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

[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.

[mannersmatter]

"I can't really explain..."

She meet his gaze, wishing she could.

"It is a delicate, important part of our history that has spanned decades, Draco. I'm sorry, it's just not easy to sum up."

[mudbloodhater]

He just kept staring at her, studying her as if it might be written there somewhere where she couldn't quite access. But it was for naught, and he sighed in frustration when he realised that it probably was hard to sum up; he didn't have to like it, though. Far from. It annoyed him more than anything else.

"It's buggered, that's what it is," Draco told her, lifting his voice back up again to a more conversational tone.

[mannersmatter]

"I suppose that's just as far an assessment as any."

It was about as far as Effie would get to agreeing. She sighed, slumping back against the chair and tapping her tablet.

"I..." She sighed. "This just isn't right anymore."

[mudbloodhater]

"So what are we going to do? It's not like we can just say 'oi, I don't want to do this any more," he sighed, already resigned to his fate as he mirrored her slump.

[mannersmatter]

"Oi." She repeated the term with a tired sort of endearment, having never heard an English accent before him, and having no clue what else to say.

"No, no we can't."

And although she knew that was...much more true for Draco, Effie was quite sure, right now she couldn't, either.

[mudbloodhater]

Glancing up to her, Draco blinked in mild bemusement, oblivious to the thought that she'd never heard and English accent before him. Though it wasn't like he'd met any other Brits around since arriving, besides the rare Tribute.

He turned his attention down to his hands then, picking at invisible dirt beneath his nails. "When do we get to go back to our rooms?" He asked finally, hoping she'd have a better idea than he did.

[mannersmatter]

"I wish I knew. At this point I'd just like to turn in for the day. I had so much paper work to take care of, and then this...they aren't keeping us up to date at all, can you believe that?"

Clearly, Effie couldn't.

[mudbloodhater]

"Just horrendous," he murmured, shaking his head. Though sounding more than a little tired, Draco also seemed just a little annoyed that they weren't keeping her in the loop.

"Is it just you?"

[mannersmatter]

"No, thankfully. It wouldn't be the first time they had given less though to our district but this seems wider spread."

She rubbed her temple.

"It's such a shame."

[mudbloodhater]

"No doubt in my mind. How do they expect you to do your job if they're leaving you out of the loop? And why would they ever give less to our District?" Draco all but demanded, keeping his voice still low enough that it was just between the pair of them. No need for everyone to hear, after all; this wasn't that sort of topic.

[mannersmatter]

At least someone sympathized.

"Because...previously, 12 wasn't a very well thought of District. Haymitch is...well, Haymitch. Their Tributes were always underfed, and weak...Peeta and Katniss helped change that view. And Cinna helped."

She was clearly relieved to finally had a team that had some worth.

[mudbloodhater]

Haymitch was indeed Haymitch. He wrinkled his nose a little, nodding along. "And now you've got the rest of us, and that ought to be worth something. We're far from underfed and weak," he told her, a little bit smug.

[mannersmatter]

"We do actually have quite the team now."

Really, their group was a handful, but...a good handful. A lot of work, but at least she had something to work with.