thecapitol | The Crowning of Mindy McReady

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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.

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Mindy DID notice her. It was hard not to: she was one of the few people who was wearing something that was nothing close to what the theme was. It took balls: she liked that.

Plus, she was drinking, so that was bound to bring up some interesting conversation.

"So I gotta ask: whose YOUR dresser?"

"Like I remember her name." Johanna scoffed. "If you're talking about the dress, though, I chose it."
She eyed Mindy up and down. "All of this. It's just a bit... tacky."

It was nothing against Mindy particularly, Johanna's hostile tone. It was just - there were very few female Victors, and now this child, this bloodthirsty kid was going to steal that limelight off Finnick, and even Katniss, and especially Johanna. And as much as Johanna loathed the Captol, she was determined to keep hold of the fame she had been promised on winning the Games.

"If you mean how this is done? Yeah. I mean, this shit is all for fashion. It doesn't serve its practical purpose: supposed to disguise you and represent a part of you. It's not supposed to be about fashion."

Which was what all of this was. Fashion. "Cute." No more of a reason but frivolity. Sure, this girl was acting bitchy, but hadn't she said the same shit when Enjor-that French guy had his crowning?

"And you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" Johanna was quite amused. She knew who Mindy was, and quite frankly, she had been impressed by the girl's performance in the arena as well. But it didn't mean she was going to reveal that to Mindy.

"Have you been watching too much TV? Is that where you learned to fight like that? Anyone you'd think you'd been brought up a Career."

That conclusion made Johanna trust Mindy just a little bit less.

"I would." Mindy could see where people would certainly think the girl was intimidating. By her nature she could see she was a girl from the OLD games, where you died and stay dead, where children would make sure that you regretted hesitation. She was a tigress moving back and forth, waiting for her move, saying something but saying way more.

"You can't do what I do by watching TV. You have to be able to experience it yourself, come so close to death its calling you. But I don't need to tell you that, you already know. Just like you know I'm not a Career. Not even from Panem."

"I know that." Johanna snapped. Did this child not listen? That was how every single one of the Tributes from Seven who had come after Johanna had ended up dead. People needed to start listening to her more.

"If you were a Career, you wouldn't be fighting in these arenas." Mindy should almost be able to hear the contemptuous 'duh' practically dripping from Johanna's mouth. "So you've learned practically, huh? Trained to fight before you could walk?"

Jesus, what a bitch. And she thought Azula was bad. Mindy was already sighing quietly. Fuck, but she hated this whole meet and greet garbage.

"Something like that. Was able to catch on to this faster than most. Also helps to reinvent alliances as you go, I guess."

Johanna couldn't help grin. Such a strategist. She quite liked Mindy: she could see a lot of herself in her.

"You've got the brains of a mentor, kid." And that was about the highest praise Johanna could muster.

"I'll say that when I can knock some sense into my guys." There were a few troubled spots and likely more coming. "Somehow I don't see them flourishing with Eva's tender loving care alone."

By which she meant hardly at all.

Johanna had to laugh at that. "No. Eva's passed it now, bit of an old bag. She's not bad, Eva. She's passed it, but she's not a bad woman." Johanna offered begrudgingly. She hadn't had much to do with Eva. She regarded her as quite weak now, fussing over that sulky, mopey Tribute as if the girl was her own flesh and blood. Johanna refused to like her Tributes: she didn't understand how Eva could open her heart to a stranger, of all people, and leave herself vulnerable again. But that was a bit too much to tell Mindy right now.

In reality, it wasn't fawning over Eponine that Mindy minded. It was more the fact that Eva had such a low opinion of her own Tributes when she barely saw what they were up to. Mindy may have hated the Capitol and everything it stood for, but the last thing she would ever do is leave her own tribute members defenseless.

"I'll take your word for it. Let's say she didn't favor my odds in the last Arena. I decided I'd be spiteful about it."

That was a lie. Mostly.

"What? Show everyone that the under dog can win?" This kid was really quite like her. Johanna quite marvelled at the idea.

"Have you seen my arena tapes? Lets just say that until the last day, the odds weren't in my favour at all. It's so much more... satisfying when you can tell some one to stick it."

"Damn right. I was fucked out of a victory the last time. I didn't feel like repeating that mistake again."

Her name was familiar. "Working my way through the tapes, actually. So tell me, how did you manage to pull out a victory the last day?"

"I saved my strength." Johanna smiled dangerously. "I hid myself and my axe, and when there were just a few left, all weak and tired, it was easy pickings."

"You took them out with an axe?" Brutal. Calculating. She had to admit, she had admiration for that. "Sick. Wish I'd thought of that before I got scratched up or got that arrow in my shoulder! Then again, the same trick probably wouldn't work again. Not with the Capitol watching."

"The axe is MY weapon." Johanna replied techily, though she enjoyed Mindy's obvious admiration. But good god, was it not enough that Mindy was about twelve, and a girl, so taking Johanna's place as one of the youngest, and female Tributes to win, that she also wanted to take her weapon as well? Johanna had no intention of sharing.

"So hands off, Kid."

Mindy snickered. "I'm not talking about the weapon, I'm talking about the method. That was why I was talking about my injuries. I'm not bad with a bludgeoning weapon, but if you saw the last Arena, you'd know I favor long range. It was how I took out the last few tributes."

Well, at least the kid knew what she was talking about. Actually, she probably knew more about weaponry than Johanna herself. Johanna, admittedly, knew very little. She had learned how to swing an axe in District Seven. She had merely transferred her skills to murdering kids in the arena. But she hadn't bothered, either in her initial training, or afterwards, learned how to use any other weapons. Johanna admired that in Mindy: the kid, at least, knew how to handle lots of different weapons.

"Well, good for you, Kid. Make sure you keep training." Because an explosion was going to happen at some point and it'd be too bad if Mindy was killed before she could be useful.

"I know a lot, but I'm still a kid. Taking it easy now would just be retarded. Still a lot I can learn."

She sensed it too, the something happening, but it was going to start slow. She didn't doubt that. It would be awhile before anything too substantial could happen. Either way, it couldn't hurt to talk to people who knew better than her what to expect.

"So what does an older mentor do these days? Can't really get a decent answer from the ones I met so far."

"Older?" Johanna snorted. She was about one of the youngest mentors knocking around: she was just about twenty now. But she found it amusing that anybody thought of her as old.

"We get sponsorship for our Tributes." Johanna shook her head. "Of course, you get stuck with a crap lot like mine: one won't fight, the other won't win, and the rest are useless. So that's time consuming and really not worth the effort. We train. Otherwise, we sit around and talk."

And of course, talk didn't mean just any old natter about fashion and celebrity and stuff. But Johanna certainly wasn't telling Mindy that. Hell, the kid was perceptive enough to pick up Johanna's veiled hints.

"Yeah, like, older than the tributes who win in the Neverending Quell. Sorry if that makes you sound ancient or whatever. I was just trying to make the distinction."

She nodded. "Figures. I can do that. I mean, my guys do the best that they can, I might as well make sure that they're provided for. I can do that much for them...besides the training."

Here, she looked fairly casual. "I could be up for talking. I have a lot of free time now, of course."

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The Crowning of Mindy McReady

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