thecapitol | Reach out and touch faith [Closed]

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Reach out and touch faith [Closed]

Who| Rochelle, Nick, Ellis
What| Zombros reunite all together, group hugs imminent
Where| Some bar somewhere
When| After the crowning
Warnings/Notes| Probably swearing, mentions of violence, gratuitous friendship

Rochelle had decided that it was high time to call a group pow wow. She had also decided that a group pow wow would be best with alcohol, and thus had called the meeting in the middle of a low key, kind of sleezy-looking bar in the Capitol. She didn't know how much privacy they would be afforded, but she'd take whatever she could get.

She orders her own drink, and sits at a table in the corner. The others can order their own--She doesn't really know much about their drink preferences. She can describe how they shoot, the way they sleep, eat, their gun and melee preferences and how they take on tanks, but she's never actually gone drinking with them, and the idea fits oddly in her head.

But they need to speak. All three of them, as a group. There are plans to make, and things to catch each other up on. As the other two trickle in, she sits there, fingers intertwined, feeling like she's called a business meeting. Odd, because while there was no definitive leader in the group, they had all taken their roles--And a leader, she was not. Coach had been their leader, and Nick, next. Ellis had come up with ideas. Her role...

Look pretty, maybe. She tells herself grimly, though she knows that it's not true. She had encouraged, she had provided patience and glued them together and kept them from tearing apart. Stopped fights and started them, according to what was necessary.

"Gentlemen," She says, smiling as the other two sit down. "Fancy meeting you here."

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Ellis did his best to dress nice for this occasion, even wearing a good pair of jeans, mostly because it'd been the first time he'd seen Nick and Rochelle in the same building ever since the helicopter ride. Things had definitely changed between each one of them; Nick sounded more bitter than ever before, and Ellis acquired a genuine fear of dying throughout the Arena.

All that juvenile belief of immortality from their escapades in the Infected South broke down in one fell swoop. In its' place, was a caution that plagued the man, as it made him more suspicious. But it didn't kill his optimism, not by a long shot. They were finally in a place free of the Green Flu, they could make it work.

Of course none of that mattered if they didn't actually regroup.

"Fancy meetin' ya on such a time," Ellis joked as he took off his hat and set it on the table. "Nick ain't here yet...figured."

With the arrival of Rochelle, it feels like things are sort of starting to pull together in a good way. He isn't remotely happy with the fact that he lost, he still hates Arenas and he feels worse for Coach than he's probably felt for anyone before, but it's all still better than the mess they left back home.

Despite any outward appearances, Nick is glad to have Ellis and Rochelle for company. Annoying as they were, they're fun people, good people even. Probably too good to be hanging around him, but he's learning not to think too hard about that. They all know what he got up to in the Arena, who and where they decide to hang around is their own problem.

God he hopes this isn't an intervention.

"Figured what?" Nick asks, stepping in a little after Ellis, just early enough to hear the tail end of that. He'll just pull into a seat and raise a suspicious brow at both of them.

"Figured that you'd be late, and we'd stick you with the worst beer we can find in this place. Do you think they have Miller?" Rochelle replied easily, as Nick showed himself in. She'd suspected he'd be the last one in, just like Ellis had, and was quite pleased to be right. She shot a knowing smile at Ellis, though her threat held no merit. Still, at least it was there.

Watched the two of them sit down together, her smile grew to a grin. It wasn't the same without Coach, but it was a start. She'd heard stories from both of them, but there were things she had to talk about at the same time. They needed to get everything settled.

And though those things were serious, allow her a few moments to enjoy simply being together with her boys, in an environment that wasn't constantly trying to kill them. It was a good feeling.

"Well...here we are. I'm going to open, by allowing myself to be a humble, better person. Nick told me that this place was better than our world, and our goal should be to stay here. And I have to agree, he's right. I've gotten used to getting daily showers, and I don't think I could handle going back. Which means...We're going to need to figure out how to win this thing."

She puts all her cards on the table, right there. They have to stay here. None of them knew what the helicopter entailed, what it led to. Chances were, in a world ruined by the Green Flu? It wasn't better than here.

"Nah, I checked; beers on tap are really damn good," Ellis laughed as to add to Rochelle's humor , "But we can always feed Nicky some vegetarian pizza." Oh that would be cruel and unusual but it would serve the purpose quite well.

This was something he couldn't imagine happening outside of safe house dreaming so Ellis paid close attention to what both his elders said. "I wouldn't be able to either. Roughin' it was fun but I think I'm ready to jus' chill an' not have to spend every night hoping whatever wound we get aren't lethal." His eyes drifted to Nick, a worried manner. Those sabertooth cats did a number on the gambler and it surprised El that he could still patch his friend up as well as he did, considering Rochelle was the team medic.

"Nick an' I agreed tha' if we were the last two standin', or if one of us is too hurt, we'd have to get tha' outta the way real quick," Ellis explained, "Quick goodbye an' hope for the best." At least Nick's scolding stuck to the younger man; no more self-sacrificing. If they were all getting out of the Arena, it was all in.

"Or I could just, y'know, order myself something." He points that out to both of them, glancing between them with a flat look. He feels a little bit like he's telling two children that Santa doesn't actually exist.

"I knew I was in for a fun evening with you two, but man the party never stops between all of us. Does it?" He can't help poking a little fun over the fact that their lives are reasonably steeped in misery no matter where they are.

"First it was zombies, now it's other people. What can we do? Other than thinking on our feet and hoping for the best. We don't know what's behind the door, it's like stumbling into hoards all over again." He sounds mildly exasperated, even if he supports the idea of discussing this sort of thing amongst each other.

"You ladies might wanna order a drink first, but at some point in the evening I'm gonna ask how far you're willing to go and I won't mean something dirty by it. Surprising, I know." He leaves that grim reminder in the air for consideration, hanging an arm over the side of his chair so he can glance around the bar and look at anything but them.

"That's not the point, Nick." She replied blithely, taking a sip of her own drink.

She can't help but laugh at the...fairly accurate summary Nick gives. It's almost hilarious, really. If it weren't happening to her, if it were a show on TV that she were watching, she'd probably laugh--If not say that it's unrealistic that things can suck that much for three people. Not even including all the absolutely ridiculous shit going on. Hobbits and trolls and Jack Sparrow and Nick being popular (among the Capitolites).

She does take the drink, though, going and grabbing one, and bringing back, sitting down. Something fruity and hard. Something that takes the edge off while you don't even realize that you're sipping alcohol. She takes a few sips, though she pauses to snort at Nick's little quip.

"Well...There's one other option. People can petition to be naturalized, or something like that, right? Petition to become civilians." She drummed her fingers on the table. "They need to offer something. We all bring things to the table that they could use, don't we? Ellis has mechanics, I can report. Nick can sell used cars." At this, she gave him a little smirk. Alright, maybe his skills weren't quite as...transferable. Though they suited him in the arena...

"Of course, I'd need to go through my first arena before we could do that." One arena. One victor. It'd be a whole lot easier if two of them were putting one through to win. Quietly, she glanced at Ellis.

"At least we're not wadin' through a river of shit an' hearin' you bitch an' moan about gettin' dirty," Ellis quickly reminded the gambler with a smirk. Oh those were times to remember. Not fondly but a good way to keep their heads above water when the Capitol inevitably screwed them over. Rochelle's list of skills would have one more addition, "Or Nikita could be a bouncer or one o' them paid dates for a Capitolite or two. They really like him for some reason."

"We'll try our best to keep ya safe," El stated outright, "But yeah, there's a petition to get outta the Arena but I hear it's with a panel an' it'll be closed doors. Nick got the closest to the crown but his reputation with the others is gonna make it harder to get him back on tha' spot again." He'd been thinking this over a lot, turning his sights to Nick. "Whaddya think, Slick?"

"Believe me, nobody is more grateful for that than me." He shoots that at Ellis with a petty, little scowl. The last thing he wants to think about is shit water, may he never walk through shit water again.

"It's bureaucracy at its finest, they have it down to an art here. But you know what they say, you'll never get your license if you don't go to the DMV. Or bribe someone, but I wouldn't know who to bribe and I don't have the coin for it anyway."

He chuffs in response to Rochelle's proposed ideas, but surprisingly he isn't intending on shooting it down. "I think you've both got it made. I mean, you're both charming when you shut the hell up. Just act sweet, smile and talk about how your world is gone to shit and you've embraced life here wholeheartedly." He reaches for his own drink, a decently expensive scotch, twirling it around in the glass as he speaks. "It just means they're gonna be lining up for me to take them down. You know how it is. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? Not gonna happen." In other words, I'm gonna win.

It's tempting to laugh at Nick and Ellis' squabbling, because they're ridiculous, and goddamn, did she miss it. Some temptations are better to go ahead and submit to, and she ends up putting a hand over her mouth and giggling away, shaking her head. "Careful, Nick. The Gamemakers will make a sewer, just for you."

But other than that, she listens to him speak, nodding along and sipping her drink. He was making good sense, like he usually did, when people bothered to listen, and look past his charming personality. Once he was finished, she looked down at the table, fingers running along the grain of the wood.

"If you win, you'll be a mentor, right? That's supposed to have some kind of sway to it. You'll be in a unique position--You're not a Capitolite, so you can still be around us. But you have access to the Capitol on a level we won't be able to." She begins to nod to herself as she speaks, slowly piecing the plan together. She wasn't the strategist in the group, but with the other two helping her, she could begin to see a bigger picture here.

"Alright. Then that's what we'll do. Nick, we're going to get you a shiny new Victor badge, and get treated to a Victory party that's nothing but topless dancers and booze." She laughed, putting her hand down on the table. "God help us all."

Then, she gave a small pause, and slowly turned to Ellis, with a sly grin.

"You know what this calls for? A group hug."

"I second tha' idea, an' more so if th' Victor in the group can get more sponsors an' send goodies over to us in the field. It's a win win?"

Unless laws and rules changed along the games, there shouldn't be that big a conflict if they were subtle about it. Unlike Rochelle's suggestion for Nick's Victory party. "Nick y'all better win then, I wanna have a Capitol lap dance," the youngest of the trio chuckled at the thought, "An' hopefully something for you too Ro, some handsome man waitin' on you hand an' foot."

The grin is returned with interest as Ellis nodded in agreement, "Like we used to at the helicopter? Oh, we are definitely due for some community affection."

Nick's frown spans from Ellis to Rochelle and back again as he shakes his head at the mere concept of a Sewer Arena. Nobody would watch that, Capitolite's like their murder but he doubts they have the stomach for that.

"Yeah, yeah. I promise I'll keep you both loaded till you either win or get yourselves out. Scout's honor. Free drinks and ladies at my party and all that." Is the fact that he was a Scout surprising or not? More importantly, is it believable? Probably not.

He's about to address the matter of handsome men at his crowning, but then the mood darkens into something twisted and horrible and so does his face. "Oh no, no. I came out thinking the two of you wouldn't embarrass me in public." He shirks away protectively, glowering at both of them and lifting his drink as if that will ward them away.

"I wouldn't mind a handsome young thing waiting on me." She admitted, tapping her chin. "It's settled, Nick, you gotta win so we can all get drinks and cute men and women, respectively." She trusted Nick being a scout about as far as she could throw him, but she did trust that if he won, he'd try to help them. Ellis or Rochelle could win an arena, possibly, but she knew that this was the area that Nick would excel in, more than either of them. If one of the three was going to win the arena, it'd be him.

But oh, does her smirk grow when Nick reacts, physically repelled by the idea of getting any kind of hugging on. She glances at Ellis, her grin to make the Cheshire Cat proud as she slowly stood up, making sure to match Ellis' motions, so they could successfully trap their unwilling comrade.

"See, Nick? We tricked you into believing we were trustworthy. Just think of what we can do in the arena." She stated, then moved in, closing the distance between her and Nick, and wrapping one arm around him, pulling him to her. Then she put the other arm out for Ellis. They were all in this together.

Even if Nick might be regretting that right about now.

Ellis allowed himself to be pulled by Rochelle and closing any escape routes the conman had, "Aw come on Nikita, jus' a little love an' tenderness from those who give more than two shits aboutcha!" Oh, the grin Ro had would be matched by the mechanic and he immediately dodged the drink, because like hell Nick was getting his hat dirty.

Whether or not any of them could get far in the Arena remained to be seen but El had faith and maybe some overconfidence in them being all together, they were going to pull through and walk out of this place like kings.

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