thecapitol | (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

Howard's eyes narrow. "...What is it you want from me? Because I'm not looking for allies. They tend to try and stab me."

Blaine holds up his hands in a non-threatening gesture. "No sorry," he says cautiously. "I didn't come up here to ask for anything from you. I just wanted to talk because I had heard about you." He pauses and then says. "It's not going to help for me to tell you I wouldn't do that to you, because there's no reason for you to believe me, but I wouldn't. I'm not looking to trick anyone into being my friend so that I can get the upperhand on him."

"You're right, I got no reason to believe that." The gesture seems to placate him just a little bit. "I didn't get your name."

"Blaine," he answers. "I'm Blaine. This last Arena was my second one," he offers to help give Howard an idea of how new he is compared to him.

"Third, for me. But I don't remember much of the first." He glances towards an image on the television. Kurt's death being replayed. "Heads up, you're on TV."

Blaine looks over at the TV and frowns. He really hates the thought that something that had been so devastating is being replayed and replayed for entertainment. "Guess I am," he says quietly, his voice carefully neutral.

Howard watches the two boys on the screen. The one, impaled. "That your friend?"

Blaine nods. "He arrived this Arena," he says, eyes sort of fixed on the screen. He does look so painful devastated, screaming and sobbing in an uninhabited, ugly sort of way. His heart hurts a bit as he's reminded of how it had felt. "I was so paranoid the entire time and then..."

He shrugs a bit, trying to act like it was no big deal. He just hoped that the broadcast wasn't going to discuss how he had then given all of his supplies to Barbara and then purposely antagonized Alpha to kill him. He wasn't sure if he could discuss that feeling with Howard at all. Plus, it was so selfish and pathetic. He felt so stupid about it now, even if at the time it had seemed like the only thing to do.

"He's at this party now though. It seems so dumb that I reacted that much when I knew he was going to come back."

"I have a theory." Howard kicks his feet up onto the stylish glass table. "I have a theory that none of us ever actually come back. You actually talked to him?"

"Yeah," Blaine answers with a nod. "When I woke up... What do you mean we don't actually come back?"

Howard bites his lip. "Well, how do you feel? Do you feel totally present or like a part of your brain is just- just stuck back there?"

Blaine's eyes narrow a bit and he looks at Howard as if the other boy has guessed his deep, dark secret. In a way, he has.

"My point exactly," Howard says, taking another bite of shrimp. It doesn't taste like anything this time.

Blaine looks down. "But we are here, aren't we?"

"Physically. Not for long."

"Until the next Arena anyway... That doesn't mean we're always stuck there." He doesn't seem particularly sure.