thecapitol | The Interview

Entry tags:

The Interview

Who| Kevin Prentiss and Everyone
What| The Victory Interview of Arena 04
Where| Televised all across Panem
When| Before the opening ceremonies of Arena 05
Warning/Notes| All players are welcome to tag around in appropriate reaction threads.

With the winter holidays and the season's snow, life just seems a little busier for everyone in the Capitol these days. It's almost a relief that the Arena 04 interview of the most recent victor, Kevin Prentiss, is a private one. No glaring lights or a rowdy, excitable live audience. Just a camera and a couple of comfortable chairs that everyone can tune into from the comfort of their own homes or private parties.

The music begins as always, loud and proud and with flashing lights before the reveal of an empty set. As the music fades and the voice-announcer finishes his introduction, a plush violet-colored curtain lifts and three figures are revealed: Caesar Flickerman himself, dressed in a shiny silver suit and a tie the same colour as the vivid blue skies above the Capitol with his hair and eyebrows died to match, and two lovely avox escorts in their matching crisp red uniforms.

It may take a moment for viewers to realize it, but the faces of both these avoxes look familiar. The faces of past victors.

Holly Sheer and Jane Shepard.

But they are gone almost as soon as they appear, and Caesar is all smiles as he takes one of the empty seat and says hello to the camera and the world.

"And now, it is my great pleasure to welcome to the stage, your newest victor of the Hunger Games, Kevin Prentiss!" Caesar says, and the curtain lifts once again to reveal the winner of Arena 04.

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[private to Kevin]

Kevin walked onto the stage, smiling as his escort ordered. He held his hands stiffly at his side, reluctantly not pulling at the ridiculous tie his stylist had picked. He hated wearing the black and grey suit but at least it didn't didn't look completely stupid. It just... looked like something Yvette wanted him to wear. He sat down beside the man, stiff and awkward.

"Kevin!" Caesar grins large and white and blinding and casual as ever as he stretches out a hand to Kevin in greeting. "How wonderful to have you. Thank you for stopping by!"

As though the poor hid had any other choice in the matter. Caesar knew that. But such was the blight of the unprivileged.

[[OOC: HOLY CRAP. I NEVER GOT THE NOTIF FOR THIS REPLY. I AM SO SO SO SORRY!]]

Kevin takes the man's hand like he'd been ordered. He doesn't want to be "nice." He wants to tell him to go to hell. But he still hasn't forgotten when they shot Tate. If he's not, they'll kill him.

"Thanks. It's good to be here."

[Available to public to tag around as desired]

No. No.

Not Jane. Not--

Don's hands went to cover his face as it sunk in, sucking in his breath, trying to keep his heart from pounding. Avox. No voice. They took her voice--

He wasn't going to cry. He couldn't. He had to be strong. He...he had to be. He did it back home, he could do it here.

~~But how. How.~~

Edited 2013-01-11 23:39 (UTC)

Anna wasn't far behind Donatello when the broadcast came on. While she didn't recognize Holly, the other Avox she had.

Shepard.

Her heart sank at the sight, jaw setting tightly. She had only spoken to the woman once, but Anna liked her. This wouldn't bode well for herself if she planned to rebel against the Capitol. Maybe she'd consider asking someone to kill her if she was ever to become one of them.

Seeing Don's reaction, she approached the turtle solemnly and simply placed a hand on his shoulder. Her expression was stoic as usual.

"...I...I'm fine." Don took several deep breaths. "Anna, I'm ok."

Judging by the sudden sound of sniffling on his side, on the other hand, he was obviously lying.

Edited 2013-01-12 00:51 (UTC)

"If you're gonna be insistent, you should try bein' a better liar." It was said in a slightly playful tone, as if she was bantering with him. And it was all he'd get out of her for emotion because she had that under control until no one was around to see her fall apart.

But there was a sympathetic look in her eyes as well. Hopefully Don wouldn't misunderstand her intentions.

"...She was my mentor. I should have known, when I started seeing her less. When they brought people for that 'training'. I...I should have...when she disappeared, I knew something had happened, and I did nothing. Couldn't do anything."

There is a long, long silence at this, save for the commercial noises on television.

"...Heh." Don had the ghost of a smile as he wiped his beak with his hand and finally turned to face Anna. "You sound like someone I know when you say that."

Which wasn't the worst thing.

Edited 2013-01-12 04:28 (UTC)

"Don. There's nothin' you could have done to prevent this. And even if you could? That'd be you up there, too." There's just a smidge of her rage apparent in her tone, but it fades quickly.

It's all a game, she reminds herself. In and out of the Arena. Shepard had pretty much warned her of that.

Her brow arches curiously as she pats his shoulder for a second. "Should I be insulted?"

"...I don't know." At this, Don looked a bit sheepish. "Would you be insulted if I were comparing you to one of my brothers?"

Her lips purse a moment while she pretends to look like she's thinking about it.

"If he's half the turtle you are? I'm honored."

He wasn't sure what he was supposed to think about this.

That was... that one one of them up there. Sure, Tony had never really interacted with the woman, but he had done his homework on her. He had a soft spot for fiery redheads, too.

Judging by the oppressively heavy silence that had settled over the room, he was going to take a wild guess that he was the only on in the room

"Isn't that... your mentor, Da Vinci?" he's near enough to Donatello to ask without being too loud about it.

Don's shoulders were shaking, ever so slightly. He was trying very, very hard not to just...cry. They shouldn't have done that to her. They had no right.

It was easy to forget that the turtle was still just a kid sometimes, with the way he acted and carried himself. But he really looked vulnerable right now, for certain.

He could only nod.

Edited 2013-01-12 23:18 (UTC)

Oh, yikes. The kid's upset. Like, lip-wibbling, shoulder shaking upset. Tony isn't sure what he is supposed to do if it comes to tears. He isn't exactly the fatherly sort, nor had he had much of an example of one. Ever.

"Is that even legal? Can they do that? To us, I mean. I would think there be laws against this kind of thing..." his mouth runs away with him, "Eh, who am I kidding. Look where we are. They own us like a pair of goddamn socks."

Considering how often it happens, that it is happening is a rare, rare occurrence. But, with everything that has happened since the last Arena, it's almost unbearable.

Don's silent as Tony speaks. Mainly because there's not much he can say to counter it.

His jaw was clenched in anger. There was no way this would go unnoticed by any of the current competitors in the games. Haymitch knew though...he knew this was not the worst Snow would do to traitors.

Haymitch's arms crossed, keeping silent despite the rage he felt. Good women, who were submitted to this humiliation. Terrible.

He didn't recognize the women, but judging by the reaction in the room, he might just be the only one. He's good at reading people, and intimately familiar with anger in particular, so it wasn't hard to pick up on the feeling in the room.

He had hoped watching these things would give him a better idea of what he was getting into, but it was just raising more questions.

He hovered awkwardly in the back of the room, feeling a strong sense of not belonging, of not knowing anyone, but after a second of internal debate he shifted closer to another watcher.

"I think I'm missing something," he said quietly, trying not to sound too loud while everyone was focused on the television.

The man's voice snapped him out of his blind rage for a moment. He could explain this in so many ways. He could tell him the truth. He had a feeling though, that while in the company of the Capitol elite, it might be a bit frowned upon. He could offer to explain to him later. Would it even matter? Would he get the chance?

...He could always lie. He wasn't above it.

It was making his head spin just a little too much, "Bit of an understatement."

He kept one eye on the screen, to try and piece together what was going on both with these particular people and with this whole damn society in general. The problem with oppressive kidnapping murder games societies, besides the obvious, was that it was hard to figure out ambiguous answers-- it could mean it's not something he's supposed to ask about, or this guy could just not want to tell him.

He nodded once or twice to himself, glancing down and chewing on his lip in thought. He didn't want to push, not sure what's even safe to push yet, or what's worth pushing for.

"You're telling me." He was missing everything.

After her conversation with Elias - date, perhaps, since they had called it that a few times - things became almost more apparent to her in the Capitol. She almost kept to herself more since then, getting out as much as she needed to, but keeping conversations light. About other people, instead of herself.

She found herself tuning out the interview after the shot of the pair of Avoxes. Shepard, she knew almost better than everyone else in the Capitol, she thought - few others had been around in that first Arena, and she still considered the other woman a friend. Her hand moved to her pocket, touching her totem, checking that this was still 'reality', as things went. It was, unless the whole thing was a lie, all in her head; unless she was as insane as Mal had been. Her hand remained in her pocket to hide the faint tremor.

Eliot's jaw clenched as he saw the two women. He'd never spoken to either of them but he'd seen the one around and pictures of the other. She should have been his mentor. "Damn it," he whispered, more determined than ever not to win. "Damn it!"

"Well, shit." Anna says flatly, alerting Eliot to her presence as she approaches from behind and lets a hand settle on his shoulder briefly.

The touch is equally for her own sake as it is his. And just like that her hands are in the pockets of her jeans as she stands beside him. "If that ever becomes me, do me a favor. Kill me." And of course she's implying that with what she's planning on doing down the road, she will at the very least become an Avox if it fails.

Eliot looks up as he feels her hand on his shoulder. "I... If I can't save you, I will. I don't... This can't go on. This place, it's falling apart. People will recognize them. It's just a matter of time."

Her lips quirk into something vaguely resembling a sad smile and she shrugs. "If they do? Just more fuel for the fire. Maybe it'll be the spark for change."

He nods. "I hope so. At least then, it won't have been for nothing."

Max sat in her seat, her face muscles so tight that her expression's almost a mask. She recognizes the victors, but her instinct is to interpret it as a message:

No one is safe.

No matter how many games she plays, in the end they could yank it out from under her.

To hell with it. She may as well try to take the bastards with her.

Lindsey wasn't familiar with the people as they were from before his time here. But he checked up past records, he could read the reaction from those around him, and it told him more about this place than he cared to admit. It rang of familiarity, this sort of oppressing demonstration, and it was too early to tell if it was working.

It was interesting though, that much was for certain.

The only black mark about the whole ceremony, for him, was that it was that kid up there instead of him. His brows knitted together for a brief moment but an expression of curious interest returned soon after. He didn't care about avoxes and past victors who didn't comply with the rules of the game. What mattered was he should have won the last game, he was so close!

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