The Victor is...

[gamemakers]

Who| EVERYONE. IC participation is mandatory (OOC is not, you may handwave)
What| Momoko's victory crowning
Where| The ball room
When| The Wednesday before the next arena.
Warnings/Notes| None atm.

The party was styled for Momoko.

The tables were covered in lace, delicate dishes and silverware, flowers that fell from vases covered in Victorian paintings. It was the most extravagant tea party to ever be thrown, with tiny, thin china cups and a too many tiny little finger foods being passed around to count. The ballroom has been styled in extravagant Baroque, as the Capitol was fairly liberal with their adaption of historical time periods.

The costumes were just as liberally chosen, from tall, powdered wigs holding birdcages with live birds, clearly hailing in the style of Marie Antoinette to regency gowns gathered under daringly (and occasionally outright) exposed busts to tight corsets and the skeletons of skirts exposed and decorated. A quarter played live music at one end of the room, before a wide dance floor.

At the head of the room there was a long table with a throne for Momoko, as elaborate as anything else in the room. And along the long table, group close to those who they seemed to enjoy, was a place for many of the Tributes, with a small place card that said "Special guest of The Capitol." This table was fed first, received drinks first, and was clearly favored.

Any Tributes not seated at the long table with their peers were dispersed among the the smaller table spread about the room, left to rub elbows with the guests invited from the Capitol, and the reporters covering the event. Security was, if anything, tighter than the last crowning.

These people have seats a the big kids table. You guys are free to decide who sits by who (And if three people sit by one person, don't worry too much about it) but they are, when possible set by their friends:

Atticus Bell
Draco Malfoy
Chibi-Usa
Dr. Grey
Adel
Tony Stark
Howard Bassem
Javert Neeshka
Vanessa Carlysle
Lindsey McDonald
R
Albert Wesker
K
Alpha
Diana
Katurian
Aunamee
Maximus
Blaine Anderson
Alex Rider
Glinda
Gaila
Parker
John Watson
Lottie LaBouff

Comments

[doc_holi]

Oh. "Doctor Rebecca Holiday, then, apparently of District Eight. If you happen to find a map, please feel free to share it."

She says it with a smile, but she is pretty serious about that. Holiday would do nearly anything to get out of here.

"It's a pleasure, Neffa."

[lessthanelementary]

"Likewise." It was disappointing to hear that even some idea of the geography of this place was forbidden to them. Gods, he'd kill for a library.

"Is this--" He hesitated, then dropped his voice, though he kept his tone lightly neutral. Let anyone watching believe they were still discussing the sandwiches. "Is this your first time competing in their game?"

[doc_holi]

"I arrived here during the last arena, but I didn't last too long. The arena coming up will be my first one from the start.

"What about you?"

[lessthanelementary]

I didn't last too long. That produced a hard-to-conceal shudder.

"Ah, you couldn't tell? I'm doing better." A quick smile-- "It's six days since I fell asleep in Ristopa and opened my eyes here."

Do you mean to win this time? was a question he did not feel entirely ready to ask.

[doc_holi]

A good question to not ask her. She doesn't want the others to think that she would be an easy target since she didn't plan to take a life.

Holiday nodded and looked away for a moment. "Sorry. I wish I could give you some tips about how to handle these arenas. I think the best way is to consider everyone an enemy, but I'm not sure."

She was killed by the first person she ran into after all of ten seconds of being in that place. It was hard to judge everyone by that one encounter, but at the same time it was hard not to.

[lessthanelementary]

Neffa found himself having the same thought he'd had when they had first explained to him his purpose here: I don't want to die. It was louder than it had been then, and the fear that accompanied it far more immediate.

He found himself glancing back up at the Victor's table, and at the girl in the high seat who had murdered everyone they threw against her, and wondering what her secret had been.

To Holiday, though, he offered a smile - though he let it waver this time with honest nervousness, because he was not yet sure he wanted to be anyone's enemy. (Though that was what her words implied, wasn't it--? That they were already enemies?)

"Strange," he said, "To put us all together here first, when it's enemies they want."

[doc_holi]

That's what Holiday thought at one time, too.

"It's not enemies. It's entertainment. They want drama. They want friends and lovers fighting for or against one another. That's what they love so much about these games. It's real.

"I would say it's best to stay unattached, but it's hard to when they're the only ones that know what you're going through."

[lessthanelementary]

That was-- well, it was horrible, for one, that hardly needed to be said. But it was also far, far more difficult to manage. Neffa had been fully prepared to choose his enemies here tonight - to pick out the ones that would make him look most like a winner beside them, to choose the materials with which he would build the face that would save his life. To balance that with friendship was-- well. That was a problem.

"...They don't want a murderer, then." It was almost a question. Neffa reached again for the plate of sandwiches, and was proud that his hand did not tremble. "They would-- think it dull, somehow, to see murder committed by real murderers."

[doc_holi]

Holiday shrugged, glancing to the food. She hadn't eaten since she arrived.

"I think they just like variety. I know they do like some cold bloodshed. The city shows highlights from past arenas pretty often."

[lessthanelementary]

"Shows--? How--? ...ah." It took Neffa an embarrassing second too long to remember. "Of course. The, er, screens." He'd not spent much time with them yet, as learning the specific function of every unfamiliar thing just hadn't been possible in the few days he'd been here. He was growing accustomed to seeing them, but hadn't quite managed to fit them into his range of casual conversation yet.

He wasn't doing as well as he'd hoped this evening. "Sorry. I've not seen much in them - really, that doesn't seem to me much incentive to look further."

[doc_holi]

"I wouldn't recommend it anyway."

Holiday was gathering that Neffa seemed even more behind on things than she was. Yes, they had amazing technology here, but she was accustomed to a lot of it thanks to Providence and their leap forward in science because of the nanites. This is different.

"So... where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?"

[lessthanelementary]

That was an altogether less nerve-wracking train of thought, and Neffa warmed to it gratefully. This was more familiar territory. Talking about home-- that he could do with authority. He allowed the beginnings of a smile to return, carefully bright and full of memory.

"They don't seem to care much where we come from here," he said. "There's no harm in asking - it sets you apart from them." Thank you, he let the implication stand.

"I'm from a city called Ristopa. I've lived there all my life." It was too much to hope that she had heard of it; he didn't ask. "As large as this one, I think, but... not so tall. Built of bricks and stone, not of glass." Greener trees. Browner streets. Less crowded but more alive. "I never intended to leave it - there's rather less demand for magicians here, I've found, their games aside." The rueful twist to his mouth that thought brought with it wasn't an act.

[doc_holi]

Holiday figured that he'd like the change in subject. To be honest, so did she. One part did catch her interest.

"A magician? That's interesting work."

[lessthanelementary]

The flicker of hope that pricked in Neffa's chest was irritating. His quest to find someone to whom magician truly meant something had thus far been... less than fruitful.

"Terribly interesting." He gave a rueful smile. "I'd offer you my services, as a fellow inmate-- but I'm afraid they hide their spirits very cleverly here."

[doc_holi]

Oh? "Spirits?"