thecapitol | (no subject)

(no subject)

Who| Timaeus Nadir and all his guests. If you are in the Capitol, you've been invited!
What| A spectacular Viewing Party and opportunity for tributes to get sponsorship
Where| The Victoria Ascendant, on the lake
When| After the most recent death roll!
Warnings/Notes| Probable skeeviness of the Nice Guy variety.

Welcome to the Victoria Ascendant, latest in the Ascendant line of luxury yachts as built by the Nadir company. Tonight, the Victoria Ascendant is the stage set for a spectacular party, also paid for by the company and specifically designed and organised by a team of event specialists overseen by your host for this evening, Timaeus Nadir- wealthy eligible bachelor, melodramatic heir apparent to the company chair, frequent sponsor of the Games. The Victoria Ascendant is fully equipped with every obscenely luxurious item imaginable, and practically drips opulence.

When first welcomed aboard you will be assured that your every need will be seen to, your every desire catered for. Staff are on hand to answer any questions you might have or guide you to various areas of the ship, provide you with food, drink, or suggestions of how best to take advantage of the Victoria Ascendant's many amenities- they are here as hosts, but also as salespeople for those of the guests with money to burn- this party is serving more than one purpose. Tributes who responded to their invite will also receive a delicate, hand-written note in a golden envelope as they board- the content of which will be posted as a reply to their response to this post.(I'll do this once your character turns up.)

Although the Victoria Ascendant has a magnificent dining room for formal, sit-down occasions, the food for the party will be circulating the various lounge areas and decks. There is also a buffet table, for those of you who prefer to help yourselves, and a fully stocked bar. Provided are a baffling variety of foods and beverages, seemingly unconnected- but each tribute will find that if at any point during their stay in the Capitol they have requested a particular food or drink item, it is available here. Or, at least, the closest approximation the catering staff could conjure up. Seating is provided in intimate groupings around tables for the most part, though there are large, sprawling couches against the walls. Central to the dining area is a magnificent aquarium filled with brightly coloured fish. Anyone looking closely enough will recognise them- varieties of piranha- but don't worry, they've been more than adequately fed and the glass is thick.

While there are various screens displaying the Games throughout the ship, Viewing is also taking place on an enormous screen, set up in a seperate lounge area with full floor-to-ceiling windows all along one side. Here, staff wait to take bets or help organise the giving of sponsor gifts. Large, comfortable couches line the room, and the central table overflows with a spectacular arrangement of edible flowers and fruit.

Later in the evening, you will be told that the firework display is about to begin, and invited to go up onto the main deck to watch. The fireworks themselves will be launched from smaller boats across the lake, and the display is set to be truly spectacular. It will be set to some music that Tributes may find familiar- various melodies pulled from the most recent Arena. The large swimming pool on the deck is open, but it is too early in the year to be comfortable to use. Instead, it is being used as an unusual centrepiece for the evening. Floating in the illuminated water is a gigantic iceberg, sculpted into a stylised model of the current arena and populated with frozen figures. Eagle-eyed Tributes may be able to spot themselves depicted in ice- more often than not, the moment of their deaths are the pose of choice, if a little tweaked for the sake of a more dramatic scene.

Enjoy!

Adachi · Ariadne · Asha · Atticus · Beck · Blaine · Calico · Callista · Chris · Diana · Don · Eddie · Eponine · Eva · Gaila · Glinda · Harley · Howard · Julie · Kurt · Marty · Maximus · Momoko · Neffa · Parker · Peeta · Phil · Pruna · R · Sigma · Some · Thane · Timaeus · Topher

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Two of them, and I wasn't exactly worried about who liked them at the time..." he muttered. "I was more worried about being eaten, which the both of them were pretty set on doing!"

He has a right to be annoyed by it though; he didn't want to show off his Persona that early.

"Okay, I like one of those zombies. R's good people, you just have to...you know...not be around him when he's hungry." Clearly that's all Adachi's fault. "Glad you didn't get eaten, though. So who popped you?"

He shoves another appetizer into his mouth, as if it has legs and will run away if he doesn't swallow it now.

"Yeah... I'll take your word on that," Adachi replied blandly, glancing around. Man, he really could go for a beer right now.

"A little girl; caught me when I was half asleep," he answered. "Not exactly a blaze of glory -- people probably thought it was boring."

A little bark of laughter escapes Howard's lips. "You got shanked by a little kid? It wasn't Moody Blues, was it? You know, the girl who says 'doobie doobie doo' all the time?"

Granted, he knows full well that children can be highly dangerous, but still. Come on, Adachi.

"I wish there was something non-alcoholic here."

"Yeah, that one," he grumbled.

The statement made him raised an eyebrow, especially since he had just been thinking the opposite.

"Not old enough to drink yet, kid?"

"No, I just don't like the taste. Or being drunk." He eats another piece of shrimp and licks his fingers. "Wait, how old do you think I am? I mean, at least ballpark guess."

"I dunno, I'm a bad judge of age," Adachi muttered, spying around and finally spotting an ice bucket with beer in it. Excuse him while he goes yoink! He happily popped the cap off, downing a good portion of it before he continued. "I guess late teens? Just barely twenty?"

"I'm fifteen." Howard props his feet up on a table. "Barely."

But murdergames and giant mutant hellbubbles age you fast.

"What about you? Maybe like...twenty-three?"

Adachi choked at that, coughing for a moment. Okay, no; there were too many little kids in this place. This was so not right.

"Ah... close," he muttered hoarsely. "Twenty-seven."

"So we're both four years off. How long does Detective School take?"

It's totally called Detective School. Howard looks upset as he finishes the last piece of shrimp on his plate and looks around to see if he can find more appetizers to scarf down.

"I was in the Police Academy for two years," he answered. "Actual physical training takes less time, but I was also in it for other reasons. I wanted to go into the force with the full intention to be a detective sooner than later."

He cracked a smile at that, taking another swig from his beer.

"Funny how it doesn't actually work that way; I got my gold shield when I was twenty-five," he continued, letting out a hollow laugh. "Slaving away all those years as a beat cop when you want so much more is painful as hell."

"Don't correct me." Howard looks a bit peeved. He really doesn't take well to people highlighting how little he knows. He may have practical skills, but he's still young and uneducated. His voice drops into something sarcastic. "And yeah, I can't imagine. That must have been just awful."

"Hey, don't be sarcastic," Adachi grumbled back at him. "Police work is demeaning as hell when you're so much better than that crap."

He paused a moment, letting the memories of chasing after brats with weapons they had no right having and directing traffic and breaking up domestic disputes turn his expression sour. After he downed the rest of his beer, making a face at it. It may as well have been piss flavored water; he would have to down at least three more before he got a buzz. Stupid hoity-toity… he grumbled under his breath, pulling out the card he had recieved before coming and glaring down at it; he had intended to keep a hand on it until he found something to set it on fire, but he found himself crumpling it up instead, irritated by the message within.

Warnings like that meant a lot more than just his undignified death.

"…didn't help that I wasn't the best person back then, either," he admitted softly.

Edited 2013-04-29 17:27 (UTC)

"It had to be literally the worst thing ever. I can't imagine. I would have just died."

Howard keeps building steam with the sarcasm. He's never really had career aspirations, so he can't understand what it feels like to have them stifled. He had dreams, once, but they weren't concrete, just ideas that some day he'd grow up and have a car and get a job and maybe get married and have kids.

He doesn't get to have those dreams anymore.

"Why so regretful, man?"

Adachi chuckled faintly, swinging the bottle back and forth in his hand.

"Sometimes, kid, you don't realize how shitty of a person you are until your Shadow pops up to let you know," he replied. "By then, you look back on all the things you could have had, could have done, and didn't get it because you were too busy being a self centered dumbass."

Howard doesn't spare Adachi any sympathy. He doesn't like guilt. It looks ugly. It makes people ugly, and Howard realizes he doesn't like how much Adachi is drinking now.

"The fuck does that mean?"

Like this weak stuff was going to get him drunk any time soon. Still, Adachi wasn't in the mood for another bottle of the piss flavored water (he was so calling it that from now on, even in conversation), and he set the empty bottle on the ground.

"Ehh... I guess that was a little deep," he replied. Nevermind that he meant it literally. "Guess what I'm trying to say is sometimes your past comes back to bite you when you're the least prepared for it."

"It wasn't deep, that was some emo poetry crap." Howard rolls his eyes. "You know what else comes to bite you? The present."

Adachi rolled his eyes at that. "I'd say you'll understand when you're older, but you've already had your own share of crap from what I've gathered," he replied. Well, that, and the kid was here for longer than he was.

"Really? How could you tell?" He sounds sarcastic, but Howard is genuinely curious to figure out what the first of the many tip-offs was.

"Well, you skulking around when we first met was a big flashing neon sign," Adachi replied blandly. "Do I really need to get into the rest?"

"Skulking's an art, and you don't have to be, like, damaged to do it. Just cautious." He says 'damaged' like it's a dirty word. "But A+ detective skills."

Adachi rolled his eyes. "I didn't say you were damaged, kid; you've just been through too much. Kids your age shouldn't know how to creep down a hallway, or..."

He frowned, leaving the, "or how to kill someone," hanging in the air. He didn't know if Howard ever did, but... it was probably going to be inevitable at some point, right?

"It means the same thing. Anyway, I learned how to creep when I was thirteen and sneaking out. You ever been grounded before?"

It's easier to talk about life before the FAYZ and the Games. As if he's a normal kid again, for a few moments, cheeking the policeman.

Adachi frowned at that. "Yeah, mostly just for grades though," he replied. "My parents were strict when it came to that."