seestheman: (Well this is new)
Clara Murphy ([personal profile] seestheman) wrote in [community profile] thecapitol2014-06-30 03:12 pm

[Open] Life is a record playing on repeat

WHO| Clara and Dennett, Clara and You
WHAT| Clara's back in the Capitol after her first arena and general other things in the weeks that follow.
WHEN| From a day or so after the Hellrena That Wasn't up until post-D3 announcement.
WHERE| All over
WARNINGS| Slapping of a scientist in one thread. Other than that, not much.


Out in the Capitol (Beginning of Week Four)
There's something about almost dying (or actually dying and being brought back, as the case may be) that makes a person really savor the little things in life. Like shopping. Not that Clara would consider herself a shoppaholic or anything like that, but she's always enjoyed it and it's as good an excuse as any to get out of the tower to explore the city.

Plus after the past few weeks, she could use a little retail therapy to make her feel like her life hasn't spun completely out of control.

Which is what has led her to a store front with signs boasting about their Amazing Tribute Memorabilia At The Best Prices!!!! There are, from what she can see in the window, paintings, photographs, calendars, t-shirts, and a wide variety of other things featuring the faces of a number of people she did and didn't recognize.

"You've got to be kidding me." Clara doesn't mean to say that aloud, but it comes out anyway as she tries to wrap her head around this.

Training Center (Anytime)
To say that Clara doesn't have much in the way of combat training is a huge understatement. The closest she's ever come to it was some self-defense classes and watching her mom's Tae-Bo tapes in high school (and even then, the VCR died when she was 16, which put an abrupt stop to that), and neither of those are all that useful when it comes to surviving in a death match.

She's at a punching bag, sloppily throwing kicks and punches that don't have much strength behind them. If the punching bag was a sparring partner, or an actual assailant, it would be remarkably easy to find an opening to strike back and take advantage of her lack of fighting skills.

Central Commons (Week Five)
The illness running rampant in the Capitol has made Clara more than a little wary about leaving District 10's suite for the past few days. For the most part, the only places she's been willing to go to for an extended period has been downstairs to train or to District 5 to see Alex (and even then, she usually managed to convince him to come up to 10 since there was someone on his floor who had contracted whatever this mystery illness was). But getting the gift of a respirator made her feel a little bit better about getting about going into the more public areas of the building.

Which is why she's sitting alone at a table with a large coffee (that's closer to a dessert of some sort, considering how much chocolate and caramel are in it along with the truly ridiculous amount of whipped cream on top) and a pastry of some sort, occasionally taking off the respirator for a sip or a bite. While she may be reading a trashy romance novel, she's mostly just enjoying the change in scenery and would welcome some conversation.
biomechatronic: (is that the 'weird science' theme?)

well I see she got right to business! :P

[personal profile] biomechatronic 2014-07-01 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
Really, his experience here has been one after another of terrible moments. First waking up here, then getting stabbed in the eye. Then waking up again. Then seeing Mrs Murphy. Then the expression on her face.

At least this is only an open palm and not a knitting needle, but, excuse him, because he's still a little, well, jumpy.

"Mrs...Clara." Maybe that would help, the words muffled by the hand covering his mouth, not-so-surreptitiously checking for damage. "I. Uh. You too?" He's not sure if he means her too...being here, or her too...attacking the innocent nerd. It's hard enough to make a sentence when you can still feel a wedding ring imprint on your face.
celebrityskinned: (Happy - :))

Mind if I throw one at her while she's passing through D5?

[personal profile] celebrityskinned 2014-07-02 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
Venus, by contrast, seemingly believes herself immune to disease, or thinks that stubbornly sticking to her routines will somehow repel bad karma. She's still at the gym every morning, working her body over until her limbs are sore and her bones loose inside her flesh. She's still at a cafe every afternoon, spooning some caffeinated whipped-cream monstrosity into her mouth while going over a book slightly above her reading level and then a trashy magazine. And she's still in the District Five common room every afternoon, napping with her hands folded onto her stomach as if she's listening intently to the hum of the universe.

(In actuality, she drifts off by listening to her heartbeat. She used to not have one of those, and the presence of the rhythmic thump-thump still perplexes and fascinates her.)

She's just waking up from another one of her affairs with the unconscious when Clara closes the door to Alex's room behind her. It startles her a little bit; not enough to make her jump, but enough that her spine gives a tiny shudder, and she remembers a day when she wasn't so hypervigilant all the time. The days when death was a friend she was going to visit and not a relative she didn't want to hear from.

She sits up and rubs her hand across her face, somehow managing to not muss the perfectly-applied makeup.

"Clara, right?"
biomechatronic: (NOW I'm judging you)

[personal profile] biomechatronic 2014-07-03 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
She might regret it, but honestly, after all the damage Dennett to the Murphy family, a slap on the face is getting off pretty easy.

Not that he'll tell her that. Or he'll try to stall telling her that as long as possible.

Which...doesn't sound like it's going to be very long. Alas.

"Alex? He's here? How is he?" Dennett is a tactless dork, but he does care about his patients.

Oh...that. "I. Er. Seizure? How did you know about--no, no I didn't cause that. I was trying to fix that, actually." So coherent, Dr Norton.
celebrityskinned: (Happy - Genuine Smiles)

Re: Of course!

[personal profile] celebrityskinned 2014-07-03 08:26 pm (UTC)(link)
The secret is agents! Agents and coaching and much too much time spent in front of the camera.

"Venus Dee Milo. I live down the hall." And is very glad not to live in District Four, because if she can hear Alex clumping down the halls in his robot suit she's sure it's a hundred times worse from directly underneath. She holds her hand out for a shake, one of those friendly smiles on her face.

"I'm guessing from the wedding ring that I'll be seeing a lot of you around?"
biomechatronic: (this is my science face)

[personal profile] biomechatronic 2014-07-05 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
Of course he cares. It's just...complicated. "I'm pretty sure he lasted longer than me." Hahahhahaha, yeah, maybe Dennett should leave the jokes to someone else. Anyone else. He twitches back, because that joke was so bad he figures he's earned another slap.

"When he called you in..." Oh. "Mrs Murphy." If he hesitated any more, he'd be speaking backwards. "...what exactly did he tell you 'happened'?"
biomechatronic: (safe distance this time)

[personal profile] biomechatronic 2014-07-06 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Yyyyyeah, the less said about that joke's miserable heavy floundering...the better. To think he used to consider himself good with patients.

"Oh." There's no surprise in his voice, because he's not really surprised. It's a piece of the puzzle he hadn't had, but he knew Sellars well enough to predict the rough shape. "Mrs--Clara. Alex was fine. He is fine. Well, back in Detroit, he was fine. It was...politics." There's a flappy hand gesture because, well, they never really included him in the political machinations--not that he minded the omission. "They weren't going to wake him up. But I--I--". I what, Dennett? I saved him? Can you really say that? Really?
biomechatronic: (no one takes me seriously)

[personal profile] biomechatronic 2014-07-07 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
"Mrs Murphy. On my life," If that still means anything here? "The last time I saw Alex, he was fine. It was over, all of it. You and David, your son, you were going in to talk with him." A small enough expiation, which didn't undo the wrong Dennett had done to that family, but it had been something, a step to healing them, if not him.
biomechatronic: (is that the 'weird science' theme?)

[personal profile] biomechatronic 2014-07-08 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
Part of him wants to correct her--it wasn't sedatives he'd used on Alex. But that was not the point, pedantic, and fixated on something that wasn't important. So there is a tiny hitch before he answers, as he stuffs a bunch of polysyllabic medical terms back into his brain. "He's...no, Mrs Murphy. No sedatives. He's him."
revvinguptheharley: (Harley: iharley)

Re: [Closed to Harley Quinn]

[personal profile] revvinguptheharley 2014-07-08 09:09 pm (UTC)(link)
"Ooo~ I had no idea Mr. Murphy was getting so familiar with the other tributes of District Nine." A cheerful voice purred in her ear.

"Is it true that they need a full tool box just to get to his man parts? I mean I figure if anyone would know it's you."

A bouncy blond woman clad in...what looked to be a dress made out of pages from different magazines was looming behind Clara and reading a particularly smutty accusation in the article. According to this rag the entire District Nine was basically a hot pot of hormones where if you weren't getting laid you were strung out on Morphling pills.
biomechatronic: (illusions of free will)

[personal profile] biomechatronic 2014-07-11 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe when he has some sense of control over his life again, he could revisit the past. Out of slapping distance, though.

"There's...please. Don't thank me." Part of him still aches from the pain of the Congressional hearings. C-SPAN had never been part of his career plan.

"It's complicated, Mrs. Murphy. He decided Alex was...inconvenient. Especially after you went to the media." It was all cost benefit analysis, he was sure--somewhere in Sellars's brain was a handy spreadsheet that made everything look tidy and sensible. "Alex was shutdown, remotely, by Mattox." And ask Dennett how he feels about that upstart intruding in his project.
celebrityskinned: (Happy - :))

[personal profile] celebrityskinned 2014-07-13 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
"Probably not. Have you seen some of my roommates? A visitor who bathes regularly and has an 'indoor voice' is a damn Godsend." Venus' own handshake is a curious beast, something both intimate and strangely distant, practiced behind rope lines and at meet and greets. The goal of a handshake, she's been taught over and over, is to make someone feel seen and appreciated, but you must always be ready to let go and wrench free of the fans who demand a little too much.

"So tell me." She grabs a pen from where it's serving as a bookmark in one of her trashy magazines (this one features the headline TRIALS AND TRIBUTE-LATIONS: INSIDE CECIL AND CARLOS' SCANDALOUS ROMANCE). "Did Alex come with the robot-body? And before you say that's too personal, I'll just fill you in that my usual body is made out of vinyl and plexiglass."
revvinguptheharley: (Harley: I flip for you)

[personal profile] revvinguptheharley 2014-07-13 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
"Well in a sense." Harley chuckled and vanished from sight reappearing almost like magic behind the other sofa where she casually planted her hands on the back of it and flipped frontwards to land bottom first on the seat directly opposite Clara.

"I was watching the arena of course. It's my job and all, not a bad run for a first timer with no powers to speak of." She praised and then looked unsure "You don't have any special powers do ya? Magical or Metahuman? I mean if you're keeping them a secret that's all well and good I was just curious since I didn't see any but sometimes arenas put a lockdown on that sorta thing."
biomechatronic: (Default)

[personal profile] biomechatronic 2014-07-14 01:15 am (UTC)(link)
"Mrs Murphy--," please don't slap him again--he's going to edge back just in case. "It's Raymond Sellars. It's how he's always done business. He made it--" Oh, Dennnett, you probably shouldn't say this but maybe she deserves to know. "He made it clear to me that if I didn't get Alex to perform up to his standard, he would scrap the whole program. Alex would have died." For real, this time. And the worst possible way.

"Of course. There was a transciever on his cranial system. Remote access. For, you know, malfunctions." He had only used it once, himself, in China. It had been necessary.

"Mattox is, well, he's the weapons expert." Can we not go into Mattox? It's not Dennett's favorite topic. Not like any of this is.

Page 1 of 3