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

[makeflowersgrow]

Since her death in the arena, Eponine hadn't been back to the training centre much. She didn't want to see herself; the clips of her wandering through the snow in in just two pieces of damp fabric which did little to conceal anything were being replayed repeatedly, and it made her sick to the stomach to see herself in such a manner. And seeing Howard's reaction after her death, too, was horrible. She'd seen how he'd tried to resuscitate her afterwards too, but of course, he hadn't realised her neck was broken. And the stares and the comments from the Capitol people were too much to bear. So Eponine had done what comes naturally to her; she had retreated into the back alleys and looming doorways and dosed off there. She'd tried to prize up storm drain covers and get down into the darkness. She'd crawled into the middle of a bush and just sat and cried.

It was whilst she was crying that the Peacekeepers had come and grabbed her, and forced her back to the Training Centre. Of course she had heard the sirens, but Eponine had chosen to ignore them, burying her head between her knees instead. How the Peacekeepers had found her was beyond Eponine. She had presumed she was invisible. But she definitely wasn't. She was pulled out from the bush, and held firmly on the upper arms by the Peacekeepers as they frogmarched her back, and pushed her into the Common Room.

Eponine stumbled as they pushed her, but saved herself. She looked round quickly at the other occupants, before retreating to a corner, where she sat on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest, hoping against hope that they weren't going to be made to watch the death reel again.

[hasacondition]

There was one face he did recognize that he wasn't opposed to talking to, not when compared to all the other people he's avoiding. He didn't want to make a scene, draw more attention to her, though, so he waited to slip away from the rest of the room and gently approach her.

He crouched down to something closer to her height, not directly in front of her but off to the side-- he didn't want to look like he was trapping her in. Of course, once he actually got there, he had to try to think of something to say; 'hey, looks like your plan worked!' didn't seem like it'd go over too well.

"...Hey."

Yeah, that was so much better. Good work, Banner.

[makeflowersgrow]

Eponine looked up at Bruce when he spoke, and gave him a quick flash of a smile.

"Hey there, Monsieur."

She returned to silence for a minute, before she stated, simply,
"You were killed. I'm sorry, Monsieur."

[hasacondition]

He sighed, running his fingers through his hair as he thought of how much easier this would have been if he had just gone through with it when he had the chance instead of flashing his big problems all over the camera.

"Don't be. I kinda wish it had happened earlier. I think you had the right idea of it."

And then he glanced over his shoulder at the rest of the people, watching to see if any Peacekeepers were near, before he continued.

"Though I don't think this is what you had in mind to come back to."

[makeflowersgrow]

"I am beginning to wish I hadn't come back. All they seem to show on this television thing is me in - well, I suppose you've seen. I look like a common night girl. I had forgotten they would watch. It is not nice to see Howard crying for me in such a way... Though he has my coat, M'sieur. That is good at least."

She smiles wanly. " Why do they force us here? It was almost as if I was arrested, the way they forced me back. I just wanted food and cake - and you know they have put Javert in my floor. I have heard from M'sieur Beetee - he thought to comfort me, but Javert will arrest me. What is happening?"

[hasacondition]

He frowns in sympathy, though he's never forgot they're watching, not since he first woke up here without the other guy. "Yeah, well, if you hadn't, you'd still be there on camera and freezing, right?"

He's got no idea who this Javert guy is, besides a name that was announced in the arena, but she seems to, and he can figure out some of the context.

"I don't think any of us have the power to do stuff like that here," he says, a little hint of irony that no one's around to catch, "so you're safe from him, at least. I think something's gone down."

[makeflowersgrow]

"He put me in prison in Paris - two months I spent in that hell hole because of him."
She spits at the floor, a sudden action, but it shows a flash of temper that Eponine generally conceals.

"I hate that man. And he hates me - I had not even done anything when he arrested me, though he says for robbery and assault and night walking besides, I'll bet. And now I must live with him."

She looks straight at Bruce now. "I am fed up, Monsieur. I am fed up of comments from these people and dying and now being locked in. Monsieur, I am FED UP. What are we supposed to have done? Most people have only just died!"

[hasacondition]

Woah, that escalated. Not that he can blame her for that, if all that's true, but it caught him by surprise.

"Hey, maybe..." But he doesn't think they'd be able to arrange another housing option, and he doesn't really think the people in charge would care at all, actually, so the suggestion he was going to make dies away. He looks behind him at the crowd after her outburst, automatically shushing her when he turns back.

"I know, I know, but listen-- you probably shouldn't say stuff like that too loudly. I don't know if people explained..." From the way she's talking, she seems sort of out of date... "that they can maybe listen in? Sort of like the television, but everywhere?"

[makeflowersgrow]

"I do not understand how they can do that - and I do not care if they know what I think. They will not get rid of me now - I have heard men say they will sponsor me now because of what I did."

She sounds disgusted with herself as she says that, but it's true. She'ss been told over and over that she needs to entertain people, and her little strip show seems to have done the trick. She's had nothing but praise from the citizens, and even Beetee and Wiress had said nothing negative to her. Though, they had hugged her, hard. That was nice. She might not be up to speed on the magic of televisions and listening devices, but she at least knows how to play up to public affability.

"They can know over and over that I do not like what they do. I did not mind it here, but when those Peacekeepers took my arms, I feared they were going to clamp on irons again, and on my feet. EIGHT weeks, Monsieur, I have worn irons, and my hands and feet are just healed, though you cannot tell after the Capitol have finished with me. I don't want to wear irons again. I do not want to be locked in. I am FED UP. I just want - I want food, and a bed and a dress. Shoes, just a pair of shoes. That is all. We all should have that. We should NOT be treated like criminals -"

She catches herself and laughs. There's a slight note of hysteria to her voice. "Fancy, I sound almost like M'sieur Marius and his friend rallying us to fight."

[electriccandlelight]

Valeria was not pleased. Obviously she was not the type to be put off by an explosion--not that she knew much about it, and any deaths because of the...accident? Well, it was tragic, surely, but that was no reason to stop her from doing her job, was it? She was only at the Center in the hopes of pinning down one of her Tributes for some trial runs, and now she was stuck?

Well, just because she wasn't allowed at the moment to return to her workshop and get some actual work done was no reason to sit on her behind and do nothing.

"There you are! You, Eponine, my girl, come here!" She snapped her fingers at Eponine as she strode over. With all this time on her hands perhaps she could finally do something with her hair that would actually stick.

[makeflowersgrow]

Eponine looked up when she heard her name called, and immediately groaned when she realised it was Valeria. But still, she got to her feet and went over to the woman reluctantly.

"Madame? What is it? Are you cross with me?"

She was thinking particularly about the arena, though even now, her hair was tangled, and - was that a broken twig? And Eponine had deliberately chosen clothes that covered and hod her body shape. After her little show, she was fed up with the remarks.

[electriccandlelight]

"Cross is one word for it," she muttered, before visibly shaking it off, forcing a genial smile. "But not with you, dear." She hadn't seen Eponine's performance in the Arena, she rarely actually watched the Games. One of her team had given her a summary, one of his new duties with this Quell, as well as a report on how the viewer's had reacted. They wanted sexy, she could certainly do sexy, and she couldn't be angry at Eponine for giving her a starting point. Finally.

"Well," she amended, picking some of the bushy remains out of Eponine's hair. "Not entirely with you. Are you--do you do this on purpose? I can't imagine how it could happen by accident."

[makeflowersgrow]

"Do what, Madame? The clothes? Yes..."

She was completely nonplussed about the twigs in her hair, though she did add defensively,

"I was in a bush, Madame. The men hauled me out and probably it got stuck then. always my hair is a mess."

But at least the woman wasn't cross. Eponine knew Howard would be - and Sigma too, so it was nice, in a world of hostility, to have someone smile ar her.

[electriccandlelight]

"Well, yes, the clothes are a problem," admitted Valeria, though she avoided looking too closely at them. "But all I do is make the clothes, it's the Escort's job to make sure you wear the damn things. Although I wish you would, it's my reputation on the line you know." And perhaps Eponine's past meant she was opposed to clothes that acted, quite literally, as a beacon in the dark, but that didn't have any bearing on now, did it?

"A bush," she muttered, tugging at the girl's shoulder's to turn her around so Valeria could get a full view. "Of course you were in a bush. Tributes. Hm. This needs washing before anything else, I think. At least a rinse."

[makeflowersgrow]

Eponine just wants to be covered. A nice long dress, with long sleeves puffed at the top and tapered, and a full skirt and a high neckline. And a lovely bonnet. And perhaps silk stockings. In her eyes, the short dresses and no sleeves so often found here are for whores.

"Madame? Could you not make me a long dress - a warm one instead? I wuld wear that."

She submits to Valeria's tugging. "Yes. I didn't want to see my death, or hear people talking of my death. Or listen to their comments...Will you really wash my hair? Here?"

[electriccandlelight]

"Sure, sure," said Valeria absently, assuming Eponine meant the request for her downtime, not public appearances. Valeria was quite happy meet requests for what the Tributes wore on their own time if they asked for something special, there was no way she could think of something new and unique on her own for such casual times anyway. "No problem."

She looked around, one hand moving, with some difficulty, through Eponine's hair. "No reason not to, my dear, and all the reason to, in fact. I'm sure we could manage in the bathroom, and possibly convince it to give us something a little stronger than hand soap." Normally Valeria was careful to use only the best supplies for her Tributes, but Eponine's hair seemed quite sturdy enough to handle it, at least.

"Hm?" she said suddenly, another of the girl's comments sinking in. "What comments?"

[makeflowersgrow]

"What?"
Eponine was caught off guard there.
"Will you really make a dress for me, Madame? I would be happy. You know, that's all I want in the world - a beautiful dress. Before here, I had not had new clothes for years."

She shrugged shyly. Before the Capitol, she hadn't washed her hair in months either. Or actually any bit of her. And even then, there had been no soap. Eponine's hair would take whatever was shoved on it.

"Yes Madame. Comments about me. My body. Now people want to see all of the time, and they try to touch me. I am not a whore, though. I don't like to be treated as such."

[pursuitofcappiness]

He doesn't think seeing him is her number one priority, but when he sees her huddled in a corner, he comes over.

"Hey, Eponine," he starts, voice smooth and even. He drops down, to sit by her, and he looks concerned. "Are you alright? What happened?"

[makeflowersgrow]

"Hey there M'sieur!" She smiles, but it soon dims, as she remembers what seeing Steve means. "You died. Are you okay?"

She shrugs. "I didn't want to come back here but they made me. I don't want to watch the Arena on the - the things. I don't want to see myself over and over."
And indeed, Eponine's suicide was getting repeated quite a lot; apparently, her actions had stricken the Gamemakers as unusual - and her near nakedness was definitely popular with the citizens. It made her feel even more awkward than she usually did though.

"But, what can we do, eh? We are stuck, no?"

[pursuitofcappiness]

"I guess so," he says. "But we don't have to watch them. And you don't have to sit in a corner like this." He offers her a slight smile. "You wanted to be comfortable, right? Why don't we turn one of those nice chairs toward somewhere without a television and get you something warm to eat?"

[makeflowersgrow]

"No? We're allowed to move the chairs?" She glances apprehensively at the staff in the room. "Will they really not mind?"

She gets up at once. The floor was rather uncomfy afterall!

[pursuitofcappiness]

"I'd hope not," he says. "They're just chairs." He moves a couple over, and faces them towards each other so that they can talk without being distracted. "What can I get you from the tables?"

[makeflowersgrow]

"If I moved the stool at home, or my mattress, my Papa would be VERY cross with me. He would hit me." She takes a seat and grins at Steve. It probably seems a bit off kilter, given what she's just said, but she seems nonplussed.

"Any food is good, I suppose. I am not fussy. I am glad for a full stomach, whatever it tastes like, Sir."

[pursuitofcappiness]

"I'm not sure what the rules are here, but I don't think they're going to come punish us for moving the furniture around." He does get up, just a little, to get plates for them. He is hungry; he's got a lot of eating to make up for, so he won't hide that.

He comes back with a tray, set on a teeny little table next to the both of them.

I am SO sorry - RL dramarama ate me up! SORRY :(

[makeflowersgrow]

Eponine begins to eat immediately; she will never be full, truly.

"I don't know. This place is strange. They feed us and they clothe us - Sir, they dress us up in such fancy clothes that must cost so much, and they give us beds - rooms. And yet, they send us out to kill. I do not understand."