thecapitol | The Tribute Youth Programme: July

Who| Adults who act as chaperones on the field trips. Any Tribute character aged 18 and under. This is ICly Mandatory for Tributes under 18 so your character will be there even if you don't tag in.
What| July's TYP round; Summer School Blues, field trips, and more...
Where| A private school building within the Capitol, a waterpark, a zoo.
When| Regular school hours (8 AM to 3 PM) four days a week (Monday-Thursday)
WARNINGS| Mind-altering juice boxes, indoctrination. Place any needed warnings within comment headers.
NOTES| If you would like your character to be caught trouble-making, please contact mods. We are looking for both Mentors to speak of the District they hail from (or represent), and Capitolite characters to talk of Panem's greatness. If you would like your character to stand as a guest speaker for the next round, please refer to this post. The fantastic Tribute Youth Programme uniforms are designed and drawn by Reiko.

The Tribute Youth Programme is back in full force. The Teacher missed you all!

Class will go much like it did before, anthems, uniforms, and all. By now the new badges should all be sewn right in. You still have the opportunity to earn more, and on top of all this, your letter replies have at last come in! Along with all the (questionably subsisting) pet bats promised of Panem Nightly.

This time is extra special, however, for there is a secret surprise planned for next month that the Teacher is preparing for. Something about partners for tents and canoes? Whatever that means. Maybe if you sign up early you'll get a partner you like. And perhaps asking among the adults if any would like to chaperone for the mystery trip.

As for this current trip, those who earned the bonus will get a free ride around the park on one of the elephants, front row seats to a live performance in the aquarium area, and a custom photo souvenir with their favourite animal.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She gives another start and instinctively spins around to swing at him before she realizes who she is. If she lands the hit he'll find out first hand just how good a right cross she's got.

"S-sorry! Sorry!" Her eyes focused again and the noise of blood rushing in her ears began to die down. This wasn't the toxic jungle, this wasn't another arena.

Slowly she turned back around to look at the Eel who was swimming the other way in his tank now oblivious to the human child and it's fear.

A cold sweat had broken out on her skin and she drew a sleeve across her brow trying to calm down. The fight or flight response had kicked in hard though and her adrenaline was flooding her nerves now.

Her fist catches him solidly across the nose as he leans forward to catch her, and he starts back, eyes watering. He lets go of her to clamp a hand over his nose, blinking tears out of his vision.

"Dob't worry about it," he says, rather nasal and muffled behind his hand. "Somebody already did all the damage long ago." He lets go of his nose and wipes his cheeks dry with the back of his wrist. "Are you alright? I heard you shout."

The blood was still roaring in her ears but she managed to make out his question. More guilt settled in the pit of her stomach like a stone and she shot an accusing glare at the Eel as if it was his fault that she was crazy.

"I-I just..." Was there really any point in trying to play this off or fib to him? He could just as easily find it in the archives of previous games.

"I got eaten by an eel once." She confessed "Me and my best friend."

As the eel in the tank turned back to face them she heard the splashing of water echoing off the cave walls and felt the cold slimy touch of it's skin as she tried and failed to pry it's mouth off of Pruna. She looked down at the floor opting to instead focus on the swirly pattern in the artistically tiled floor. She was still shaking like a leaf. Why couldn't she calm down she knew she was safe! Wasn't she? Was she ever?

His mouth flattens into a thin line. He's felt something of what she's feeling, and he knows how much that kind of pervasive trauma sucks. He can see her trembling, and the wideness of her eyes. He can almost feel the cold tendrils up the back of his neck which forerun the seizures that tend to accompany his own panic attacks. There isn't much evident sympathy in his face, in fact he looks quite daunting, but he's angry at the Capitol, not at her.

"Come away from it," he tells her shortly. "There's one of those men selling ices outside." It isn't exactly an invitation, but he knows it tends to do some good to have a distraction, and between how little he knows of Sandy and how little of what he has to say he can talk about under the Capitol's constant watch, it's all he can think of. And outside the Aquarium is bustling, and bright, and sunny and warm, and not as dark and claustrophobic and echoing.

It feels...shameful retreating from a monster that can't actually hurt her. But as she nods and lets him lead her outside she quietly reminds herself that the monster isn't in the tank, it's all in her head.

The flavored ice helps. She knows it's irresponsible to be spending her money on such treats when other tributes are desperately scrambling to make money for regular healthy food, but her sponsorship is holding strong so she doesn't have to worry just yet. She gets a lime flavored cone of shaved ice and sits on a bench nearby feeling the weight of the world suddenly exhausting her legs.

"I'm not always that weak." She finally spoke after sucking on a mouthful of sweet syrup coated ice chunks. "I don't freak out like that all the time."

Just in really embarrassing situations or desperately important moments it seems.

"It isn't weak," he says flatly, and wishes he could believe it of himself. He knows only too well what it feels like to be dragged down into that kind of panic. "Like you told me. Not all scars are on the outside. I wouldn't judge a man for falling when an injured leg gave out. I'll not judge you."

Getting hit with her own words helped shake her out of the funk. He was right of course, no one got through these games without some degree of mental and emotional damage. If they did they'd be a villain probably.

"You're right." She confirmed the message had gotten through "Sorry, thanks I...yeah." What else was there to say really? He understood, and it was refreshing to know some newbies could pick up the game so easy. Another mouthful of ice saved her having to try and justify herself further. She had to actively stop herself from taking too much more of a mouthful or she'd risk brain freeze.

He makes an acknowledging sound in the back of his throat, smiles rather awkwardly, then sits picking at the callouses on his hands. He isn't really sure where to go from here. It seemed very important to get her away from the eel, but he doesn't really have anything else helpful to say. He'd reassure her that it'll heal, but he doesn't actually know if that's true - he still wakes up in cold sweats over his own memories. He'd get an ice cream himself to disguise his discomfort, but he's acutely aware of the fact he's not earning much. And it seems weird to bring her out here, then just walk away.

"Did you see that school of rainbow fish?" he blurts out, just for something to break the silence. "I've never seen such colours."

That seemed sudden...but she was grateful for the distraction. In truth she wasn't sure what to do or say next either, these sorts of conversations rarely ended gracefully for her. She even cracked a smile at the suggestion.

"Let's go look! Then maybe we can go see the jellies. I hear they change color with the music they play."

Because genetically modified jellyfish are clearly more interesting then regular jellyfish. And anything to keep her more masochistic mind from telling her to go back and face that stupid Eel.

Standing up she waited for him, and let him lead even taking his hand at some point when the crowd got thick. She didn't want to get left behind till she was at least finished with her frozen treat.

Then maybe after the ice and the rainbow fish she might be comfortable being alone in public again.

Edited 2015-08-04 08:07 (UTC)

He nods, sketching a smile, and leads the way back into the throng. He starts in surprise when she takes his hand, but doesn't resist, even squeezing it once in a while to make sure she's still with him as they go back into the watery shadows of the building. He finds that he's actually quite happy. It's nice to feel trusted. Perhaps he can have a good day after all.

The Tribute Youth Programme: July

Yay <3

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