OPEN CATCH-ALL SAFEHOUSE LOG. THE SWANKIEST SAFEHOUSE YOU WILL EVER SEE.

[capitolprivilege]

Who| Any well Tributes who took Stephen Reagan up on his safehouse offer!
What| Catch-all log for mansionanigans, though you're of course free to start your own!
Where| Jove Manor, a few miles outside the Capitol: a lavish estate up in the mountains.
When| From his announcement up until the end of the disease plot!
Warnings/Notes| What you bring with you! Also, a reminder: if you're visiting, please comment either to Stephen's IC offer or this OOC post! Also, feel free to make up details about the house. If you want an indoor pool or a chandelier you can swing on, I'm not gonna tell you no.


If you accepted Stephen's offer, you were driven up a few miles out of the Capitol, into the mountains. You stopped at a checkpoint, where a doctor or two scanned you with some kind of futuristic device and performed a quick test or two to make sure you were in good health. Then, you were ushered back in the car, and as you turned a corner of the winding mountain road, Jove Manor came into view.

It is a gorgeous house, nestled in a secluded cleft in the mountains. The grounds are not so expansive as they might have been, but there are sloping lawns leading up to the house, trails that lead through cultivated patches of woods, an outdoor fountain, and a pool in the back courtyard.

The exterior of the building itself is that delightful Capitol blend of Roman and twenty-first century American architecture, with gleaming white walls and marble columns. However, the inside is -- there's no other word for it -- old-fashioned. The floors are shining hardwood or lush carpets, and the elaborately carved furniture has none of the streamlined contours and space-age chrome that characterizes the Tribute center. The patterns, the materials, the design, it's almost baroque in its elaborate complexity. It makes a clear statement: we are old money.

The Tributes will be in the east wing, which can run independently of the rest of the house. It has a ballroom with gold-rimmed, fancy mirrors, a painted ceiling and a crystal chandelier; a dining room that can seat a hundred easily; an underground room with one wall a giant screen that picks up both live broadcasts and plays recorded documentaries about the heavily censored history of Panem from a Capitol perspective -- more specific descriptions will be in the subthreads.

The bedrooms are spread out over four floors: two underground, two above. The above-ground rooms have large, airy windows; the underground ones have screens that will show several views, like a jungle, a desert, a mountaintop, or a cityscape. They're furnished less ornately than the rest of the house: the furniture is fairly simple but high-quality; the sheets, soft.

Tributes will have free run of the East Wing, with its ballrooms, intercom system, underground theater, pool, bedrooms, dining hall, and well-stocked wine cellar. Supervision is minimal: though Peacekeepers are around and can be called, they can't keep an eye on all of you all the time. Avoxes on loan from the government will bring you almost anything you ask for, within reason. You should be very comfortable.

Comments

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Depends on the powers, and what you know about them," Mindy countered. "But you have a point. Maybe I should start taking notice of what people can do. Hell, Elsa through me for a loop seeing HER at work."

For some reason, never occurred to her. She just thought the woman was royalty.

"So you'd want to FIND the people with the powers then?"

[polyturtle]

"Not necessarily," Don replied as he began to spread the now-finished sauce around on the dough. "But I always have to take in the possibility that the person near me has powers. Especially in this place. Plus, the Arenas have video footage to show those with powers, sometimes. I...admit I haven't paid much attention to them recently, but they are a good way to figure out others' strategies."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Or you could always listen to gossip," Mindy piped in. "If you're too busy to watch the videos. It's always a good way to keep score, not to mention find out who's popular with the Capitol. I'm just glad that I don;t have to do what other people do to get sponsors."

[polyturtle]

"That's true, also. I admit I've never been a big gossip-type, even here."

The tomato sauce, evenly spread on the dough.

"I haven't had to worry about it, either. I know what some people have to do. Have no choice in doing."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"You don't have to be. Just look for information. Trust me, you'll find what you need if you move around enough."

She looked at the tomato sauce a moment. "Looks good. Yeah, I'm lucky I'm young...at least, I hope that's the reason."

[polyturtle]

"I know." He paused at those last words. "Yeah. And...well, turtle here."

Yes. Subject change was a good idea.

"Good. What do you think of toppings?"

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy opened her mouth, then closed it again. She would have mentioned that maybe some people were into that, but at the risk of her whole childhood imploding, she kept it to herself.

"Toppings need pepperoni and mushrooms, maybe some peppers. Go with the classics."

[polyturtle]

Its best not to think about it, no.

"You got it." Don went to a fridge, opening it up. "Some sausage, too. No anchovies, right? Never been a fan of those."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Nah, way too salty," Mindy said, making a face. "Kinda pulls down the taste of the pizza. Do't get how anyone could get into that shit, honestly."

[polyturtle]

"I don't think any of us could figure out how anchovies made a pizza better."

Ah. The proper toppings. He put those aside to sprinkle on the cheese.

"Then again, I'm also not a fan of turning your pizza into a hamburger, so..."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Sardines, maybe, but its still hard to put fish on a pizza. Don't see the appeal. As for pizza into a hamburger, that's just weird. They're too different."

She sighed. "Don, how many arenas have you been here?"

[polyturtle]

There was a silence at the question, for a moment.

"Nine. I've been here since the second Arena."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"So don't you think its time you got out of it already? I know you don't want to be a part of the system, but I don't like thinking of you dying every single time. You're a good guy, and you'd make a good mentor."

[polyturtle]

He was quiet at the question. To get out of the Arena...but there were others who could use that break more than him, right? Others who would do better in the Capitol.

But nine Arenas...he'd been in for two years...but he was so used to it that at least that part of the horror, the horror of dying...it almost felt routine for him now.

"To be honest..." He looked down, staring at the unfinished pizza. "I'm not sure what I want for me right now."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"The question I'm asking you: do you like doing this? I know you want to help people and all of that, but how much more of this do you think you can take before you start to not even care anymore? I just think you can do better than another run in this shit."

She stared up at the ceiling. "I just...I don't know how these Capitol fuckers think anymore. They already took Pruna away. I'd rather they left you alone."

[polyturtle]

"...I stopped caring about myself a while ago." That pizza was finished, and now he was turning on the oven. "Besides, its not me I've been worried about. Its always been secondary at best to care for my own affairs after everyone else's are taken care of."

Pre-heating.

"If...I've learned anything about this. The Capitol does what it does because its about control. More importantly...its about controlling how strong any giving individual and group is. To survive this place...its about not willingly giving them any reasons to tighten the clamp that's already fastened on your neck. No matter how much against your sensibilities it might be."

Ding. Huh. It was quick.

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Oh, you stop caring about yourself, that's ok then," Mindy said, looking annoyed. "Look, I get the whole sacrifice thing, hell, I can't lie and say its not the reason I'm a mentor now. But think about what you do, what you're best at. Do you really think its living and dying on their terms?"

At least as a MENTOR he could find some side projects, not to mention help the people in his District.

"At what cost? I mean, are you at least staying YOU anymore? Can you say that you wouldn't be better as a mentor, telling people how they can use something to their best ability? I...I don't need to keep seeing you die in these things, Donatello. It's your fucking choice, but I'd opt you out anytime if I had the choice."

[polyturtle]

He stopped, for a moment, to consider her words. She had a point, he knew she did. He'd lost himself once already. He'd gotten good at dying, but it wasn't what he was best at. Even fighting wasn't what he did best. He was best being a thinker. An inventor. A creator. Not a killer, even though he was obviously pretty good at it by now.

And yet of course there were people who weren't suited for the Games, or even Panem, the way he was. Who'd never seen violence and tyranny in any form. He'd promised Eliot, a long time ago, that he'd get people out. Two people, actually, and one he cared for. One of them was dead and the others...who knew. And there were others like them. Many others. And given what happened, he had a lot to atone for to help those people.

Yet...he'd also promised Shepard he would help Elsa, and being a Mentor, he would be in a better position to help her and others. Yet he couldn't ensure they would get out of the Arenas unless her was there-

Yet. Yet. Yet.

"I don't know. If I do..." Quiet again. "I have to think about it for the next Arena."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Fine." She wouldn't beg. It sucked, thinking of him constantly having to go and get killed, but if that was something he still had to think about, she couldn't change his morale. She was happy, at least, that he was considering it. As it was, he could have picked her off when she was at her weakest but didn't. He was a guy worth following, and it sucked knowing people would take advantage of that.

"Better pull that pizza out then. Don't want it to overheat."

[polyturtle]

"Good idea."

It was better than nothing, at this point. At least the pizza would be delicious.

[hit_girl_mindy]

She waited for him to pull it out, sighing. There was really nothing else she could do at this point. Either he saved himself or he wouldn't.

"Should let it cool down for a few. Need any help?"

[polyturtle]

"Definitely let it cool down." The subject change - and food - was always welcome. "If you get the plates, I'll get the oven mitts."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Sure," she said, already going for the plates. "Don't think I'm letting you off the hook, Don. I'm tired of my friends dying on me, and you know the Capitol. They're like fucking ADD children."

This seem like a good ending point?

[polyturtle]

Of course not. This wasn't going to be the last time they talked about it, and Don knew it, deep down.

"...Right."

Totally fine!

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy nodded, then started to cut the pizza, smiling.

"Already smells like home."