The Crowning of Mindy McReady

[etcircenses]

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.

Comments

[wantwhatiwant]

Ian appeared next to her two glasses of brandy in his hands, one of which he passed to her. He didn't recognise the superhero he was dressed up as, but didn't mind the costume too much.

"How're you keeping up?"

[gardienne]

"They have given me a wig and false teeth, so it is better than being bald and with black holes." Eponine laughed, and took the drink. She didn't mind, really. She didn't even mind the costume. Compared to most women here, Eponine was completely modest for a change.

"Jessica told me to schmooze with the sponsors. I do not know, though. To me, it seems as the street girls did in Paris. I might have done a lot of things, but always, I vowed never to do that. I don't know how to 'schmooze' anyway."

[wantwhatiwant]

"I can see." He grinned and then pulled a face, "Scmooze is a stupid word. What the hell does it even mean." He shook his head, "You don't have to do anything, I'll tell the sponsors how awesome you are."

[gardienne]

"If you do not know a word, Ian, then what chance do I have? I do not know this 'schmooze' - it is the same as 'flirt' I think: Madame said them together."

She smiled wryly. "I think it is that they know me. Madame says it is the men who will want me - I am to pretend and refuse." She rolled her eyes. "It feels like the game to me, but she says no."

Eponine shrugged her troubles away though, and sipped her brandy. "And you - you are okay?"

[wantwhatiwant]

"Well it might have been French." He shrugged, "Then you know every word and I know none." Except what Marius had taught him.

He nodded at her explanation though, flirting and teasing. "I'm fine, not half drunk enough for this bullshit yet though."

[gardienne]

"I do not think she is so clever as to speak French. She is a silly woman." Eponine sipped her brandy.
"Perhaps it is that we ought to get drunk and drunk and flirt with these men and make them happy and get out of the arena for good. It won't hurt if we are drunk - we shan't remember a thing of it."

[wantwhatiwant]

Yeah because only genius' could speak French, Ian grinned and hid it behind another sip of brandy. "Yeah, perhaps. We'd need to be way drunker than this though."

[gardienne]

"Well, these idiots cannot - and nobody much can speak Argot. Does that make me the most clever?" She asked. She was joking - but there was a faint note of pride in her voice all the same.

She grinned. "We shall start with my brandy - that is good to get you drunk - and the clear liquid - do they call it vodka? It does not taste well, but if we gulp it, we shan't remember our names."

[wantwhatiwant]

"Clearly." He smirked at her, "Hey most people I know can only speak one language so you're pretty clever in my book."

Brandy and then vodka, sounded like a recipe for disaster. Ian nodded with a grin, "Brandy then vodka it is then."

[gardienne]

"Truthfully, I do not know how I speak this language - I do not know English, Ian. I think the Game Makers have made it in my brain when they take me. That's what they say - but I don't know."

She grinned and shrugged and sipped her drink. She loved that Ian was always up for getting involved in her madcap schemes.

"Let us do it! If it is not fun, at least we shall have some sponsors for a change!|

[wantwhatiwant]

Ian frowned, "Some weird technological shit, implants into the brain or something." It made sense, he drank more brandy.

"Yeah, let's do it." If they did it together at least he could keep any total creepers away from her.

[gardienne]

"Don't know. Don't care." Eponine went to chink her glass against Ian's. "Is it - bottom's up? That's right, no?" She tipped her head and drank a long draught of the brandy. When she was finished, she grimaced, coughed and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"We must find a rich one, Jessica said. And if we have enough wits to us, we will rob them blind. And then we will have some fun. Come!" She danced ahead, enlivened by the alcohol.

[wantwhatiwant]

"Yeah, it's right. Bottoms up." He drank the brandy quickly and looked around the room before following her. "And how will we know they are rich 'ponine?"

Wasn't everyone who came to these things rich?

[gardienne]

"Can you not tell by looking?" She asked in surprise. " You must look for the way their pockets bulge, what sort of shapes they make. You must be able to touch them to see if they are hard or not. You see their shoes and their clothes - sharp eyes, Ian. You must look so carefully - if their shoes are scuffed, if their laces do not match, if they have been reheeled, if the bottom of their trousers or their shirts have been turned down. We must look carefully. We pick our targets and then we drink so that we do not feel bad when we do what we have to. Or we can drink later. If that is better. Either way, we will make sure we forget it in the morning."

[wantwhatiwant]

"But 'Ponine." He smirked at her, "Everyone's in costume and everyone has credit cards here." He had never actually seen any Assies or whatever the currency of this place was.

But still he looked around, looking at the shoes and the trousers.

[gardienne]

"No, they do. They've given me money before." Eponine looked puzzled. She knew about the credit cards of course: she had one! But she didn't use it, preferring to use money she stole or earned, or the money that had been given to her for killing Homura and Orc.

"You're silly. Even in costume, you can tell. Look - can you see that man's costume?" She pointed to a man who was dressed in a batman style affair. "Look. Round his ankle, you see the thread? It is a bit loose? Can you see it? Look at the stitches compared to ours. Cheap."

[wantwhatiwant]

"Oh." Ian blinked at that and then blushed, shutting up and letting her teach him.

"Yeah I see." He nodded, of course their costumes were the best available, every stylists dream was to work for the Games so they had only the finest.

"How bout that one, can't see any loose thread there."

[gardienne]

"Can you see the bulge? Not where - not there. Next to it? See how it spreads?" Eponine nodded towards the man's crotch. "It's a purse, I bet. Or tobacco, maybe? Either way, it's a smoke for you or some money for us both. Do you want to?"

[wantwhatiwant]

Ian nodded, taking her words seriously. She knew what she was talking about at least. "Yeah, let's do it."

[gardienne]

Eponine grinned, and squeezed Ian's hand briefly, before sauntering over to the man she had pointed out. She curtseyed deeply, as well as she could in her catsuit, and introduced herself to the man. She was no good at this, but that was why she chose the more drunk men, so that they would not notice that she was bad at flirting.

After a few minutes of atrocious flirting on Eponine's side, she reached back and beckoned as subtly as she could to Ian. It would be up to him to catch the purse and hide it once Eponine had lifted it from the man's pocket.

She edged closer and closer to the man, until at last, she put her hands on his shoulders, and he drew her in close and bent his head to kiss her. She obliged, keeping him as distracted as she could, whilst her light, quick fingers made short work of the bulging purse in his pocket. She held the liberated purse behind her back so that Ian could grab it.

[wantwhatiwant]

Ian watched, smirking at her. He hadn't thought to ever meet anyone who was actually worse at flirting than he was, but compared to her he thought he was pretty good at it.

He stepped forward grabbing the purse and hiding it as best as he could in his cape, which was the most substantial clothing he had. He moved away and waited for Eponine to follow.

[gardienne]

After some time, Eponine caught up with Ian again. Her makeup was somewhat smeared from the man's over-enthusiastic kissing, but Eponine didn't care. They'd won. They'd stuck one at the Capitol and come away with the cash.

"Open it Ian. Here." She pulled him towards the female toilets, and gestured at a cubicle. "Come in here so nobody sees and tell me what's inside the purse."