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

[shambler]

Remind R to ask her about this whole new world of hers when they weren't surrounded by distractions, like, say, food everywhere. And strange new noises. An orchestra that even R was wincing at.

He thought about pursuing the idea of love with Karis, because really, it did sound to him like there was more there than she gave him, but maybe that was something for another time. If there was anything they both had plenty of, it was time. Too much time. Time bleeding out the ears. A corpse could die of boredom if they weren't careful, so yeah, he understood her need to keep busy.

At first R didn't notice he was being herded. When Karis nudged him, her arms around his shoulders, he went where he was being prodded automatically, his feet dragging next to hers. It felt almost like home to be wandering around with another Dead. He could almost believe that falling into that old routine would be easy.

The route took them to corner next to a pair of giant potted plants, their blooms sprinkled with fake dew to catch the light from overhead. R swung his head up to look at Karis.

"En..gine?" Engineer wasn't coming out, R pursing his blackened lips. "That's...cool. Really. How?"

R was totally impressed. She could actually get machines, too? Actually build new things? Suddenly his hobby of hoarding and listening to music didn't seem all that special.

[teethofneedles]

Karis settled into their new corner, back against the wall. She didn't trust the room. At all. Besides, it wasn't paranoia if someone really was out to get you.

"Whatta you mean, how? You just kinda learn..."

Sorry, R. Her particular brand of zombieism didn't leave quite as much brain damage.

[shambler]

"Not...usual," R insisted. Maybe Karis had been so self-aware for so long that she forgot what it was like? R had no idea, dogging on stubbornly. "You're...special. Able to...learn. Special."

There, he said it, got the elephant in the room squared away. Someone had to say it.

[teethofneedles]

Karis frowned and tugged at the lace on her dress. This line of quesitoning made her the teeniest bit uncomfortable. She shook her head, "I'm not that special. I'm just another deader, another Forsaken. There's tons of us back home. Sure, not all of us are that smart or... you know... put together, but we can all learn, kiddo."

[shambler]

Okay, now that part was more full-zombie to R; trying to fit in with the others, going with the flow, getting a little uneasy every time another Dead started anything new. Anything special.

"Not...like that. Back where...my home," R shook his head. He couldn't imagine a whole place full of Dead like Karis. It blew his mind. "So you're...special. In my opin...opinion."

He shrugged.

[teethofneedles]

Karis snorted. That was different. She shook her head again, "You come from somewhere strange, buddy. Because as far as I'm concerned, I'm pretty normal for a deader."

The whole conversation was weird, though. She cocked her head, "...so, they're all like you where you come from?"

[shambler]

"Most...ly," R said. "Most...can't talk. Shuffle. Stare?"

AKA he was probably considered the most forward thinking, talkative one there. R used to believe it to, until he met Karis. He eyed Karis, thought over what he learned about her, and decided she would probably hate the airport.

[teethofneedles]

"Really? Sounds like a buncha ghouls if you ask me," Karis frowned. Sounded like Hell on Earth. Undeath without any of the very few perks that came with it? No thank you.

"But hey, you're doing OK, all things considered. Right?"

[shambler]

"Ugh," R grunted at the word "ghouls", stiffening his shoulders and not looking like he was a big fan of that term.

He thought about the question. He was still dead, he'd blown it with Julie (but at least he finally came clean about eating Perry) and here he was. With another Dead who ran circles around him. Someone who knew what it felt like to die and still be there and could actually hold a conversation.

R wasn't sure if he was okay. He shrugged, torn between nodding and shaking his head.

"Liv...ing," R mumbled. "Your home? Big?"

[teethofneedles]

Karis' expression settled into one distaste, "Ugh. Yeah. There's still tons of 'em and they all hate us. They want us all purged..."

She dearly wished she'd brought her drink. She needed more alcohol for this.

[shambler]

Was he hearing that right? Because if she was talking about humans, then sure, he'd get that; he'd saw them mowing down other zombies, the Boneys had those Polaroids of them cleaning out Dead hives with flamethrowers. But Dead on Dead?

What was it with Karis throwing out these curveballs at him? R stared at her.

"Other...Dead? Why?" R sounded shocked, which was amazing in itself when you were stuck with a voice that sounded lifeless most of the time.

[teethofneedles]

Oh, right. They probably didn't have the Scourge where ever he came from. Karis ran her tongue over her teeth and considered before she replied.

"...long story. Really long story. Basically, there's these assholes called the Scourge, led by the Lich King - or there was, anyway, he's dead now - and they created all of the undead, including me. And for a long time, we were enslaved until a group of us broke off and became free. Naturally they didn't like us thinking for ourselves, so they tried to kill us."