thecapitol | (no subject)

WHO| EVERYONE
WHAT| Effie is throwing a small scale party for just the tributes.
WHERE| The District 12 suite.
WHEN| Christmas
WARNINGS/NOTES| Secret Santa's are under the cut. Feel free to tag in whether you signed up for secret santa or not.

Effie had tried very hard to make this a party that was actually made for the tributes, not made to show them off.

She had tried very, very hard.

The food was what she had been able to investigate as “home” cooking for those she could track down, an odd arrangement of food that sometimes got close to the tributes home food, and sometimes was a terrible disaster. Blood pudding, for example, was a dish best avoided. But then it usually was.

The best hits reel had been her idea. It took a tense conversation with Haymitch and about 45 minutes to convince her that now, that wasn’t really what any Tribute wanted to see when they were trying to relax.

After that the party was much nicer, mellow music, holiday cheer and, for a holiday party, fairly low key. Lorne had karoke going in one room, while another had a large glittering Christmas tree and mellow music playing, with the District 12 windows wide open to show the snow covered city underneath.

Eliot-Neeshka
Kevin-Lottie
Valeria-Tony
Momoko-Draco
Alpha-Anna
Cinna-Momoko
Epoinine-Alpha
Alex-Jade
Jade-Ariadne
Neeshka-Eliot
Anna-Valeria
Lindsey-Glinda
Glinda-Annie
Ariadne-cinna
Elliot-Alex
Lottie- Eponine
Annie-Jade
Tony-Glinda
Shepard-Lindsey
Draco-Kevin

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Hmm?" She almost misses Howard's comment, but when it registers, she's quick to stop and back up a few steps. Another kid in this place. God, her heart just keeps breaking doesn't it?

"A mermaid, huh?" She blinks, glancing down and around at her outfit before smiling a little awkwardly at Howard. His clothes are huge on him and he's a skinny little thing. He probably comes from the streets back home or at least an area of poverty. "Thanks. I think."

"Well, sort of. When you were up there singing," he says, backpedaling slightly. It kind of had just come out, an impulsive observation in lieu of any other way to start a conversation. "Are you one of the Tributes too?"

Anna senses the backpedaling and her awkward smile becomes something much more genuine -- fond, almost. Definitely not something many in the Capitol have seen from her.

"That's very sweet of you. And yeah, I am."

She slowly offers a hand in introduction, not wanting to startle the kid. "Name's Anna."

He doesn't take her hand instantly, hesitating as if using a second to determine if she's armed. "Howard. Nice to meet you, Anna."

It's weird, politeness. Especially weird when she may have a knife to his throat in a few days, or vice versa. "How're you liking the party?"

"Not under the circumstances, obviously, but... y'know." She shrugs, observing his reactions for a moment before her smile fades back to the sarcastic smirk it usually is.

"Oh, I love bein' paraded around half-naked for everyone's amusement."

He prefers the smirk, honestly. It suits both their faces better. "I'd rather be out for everyone's amusement at karaoke than anywhere else here, though."

Remembering his discomfort at her politeness earlier - which she doesn't blame him for one bit - she leans in like she has a secret to tell. The playful snark has become much more dry, but honest in her words. Genuine and heartfelt with the hardened edge of someone who has been hurt before and likes to keep her shield up at all times.

"Don't worry, kid. I'm not gonna hurt you, even if it means winnin' the game. I don't play."

He can make no such promise in return, and he leans a bit away when she leans in. His personal space bubble is invisible, but to him very tangible. He drops his voice too.

"Won't they not bring you back?" It's not death he's afraid of. It's permanence. He's not even old enough to drive a car, and in his mind, that makes it cosmically unfair that he should be slated to die forever. It's not even that the world is full of wonderful things he's excited to see - it's that it's full of things he doesn't know if he wants to see yet.

Personal space, Anna. You forgot that... again. She notes it and backs up again.

"Unless we try to start killin' each other outside of the Arena? No. They need us." She says just above a whisper, hoping to give the poor kid at least some semblance of reassurance about this entire situation.

"For what?" Howard looks surprised. He honestly can't see what they would want with a skinny scrounger from a forgotten town in the middle of SoCal. "I hear they already disposed of some of us."

"Entertainment. That's what the Games is all about. And a way of keepin' civilians under control, I'd assume. They can throw us in there as total strangers to this world, they act up it's them." The psychology isn't much different than terrorist tactics used in many third world countries in her world.

"If you're referrin' to the Tate kid, I heard it's because he tried to kill another Tribute outside of the Arena. I think if we die out here, that's it. No more chances. Just keep your wits about you out here and you'll be okay." She says it as if she's promising to protect him.

"Why not use homeless people here? Doesn't it take a lot of money to get the technology to bring us here?" Anna's answer isn't very comforting. That still means they're interchangeable.

"You're sure it was for breaking outside rules?"

"Not as much as the money that the Games themselves generate when we're involved. And homeless people are still Panem natives. It's easier to detach when complete strangers are involved." Not comforting, but sadly it's true.

Her brows furrow in thought, and she shrugs. "All I know is what they allowed me to hear."

Well. He should have figured Capitol citizens would have no trouble detaching from a skinny kid no one liked from the forsaken middle of nowhere. There's a bit of resignation in his face.

"How do they guarantee we'll give them a good show if we know we can't die?"