I want a girl with a mind like a diamond [closed]

[capitolprivilege]

Who| Shepard and Stephen
Where| In the training center --
What| -- they will meet accidentally and start to talk --
When| -- when Shepard is in there punching things, between the mini Arena and Penny's assassination
Warnings/Notes| Watch this space.

Stephen doesn't come down to the training basement all that often anymore. Oh, sure, sometimes he shows a new Tribute or Stylist or Escort the way down there, but really, with the older Tributes coming in from other worlds, many of them just found their way here themselves. Older Tributes made Stephen's job both easier and infinitely harder.

Today, though, he was looking for someone. As he walked into the cavernous gray room, his Capitol finery looked sharply out of place against the utilitarian steel and concrete. He glanced around, peering at the glass hologram boxes and the other practice areas, and clearly didn't see who he was looking for.

Stephen did, however, see Shepard. And, well, they were on more or less friendly terms, even though the last time they had Stephen had done his best to act like they weren't. Maybe she had seen him.

"Excuse me," he called over to her. "Have you seen Bro Strider anywhere?"

Comments

[earthborn]

Shepard was, despite all appearances, not the kind of person who held a grudge. She was like a hurricane, or a hand grenade, a force of nature, explosive and indiscriminate, but she didn't hunt people down for vengeance once they'd exhausted their immediate relevance to the question at hand.

Maybe her life would have been easier if she were, to be honest. Enough trouble had come of leaving loose ends behind.

"Strider?" She knew the man, "Not today. Hey, c'mere a minute."

Alright, so the Capitol didn't know shit about Shepard's general ambivalence towards vengeance. But they'd believe anything if it seemed plausible.

[capitolprivilege]

Stephen blinked. The look he gave her was confused: why? it asked, and also should I be worried? He wasn't sure he trusted Shepard, and he was definitely afraid of her.

He glanced at the door, then back at her -- and took a hesitant step or two forward.

"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked, really hoping this was something that fell safely within the jurisdiction of his job.

[earthborn]

Technically? Yes. Yes, this could be...part. Of his job. Perhaps not in the spirit, but Shepard sure that if she squinted hard enough it could be in the letter. She wasn't even in his district.

He was worried; she just grinned with a few too many teeth.

"Sure, but-- I was thinking, maybe I was a little rude," She regrets nothing, not one damn thing, and never will. Look at that shit-eating grin, "I should make it up to you. C'mon, I'm not gonna hurt you right here in front of the nice men in white."

She gestures at a stoic peacekeeper stationed against the wall. Actually, that one's a woman.

[capitolprivilege]

"Well," Stephen says, still trying to figure out the game, "we all say things we regret. I'm sorry for snapping at you, too."

He takes another few steps toward her, close enough to talk comfortably, but still out of reach.

"What did you have in mind?"

[earthborn]

"I figured maybe I could show you a few tricks...It could be fun," her eyebrows, until now perched at so innocent an angle, came down in what was almost, almost a threat, "C'mon, I'm good at this, trust me. Think of it this way: a lot of people around here pay way too much money for my expertise, and you're getting a freebie."

As if she thought he cared about money-- Shepard knows that. But the Capitol... doesn't.

[capitolprivilege]

Somehow, Stephen feels like he doesn't have a choice. Or, that technically he does, but refusing would be a very bad one.

"...when you put it that way..." He steps up, closer, within arm's reach now. "Okay. Show me."