thecapitol | (no subject)

WHO | Sandy and YOU!
WHAT | A new tribute is confused and...hey free food?
WHEN | pre-Arena 5
WHERE | suite 12
WARNINGS | None for the moment.

Sandy felt decidedly out of place in the lavish surroundings of the Capitol. She was after all, a skinny little brat from the bad side of town. And yet here she was with freshly washed hair, clean clothes, and a view of the city from this gigantic window.

It had all happened so fast she still wasn't entirely sure she was alive at all. One minute she was running for her life, the next she was being told by some old farts that she was going to be fighting for her life.

Then it was off to bed and now here she was. Alone in a room that was bigger then her entire apartment. It was enough to make a girl wanna scream just to hear it echo.

More curiously she had tried in the shower to do her special trick, to make her skin hard as stone and nothing had happened. It was gone.

Her attention was drawn by a smell. A strong smell, a sweet smell. It led her from the window to the kitchenette area where delicious food sat on display. Like someone was preparing for a party but no one came.

Eyes shifting around cautiously as if an adult was going to pop out of one of the many doors to this area and yell at her Sandy hesitantly took a flower shaped roll out of a basket and broke it open.

It was still steaming inside.

That was all the encouragement she needed. Finding a knife she took stock of the various items near the basket and decided to try what looked to be pink butter. It was even better then she imagined! Raspberry honey butter! She devoured the roll in a few bites and moved to the fruit basket. Some kind of purple melon caught her eye and she plucked a crescent shaped slice.

If she really had died, this was not what she had imagined Heaven was like. But it was a good start.

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Howard's slinking from suite to suite, seeing if he can find anything out about his competition from their belongings. Mostly it doesn't say much, because most of the people here haven't collected many things - the Capitol seems more focused on the temporary pleasures of dining and entertainment - but it's still worth a shot. He wanders into District 12's, glancing around to see that there's no one around-

-and pauses at the sound of someone eating.

At least someone here has the right idea. He steps back outside the room, pretends he hasn't picked the lock, and knocks.

"Oh, hello dear!"

Effie shuffled in, making tiny little movements in the tower heels she was in. They always sank into the suite 12's plush carpets. She should really remove her shoes, but she didn't want to make it seem like she was being to unprofessional.

That, and they took a very long time to put back on.

Looking at the girl with her hands on the food, she felt that little thing shift in her that she tried to ignore whenever it did. Little blond girls were always the hardest, and this one didn't even look old enough to reap properly.

But she ignored it. Getting over emotional in this job helped no one.

Sandy felt her heart jump into her throat, freezing like a deer in the spotlight of a hovercraft. She had half a slice of melon sticking out of her mouth. She decided the first step would be to hastily suck the rest of the fruit into her mouth and chew it while she tried to decide if this strange looking woman was angry or not. So far the worst anyone had been to her was curt.

She swallowed hard and took a swig of something bubbly before responding with a guarded "Hi."

Sandy looked up from her feast at the knocking. Her mother had taught her many lessons about survival in the city, and one lesson that sprang to mind right now was look before you open a door.

Dragging an ornate wooden chair to the door she was disappointed to see it had no peep hole. With a sigh she left the chair a few feet away and opened the door just a crack peeking through.

"Hi, welcome to the Capitol!" Howard says, innocuously waving his hand and looking friendly. She's ten - she's probably not young enough to be pulled into fake charm - but it doesn't hurt to set people at ease before you try to pick their brains.

Sandy blinked at the greeting and responded with the traditional greeting of her tribe of New Yorkers. "Yo."

He was being friendly enough, but paranoia crept up the back of her neck, he wasn't the first one to be so cheerful, but considering she was told her reason for being here was a death match, people being cheerful wasn't as comforting as it used to be. She kept a tight grip on the door.

He doesn't like that she's younger than him. He hasn't met anyone younger than him, so he previously had the 'innocent kid' advantage. Not so much now that she's here.

"Can I come in? I heard chewing noises and thought you might have food."

That brought a look of disbelief, "You can hear chewing? Through a door?"

Her apartment may have had paper thin walls but she couldn't imagine she was chewing that loudly. She wasn't crunching carrot sticks after all.

"Well, you know. Eating noises. You always chew with your mouth open?" He taps the side of his head. "I have good hearing."

She didn't look amused, or convinced but for lack of an argument she tentatively let him in, making sure to stay out of arms length. "Whatever, it's not my food anyway."

He goes and checks out the food left in the kitchen. "You're going to want to fatten up before the next arena. You'll last longer."

Mealtimes, Darius was still assigned to the Twelfth floor. The Avox let himself into the room through a narrow, discreet door, carrying a fresh tray of ornately-cut slices of meat, his hands wrapped against the ice it was bedded in. He stopped when he saw her, bowing with a cordial smile.

Sandy looked up sharply when the doors opened and watched the adult that walked in. He had food, so that was a good start. But she'd had her fill of bossy adults in the last say, ten years of her life.

"Uh...hi?" His bow threw her off. No one ever bowed to her.

"I will?" She asked confused by the statement following him back over to the set up of foods.

"What's the deal with...all of this?"

"They put us in an arena and we all kill each other for money. Or we hide and let everyone else off each other. Same deal." He acts nonchalant as he takes one of her rolls.

Yeah that was pretty much what she'd been told before. Hearing it come from someone closer to her age though didn't make it any more reasonable.

"Why?" She stated simply helping herself to some bubbly blue liquid from a pitcher.

"Shits and giggles," he says through a mouthful of her food.

"You're Sandy, right?"

She had woken up with the new file in her tablet, and head read over it as she had gotten ready this morning.

And really, who else would be in here?

He nodded his head in return of the greeting, and tilted the tray slightly towards her, offering.

Sandy looked at the meat, then at Darius, then back to the meat apparently not sure. But finally she reached out and took a piece of meat chewing it thoughtfully. It was tender and juicy, and so tasty.

"Thanks." She mumbled around the meat taking a few more pieces and moving back over to the snack table to put some bread and cheese with her meat.

It felt so weird to be waited on.

"I don't have to pay for this stuff right?"

She gave him a remarkably dry look for someone her age and grabbed the bowl of rolls moving it out of his reach at least until he told her more useful things.

"No seriously, what's the deal here?" He couldn't be serious right?

"Err...yeah. Who wants to know?"

At least whoever this was she didn't call her "Cassandra." Her full name always sounded too smart for how Sandy thought of herself.

"That is the deal. We kill each other and they all get a good TV shows." He scowls at her moving the food.

Sandy looked completely unamused. Baffled, and a little worried.

"How...how can they get away with that?!" She wasn't moving the bowl any closer either.

"Because who's going to stop them? You?"

Howard reaches for the bowl.

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