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

Me? Never!

[celebrityskinned]

As they kiss she links her fingers with his, hardly conscious that she's doing it, the action like a hypnic jerk as she falls into the trance of comfort. Willingly. For a moment she doesn't forget, but ignores that there are cameras and microphones, the ever-present audience. Her grandmother once told her "God's always watching you" when, as a child, she refused to confess to a lunchbox theft that had clearly been her. Venus wonders now if, bereft of faith, she chose viewers to fill that absence. She wonders if there is something hard-wired into her to crave judgment (and this validation), but at this moment her thirst is quenched by this silent understanding from him.

"I figured, with Courfeyrac getting a basket like that from Marius." Of al the people who have to worry about errant lovers, Venus thinks Cosette is the least likely to have valid fears. Venus herself may be equally secure, she knows.

There's an uptick to his lip that asks for a little more than they've just had, a second of that kiss longer than they've taken, and she obliges it with a squeeze to his hand, with pulling their linked fingers and palms over to rest above her heart, obediently thrumming along not out of fear for the upcoming Arena, but the thrill of this closeness.

[orestes]

The boldness of the sudden intimacy holds a certain sort of surprise, but more surprising still, to him, is that he doesn't feel compelled to shy away from it. Rather, her boldness in the face of everything that's happened to them, everything that has yet to happen to them is intoxicating. While Enjolras may not care much for most conventional vices, no man is entirely without them and his have always come from a particular source. They're being watched, and they can do nothing about that. They will be ripped apart, and there is nothing they can do about that. What they can do is enjoy a moment of complete disregard together. Their kiss holds the twofold purpose of being intimate with her because it makes him happy and because he chooses to be, and because that disregard for the consequences of their actions is, in itself, a form of defiance. Therefore, as he fumbles to respond accordingly, appropriately, it's with a heady feeling equal parts ardency and rebellion.

It's with reluctance that he pulls away. They're still in public, and while they can both be quite enthusiastic students, there is still an awkwardness to him regarding anything related to amorous physical contact. Being aware of one's deficiencies might make him more adept at fixing a problem, but it certainly doesn't do anything for the self-consciousness that comes along with doing so.

He thumbs at her hand, memorizing its softness, and the way it fits into his. Enjolras and Venus hold hands frequently enough that it shouldn't be so revelatory each time, he can't really say that he's disappointed it still is.

"You do not know that. Marius and Courfeyrac lived together for a while, they are very close."

[celebrityskinned]

She laughs like wind chimes. "Whenever you make a joke I feel like it should be recorded for posterity's sake, to prove it actually happened." That's a lie. Whenever he makes a joke she feels like she's witnessing a meteor in the night sky, something brief and magical and ultimately special only to her, something that couldn't be recaptured for an audience later, but she isn't about to actually say that because some thoughts are just entirely too sappy. Besides, she'd have to recall if it's meteors or comets that are falling stars.

She rubs her free hand over his knuckles, thinking that the motion of his thumb, of her fingers, is not unlike the gears of a clock working between and beneath each other. She sighs audibly as she lowers her hand. Some Capitol citizen at the party, some eavesdropper who managed to get within earshot, sighs more audibly at the voyeuristic moment ending, and Venus feels a flush of indignation at them. The illusion of privacy is broken both painfully and quickly. Venus' neck flushes slightly, but she doesn't grant them the reward of a look in their direction.

"I should go and gather my allies." If she felt she had no other responsibilities, she would want to find some hidden place - a cafe, their bedrooms, anywhere - and hide away with him, not for sinister reasons but simply to revive the illusion of seclusion. "I'll see you tonight at the suite. Do you mind if I come over to sleep?"

[orestes]

"I would like that," he says, pointedly ignoring the people around them making eyes in their general direction. He doesn't really want to let her go, and will probably spend the rest of the party either consciously or unconsciously looking forward to spending the latter half of the night laying awake, talking with her. Still, they can't just avoid the world forever, and they both have things that have to be done here. She has to consolidate her forces and plan for what is to come, he needs to find Courfeyrac and be sure his friend is doing the same thing.

"I would wish you luck, but I know that the truth is that you do not need it. Just know that my offer stands. I will help you in any way I can." He pulls their hands up to his lips, kissing the top of her knuckles that rest over his. Venus may not need to the luck, but Enjolras hopes it'll be with her all the same.

/wrap

[celebrityskinned]

"Everyone needs luck in the Arena. I'll see you tonight."

She gives his hand a final squeeze, a pulse that comes straight from her heart like a ping of radar, and slips back into the crowd. She's sure her last comment will be fodder for a hundred tabloid headlines tomorrow, but she doesn't care. The truth is, while she doesn't fear death, she's afraid of simply disappearing, and the idea of spending what may be her last night alive alone and staring at the ceiling seems a fitting way to less die than dissipate. She wants to spend it with him. She wants to feel alive and remembered (and cherished).

She makes the rest of her business at the Crowning as quick and painless as she can, though it still tangles her up for many, many hours.