Conscientia

[gamemakers]

WHO| Open
WHAT| Night life at the Speakeasy
WHEN| Evenings this week
WHERE| The Speakeasy
WARNINGS/NOTES| Feel free to use this party post style, or however you like if you would like to set any threads here.

The speakeasy was a classy joint. Wood panels, and soft velvet, and usually some kinda of live music, something mellow and easy to relax to. It was big, with low ceilings and with many back rooms, some easy to access, others less so. Easy to get lost in. And it gave off an air of class, of comfort, and being a part of something a little different from the rest. The kinda place where everybody knew your name, and everybody knew to be discreet about it.

It was the perfect place to grab a drink, sit, talk, and relax. No one over heard you, no one got in your business, but everyone was glad to talk if you wanted to find a friendly face. The owner, Conscientia, made her round every now and then, saying hello to her regulars, welcoming those who were new.

Comments

[nofunandgames]

Elias nodded. it was about a close of a warning as he could get. Watch you back. Especially now.

"63." He said with a utterly humorless smile. A badge he got branded into his flank, to carry with him everywhere, for everyone else. "Not nearly the oldest around, but...uh, could be worse."

Clearly.

[luckofthedevil]

"Things can always be worse," Alex muttered, half to himself. It was one of those things you usually learned the hard way, and then never forgot. Alex took a long sip of soda as he sorted out the information he was being given.

"What year was Finnick?"

[nofunandgames]

"65. He was the youngest person to win."

He frowned as he realized he was already talking about Finnick in past tense.

"And he is well liked around here. So those of us who know him hope he'll turn back up."

[luckofthedevil]

Alex didn't miss the tense switch.

He supposed he should hope this Finnick guy would turn up too, but at the same time... he really didn't want to have to deal with another doppelganger situation.

"But if this place wants him to disappear, they can do it?"

[nofunandgames]

He nodded.

"It's not easy. But so far it looks like they have. No ones seen him around..."

And with a look alike....how long would if be before they cornered this boy into filling Finnick's gap?

[luckofthedevil]

"It can be quite easy, for the right people." Alex said it without thinking, half to himself, remembering all the ways he'd seen people be disposed of. Hell, he'd even asked MI6 to make someone go away once. Not that he had any idea how they'd done it.

[nofunandgames]

"It's more...he is pretty..."

What was a good word? Beloved implied something he didn't believe the Capitol populace truly capable of.

"Popular."

[luckofthedevil]

"Popular."

Alex repeated the word with no small degree of suspicion. Popularity was such an intangible thing. Here one moment and gone the next. But he'd heard about the way the people in the Capitol could 'like' Tributes that did well, though Alex suspected it was more similar to how gamblers liked racehorses on a winning streak.

"And they'd be... upset? If something happened to a 'popular' Victor?"

[nofunandgames]

"Yeah. Like a celebrity. They like to think they know them, they care about them..."

He snorted.

"It's as much a game as what happens in the Arena."

[luckofthedevil]

"It's always a game," Alex said, then drained the last of his soda. "Life is a game. Only some people collect $200 and some go straight to jail."

[nofunandgames]

The reference was lost on Elias, but not the jist of it.

"The safest place to be is when neither the jailer, nor the bank has noticed you."

[luckofthedevil]

"A bit too late for that unfortunately." Alex rolled his glass around the edge of its base. "I always seem to attract someone's attention, even when I don't want it."

[nofunandgames]

Yeah, Elias didn't think the young man would have much luck keeping his head down any time soon.

"Which District are you?"

He was wondering if he had a mentor who would help him out.

[luckofthedevil]

"Four," Alex replied. "The fishing one."

[nofunandgames]

Of course.

"And you never meet Finnick? He would have been your mentor..."

[luckofthedevil]

"I... wasn't well after my first Arena. Apparently I was a bit out of it for a while." The sudden reversal of the permanence of death had been difficult for his psyche to deal with.

[nofunandgames]

Elias couldn't blame him for that.

"No one really is. I functioned, but I wasn't a human being for...months."

And something, deep inside? Never started back up again.

[luckofthedevil]

"They don't tell you what it does to you, killing someone. And even if they try, it's still impossible to describe properly. You think you can handle it, but then afterwards..."

[nofunandgames]

"Nightmares. Dark thoughts that creep into your mind when you least expect them, that won't shake off no matter what. Paranoia." He lifted his drink, a grim smile on his face. "I wish I could tell you it goes away."

[luckofthedevil]

"I'm not so naive as to think it will. I've known people in the military. And they chose that." It's not a lie, not really. There'd been K-Unit and the Australian SAS soldiers at Swanbourne.

[nofunandgames]

He nodded, thinking of the few peacekeepers he'd meet, wondering how they could choose that.

"Are soldiers...do they do a lot in your world?"

Who knew about the peacekeepers? They heard they did little, that there was, generally, peace. But who knew?

[luckofthedevil]

"There's always some sort of military action going on, somewhere. Wars, uprisings, invasions." He glances over at the other man, realizing how that might sound. "Not where I lived though. Our military is usually involved in multi-nation overseas operations. Domestic stuff is handled by other agencies."

[nofunandgames]

He nodded. Much bigger. Global, something they really didn't deal with her. He wondered, higher up, if others did.

Or if it really was just Panem.

A depressing thought.

Still, either was, it was getting late, and he needed to meet someone.

"Hey. It was nice to talk with you, but I need to get going. I'll see you?"