Nitou and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

[infinitemayonnaise]

Who| Kousuke Nitou, a roving horde of Pomeranians, and you!
What| Nitou has picked up on the fact that Haruto's avoiding him, so he's going to try to bring his fellow wizard some donuts. Too bad some random Capitolite's dogs got loose and are making this very difficult for him.
Where| Various locations, see prompts.
When| Today!
Warnings/Notes| Possible discussion of violence and brainwashing. Definite discussion of attacks made by tiny dogs. Yakkity Sax playing softly in the background.

[A - Some Street in front of Some Donut Shop]
It had taken Nitou a while, but he finally found a donut shop that seemed willing to make the plain sugar donuts Haruto liked so much without doing anything weird, as well as a couple mayonnaise-filled ones for him. (Also, in his mind, without doing anything weird, though the shop owner had given him a long and hard look of disbelief when he'd requested that.) He was emerging from the donut shop, looking vaguely triumphant about his three bags of donuts when he heard it.

The yapping.

Some Capitolite somewhere had been taking their ten precious little baby doggies out for a walk. Said precious little baby doggies had managed to break free from their leashes, and now they were running around in a pack in search of tasty food. The donuts in Nitou's bags certainly qualify, and the dogs start charging for the strange human in the hopes of taking the bags from him. Nitou gives a yell and starts running, the horde of Pomeranians in hot pursuit. Really, he'd appreciate some help.

[B - The Park]
The Capitol was treated to the sight of a yelling Tribute being pursued by a mob of tiny dogs with bows in their fur for a solid fifteen minutes before Nitou's flight takes him through the park, where there are nice, big trees for climbing. He scrambles up one of them, finally satisfied that he's safe. The yapping dogs make a ring around the tree, frustrated that they cannot get at the Tribute and his donuts.

"Go on, get out of here!" Nitou yells at the dogs, who do not leave. He takes off one of his shoes and hurls it at them, but this only seems to egg them on. The shoe that he chucks at them is ripped to shreds by overeager chewing and an impromptu game of tug-of-war. Do they just need exercise? Are they just vicious? Nitou doesn't know, though he's inclined to bet on the latter.

And later, much later, the dogs still haven't given up, but the branch Nitou had chosen for his perch is starting to give under the weight. There's a loud cracking noise, and with a yell, Nitou falls into the dogpile below. Two of the bags of donuts do not survive, and most of the dogs' attention is focused on those. But a few of them seem to think Nitou also needs some attention, and he quickly disappears into the furry mass.

[C Training Center - Closed to Haruto]
Finally, Nitou drags himself back over to the Training Center. He knows that's where he'll find Haruto; that's just about the only place Haruto has been since getting released. Nitou could probably stand to go back to the District 5 suites to clean up a little bit. He's disheveled to the point that he's got a few twigs and leaves stuck in his hair, is missing part of one of his sleeves, and he is completely without his right shoe.

"HEY! HARUTO!" There is no getting away from Nitou this time, Haruto. He's hobbling over towards his rival, yelling across the gym floor, and waving around his single hard-won bag of donuts. There is nothing at all discreet or subtle about this. "I GOT YOU DONUTS!"

Comments

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Well, I guess there are weirdos everywhere." Yes. Let Haruto think it was just a weird Capitolite breeding murder dogs instead of a Capitolite with too many fluffy Pomeranians.

Now Nitou's frustrated. Even he can pick up on that lack of enthusiasm there, and he is quite stubbornly following after Haruto. He doesn't know anything about what might have been done to Haruto in those three days of captivity, and he's worried. At least Haruto's taking the bait donuts, true, but Nitou, contrary to popular belief, isn't a complete idiot. "Man, what's with you?"

[wizardplease]

Haruto hits the elevator call button with more force than is probably necessary, and angles himself away from Nitou while he waits for it to get there. They're normally fast, but nothing's fast enough to get him out of this conversation, it feels like. "It's nothing." Of course it's not nothing. He knows Nitou isn't going to buy that. And maybe he owes the guy some kind of explanation, but not here and not now. Where would he even start?

He hits the call button twice more, just to try and rush it along. And hey, it works, for the doors slide open. Elevator's there, Nitou, and Haruto is rushing into it.

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Doesn't seem like nothing." Nitou has had a day, and he's also had more than enough experience in getting into places where he's not wanted in order to make slipping into the elevator a breeze. "You've been acting weird." And avoiding Nitou. But "acting weird" is easier to point out.

[wizardplease]

Haruto realizes, once they're both in the elevator, that the only way he'd have managed to keep Nitou out is if he'd kicked the guy and slammed on the button to close the doors. Which was not something that he wanted to do, in all honesty. He wanted to avoid him because he cared and he worried and all sorts of other things that would set the tabloids off. "There's a reason for that."

His hand hovers for the button for the District 11 suites, but hesitates. And then it comes down on the one for the rooftop gardens instead. And having done that, he falls back heavily against the elevator wall. He can't run from this forever, can he? Better just do it and get it done with.

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Yeah?" Nitou frowns, looking somewhere between annoyed and concerned...in addition to looking more like a disheveled hobo than usual. The tabloids are going to have a field day, no matter what happens, really. At least it will only be a fluff piece on a Tribute versus some Pomeranians. "So what is it?"

[wizardplease]

Haruto shakes his head, eyes rolling upwards. They've got microphones and cameras everywhere, Nitou. Don't you get that? Do you even care? The roof's a little safer though, in spots, so that's where they're going. Though not nearly fast enough. Every moment here with Nitou's undivided attention on him is profoundly uncomfortable.

The doors do eventually slide open, and Haruto is right on out through them, motioning for Nitou to come along. He's trying to look casual, to just shove his hands into his pockets and to stride like nothing's bothering him, but he's failing. It is all bothering him too much to be able to keep up any kind of act. He comes to a stop at a bench shadowed by shrubs and tall blossoming flowers, where the wind blows just the right way to keep microphones from picking much up. Once he's sure that Nitou's there, standing, sitting, whatever, it's finally time to try and say something.

"...you don't get it. You don't get what he did to you, do you? Because you can't, can you?"

[infinitemayonnaise]

Nitou's following along closely, in no small part because he's got the feeling Haruto's going to try to ditch him at the first opportunity. He might be eccentric and loud, but he's not completely stupid. And when Haruto finally answers, well, Nitou's just confused. "What he did?" What he? Which he?

But it's not like he's been ignoring what's been going on lately--how could he?--and this is starting to make little alarm bells go off in his head. Haruto had been missing for three days. More than enough time for the Capitol to do things. "What are you talking about?" He's got an idea, but...playing dumb might be safest, at least for now.

[wizardplease]

He doesn't get it. Sometimes he doubts that Nitou is as much of an idiot as he plays at, and sometimes he believes it. Right now, he believes it. Immensely frustrated and no small amount frightened, he cradles his head in his hands and sinks down to sit on the bench.

"Initiate. The troll. The tall one. The clown. Him." Damn it, just thinking about him and what he did, what he convinced him to do, it put a sick feeling in his stomach. This is dangerous to even mention, even where it's supposedly safe, and he's dropping his hands and forcing his head upwards, fighting to force himself to grin. "...no, you weren't there. I was the only one dumb enough to get taken in." Please play along, Nitou. Please. Please be smarter than he gives you credit for.

[infinitemayonnaise]

...does...does Haruto think this was all because of brainwashing? Is he serious? There is a bit of glancing around, looking for hidden microphones. Not like he's going to find anything. But it's still a dangerous conversation.

"So w--you screwed up." There. Nice save. Even if Nitou doesn't sound entirely convinced of that. "Uh...dude...I don't blame you or anything..." But did Haruto blame him? He'd made it out, Haruto had gotten caught, and he still feels really guilty about it.

[wizardplease]

Haruto can't hide the relief on his face when it seems that Nitou has clued in enough to play along. He wishes he could just come out and say what needs saying, but he can't, not if he's going to keep Nitou from getting hauled away by Peacekeepers to have who-knows-what done to him.

"Yeah. I screwed up. A bunch of us did." He bows his head and runs his fingers through his hair, letting out a long sigh. "...we probably weren't the only ones he got, too. We're just the ones they caught." And it could have been worse, so much worse than just being held for a few days and then snapped out of it and sent back here. Still, that sick feeling in his gut hasn't gone anywhere.

[infinitemayonnaise]

Nitou is less willing to play along and more confused and not wanting to say anything where they might be heard. Wasn't there anywhere they could go where they wouldn't be heard? He'd suggest that nice, loud sports bar, that provided enough background noise to fool bugs, maybe, only Haruto's got that house arrest thing going. That's got to be why they did it.

"...so what do you think the ones who didn't get caught need to worry about?" Subtle, Nitou. Subtle.

[wizardplease]

"Getting ratted on by the ones that did get caught. Or letting it drop that they were a part of it." He rubs at his mouth and looks away from Nitou, trying to play it off as casual and to not look guilty about it all. "But people are pretty smart here. You've got to be, I think, to stick around. So maybe that's it. Maybe I'm worried for nothing."

A sharp breath in, and his hand shifts to a loosely balled fist, still hovering at mouth level. It's shaking slightly. "...tell me I'm worried for nothing."

[infinitemayonnaise]

Nitou laughs the most forced laugh he has ever laughed in his entire existence. It's so forced. Probably a little nervous. It might fool someone who didn't know Nitou too well, but not Haruto. "Of course you're worried for nothing, man!" Even if Nitou is now worried. "They caught everyone; it'll be fine now." He's in no way, shape, or form dumb enough to let anything slip to anyone...he thinks, anyway.

[wizardplease]

That much forced cheer and laughter is almost a comfort. Anyone with half a brain listening would clue in that something's not right, but it also means that Nitou is playing along. That he kind of gets it. And that, with any luck, he'll be okay.

The smile he gives in return is pretty forced, too. "...you still have those donuts?" Because no matter how much he complains, they don't do them right down in the Tribute center restaurant. And didn't Nitou go to all the trouble? Surely his stomach would settle long enough to get a donut down.

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Of course I still have those donuts!" Nitou holds up the battered bag he had fought so long and so hard for. It's easier to focus on donuts than anything serious, really. Because so much of this is so very serious, and Nitou can't figure out how to fix it.

Time to fade?

[wizardplease]

That bag is not being held up for long, because Haruto is reaching out and snatching for it, and wasting no time in opening it up. "Aaah, powdered sugar... they keep using the coarse stuff, downstairs..." And he fishes a donut out of the bag and takes a big bite. It's good. It's genuinely good. Good enough to make him forget about what's gnawing at him for a moment or two.

If Nitou wants that bag back, he might need to be prepared to fight for it.

Sounds good!

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Hey, just let me grab the mayo-filled one they made--these guys were great, they actually listened to custom orders!" And he's reaching for the bag but only to snag the heavier filled donut. The donuts are a welcome distraction from serious talk, that much is certain.

Well maybe one more comment...

[wizardplease]

Haruto stops mid-chew upon hearing about the mayo-filled donut, and then his eyes flick down to the one that he has just bitten into. No fill holes, no. No sign of this having mayo in it. Okay, good, it's safe, it's fine... and just for the sake of his own safety, he lets the bag go. You can have that custom donut, Nitou. All yours. Go for it.