

He snorted, an inelegant sound somehow made so coming from him.

"Oh, yes," he agreed, teeth flashing in his shark's grin. "It's been a regular festival."

Not that there weren't things he appreciated about the Capitol, there were, in fact, many. He just hadn't enjoyed being bumped back down the food chain after so long at the top.

Albert Wesker gave the orders.

He wasn't some beast on a chain.

He was no one's puppet.

"I find it hard to imagine you at any kind of a festival. A carnival maybe but only so far as carnivals can be scary."

She was a prime example of that.

"Did you EVER have a normal life? Or were you this solid brick of low voice and sunglasses even when you were a kid?"

Wesker wasn't one to linger on the past. Especially something so very far back in it. Especially something that meant so little to him.

His childhood, as everything, had merely been a function of a company. His parents employees. He'd been groomed from the beginning -- his future never a question.

He had always been meant for great things.

"That would depend on your definition of normal," he replied simply. "I found nothing unusual about it."

She arched an eyebrow, not entirely satisfied with the answer. "Well go on then, what was it like? Did you grow up in suburbia? Did you have any pets? Were you sent to juvie after choking our your baby sitter?"

Because what harm could come from antagonizing someone who'd already killed her once?

"I might ask you the same, Mrs. Quinzel," he said, without missing a beat. (Wesker was a firm believer in turnabout being fair play.) "Just how does one go from doctor to..."

He gestured to her getup, all skin-tight two-tone leather and painted face.

"Clowns."

She smirked delightedly. As if she hadn't told the story a million times.

"Oh we all do crazy things when we're in love. You do know what love is right?"

You never knew with guys like him.

"It's the timeless tale of a beautiful up and coming young doctor falling madly...and I do mean madly, in love with her patient. And once I put together my first costume my life was changed forever. I broke my puddin' out of the nut house and we had our first crime spree."

"Oh, yes," he murmured dryly. "That old chestnut."

Which was a bit unfair really. Wesker had, in fact, enjoyed many a similar tale himself. Only, he'd been on the side of Harley's - puddin'. Watching with amusement as someone ruined their life in an effort to please him, to impress him.

The best part was, when those with enough self-preservation left, near the end, when they realized the mistake they had made, and, how there was nothing they could do to change it.

"I'm sure it was quite the sight to behold."

"Oh it was! We did everything from jay-walking to grand theft wrecking ball. We blew things up, set them on fire, and before I knew it I was in my very first cell!" She sighed wrapping her arms around herself like a hug.

"The first of many nights of chaos and madness. It was like the end of one life and the beginning of another that was much more fun! Who could resist?"

"Your first cell?" he asked, amused. "Meaning, one assumes, you had more than one?"

Another out there as gifted as Project Alice when it came to the art of escape? He wouldn't have believed it possible.

"Oh for sure." She chuckled as if he had just asked her about her daily commute or something mundane.

"I've been in and out of that Asylum more times and different ways then I can count. And that's not including all the times it's been blown up, rebuilt and refurbished."

"I mean Valentine's day alone they should just know not to lock my cell. I've sent more guards on paid medical leave after breaking them to get out on Valentines day then any other day of the year."

"Valentine's Day?" His head tipped, strong teeth flashing again. "And here I was expecting April Fool's."

It seemed to Wesker that there was an opportunity missed there.

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