Drinking cinnamon coffee, or decaffeinated tea.

[seestheman]

WHO | Clara and OPEN
WHAT | The first meeting of Clara's breakfast club.
WHEN | Present time.
WHERE | District 10's suite
WARNINGS/NOTES | None right now, will add any if they crop up!


Clara's been meaning to do this for a couple months now, round up her collective of friends/various adopted kids/Districtmates and have breakfast. After waking up far earlier than she has in weeks and shooing a couple Avoxes out of the kitchen, she sets to work, getting the prep stuff out of the way and organizing all the various ingredients on the counter so she can knock out each dish as she goes.

Depending on when they wake up, residents of 10 will most likely smell something cooking, whether it be hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, a variety of breakfast meats, or other breakfast staples. The sight that will meet anyone who comes into the kitchen is one of organized chaos (that will most likely devolve into something much more unorganized as more people join in the food-fray).

Comments

[silberfuchs]

"I hate it, frankly, but it's necessary and I've had modest success." He shrugs, not having much else to say on it.

As for the subject of marriage, he'd sort of been avoiding that topic, given Clara's marital situation. But if she wants to ask then perhaps she can handle it. And he can't deny he does like the share that happiness, after having gone so very long without it.

"Aside from the venue, it's..." he chews, thinking of how to phrase. "It's as if nothing's changed, yet everything is different."

He can't help but grin at his own paradox but it's true regardless. Their behavior is the same, their feelings remain unchanged, but being married carries a weight to it that suits Albert. It looks good on him, makes his eyes wrinkle at the corners and his smile come more easily.

"He does still leave his socks everywhere but that's nothing new."

[seestheman]

"I'm sure your districtmates appreciate the work you do." There's a thread of slightly forced cheerfulness, as if she's trying to convince herself that doing that much work when it isn't necessary is worth it.

Clara isn't sure why she wants to torture herself like this. Hearing about other couples being happy hurts, but at the same time, she wants to hear that it's possible to be happy in this place if the Capitol doesn't ruin things too much. Maybe it makes her something of an emotional vampire to hear that a relationship here can work.

If she really thought about it, she'd wonder if part of the reason why she dwells on it is the eternal hope that she and Alex could be a real couple again, even here.

"Take it from someone who's been married for years, that never changes, no matter how much you pest him about it." The smile she shoots at him is somewhere between knowing and hurting, as if the thought of Alex leaving clothes laying around stings. "At least with Alex's shirts it was usually easy to keep track of where it wound up on the floor." It's weird to talk about Alex and shirts to casually, considering the last time was weeks after the bombing and she almost broke down sobbing in the middle of a Starbucks. The only reason the wobble she can feel doesn't turn into something else is because she quickly takes a swig of her coffee in an attempt to dispel it. "At least you don't have to worry about doing laundry here and trying to match them."

[silberfuchs]

"I'm certain yours do as well. It's not only District 3 that needs the help. I think the other Districts have something of a disconnect with the Tributes since we are not from Panem, even if our victories mean food for them." But if the Capitol doesn't carefully plan and oversee all contact between the Tributes and the Districts themselves, there would most certainly be trouble. Frankly, he wishes there was more of it. The situation is growing untenable.

But that's not a conversation to be having now.

"There is that." He's quiet for a moment, then sighs. "We don't have to talk about this, Clara. Don't force yourself. I should't have brought it up."

Not that he did bring it up in the first place, but he'd rather let her admonish him than feel she'd shot herself in the foot, so to speak.

[seestheman]

"But I'm expected to do this, you aren't," she points out gently. "Anyways, as nice as it is to try to appeal to the Districts, at the end of the day..." She doesn't want to say they don't matter. Of course they matter, but they don't have the funds to assist the Tributes that the sponsors in the Capitol do. "...the people who live here don't think of District 3 as highly as I'm sure some of the Districts do."

Which is the best way she can think of putting it since they probably have someone watching them.

"No, no, I need to..." She doesn't want to say move on, because she doubts she'll ever really be able to move on. Especially not while there's still a chance for her to bring Alex back from the suppression. "It's natural for people to want to talk about their relationships and I need to be able to handle it. "