thecapitol | [closed]

"Well," Draco started, realising she probably had a point. Better the neighbours than them; it was how he thought most of the time. "Yeah, all right. I'd say I'd be happy if I didn't have to go, but-" He scoffed, fluttering one hand to indicate. "Really, none of it's all that pleasant, if you ask me. I'd rather stay out here."

He pursed his lips into a brief line, "That's not really fair. Who's to say you can't do it? Just because you like looking nice more than killing other people?"

Another pause, before he started off on a rant, "But yes. I suppose Effie is distinctly more helpful than all that."

"Oh, yes, this is infinitely preferable," said Momoko, though she thought privately that, despite it's lack of all you can eat cake and a closet full of free and impeccably tailored Lolita outfits, she would really rather just go home. But that wasn't an option. "And it's different, when you're just watching I think, when you know you're never going in." Or back in. "Like...Animal Planet."

Momoko blinked at him. She'd had people argue with her realistic views before, declare that they would help her win. She'd yet to have even imply that she could win despite her lack of skill, simply on her own. "Well, thank you," she said uncertainly. "But looking nice doesn't help much in there." She thought this over and added, "Not after a certain point, anyway."

She shrugged. "Mentors, Escorts, Stylists, there's really only so much they can do, it makes sense to concentrate on their best chances. So if Effie's really helpful for you, that means she probably has confidence in you," she added brightly. She didn't know much about Draco or his chances, but it made sense.

He was mostly thinking between the two options they had - kill or be killed, or sit and eat cake; anyone with half a brain to them would have preferred home. But that was a little too close to dissent for Draco's tastes, particularly after he'd been warned against putting up so much of a fuss when it came to things not going his way. "Animal Planet?" Draco asked at that point, latching onto that as a new topic for them to discuss.

"Everyone's got their talents. You'd be surprised what works in a place like that, I think," he offered with a mild frown. Perhaps because everyone expected little to nothing from him, and he was simply projecting his own desires to win and get out of there onto her. Either way, it was hardly proper for him to sit there frowning and grumping around, no matter how difficult he found it to stop.

He scoffed a little, some of his grumping still seeping into things, "I don't know about that. Have you seen the other Tributes for my District? I think she's humouring me."

"I watched the wildlife specials a lot back home, to pass the time after we moved out into the country," she explained, assuming Draco was commenting on her chosen frame of reference, also assuming that he knew that it was a television channel, and for that matter that he knew what a television was.

"Yes, I suppose that's true," Momoko said reluctantly. "I can't imagine when embroidery would come in handy, though, and that's my best skill. Well, aside from lying," she added thoughtfully.

"Which ones?" she asked curiously. "I don't really know who goes where. I don't know Effie that well either, but I don't think she'd waste her time. She seems very...driven."

"Wildlife specials?" He questioned, still fairly confused without the original context. "What's so special about wildlife?"

He cracked a wider smirk at that, shrugging, "You could always prod them to death. Or lie your way through things." Which sounded a tad more amusing than it actually would be in practice.

"Tony Stark, mostly. Have you seen him?" Draco offered a minor scoff, a sound that seemed almost awed. He liked Tony, true, but he was stealing the spotlight. Not that Draco was even sure he wanted it. "She's incredibly driven, though. Can't wrap my head around her for the life of me."

"I'm..." She stopped, the question having never occurred to her before. "I'm not sure. My father always had them playing in the background and I always ended up watching them. I like them, animals are nice and straight-forward about things, but I'm not sure about everyone else."

She grinned, hiding the smile behind her teacup as she took a sip. "I don't think I'll find needles in the Cornucopia next time, although if there was some thread as well at least it'd give me something to do. And I don't always get a chance to lie, or say anything, unfortunately."

She though over the Tributes she knew by face or name and tried to match them up. "Actually," she said slowly, remembering a meeting from before things got...bad, for awhile. "I think I've met him. We went out for a drink. I can see how Effie might like him--using him, I mean." Momoko raised an eyebrow at Draco, sounding amused. "Oh? Are hard work and drive that foreign to you?"

"Radios don't have pictures-" He started to say, frowning to himself. There must have been some method Muggles used that hadn't reached popularity in the wizarding world. Like electricity. At this point, it probably occurred to her that he might not have the slightest as to what she was talking about; it showed on his face, if nothing else. "I like animals well enough, though. I grew up with my father keeping dogs, and the Manor's always had peacocks. As long as I can remember."

Her smile was still visible somewhat above her teacup, crinkling her eyes in a way that was noticeable if he was paying attention. He was, though he said nothing on it. "Maybe fishing line will do. They have that sometimes, don't they? If there are fish, at least-

"A drink? Well, Tony does enjoy his drink. I can't say that's all that surprising." Draco turned his attention briefly to his tea, taking a long sip before setting it back down with a soft click. "Hardly. Just not...like that. I don't know; it's a different sort of drive, what I'm used to."

Momoko stared at him, equally confused. "What do radios have to do with anything? Wildlife specials, on television?" She waved a hand to indicate the screens scattered throughout the Capitol, although thankfully there were few in the room, for once, mostly just private ones brought in by other patrons. "That sounds nice. We've never had pets, I always knew I'd end up being the one to take care of it." She blinked. "The Manor?

"I've never considered embroidery with fishing line," she said, and indeed it made her shudder to think it. "I don't think it'd make for very good stitching." She paused. "Although if I had to I could certainly use a needle and fishing line to make someone else very uncomfortable. So long as they held still long enough. Of course, I'd never." Although it'd probably make her quite popular for a while, something as horrible as that.

"It was my first drink. I don't really see the appeal, though he was certainly charming." Momoko drew her second piece of cake towards her now. "What sort of drive are you used to then?"

"Oh, those things?" He asked, frowning. "Those screen-things? We don't have them back home. Or rather, I'm sure the Muggles probably do, since Muggles tend to latch onto that sort of thing, but-" Draco shook his head a little, glancing to the screen. "They're bloody bizarre, you know?" Somewhat hesitantly, he turned back around to face her, propping his chin up in one hand, "My home. Malfoy Manor. It's off in Wiltshire."

He cracked a small smile, tipping his head to one side, "I imagine not. Bit too tense, I'd think, not that I'm overly familiar with the notions of embroidery." Tonguing the inside of his teeth, he thought about that a little bit. "Maybe if you pinned them down..."

Though that really was a horrible image.

"Charming. That's definitely a word to describe him," Draco murmured, rolling his eyes a little as he nibbled at one sandwich. "I don't know. It's hard to describe. There's not that much hard work involved in my schooling, I'd think. All you have to do is pay attention a little bit, practice a mite, and it's easy. Not that you'd know from how half my classmates are doing."

"Muggle?" Momoko frowned. "What is a muggle? And--you live in a Manor?" She'd never met anyone who lived in something they could conceivably call a 'Manor' before, much less someone who actually would call it that.

"They'd have to be very small for someone like me to be able to hold them down," she pointed out dryly. "Or already dead."

She watched him roll his eyes, amused. "You would use a different word? And I think you've described most schools, just then." She tapped a finger on the table thoughtfully. "The way you talk, it sounds like you've never had to work at anything."

"A...person without magic," he hesitantly told her, scratching at his jaw in a slightly embarrassed fashion. "Erm. Yes. It's hundreds of years old, really. We've always lived there." Hence the name, he thought.

He wrinkled his nose, though. "Not if you had someone with you. An ally of sorts; they could always hold them down as well."

Draco cracked a smile at both her comments, shrugging one shoulder; he waited until he was done chewing his latest bite, washing it down with a sip of his tea before daring to reply, "Depends on the day. I like him, though; don't get me wrong. And I haven't, not really." Except of late, when far more was expected of him. "I've always been fairly good at things."

"You have a name for people who can't do magic? A ridiculous name, for that matter. ...What do you mean by magic, exactly?" she asked hesitantly, thinking over some the strangeness of the past few months. "A Manor. That's rather old-fashioned," she said, unable to think of what else to say. "I mean, I like old-fashioned things, though.

"If I had an ally strong enough to hold someone else down I would waste my time with needles," Momoko said, then added thoughtfully, "Unless I really disliked whoever it was, I suppose."

She smiled. "I never had to try very hard at school either, excepting for physical education and then I didn't bother to try at all." And she still couldn't bring herself to quite regret that, despite the consequences of that choice now. "How much more school did you have to go, before you were--before you came here?"

"Well, it's better than 'boring', I'd think," he shrugged, offering her a small quirk of a smile. It was almost apologetic in a way - he'd forgotten for a moment that he was surrounded by Muggles (and that his father would have his head for this if he knew) - and simultaneously smug. "But I mean magic-magic. Like proper...floating things round, conjuring stuff up magic." That was the best way he could think to describe it, at least. Too bad he couldn't just show her. But he preened a little at the reminder of the Manor. "We're fairly old-fashioned; it fits.

"I suppose you've a point there. I think it would be sort of-" Draco tongued the back of his teeth, hesitating before shaking his head and taking another sip of his tea. The topic was a bit too horrific for a tea like this; and with a proper lady such as herself, no less. One thing his parents couldn't complain about: she definitely had manners.

"Physical education? We never even had it. Thank Merlin for that, I think," he sniggered a little. "I had another year and a half, though. What about you?"

"You do magic?" she said, unable to help the tinge of doubt in her voice. She'd seen many strange things since arriving in the Capitol, but 'magic-magic' was a bit far.

"Very traditional family then?" she asked, letting the other horrible thread of conversation fade off. This was hardly the place to be discussing such things, and anyway the logistics were just too complicated.

"No physical education? What kind of school was that?" she asked, eyes wide. That sounded heavenly. "I had about the same left, but I can't say I care too much about finishing."

He just tipped his head to one side, a tiny smirk playing at his mouth as he just shrugged. Better to keep that part quiet until it actually came up. Besides, she didn't seem to believe him anyway, though it seemed obvious enough to him. But to each their own.

"Something like that. I'm not sure I'd actually know what a progressive sort of family was like to compare it to. But in the sense that we do things traditionally, yes. We're traditional," Draco told her, offering another shrug. "What of yours?"

He laughed a little, leaning forward slightly, "Not the kind you could attend, sadly." And that was probably enough for that. If she didn't believe he did magic, then she probably wouldn't believe that his school was for magic, too. "Oh no? Why's that?"

Momoko frowned at his nonanswer. She had no fondness for people who played it coy, but she shrugged it off as a typical boy's silly storytelling. It hardly mattered.

"My family isn't...traditional, no," she said slowly. "It's kind of a long story, really, but before I came here I was living with my useless father at my senile grandmother's house in the country." She sighed. "I had to walk for an hour to get to a city with decent shops.

"Was it a boy's school?" she asked curiously, that being the first reason that came to mind. "I never had much interest in school is all. I don't have any real desire for a career or anything, I just want to live alone and in luxury. If I have too, for that sort of life, I'll go back, but otherwise, why bother?"

Better to let her think what she would, and be able to brag further when he actually had the chance. To be quite frank, Draco was thoroughly embarrassed by his lack of magic. Not only did he have to force himself to get used to doing things on his own, but he had to fight hand to hand. It was horrid.

"That's horrid. You didn't have some sort of more convenient transportation?" He hesitated, frowning as he tried to think of the word, "Cars, or what you have?" Honestly, with that sort of travel time, Draco had never been happier that he had Apparition and the Floo Network back home. Even if it just proved to him now more than ever that Muggles were terribly inefficient.

Weighing his options, Draco wondered if it would be worse to lie and say it was, or to tell the truth and have her scoff again. A magic school, of all things. Instead he just nodded a little, opting for a half-lie of sorts, "Can you imagine it? Living with the same blokes for seven years. I've seen far too much of some of them." He gave a dismissive flap of one hand, a stilted sort of gesture. "You ought to marry rich, I think. It'd suit you well. Though I don't know how easy it'd be to find a rich enough bloke around where you live."

"Well, I take the train into the actual city itself," she explained. "It's a long walk to the train station, is the thing, and then of course the train ride itself. Not that I have many other restraints on my time of course."

Momoko grimaced with faint distaste. "It sounds horrid. Did you at least have your own room?" She drained her tea and stared at the tea leaves in the cup for a moment, amused at the thought. "I don't know if I'd enjoy marriage, unless perhaps we had different houses." If he was rich, that wouldn't be an issue. "Or if I became a Black Widow." Just a joke, of course. "Maybe instead I could find some dying old man without a family and convince him to make me his heir."

He just shook his head a little, the gesture sympathetic, and took another sip of his tea, hesitating before cracking a wry smirk. "Not at all. Shared with at least three others at any given point in time. Thankfully, my roommates were decent people, but it's really the point of the thing, I'd think. Point of the thing indeed; he was better off with roommates like them. Maybe not Crabbe or Goyle - they left something to be desired - but Theo and Blaise, at the very least.

Vaguely curious as to if she saw anything of any interest in her tea leaves - and then remembering that the entire matter was a crock and a waste of time unless you were joking about it - Draco shrugged. "Well, I'm sure you could suggest it. The house bit, at least. Though I could probably see you being a Black Widow as well. One of my friends, his mother's got quite the reputation. There's no proving it, of course, but you know how tongues wag." A pause, and another smirk. "I'll bet you could manage it fairly well. There's a market for that, if it's what you were into."

"Awful," Momoko declared simply. "I couldn't have stood it. At least here you have your own separate bedroom. He was nice enough, but I can't imagine sharing a bedroom with Tony, for example."

Momoko smiled once again, pouring herself another cup. "Well, if you know someone with experience perhaps you could give me some pointers. I certainly have plenty of rich people to choose from here. I don't know if I could manage it, though," she added with a wry grin, not at all insulted by his implication that she'd make a good domestic murderer. She'd started the joke, after all. "I've only ever killed people who were already dying, so far."

"I don't think I'd ever get any sleep," he pointed out mildly, "At least back at school, we could-" Draco hesitated, wary of mentioning magic again. He backtracked, shrugging instead, "We had no trouble blocking each other out if we wanted some time to ourselves. I don't think that'd be nearly so possible around here. Especially not with the parties going on constantly."

His smirk only grew a little when it seemed as though she was willing to go on with it. It seemed an appropriate little joke for the setting anyway, what with all the murder and what have you. Unsavoury activities. "Well, who's to say you won't be able to find someone who fits both bills? Rich, and already dying? It just makes it all the more plausible that he just...passed away conveniently, anyway. We'll have to pick someone out first, you know. Before I can offer too much as far as advice goes."

"The parties," said Momoko darkly. "They're the worst part. When we're in the Capitol, I mean. And we have to go to them, too." She wrinkled her nose at the reminder of that particular responsibility.

"So there would need to be research," said Momoko thoughtfully, still grinning. "Scout out prospects, ask for medical history, that sort of thing. If real dating was like that, it'd all be a lot more organized." Not that Momoko had any experience in that field. "Or we could find someone nobody would miss, who everybody hates. I could convince someone else to take care of him, no evidence to point towards me."

"Some of them are all right, but I agree - it's really the obligation of the thing that's the worst of it all. If we had the opportunity to opt out of some of them, and not just because we were at another party, then I think I'd be a lot more inclined to attend. There's only so long I feel like obliging social niceties, after all," Draco rolled his eyes, his own tone growing dry for a moment.

"Oh, without a doubt. You'd have to go the distance on the thing, otherwise it'd just fall horribly flat. You'd get caught in a second, or else it would go awry in some way." He shrugged mildly, tipping his head to one side. "As long as you mourned properly after the thing, had a good alibi and all that... I think you'd be all right after the fact. Can't bounce back too quickly afterwards."

"I don't think they understand the word 'options' here," said Momoko, her voice equally dry. "Unless it's an option between a terrible outfit for the terrible party or an even worse outfit for the terrible party."

She tapped a finger against her lips as she pondered. "I could do mourning, although having to wear black for that long would be annoying. But I'm good at pretending to be sad. It's more about the sounds and the expression than the tears." She demonstrated, briefly, though quietly so as not to attract attention, ducking her head and letting her shoulders shake before straightening again. "See? I have a knack."

"Is that really an option, though? I'd almost rather just go naked. Though with our luck, that would start a trend in nudity amongst Tributes, to help them stick out like sore thumbs even more than before."

He tipped his head to one side as he watched her little display, amused and intrigued. "You are good at that. I suppose we could let the mourning go. Maybe just an armband or some such. You could hardly sacrifice style just for something like that."

[closed]

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