Staffer's Retreat

[whatisay]

WHO| Every Escort, Stylist and Mentor. Any Capitolites or Peacekeepers who might have reason to oversee or visit.
WHAT| A professional retreat for the overworked, underpaid, and super underappreciated Tribute Care Teams.
WHERE| A chalet in District One, easily accessible by train.
WHEN| Before the next death roll.
WARNINGS| Typical Capitolites being entitled asshats.
NOTES| I've put up some subthreads for various activities, if you want to add more just do so under the appropriate day subheader!

Staffer's Retreat. Mandatory. The teams for each District are given a handful of days to prepare for the weekend, which, they're told, is going to be scheduled for a weekend with no big shake-ups in the Arena and perfect weather for outdoor activities. On Friday morning, they're taken by train to a small chalet tucked into a mountainside. A few inches of snow covers the ground but the sky is clear, reflected in the beautiful lake at the base of the mountain.

Until Sunday evening, their days will be packed with "professional development". The schedule looks something like this:

Friday:
Icebreakers
Trust Falls
Hypothetical Scenarios: How to Be the First Person Chosen for a Bomb Shelter
Three-Legged Race
Self-Care Hour: Mandatory Yoga
Dinner
Breaking Down Stereotypes Workshop

Saturday:
Mandatory Mentor Group Therapy: PTSD is Not An Excuse
Mandatory Escort/Stylist Workshop: Building Trust with Your Tributes
Mandatory Sexual Harassment Training: Focus on Tribute/Mentor and Tribute/Escort Relationships
Lunch
Capture-the-Flag
Group Lego-Building
Dinner
12am Karaoke

Sunday:
5:30am Continental Breakfast
Compliment Circle
Journal Hour
Farewells

Comments

[whatisay]

"Good. I'd hate to disappoint you," he says, dripping sarcasm. He figures after watching her scream at shadows he shouldn't feel insecure around her at all, and yet the dirt on his knees and his ungainliness prick at his ego. Most Capitolites aren't known for their athletic prowess - that's the realm of Career Victors - but this is just outright embarrassing.

He picks himself back up, cringing at the stains on his clothing. "There's no point in it anyway if you can't get time off for fancy dinners and don't drink."

[conifer]

"Of course there is." She smiles gently, teasingly. "Twice as much for me." She picks herself up, holding onto his arm to steady herself. There's dirt on her hands, which she brushes off as though it's nothing, used to the woods of Seven. She'd take a little dirt and feeling that she was among nature than the artificiality of the Capitol any day. Looking around, it seems they're not the only ones who have fallen, at least. "We won't finish last, at any rate."

[whatisay]

"We're competing against Lady Cerise," Jason says venomously. "If we finish last I may as well stay home the rest of my days."

The snow, only a few inches on the ground, makes it no easier to make progress. Jason's feet slide and he cringes at the idea of his shoes warping and splitting at the seams. Dammit, he cannot afford this.

"Alright, let's try - okay, on my count. Three, two..."

[conifer]

She starts to move a little after he does, hoping that letting him set the pace will make him less prone to falling over. She likes the feel of snow underfoot, enjoying the crunching sound it makes, thinking about the way great clumps of it would fall to the ground out in the forests back home.

"Careful there. Lean against me if you think you're going to trip."

[whatisay]

"I'm not completely incompetent." He does lean against her, though, putting an arm over her shoulder so they seem almost like conjoined twins as they stagger and stumble. "I've just never been good at sports."

Or cooperation, for that matter, but they seem to be doing alright now, making slow but steadier progress.

"They do this much in District Seven? This seems like the sort of game Districts would think up."

[conifer]

"I know. I just figured you'd rather not end up in the snow again." She places an arm around his waist to steady herself, alternating her gaze between the path ahead and their feet, trying to adjust her step to match his.

"Not this. Though in the summer there are tug of wars and log splitting contests." When the Peacekeepers allowed them, anyway. That demonstration of physical strength was something they understandably found dangerous, though it was a part of the tradition of Emily's part of Seven.

[whatisay]

"You're right on that count, at least." He cringes a bit with her arm around his waist, as if it's some kind of burden to have such close contact with another person (with someone from the Districts).

It's not a feeling allayed when she talks about splitting logs. "That sounds like the sort of thing to get everything you own filthy."

[conifer]

She feels a little self-conscious between his cringing away from her and his observation, biting on her lip and not quite looking at him. "Yes, well, we don't have much in the way of entertainment in the Districts. Or servants to split logs for us and save our clothes."

[whatisay]

Her bitterness is met with an expression very near 'well, duh, of course you don't'.

"Why, do you feel entitled to those things?"

[conifer]

"The former, certainly." She almost loses her balance again as the snow suddenly gets deeper, she'd been anticipating her foot meeting the packed surface of it sooner. "Everyone is."

[whatisay]

"Entertainment comes after you finish your work. If I don't get entertainment then there's no reason a Districter should." He stumbles too, sinking wrist-deep in the snow and making a snarling noise of frustration.

[conifer]

"And I suppose they don't deserve food or water or shelter or safety until after they've finished their work either?" She tries to rise from the snow, but just gets stuck in there deeper.

[whatisay]

"No, they don't. Having you all do your jobs is the least we can ask for giving you the protection of the Capitol from each other." He grabs her elbow and pulls her up. He believes it, entirely.

[conifer]

She kicks at the snow ahead of them, trying to get some of it out of their path. "All right, if we follow that logic, how are they going to do their jobs without food or water or shelter or safety?"