'Cause we all wanna party when the funeral ends and we all get together when we bury our friends

[etcircenses]

Who| TYP Children and You?
What| TYP Children have the opportunity to look around.
Where| The Tribute Tower main floor.
When| Now through the week leading up to the arena.
Warnings/Notes| TYP children showing up early is not mandatory. This is merely an avenue for those NPC players who were interested.

In part with the President’s wishes, the District children are not training or living in the same building, but rather, a refurbished old Tribute tower as was used in the days before Tributes were offworlders of vast number. Mentors, Escorts, and Stylists alike will need to travel to the new building to work with them, then travel back to see to their offworld Tributes. Public appearances are minimal so long as the Tribute is kept busy with training and private interviews. There is, however, a brief chance to meet a few of them before the arena, should you catch them on a visit to the offworlder’s tower, restricted to the main floor. Through this, the lucky few District children able to show are allowed fleeting glimpses in person of those they will be competing with and possibly even a chance to talk to them in person.

Comments

[piroudeath]

Deniera is familiar with the fabric that the woman (her Escort. She's still having a hard time wrapping her head around the idea that she has an Escort) is clad in. She has a dress at home that's made of a similar fabric, one of the cast-off bolts where one of the rows was just a touch too big and couldn't possibly be shipped off to the Capitol because it wasn't perfect.

For the briefest moment, she's distracted from the tiny, blue-themed nymph of a woman by her entourage of adorable tiny animals and someone carrying more wrapped boxes and finely stuffed bags than she's sure she's ever seen in her life. The distraction ends when she finds herself being hugged, and she can't resist to hug back. Swann's perfume isn't like the lilac oils her mother wears, but that doesn't change how comforting about the action is, especially after staring her own mortality in the face since the train pulled away from her home.

"It's very nice to meet you, Miss Honeymead," Deniera says as sweetly as she can. Her accent has a touch of the Capitol to it, from years of being around her step-father and him teaching her how to fit in if she ever managed to find a way out of District 8. "I just wish it was under better circumstances."

[cigne]

"I know," Swann says, pulling back and placing her hands on the girl's cheeks, "but I don't want you to worry. You're not alone in this, okay?" She reaches for Deniera's hand and leads her toward some chairs, placed a little bit away from the main hustle and bustle of the lobby. She gestures for Deniera to take one seat as she takes the other, sitting primly and with her skirt taking up more room than she actually does.

The little dog leaps up into her lap, and the tiger jumps up next to Deniera, looking to be petted, butting his head against her hands and arms. The Avox places all the gifts on a small side table, though the bags have to be placed on the floor, for lack of room.

"Thank you." Swann says it without thinking as the Avox leaves, its task complete. She beams. "Well, first of all, since he didn't wait for me to introduce him, that's Pascal." She gestures toward the tiger, then lifts the dog's paw to make him wave at Deniera (he just pants happily). "And this is Marcel, and they came with me to welcome you too! I have your dossier, and they agree that being a ballerina is a lovely pursuit. I did some as a child, but I was never talented like you."

Swann's tiny little feet peek out from under her dress, only barely touching the floor as she sits back. Her shoes are the same color as the stripes on her dress, and are cut to mimic the gingham pattern and expose more of her feet. She bounces the foot further from the floor, where her legs are crossed. "I'm sorry you can't live here with the rest of the Tributes, but I sent instructions along to make your room in the other Tower more comfortable and pretty. Do you like it?"

[piroudeath]

She tries desperately to keep her eyes from welling up at the woman's kindness. It's not that Swann reminds her of her mother, but there's something about the woman's actions that reminds her of her mother coming to say her goodbyes after the reaping. Instead of saying a word because she's sure that her voice would wobble slightly and she doesn't want anyone to see her as weak, she just nods and follows her, sitting down in a graceful motion so that she doesn't have to smooth out her dress too much.

The idea of people anthromorphizing their pets like this is something that Deniera's never really thought about before. It's one of those things that doesn't happen in District 8. Yes, the people who raise sheep and goats and rabbits for their wool treat them well, of course. And her family has a dog that she doted on and fed table scraps, but it was always known that she wasn't a person. For a moment she doesn't know exactly what to say, and instead starts scratching the tiger behind the ears. "It's a pleasure," she says, trying not to sound as baffled as she feels about being introduced to animals like this. Though the mention of ballet gives her something else to focus on, and she smiles a true smile. "It's mostly because I practice, really," she insists. "I'm not much of a weaver or a seamstress, so there's never been much else for me to do at home than practice."

Especially with how her step-father encouraged it on the off chance that one day she'd be able to show off her skills and he could ride her coattails back to the Capitol. She's never begrudged him for it, not in the slightest. It's a matter of doing what needs to be done to thrive, and it wasn't like her parents marriage was a complete sham. Truly, her mother and step-father loved each other, it just helped that he brought money and status, and she brought a daughter who could open doors for them to escape the Districts if Deniera was given the opportunity to hone her skills.

"It's wonderful, like a dream," she says excitedly, her face lighting up. "I never thought I'd ever be in a room that's so magnificent. Thank you." Her smile and bright eyes dim slightly. She knows the game she has to play, and her best chance of survival other than finding a way to escape being sent to the Arena is having the right allies. "Is there any chance you could convince them to let us train with the other Tributes? The ones they've chosen to represent us have always seemed so dashing."

[cigne]

To be fair, most people in the Capitol also don't go as far as Swann in anthropomorphizing their pets. She has a lot of issues that she uses the animals to cover up, but she does love them and they're easily among the most pampered pets in the city. Each has his own full wardrobe at home, in a small chifforobe, and they sleep in beds nicer than even the Capitol's servant class can afford, so no one really worries enough to point out the fact that she ostensibly treats them as actual children.

Pascal can't purr, but he chuffs happily and closes his eyes, resting his head on Deniera's lap. "Even with practice, not everyone can be that good," Swann points out, and she takes a cream-colored leather folio out of her purse, along with a pen, then starts taking notes. "You won't be doing any big interviews, but there will be some private ones that are broadcast afterward, and it'll be good to have footage of you dancing. We'll make some time for that, and I'll make sure you're on during the best time slot I can get. Maybe I can pre-empt something and get you on before Flickerman, that would be good." By the end, she's talking more to herself and jotting at an impressive speed, but then she looks up with a smile.

"I'm so glad you like it. I wanted it to be special for you. Do all the clothes fit, the shoes?" Swann is really and truly happy to lavish gifts and time on this girl, and she looks it, unable to face Deniera without fondness. "Oh! And these, these are for you!" She had almost forgotten the gifts, and she gestures toward them with excitement. "I'll send an Avox to help take it all back to the other Tower."

Her mouth twists and she shakes her head a little. "The order to have you and the others train in the old Tower came from President Snow himself. But I'm going to tell you everything you need to know about who to trust and who to avoid, and I have pictures. And the nice thing about our District is that you've got a bunch of big, strong men just raring to protect you. Rick's already put it on his honor, and then he compared you to the princess of "Norway" and said that he saved her from fifty-three "Shaolin masters" working for the "Chinese Triad", and she was just a baby, so he did it all with only one arm free!"

Swann cocks her head like a puppy and smiles again. "I don't really know what any of that means, but it sounds good, right? And that's only one of the five!"

[piroudeath]

Deniera can't help but blush slightly at the praise with a murmured "Thank you." Of course she knows she's good, but she's never really had anyone to compare herself to at home other than the women she had seen in various broadcasts from the Capitol. At the mention of being able to dance for the cameras, her face alights. "Really? I brought my shoes, just in case."

There's something about talking about dancing and clothes that puts her more at ease, as if she can forget that she was brought to the Capitol to fight in a death match for a few moments. "They all fit wonderfully. I've never seen so many beautiful things in my life. I wasn't expecting anyone to be this kind or generous towards me when I got here, so it's all been a lovely surprise." And a fantastic distraction that she could turn to in her darkest moments. "Even more?" She shifts slightly, trying to tamp down on the feeling that this is all a bit much since she's probably going to die in a few days and that money could go to other things (like feeding her schoolmates back home. Instead she just beams at her benefactor, stroking Pascal's soft head, "Thank you so much. For all of this."

That is a lot to take in and raises so many more questions than she needs right now. Like what a Triad is or why 53 Shaolin masters would attack a baby, even if she was a princess. "He sounds very impressive," she agrees before her thoughts turn to one Tribute in particular. "What about Ja- that one pirate captain?" She tries not to sound too eager to too much like she has a schoolgirl crush on the long-haired rogue, because that just wouldn't be elegant in the slightest.