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

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"It's the stupidest dress ever. Supposed to trade." Parker looks around Peeta (she rarely looks at people who do not make themselves relevant to her) to see if she can spot the silver cress of her partner in fashion crime.

"You as dumb as the other sponsor?" Insulting Timaeus hadn't been her original plan, but he was dumber than a bag of hair, so she figures it's a reasonable question.

"It is really pink. Not that pink is bad," Pink was a fine color, but not really his favorite. He preferred orange, but it wasn't his place to insult her stylist. If Katniss was here right now, she could do it.

But he doesn't mind either insult. He'd met people who did stranger things, and insulting sponsors seemed to be a time honored tradition. Hell, they seemed to like it sometimes, too.

"Pretty dumb," Peeta nodded. "I might be the dumbest one here, actually. I came here for the food, but all of these sponsors keep getting in the way. Should have thought about that before coming."

"Gonna get rid of it soon." She means that literally, not as in she plans to discard it at the end of the night.

Timaeus did not like being insulted, even Parker know that, but she wonders how he doesn't know how stupid he is.

"No. Never met anyone more stupid than him," says the voice of authority on stupid people, or, perhaps not. Still, she eyes him. "You're a sponsor. You're in your own way."

Peeta didn't really have anything to say to that. What was she going to do, walk around naked? Probably some people would find that appealing here, but it wasn't something he was used to.

Peeta shook his head. "I'm not a sponsor. I'm a Victor... meant to be a mentor now, actually, but I haven't had the chance just yet to do that."

She would, but soon she's going to be exchanging the pink frilly mess for a sleek silver one: one currently on Eponine.

"So, you killed a bunch of people and now want to tell us how to do it?" She shakes her head. "Killing's the easy part. Anyone can die."

Not killing people is harder, but it's the route Parker's taken.

Oh, he saw that dress, it's beautiful. Very silver. Both would look good on either girl, really, but he wasn't exactly Portia. He didn't have an eye for that kind of thing.

"No," Peeta said with a shake of his head. "I don't tell you how to do that. I tell you how to make an impression, how to get sponsors, and where to find water. I tell you how to stay alive. I don't tell you how to kill people. I don't really know how to do that."

He'd waited during the last moments of one girl, and killed another because he didn't know the right berries to pick. Peeta didn't really know how to kill someone.

"I don't want to make an impression, or sponsors. I could make an impression on sponsors, with my foot. I can do that."

Dress or not, it wouldn't stop Parker from doing such a thing here and now.

"So what good are you?"

Others might have meant that to be a dig, and not really a question. Parker expect an answer

"You could, but I don't know how well that would go over," That was actually a funny image. She wasn't very big, but her talk was, and Peeta could actually imagine her kicking a few sponsor's asses. He'd pay to see that.

Her question (was it a question, really?) did hurt a little, too. It may have even showed in his eyes. "Well, if you don't want to do either of those, probably nothing. But if you're in the arena, I'm going to keep you alive. That's what mentors do for their tributes. They keep them alive for as long as they can, and they do whatever it takes to bring them home."

He gave a shrug. "That's really the best I can do."

People underestimate Parker. It's one of her biggest assets. She hasn't been around Eliot for years, without picking up a great deal. Then again, she was pretty independent beforehand.

Listening to the answer, Parker sums it up to make sure she's clear (understanding connotation is always a problem). "Sooooo, what you're saying is you do nothing but act like you do."

Giving a laugh, Peeta nodded his head. "Pretty much. But I've heard from a lot of people that they like me, so I must be putting on a good enough act."

He paused. "There are worst things then acting around here. Everyone puts on some kind of act. Sometimes it's completely different from how they really are, and other times its just bringing out more of a certain quality they have. Getting sponsors and everyone, well. It's just another kind of game, isn't it?"

"If there's not an endgame, not really an act, unless it's a long con."

There is also one other problem, "I'm not a grifter. It's too exhausting."

"I thought the endgame was continuing to live." He tilted his head a little, raising an eyebrow. "But you know, no one ever said you needed to charm a lot of people. One is all it takes."

"When we die in the arena, we come back here."

The point being, "Don't want to be in the arena. I want to stop that."

He got it. She got the point across. Problem was, he couldn't do anything about it.

"And then you go and fight again," He nodded, hoping that she understood that he understood. "Eventually everyone will win, though, as long as they're here. But it is such a big group. I don't know why the Capitol doesn't use the group in other ways, at the same time."

Not the best way of saying that something could be done by this big group. If only they could.

"No, they bring in more. In the arena, in the city, somewhere. They bring more."

Parker shrugs. "You're a sheep. You accept it." Parker doesn't, and likely, she doesn't understand how dangerous that is, right now.

"Maybe we are, but sheep get fed and protected from the wolves. What could be better then that?" Peeta shrugged. "Definitely not from the city, though. Capitol citizens don't play in the games."

"Be the wolf. That's better."

Parker's deadly, literally deadly serious about this.

"You can be the wolf in the arena. That's really the place to be one. But you know what they say: wolves beat sheep, but guns beat wolves," Peeta said grimly.

"It's a metaphor!" Parker's not very good with these things.

"Did I use it wrong?"

She's never sure.

"No, you used it right! It was a good metaphor, I was just adding onto it with a saying from home." Aha, what awful bullshit that was, but he tried.

"Oh, good." Hardison and Sophie often work with her on these things.

"I can mess that up. You got the point I wanted to not die, right?"

"Heard the point loud and clear. What district are you fighting for? I don't think you're twelve, but allies are something you'll need to survive. Which you already know, I don't need to repeat it." Peeta shrugged. If you didn't know now, then you must be really, really new.

"I'm not fighting for anyone." Anyone who allows this to happen, Parker can't fight for.

"Stuck with 9."

Parker has an ally, but he's missing. District associations don't matter when she has Eliot.

"Well, I meant... never mind. Nine is a good district, they're lucky to have you with them," Peeta smiled. It seemed like a lot of the "guests" didn't know that they were helping people in their fight.

"Pfft," Parker knows nothing about the districts, other than the other tributes die for them. It's not exactly something that endears them to her.

"Lucky? I don't have them. They have me." A trapped Parker is an angry Parker.

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