thecapitol | [open] making today a perfect day (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

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[open] making today a perfect day (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Who| Anna and YOU!
What| General merrymaking, flower crown distribution, and probably skipping.
Where| All over the Tribute center!
When| Post-Arena, pre-Crowning
Warnings/Notes| Excessive...cheer???

It's been a few weeks since Anna came out of the Arena, and as such she's managed to dispel all of her gloom and moping by the time the finale comes around and the Victor is announced. She's overjoyed that one of her friends will be crowned this time, and for the princess, it's just plain been awhile since she's had a few nice things going on in her life, so she decides to give in to a little merrymaking.

The tension she still holds with a few of her friends aside, Anna's got a few good reasons to celebrate--even if she's had some awkward moments and slip-ups, and there are an uncomfortable amount of people wearing Commemorative T-Shirts featuring a very close-up rendering of her and Bro kissing--so she turns to one of her favorite hobbies: making flower crowns.

Normally, she does this kind of thing in her room, but this time, she decides to take it to a new level. For the first couple of days, you can find her spread out on her stomach on the floor of the District 4 commons, flowers of all sizes, shapes and colors blanketing the floor, making crown after crown. She spends quite a bit of the time she's working humming to herself, occasionally breaking out into song when she feels particularly happy, and she's happy to take requests. But by the third day, she decides that it's not enough to simply decorate her District-mates, and takes the whole operation down to the lobby, where she settles in on the rug by the hearth and sets to work, turning out lovely crowns of roses and daisies, daffodils and asters, and even some exotic flowers whose names she doesn't know, just that they're lovely and fragrant and people should have a chance to appreciate them.

And when she's exhausted her supply, she'll spend the next couple of days sashaying about and distributing them. Many of them go to her friends and loved ones, but she also takes care to hand them around to perfect strangers, too--who doesn't need a dose of good cheer, after all!

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"Of course! Any time you like, really. I'm always happy to show anyone the ropes. They didn't have any of this fancy stuff where I came from, either, so I know how hard it is to adjust. Imagine my surprise when I discovered you could make food come out of the walls!"

That was a red-letter day for Anna. Éowyn brings up feeling closed in, and Anna's mouth twists. "I do, yeah...everyone does. It's not the best situation by far, but we try and make the best of it. It's about all we can do."

She knew that feeling. Hearing it said so abruptly, though, brought a sick twist of guilt and dread. Had she really broken loose of all that time spent stifling in Théoden's court, only to stifle here instead? And was it not cruel of her, knowing that, to be so harsh to those she met here?

For a moment, her hands stilled, and she lowered the woven flowers into her lap, biting down on the inside of her cheek to force back the sudden, wild urge to scream or cry. "...I suppose it is," she said at last, picking up her work again. Weaving tapestries in Edoras. Weaving flowers here. Does it never end? "And, at the very least, it is a place of great wonder, such as I could scarcely have imagined. But I must ask... are there at least some parklands, some fields, where we can go? Even a garden?" She smiled a little, sadly and a bit self-consciously. "I need to see the sky."

Anna's expression grows a little concerned, watching the other woman as she pauses, wishing she could help but knowing that there are some things that you just needed to work through in your mind, and not talk out with a perfect stranger. "It's true," she agrees softly. She's an optimist, through and through; she's all for making the best of a bad situation, and always has been.

Éowyn asks about a park, and Anna's face splits into a grin. "You're in luck! There's a really nice park in the city--lots of beautiful flowers and grassy spaces, and benches to sit on. It's perfect to take a lunch and spread a blanket over the grass, and enjoy the nice weather! I'd be happy to take you there, too!"

Éowyn managed a smile, closing the ends of her flower crown together and starting to add little red flowers to it at strategic points. "I'd like that," she said, and meant it. It wasn't home, but being somewhere green and growing would be a huge improvement on this coldly sterile place. She could see the sky, and feel the wind on her face. That would be something, even if it wouldn't lift the weight off her heart. Maybe there might even be somewhere with horses, or whatever the local equivalent was. She couldn't go home, not yet, but she could at least remind herself how it felt to be there.

"Are there stables? It wouldn't be the same, but I miss being among the horses at home. It always used to set my mind at ease." She smiled wistfully, reaching for a few more of the little red flowers. "Sorry. I fear you may have to field a few more of my questions - you're the first I've met who seems so glad to answer them!"

Anna tilts her head, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "You know, there must be--there are horse-drawn chariots for the Games, after all. I bet we could find them and get the horsemaster to let us take a couple of horses out!" She's very, very confident in her ability to use her charm and cuteness to get what she wants. Not in a manipulative way--it just sort of happens.

And, well, she really wants to help Éowyn. Her heart goes out to her, really. And she's glad to help if it means bringing a little happiness to someone else.

If Éowyn were prone to such displays of emotion, she might tear up a little. It's remarkable to her, just how much difference it makes to have someone here who genuinely seems to wish her well. But she's made of sterner stuff than that, and she just smiles gently, still working away at the crown she's making. "Thank you. For your kindness, and for your help. I suppose you must know how strange it feels, to be brought here so abruptly." Her smile twitches a little wider, and she shows Anna her finished crown, white and red and gold. "There. What do you think?"

"I do," Anna agrees. "And really, you don't have to thank me! After all, it doesn't cost anything to be kind, or to help someone who needs it." It's a remarkably Disney Princess-like outlook on life, which means it's highly appropriate for Anna to have.

She surveys Éowyn's handiwork, looking delighted. "Oh, it's lovely! You might even be better at this than me," she adds with a giggle.

Éowyn actually laughs at that, putting the crown down in her lap. "Hardly. But perhaps weaving tapestry braids and weaving flowers is not so unalike, after all." Then, with her most soberly ladylike expression, "A noblewoman must be learned in all such arts, after all. One never knows when one may need them."

As she lets herself break into a smile again, it occurs to her that this is the first time since coming here that she's laughed so freely. The thought comes as a stinging kind of blow, and wipes away the momentary relaxation. She clears her throat, looking down at her work. "When I was a girl, I used to make them for my brother. He hated it, of course. That's why I did it. But I suppose that it comes back to you."

That gets Anna laughing, scoffing into her fingers. "Oh, yes. The most useful thing I ever learned was how to do needlepoint," she chimes in, trying and failing to sound completely serious. She's never been good with a needle in hand, never been able to embroider a cushion all that well, but she can do the things that matter here: she can run, and jump, and fight with a sword, and she can make flower crowns in the hope that they lift someone's spirits.

"I've found that boys don't tend to be very pleased by them," Anna agrees. "Maybe that's why I give them to so many of the boys around here. Their reactions are priceless."

Éowyn smiles a little, shaking her head. "Men find pride where they can. As do we all. 'Tis only that we women must learn sooner that flower crowns and pretty jewels do not define us. Or weaken us."

What she doesn't mention is how long it took her to learn that lesson, or that for many years she, too, would have been open in her hate for such frivolous things as flower crowns. But the war taught her lessons that are still opening themselves up to her, and that was one of them.

Anna sets her work down for a moment, listening intently. Éowyn seems very...wise, somehow, though Anna's not sure that's the right word for it. Worldly, maybe. Like the kind of person you should listen to and take advice from. "Makes sense," she agrees softly. "It seems like boys are raised to think that those kinds of things are unnecessary or silly. But I don't see anything wrong with them. They make life a little less plain and boring, after all!"

"Sometimes, a little brightness can go a long way," Éowyn agrees, looking at the younger girl with a nod. "I'm glad someone here is able to give it." Her laugh is a little harsh, but that bitterness is all aimed at herself; ducking her head a little, she reaches for some more flowers. "I never had it in me to bring simple joy to people. Not even to myself. That someone here can - that you are here - is a gift to all of us."

Anna can feel her cheeks reddening, and she gives a little wave of her hand. "Oh--it's nothing like that. I just...I want to do what I can. I want to help people. It isn't much, but if I can make someone smile when they're having a bad day..."

The princess shrugs her shoulders, smiling down at her hands. "Then it's worth it to make a million flower crowns for perfect strangers."

"You see," Éowyn says seriously, "that is precisely why I say it. For myself, I should fight battles for anyone I cared for, suffer great hardships to protect them, hold my tongue and remain there to guard them... but never once think to bring them flowers or make them smile. The world has no shortage of grand deeds. But it has some deficiency of such simple pleasures, and those who value them." Putting her flowers down for a moment, she reaches over to press Anna's hands in hers. "Do not doubt for one moment that I mean what I say. Your kindness is a greater gift than aught I possess."

Anna can sort of see Éowyn's point, now that she explains it further. And it makes her feel good, to know that what she's doing isn't just seen as frivolous or silly. Maybe in her own way, she's helping people when they don't expect it or think they even need it.

Her cheeks flushing pink, Anna smiles up at Éowyn, shifting her own hands to give the other's a little squeeze. "Thank you. That's really nice to hear."

Éowyn smiles back, releasing the girl's hands and picking up her work again. "I am glad. Too many truths are hard to hear; it is always good to find one which brings joy instead."

Anna, too, goes back to her crown, weaving in three blown white roses to adorn the top, like jewels. "Well, if you ever need to hear something cheerful, I'm your girl," she chirps. "I'm in District Four--I'm usually there, if I'm not out and about."

Éowyn finds herself smiling, reaching up to adjust the crown she's wearing before going back to her weaving. "Four. I shall remember. And if ever you are in need of aught I can offer in return, you may find me in Ten. Or in the training rooms," she adds as an afterthought. She's already spent a fair amount of time there, although she's only been in the Capitol a couple of days.

"Ten," Anna repeats. "That's just one above where my sister is, in Nine. I'll be sure to remember that." Éowyn's mention of the training rooms has her smiling sheepishly.

"I should spend more time there, really. There just never seems enough time, and the fact that all my hard work resets after every Arena is discouraging."

"Your sister is here?" Éowyn's concern was immediate and genuine. It was bad enough to be trapped, but if she tried to imagine Éomer being trapped with her... on the one hand, it would make things easier for her, but on the other hand, how it must ache to be set one against the other. To be forced to watch your kin suffer that way. She thought of saying that she was sorry, but it felt hollow and meaningless. Instead, composing herself as best she could, she said, "Training cannot wholly be lost. Never. Even if the body fails, the mind can still be honed to master it."

Anna nods. "Yeah, she's been here even longer than I have." Sometimes, Anna even forgets that she was here once, too. She doesn't remember any of it, and it's easily forgotten. "But her and me--we're fine. We help each other cope, and we're stronger together."

The princess huffs. "I suppose you're right. It's just...it's really, really frustrating! I put in so much hard work before my second Arena, thinking that if I worked hard enough, I'd be fine...only to find out I was right back where I started from afterward."

Éowyn half-smiled, rather ruefully, and shook her head. "It is some loss, I suppose, to have the fitness of it taken from you. But the skills, you can still learn, can you not? You will not forget what you have taught yourself?" Then, rather more worriedly, "Will you?" It wasn't outside the realms of possibility, given everything else seen here.

Anna's expression goes a bit murky, confused and sad that she doesn't have a better answer, here. Or a better understanding of how all this works. Ten months is a long time to be in one place, and yet there's so much to worry about that she can't fathom all of it at once.

"I'm not sure," she admits. "You can relearn--you can go back to square one and practice it all over again. But all I know is that I was decent with a pair of knives, once, but if I picked them up now I'd probably drop them."

"Oh," is all Éowyn manages for the moment, and frowns deeply. This is not only strange, but more than a little worrying. Some of it makes sense, or at least what passes for sense in this queer place: she knows, as fighters and riders alike must know, that some things are learnt by the muscles as much as the mind, and if their bodies are reset after the fighting, by whatever strange magic this place posesses, well, it stands to reason that such muscle memory would be lost. But how far does that run? If she learns the herbs that grow here, or the skills like camouflage which the training gym provides for, will she forget again? How much more can they take, if they can take even our memories?

She looks down at the flower crown she's weaving, then back up at Anna, and forces a smile. "Still, you cannot deny that to get some proper exercise in such a place has no mean value of its own."

Anna truly does feel bad, to have to be the bearer of bad news. She feels like it happens far more often around here than she'd like. But Éowyn needs to know, needs to hear these things as soon as she can.

Anna smiles back, encouragingly. "You're absolutely right. I should exercise more often, actually." She pats her stomach. "I eat way too many sweets for my own good."

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shieldofrohan - 2015-04-19 18:05 (UTC) - Expand

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