A Bloody Valentine: Dance Auction!

[etcircenses]

Who| Everyone in the Capitol!
What| Dance auction!
Where| The top of the Romulus Hotel in the Capitol
When| February 14th, in the evening
Warnings/Notes| None at the moment

It's the Valentines day gala come again, and moreover, it's been over two months since Capitolites have gotten to get up close and personal with their favorite Tributes. With all the curfews and restrictions and fear suddenly cropping up, everyone's due for a little time on the town. And you, the lucky soldiers (and hostages), get to take the briefest of breaks from the battlefield and get away from the Detainment Center for a few hours.

There is a catch however. Two. The first thing is that there can be no mention of war whatsoever to the Capitolites. None. Talk of war will result in talk of execution. Your execution. The second catch is that a number of you have been signed up for dancing auction! You will be expected to dance with your assigned partners (some people may buy dances for an offworlder to dance with another offworlder!), be respectful, and at least slightly enjoyable. Most of all, you are to be a distraction. These people cannot know there is a war going on.

Some years ago, a similar dance auction was held. On top of the tallest hotel in the center of the Capitol, there's just as much scuffle as back then to fit into the elevators, maybe even more so after the long absence of Tributes. Just as back then, the sky has been artificially cleared of clouds, with more stars projected upward in their place. It's chilly out here in the early month of February, but the very floor has been set up with a heating system, keeping the rooftop nice and cozy. The Games are aired and the narrators are nostalgic.

There's something tense about the party. Everyone is smiling too hard, trying their best not to seem nervous or cast too many side-glances over unspoken worries. Small talk is taken up with intense gusto, everyone more eager than ever to forget all worries and woes. What lies are told about what the Tributes have really been up to in their absences are swallowed entirely.

"Ladies and gentlemen," a booming female voice announces from nowhere, "Celebrus Magazine, in conjunction with The Romulus Hotel, are delighted to host the third annual Hunger Games Dance Auction for charity! As a matter of decorum, let us remind you of some ground rules. A guest's actions reflects on the hotel, and the Romulus reserves the right to remove anyone in any position of authority from the premises for any reason, including going beyond the boundaries of a dance auction. Any unseemly, fraudulent or presumptive action on the part of the guests will lead to their immediate dismissal. These Tributes volunteered for charity, and their wishes should be respected.

"You may bid as much as you like, on however many Tributes you like, but please don't promise more assi than you have on-hand. All donations will be taken at the time the winning bidder is announced. Get excited, but don't get too excited!

"And now… may the bidding begin!"

At no point does Celebrus Magazine indicate what sort of charity any of the money generated is going towards. It will be a good hour and a half before the bidding closes and the pairs are announced. In the mean time, everyone is welcome to mingle. And... should a few people slip away from the party for a little while, using the crowd to hide themselves, well, who would really notice? Be sharp and keep low and you may just get away with it. The rest of you may just have a new meaning to the job of being a distraction.

Comments

[porcelainandsteel]

"Thank you!" Sansa smiles back, embracing her friend and kissing her on the cheek. "You look lovely, too. It's wonderful, isn't it? All the people, and these decorations... I can't imagine anything more perfect!"

And that, if nothing else, is a blatant lie. Once upon a time, it might have been true, but that was when she was a girl dreaming of things she'd never see. She's all too aware of the grim truth behind this party, and that sours it beyond any measure. But being politically-minded doesn't mean she can't enjoy at least the pretence of peace and happiness. It's not perfect, but it's a lot better than most alternatives.

Lacing her arm companionably through Luna's, she smiles. "What I wouldn't have given," she muses aloud, "to live in a world like this when I was a child."

[didnothing]

"I wish the same, sometimes." Luna returns the embrace and steps closer to Sansa as their arms interlock - shyly, because it's rare she does anything of the sort with anyone, but she feels confident enough with Sansa. "To be honest, when I first came here months ago it was the first time I'd ever seen a place as alive as this. I came from somewhere very...different. Nothing alive, except for a single family and the things they grew. Now that I'm here, all this life and color seems amazing."

It's not really relevant to the auction, but Luna's saying it less because she loves the party and more because she wants to tell Sansa a little more about herself. And besides, she doesn't have to lie about finding a world beyond the Rhizome wondrous in any way. They both have to play along and Luna recognizes that, but it helps to be honest in what ways she can.

[porcelainandsteel]

"That sounds awful." Sansa frowns a little at Luna, but honestly, she's grateful. She wants to know more about her friend and where she's from; wants even more for Luna to trust her and tell her. So being told anything about Luna, really, makes a warm feeling blossom up inside her, a sense that they really, truly are friends, that there's actually trust between them. "I can't imagine. Where I come from, it's the opposite - what really amazes me here is the things that aren't grown, the clothes and the buildings and the... the computers."

She still says computer with great care, but it's a word she feels like she knows well enough to use now.

"Did they have anything like that where you're from? The clothes? We never had half these colours."

[didnothing]

"Not in clothing." Not in the same way as the Capitol, anyway. The metal suit Kyle wore to combat the moon's lower gravity was unique, but Luna couldn't see anyone wearing one like it at an event such as this. "Maybe some of the rooms we had were like this, though. We only had a few people and GAULEMs like me, but the facility was very large and complex. It's...well, you would have to be a computer to keep track of everything."

She smiles in self-deprecation, and as acknowledgement of Sansa's efforts to adapt in this world. "Every room had tricks and decorations of its own. But I think the most vibrant place was the botanical garden. It was actually alive, in a way everything else wasn't." The wonder in her voice still shows; after everything, she still finds life itself to be wonderful.

[porcelainandsteel]

Sansa smiles at that, at the wonder in Luna's voice. It's good to hear her friend sound so... well, so human, if she's honest. And good to know that her life hasn't been so unrelentingly grim as to have nothing in it to make her wonder. Too many people here seem to have had lives like that.

"My favourite place was the weirwood," she says, after a moment. "You saw a little of it, in the Arena. I... My father used to pray to the Old Gods there. I never did, but I liked to walk there. All the light was red and gold, and it was so... so still." She smiles wistfully, then pulls herself forcibly back to the present moment, to Panem. "I'm trying to put it into a dress for my collection, but it's so hard! I don't understand how the Stylists can do it!"

[didnothing]

Luna remembers the castle and surrounding forest Sansa took her to in the Arena - how beautiful it all had been, and how she'd seen a part of her home as Sansa talked about hers. She gets it, she thinks, even if she hasn't been to the real weirwood. No wonder Sansa's having so much trouble with the dress; Luna wouldn't even know where to begin trying to express the feeling of such an environment in a single item. She admires Sansa for even trying.

"Can you take a picture of what you have now, or show me a sketch sometime?" she asks. "I'm not exactly an expert on fashion, but I'd like to try and help anyway. Um, that is, if you'd like?" She feels self-conscious for a moment, because it is true that she won't be able to contribute much.

[porcelainandsteel]

Sansa smiles, though, nodding enthusiastically. "Of course! Next time I come to visit, I'll bring some pictures." She would love to work with Luna on this - on anything, really - even if it turns out the other girl really doesn't have much to offer. It's an excuse to spend time with her friend, and she'll always grab at those. "I'm not an expert either, in any case. Back home, I would never have had the chance to make my own designs, not really."

[didnothing]

"Really? Then this must be a good opportunity." Luna beams, and as much as she's seen the problems behind the Capitol she's glad things are going well for Sansa. Equally glad that she'll get to be a part of it, however small. "Is it something you wanted to do before, designing things? I've...I've had a few things like that."

She slips back into shyness at the tail end of her admission, because the real truth is that she has many things she's dreamed of and they're all rather embarrassing for a GAULEM. Sansa's potential future in fashion is much more real.

[porcelainandsteel]

"I never really thought about it," Sansa admits, with a little frown. "I mean, back home, I knew what was expected of me. All I really dreamed of doing was marrying well, someone who would be kind and handsome and sweet." And look how well that had turned out. The bitterness of it sticks in her throat for a moment, and flickers across her face, but she wipes it away quickly in favour of a bland, gentle sort of smile. "Now I'm here, and suddenly it's like I can do anything. Anything at all."

[didnothing]

Luna wonders about the prospect of marriage. It used to be one of her own fantasies: the idea of being swept off her feet by a wonderful gentleman and married in a pretty white dress is all the more magical for its impossibility, to someone who never expected to leave the Rhizome facility. It's freedom to her, but not to Sansa apparently. She supposes it's the expectations Sansa mentioned. Luna knows that very well, at least.

"It's good to be somewhere where your old rules don't have to apply." Her words are careful. Luna's had a lot of mixed luck where that's concerned, but she's still not sure she wants to worry Sansa with the negatives right now. "Have you tried anything else besides design? Even if you don't know what you like yet, maybe exploring a little will help."

[porcelainandsteel]

"I've never..." Sansa ducks her head a little, blushing. "I mean, I didn't even think of it. I know how to look pretty and smile and sew, that's how I've found myself doing this. I never even thought of... I guess I'm pretty silly like that." Her smile is self-deprecating, but not sad. Honestly, she's okay with that.

She almost says Phillip said I could try politics, but she keeps that to herself. Whether or not she decides that's something to try, it seems pretty stupid to mention a known Rebel in a place like this. So she just shakes her head. "There are so many things here. So much I could try, even as a woman, it's... I suppose it's a little overwhelming."

[didnothing]

"Hm." Luna taps her chin thoughtfully. She understands Sansa's feelings, and with Sansa's freedom relative to many of the Tributes here tonight it seems a waste not to do more sooner or later. "Well, in that case...it won't hurt to stick with designing things like you are now. If there are so many things you haven't done before, I'm sure opportunities to try some of them will come to you in time. Like tonight, maybe."

Her smile turns a little shyer, and she looks out at the crowd. "I know I've never been able to dance with anyone before - or at all, really. I'm glad to have the chance tonight, at least if I can avoid stepping on my partner's toes!"

[porcelainandsteel]

Sansa laughs at that, squeezing her friend's arm. "It isn't so hard," she assures Luna, with an air of some confidence. "You just need to try not to think about it too hard. If you start staring at your feet, you start tripping on them."

Of course, she's coming at this from the perspective of a highborn lady who learnt to dance almost as soon as she could walk, but that isn't the point. The point is that shyness in Luna's smile, and the attempt to stop her from worrying.

[didnothing]

"Really?" Despite what Sansa's said, Luna can't help but glance down at her feet. She's still feeling a little self-conscious about her lack of experience, but the reassurance does help a little. Maybe whoever she ends up dancing with will be as kind as Sansa, too. (They probably won't, but it's nice to hope.)

"I wish there were more time," she admits. "I'd ask you to teach me a little, if I could." She supposes that technically it could work here and now, but in the middle of a public party hardly seems like an appropriate place to start learning how to dance.

[porcelainandsteel]

Sansa smiles, shaking her head. "I ought to have offered sooner," she says, apologetically. "If you like, though, I could teach you a little of it after tonight? It isn't as though this is the last party you'll attend, after all."

[didnothing]

Thanks to the war Luna's honestly not sure how many parties there will be, but the idea of lessons is promising and it's enough for her to brighten up. "That would be wonderful. And you didn't need to offer. I wouldn't have had the opportunity, anyway." She rubs her arm self-consciously, very mindful of the fact that she'd spent over a week in total with it dead at her side until recently. Thank goodness for Sigma, at least.

[porcelainandsteel]

"I suppose not. You must have been very busy." It's an automatic response, really, parroted off without thinking about Luna's circumstances too hard. She smiles, brushes that aside, and reaches for a pastry from the snack table. "But I'd love to teach you! I'm sure you'll be a beautiful dancer."

[didnothing]

"Do you think so?" Luna imagines herself dancing with someone - an unknown imaginary suitor, perhaps - and thinks that it sounds really quite romantic that way. And she's always enjoyed a good romance, of course. "Maybe we can try sometime soon, then. If we can find a place, that is." She doesn't really know where to go, or how to go about it. Technically she's allowed to leave the Detention Center so long as it's not in attempted escape, but in practice she hasn't gone out for leisure since before the war.

[porcelainandsteel]

"We'll find a place," Sansa promises, with a smile. "It's a big city. There'll be somewhere." She clasps Luna's arm, resting her head companionably against the other girl's shoulder for a moment.

Wind down?

[didnothing]

Luna relaxes a little when Sansa leans against her - she trusts her, and she believes the girl when she says things will work out. It'll be nice, she thinks, if they make it work. "Right...thank you, Sansa. I'm looking forward to learning from you."