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

[saisamour]

Anyone who knows Marius well knows that he has turned avoiding people when the need arises into an art form.

So he had taken pains to avoid meeting with Courfeyrac and the others ever since the incident at the bar. But upon hearing the announcement of a new sort of game, and then Courfeyrac's name, his chest clenched, and he could not prevent the weak, strangled cry that escaped him.

So he rushed to Courfeyrac, the still-lingering irritation and the guilt at harboring such feelings towards his most intimate friend suddenly cast into the ether. And seemingly forgetting all about the embarrassing and indecent blue full-body paint and his scarcely-there black undergarments he was sporting, as well.

"Courfeyrac!" All that remained now was worry and concern for the other man, which was evident in the creases on his eyebrows and the look in his eyes. He made a move to embrace the Courfeyrac, abruptly remembered the trouble with his costume, and retracted his arms instead. He could feel his cheeks burn, but the redness was thankfully hidden under the thick layer of blue paint.

[libertin]

For his part, Courfeyrac had managed to stay more or less composed while dealing with the sudden scrutiny of everyone flocking toward him to offer congratulations or condolences at being reaped. He was able to stay moderately calm, expression a blank wall of nothing as he politely nodded and tried to look pleasant.

It wasn't until he saw Marius in all of his blueberry tinted glory that he thought he might actually break out into a real emotion. Whether it was sorrow or amusement, he couldn't even say for certain. All he knew was that he suddenly felt profoundly moved, as if at any moment he might break down. For reals.

He turned toward Marius, reaching for the other man, not caring that the scene would look utterly stupid to anyone observing. He was beyond the point of actually caring how he looked, slipping into their native tongue and speaking sharply, "You have to get me out of here. Now."

[saisamour]

Marius sincerely hoped Courfeyrac did not care about the blue that was now transferred from his arm to his gloves.

He was, moreover, stunned at his friend's reaction that he froze and tensed for a brief second. His eyes then flickered across the warehouse, past the more-often-than-not scantily clad crowd and the food and drinks and festivities, searching. There was a door at the north-west corner of the busy room, half-hidden under the shadows cast by the bright overhead lights, and he would have missed it completely had the silver handle not glinted under the stray light from one of the laser guns in the first-floor maze.

He returned his attention to Courfeyrac and canted his head in that direction, and then sidled through the crowd, casting a glance over his shoulder occasionally to see whether Coufeyrac was following.

[libertin]

Courfeyrac followed his friend without hesitation, without thought, moving so quickly that he almost feared they would catch the attention of some overly observant Peacekeeper or wandering Avox. Luck seemed to be on their side, however, and they reached the door more or less without incident.

Even before they could get outside, he was breathing a sigh of relief at finding some sense of freedom, temporary and fleeting as it was. The smudges of blue which stained his shirt and gloves were forgotten in the rush to catch his breath.

Once the cool night air hit him, he felt a suddenly rush of embarrassment, that perhaps Marius would think less of him because of his outburst, because of his sudden show of genuine fear. He'd behaved like a coward. It was shameful. But instead of apologizing or trying to play it off, he simply slumped against the wall and kept trying to breathe.

[saisamour]

Truthfully, Marius's thoughts were less of diminished respect and more of panicked uncertainty. In all the years they'd known each other, it was Courfeyrac who had all the answers. From the day they first met, it was Courfeyrac who took him in without question, back when he was eighteen and alone and lost and near-penniless in the muddy streets of Paris.

Courfeyrac's laboured breathing that rang in Marius's ears increased his alarm, and his eyes darted around the dim, yellow-lit back exit, even if he didn't know precisely what he was looking for. Perhaps he wanted someone else to appear before them. Someone else to save the day, to take responsibility.

But no one was coming, not now. Marius took a deep breath and held it, and then, slowly, reached out and rested a hand on Courfeyrac's shoulder. He stepped a little closer, watching the rise and fall of Courfeyrac's chest. His lips parted and closed twice without a sound before he managed, "B-Breathe deeper, and more slowly."

His frustration with himself was growing at a rapid pace. For all his gratitude and indebtedness towards the man, he didn't know what else to say to make Courfeyrac feel better. It was his only way of repaying him and he didn't know what to say.

[libertin]

In truth, he was almost glad that Marius hadn't started to prattle on. If he'd wanted conversation, he'd have gone to Joly. The relative silence was necessary now, and it was appreciated. Awkward as Marius could be, this quiet quality now seemed to have a calming effect.

Courfeyrac obeyed his friend's command, breath coming more slowly, pulse slowing down as he continued to breathe. At last, he spoke, words hoarser than usual. "I do not want to die, Marius. Not for this. Not for them."

Not again. He didn't want to be a coward, he'd always considered himself to be honorable and brave, but his life was his own. He'd sacrificed himself before because it had been right. Dying in the Arena last time had been agony all its own, something new to strike fear into him. He did not want to do it again. But nor did he want for anyone to see that in him. He had to be bold, he had to be dashing. He had to give his own life so that the others would not have to do the same. Except that even if he won, Max and Cindy and Cosette and his friends would not be spared. There was no reason to want to fight at all. Courfeyrac was now at a loss.

"Do you think me a coward?" He lowered his eyes, only for a moment, then returned Marius' gaze with one of his own, more catlike looks. "Will you tell everyone that I've lost my nerve and I don't want to die any longer? Oh, Marius, you great, blue fool! What am I going to do?"

[saisamour]

Courfeyrac's confession pierced at Marius's gut, and for the first time the hatred he felt towards the Capitol—and he never realized he could hate so strongly, so terribly, until he was forced into this world—directed its poison towards the Districts, as well. Who would willingly step up and vote for someone to go through that kind of hell? To write down a specific name, a name attached to someone real, living, breathing, just like them, and subject them to torture? Why were they capable of such an atrocity, simply for a fraction of a chance to make their district a little bit richer?

"I do not think you are a coward." His voice was all of a sudden firm and resolute, almost hateful. Courfeyrac was not the coward here. It was the districts, and how they played a part in this inhuman games, how they are equally at fault.

But the cat-like gaze served to dissolve a little bit of that anger, and he quickly found himself struggling for words, before he blurted out, "I panic too, before an arena, and with more severity." He leaned away a little in sudden horror and embarrassment soon after saying that, although his hand still remained on Courfeyrac's shoulder. "You likely did not want to hear that..." Or be compared to himself, at that.

He directed his gaze to the ground, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "I am sorry; I do not know what to do."

[libertin]

Marius' babbling somehow comforted Courfeyrac, and he was soon reminded of where his anger should be directed. He shouldn't loathe himself or be disappointed in his own inability to conjure up the falsest of bravados. He had not chosen this situation, it had been thrust upon him. The only choice he had left was whether or not he would rise.

"Just stay with me, Marius. Surely you can spare a little time. I need someone to feel sorry for me." He shook his head, joke landing flat. Truthfully, he was in no mood to be playful. "We can return to our women belong too long. I would not keep you from your Cosette if it were not a serious matter."

[saisamour]

"We could stay outside for as long as you like," came the almost immediate response, and 'almost' only because he did wish to be with Cosette, as always. But if Courfeyrac required his presence then who was he to deny it?

(The truth was, perhaps, that he ached to be of use. Ever since he came to the Capitol he had been told countless times that he was useless, and perhaps he was, but he wanted to believe that maybe, maybe that need not always be truth.)

His hand left the other's shoulder, but he turned so that his back rested against the wall right beside Courfeyrac. Again he was wordless, staring at the darkness opposite them, his emotions undulating from anger to compassion to sorrow, as he waited until his friend was ready to speak again.

[libertin]

The silence was almost unbearable to Courfeyrac. He longed to hear something spoken, anything at all so long as it was human and friendly. He did not want Marius to think him weak but he couldn't stand the idea of anyone else seeing him like this, like a wretched coward of a man.

"It is strange, isn't it? I wanted to die before." The mind does unusual things in times of panic. Now, his mind had gone back to Paris. "I was ready and willing, and I'd made as much peace with it as I could. Freedom was worth dying for. It still is."

He swallowed hard, staring at Marius' blue tinted features in the darkness. He looked so strange, almost ghostly. It was vaguely unnerving in that way.

"There is no freedom to be found in this place. Therefore, there is nothing to motivate me to die." Except that his participation in the Arena spared his mistress and Max that same fate. "Even Enjolras is a slave here. He played their game and to what end? Now he has to watch us all. He must play witness and he can do nothing to spare us our suffering."

Just then, he recalled what Enjolras had told him just days before, about his idea to set Cosette free. Courfeyrac, studied Marius in the faint, distant light, exhaling sharply as he decided how to broach the subject. "Which would you prefer for your wife, Marius? Would you rather she were with you, that her fate was bound to yours? That you two would live and die together again and again without reprieve? Or would you go so that she might stay in the Capitol? Would you trust that she would be safe in this place without you to protect her? This is important, Marius. You must give me an answer."

[saisamour]

Marius's hands curled and uncurled, reflexively, to keep his anger at bay. He too believed that to die for freedom was only right, what his father would have wanted, back in Paris. He thought he could do the same here when he first arrived, but as the truth about the Capitol slowly unravelled he saw that there was no true freedom to hope for. Not as a Victor, not in the Capitol, not even with the rebellion.

Where was the place he could take Cosette so that she could be free of all this suffering?

He was silent for a long while, staring at the shadows on the ground, before turning to Courfeyrac. "I do not think she is truly safe anywhere. But..."

Lesser evils, wasn't it? His eyes darted to one side but only for a second, and then he resumed eye contact. "But at least, if she were to stay in the Capitol, no longer would she suffer through deaths that do not befit her."

[libertin]

"Then there is a way." This distraction would serve him well. This act of nobility would ease his mind and safe his friend's wife. "Enjolras intends to sponsor a petition for her release, if you will allow it. He will care for her while you are in the Arena."

He watched Marius' face closely, for any sign that his friend did not approve of the scheme.

[saisamour]

"He will?"

Marius's eyes grew large, partly because it surprised him that Enjolras still remembered their earlier conversation about freeing Cosette from the Capitol's chains. Releasing her from the games might not deliver her completely, but it was more preferable to nothing.

He gave Courfeyrac a firm, decided nod. "So long as he will care for her where I cannot, then I certainly allow it." He may not have had the most conflict-free relationship with Enjolras, but he was still one of the people in the Capitol that possessed Marius's indisputable trust. "It seems the only way to save her from the arenas."

[libertin]

He took Marius' by the hand firmly, "Then we will do it. And until you can join them, we will fight and die."

It seemed to be their lot, their destiny. It almost made him feel sick inside, to accept such a hideous fate. But he could never wish it upon anyone else. This tragic burden was his, and he had to accept it. "Until we can all join them, I will try to be brave."