[open]

[tucky]

Who| Tiffany Doggett AND YOU
What| A smalltown jailbird arrives in the Capitol and immediately decides that it's the best place ever
Where| Various places; scenarios under cuts
When| Some vague nebulous time after the latest plot; can take place over a few days if needed
Warnings/Notes| If you haven't already, please take a look at her permissions post before tagging her so I know what you are and aren't comfortable with! Other than that, nothing (yet - it's always yet with her)

A: District 1 suite, Part I

If you're going to be unceremoniously pulled from your prison block with no warning and not much explanation, there are definitely worse places you could be landed. This place is insane - everything in it is more lavish and luxurious than anything she's seen in pictures or on TV, let alone in real life. It's at least a couple hours before she even considers leaving her suite - she's too busy trying everything out. She tests out her big, soft bed (which she can't resist bouncing on like a child for a minute or two), she takes a shower followed by a long, hot bath, she raids the fridge, she checks out the view from the deck. If something is available to be examined, turned on, or tried out, she does it.

Honestly, she had kind of glossed over the whole "battle to the death" thing. Forced death matches simply aren't a part of reality as she knows it, and until the idea is shoved in her face a little more, it's just not something she's going to think about at all. As far as she's concerned, this place is heaven. The Capitol has already begun to win her allegiance.

B: The streets of the Capitol

Tiffany finally leaves the Training Center, after being reassured (more than once) that this is her home now and she'll be able to come back whenever she wants. There's nowhere in particular that she's looking to go, but that's fine with her - she'll wander. She's bound to come across something or someone interesting eventually.

C: The Districts shopping center

Handed a credit card and set loose in a city, it's unsurprising that Tiffany finds her way to a mall. Not really one for thinking ahead that much, she immediately starts buying things - clothes mostly, but also earrings, bracelets, and makeup. It's only after an hour or two that she starts wondering if she's going to hit a credit limit, or be dealing with bills later. She looks around for people with similar-looking cards; when she finds someone, she stops them and holds up her own.

"Hey. How much is on this thing?"

D: Various clubs and bars (The Speakeasy, .infinity, Anomaly, The Cave, or Tesserae)

After gussying herself up at the shopping center, Tiffany eventually discovers the Capitol nightlife, and the rest is history. She bounces from place to place, skipping the sit-down restaurants but hitting all the clubs and bars, sometimes more than once. Affiliation means nothing to her at this point; any rebellion-minded talk at places like The Speakeasy mostly just goes over her head. She's shed her prison clothes and dressed herself to the nines (though she still looks pretty tame in comparison to most Capitol fashion), accessorizing with jewelry, shimmery makeup, and lightly-styled hair (nothing too fancy, but infinitely better than the untreated, unbrushed 'do she often sported in prison). She's a little underdressed for the fancier places and a little overdressed for the dive bars, but she doesn't seem to care. She'll have the time of her life - dancing, drinking, and occasionally chatting up men. She's not used to looking good, or feeling good about her appearance. The fact that she does now puts her in an amazing mood.

E: District 1 suite, Part II

Somewhere along the line, someone had slipped her some tapes of past Games - either out of a genuine desire to help, or because they'd pegged her as someone who'd be easily spooked and wanted to psych her out. She should familiarize herself with these, they'd said, because she'd be going into the arena herself soon enough. So later, tired out from her night on the town, she remembers the tapes and pulls them out, flopping down on the common room couch to watch.

And it's... terrifying. She watches intently, leaning forward, eyes wide. It's like a horror movie she can't look away from. She's killed before, and she's threatened, and she's gotten into her fair share of fights - but this is a whole new ball game. Can she really do this? Is she really going to be expected to do this? She doesn't want to die, but looking at the fighting skills of some of these people... there's no way, she thinks, that she would stand a chance.

She'll have to ask someone about it later; someone in charge. They've been helpful so far. Surely they'll continue to be.

Comments

[tucky]

"Tiffany." She turns her attention back to the card again, turning it over in her hands. "So how do I get one of those sponsorship things? How do I find out who wants me?"

[justoutrunyou]

Despite herself, and despite hating the system they were constrained by, Sandy actually enjoyed sharing information with new tributes. It made her feel useful, and she knew that it might pay off when she needed help herself.

"Well if they don't come looking for you on their own, your escort is supposed to handle that stuff. Do you know who your escort is?"

The replacement escort for District 12 had not been particularly helpful to Sandy, though that could be that ever since Effie Trinket took her leave of absence Sandy refused to endear herself to another escort out of spite.

[tucky]

"Nope." She barely knows anything, and it shows. "How do I find out?"

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy blinked "Wow, sorry I guess they just kinda threw you in here. It happens sometimes. Maybe your escort just got busy."

Taking out her pad she scrolled through "Which district are you from? I can look it up here. The Escort is supposed to get in contact with you, but you can call them too."

[tucky]

She shrugs. She'd gone wandering out of the tower after just a few hours, so it's probably not too surprising she hasn't been roped in by anyone yet. "They said 1. That's where they put me. What does that mean?"

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy let out a whistle "District One huh? That's the rich kids district. See we live in the Capitol but there are twelve districts spread out across the country. And they each produce things to send to the Capitol and be distributed. So your district makes luxury items. You know, diamonds, perfume, jewelry and stuff."

"So your Escort is Sergius Romulus. There's not much about him right here but I'm sure you can find him." She turned the screen around to show the picture of an incredibly attractive man.

[tucky]

The rich kids district. Tiffany wonders if that means they made a mistake in assigning her, because she is most definitely not a rich kid.

But she'll keep quiet about that, she decides. If people want to think she's rich, or should be rich, she's certainly not going to correct them. So she just nods impassively, attempting (not incredibly well) to hide her surprise. She leans in to look at the screen.

"Okay. And what do escorts do?"

[justoutrunyou]

That was an easy one. Sandy had been rather attached to her first escort after all.

"They teach you how to behave, good manners and stuff. How to sit at a dinner table, how to talk to people in like...a charming classy way." Sandy still needed work in those areas.

"And they set up meetings, get you invitations to parties and help raise money so your mentor can send you items in the arena from fans." She added what she thought to be the most important part of their jobs. "Your mentor is a guy by the name of Valerius Tor." She added anticipating the next question.

[tucky]

"You think I don't know how to be charming and classy all by myself?" Says the girl who... doesn't really know how to be charming and classy all by herself. "My manners are just fine."

[justoutrunyou]

"Hey take it easy." Sandy held up a hand to indicate Tiffany shouldn't be too offended. "So maybe you do. That'll make your escorts job easier. But the Capitol is kinda different from where I come from. A lot different really. So I needed the lessons."

"Even if you don't need the lessons you'll need your escort for the other stuff. Your escort, your mentor and your stylist are your most important allies in the Capitol. No matter what everyone else thinks of you it's their job to help you succeed."

She if she sounded like she was quoting someone she was. A book on the importance of a tributes support staff she'd found once.

[tucky]

She calms down, easily placated. "It sounds like a good deal to me. Parties, fans. Do... do I get those right away, or do I have to do stuff first?"

[justoutrunyou]

"Um..." Sandy had to consider that one for a moment, and also consider that this girl seemed focused on entirely the wrong things. Then again she might just be in denial.

"Well I mean, you're new so not as many people in the Capitol will know who you are yet. They may still show you on TV and stuff. After your first arena everyone will know you though. They'll watch you from the minute you arrive in the arena to the minute you die." She explained trying to put a little more emphasis on the dire part of their situation.

[tucky]

The discomfort at hearing that is clear on her face, and so is the fact that she's trying to forcibly push it from her mind. Nope, don't want to think about dying. It's too unbelievable right now.

"Can I get known in other ways instead?"

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy had to think about that one.

"I guess sometimes if tributes are making waves in one way or another the news picks up on it. Making a scene in public, showing up at places where lots of other famous people show up." She was struggling a bit with this one.

"When they do events and stuff if you participate people notice you too. Like there was this big bike race last year and because I participated and one the kids race lots of people came to talk to me and try to get me to work with them on commercials and stuff."

[tucky]

Tiffany nods, making mental notes. That sounds a lot more reasonable and appealing than getting killed.

"Okay. So maybe I'll do that instead."

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy's eyebrow rose in interest and she folded her arms wondering how much she should press the issue.

"You should make time to train too. You're going to need to learn to defend yourself you know? I mean your mentor should be going out of their way to train you but if they don't you might be on your own." And some of Sandy's best training sessions had been on her own.

[tucky]

"I can defend myself. Do I look like a weakling or something? I'm not."

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy's head tilted looking entirely unconvinced.

"Well...even if that's true have you seen some of the other tributes? There are trained assassins, soldiers, and people with muscles bigger then my head. What sort of practice do you have when it comes to fights?"

It was the first time she'd met someone in such a deep degree of denial and she wasn't sure if it was OK, that she was pressing the issue.

[tucky]

Tiffany hesitates before answering, not wanting to admit that her experience with actual fights is kind of lacking. She's gotten into her fair share of brawls, but nothing where death (or even serious injury) was the main goal.

"... Killed someone once." She eyes Sandy, curious about what her reaction to that will be.

[justoutrunyou]

Barely batting an eyelash. That is the reaction.

It may seem tough for a child but almost all of Sandy's closest friends had killed people before they arrived in the arena. The difference was why they'd done it.

"And why did you do that?" She pressed hoping desperately that there was a perfectly reasonable explanation. Self defense, and accident, let this girl be secretly a navy seal or something.

[tucky]

She narrows her eyes suspiciously. "Kind of a personal question, ain't it. Why do you want to know?"

[justoutrunyou]

Tilting her head to the side finding the response a little strange she answered matter of factly, "Because it makes all the difference between how you're going fit in around here."

What went unspoken was it would also depend on if she was going to be a Capitol favorite or another tribute forced to fight against their will.

"Even if you don't tell me, sooner or later your true nature will be revealed to everyone. The Capitol and the tributes. Secrets are hard to keep around here."

[tucky]

"Okay. She... she was doing awful things." That, Tiffany thinks, is vague enough that it could apply to either scenario - the real one that had actually happened and that she tried not to think about, or the fake one that her lawyer had come up with and that she desperately wished had been the real one.

"She was doing awful things, so I got pissed off and I shot her."

[justoutrunyou]

Unfortunately for Tiffany, this was not enough for Sandy. She squared her shoulders and tried to draw herself to her full height...which unfortunately was not much given she was still in the body of an eleven year old body.

"What sort of awful things?"

Because awful was subjective. She had done awful things in an attempt to do the right thing.

[tucky]

"You saying you gonna find that out, too? That's something most people don't know."