[Closed]

[conifer]

Who| Quintus and Emily
What| Quintus is sick and Emily insists on taking care of him
Where| Quintus' apartment
When| Backdated to the day of Quintus' broadcast
Warnings/Notes| None inherent


At 6pm Emily's waiting in the central commons of the Training Centre, a flask full of chicken soup under one arm. She's irritated at Quintus for insisting on continuing to work when he was clearly under the weather, and even more so for his paranoia over giving out his address. She imagined him leading her through all sorts of back alleys and taking the long way round so she'd have no idea how to get back there, and she's not sure she has the patience to continue humouring him. Her own paranoia has begun to set in too now, knowing that they'll surely be spotted leaving together. Gossip about her supposed love life was rampant enough without people thinking she was hooking up with a Peacekeeper, too.

She waves him over, looking him up and down, none too pleased. "You look just as bad as you sounded. You should be tucked up in bed, not sweating over your desk."

Comments

[conifer]

"Happy now?" She can't hide the slight sharpness to her voice, feeling insulted that he's going through all this when she's given up her evening to look after him when he's sick.

She shrugs at his question, it's not really something she spends a lot of time thinking about. "I don't really listen to much. Something that's not too loud, I guess."

[lex_paciferat]

"Alright." He turns the volume down and switches stations a few times, passing bubbly pop music and something resembling rap before settling on some mellow keyboard music. That accomplished, he steps into the kitchen, opening a drawer filled with silverware.

"Did you bring enough soup for yourself, too?"

[conifer]

She raises the tupperware container to eye level, trying to gauge the amount. "There should be enough. Depending on how hungry you are, that is."

[lex_paciferat]

"Not that hungry, so I think we'll be fine." He fetches two spoons, bowls and a ladle, covering a cough with his sleeve as he sets them on the table. "I took some more meds half an hour ago but I don't think they've done anything for my appetite."

[conifer]

She busies herself reheating the soup, taking some fresh herb cuttings from a plastic wallet in her bag to stir in. "Are you sure you don't have an Avox? This place is immaculate."

[lex_paciferat]

"I spent a lot of time living in barracks where they used cleaning chores to teach discipline. And of course, practically speaking, when you've got fifty guys in close quarters you have to get on that sort of thing quick." He leans against the edge of the counter, watching her. "I do have three of those little robots that can vacuum and scrub floors. They tend to get stuck in corners, though."

[conifer]

She far prefers the idea of robot cleaners to Avoces. "That sounds cute. Do they have names?"

[lex_paciferat]

He chuckles. "I didn't give them names. Hell, I was that kid that would name my pets after people I knew. I've never been all that creative."

[conifer]

"It could be worse. Most of the people back home are named after trees, you'd think we have enough of those."

[lex_paciferat]

"You're right; I do remember a lot in Seven having tree names. In Two it's just a bunch of Capitol knockoffs, most of which you really can't come up with a half-decent short form for. I've gotten everything from 'Q' to 'Quint' or 'Quinny' and to me they all sound like weird diseases."

[conifer]

"'Quint' sounds quite neat, actually." The sort of name an explorer or investigator might have in a story. "I guess I should be glad my parents went with something old fashioned. My younger brothers got stuck with the more forest-y names."

[lex_paciferat]

"Yeah? What are their names?"

[conifer]

"Ash and Garth." Homesickness stabs through her. "My older brother is Matthew, though. We got the lucky break."

[lex_paciferat]

"Sounds like it. How many people are in your family?"

[conifer]

"Just us four and my parents. There was my grandmother too - my mother's mother, that is, but she died when I was little. We have lots of cousins but they're further east, we only saw them in lumber season."

[lex_paciferat]

"Must be pretty chaotic in your house." It's rather foreign from his experience, too--he and Lurio had grown up with plenty of their own space, and he inwardly cringes to imagine dealing with the constant intrusion of siblings as a child.

[conifer]

"Oh no, it was wonderful." She dishes out soup into the bowls. "They're all up in the Victor's Village now anyway, but where we lived when I was a kid..." Quintus can probably imagine it, having spent time in Seven, the little one and two room cabins that held entire families within. "We were mostly outside all the time anyway, just because of the sort of work we had to do. But in the evenings, and in the winter months too when it was too cold to be out for long, we always looked forward to those. Grandma Nerea would tell stories and my father would sing songs, we'd all do impressions of people in town to guess. Those are probably the best memories I have."

[lex_paciferat]

"Hmm." He blows on a spoonful of soup before trying a sip. "Do you get to correspond much with them while you're here? If you can't get messages through, I think I know a few guys that're still stationed in Seven."

[conifer]

"That's kind of you to offer." She's struck by just how kind an offer it is really, thinking there must be some regulation or other he'd break there. "But I'm not sure they really want to talk to me at the moment. They would all have seen my speech at the Youth Programme."

[lex_paciferat]

"I didn't think there was anything wrong with your speech. It wasn't as though you were calling them cannon fodder or junkies."

[conifer]

"I wouldn't be surprised if it created some ill feeling anyway. Nowhere near enough for them to act on it--" she adds this quickly, the riots and their aftermath resurging unwanted in her memory "--but there will be a lot of people in Seven who'll think I've sold out."

[lex_paciferat]

He shakes his head. "That isn't--it's not--"

Cutting himself off, he takes another sip of soup as he tries to formulate his words.

"When it comes down to it it's important to do the practical thing. The thing that's going to solve the most problems and create the fewest. And sometimes you don't have a lot of control over the options you get, sometimes they're not exactly what you might want, but you pick the best you've got and that's the best you can do."

[conifer]

She didn't think it was for the best if they all hated her for it. It sounded almost like a sort of martyrdom, and that was a word Emily found most distasteful. She'd always just tried to get along and do what was best for herself and her own, but it feels as though Seven is slipping through her fingers a little and that really she was just looking out for herself.

"Yeah, well. Sometimes it would be nice if the best available was a little better."

She wafts her hand over her soup in an attempt to make it cool.

"I should watch what I'm saying. You're still a Peacekeeper, even on downtime."

[lex_paciferat]

He gestures dismissively. "Ms. Finch, I know you of all people aren't going to rally some rebels and try to blow up buildings. And to be honest, in general I'd rather hear those thoughts than not hear them. It's the people that keep that crap under wraps that make me nervous. Better to have it addressed than let it sit there and fester."

[conifer]

"Yeah, you might be right there." she agrees, frowning. "Like with that Troll Tribute who got avoxed recently. I'd never have seen it coming." They say it's always the quiet ones, and as introverted as Emily is, she makes sure that her views and worries are well known for that very reason.