Boom boom boom

[gamemakers]

Who| ALL people who call the Tribute center home, and anyone who might have been there on business.
What| Lock down
Where| Around the Capitol, and in the Tribute Center.
When| Feel free to tag in if you died any time in the first 3 weeks. (So if you die tomorrow, you can feel free to back tag in, if you like)
Warnings/Notes| Use this post both for threads before, around the city, and after the Peacekeepers and Avoxes gather everyone. More information about the state of the city after this will come tomorrow in the Deathroll. If your tribute character is out and about, they should expect Peacekeepers to escort them back within 15-20 minutes (and you can feel free to handwave the peacekeepers)

The people lurking around the docks, wearing plain clothes, rough clothes, might stand out among the Capitol Citizens if 'District chic' wasn't a style that came and went on a regular basis. As it was, they barely stood out, people trying too hard to look like they didn't belong and that they did, at the same time. 

Sorta like everyone else around them. It was hard to act suspicious in the Capitol.

It was a bit strange, people getting on the Shore to Shore boat dressed like that. Not normally what anyone would consider club wear, but 'normal' was not highly regarded around these parts.

However, it wasn't long after the boat had left the dock that it made it's grand exit.

In an explosion that sent a fireball high into the night sky, lighting up the bay, and sending high waves lapping at the shore, the boat was obliterated. Rescue operation were swift, but there just wasn't much left to rescue.

Siren's filled the city, automated voices urging people from every street corner to return home, lock the doors, stay inside. And for the Tributes wandering the city, it was more then automated urging. Those in the Tribute training center were gather up by Avoxes, and brought down to the common room, the elevator refusing to work for anyone who wasn't in the process of gathering up Tributes, Mentors, Stylist...anyone lingering in the building.

Those Tributes not already at home found themselves flanked by Peacekeepers and escorted back, deposited in the same common room, and told to wait. 

Eventually, hours later, everyone was cleared and the elevator opened, although the front doors still refused to allow anyone out without a special clearance no one was being offered. A recorded voice told them emergency alert instructions would be available for them in the morning. And then their doors locked behind them for the night.

Comments

[mudbloodhater]

Draco was managing to stay remarkably quiet where he sat on one side of a couch, eyeing everyone else around him. It wasn't a judging stare (except that it sort of was), but mere observation. He hadn't complained nearly as much as most of the others, perhaps because he had only just come back from that latest death. And he'd be damned if that hadn't pissed him off. Howard was number one on his shitlist now, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't thinking of good ways to kill off the other boy first chance he got.

His cheek was propped up in one hand, and though he hardly exuded a welcoming feel, he could have been far less inviting.

[mannersmatter]

Effie sank down on the couch next to him, marking off a little check next to his name on her tablet with her finger tip.

She looked more worried than Effie had yet to manage in so far as Draco had known her.

"I can't believe this is happening."

[mudbloodhater]

Glancing over to her, but not really moving much from where he sat, Draco's eyebrows lifted a little. "Are you all right?" he asked after a moment, sitting up a bit straighter, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever else was on that tablet.

[mannersmatter]

A check list, with the district 12 tributes on it, and their staff. Those still in the arena were muted, and Draco, as well as some others, were highlighted.

"I'm just tired." She said, letting her head fall back.

[mudbloodhater]

Terribly boring, though it was interesting to see that she had something like that. It would certainly make keeping track of them all easier. He watched her for a moment, studying her with a frown.

"Aren't we all?" Draco murmured under his breath, glancing around the room to see if there was some kind of cushion he could steal. In the end, he shifted, making sure the couch itself was comfortable enough, and plucked the cushion he'd been leaning on up, offering it up to her subtly. "This whole thing is exhausting."

[mannersmatter]

"It's just..."

It was just she hadn't been home in weeks. And there were more tributes, more events, more arenas...

"This isn't what it's suppose to be like, you know."

[mudbloodhater]

"What's that mean?" He asked, turning a frown up at her.

[mannersmatter]

"The games were once a year, before. Shorter. Less..."

She couldn't pin down what bothered her about it. She wanted to say less of a spectacle, but they were always a spectacle. That was the point. But...it wasn't the only point, before.

"They were part of our history. Now..." She shrugged. "None of this means anything to you all except misery. Oh, I shouldn't..."

She huffed in frustration.

[mudbloodhater]

His frown only served to deepen. He wanted to drag her off where they could have a little privacy, but that would have probably been even more suspicious; instead, Draco merely dropped his voice a little. "Well, I knew that much. I'm the one living through the bloody things. What's the point, then?"

[mannersmatter]

"The Games use to be a symbol, of war and it's costs. A reminder. But...this doesn't remind anyone of that. I...I am glad less people are dying but now it's just..."

Her voice dropped too, because she knew she shouldn't be saying this, especially not to a Tribute but really, she was fond of Draco. Even if he was...well, difficult.

"It's just a show. Nothing but."

[mudbloodhater]

Difficult as he may have been, he did still have a thread of loyalty running through him; lucky for Effie, it was to her. She was the one who...well, sort of helped him figure out everything. And she was nice enough.

Seemed like reason enough to keep on her good side.

"There's very little I find entertaining about watching people die over and over," he pointed out.

[mannersmatter]

"They don't..."

She sighed. They didn't see them as people. She understood both sides of things. She remembered watching the Games, how exciting it was but...dealing with the Tributes, you learned to respect the gravity of it.

"They see it differently."

[mudbloodhater]

"What other way is there to see it?"

He couldn't help the outburst; he managed to keep his voice soft, intended for her ears only, but he was still incredulous. Grey eyes were locked on her, disbelieving and concerned.

[makeflowersgrow]

Eponine stopped about a foot away from Draco's feet, just out of easy grabbing range. Just in case. She was twisting her hands nervously as she approached Draco. She'd seen the death clip, and her heart had sank.

"Monsieur? I am sorry for what Howard did. I did not ask him to hurt you."

It sounded awkward, stilted even in her flowery French accent. What was it? A plea for forgiveness? She felt guilty; Howard had as good as implicated her in Draco's death and she was cross with him for that.

[mudbloodhater]

He looked bored when she approached - mostly because he was bored - his eyes flicking up to her curiously. For the life of him, Draco couldn't fathom what she wanted, when she'd been so into killing him before. This was an abrupt change.

Still, he made no move against her.

"And here, I thought you'd have been happy someone was defending your honour," he replied dryly, seething internally against Howard. If he'd just stayed in that crevasse, he could have avoided all this.

[makeflowersgrow]

"I do not need anyone to defend my honour. I can look after myself just fine, Sir."

Eponine bit her lip; Draco was barely looking at her; of course he was cross. Somehow, Howard had made Draco's death her fault.

"What he did to you was worse than what you did to me. And I will shout at him, Monsieur. He has no right to defend me against you. Especially in such a way... I am sorry, you know?"

She was still distinctly uncomfortable near Draco and she looked as if she was ready to bolt - where she'd run to is another matter. Her forehead was creased in frown lines and her top lip was quirked as she tried to think what to say. Finally, she moved closer.
"I really am sorry, you know? Even you did not deserve that."

[mudbloodhater]

"'Even I'," Draco echoed, some of his annoyance coming through. He'd gone back through the recordings of the last Arena, acquainted himself with what he'd done; he couldn't stand the pits in his memory. "At least I made your death quick. He left me there to bleed out. He couldn't even have the decency to do it properly."

And it hurt like hell, was his main point. "You'd do well to find better friends, Mademoiselle. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him."

[makeflowersgrow]

"Exactly so, M'sieur. It is awful that he left you to die, and I will shout at him for it. "

She smiled though, at Draco's last comment, revealing rotting teeth.

"He is not my friend. He is just a boy who gives me food because he feels sorry for me. Not a friend."

It was a lie; Howard was the closest thing Eponine had ever had to a friend. But she didn't trust Draco enough to reveal her dependance on Howard.

"We just pretend for the cameras. We hope that they will like friendship."

And no one else had offered theirs.

[mudbloodhater]

He did his best to tamp down the inherent disgust he felt when she smiled like that. Surely, there could have been something the Capitol could do for that; there was no way she'd get any sponsors looking as tragic as she did. But he didn't believe that tale for a second, partly because he simply didn't trust Eponine. There had to be a reason she was here, and it wasn't just because she thought Howard was in the wrong. It was impossible.

"You really shouldn't be saying that here, you know. You're still being watched," he pointed out with a bored sneer.

[makeflowersgrow]

Perhaps that's how they were promoting her? A little wildcat? A gamine to be sorry for?
She flinches at Draco's tone.

"Watched? How? I see nothing. We are not killing each other here; what does it matter what we say here?"

[mudbloodhater]

"You really think that?" He asked, still sceptical, still disdainful of this girl who was before him. "They have cameras everywhere. They listen to everything we do, everything we say. Don't know why. I assume we're amusing."

[makeflowersgrow]

"I am NOT amusing. I do not want to be amusing."

Eponine sits down, cross legged, at Draco's feet.

"I didn't realise that..." She leans her head back and closes her eyes. "That I did not know. And I have been complaining... I don't want them to kill me really."

[mudbloodhater]

"You don't get a choice in the matter," Draco told her harshly, leaning over to he could continue the conversation without breaking the eye contact that it was only polite to hold, before giving her a look that suggested she had best watch her mouth in the future.

"I suppose it's best you know now, and not when they take you in for insubordination."

[makeflowersgrow]

"What does that mean? I am not scared of them. I am not scared of anything. But I do not want to die either. Life is good here when they leave us alone. Do you not think, Monsieur?"

She ignores Draco's harsh tone; it's one she's all too used to. Her own is quite light. She's forcing herself to be jovial now she's aware she's being watched.

[mudbloodhater]

The cant of his head at her comment suggested he thought she was rather dumb, that her sudden act probably wasn't going to fool anyone. But who was he to say as much?

"We were brought here for one purpose," Draco told her, voice softening just slightly. Now it leaned more into the realm of too sweet to mean anything good. "But yes, I'll agree that life's decent enough. It could be far worse."