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

[purebred]

She looked over to the other table, studying them for several moments before turning her eyes back to Enjolras. They were only people, he said, which could imply that the others, the so called Tributes were not people. Perhaps they were as she was, animals changed somehow into these false forms. That might explain the different classes that seemed to exist here, though it was still hard for her to fathom why the humans would behave in such an unfamiliar way.

And still, the others around her seemed to be eating and drinking just fine, with no motor problems that she could see. Forks and spoons handled gracefully, tea cups sipped and gently put back down, the signature clinking of utensils and china. Lady observed different people before making her own attempt at handling a fork. Unfortunately, her coordination simply wasn't up to par and it wound up somehow being grasped loosely between her middle and ring fingers before it dropped to the floor with a clatter.

"Oh dear. I'm so sorry." She braced herself for a scolding. "It's just that I... I've never used one of those before."

[orestes]

With a raised eyebrow, he studied her movements. He hands seemed to flatten out, not really gripping the utensil. Not wanting to appear rude, he made no move to stop or redirect her, despite the woman's obvious lack of coordination. It wasn't a huge surprise to him when he heard the sound of the fork clattering to the ground, and actually, she seemed far more upset about it than anyone else at their table.

"There's no need to be sorry. Many things are very different here." Perhaps she was from some oriental country where they ate exotic foods in exotic ways. The diversity of people gathered here was truly incredible and in that moment, Enjolras reflected sadly on the opportunities lost by their circumstances.

[purebred]

He seemed sympathetic to her plight, though not overly so, which was something Lady could appreciate. She didn't want to be scorned or pitied for her obvious disadvantages and unsuitability to this world and new nature, she simply needed time to adjust and develop herself, and to try not to get some wound up whenever she thought of home and of Jim Dear and Darling. And the baby. And The Tramp.

"Did it take you a very long time to learn how to use these things?" Lady was determined to try again, and this time, she went for a spoon.

[orestes]

"Not that I recall." He answered lightly. She seemed incredibly overwhelmed. She must have been to be taking this so seriously. "However, I learned at a very young age. It's not something of which I have a distinct memory."

[purebred]

After much fumbling, the spoon winds up precariously perched between her fingers, similar to the way she's seen Darling hold a spoon hundreds of times before. "I suppose it must be like second nature to you now. If I'd always been able, then perhaps it would have been like that for me, too."

Gingerly, she makes an attempt to scoop up a bite of food.

[orestes]

This attempt seemed slightly more successful to him that of a few minutes earlier. Still, her grip looks weak, uncertain, and he pauses when she mentions being unable to use a utensil before. "Was there something preventing you from learning?"

[purebred]

She chewed the food thoroughly. It didn't taste as she'd expected it would, and she couldn't tell if it was the food itself that was strange or the way her human senses worked. It could be a combination of the two, she supposed.

"I haven't always had hands," Lady said, dropping the knife onto her plate unceremoniously, grabbing unskillfully at a napkin to blot her mouth. "I wasn't a human before yesterday."

[orestes]

That makes his widen slightly more than would be considered polite under most circumstances. "What, may I ask, were you, if not human?"

[purebred]

She smiled, the look in her eyes one of complete honesty and zero shame. "I'm a cocker spaniel."

[orestes]

The incredulity of his expression only increases. Surely he misheard her, somehow. There was enough ambient noise, and her voice was soft. Maybe the chinking of cups in sauces and small utensils against china had drowned out some vital part of that sentence. "I beg your pardon?"

[purebred]

"A cocker spaniel," she repeated, looking up at him with her large, puppy dog eyes. It was like her expression was saying 'believe me, believe me.'

[orestes]

"A dog...?" It wasn't that he didn't believe her. And, actually, he wasn't entirely sure which would be more disturbing. If she was delusional, it was unfortunate that she be brought here to participate in what was likely to be a massacre. If she were telling the truth, well, that raised all sorts of questions that, quite frankly, Enjolras didn't believe himself capable of really answering. The Capitol obviously had technology beyond his comprehension, and though the sciences had never been particular area of expertise, he didn't consider himself incapable of understanding their place and function for the most part. This city, however, called into question that which he considered to be basic, both politically, and in terms of what was actually physically possible for human achievement. How odd that it should be so advanced in one area, and so backward in another.

"Well... That is certainly fantastic." He managed an easy enough tone, despite all that he was considering, how very deeply he was reading into her words. There was, of course, also the thought that she might be toying with him. That this was some (albeit extremely unusual) tactic for gaining sympathy or otherwise throwing him off balance.

[purebred]

"It is?" That wasn't the reaction she'd been expecting, but it wasn't unwelcome either. She had assumed he would not believe her or would reject her. This? This acceptance was a happy change, perhaps the first happy thing that had happened since she'd arrived. She was a dog. And this person understood and would treat her as such. Perhaps all this talk of tributes and hunger would be righted and he could help her go back to being what she truly was.

"I think it's fantastic also. I'm not sure how they made me like this. I'd certainly rather be as I was before."

[orestes]

"As a dog..." He specified the statement, still trying to wrap his head around it. It didn't seem impossible for the Capitol. Nothing at this point seemed impossible for them. It was, however, impractical and cruel, if it were true. Crueler still, if she were simply mad. "And you arrived here yesterday, Mademoiselle? As a-- as you are now?"

[purebred]

She nodded, biting her lip. Her demeanor had suddenly turned nervous again, mood shot now that he seemed to not quite believe her. "The Gamemakers have turned me into a human when I wasn't one before. I'm a dog. A-- a housepet."