thecapitol | (no subject)

Who| Sandy Marko and anyone
What| Coping mechanisms. Sandy's exploring the Capitol.
Where| Throughout the Capitol
When| After her death in the Arena
Warnings/Notes| Possible violence. Definite confusion and angst.

Sandy was not handling her death in the most mature manner. Granted that she was only a child but she found herself frustrated that she couldn't stop relieving that horrible moment of helplessness when she realized there was nothing she could do.

Perhaps part of the problem was when she woke up from death she started to realize just how helpless she really was. Here in this world even death was not an escape. They really did own her now.

And so as soon as she mustered up the courage she was out of the building and exploring the Capitol. It helped to keep her mind focused on other things. The layout of the buildings, the streets. But she couldn't shake the uncomfortable knowledge that everybody on the street knew her.

Every. Single. Person.

They had all watched her shiver and tremble burying herself in snow. They had watched her be defeated by a simple bird. They'd probably seen her cry when she was alone.

And they'd watched her die.

When the feeling became too much she would run. Running was the one thing she did better then anyone she knew. And while it hadn't done much to save her in the Arena maybe it could help keep her from screaming at everyone who had just sat back and watched her die.

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There was another girl who was used to having people know her. But, not like this. It was so surreal, and still scary, even though she'd had experience with battle before. She wasn't fighting other humans, innocents.

So she was walking through a hallway when suddenly, there was another girl. And she was about to run into Chibi-Usa.

"AH-!!"

Blaine was out in the city. He was mostly looking for a change of scenery. The fact that people were so interested in him was unnerving. He was leaving a store when he saw Sandy run past.

Worried that she was in trouble he looked around and then headed after her.

"Sandy!" he called, hoping she would stop for him.

Sandy yelped and dodged to the side awkwardly spinning on one foot and stumbling backwards a few steps before crashing into the wall and leaning against it catching her breath.

"S-sorry." She panted with a flush of embarrassment. She shot quick looks left and right down the hall to make sure no one else had seen.

The familiar voice cut through her haze and she stumbled skidding to a stop. Her trainers were already fitting better then they had when she'd first woken up in them.

Looking around like she expected to be collared and dragged off Sandy relaxed when she saw who it actually was. "Oh you. Hey."

Blaine jogged up to her and looked around as if expecting to find someone chasing her. "Are you okay? Was someone bothering you?"

"Its ok." Chibi-Usa walked over to Sandy. "Um, are you ok?..."

Well wasn't that just the million dollar question. "How are you NOT bothered by what just happened to us? And everyone around us is in on it. This whole city!" She gestured around as if you could see the whole city from this spot.

Sandy thought about that for a moment, physically she was fine. Everything else however.

"Not even a little bit. You?"

"...Same."

At this, a hand suddenly came out to offer Sandy some help.

Sandy smiled for what felt like the first time in forever and accepted the hand being pulled to her feet.

"I should be more careful. Sorry."

"Its ok! I do it sometimes, too."

At this, she gave a smile.

"I'm Chibi-Usa. District 10!"

The smile took her by surprise, then again with the pink hair it seemed appropriately cheerful.

"Sandy Marko." She returned the greeting and added "New York City." Because she still felt no attachment to the district she had been assigned.

Blaine took a breath at that and had to blink. He had been so carefully ignoring how he felt about everything that having it put in his face felt a little like a punch to the gut.

"I am bothered by it," he said softly. "I... I just thought maybe you were being chased now." He hadn't been much help to her in the Arena, but he would stand up for her now, if she needed it.

Sandy leaned against the wall looking annoyed. "I'm not I just...I don't know what I should be doing. Getting ready for the next one? What am I supposed to do? I don't even want to do it."

Hey, she looked like she could use a smile. ~~Really, they both did.~~

"Really? I'm from Tokyo!" Chibi-Usa was clearly fascinated. "What's it like in New York City? Do you have a lot of pizza places and stuff??"

"I know," Blaine said. He did know. He had been forcing himself to learn more about the Capitol and the Games and all that he had found out just made him so sick and angry. "I can try to help you, if you want?"

Sandy felt her smile melt into a little more genuine one.

"Yeah, best Pizza in the world so I hear. I dunno I've never left New York before. Let's see...well it rained all the time. And the Reign were always total jerks. But there's lots of great places to explore if you're careful."

Or in Sandy's case, needing somewhere to hide.

The more help the better reasoned Sandy. So far every contestant she'd met with the exception of two had been willing to help her. Maybe that was part of how she'd survived so long in the frozen hellhole.

"We're all in this together I guess." She acknowledged. "I still don't know what we can do. Sherlock said we should just keep our eyes and ears open and learn all we can. But so far all i've learned is how one sided this fight is."

Blaine nodded. "I've been watching the tapes of the other Games." He frowned deeply at the memory of them. Constant and violent death was hard for him to get through. "I'm hoping it will help me prepare for the Arenas..."

Sandy looked distressed by this news "Wait...did they say when we have to go back? How soon? I'm not ready!" And she never really thought she would be ready.

"I think we have some time. We'll know when we go back. It... It won't be like the first time was." Being shoved into a tube and forced to an Arena so soon after arriving had been horrible.

"I hope not." Sandy calmed down only barely. "All I learned last time was to stay away from everyone, stay warm and hidden and hope for food from the sky." A concept she only had now begun to grasp was tied directly into how much people liked her.

"I learned that too, expect that there are some people I can trust," he said seriously. He meant her, clearly, a girl that had given him some of her food even when he had done nothing to earn it. "I'll watch your back next time, and maybe this time I can share whatever I get from a sponsor with you."

Well that gave her some hope. She dared a smirk. "Good to know. The less people who are willing to kill me without a thought the better."

He wasn't as comforting as say Riddick, but she still felt a little better knowing it.

"There's some of the tributes who are like us. Realize this is all...insane." She explained, "But others are totally buying into...all of this."

Blaine nodded, thinking about the one who had killed him. "We just have to work to figure out which ones are the good ones."

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