thecapitol | (no subject)

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Who| Kristoff aaaaand you? C:
What| Kristoff woke up on a metal bed and they said things and now he's trying to walk it off 8[
Where| Central Commons
When| Post mini-arena
Warnings/Notes| ...this guy loves ice, yo. Also, spoilers for the end of Frozen!

He felt weak.

Maybe it was the hard, metal cot he woke up on. He didn't remember sleeping-- just blinking for a little longer than usual. She was right there-- she was right there. Elsa, the queen, was holding her tightly in her arms, the was Kristoff knew that he wanted to. She was the shield between the sword of Hans and the fragile body of her sister, and the eye contact they had made not moments before she was encased in solid ice confirmed feelings he knew that he couldn't ignore.

But she wasn't here-- she was nowhere. Elsa had disappeared too-- hell, Arendelle had disappeared. Everything here was...shiny. Virtually dirt free. His mind switched from pre-long blink to post-long blink. They said he was here to kill. That it was an honor. Kristoff sighed. Surely this was just the weirdest dream he'd ever had, and any moment now Sven would come bounding out of nowhere and bring him back to the icy lake he stood on with the royal sisters.

Pinch. Pinch.

...nothing. He thought about it for a moment, and shuddered. Killing? yeah, he had popped some heads in his imagination of people who irritated him, sure. But killing? Impossible. Convinced his mind was just playing tricks on him, he touched a cold wall and swiftly hit his forehead against it. He withdrew quickly, placing a hand on his head and wincing.

That...felt real. That felt very real. Kristoff continued to rub his forehead gently in disbelief. What the hell was going on?

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Orc was sat, as he often could be found in the bar of the Tribute Tower.

In his usual booth he was working on a plate of steak sandwiches and the third mug of something alcoholic.

His sheep meanwhile was standing next to the booth eating from a bowl on the ground. It had bright rainbow patterned wool so it was hard to miss. But so many of the staff and residents of the tower were just so used to him they passed by without a thought.

His beady eyes casually scanned the crowd so he could take his eyes off the TV overhead that displayed scenes from the most recent arena.

He turned his head and spotted Orc, and couldn't help but stare. This-- this was almost better than Sven popping up out of nowhere. There was a big, human like rock eating steak. He wondered for a moment if he was seeing things.

"Er, excuse me." This was easy-- much easier than talking to people. Rocks. Kristoff laughed on the inside. His eyes caught the little rainbow sheep beside Orc, and while the colors made him uncomfortable, sheep were okay in his book. His eyes darted back to Orc. "Where are we?"

His beady little eyes blinked slowly at being questioned and he swallowed the bite he'd held in his mouth.

"You new here?" He asked dumbly and then silently cursed himself for asking such an obvious question.

"This is the bar um...in the tribute tower." He gestured to the lobby just beyond the doors to the bar.

"The um...tower is in The Capitol, which is a big city. The biggest city I've ever seen."

Kristoff drank in the words like a big, mountainous sponge. The Capitol. He was already trying to piece together the world he was in, though thinking about it wasn't really his style.

"Yeah, I am," Kristoff replied. He took another full on look around. "So...I'm not dreaming. Is this normal? I mean, natural? I mean...what?" While his brain began processing this information, he awkwardly stared up at the ceiling. "So I guess we aren't in Arendelle. How did I get here?"

The question was mostly asked to himself. He groaned quietly and then turned back to Orc. "Have you seen a reindeer? He's pretty big...his name is Sven. He likes carrots?" Did all reindeer like carrots? Another mystery...

Edited 2014-04-09 20:16 (UTC)

Orc shook his head "You're not dreaming...maybe a nightmare but it's all real."

As a sign of good will he slid the plate of Sandwiches closer to Kristoff so he could have one.

"Normal is...hard to explain." He decided considering how his life had been in the last year. "I'm not sure I know what normal is anymore."

As if to put a fine point on the matter his brightly colored sheep let out a bleat of agreement and the big rock creature reached down to stroke it's wool with thick gravely fingers.

"My name's Orc." He added in his gruff voice.

While Orc's words only left Kristoff with more questions, the sandwich being scooted closer to his face served as a reminder that he hadn't eaten in only god knows how long. He looked at Orc to make sure it was okay, and then picked it up.

"Thanks...Orc," he repeated the name-- pretty strange, but then, this whole place was a mystery. A small smile broke across his features for the little, bleating sheep. The colors were still repulsive, but..the animal was cute. It reminded him of Sven, in a way.

Orc nodded and once Kristoff took his first bite he would explain.

"This place is the Capitol. We're here to entertain them. There are people watching us all the time through cameras and stuff."

Orc did not know if Kristoff would know what a camera was but he forged on.

"Every few months we gotta go into an arena and fight each other to the death. There's like...fifty of us or something." He explained and pointed at himself and then Kristoff. "Fifty one." He added as his finger pointed to Kristoff.

"Can you fight?"

Roland blinks, slows, and leans over to peer at the offending wall, as if there's something on it that'll explain. There isn't, and he straightens just out of arm's reach, frowning. "All's well, I hope?"

He's not been here long enough to be very familiar with all this place's 'tributes', but he'd rather know of the more unstable ones sooner rather than later.

"Well...no," Kristoff admits quietly. He turned to look at this new stranger, his hand pausing on his head. "Not really."

He's not really sure what to make of Roland-- besides the fact that he just randomly appeared, but he doesn't seem rude, or interested in killing other people. "I just feel like I blinked, and my world changed. Pinching myself usually works, but this time, I've got nothing."

"Start with what you know. Go from there." Roland doesn't know what to make of Kristoff either, but he's content enough to wait and try to figure him out. As with most dangerous places in Roland's experience, this particular place seems to be one part death and horror and nine parts sitting on your ass and waiting for something to happen. In the meantime, there's not much to do but learn about whatever he can, and so Roland's expression is mainly one of patient study. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I remember...Queen Elsa learned how to thaw Arendelle's winter," he admits, straining to collect anything inbetween there and here. "I felt the boat underneath me, I saw the sky clear up, and then I blinked...and woke up here."

To say that Kristoff just disturbed himself is an understatement. "How does that work? Does that normally happen?"

Well that, regardless that he doesn't quite understand the details, can mean only one thing. Roland sighs. He's never quite been much good at bearing bad news. "Then you should probably sit down." He nods toward one of the couches dotting the area. They're ridiculous things, those couches. Along with the design of this tower - and from what he can tell, the rest of the city - it's clear they're more for looks than anything else. But right now they'll serve.

"Has anyone told you anything about... tributes?" The word feels strange in his mouth, still. Distasteful. But that's the word that's used, and it's the one he might recognize.

"Nothing I wasn't told before," he begins, looking in the direction Roland pointed at and taking a step towards it. "Something about...killing, and 'it's an honor', and something else. It was pretty weird."

He laughs, almost nervously-- as if subconsciously he was trying to prepare for the blow of reality.

"I was in no mood to listen when I came here, either." Roland frowns at the floor, thinking where to begin. "They don't really tell you much."

"I don't know how they take us, whether machine or magic." Roland's decided to start with the thing he'd seemed most concerned with. "But they take us from any world. Any when. I know a boy... We were children together. Grew up with one another. He's here, as young as he was then. And here I am, grown and old."

Best abandon that topic for now, though. This man doesn't care about the details, and Roland's made his point. "If you try to leave the city, they'll hunt you down. If there's someone you care for here, they'll use them against you. Or so I've been told. And if you stay, you'll be treated like a pampered pet. Until they need you."

There's more, of course. Instead of continuing with it Roland watches, tries to gauge the reaction. It's a lot to take in at once, and if there's going to be panicking Roland would rather see it done with before he shares what may be the worst part.

"Any...when?"

The words trickle into Kristoff's mind. That sounded...complicated. More complicated than he wants to give credit to. This whole mess sounds surreal-- a Capitol that pampers because it wants to pamper the natives. A pamperception. He sits down on the 'couch', slowly.

"Any....world?" He turns his eyes to Roland. "There are other worlds out there?" While he's still a bit freaked out, he's also slightly amazed.

"Many." Roland moves to stand near the couch, arms folded. "Worlds upon worlds. Ways between those worlds are very rare, yet most of those you meet will be from different ones. The tributes, anyway." Roland still has no idea the whole building is bugged, doesn't even know the word for it. He does, though, know that's probably as far as his explanation should go in that particular direction when they're in the most public area of the whole place. And perhaps his thoughts on the thing don't matter much anyway, as the how of it doesn't change the fact that they're here.

"There's more, but I'll answer any questions you have about this before I get to it." As far as breaking bad news goes, he doesn't think he's doing very badly so far. Hasn't actually gotten to it yet, but still.

It was nice, to get her mind off of things. Anna hated that miniature arena, hated what it put Hans and Elsa through... Hated even more that it was televised and she couldn't do anything about it.

She just needed to forget about everything right now, and to get away from the people who stopped her to offer her a mixture of reactions. Her fiance had won, after all... At the cost of her sister's life. Crossing her arms over her torso, she tried to walk quickly through the commons, but stopped midstep when she saw him. "Kristoff?"

Shuffling towards him quickly, she brushed out the skirt of dress and stopped a few feet away. "What.... are you doing?"

That voice. He spun quickly-- a mixture of relief and concern flooded his features at the same time. Seeing her immediately brought the words of the Peacekeeper to his ears.

"Fight to the death." And yet, there she was.

"What am I-- er, well," he touched his forehead roughly and smiled a little awkwardly. "I just thought maybe I was dreaming. So I was just-- I mean, I think. This is weird."

"What are you doing here? Where's Arendelle? And Elsa?" I mean, come on. The guy was too ~~awkward around girls~~ nice to forget about her. And he didn't forget about Hans, but...one thing at a time.

He was just happy to see her.

"It's really weird," Anna agreed with an awkward laugh. Pushing her hair behind her ear, she watched him for a moment longer, somehow managing to keep up with his rapid-fire questions easily.

"I... Think Arendelle's still around? I'm not sure, I came here a few months ago... Elsa is..."

A pause and she clenches her fists a little.

"She's around here somewhere... I think. Um, how long have you been here?"

"You think?" He repeated with some doubt. "You were both right there-- she was hugging you. You froze up and she thawed you," he continued with a little urgency, but mostly calm. He scratches the back of his head at the second question, about to answer, when he saw her balled fists.

"Why are you doing that?" He looked her in the eye, and after a moment, decided to rephrase his words. "Are you okay?"

"It's not like I can actually see it--" Anna stopped as he continued. "Wait what?"

She froze? What did he mean by that? Her brow furrowed a little and as he asked about her hands, she noticed what she was doing. Shaking her head, she crossed her arms in front of her. "Nothing, nothing, I'm fine. It's fine. What do you mean I froze up and she thawed me?"

He gave her a look and crossed his own arms. "You...don't remember? It was kind of a big deal. We visited my family because Elsa, uh, accidentally fired her ice at your heart. We took you to the love experts and they said that only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart, so...I mean, we--you. I. ...we were kind of in a hurry, you know," he looked up at the ceiling as he spoke, and then shook his head a bit. "You were freezing, literally. Your hair turned white? You don't remember this?"

Elsa...?

Anna's eyebrows furrowed a little more as she pursed her lips. Right. Love experts. "I don't remember any of this. None of this even happened."

Pretty sure if this had happened, she'd remember all of it. Turning to ice is not something you forget, right?

"What-- yes it did!" Of course, he had nothing to back it up-- no evidence, no testimony, nothing but lingering feelings and some resentment toward whoever was the ringmaster of this bizarre dream. He sighed a bit. "Did you hit your head or something?"

"Not that I remember? But really, Kristoff, that all sounds pretty important. I think I'd remember it."

Really important. "Are you sure you didn't dream that or something?"

"It wasn't a dream! I mean, come on..." The last bit, muttered quietly. He thinks for a moment. "Do you remember Elsa's ice castle? Meeting Olaf? What do you remember?"

She has a valid point-- getting frozen, eternal winter, talking snowmen. Seems like a crazy dream, but it was real- or at least, to Kristoff it was. He felt kind of crazy being given the inquiring, puzzled, 'you're kinda crazy' look.

"I remember Olaf.... and going to talk to my sister. We were actually just about to knock and go in and then I woke up here..."

Apparently he remembered that, too... So that just made Anna wonder even more. To be fair, she's not giving him that 'you're saying crazy things' look anymore. She's just... Rolling with it.

"Yeah, we knocked on the door and then it opened," he explained. "You went in by yourself because you felt like it was a better idea, and after a minute Olaf and I came in after you. Because.." he coughed a bit, glancing away. "You said a minute. And it's a palace made of ice."

Kristoff gave her his most signature look: the 'ice-is-my-life-why-wouldn't-i' look.

Well, at least he knew what was going on when she came here... Which meant that he wasn't completely out of it at least. Anna smiled a little at that look. "Right. You have a thing about ice."

Chewing on her lip, she laughed and shook her head. "I guess that makes sense-- But how do you know what happened next and I don't?"

Kristoff let out a soft chuckle-- seeing her was kind of calming. Even if he had no idea why he was in this place. He looks down and then back up.

"I don't know. But on the topic of things I don't know..." he looked around. "Where are we?"

"A place called Panem. They.... They have you the big talk about it right?"

Anna had to admit, she was a little jealous he came in in between arenas... He at least had time to prepare for what was going to happen. "Death matches, fighting, dying and coming back to do it all over again?"

Elsa rounded the corner just in time to see him bang his forehead against the wall. Even she couldn't help but wince seeing it, and she had to wonder why anyone would do that to themselves. But more than that, she couldn't help note that he looked familiar, though she couldn't quite place him at the moment. From her perspective, she was the random man who showed up just after she accidentally hurt Anna, and given how much had happened since then, he was only vaguely familiar.

"Ouch... are you alright?" she asked, her brows furrowed just a little, both out of confusion and mild concern. "Were you trying to knock yourself out or something? I think there are better ways to cope with being here. Are you new?"

She was one to talk in regards to coping, considering her way had holed herself up in her room for weeks after the first arena, but still. At least she hadn't gone and banged her head against any walls, as tempting as it may have been after what she went through.

He looked up-- that voice sounded familiar. Maybe he hit his head harder than he had though-- no, there she was. As he remembered her. As he remembered her not hours ago, dethawing the lake....that was no longer here.

He stood up straight and rubbed his forehead a bit. "Queen Elsa? What are you doing here?" Her sympathy didn't go unnoticed though. "I'm alright, I just...don't really know what's going on. Where are we?"

"You know who I am?" she sounded a little startled, trying to figure out where she might have known him from. It took a moment to realize, after thinking hard about it. "Oh! You're... that man. The one who was with Anna. I don't think I got your name..."

She cleared her throat, clasping her hands in front of her. "As for where we are... If I remember correctly, it's called Panem. We're in the Capitol. I don't know how we got here- only the ones in charge really know how that works. But we're stuck here until they decide to send us home, which might not even happen."

Hello, Kristoff. Have a turtle who is drinking coffee, looking ever distant out the windows.

No...seriously, that was about it. There was a turtle. A giant turtle. Actually, did Kristoff even know what a turtle was? Who knew? Only Kristoff did.

That...looks like a turtle.

A giant turtle. What the hell. He finds himself just staring-- he had only ever seen little tiny turtles before, by the creeks he would play by as a kid. This one was....drinking something out of a mug. Opposable thumbs? Wearing a mask?

Kristoff hit his head against the wall again-- harder than the first go. Because now he knows he's dreaming, or maybe he got hit in the face with a lute, or maybe he died randomly. Nothing, though, could explain to Kristoff's poor brain why there was a gigantic turtle just hanging out and drinking a cup of joe, staring out the windows.

Wait a moment, Kristoff. Your mind is about to get blown even more.

The banging of head on wall was loud enough to catch said turtle's attention; frowning, he stood up and walked over. It was all too obvious this guy, whoever he was, was new.

"You...might not want to do that," He spoke up. "The Capitol might make you wear a safety helmet if you do too much damage."

In short - yes, the turtle just talked.

Edited 2014-04-10 21:39 (UTC)

It's been months since Hans last saw Arendelle, months since he'd been behind bars and months since some poor decisions were leading him right back to were he came from. And then he arrived here, and nobody remembered what happened and it had been like he'd been undeservedly gifted with a second chance. He's played his cards carefully and thus far it's paid off, but it was only a matter of time until something came along and ruined that.

It only takes a brief glimpse at Kristoff to have him reeling. He knows damn well who he is, but so far he's realised that not everyone remembers quite as much as him. It's a risk he can't really chance, so he trails Kristoff for a moment before ducking into a thankfully deserted room moments after he does. The door slams shut quickly and he stands in front of it, forcing an air of calm despite wanting so badly to lash out at the other man. He wants to get an idea of where he stands with him, so he'll refrain from speaking for the moment, allowing Kristoff to get the first words in.

The place likely won't be getting any less weird for Kristoff any time soon, as a seven foot troll with tall waving goat horns on top of that, passes by and stops when he notices the man bashing his head against the wall.

The Initiate stops and looks him up and down.

"DOES THINE SELF OPT TO ALWAYS ENACT ACTION OF TRYING ALL TO CRASH THROUGH A MOTHERFUCKING WALL WITH HIS NUGBONE? Or did it somehow seem of optimal response up at for waking?" His voice fluctuates between grinding out roughly, and then suddenly softening. He looks at Kristoff with a raised brow.

Edited 2014-04-13 17:45 (UTC)

Cosette was on her way out for the day, to spend some time in one of the gardens or somewhere to clear her mind. She had, after all, been spending far too much time training lately and it felt like she wasn't getting anywhere with it. That's when she saw him and had to stop mid-step to stare.

Eyes narrowing, she cleared her throat lightly. "Are you alright? I'm sure the wall had it coming, but that had to hurt you, too..."

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