thecapitol | I wanna drink until I ache

Entry tags:

I wanna drink until I ache

Who| Jessica & Barbie ; Jessica & Open
What| Jessica stays high all the time and interacts with people.
Where| Various.
When| Anytime after Marius' death is announced.
Warnings/Notes| Barbie gets his own thread, anyone else is welcome to tag in with one of the prompts, or your own!

It's fair to say she's getting worse. Jessica's always been a partier, anyone who knows her knows this. But lately, everything's gotten out of control. She's out at all hours dancing her life away. And when she isn't dancing, she's boozing it up, worse than she ever did before. She's distracted, unfocused, and beyond that, the only emotion she feels much of is anger. And it's far better to numb away the anger than to act on it. Even little things like shopping or getting her hair done seem hollow and pleasureless. It's upsetting. It's unnerving. And she'd much rather be drunk, thank you very much.

A ; Training

Drunk or not, a girl still has to look good if she's going to maintain her status as a high profile model and celebrity Victor. Her fortunes may have fallen, but she's got a body to keep up, so in spite of her excess, she's still up by noon and engaged in her work out routine.

B ; Shopping

Her pain can sometimes be alleviated with a new outfit or purse, and as a trendsetter, it's important that she still make some public appearances from time to time. Generally, she's quite easy to spot in her oversized diamond shaped sunglasses, blonde hair piled up, decked out in something eye catching and daring. Jessica is an attention-getter, not one to be ignored, and even on days where she feels like crap, she's going to catch people's eyes.

C ; D3 Suite

She feels most at home in the D3 suite. It's really the only place she has left anymore, as the only known living Victor of District 3. There's no mistaking that the suite is her territory; her belongings are everywhere throughout, and besides that, her image is all over magazines which litter the tables and countertops, as though her Tributes need to be reminded that their mentor is a bonafide superstar. Also littering the common areas? Empty martini glasses, bottles, and a flask or two. Not that Jessica's bothering to hide her liquor consumption from her Tributes. It's not a secret she's got a problem. They'd have problems too if they were her.

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He snorts lightly. "Good for you," is his slightly dry response; it's something that most people wouldn't really brag about, managing to remain out of rehab for longer than normal. For their kind, though, it actually is somewhat impressive. Sadly, Victors get their own standard for such things, going from celebrating the greatest triumph a Panem citizen can achieve to looking forward to the pitifully small ones... like not dying of an overdose.

He seems satisfied when she shares in the expression of his vice; the liquor in the flask is harsh stuff, brewed in District 6, acrid as motor oil. "Only a matter of time," he agrees with a twisted smile, taking the noticeably lighter flask back. "It's a noble goal, trying not to get wasted before noon, but... I mean, we're Victors. People expect it. We get a pass for a lot of things that most don't."

She face contorts at the taste of the liquor, stinging and burning on the way down. It's like death, sludge, not refined and sparkling like the stuff she's used to. She'll have to rinse out her mouth with water or juice later.

"Do we get a pass?" Jessica mused aloud. "I'm not so sure about that. I've got Samuel and Barbie breathing down my neck, reminding me that I've got a job to do all the freaking time. And I've got the worst Tributes you've ever seen, purposely antagonizing me. It's like they want my life to be a living hell, but then they flip out when I want a bottle. It's like come on, you know?"

He stifles what he's tried to make look like a cough, but what might actually be more like laughter. With him, it can be remarkably difficult to tell, even on his best, most sober and functional days.

"Yeah. I get that. But you, and all your problems, are technically the problems of your escorts. No matter how much of a problem you make yourself, you're a Victor, and you can't be fired. That's the free pass I'm talking about... and even if they give you hell for wanting a bottle, they cannot definitively say no."

He takes another sip, expression remaining the same; he can down his District's signature hard liquor like water, at this point in his horrifying career. "District 3? Come on. You've got Nill. They can't all be that bad."

"Nill?" Jessica laughs, hair cascading over her shoulders. "I wish we had her. Nill's off in D9. I've got a bunch of troublemakers. Eponine. Terezi. Bruce Banner. Sure they've all got their merits, but they act up an awful lot too. And before them, Ian and Albert liked to throw fits all the time. It's absolutely insane what they think they can get away with. But on the other hand, it's not like I can really get them to knock it off."

"Oh, right," he says, not seeming particularly embarrassed by the error. He's known for playing absent-minded at times and laying it on thickly so that people don't demand too much from him, but when he's been drinking it can admittedly be hard to tell what's faked and what's genuine, even for people who have been dealing with him for years.

"I think that any District staff feels like they'd be lucky to have her," he admits. "I wish the same thing, but... I've met Terezi and I like her. So who should I tell my District 6 Tributes to look out for?" he asks with a wink, tipping back his flask again.

Her perfectly shaped eyebrows arch questioningly, a slight smirk tugging at her lips. "You want me to spill my secrets?" That was pretty forward of him An interesting strategy, really. But it wasn't like she had many secrets about her Tributes anymore. They'd all been tested in the Arenas. It was just a matter of determining who could perform under what circumstances.

"The women," she says at last, shrugging. "Natasha, Cassandra, Tess. Any of the three could win it. They're all contenders."

Victors, as Jessica must know very well, walk a fine line between feeling no fear and feeling all of it. Linden's no exception.

"Don't spill your secrets," he advises with a chuckle. "But if they slosh over a little bit, it's no big deal." He raises an eyebrow when she names the three most dangerous women in her District; he can't say he's surprised, but he's grateful that it doesn't sound like bullshit. He's seen these Tributes in action himself, after all.

"From 6, everyone talks about Molotov Cocktease, but I have to admit... I don't much care for her. I make sure the sponsored gifts reach her, but otherwise..." he shakes his head. "She reminds me of a Career. No offense," he adds glibly.

"None taken," Jessica said coolly. She wasn't a career, after all. She was only sleeping with one. "I can't say I know much about Ms. Cocktease, really. I've never paid her much attention. Little Clementine, though... she's young, but she's got spunk. It's a shame she can't grow up, otherwise she'd be a killer for sure."

Offense is a strange thing in the Capitol, and whether someone might feel it by association is difficult to predict. Linden tends to err on the side of what qualifies as caution for him, which... might make a difference, as long as it could be worse.

"She does have that air of mystery down," Linden admits. "But Clementine... admittedly, a lot of people have a soft spot for her. She doesn't have to be a killer to win, not when so many are willing to die to protect her or fling sponsorships her way. If anything, I think the older Tributes have made it less acceptable for the very young to be killed..."

He doesn't comment on Clem not being able to grow up. That's been true of most Tributes already for decades, and though it's certainly a strange variation, Linden refuses to see it as very fundamentally different.

"Then you might have your winner right there." She pursed her lips in consideration. Clementine might just carry the day on charm alone, but Jessica couldn't see the Capitol being too happy about a winner without blood on her hands. Not after they'd twisted everyone else into action.

The very thought of it warranted something else. "I'm thirsty. How's about you give me another little sip, hm?"

"She's done it before, in an Arena where it ultimately didn't help her stay out of future Arenas or become a Mentor, but she's more than capable," Linden shrugs. "I'm not nearly as worried about her as I am about the others."

If he's surprised by her request, he gives no indication, but he does hand over the flask with a half-smile. "Of course. Thanks, by the way... it's better somehow to know that I don't have to drink alone."

Her lips form a thin smirk in return and she takes a longer sip of that rank stuff, pretty nose wrinkly in disgust. It's not healthy to engage on any level, yet here she is. Can't stop, won't stop. "You never have to drink alone, hun. There's always a party in Three. Binges that last for days. And when the Tributes go, it gets even wilder."

"Always a party?" he asks, seeming to mull over the offer in earnest. Though Linden seems to dislike most social engagements, he can't deny that he gets lonely sometimes shooting up or getting wasted in the dark silence of his own room.

"I guess that sounds like something I'll have to check out, even if 3's not really one of my kindred Districts."

Everyone who knows anything is aware that Linden is most drawn to District 2, for reasons that don't take much to ferret out.

"Well," she began, swirling the bottle around in her hand before handing it back to him. "We can be kindreds now. It's just me, you know. No one else on my floor has ever even been to Three before."

He accepts the bottle back; even if 3 doesn't mean anything particular or special to him, Jessica's offer is meaningful. Though drug and alcohol use isn't stigmatized in the Capitol (quite the opposite), dependence is. Addiction is something to be ashamed of and hidden, with excessive consumption passed off by many as a choice they have full control over.

"That's my least favorite part about the new Games. I don't think any of the Tributes have been outside of the Capitol. So few are even interested in it. They think that 'this world is crazy' but they haven't actually seen how most of us live, so it's an unfair judgment."

"That's all on purpose, you know." Jessica said solemnly. "If they saw what's really going on, they'd be so pissed off they'd be uncontrollable." At least that's what she hoped would happen. If the Tributes were enraged by their pampered lifestyles, they ought to be doubly enraged when faced with the brutal truth of Panem. Panem wasn't crazy. It was cruel, and that cruelty was constructed by men. And, at the end of the day, men could be defeated.

"You really think so?" he brings his flask to his lips, drinking thoughtfully as he mulls it over. "At least some of them would be, perhaps..."

He keeps his voice low, aware that there are cameras and mics pretty much everywhere and that saying anything too obviously is just inviting Peacekeepers to rush them. Stephen's treason charge is a little too recent for comfort.

"Wouldn't that be something?" he asks quietly, glancing up once he's finished his drink.

"Yeah," she says, smoothing back her blonde hair out of her face. "Wouldn't it just? Imagine what they'd think if they saw the people in Six. Or the corpses in Three." Somehow, she's able to keep herself from flinching and keep her voice nice and quiet. Slowly though, she lets herself smile. "It's just a thought."

His already round eyes go slightly wider at her flippant and admittedly cutting words. She's right, of course, that's not in question... things have gone to hell in the Districts lately, and had been well on their way for some time, and Linden is painfully familiar with the hollow cheeks and eyes characteristic of 6's factory workers, pale as ghosts despite living in the desert.

"I want to take my Tributes to 6," he says in an undertone. "That's one of the biggest differences between the new Games and the old ones... when we were in the Arena, it actually felt like something was at stake. When I won, we got more water rations and they built a library in 6. I felt like I'd done something to help them. To the new Tributes, 'them' is just a vague concept, faceless masses that are elsewhere."

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I wanna drink until I ache

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