Little girl, little girl [open]

[smarterthanthem]

Who| Clementine and OTA
What| Clem wakes up from her first ever death in the arena, then goes up to the roof with her thoughts
Where| District 6, then the roof
When| End of week 5 of the arena
Warnings/Notes| Inevitable angst

Prompt A: District 6 Suite

Clementine wakes up, that's the nightmare. Not the six weeks proceeding it.

She never thought she'd be so unhappy to discover herself alive. It's not just the shock of it or the horrible memory of dying, it's the fear of what she did in the space between dying and waking up. Clementine remembers a girl who tried to save her and then she remembers trying to warn her but she's can't recall clearly if she actually got the words out before she died.

The fear of it overtakes her as she sits up on the bed, pulling up her knees to bury her face in them, arms wrapped tight around her legs to muffle the sound of the first sob. She should be stronger than this, better than this. Instead she'd been stupid and possibly gotten other people killed. Nevermind what the Capitol did to the food, she's still going to blame herself now for her actions.

Prompt B: The rooftop garden

Hours after waking up Clementine has calmed down but in desperate need of fresh air, a space to clear her head away from the view of any screens. She's started to get a picture of what's happened since she died; what happened after, who else she knows who's died and who is still left alive in the arena.

Joel, Sabriel... they took care of what she'd become. She'll have to thank and apologise to them when they come out but all of that seems very far away as she looks out at the gleaming city from the balcony, her chin pillowed on folded arms over the railing.

It's so wrong, those people out there enjoying the spectacle of the games, not understanding the real horror of what the tributes go through. Clementine doesn't understand how they can be so removed from the suffering happening under their very noses.

[[ooc: Prompts are in prose but reply in any format you wish!]

Comments

[hit_girl_mindy]

"That's cool. If you want to be lazy about it, you can always do the English muffin method where you throw on some sauce, topping and cheese. It's a quick way to do it. My way, MUCH longer."

She grinned, "Good girl. No reason at ALL to fold a goddamn pizza, don't know why so many New Yorkers do it."

[smarterthanthem]

"I think we should do it your way." Clementine decides, it's her first meal out of the arena and if Mindy's going to be nice enough to make it for her she wants it do be done properly.

"Is that where you're from?"

[hit_girl_mindy]

"You know what? I think we should too. It's been way too long since I've made something with my own hands, let alone for somebody else."

She nodded. "Yup. It's loud, dirty and full of horrible people, but its mine."

[smarterthanthem]

"Alright, it's a plan."

Clementine looks mildly interested. "I remember seeing it on tv. it didn't seem that bad, probably more interesting than Atlanta."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"It's got some really nice parts, but I tended to work the underbelly, if you catch my drift."

She chuckled. "Certain key cities have their people who swear by it, and so do I." She was already starting to get the flour, and was estimating how much dough she'd need. "Where are you from?"

[smarterthanthem]

"Sort of." Clementine answered honestly. "Georgia. I lived just outside Atlanta with my parents, then after the Walkers happened I was always on the move. We were heading north before I got brought here."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Oh, Georgia. I think dad said it was nice there. Never been."

She paused as she started kneading the dough. "Though I bet it was better before the Walkers and shit, right?"

[smarterthanthem]

"It was quiet." she answered her. Clementine comes forwards and leans over, watching Mindy's actions thoughtfully. "Much better. It's kind of hard to sightsee when you're trying not to get eaten all the time."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Not the Atlanta I recall hearing about," she said, continuing to work on the dough, then shifting to the sauce, adding some garlic and parsley. "No, I hear you. Just like New York is much nicer when you aren't by yourself at night."

[smarterthanthem]

"Maybe just where I lived then. I don't remember it so well as the stuff that came after." Sometimes that bothered her, that she was forgetting the world before the dead rose. "You were allowed out that late?"

[hit_girl_mindy]

"I wish I could relate. Sometimes I wonder if our worlds are just separated by time rather than, I don't know, alternate time lines or whatever. But yeah, we don't have a curfew or anything like that. I'm guessing you do?"

[smarterthanthem]

"To be honest I don't understand any of that stuff. It's like... did your parents ever read you The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? Except there's no wardrobe."

Clementine shakes her head. "Used to back when things were normal, not anymore."

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy blinked. "I saw the movie. It was really weird. Oh, wait, you mean, like, how time passes all weird and fucked up in one place? I think I get you now."

She nodded. "Yeah, that has to be weird. Not that things are so normal now."

[smarterthanthem]

"Yeah that, and going to another world. I guess it's a little like Alice in Wonderland too, except it's not really wonderful in any way." she snorts. "I'd prefer some talking animals."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Well, last I saw, Wonderland wasn't wonderful, it was just fucking weird. So I guess it fits in pretty well with this place. I can only imagine what that duck of Sandy's might say. 'Quack, these crackers are bullshit, quack!'"

[smarterthanthem]

It's so unexpected for Mindy to come out with that that Clem also chokes on thin air. "Is that what a duck sounds like?"

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy grinned. "It was Pruna's duck, now Sandy owns it and I was taking care of it for awhile. I'm pretty sure it'll sound like that now."

[smarterthanthem]

"And I thought only parrots could learn to talk like people." she taps her fingers on the table, rubbing flour into the wooden surface. "I didn't know they let tributes keep pets either."

[hit_girl_mindy]

She snickered, "Well, I'm joking of course. It's a duck, they only quack. I think she got the duck special though. From that woman, Effie."

Mindy was already starting to mix the tomato sauce. "You like Garlic? Oregano? Basil?"

[smarterthanthem]

"Who's that? I don't think I know her." Effie sounds like a pretty weird name.

Clementine nods, "Garlic, yeah. I'm not sure I know how the other two taste."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"She's an escort for District 9. Presided over Katniss and everything."

She tsked, then spooned up some sauce. "Here, try this, and THEN try it with Basil and Oregano and tell me what you think."

[smarterthanthem]

"The girl who won before they started bringing us here." she knows dimly of Katniss, nothing of the exact details. "That's your district, right?"

Leaning over Clementine tastes the sauce, "It's good." and then once the other two herbs have been added, "Whoa, that's even better!"

[hit_girl_mindy]

"No, she's from District 12," Mindy said. "District 9 isn't known for anyone that fucking cool, except maybe Eva."

She grinned. "That's the only way you can have a good pizza. Without herbs its just some sauce and cheese."

[smarterthanthem]

"You've got some nice people there though. Like Steve and Dave."

At this point Mindy could probably say anything about cooking and Clementine would believe her, she licks her lips a little. "I'll have to try making one sometime."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Dave I know, but who the hell is Steve? I'm thinking more Riley, Elsa and that gladiator guy."

She nodded. "It takes awhile, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be all right. It's good to know how to cook for yourself anyway."