thecapitol | open spectator log because why not

Entry tags:

open spectator log because why not

Who| Anyone who wants to spectate but doesn't want to make a million logs
What| Spectations, spectactling, spectalary. Gathering together to cross fingers and watch the mini arena.
Where| The Commons
When| All through the mini-arena. However many hours people feel the need to watch.
Warnings/Notes| Watching your friends die, kind of a huge bummer.

In one of the many tasteful bursts of helpfulness the Capitolites are prone to having, the commons are full of bowls of snacks and drinks. Popcorn or many varieties, candy and drinks are spread across the table, as if it's a delightful addition to the decorum right now. In another bout of helpfulness, there's also over a dozen tissue boxes spread across the room, nested between couches and chairs. Basically, it's all super tasteful.

It's probably a little sickening watching the Arena on the screens in the common room, but it's hard not to keep a close eye on your friends. Surely some people will opt to keep their viewing in private, but perhaps others are inclined to gravitate toward other people while this shit goes all the way down.

As far as parties go, this one is a real stinker.

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Another party.

More death.

But surprisingly enough Orc wasn't drunk. He was working on it but not there yet. No instead he was lumbering around the commons area watching Waytt and Susannah on the screens and looking for Howard. He felt like he was always looking for Howard and he wished that he couldn't figure out what it was he'd done wrong.

But no, Diana spelled that out for him pretty clearly.

So instead of trying to figure out why it wasn't OK for him to sleep with Eponine, Orc was being proactive in his Howard hunt.

"Ya wouldn't think it'd be so hard to find one black kid in a crowd of so many white guys, girls and trolls." He muttered.

Howard, by contrast, has seen plenty of Orc. Orc sleeping, Orc drunk, Orc passed out on the District Ten couch while Avoxes vacuum around his feet. Howard's snuck in at hours when he knows even a waking Orc would be too incapacitated to get up and argue with him, and he's made sure his friend wasn't drowning in vomit, and sometimes he sat on the edge of the bed and talked to him about the day in a sort of one-sided conversation.

He's just been avoiding Orc when he's awake, and he's been doing a good job of that until today. He sees Orc coming and quickly look for an escape, but right now it's closed off unless he outright runs, and that's just going to make his Escort drag him back in here. To tell the truth, he has no idea how Orc will respond to the last fight they had.

So he just sinks into his clothing in the armchair he's curled up in, like a cat in front of a fireplace, and pulls his hood over his head as if that'll be perfect camouflage. See no evil, he thinks, and can't find it in himself to laugh.

And in truth...it almost worked.

Except something about the hunched over black kid in an arm chair with the hood up brought back memories. Memories of that same kid pretending he wasn't there when he didn't want to be called on in class.

Or that same kind hunkering down in his seat when they had snuck into an R rated movie and the ushers were looking for them.

The hood was good camouflage, but the last year (had it been two years? God help him) of drinking hadn't yet pickled his brain beyond his fondest memories.

So Orc thoughtfully stopped by the snack bar and loaded up a plate with some fresh Bao. He liked the bao here once he figured out what it was. Hot meat inside a soft sweet bun. What wasn't to love?

With a fresh beer in his hand he brought that bao over and put the plate on the arm of the chair waiting for Howard's reaction.

Orc may not be Howard's smartest friend, but he's capable of learning.

The FAYZ makes you pathetic.

Howard knew that, but having the food put in front of him kind of drives that home with the force of a titanium baseball bat. His hand, apparently entirely independent from any concerns about fighting between its owner and the offerer, grabs the bao and shoves the bun and pork belly slice into his pocket. After a second, his finger comes back out and wipes up a remain of relish before he licks it up.

He wants to be angry, but the point is he forgave Eponine already - and bros before hos. He knows Orc was just stupid, and that's the part that stings, not being able to even be appropriately angry because it wasn't malice but stupidity. And he should be immune to stupid by now.

"You never bring me food. I'm the one who brings you food," Howard says, sounding almost childish about it. Well, not even almost.

"Yeah well...I'm the one who does stupid shit. But you've done some of that too. Guess we can take turns."

That was...actually a pretty good comeback. Orc would congratulate himself on that by taking a victory sip of beer. Good job. Let's see if we can keep it up.

"Sorry I tried to eat you."

Well so much for that.

"Puberty, man," Howard says, and he laughs as if it's an old joke that's long since worn out its novelty, welcome only by its familiarity. He pulls the plate close and licks it before grabbing pieces of the bao from his pocket to eat.

"Was that what happened?" Howard honestly can't remember it, and thought it was a nightmare for a while. He raises his eyebrows and pushes the hood back - not entirely, just enough that Orc can see his eyebrows and all the expressiveness that comes with them.

Satisfied that Howard wasn't going to try and run Orc took a seat on the floor and it was almost amusing to see that even sitting on the floor he was about as tall as Howard in that chair.

"Eponine wanted to die, so she convinced R to bite her...or nagged at him to do it. Whatever. Then she got scared about dieing alone so when I found her she begged to bite me too. So I let her do it." Not high on his list of best ideas.

"But I still hadn't settled things with you, so I got one of those mask things and get my rocks back. It slowed the zombie thing down but not enough. I saw on TV later how my zombie tried to eat you. Then Shephard blew me up."

That was really the only way to describe the unholy beatdown Shephard had delivered unto his animated corpse.

"I'm glad I didn't eat you." He concluded with a stoic nod.

There's a simplicity to the way Orc explains things that's both enraging and beyond traditional feelings of anger. What's the point, when there are no questions to be asked? What were you thinking? would be purely rhetorical, because the answer is right there.

"Pretty glad you didn't eat me too." The way he died wasn't painless, but it's been preferable to the ones that came before.

Here's the thing - Howard can hold a grudge like no one's business. But he and Orc have been friends through everything. Howard's literally buried a body for Orc. Orc gave a kid pushing Howard around such a bad black eye he had to go to the hospital. Howard's had Orc spend the night at his house when Orc showed up with a busted nose, no questions asked. Howard's washed Orc off when he was covered in booze-stinking vomit and Orc's picked Howard up and put him on a bed when Howard's fainted from dehydration. There's a bond there that the Capitol is trying to saw away that seems just a bit too tough for the usual theatrics to fray.

So Howard says "I didn't mean it, you know, what I said back in the Arena. I was just mad and saying whatever I could to be an asshole."

Orc considered the words for a moment and looked hopeful before he sighed and shook his head.

"I dunno what I know man." And he was glad that sounded just as intelligent coming out of his mouth as it had sounded in his head.

"It felt like you meant it, even if I dunno why you meant it. So you didn't mean it when you said you were done with Eponine?"

"I was mad because, you know. There's supposed to be bro-code. You know." It's something of a verbal tic, as if he's trying to usher Orc along to the right conclusion. "Me and her made up. We're friends now. I mean, I'm not going to be happy about it, but I won't flip the hell out again if you date her."

"Someone oughta write down the bro-code then." Because it had never seemed like something that would come up till now.

And as for making up with her? Orc's craggy brow rose in suspicion. He always used to just accept anything Howard said. But even Orc had to learn sooner or later.

"Have you made up with R too?"

Howard freezes, takes one of those long pauses. "I think R's still mad at me. He didn't get it, okay? I was trying to do him a favor, he was all hurt and moaning like Brittney was in our basement..."

And he curls more into himself, suddenly (temporarily) bereft of appetite.

"Yeah but R didn't want your favor." Orc leaned forward trying to keep Howard's gaze with his own beady little eyes.

"You screwed up. You should apologize and do whatever it takes to make things right."

The part Orc did not say out loud was If that's possible. Because if Howard had done something to take away Orc's humanity the way that death had taken R's from him, Orc wasn't sure even their friendship would survive it let alone would there be any forgiveness.

Orc

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tenderly threadjacks (just ignore him, guys! also cw: troll racism)

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