thecapitol | [closed]

Draco was right there with her in believing it to be a sort of win-win situation. It wasn't a party, for once; it was actually a setting he belonged in, and it showed in his general demeanour. To anyone who was watching, he seemed at home for the first time since his arrival. He did indeed rise to hold her chair for her when she arrived with a curtsey, though it took him a moment to almost scramble out of his own chair, nodding his own greeting to her.

"Charmed, I'm sure," he offered, pulling the chair out for her at first. "Draco's fine; I'm sure they don't expect us to be on a last name basis around these parts." His tone was dryly amused, leaning on a verbal eye-roll. Though she did seem formal enough that he wouldn't be adverse to referring to her however she preferred - he may as well make some friends around there.

Momoko beamed at him. It was a profoundly small thing, but there was hardly a surplus of people pulling out chairs for her even back home, so forgive her for enjoying it. "Draco, then. And of course, Momoko is fine as well," she said, though it was a little odd, calling each other by the first name so soon. Westerners. She was positively surrounded.

She sat primly, waiting until he was back in his own seat before continuing. "Names are one of many ... informalities in this place," she agreed. She didn't especially want to talk about the subject, she never did, but it was the entire reason they were here, after all. No reason to avoid it now.

Her beam was almost lost on him; it was such a natural gesture, built into him from a young age to be as polite as possible when potentially winning them over - whether it was Momoko herself being won over, or the escorts, the Capitol, everyone potentially watching them right now, was still up in the air. But he returned the smile lightly when he sat himself down as well, folding his hands against the edge of the table, nodding his acknowledgement to her comment.

"I think most of them wouldn't know proper manners unless they bit them in the arse," he murmured after a moment, dropping his voice conspiratorially, cracking a little smirk as he leaned in. Like it was a secret just between the pair of them,. "I mean, Merlin only knows how they managed to set up a proper tea like this."

Momoko raised her eyebrows, amused enough to disregard his vulgarity. Certainly it was no worse than Ichigo in a boisterous mood. "Well, I'm sure they did such a lot of research into our strange and exotic cultures," she said, expression mild, tone deeply sardonicc. "They care so much about our comfort, of course."

She opened the menu, scanning for something she recognized. They did occasionally try to mimic something from what they knew of the Tribute's backgrounds, but too often they got ... creative with the details. "Merlin," she noted absently. "Like the wizard? Or is that the name of a deity from where you're from?" At this point Momoko was well inured to the concept of other worlds.

"Oh, of course. You couldn't tell from the ways they've gone to the trouble of finding clothing we'd like? Food we'd like? Parties?" The emphasis was followed by a brief, stifled snigger as he rolled his eyes, moving to mirror her as he reached for his own menu.

"Hardly. I was talking about the wizard himself," he replied idly, frowning a little at how strange some of the supposed sandwiches were. There were at least a handful that wouldn't be too bad, though; he'd pick something from there. "I suppose he's akin to a deity. In a way."

Momoko snickered, though she quickly turned it into a more girlish giggle for the benefit of anyone who might overhear their laughter, if not their words. "They are so very thoughtful," she agreed, rather pleased to talk with a fellow Tribute who wasn't too terrified to complain about the Capitol, or so delusional as to start talking about rebellion and fighting back. At least he hadn't yet. "If I met anyone who dressed like these people back home I think I'd be glad to be kidnapped to another world," she added with a not exaggerated shudder.

She went straight to the cakes, eyeing what looked like a plain and simple strawberry. "Like from King Arthur?" She wrinkled her nose. She preferred the later days of Europe, of course, the hedonistic Roccoco period. "Do you curse with his name too?" Not that she was truly interested, but they had to keep the conversation going somehow.

Draco had little intention of fighting back. He liked the Capitol well enough, for its many quirks; at the very least, they seemed to worship him the way he thought he ought to be. He flashed her a little grin, utterly amused by the combination of both shudder and words, "You and me both. It's certainly better than it could be, but..." He trailed off, tipping his head a little, clicking his tongue softly. "Bloody ridiculous a lot of the time."

"I suppose so. He's a legend where I'm from. Not mythological, you understand, but around the same level. I don't really know why it's said; haven't much thought about it," he mused, smirking a little at her reaction before dropping his eyes back to the menu. A cake might not be bad for afterwards; he did like sweets. "Sometimes. Things like 'Merlin's baggiest Y-fronts' come to mind. Not that I'd ever utter that; it's far too common, if you ask me."

"Better than it could be," repeated Momoko, her horror entirely sincere. "Have you seen worse?"

"He's a legend where I'm from as well. At least, my world, in my country...well, we have heard of him, at least." She shrugged. "He's not really considered that important." She turned the words over in her head, but the slang simply didn't compute. "What are y-fronts? Is it something vulgar?"

"Well, that just depends on your definition of worse. But probably not, if I'm perfectly honest. I just have a decent imagination," he smirked.

"It is tragically vulgar," Draco explained at that point, deciding that leaving it at that was good enough. She was a good sort of girl who really didn't need to hear about that sort of thing, and he actually found that he appreciated company that had manners and knew what to do with them. Someone who wasn't about to ask which fork to use when given three. "And I'll leave that at that, so as not to offend your delicate sensibilities before actually getting to know you a little bit better."

"I feel sorry for you then. Such a talented imagination must lead to some terrible nightmares," said Momoko without thinking. It occurred to her too late that they both had plenty of terrible realities to draw nightmare fuel from. Hurriedly, she pushed such thoughts aside and set her menu down. "I think I'm ready to order aren't you?"

Momoko smiled again. "Well, then I suppose I look forward to when you feel more comfortable with offending my poor sensibilities," she said, and it was a trite, polite response but some part of Momoko actually meant.

"So far, so good - I'd consider myself rather lucky in that regard." He offered her a mild smile, slightly crooked for the fact that he hadn't been so lucky as to avoid Arena-based nightmares plaguing him every so often; that was hardly the proper conversation to be having, however, and he nodded lightly. "Ready as I'll ever be, I'm sure. What are you getting?" Draco asked, glancing over to catch the eye of a waitress, beckoning her over subtly.

His smile became a bit more proper, a bit more genuine then. "I daresay I look forward to that as well." It had been too long since he could just socialise a little bit, flirt a little more. Make the most of his youth. He was almost grateful that Effie had set this up for them now; Momoko's company wasn't that bad at all.

"Chamomile tea," she said, happy he went along with the change of subject. She spoke to both him and the waitress who came over. "And make sure there is plenty of sugar available, please. Two slices of cake, one strawberry, one chocolate, thank you." If there was one thing Momoko was never going to get tired of, it was the way she was allowed to treat herself while in the Capitol.

"It's not so terrible in the Capitol sometimes," she admitted, handing her menu over. "I could never have afforded to eat like this back home, as much as I have."

Draco looked pleasantly amused at her choice of cakes, ordering himself Earl Grey tea and an assortment of tea sandwiches that he could pick at before handing off his menu as well, folding his hands on the table before him casually. "And here, it's practically a necessity. I don't think they'd let us eat anything that wasn't the best of the best - we're their Tributes, after all," he smirked a little once they were alone again. "I could sort of get used to it."

"Oh of course, they must take care of us," agreed Momoko, nodding absently in approval at Draco's choices. She'd been concerned beforehand at being embarrassed in public at what seemed like a relatively nice place, "I feel a little like a pampered pet sometimes." And other times, less pampered. "I think I'd rather be left alone for the most part, but I do enjoy not having to worry about paying for food or clothing. And everything is such fantastic quality."

She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Although with the new credit system... It wasn't really explained, was it? It's not like there are many ways for us to earn money, after all."

"It's in their best interest, at least."

Propping his chin up in one hand, he couldn't help the brief sense of ease that came upon him; this was much better than worrying about some silly Arena. "It's true. And every once in a while, you get a stylist who isn't absolutely insane, and likes to leave you looking normal," he mused, fluttering his free hand lightly.

"You're right, though. I think the only real way to earn anything is by-" He wrinkled his nose, remembering Creuntus' announcement. "By killing people. But really, there has to be some other method."

"Oh that is nice. My Stylists are rather pathetic and weak-willed, really, mostly they just let me wear whatever I want so long as it's green once in a while." She sighed, carefully pushing the horror of that Halloween party aside. "Has yours done anything especially bad?"

She frowned, leaning forward to rest her cheek in her hand. "I'm going to be rather poor then," she said, matter-of-fact. "I'll be eating in my rooms a lot, I think."

He winced at the question, rolling his eyes a little. "They dressed me up as a dragon for that Halloween party. I think they thought they were being funny. And to add insult to injury, I matched the rest of the District; apparently it was all Effie's idea."

Sometimes the woman had good ideas, sometimes she didn't. It was all very hit or miss, it seemed.

"That's all right, I'll be right there with you," Draco replied dryly before amending, "Not literally, of course." Unless she posed to him a proper invitation; he would hardly just go by without warning.

It took a moment for Momoko to understand, the language barriers and translating technology doing strange things in her head. "Ah," she said eventually. "Draco, I see." She shuddered in shared disgust. "That is terrible. Did they make the others dragons as well? I didn't pay much attention to anyone else--they made me a lumberjack, I could barely stand to be seen."

"You could come by if you wished," Momoko said carelessly. After months of Ichigo dropping by unannounced whenever she felt like it, Momoko was quite inured to unexpected guests. "To hide from your Stylists, for example." A small, satisfied grin crept onto her face. "I used to room with a horrible boy, but he's gone. Now it's just a man who's barely around."

"No, Effie was a unicorn, and Tony was...something. Something mythical," he replied, rolling his eyes. What the Capitol thought was amusing, most people found obnoxious, that was what Draco had found. He offered her a sympathetic look, knowing full well absolutely no one could be dressed as a lumberjack and expect to look good, "That's horrid. District-inspired, was it?"

He lifted his eyebrows slightly, curious. Not that he was going to complain about having someone to go visit - it made him feel like he was actually situating himself in the Capitol a little bit more. "Well, that's better, I suppose. I can't stand having horrid roommates. It doesn't much help that we've individual rooms, either; you still have to deal with them whenever you go out as a District," he sighed, pulling a brief face. "But perhaps I will come by. I'm sure Effie wouldn't complain if you took it upon yourself to visit, either," Draco extended the invitation in return.

"Ugh," said Momoko with feeling. "That does sound dreadful. And of course there's video proof of it all." Damn the Capitol and it's cameras, thought Momoko, and nodded. "Yes. I've never been, of course, all I know is that there are trees and axes and...things. The District assignments are horrible in all sorts of ways. Forced roommates and, yes, the public appearances."

Momoko inclined her head politely at the invitation, pleased at the offer though not sure if she would ever make use of it. She was barely used to socializing willingly at all, much less being the person to initiate it. "I would like to see Effie again. She was..." A person of relative power who was almost embarrassingly easy to manipulate.

"...Quite nice," Momoko finished after a moment of thought.

He seconded the feeling, wincing unhappily at the reminder that anyone could go into that and find the cinematic proof that he'd been put through that unfortunate ordeal. That both of them had been, really. He'd have probably refused to go if he'd been dressed as a lumberjack as she had been. "I just don't follow where we come into play. How can we represent a District we've never been to?" He wrinkled his nose, scoffing a little under his breath.

Draco tipped his head to one side in mild amusement at her hesitation, letting his expression smooth back out. "She's certainly something. She could be worse; I wouldn't like to see it, but she could be. I can only really imagine that potential trainwreck."

"Exactly," said Momoko. "We're like mascots to them at best. Although it does make some sense, I guess." She rested her chin on folded hands thoughtfully. "They used to use people from the Districts, I know, and they can't have liked that very much. Now they get all the benefits of the Games and don't have to worry about being picked to fight in them." She shrugged. "It is smart of the Capitol, in it's way."

The waitress returned then with their food and Momoko subsided. She didn't feel comfortable discussing the politics of the Games around the Citizens, even if most of them seemed utterly uncaring of politics in general. "She's enthusiastic," Momoko said generously. "That must be helpful in some respects."

"I'd like to see what everyone else thought of it. The Capitol's ideas are always smart to the Capitol itself," he mused, fluttering one hand. "But I suppose it can't be all bad. I'd be happy if I didn't have to send off my neighbours for something like this."

He'd opened his mouth to continue when the waitress arrived, glancing up to her curiously before nodding his appreciation for the prompt delivery of his food. Only once she was gone did he go on, "It is. Somewhat. I'm never bored, that much is for certain. There are worse fates."

"I think they were usually relieved when it was their neighbors being sent off," Momoko pointed out cynically, putting a delicate bite of the strawberry cake onto her fork. "It meant they were safe for the time being." She popped the bite into her mouth, savoring the sweetness. Oh yes, there were perks to Capitol life. Perhaps for some people the extravagance was too much, but it was damn close to perfect to Momoko.

"I can imagine," she said, though she didn't really need imagination. "My Mentors are rather like my Stylist. Mostly they leave me alone to concentrate on people who might actually win sometime. I'm sure she's more helpful than that. Dragon costumes aside."

"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."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject