thecapitol | The last laugh? [Open]

Entry tags:

The last laugh? [Open]

Who| Harley and YOU! Yes YOU!
What| She's taking death pretty well considering
Where| District 9's Suite,
When| During the fireworks attack in the Arena
Warnings/Notes| None yet.

So, she had died. And it was all pretty anti-climactic too. Just Whack! Snap. Slump.

And so Harley had gotten to see that very image once she was oriented with her new home.

Perched on the sofa in panties and a long T-shirt the shameless formerly dead girl had gotten stacks of sweets and cakes set up on the table in front of her, and was mesmerized by the scenes of carnage and drama playing out on the screen in front of her.

First she had watched her own story. From arrival to end. The short bittersweet...tragically unfunny end.

...well kicking Wesker in the junk had been pretty funny.

But now she was watching the most recent event where beautiful colorful fireworks were raining hell down upon the poor remaining suckers. She let out a cheer as a little girl dove into a trash can and the explosion sent both girl and can flying down the road a little further. The girl stumbled out and kept running.

"I wonder if I should be cheering for the other guys or just people on my team..." She mused out loud.

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"It depends on how patriotic you're feeling." Eva appears in the Suite, wearing a white gown with a inkblot-like patterns on it that splatters up into dark stains of makeup on her face, like bruises. "Hello. I don't believe we've met."

The blond head whipped around to peer at this new arrival and a big grin spread on her face. "Hiya! Harley Quinn! Formerly dead!" She declared springing from the sofa and presenting her hand in a personable manner.

Her own outfit was about as simple as Capitol clothing ever was, though the shirt had some nice bright melting colors on it.

Eva takes the hand and shakes, looking at Harley with some curiosity. "Eva Salazar. I'm your Mentor. How do you feel?"

"Um..." Harley had to consider the question for a moment, "Well I'm doing OK so far but if Babs eats it before Bruce Wayne I'm gonna be disappointed in her." She gestured back at the TV still showing the mad dash of tributes trying to avoid a bombardment of fireworks.

"Friends of yours?" Eva glances at the fireworks almost as if she's bored.

Harley looked like she had to think about it for a moment.

"Sorta. Not really. They're from worlds like mine so we kind of know each other but not reeeally? And for the most part they think I'm a dangerous psychopath because I mostly am and for the most part they are good decent people who try to make the world a better place in their own totally boring way. But I guess if like, I asked them to help me move they would only show up if they really had nothing else to do. and isn't that the sign of true friendship?" She rambled for a minute doing a casual cartwheel back to the sofa and scooping up a trey full of little minty chocolate cakes filled with cream.

"Snack?" She offered to Eva politely. "If I eat all this myself I won't be able to fit into my costume."

Eva actually looks amused at all this, and strokes her cheekbone slightly, stopped only when she realizes she's rubbing some of her own makeup off. "I don't mind if I do."

She takes a little bit, nibbling at it less to stuff herself than to have something to do with her hands. "So that's where your allegiances lie, with your homeworld?"

Harley shrugged her narrow shoulders, "Well it sure helps knowing some people from home. But they aren't exactly my best friends." She explained.

"If I had ta kill one of them...I guess I'd try and make it quick. Or at least big and flashy so everyone would remember them."

"Usually people are remembered for their killings, not for their deaths." Eva takes a seat on the couch. "Have you eaten and slept?"

Harley shrugged her shoulders.

"Woke up from not being dead...didn't much feel like sleeping after that. And as for food..."

She gestured to her collection of sweets.

"Does this count?" She wasn't particularly bothered by it. But she was grateful for the company and willing to enjoy it while it lasted.

Eva nods a bit. "I have something if you need help sleeping tonight."

She raises her eyebrow, then. She's got a mom look to her. "Well, it's not particularly substantive. I meant an actual meal."

With a lopsided grin Harley rolled her eyes. "Weeeell I suppose if I HAVE to. What would you suggest? I'm still the new girl here so what's the specialty?" In Gotham she could have named half a dozen Chinese food places that delivered or where to find the best Greek any time of the day or night but she hadn't gone much farther then the sofa since waking up.

"I personally enjoy the Noir restaurant, although they'll bring you just about anything here. Room service at your leisure." Eva's not sure what to make of the girl. Something about her rankle. The callousness is...Career-like.

She doesn't feel the warmth she normally does for her Tributes.

Harley looked to consider it and glanced back at the TV. The red haired girl she had been running through the Rena with was dodging the occasional ball of fire but for the most part was not being features on screen. Meaning that she was not in a dangerous and interesting spot.

"Alright, let's do some living then. How should I dress? Noir sounds fancy. I always like those movies you know? Not as much as comedies but they had a kind of...romance to them." Her face melted into a syrupy smile.

"I've seen a few. Unfortunately, you'll note that the color palettes of the Capitol are a bit...limited in their diversity." Eva's current black, red and white outfit aside. "They'll probably gussy you up in a wheat theme."

"They?" Harley looked puzzled. "You mean someone else is gonna dress me up just so you and I can have dinner?" The idea was almost comical, but mostly just confusing. She understood getting her gussied up for the arena but dinner?

Ah, looks like the ropes Eva's going to have to teach are more pleasant than the usual 'oh, and by the way, deathmatch'. "You haven't met your stylist yet?"

Harley shrugged her shoulders with a good natured look of simple minded confusion.

"Not unless you count whoever it was who put me in that dress before they threw me out there. It all happened so fast I barely had a minute to make a joke about reality TV. It was like "Hi there Harley! This isn't your world anymore. You're gonna have to fight for your life again. Only one can win. Good luck!" And next thing I know there's a horde of chumps rushing for items."

So she had done what she always did when she was confused, and set about to irritate as many people in the cornucopia area as possible. Which had earned her a bite taken out of her side by a zombie.

"That was your stylist, yes. They just don't get much of a chance when some of you are plucked up at the very beginning of each arena."

She sits on the couch, playing with a chocolate, fidgeting.

"Oh...neat. I've never had a professional stylist...other then like just for hair and nails." She lounged near Eva, near enough to display very little care for personal space.

"So level with me. This can't really be just about reality TV can it? I mean there's crazy and then there's..." She gestured at the panic and fear on TV as tributes huddled together in shelters hoping that they had avoided a fiery death for yet another night.

Eva shies away from Harley slightly. She prefers to keep her personal space.

"Well, it's political. But as far as it's safe to be concerned, it's about television."

"Ugh." Harley pulled a disgusted face. "I've been in a prison with some of the most depraved people of my world. But even THEY wouldn't do some things politicians do."

"It depends."

Well. Welcome back arm. And hello, giant, slightly groggy turtle.

"Who are you rooting for?"

Harley didn't turn around right away wincing as the little girl the camera had been focusing on nearly too a ball of fire to the face when she stumbled.

"Just some people I met in there. Especially the people from my world." Finally when she did turn to address him his appearance startled her mid-sentence "or whatever wacky alternate uni-VA HOLY oversized reptile!"

But the shock was quickly replaced by gleeful laughter.

"...Don't worry about it. I get that a lot."

Though Don was clearly distracted by the fireworks show, if not outright disturbed about it. He also seemed to be searching during the footage, his eyes narrowing with each second.

Harley followed his gaze and sighed. "I am going to be seriously irritated if Babs dies in this little sky is falling bit. I got my neck snapped so she could do something awesome! And so far it's all running and hiding and pretty lights." She explained patting the seat next to her on the sofa for him to join her.

"Babs?" He kept staring at the television as he went to sit next to her. "Another new Tribute, I'm assuming. You, also. They're still coming in, huh..."

That, of course, worried him. How many Tributes could they possibly want? 100? 500? That was a veritable army.

"Yeah, we came in at the start. I don't think Babs knows that death isn't a permanent thing yet." She focused on the TV but the red haired girl was no where to be seen. "She must be safe for the minute or they'd be flashing her corpse on screen wouldn't they?"

After a moment she turned back to the turtleman, "Uh...death isn't permanent right? I didn't just get lucky?"

"...It depends." Don brought his hand to his chin with a sigh. "If you die in the Arena, you generally do. But outside of it? No. If the Capitol kills you out here, you're gone for good."

No sign of Lottie. Good.

"They would have shown it if she died, yeah."

Now THAT caught Harley's attention.

"They'll kill us out here too? What's the big idea?" She demanded incredulously. "Isn't once enough?"

"They only kill you if they feel you're out of line out here." Don bit his lip. "And that's if they're feeling particularly merciful. Death isn't the only terrible fate that the Capitol can dream up for you, after all. You could be made into an Avox."

That finally killed the smile that had been flickering behind Harley's eyes. They narrowed and her eyebrows arched incredulously.

"Well that's not fair! And what the heck is an Avox? It sounds like a type of vacuum."

"A citizen, reprogrammed to be a slave." Speaking of, there was one walking by. "They have their tongues cut out and they must obey the Capitol, no matter what."

"Tongues?!" Harley squeaked and clapped her hands over her mouth. "But how will I blow raspberries?!"

"You don't."

Simple as that, Harley.

"Not fair!" She declared in defiance.

"I won't stand for such blatant opposition to one of life's simple pleasures! Who do I have to see about this? Get me the manager. And a mallet. And a cheese sandwich!" She demanded loudly sending the Avox scurrying to get the sandwich.

"I don't think that will work too well." Don looked over at Harley worriedly. "They, uh, don't exactly take defiance well here."

Harley pouted her mood whiplashing as quickly as her ponytails.

"So what are we supposed to do? Just keep playing these death game things till they get bored with us? I mean I love games sure but I have a short attention span! You can't expect me to play the same game forever."

"Then the only way to stop playing is to win." Way to be helpful, Don. "Otherwise, yeah. They keep having you play the Arenas. This was my fifth, and there are some people who've been through all six Arenas so far."

Edited 2013-04-25 02:35 (UTC)

Harley pouted and leaned back in her seat folding her arms like a child.

"Great. Just great. Why not just tell me there's no cartoons in this world too huh? Or toy stores." With how much people were willing to just give her things she had been planning a massive shopping spree.

"...Pretty sure both do exist." Don shrugged. "I know there are toy stores at the very least."

"Whew." She relaxed just slightly.

"You were starting to really bum me out. And being depressed never got anyone anywhere. I mean I know they say pain creates comedy but there's a limit!"

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The last laugh? [Open]

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