thecapitol | Closed

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Who| Leonidas Cora and China Sorrows
What| Hanging out, possible
Where| Glacialis
When| Shortly after the Binding plot and Jason’s post
Warnings/Notes| None for now!

Between working with her Tributes and coworkers and meeting Sponsors, China’s social life is more active than it’s ever been. She would have looked upon such a future with trepidation and weariness just a few months ago, but she finds she’s actually enjoying herself. While she’s still far more charmed by the world of the book, the people she’s encountered outside aren’t uninteresting.

And because this is one meeting she’s actually looking forward to, she arrives promptly and with a hint of honesty in her smile.

She slips into the dining area. The cold has her wrapped up more warmly than usual, a fitted coat over her dark suit. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting, Leo. How are you?”

It's a tense time, given the recent attempts at rebellion and the resentment that may have been stirred up over Jason's network post. Even she's been feeling it and she just hopes that this can be a relaxing time. Or at least interesting.

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"...Yes, very sweet." She wondered, but decided not to ask, if the man had told Leo's mother about the bit with the mines. That must have been a romantic conversation.

The roses in the buildings, though? That sounded like something out of a novel and she smiled just at the thought. "How inventive. Who could compete with that?"

"Well, they may have married so they could carpool to work together..." She allowed a wry smile to slip through. "But the story they gave me was that they met at work and--my words, not theirs--fell in love while having to share the same files."

"I believe my mother said she appreciated his patriotism. But, really, that was love for those two." Yes, they were all a little happy family, aside from the part where they enabled a pretty evil government. But details, right?

"How administrative of your parents," Leo joked, taking a sip from the chill drink, "Then again, your father doesn't commit vandalism when he wants to declare his love for his wife."

"Love is strange, if we were to admit a few things," he added, taunting her to add her own thoughts into one of the most subjective of all emotions in the Capitol. Political marriages were so common, that actual affection was at a premium.

"That may be the best way I've ever heard them described." She waved a hand dismissively. "And it's hardly vandalism if he created something beautiful."

China was willing to excuse a lot when it came to pleasing the eyes. Jazzing up some Capitol buildings was hardly a crime.

"It is. And it can be horribly dull if pursued with the wrong person." China may not have been the best Capitolite to ask about love. Her ideas were a bit odd, shaped by her vanity and contempt for humanity. "Otherwise, though, I imagine it's rather intriguing."

"You sound like you've been on that dull road before, a bad catch?" Leo asked, "Sounds like you've played the games and pursued a boring subject."

Hearing Sorrows talk about this, the coach realized some of her answers sounded rehearsed, clinical, as if she never felt them. She took an almost mechanical approach to everything, like a new book that crossed her delicate hands. Was he trolling for a reaction. Of fucking course, but always with a purpose.

"Pursuing?" She shook her head. "They came to me, so I was at least saved the effort of pursuit--that would have only made the ordeal more upsetting."

"Boring men seem to travel in flocks, though, so once the first landed I was hardly ever spared." She sighed, another gesture Leo could probably recognize as a manufactured one. Boredom was a small price to pay for attention and the material gifts that came with love, but she would take her opportunity to complain.

Whereas China's boredom was artificially hidden under what the coach suspected was a veneer of professionalism, Leo had no qualms in being direct about it. If a person bored him, Capitolite or not, he would get up and leave. Like her, his time was valuable, and anything less than their standards is just noise.

"What a tragedy, here I thought someone would have you on your toes," he smirked and sipped his glass towards her. "Thankfully, there's plenty of theater to watch in our workplace, don't you think?"

"If only. Perhaps there's still a chance for me." She didn't bother hiding the fact that she was kidding--there were always more fish in the sea, she knew.

Thinking of their colleagues again, she laughed. "There certainly is. I'm amazed anything gets done around here."

Not that she particularly cared too much, beyond the opportunity to criticize.

"As long as that fish doesn't carry the name Compson or Reagan, you'll be fine," Just as China was frank with him, Leo returned the favor. There wasn't any attempt at respect for the old families, names that had no bearing on the Districter. In fact, one of the advantages of being a Districter was exactly that: Leo had no name or legacy to burden his actions, they would speak for themselves.

"Unless you're looking for a political marriage and then...No, you're still screwed."

Her tone was chiding, but only jokingly. "Is it really fair to lump the Reagans in with the Compsons?" China had a soft spot for Cyrus and had even discovered she found his brother more tolerable than she'd expected her coworkers to be.

She laughed. "A political marriage? I see no reason to attempt to revive my parents' tangle of alliances." Though she put on a good show of carrying on as the adoring Sorrows daughter, that was beyond the limits of her act.

...Or a part of it. People tended to be more genuine with her when they thought she wasn't keeping an eye on them the way her parents would have.

"Have you considered marriage of any sort for yourself?"

"No, it really isn't fair, Stephen's full of glitter and bad life choices but there's nothing like a Compson mistake. I think there's still people in District 2 talking about his sister," Leo freely admitted, unabashedly dissing what amounted to their afternoon theater, "his father's legacy lives on in what's left of his liver."

The marriage question was enough to make the coach choke with a laugh, "Ha! Unless the person in question blows me away, I'm single for the next, oh I don't know, twenty years? I wouldn't take a Capitolite's hand in marriage if all I'm going to do is stand there, look pretty and let them ride me until they find a whore. Call me a traditionalist."

Edited 2015-06-04 17:22 (UTC)

The gossip is well-known, but it tended to whispered and tittered behind open palms, hiding in all the pageantry of the upper upper class. China laughed out loud to hear it stated so loudly and without any qualifiers. "You don't pull punches, do you?"

Why would someone trained to fight for his life go easy on anyone?

She didn't laugh again, but her lips pulled back to show her teeth in a bright smile. With China, it meant just the same level of mirth. "My. I'm sure you just sent many girls weeping with that announcement. I'll admit, I don't see the appeal in being used as a prop either--what makes you think that's all you would be? I have no doubt you could rise to an opportunity and make something of yourself."

But what would that opportunity be? He'd shown already that he was all too aware of the limits of his station. China wondered--with regret?--if he would be better off if he had been able to go to his Games and win.

"Why would I do that? I'd spoil all the fun."

All this snarkiness and disregard for the Capitolites came about because he never made it to the Games. Had he survived and won, the man before China wouldn't be the same. He would be closer to the other Victors and Mentors working here. Leo might not have the same sensibilities of a man crippled by fate, but he still had his spirit intact.

"My Districter status will never allow me to overcome the hurdles, I've accepted that. There will always be bureaucracy, but in the end, I cannot fathom myself as anything but an employee of the Games. Now, that doesn't mean I won't push those limits."

Insulting people is always fun and China resents the fact that she has to hold back for her act. China just barely nods her head to that sentiment; the gesture would be lost on a viewer her lacks sharp eyes, but she believes her audience now is more than sharp enough.

She nods again, this time more obviously, to acknowledge his limitations. Not those brought on by any lack in skill, but by birth. Though she's hardly a believer in equality, she quietly reflects how sad it is that an accident of birthplace prevents him from rising higher--China likes few people and it offends her when those privileged few aren't allowed to soar.

She sips her drink. "How do you intend to push? If you don't mind my asking."

Leo might get in hot water but he can pass it off as merely critiquing his coworkers. Live and learn.

As for China's question, he gave the librarian a smirk and answered, "My work. I will make sure that somehow, District 2 will bring home the crown again. And there's always the games behinds the scenes, those political games that Capitolites think Districters don't follow. We follow, and we may not be citizens, but we know."

In other words, Leo would rather watch those who wronged him burn and shamed out of the tower then move in.

China rested her chin on one palm. Her smile wasn't even close to coy; she meant her next words as purely a joke. "Politics? I have no idea what you're talking about, darling."

"All the same, I believe no one could find fault with your desire to win. Why else did they hire you?"

"Oh? Now you're just being cheeky," Leo replied as he adjusted his coat and drew closer to China's ear, "Because District 2 got tired of losing to the machinations of Chance. We want to take home the Crown by whatever means necessary."

He withdrew back to his seat, "Whoever said winning was obviously not in the Hunger Games. I know exactly what Capitolites think of me, of my Districter status, and I must remind them that I answer only to President Snow and the Cabinet."

It's probably the only reason he's not been imprisoned after telling off Jason.

"Whatever means? My, you make it sound almost like a war." She smiled teasingly, as if it were the height of craziness to treat an Arena full of killing like a war.

There was only truth in his statement, she knew. But she did worry a bit for the effect his bravado could have on listening ears, so she cloaked her agreement in patriotism. "We cannot let typical citizens attempt to eclipse the true powers. Not only is it confusing to the rank and file it is very, very arrogant, isn't it?"

The change in her tone is quickly adapted and Leo adds with what can only be described as his closest attempt at sincere flattery to the Capitol, "Always with the utmost respect. As a Districter, I understand my role in this great nation and contrary to popular belief"

As open as he was with China, he know that, if given the chance, she would screw him over. That's what Capitolites do, that's what rational, ambitious people would do if they were in a position above them. Now, whether or not HE would do the same is up in the air.

"You've never given me any lesser impression. In fact, I believe there are many who could learn from your devotion to your duty."

Her lips quirked up in a smile, one more sly but more honest than the ones she gives out more often. "I won't name any names, of course."

She was sure he could fill them in himself. The only Capitolite she could think of who wasn't as intense as him was Cyrus.

The difference between the politician and the coach was simply breeding, different birthplaces. "What say you to a toast to Panem? There's much to celebrate and the night is young." And yet still a gentleman towards her and any person who gained his respect. "For the prosperity of the games, a victory on the strength of the tributes and whatever you may want to add."

A show of patriotism went a long way in the Capitol.

"A lovely idea."

She raised her glass. "To all of that, to our Peacekeepers, to those that labor in the Districts... And President Snow's longevity."

The toast was overly effusive and she offered him a conspiratorial smile even as she finished it. They did have to keep up the act, but it was more fun together.

"Long live the President and his Cabinet."

The drink was celebrated by the hearty sip and the way he let his chest inflate with the pride of being here. "Do you have any plans for after we finish here?" The conspiratorial grin is mirrored by him, as if inviting her to come along and be horrible people together.

"Besides returning to my lonely library?"

She turned the big sad, doe eyes on him. More obvious play, especially as shown by the smile still on her face.

"I have no plans. I assume your schedule is overflowing?"

Or perhaps not. She found herself hoping that maybe he'd be free.

"You would be wrong," Leo smiled, "My evening is free to do as I please."

In other words, he wasn't looking for sponsors or giving his tributes hell. "Will you join me in the Park? There's plenty to see and maybe I'd like to see how you waltz in a less crowded place."

The parks in the Capitol were one of many places that have seen District 2's hands, with the sculptures, the architecture. Cora knew them as a child, accompanying his father on projects.

She smiled warmly. Truly, she was pleased with that offer. Tolerable people were such slim pickings and finding one was enough to make the normally unsociable woman eager for more. "I'd be delighted to, Leo. Thank you."

"I do hope I don't disappoint. Do go easy on me, please?"

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