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

[dead_black_eyes]

Jolie might be a jeerer, but Linden remains largely silent. As a Victor, it wears on something deeper than bone to see even mild versions of what he experienced in his Games, the way bodies hit the ground, sometimes lying still immediately, sometimes taking a little while. He ignores Jolie's laughter, setting his jaw and keeping his eyes focused forward.

"I don't pray," he says grimly as they approach the finish line. "Of everything you can possibly do for yourself in this world, it helps the least."

[reallynow]

"Being pedantic does so much more, I'm sure." Jolie can't help rolling her eyes for that little PSA, but her focus is on following this through. "Luckily for both of us, it was a figure of speech."

She clicks her tongue, but even their low-key bickering isn't enough to compromise the fact that victory is pretty much in their hands at this point. Finally, after what feels like forever just wobbling awkwardly through snow, they cross the finish line.

"Woohoo!" She exclaims with a fist pump. "I have never been more excited about something I couldn't care less about. Good game, champ. I owe you a drink." She winks at him, leaning down to try struggle with the ankle ties.

[dead_black_eyes]

"Great", is his frigid and terse response as they continue forward in their lopsided but steady and decently coordinated quest. If he feels lucky, he doesn't indicate it, just doggedly presses forward. Now that he has his sights on winning, they might as well; it might give him, at least for a few minutes, some kind of high, and anyone who knows anything about Linen knows that highs are one of the few things he is known to reliably chase after.

After they've won, though, Jolie's excitement just serves as a contrast swatch for his languid disappointment. Like so many things, he'd thought it would be better.

"Yeah," he decides, after a long silence while Jolie works at the ankle ties. "A drink sounds good. I could go for one, or five."