thecapitol | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who| Katniss (NPC) and anyone.
What| The girl on fire has returned to the Capitol.
Where| Anywhere in the training center.
When| Toward the end of this arena
Warnings/Notes| None atm.

It was strange to be around people, again.

She hadn't been tortured. Not in anyway she had expected. Well fed, clothed, comfortable...but besides very occasional moments of seeing Peeta, and once, Finnick Odair...alone. Days and weeks and months of nothing. No video, no windows, not even a peacekeeper or a guard.

And then, at what she guessed was about once a month, she would be interviewed through a sound system in the room (although she could never find a speaker.) Many questions, most of which seemed irrelevant, and then silence, again.

And then suddenly, she was back here, although Peeta was not, a fact that left a heavy feeling in her gut. Told to mentor and escorted back here to find...well, all of this.

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When Cinna saw her he didn't say anything at first. His emotions were too complex to express in any words. He just went up to her and put a hand on her shoulder before pulling her into a warm comforting hug.

Contact. Real, human contact. That was what he could offer her.

When he pulled back he looked at her, eying her for any injury. "Look at your hair," he said, hiding that once over search for any sign of physical abuse behind the critical eye of her Stylist. "And this shirt. What am I going to do with you, you useless thing?"

Human contact and pretending everything was back to normal and okay by teasing her. He could give her that too.

Edited 2013-02-10 06:24 (UTC)

She was more grateful for the contact than she could put into words. And grateful even more that, with Cinna, she didn't have to.

"I didn't have a lot of access to a prep team the last few months." She said with a lop sided smile. Tired, but real.

"Well, I'm sure that they'll be scandalized when they see you," he said looking her over again. "How have you been?" He knew she couldn't be completely honest about this, but they could at least talk. She could know that someone cared.

She shrugged.

"I..."

How much was she allowed to discuss? Nothing that had happened made much sense to her. Clearly they had been trying to discover something, and she had ideas about what, but they clearly hadn't found anything.

"I've been better. I don't know what they're were doing...what they are doing. Who are all these people?"

"The new Tributes. Have you had a chance to review any of the new stats?" Her confusion drove him to feel concerned for her. "We should be able to get you up to speed."

She shook her head.

"I just got back, they told me Effie would feel me in, but..." She hadn't seen the woman yet. Cinna was, in fact, the first person she had seen.

"They weren't too chatty on the way here. Or while there."

"There are at least three per District now. Our are Draco Malfoy, Tony Stark, Cassandra Marko and Katurian. Either Effie or Haymitch can make sure you have their stats."

"Three?" Her face went pale, eyes wide. Three? Two weren't enough...and they had four?

"The Games must be massive." Like the 50th. So many Tributes...how could they even focus?

"It gets worse. When they bring in a new one they just shove them into the Arena. They appear in it and have no idea what's going on. Then when they're out they still have no idea. They aren't told anything about the historical significance."

Katniss swallowed.

It was awful enough to know what was going on. To have no clue?

Still. They didn't die. Katniss sympathized with them, but they weren't being sent home in boxes.

"It could be worse."

"It could be," Cinna agreed. "At least you'll be able to share your pointers now?" He might still be teasing her a bit.

"Yeah, I bet that strategy will go over well with my current team."

She tried to imagine, well...really any pair of the current 12 tributes displayed as a romantic couple.

The thought maybe brought a smile to her lips. A little one.

He smirked a bit. "You never know. They come from other worlds. We have no idea what sort of crazy things their culture might be into."

"I suppose Draco and Tony would make a lovely match."

Now it was more than a little smile. A reaction few people could coax out of her, but Cinna was one of the lucky ones.

Cinna's smirk widened. "The age difference alone would make it interesting, just shy of scandalous."

"I think you're on to something here. We should probably suggest it to Effie."

And wouldn't that go over well. Effie, she was sure, would land on the scandalous side of things.

"Could her imagine her reaction to that idea?" Cinna asked with a conspiratory smile. "It might be worth it just for that."

She pressed her fist to her mouth to keep from laughing to much.

"Would you make them dress alike then, too?"

Max liked the roof. She liked heights. She misses the Space Needle, and this is the closest she can come to it.

She heard footsteps and looked over her shoulder.

"What brings you up here, Everdeen?"

It wasn't the first time a stranger had called her by name, of course, and wouldn't be the last, but it gave her a start.

Turning to the woman, she studied her for a moment before recognition kicked in. This wasn't a stranger, not entirely.

"...Max, right?" It seemed...disrespectful to call her by her first name, but Katniss was impressed she'd remembered that, really.

"Yeah." Max replies. "Pull up a seat, if you want." They're on the rooftop. There are no seats. But the invitation is kindly meant.

"You okay?"

It was odd, yes. She was talking to Katniss like they're friends. Like she knows her. But in a way, Max does. The tapes of Katniss' victory were essential to Max's own.

"Hope you don't mind my asking. We victors," Max's tone turns wry, "Need to stick together. Or something."

It took a moment, but finally Katniss offered a soft smile.

She wouldn't trust all victors. But she didn't know Max well enough to distrust her yet. And from what she remembered, she seemed like she was someone worth getting to know.

"Thanks. I'm just...a little unsettled, still."

Kevin nursed his beer slowly. That was the only good thing about this place. The free booze. And if he were in Vegas with Jonathan, he'd have that anyway. The new girl caught his attention, though. She looked like she was around his age and she was pretty. "Hey," he offered. He had to wonder why she was here instead in the Arena. Not that he was complaining.

Katniss glanced over, not sure at first that the boy was talking to her. When she was sure he was, she twisted, nodding her head in greeting.

"Hey."

"You're, umm..." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "You're new. At least I haven't seen you around before."

It took a moment to realize what he meant, and when she realize, she shook her head.

"No, I'm...old, not new. I'm a mentor."

It was a role she hadn't adjusted to yet. Though she doubted she ever would. Or anyone else really did either.

"A mentor like you've done this before?" He frowned slightly. "But I haven't seen you here before. I thought all the mentors were supposed to be here already."

"The Capital..." She waved her hand, not really wanting to go into it all with a complete stranger.

"I won the last round of the Games before all of...this."

He nodded. "Oh. I... just won." He hadn't decided what he thought of that. But at least he shouldn't have to worry about getting killed again.

"Congrats." It was tight and hollow. Katniss hadn't be a 'winner' long, but long enough to know those who died in the arena weren't missing much.

But even that thought brought a fresh twist of pain.

He bit his lip. "You, too, I guess. I, umm, did you... want to go somewhere?"

"...like where? Why?"

She looked over at him, arching a brow. Trying to figure out what this boy was getting at.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Wherever you'd like to go."

She was alone. She was scared, and it was probably obvious as she wandered aimlessly around the Training Center. Of course, she was obvious with the pink hair. But that was besides the point.

Katniss did a double take at the pink haired girl. It took a moment to realize this wasn't a Capitol citizen, but a scared little girl. She couldn't be older than Prim, or Rue...

"Hi." She leaned forward, so she was on the same level as Chibi-Usa. "What's your name?"

"Ah??"

Quickly, instinctively, Chibi-Usa stiffened, became defensive. Was this one of her captors? Was she being interrogated? What did this enemy want?

"My name..." At this, Chibi-Usa brought her head up, trying to look...well, like she didn't care. That none of this at all bothered her, and she wasn't at all afraid of this woman in front of her. ~~But Katniss probably knew better.~~ "...is Chibi-Usa."

"My name is Katniss."

She tried to give her a reassuring smile. Something to put the girl at ease. Tried to think what would make Prim open up to a stranger.

"What district are you in?"

She's still quite reticent. Why wouldn't she be? She didn't know this person.

"...District 10."

"I'm from District 12. So we're both pretty high up there."

Was this girl even old enough to be reaped, if they were following their own rules? Not that Katniss thought they were.

"Do you like the Mentors in 12?"

Darius was busy, always busy, but the first time he saw her, it surprised him into a broad, quickly-hidden grin. But it was a few days before they had a chance to be alone together, when his turn to tidy her room came up.

Katniss pulled her feet up onto the bed when she saw him, trying hard not to...to do what? break the rules? Did the rules even count anymore?

What were they gonna do, lock her up for another 6 months for saying hello to an Avox?

"Hey." She said softly, when he was near enough.

He didn't hesitate as he moved around the room, setting everything to rights as he was supposed to. But he kept his head tilted towards her, and his attention was like a compass needle, quivering in her direction no matter what his hands were doing. He'd been so sure they'd killed her quietly somewhere, or that she was under the city with her tongue cut out.

When he came near the bed, neatening the night-stand, he let himself glance at her again, the corners of his mouth tightening with a hint of another smile.

She looked down at her toes, picking at the polish there, but smiled when she caught the smile.

Darius made her feel...all sorts of things. Mainly overwhelming guilt. But she was glad at least he wasn't dead. He was in this mess because of her, because of Gale. She wasn't going to forget that.

"I'm glad you're here." She said soft, soft enough any mike would have an issues picking up on it, her mouth covered by her hair.

He knelt to straighten the lower shelf of the little table, supporting himself with a hand on the bed as he went down. And entirely by accident, his fingers brushed hers, and he shut his eyes a moment with an intake of breath.

She knew there wasn't going to be much more. He couldn't. Speaking was gone as an option, and writing far too risky.

So she just nodded, smiling tightly, and tucking her legs up.

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