thecapitol | Remember, we keep our subesophageal ganglion to ourselves.

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Remember, we keep our subesophageal ganglion to ourselves.

Who| Feferi & Sergius
What| Feferi gives District 1's new escort a marine biology lesson
Where| The aquarium
When| a few days after this
Warnings/Notes| none!

Feferi arrives at the aquarium early, partly because she enjoys it, but largely to get her thoughts together. She has to make a good impression. She hasn't gotten on well with some of the staff before, but with Sollux gone and Dave as part of her new image, she's decide to go in a different direction. And to do that, she's going to have to get along well with some notable faces. This is just the start.

But despite using his friendship for her own gain, she does think he's kind of charming. She wouldn't offer a full tour of the aquarium if she didn't think he seemed kind of... fun, and funny, for a native. His enthusiasm is strangely endearing, and she can related to it, or she could, once upon a time. She'd be happy to let herself get infected with it.

Once she settles on her aquarium day details, she leaves a message for Sergius, telling him where to meet her. She sits out front on a bench in front of a suitably Capitol-esque display, bright and flashy so that if not for her mass of dark hair or gray skin, clashing against the vibrant setting. She's still uncomfortable in even the basic sun dresses that she has in her closet, but the sunny yellow dress and soft pink cardigan brighten up her complexion a little. She has her hair pulled back with a headband, and if she didn't have horns and fins and all that other troll stuff, she might actually pass for a normal human. As it is, she stands out, and as passersby point her out to their friends and family, she gives them a half-hearted wave. Her attention is drawn past their faces, waiting for her company.

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Sergius is pretty excited for this little outing. Okay, yeah, she's like fourteen or whatever, but Feferi is the only one of his Tributes so far who seems to not only mesh with his personality, but actually seems to maybe like him a little. And that means a lot to him. He's got a lot to prove after all. There's a lot of people looking at him and hoping he'll fail. That means it's extra important for him to establish a good working rapport with his charges.

Besides, aquariums are great! They don't have shit like this back in District One, and it's been forever since he's paid this place a visit. What better way is there to bond with his new favorite Tribute? Besides taking her to the gym or the football field, that is.

"Hey, Feferi!" He calls out to her, grinning like a fool. "What up, girl? Let's go look at some bad ass fishes!"

There he is! Feferi's fins perk up and she stands to meet him, giving a little wave. She's always smiling-- well, almost always-- so she just greets her back with a big, sharktoothy grin of her own.

"I was wondering when you would show up! What's an ass-fish?" She can't help herself, but she laughs it off and gestures for him to follow her inside. "Come on, I think there's some stuff in here you'll really like!"

Feferi already knows where she's headed first: the cephalopod tank. It's her own personal favorite, and she could talk about them for days.

"Alright. Yeah." He nods enthusiastically. "Let's look at those things."

Sergius follows along close behind Feferi, taken in by the exciting sights that welcome and invite them into the aquarium. There are so many colorful things to look at, swirling and floating and swimming around. It's peaceful, tranquil, and very much not the kind of place he normally frequents. But it's nice, and Sergius can appreciate the pleasant surroundings.

"So, you really like fishes, huh? Does that, uh, have anything to do with, you know, your... gills? Fins? The things on your face?"

"Oh, were they that obvious?" Feferi barely spares a glance over her shoulder. She's already been here a few times, so the colorful decorations no longer hold much of her attention. Thankfully, her short legs keep her from getting too far ahead of him. "I lived in the ocean, a long time ago. Fish were pretty much everything to me! I had a lot of them as pets."

Except they mostly just swam in and out of her underwater castle, but who cares about details? She knows right where she's going and finally, at long last, stops him in front of the cephalopod tank. A big brown octopus is in the process of being fed.

"There! There he is. Look at him, isn't he cute? I forget his real name but I have been calling him Humphrey." It probably says it on the nearby plaque detailing information about the creature, but Feferi doesn't bother reading it. As the octopus plasters himself up against the front of the tank, she points right to he center of all his tentacles. "There, you see it? That's his beak! Did you know they have beaks?"

Once they're actually there, the sense of wonder sets in. She's seen hundreds of octopi before, but she'll never cease to be amazed by them.

Sergius had no idea they had beaks. He didn't really know anything about octopuses except that they tasted pretty good and that some people had fetishes involving them. He didn't think about them too much, especially that last bit. And it seemed like not the kind of thing he should be mentioning to Feferi anyway. He might be an idiot, but he wasn't dumb.

"I thought only birds had beaks." He stared at the animal, eyes narrowed in scrutiny.

"Nope! It is not just birds, and unlike a bird, an octopus can fit through any hole it can fit its beak through! See up there?" She indicates the barely-visible top of the tank, locked down and heavier-looking than most of the other aquarium tanks. "They have to lock it up super tight, so that he can't get out! Because they will you know, they are so smart. They can use tools, build fortresses out of shells, and open containers. They even play with toys, and I have never met two octopuses with the same personality!"

Somehow, she's wound up with her face pressed against the glass, looking very much like she wants to climb in there and play with it. The truth is-- she does, actually. She would love to hop in and do a live demonstration, but she knows it's not going to happen.

He had to laugh again, she was to cute all hopped up on knowledge and everything. The way she talked about sea life reminded him of when he was a kid, amped on Hunger Games trivia, practicing to be a 'career', chattering away to anyone who would listen. Seeing Feferi's excitement made Sergius feel a little less weird. It felt nice.

"They're really clever, huh." He stared up at them, watching the animals float along gracefully. He could imagine Feferi swimming along with them, and it made him a little sad that she couldn't. Hm... maybe there were arrangements that could be made for her. She was a popular Tribute, after all. "I bet you could learn a lot from an octopus, if you could like... talk to it or whatever."

Given half a chance, Feferi would totally just crawl in the tank, swim with the octopus, and put on a show three times a day for paying audiences. It would be better than death murder arena, that's for sure. She hasn't gotten that far yet and hasn't made enough of a name for herself to suggest it though. Someday though. Someday.

"If you could talk to an octopus!" That does get a sincere laugh out of her-- as much as she's trying to butter him up, she's pretty sincere in her enjoyment of his company. "You have a very wild imagination! An octopus couldn't talk! ...I bet you could teach one to write, though!"

Note to self: teach the aquarium octopus how to write.

"Come on, that's probably enough octopus for now, he will be here if we come back later! What would you like to see next, some fishes, or some sharks?"

"Hell yeah! Sharks!" Sharks were rad. They were probably in Sergius' top ten favorite animal types. Number one? Wolf. Number two? Sea wolf. Number three? Chupacabra. A shark, depending on the exact species, would likely rank around number seven or so. They might rank higher. It all really depended on the neat facts he'd glean during his visit to the aquarium. "Okay, before we get much further in this adventure, you gotta tell me something first. What's your favorite kind of fish?"

"Sharks it is!" At the next fork in the hallway, Feferi leads him towards the shark tanks, though a helpful sign guides them just as much as her knowledge of the aquarium's layout.

His question stops her though, and she answers swiftly, not even thinking about it. "A cuttlefish! They're not really a fish, though, they are a cephalopod, but they have fish in their name. That counts, right?"

Because outside of a cuttlefish, she can't think of one specific fish. There are just so many fish in the sea, and a lot of them are very pretty or very badass, and it's hard to pick just one to name.

Sergius followed her along, scratching his chin as he pondered the nature of the cuttlefish. "So why are they called that? Is it because they're cuddly?"

He was imagining something soft and snuggly, vaguely wondering if he could find a plush fish to bring back to Valerius as a present. Val might get a kick out of it. It might coax a smile from him. Just thinking about it made Sergius grin like a fool.

"Cuddly?" Feferi laughs loudly, and with little reservation, even when it attracts the unwanted attention of other aquarium goers. "I think they are cuddly, but you would probably have a little bit of trouble snuggling up with them! They are slipper and would probably swim away, and you could not stay under water for long enough to get a really good cuddle in. It's really sad, I think, how humans and other landdwellers do not have gills? Just because you all miss out on so much fun stuff underwater!"

They enter into a hallway that's completely surrounded by water, the plexiglass arching over the heads and colorful fish swimming by at every angle. She stares straight upwards as they walk. "It makes me miss home."

"Yeah?" He watched her a moment, taking up a spot beside her to watch as the colorful fishies swam all around them. He missed home too, which was weird because the Capitol was he home. But it didn't feel like home anymore, after two years of living in District One with Val. He could never quite fit in in D1, but when he was with Valerius, he felt like he was home. Being alone in the Capitol was a daunting task. He didn't want to think about it too hard. "What's your home like, girl? I wanna hear everything."

"What's it like? It's big!" She nearly smacks him as she gestures to indicate size, as if it's even needed. "So big and I only ever saw a little bit of it, but it was home. I lived in the ocean, and I had a castle, and tons of pets. Oh, and there was this really great coral, good place to take a nap if you are ever under the ocean."

She sighs, suddenly missing it a lot more now that she's actually talking about it. She regrets how little of Alternia she ever got to see.

"It's probably a desolate wasteland now. Meteors crashing into and all that. Meteors tend to do that."

Sergius' face fell as she brought up desolation and meteors, and you know, the way her whole disposition seemed to change for the worse. All at once, he wanted to comfort Feferi and somehow reassure her that it would all be okay, that somehow maybe her world hadn't been destroyed in a fiery wave of meteoric chaos.

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh... well, that's pretty much it. Meteors crashed into the planet, and killed everything." Feferi shrugs. She never thought of it as much more than an inevitability before, and other than a pang of nostalgia, she doesn't really think much more of it now. "Obviously I got out of there before it happened, so I haven't really been back there since it happened. But there were a lot of meteors! So I think I can guess."

"Whoa," he said. "That fucking sucks, girlie. I'm sorry for your loss."

How mind blowing, to lose an entire planet to somethig so chaotic and random. It really made Sergius appreciate what he had in Panem. Life was good for him, and even though he knew it was hella rough for the people in the districts, it had to be better than not having a planet at all, which was what the rebels had tried to do back in the Dark Days.

"C'mon, let's look at some fishes and shit. You've been through a lot, and it's not gonna be any easier, but I promise it won't kill you to have a bit of fun now while we can."

If only he knew the half of it. In a lot of ways, Panem is far gentler than Alternia was for young trolls in Feferi's time. She says nothing more of her home, though, easily distracted again by the allure of fish.

"Oh, yes! Definitely! I did not drag you all the way here to make you depressed!" She's probably earned herself enough pity points for one outing anyway. She doesn't want to push her luck. "Now let's go find those sharks I promise, and I will tell you everything I know about them! Did you know they can have up to 300 teeth at one time? I bet you you can't count them all!"

She sets off down the hall, like she wasn't just talking about meteors and mass extinction of her species, leading him on towards the shark area.

Just as quickly as his mood had dropped, his spirits were again lifted by her cheerful, enchanting tone. "Three hundred teeth? No shit! No wonder those guys rule the ocean!"

"Yup! I bet they would come in handy in an Arena!" Both the teeth and the sharks that own them. She hurries him along, both eager and in a hurry to get through as much of the aquarium as she can. So many fishes, so little time. She did promise him a tour, though, and and she should commit herself to giving him the full experience. Talking about her tragic history isn't going to win any hearts.

He took all the necessary time to admire and ooh and aah at the sharks, then let her lead them on through the labyrinth of other aquariums. It was a wonder to behold, really, the kind of place that made him wish he could actually go to the ocean and go diving. But such was life under a fascist dictatorship. A guy had to give up freedom for security.

After gawking at the tanks, he looked back to Feferi. "You know, it's weird. The Tributes we used to get for One wouldn't dig shit like this. They were always really focused on winning. Everything else is a distraction. I'm like that too. I like to win. But when all you ever do is win, you miss out on beautiful shit like these fish."

Feferi is normally a very sincere person, but she always feels on her toes around Capitolites-- it's hard to know what's okay to say, what might get her in trouble, and she knows she can troll just as hard as the rest of her species. But for just a moment, her fins relax a little, now that the tour is more or less done with.

"Well. When you have to do it over and over, sure, you can spend all your time training and get crazy strong." She looks off past a wall, not really focusing on anything. "But you have to be mentally ready too. You have to find a way to just not think about it for a little while. Even if they can heal our wounds, it is a lot harder to heal a mind."

She would know, that was never one of her powers, and from time to time, she wished it was.

Sergius' expression fell, for just a moment. To mask it, he turned back to stare into the aquarium. Her words had more of an impact on him than she could really have known. It wasn't his own pain that bugged him just now, or even the potential pain Feferi and the other Tributes would suffer. It was Val's.

"I try to tell him that all the time." His voice was soft, eyes fixed on the floating patches of sea plants in the clear water. He coughed then and shuffled his feet, an uncharacteristic form. "Val, I mean. You know, he's the toughest guy I know. He's the smartest guy I know, too. And he trained all his life for the Games. And it still broke him."

Sergius was real bitter about that. Of course, he'd never have met Val if Val hadn't been a Victor, but he also sometimes thought about what it might be like if the man he loved hadn't been emotionally decimated by the Hunger Games.

Sergius shook his head and looked back to Feferi. "You gotta take care of your head. The body's important, but if your mind's in a bad place, you can't ever really bounce back from that. So let's focus on good head space, yeah?"

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Remember, we keep our subesophageal ganglion to ourselves.

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