Now I Got These Alligators On My Feet [OPEN]

[pimpcanes]

WHO| Black Tom and open!
WHAT| Black Tom is obnoxious as all hell as he prepares for nuptials.
WHEN| A little after the Crowning.
WHERE| Everywhere around the Capitol, the D10 Suite, your doorway.
WARNINGS| Abuse of police authority?

To say Tom's being obnoxious about his upcoming wedding would be a wild understatement. That would be like calling the ocean 'a little damp' or Caesar Flickerman 'a little showy'. Tom's spent the last week being completely insufferable, making a show of having his belongings moved out so he can go live in the castle he received for his Crowning ("it's my third castle, really," he tells anyone who'll listen) and flipping through men's fashion magazines less out of curiosity than because he enjoys ripping pages out, balling them up, and tossing them aside as "complete garbage" for an audience.

Though the denizens of District Ten are taking the brunt of Tom's behaviors, but he takes his egomania out for the odd walk, too. People minding their own business are shanghaied into giving him advice about what the most fashionable styles for facial hair are, and if he should dye his greys out or keep them to look distinguished; other Tributes get asked to model in different tuxedos to see how they look without Tom having to change out of whatever he's in; other Mentors get quizzed on the symbolism of various flowers.

Some of the unlucky souls who haven't answered his and Molotov's RSVPs will find his rapping on their door, then brandishing handcuffs if they're fool enough to open up. "I hate to tell you this, but it turns out you're under arrest, boyo," he says (regardless of the gender of his target).

Comments

[pimpcanes]

"Tabris, haven't you lived in my vicinity long enough to understand that the weeping of people less fortunate than me would not only be welcome but encouraged at my celebration? Besides, it's just the reception, not the wedding."

Tom's really not expecting Tabris to actually reach out and take his shoulder, and his eyebrows rise when she touches him and rattles off that insane list of names that even he doesn't understand (what the devil is a Brotodile, is that some sort of virus?). He taps his cane against the doorframe and then sets it in the jam so she can't close the door on him, smiling much less broadly than he obviously wants to.

"You might want to do that, then, because if I have my way you'll be spending quite a few nights there. And when you do so I hope you don't mind me coming in and helping myself to your room's accouterments."

[allyorfoe]

Tabris thinks about telling Tom that if he really wants to have people weeping from their poor fortune, he'll just convince Molotov to show up to their wedding without makeup on. But whatever kicks Tom is getting from this power trip, she'd rather keep the whole thing amicable--or neutral. Or whatever it is. Instead, she just gives him a wry grin.

"Just for that, Tom, I'm going to spend the entire reception macking on everyone. If I get laid, I'll send you a thank you note."

But she doesn't seem like making a bigger fuss than needs to be, at least. She steps back, but throws the door open, revealing that Tabris wasn't lying--she's wearing a pair of shorts, not pants. She turns around, allowing Tom to come into her room. At least no one can accuse Tabris of not getting comfortable in her room--some tributes leave their room almost unaltered. Tabris' room is littered with pictures of her and her friends, one of her with Alistair by her bed, knick knacks and stickers all over, courtesy of Bayard. Not organized but not quite a mess.

"I don't know what an encounterment is, but knock yourself out. Literally, if you prefer." She threw open her closet, staring at it in contemplation, before deciding there's no way that she's going to try to maneuver around Tom giving her any privacy for changing. So she throws on a warm dress for the chilly weather, and pulls it on, still talking even as she got dressed. "You know, Molotov told me a while ago that she didn't think you'd ever propose to her. Said she didn't want to get married in the Capitol, anyway."

Her tone was neutral enough, even as she threw some shoes on. There were definitely going to be cameras for the arrest, and she didn't plan on looking bad in the pictures. "I guess you're pretty persuasive when you want to be."

[pimpcanes]

"So long as it isn't in one of those cheap cards you can buy at a corner-store." Tom expects even people's spiteful actions against him to have a certain respect for his level of megalomania. He knows the world doesn't curve itself around him and his whims, and yet he wants it to so badly, and so he tries to enforce its reconstitution in the little ways he can.

There's some pang of nostalgia in Tom's stomach when he looks about Tabris' room; her abode feels like a home, whereas Tom's is still languishing in the manner of a permanent hotel, filled with luxurious things but very little personal, very little with any sort of memory attached. It reminds him of the Keep, worn in by generations of Cassidys, decorated still with Theresa's childhood drawings and baubles. He makes a mental note to get some belongings from Arya and Molotov both to brighten up his room in the Suite.

"She warmed to the idea. You could say that being in love gives a woman a new view on things. You've been married before, you understand." He taps his cane to the floor. "Chop chop, you're taking long enough."

[allyorfoe]

"Please, Tommy boy, I will handmake the card. I'll borrow Harley's arts and crafts stuff to do it. Expect lots of glitter and some diagrams of what your wedding enabled, rendered in loving detail with rainbow markers." She shoved her phone in one of the pockets in the dress, and paused, looking around the room. She's not really sure what people are allowed to take with them to prison in the Capitol. The last time she was arrested in Thedas, she'd been stripped to her smallclothes.

She's pretty sure that's not going to happen.

"I understand. I was married twice, did you know that?" She decided that the phone was enough, and sashayed out of the room, giving Tom ample time to leave as well, before closing the door. "First time didn't last long. Like, a few hours. Then some nobles kidnapped me, murdered the groom, so naturally, I murdered him. And everyone in his castle. Just in case. But it was an arranged marriage, anyway." She locks the door, and heads for the elevator.

"I was imprisoned before, too! Me and Alistair. My dog broke us out. Lucky for you, I don't have a mabari right now."