thecapitol | OPEN Valentine's Day Plot

OPEN Valentine's Day Plot

WHO | Everyone
WHAT | Baron sends Valentine's Day gifts to Tribute Tower.
WHEN | Valentine's Day!
WHERE | Tribute Tower
WARNINGS / NOTES | Warnings for drug use and all of the things that go with that. Possibly also sexual themes. The OOC post for this is here.

On the morning of February 14th when the Tributes come down for breakfast they're greeted by an impressive holiday themed spread. Pink and red baked goods, chocolates shaped like hearts, beautiful red and pink flowers, adorable stuffed animals all line the table.

On the table is also a sign in cursive that reads:

To our beloved Tributes, Victors, Mentors, Escorts and Stylists. Enjoy your holiday. -- Bartlett Industries

Most of the sweets are completely harmless, but if the Tributes taste the chocolate covered cherries or caramels they find themselves suddenly acting very strangely...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Morrigan watched as well, apparently either very interested in watching his mouth work or observing closely for any sign of negative effects. Either way, he certainly had her obvious attention.

"Yes, 'tis not a taste which exists in nature. Such a human impulse. To see what the world has to offer and decide 'tis not enough."

And though she sounds faintly amused by the observation, as always she doesn't quite include herself in this talk of 'humanity.'

He glanced over at that, as if ticking off a mental checklist, before licking the remnants off his fingers. He could practically feel Morrigan's eyes boring into him and wasn't entirely sure how he felt about it.

He frowned slightly, but generally was relaxing a little.

"I suppose it is man's desire to be a god," He said after a moment. He wasn't prone to philosophy usually, but... "Attempting to recreate creation, to master it and better it."

"Ah, but how far is each man willing to go to achieve his desire?"

She smiled faintly, then glance around them, the expression melting away as quickly as it formed. Crowds. Distasteful things they were. She'd come to see the commotion, had managed to gain a tester, and now...

She took a step back, towards the hall.

"I take it, then, you've had your fill."

"I imagine it depends on the man," he replied easily, his eyes following her across the room. He slowly realized how much more relaxed he felt, marveling at what a friendly face could do. Well. Friendly might be a slight exaggeration, but the closest he could think of. He turned, lips parting as he was about to recommend their escape, smiling as it seemed she had the same in mind.

"Yes," he agreed emphatically, taking a step back with her towards the hall. "I think I've had enough splendor to last the evening."

Morrigan paused for the briefest moment, unsure which district Maximus may hail from- it wasn't a topic which had ever concerned her- then decided it was irrelevant. She had no mood for common areas, nor for the sliding mood that leading the man towards a bedroom would doubtless incur. Instead, assuming no resistance, she led them towards the roof.

"And what form of man are you?"

"I'm a man who follows orders, and does his best for the glory of Rome," he said as they took to the stairs and out onto the roof. The air was culled but not unpleasant and Maximus took a deep breath of fresh air. Yes. He felt better than he had in days.

"But I knew men that shaped the world. And men who wanted to, and failed."

"Shaped it for a time, perhaps. 'Tis unwise place undeserved importance on events simply because you happen to be living through them."

She braced her palms against the ledge of the roof, closing her eyes for the briefest moment- but it was not the same. She could no more mistake the feel of this city for Red Cliff or the wilds themselves than she could the man behind her for the Warden. The world was not as it should be, was not as she had worked so carefully to shape it into...

Yes. It was terribly tempting, indeed, to cling to such importance.

"Regardless of shape, 'twould seem our worlds are far smaller than most would care to believe."

Even here, even after all he had seen, he could hardly conceive of a world without Rome at the heart of it, or without a Caesar at the heart of Rome. But it seemed time had left him long behind, or at least confused.

He let out a breath, frowning. "I've yet to determine what this place is," he said, more honestly than he would have otherwise. "I thought, at first, that I was dead. Assassinated. That the games were a trial by the gods of the underworld that I would have to endure in order to... To fulfill my duty. I want to believe that is true."

"You are wrong."

He had come to the wrong house for consolation. Morrigan dipped one shoulder slightly, enough to turn her head and watch him. Whatever the circumstance, however many false deaths she may die, Morrigan was not one to suffer delusions of any form. Whatever world they may have crossed into, she, at least, was very much alive.

And so, rather poor company for ghosts.

"Duty is long behind you. Behind us both. 'Tis better to accept such truths on your own terms. Rather than allow them to be forced upon you by...hm." She gave a soft scoff as she continued, "Higher powers."

"I know." He said it simply, without looking at her, instead looking out over the city. "Of course it isn't true. But I do not know what this world could be, otherwise."

He turned his head, looking back at her, smiling slightly.

"Was it your father or your mother?" He asked, half to change the topic, half in honest interest as the chocolate overrode the better part of his sense.

"My father or my mother?"

Her expression reflected her level of confusion at the sudden shift, the previous topic near utterly driven from her mind. Perhaps those gifts had possessed some unique properties after all, to grant the man's thoughts such flights of fancy and chaos.

"They are not here." A small pause, followed by a concession. "To my knowledge. What concerns of theirs could so trouble you now?"

"Your... abilities," He explained, realising that perhaps his train of thought was not so apparent. They had been talking of gods and 'higher beings' after all.

"I've heard of such powers, but only in the hands of the children of Gods."

"Children of-"

She very nearly laughed. In truth, it was not so very much a matter of will crushing the amusement as an acknowledgement that, perhaps, Flemeth may be some part divinity that stopped the sound. Considering Morrigan's own quest, it would not be so far fetched an idea, granted that ones definition of 'god' were a loose one. Her confusion did not fade entirely from her expression, her words now slow and measured, but reply she did.

"Hm. In truth? I did not know my father. Though my mother, 'tis said, has lived for some unnatural time. That is, if you would believe her tales. But God? I would not called her such. Yet I have been branded worse, I suppose, than a divine bastard. If such is how you would name me."

Maximus nodded, as if her words were only confirmation. After all, which heroes had ever known their godly parent? It made sense that she wouldn't know, and indeed, only made it the more likely.

He smiled slightly. "Perhaps you are meant to complete a great quest before he reveals himself and grants you his name," Maximus suggested, half in jest and half completely seriously. For the first time he wondered if his place here had nothing to do with him - if perhaps he was part of another person's quest, a side track from his own revenge in a strange game put on by the Gods.

But he did not voice it.

"Ah, now that 'twould be a strange twist to the tale, indeed. One my mother would find great amusement in, I think."

It was tempting to simply laugh at the notion the paternal role had any real importance in her life- but knowing Flemeth, Morrigan found it difficult to fully dismiss the notion. Her own origins were as much a mystery to her as anyone. Who was to say Flemeth had not contracted a demonic entity to sire her? Though, in any case, should she ever meet her father Morrigan held no elision it would be in the form of some noble god. That though alone twisted her mouth into a faint smile as she watched him.

"But I have no interest in quests. That is the province of heroes. Truly, could you see me as such a thing?"

Maximus smiled faintly. "Well, you are no Hercules," He admitted, teasing gently. "But it makes more sense than much else I've come across, since coming here."

He turned his eyes back out to the city, walking right to the edge without a care even though they were many stories up. He looked down on the city that never slept.

"I saw what you could do, under the ice. I do not know if I believed in Gods before, but it's hard to dismiss the evidence of my own eyes." He'd never prayed to the Gods - his whispered words always left to his ancestors. He hoped they were with him now, too.

"I have...renewed your faith?"

There is an amused tilt to her voice she doesn't bother to hide. Laughing at such a thing may not be kind, but Morrigan never claimed such a title.

"There are powers greater than you could dream, Maximus. Perhaps I am one of them. But no force that cares for something as fragile as human life is behind my abilities. And certainly no god which has long since turned its back on mortal affairs- indeed, if it ever heeded them to start."

Maximus laughed.

"I wouldn't say renewed so much as... made obvious my ignorance."

He nodded, though he had little understanding of what she spoke - it was well beyond his realm of knowledge and not entirely something he was sure that he wanted to learn about.

"Regardless, it was impressive," He said, admitting something he might otherwise have not, offering a smile. "Wherever your power comes from, it is a sight to behold. Are you able to use it here, or is it as it was on the ice?"

The smile melted from amusement to cold as she turned to join him in gazing over the city, resting on the edge. Morrigan could still not understand the abilities they possessed, to take her magic from her. Something even the Templars could not achieve without damaging the very mind of a mage, as well. But she would, eventually. And then the true games would begin.

"Were I whole here and now, do you think I would play so obliging a slave?"

"Sometimes there are more reasons to act a slave," Maximus said, his tone slightly odd. Speaking from experience rather than hypothetically. But he offered her a sympathetic look.

"I can't imagine what it would be like, to have that kind of power and be unable to access it. Perhaps like losing both my arms..."

He grew quiet for a moment, before pointing out to a large building covered with lights. To change the subject, again? Perhaps. It was not best to dwell on the things they had lost. Power, arms, or families.

"This place is strange. Why does one building need so many lamps?"

Morrigan is silent for a long moment, watching him despite the gesture. It was unbearable, in truth. Intolerable. To be so much less than what she was. But she would not speak of such. Not to this man, perhaps not even to the Warden herself. The struggle of discontentment passes over her face before she turns to follow his gesture, the change in subject taken.

"Some mistake excess for power. I would imagine that particular building is supposed to be found important."

He was silent for a moment, still staring at the building.

"Or wishes to make itself important." Another lengthy pause before he turned, the drugs helping to make the smile on his lips into a rueful half grin.

"Care to go scouting?"

"Ah, 'tis not a request when debt is involved."

Getting some feel to the city was part of her eventual plan- simply a semi-dreaded part. She had little appetite left for the world of man. But there was no helping it. Even if it would have been far easier as a cat.

"No, but one might consider it ceremony to ask." He stepped back from the edge and motioned for her to follow him as he made his way back across the roof to the stairs.

((ooc: go ahead and skip to them getting there, if you like? not sure what kind of place it is but maybe a nightclub/brothel/casino sort of thing? All your sins, get them in one place.))

[sounds good!

Morrigan does not overly enjoy the journey. She had barely gotten used to traveling cities with the Warden, and all of them combined would hardly be much larger than the Capitol is alone. Without her magic as a shield, she doesn't exactly hide behind Maximus, but there is an undeniable level of hovering occurring. She is a woman far outside her natural element, and not simply because of the difference in time.

When they reach their destination she pauses before the doorway.]

Lovely. Shall we be borrowing a bed or merely one of the occupants of them?

OPEN Valentine's Day Plot

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