The Binding of Isaac

[gamemakers]

Who| All those who signed up for the plot!
What| Capitol rebels attempt a break in and dismantling of dangerous weaponry.
Where| In a warehouse just beyond the very end of the cityline
When| Some time following Arena 13
WARNINGS| Please specify warnings in tag headers.
NOTES | Remember that if you did not sign up, it will be assumed you are not participating in the plot. Plotting can be found here! IC plotting is here!

Comments

Re: For Porrim

[celebrityskinned]

"I found a new nail polish that totally doesn't match my skin tone. Let me compare it to yours." Venus crooks her fingers to invite Porrim in, to ask for company on the bed, like they're two girls at a slumber party.

She knows that her bedroom is bugged, although she suspects that there isn't video footage of this particular bedroom. She doesn't know how well whispers translate to whatever recording is being taken here. For a moment she considers just pretending this is all she wants Porrim form, a skin swatch, because the idea that Porrim might not be on their side is a terrifying one. Venus knows if she gets tortured, she'll talk. She did before. She'll sell out everyone to make the pain stop, and that's why she was only trusted to know a handful of people on this mission.

She pulls out an arbitrary bottle of polish from by her bedside. "The color is Four Sugars. Have you ever tried it before? The brand has some other really nice selections, like Harlem, Tater Tot..."

[fusshionable]

Porrim's confused for just a moment, and she narrows her eyes slightly. Had Venus really called her in here because of a bottle of nail polish? It didn't seem likely. Still, she indulges her Tribute, strides forward and shuts the door with a gentle click behind her. "Sure," she replies evenly, crossing the room to sit at Venus's side, noting the stiff way she's holding herself.

"I--" She's about to reply that she hadn't heard of any of those colors, puzzled, before the word 'Harlem' meets her ears. And then she recalls a passing reference during pre-mission to someone named Four Sugars, and it all clicks into place. And she's relieved and set on edge all at once.

Porrim gives Venus a slow smile, keeping her voice light and free of ulterior meaning. "Oh, right. I know the brand. My favorite is 'Chainsaw'."

[celebrityskinned]

It's as if a rope inside Venus snaps, the one holding up an entire circus tent that flutters and collapses in wafting fabric inside her, and she only now realizes how scared she was to not have Porrim on her side. Sometimes Venus forgets - less than the other Tributes, maybe, but more than she should - how vital the Escorts are to survival in the Capitol, how unappreciated. That tent inside her settles to the ground, leaving nothing but her iron will standing above the reams of color.

"Oh, good, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that you'd know all the good brands. Here, try it on." Venus opens her robe slightly, revealing to Porrim and, by Venus' calculation of where she's mostly certain the cameras in her room are, to no one else, the bruise spreading like marshland over her abdomen and down her thigh. In spite of the pain, she continues to chat as if it's nothing, and only the slight rim of sweat around her hairline reveals any tension on the surface at all.

"I was thinking of getting a tattoo here, by the way, but I was wondering if I had any shoots that showed a lot of skin and I don't want a big flakey half-healed tat getting photoshopped out. Can you make sure my schedule doesn't have anything swimsuit in it for a bit?"

Can you take care of me until the Arena, Porrim?

[fusshionable]

"Naturally, darling," Porrim replies breezily, palming the nail polish bottle. But her face is a little more serious, and she has to remind herself not to let too much show, lest there be cameras watching. There's always that possibility.

Venus pulls her robe aside and it takes all the control she has not to grimace. Jesus. She can't imagine what Venus did during the mission to get a bruise like that, nor is she sure she wants to know. Porrim makes herself take a steadying breath, to calm her nerves and keep the shake out of her voice. Poor, sweet Venus. It's probably pretty damn painfully, but her Tribute is doing a flawless job of not showing it.

"Of course, darling. Leave it to me. I'll keep you in the clear till you're ready to show off again." She'll fight tooth and nail to keep this under wraps until Venus goes back into the Arena. The last thing either of them needs are suspicious gazes and questions.

[celebrityskinned]

"Great." Venus covers the area back up again, settling a little further into the bed in a way that looks to anyone who doesn't know like typical fidgeting and not the backwards recoil of a spine trying to escape pain as if it's something external, something that could be slid out of. Not a blossom of internal bleeding inside her.

She just has to make it until the Arena. Then injury won't be abnormal. Then she can fight a mutt and it'll look as if it were birthed from the same wounds she'll incur elsewhere.

"Thanks, Porrim. You don't know what a relief it is to be able to count on you," she says, and she means it - even just in the last few moments the anxiety about hiding the bruise has lessened knowing she has an ally. Venus has spent most of her life thinking herself undeserving of allies, but the fact that Porrim's a handler makes it easier to swallow; back in Hollywood they were all working towards the same goals, and that was enough for a sort of camaraderie. And here that bond, Escort and Tribute, manager and actress, is the seed of a unique sort of trust that Venus is cultivating.

[fusshionable]

Porrim wishes more than anything that she could help, that she had any kind of healing expertise, but she knows that even if she could, she shouldn't. There's too much risk where cameras and microphones are concerned. The best she can do right now is help Venus hide and try and make her as comfortable as possible. And for someone with a mothering instinct like Porrim's, that just doesn't feel like enough.

Gently, almost fondly, she fluffs Venus's pillows, smoothing a stray piece of hair away from her forehead and noting the faint sheen of sweat that's gathered at her hairline. "I'm always here to be counted on," she replies firmly. "You look a bit tense. All that training you've been doing must be hard on you. Do you want me to get you something for the muscle aches?"

[celebrityskinned]

"I'd love that. You'll just have to cross-reference them on my medication list so I don't end up completely loopy." Her eyelashes flutter as Porrim brushes away that stray hair. She knows now that Porrim will understand the importance of keeping Venus in her right mind so she doesn't say anything incriminating while under the influence.

She reaches over and places a hand on Porrim's knee. "Thanks, Porrim. You spoil us, you know? You take so much better care of us than we deserve."

[fusshionable]

"Absolutely," Porrim agrees, making a mental note to keep any heavy-handed interviews far from Venus's itinerary, just in case. "We'll make sure you're in a good place."

She's touched, really, by what Venus says next, because she gets the feeling that it's not just for the benefit of whomever might be listening. She feels like a mother hen a lot of the time; she cares for her Tributes like her own little family, more than is strictly necessary to do her job, but she can't help it if she's got a bleeding heart. "I try," she says sincerely. "You all mean so much to me. I just want to see you happy." Or, at least, as happy as is possible. She wishes things could be different--maybe someday, if their efforts pay off, they can be.

[celebrityskinned]

"Well, if we aren't, it's not for your lack of trying." Venus pulls the covers up over her shoulders before she wriggles out of the bathrobe and shrugs it off onto the floor. She meets Porrim's smile with a peaceful one before settling her head into the pillow. "I'm going to get some sleep. Make sure you do too. I know how hard you work."

[fusshionable]

Porrim watches Venus settle in for the night and rises, smoothing down the front of her skirt. It's been a long fucking day, and even though she'd thought she wouldn't be able to sleep, right now she feels like she could collapse with the sudden weight of her fatigue.

"I will. Sleep well, okay? I'll have some pain meds sent up for you."

She crosses to the door, thumbing the light switch and killing the light before she shuts it behind her.