[closed] i'm like the rain in a downpour

[rediscover]

Who| Anna and Clara, Sansa, and Phi.
What| Catch-all log
Where| D4 during the battle, out and about in the Capitol, and back at the D4 house.
When| Vague answer /jazzhands
Warnings/Notes| Mentions of brainwashing/death likely at some point



A. Clara

District Four holds a special place in Anna’s heart. Not because she’s ever been here; on the contrary, this is her first and likely last time. But she’s fought in Four’s name through so many Arenas, bonded with Four’s victors. She’s almost an honorary citizen, at this point. So the battle here is important to her. She wants to do right by her adopted family, wants to ensure that victory is won with minimal damage to their home.

After all, the Capitol must win. But that doesn’t necessitate utter destruction.

She’s shouldered her rifle; her orders had been to scan the perimeter of the action, to ensure that no foul play was at hand, and to alert Capitol medics to any dead or wounded for collection and healing. Her braids are pinned up beneath her helmet to keep them out of the way, and she’s glad for it; it keeps her from being recognized by her trademark. From becoming an even bigger target.

Peering around the corner of a building and into the narrow alleyway that lies there, the princess’s eyes widen. Seeing a Capitol healer isn’t a surprise; seeing her bent over a Districter with bandages in hand is.

She doesn’t say anything yet; just steps into the alleyway quietly, watching with wide eyes, her brain ringing with forced disapproval. She needs to see more clearly what’s really happening; she needs to make a fair decision before she reacts.


B. Sansa

The last time Anna had tried going for a stroll as a distraction from the heaviness of her everyday reality, it had ended in a harsh encounter with a former friend. She’d left in tears and decided not to leave the house for awhile, and had pretty much stayed in until the battle in Four. Now, however, being inside feels lonely, and stifling, without her family unit nearby to ground her. So once more, she takes to the streets to try to calm the worry in her head, to try and distract herself from the chaos her life’s been thrown into. One wouldn’t expect the Princess of Arendelle to be so weighed down, but she’s far from the carefree girl she used to be.

Still, she tries to walk with her head up, to project something like a carefree attitude. She even manages a shaky smile at a few passersby, but it’s not until she spies a young lady walking a dog that her face actually lights up. The girl’s face is vaguely familiar; a former Tribute like Anna, she thinks as she kneels down, her skirt fluttering about her knees as she does, to pet the pup. She glances up at the owner and offers a smile. “Hope you don’t mind. I can’t resist petting such a sweet dog!”

C. Phi

Since the capture of Chuck, Derek, Meulin, and Kurlozt, things have been lonely in the house they all used to share. Anna is by herself, most days, with Max the bulldog for company, and she’s barely holding it together. She’d known District Four would be a difficult battle to fight, but she hadn’t been expecting to lose her whole family unit besides, and the uncertainty as to whether or not she’ll ever see them again, or if they’re even alive, is killing her. Almost as much as being alone is, honestly.

Which is why it’s a relief when Phi stops by the house. The two of them have never been close, never talked much besides a few words in passing here or there, but now Anna is grateful for any familiar face. Besides, she was a tribute of Four. She’s part of their little fold.

The princess works up a little smile as she answers the door, but ends up looking a little sick instead. “Hi. I’m afraid it’s just me around here, but you’re welcome to come, you know, hang out. I could use the company, truth be told…”

Comments

[porcelainandsteel]

"Well, it's difficult." Sansa's smile is that little bit warmer, that little bit more genuine. "It's difficult for all of us, I mean. Whether or not we're from here." She wants to say more - how she's seen the same thing happen in wartime back home, how it's natural to close ranks, how that doesn't make it any less lonely or any less frightening - but she isn't sure how safe it is to discuss the war openly and publicly with a stranger. She settles for a little shake of her head, and "It will all be over soon, I'm sure. And then things can start to get back to normal."

[rediscover]

"I'm sure it will be." Anna scuffs her toe on the sidewalk as they go. "The Capitol will be close to victory any day now, after all, and then we can just go on with our lives. And then the little things like going for coffee with a new friend won't have to be, well...quite so rare."

They round a corner and Anna spots what must be the place up ahead. "Is that it up there?"

[porcelainandsteel]

"It is!" Sansa looks up, quite happy to drop the subject, and lengthens her stride a little as she beckons Anna with her. "Have you been here before?"

[rediscover]

Anna shakes her head, a little shrug dipping her shoulders. "Nope! Lucky guess. But it looks nice!" She follows the other girl inside, taking a look around that's more than cursory, for once. Gone are the days when the myriad fascinating interiors of the Capitol truly catch her attention, but her mood is light enough that this one catches her fancy a bit.

"This is nice," she echoes her earlier sentiment. "You said something about lemon cakes?"

[porcelainandsteel]

"Oh, the best you've ever tasted!" Sansa laughs, feeling lighter and more cheerful than she has for a long time. "They were always my favourite, but here... gods, I don't know what they put in them! I could eat them all day!" Not that she would. That would be gluttonous, and not ladylike.

Shaking her hair back, she bends down to pick Lady up as they head to the counter. "Lemon cakes and tea, then?"

[rediscover]

Anna laughs. "I know what you mean. Some of the food here...well, it's a wonder I haven't gained a hundred pounds by now!" As if a girl her size could ever do that. She's such a slip of a thing, even with the sharper lines of the muscles she's earned, that it doesn't seem possible.

She nods eagerly. "Lemon cakes and tea sounds delightful." She nods toward the Avox behind the counter, and pulls out her credit card. "On me!"

[porcelainandsteel]

"Oh, you don't have to!" Sansa says at once. Her voice is light, but there's something serious there. You have to be careful accepting gifts from anyone, after all; even something as small as cake and tea can become a debt. She learnt that the hard way some time ago. You need to, at the very least, be very clear you're not asking for favours. Besides, it's only good manners. "I can pay, really." She isn't wealthy, but she has enough for the occasional treat, and this definitely qualifies.

[rediscover]

Anna shakes her head, insistent, and presses her card into the cashier's hand. "No, no, I insist. Really."

Her look turns a bit sheepish. "I have more money than I know what to do with. It's the least I can do." Not to mention, she's pretty certain at this point that she'll never live to actually spend it all. This, of course, she doesn't mention, just tucks her card blithely back into her pocket and turns toward the seating area. "Want to sit by the window?"

[porcelainandsteel]

"If you're sure..." If she's honest, Sansa's glad Anna pushed it, especially if the other girl really does have so much money. She smiles brightly, nodding. "Sitting by the window sounds wonderful. I love watching the people go past, they're all so fashionable!" Which is a charitable way of saying strange, but she really does like to see all the different Capitol styles. With Lady still clasped in her arms, she follows Anna over to the table.

[rediscover]

Anna lets out a soft laugh, covering her mouth with her hand ever-so-politely. "Right? It's like an endless parade!" She sits down, gesturing to the chair across from her, and clasps her hands under her chin.

"So! Tell me about Lady. What kind of dog is she, exactly?"

[porcelainandsteel]

Sansa sits down, sure to keep her knees together and her movements graceful as she was always taught, and sets Lady down on the floor beside her. She blushes a little at the question, though. "To tell you the truth," she confesses, "I don't know. We don't have dogs like her where I'm from. She was, ah... a gift, after the Arena." She's very aware that, given who gave her that gift, this could be dangerous territory - after all, Phillip has betrayed the Capitol, and it's best not to remind them that she's connected to him. Still, Anna did ask her to talk about Lady. "I told my Mentor how much I missed my wolf, you see."

[rediscover]

"Oh!" Anna nods, realizing that Arendelle doesn't really have dogs like Lady, either. She supposes it's been so long since she came to Panem that the lines of what's normal for her have blurred. She's grown so used to Capitol-normal that Arendelle-normal hardly crosses her mind anymore.

The last bit catches her interest, though, and she leans forward. "A wolf? Like, you had one as a pet?" Okay, that's amazing. Move over, reindeer, wolves are way cooler.

[porcelainandsteel]

"Like that," Sansa agrees, after a moment's thought. "She was more than a pet, in some ways. Cleverer. She wasn't a wolf, not really. She was a direwolf. They're bigger and stronger than wolves, and much rarer. When we found her and the others, they were the first direwolves anyone had seen south of the Wall in two hundred years."

For a moment, she can remember it so sharply it hurts. Her father, tall and serious as he charged them with the pups' care. Robb, smiling. Her mother's uncertainty. The pups so small, mewling and yapping in her brothers' arms. Her eyes sting with the memory of it. We were all young then, she thinks, and swallows. We didn't know. How could we?

With an effort, she finds her voice. "It... it's the sigil of my family's House. The direwolf, I mean. And there were six pups, and six of us, counting my half-brother. So Father said we could keep them, if we looked after them, and they'd guard us." But I didn't guard her, did I? she thinks blackly, and suddenly it's all she can do not to cry. She leans down to pet Lady, partly for comfort and partly as an excuse to turn her face away until she's schooled her features, and until she trusts herself to speak again. "I didn't have her for very long. Not even a year. But she was lovely."

[rediscover]

Anna listens with rapt attention, barely even noticing when their tea and cakes are set down in front of them. The idea of having not just one wolf, but six, around the castle is astonishing. "That's...wow." She lacks the words to properly describe her admiration.

"I'm so sorry you couldn't keep her for longer..." Anna squirms in her seat as she catches a glimpse of Sansa's expression, and decides now is a good time to pour tea for the both of them. "Here. Drink this," she offers gently. "At least you still have good memories of her, right? And a new Lady to remember her by!"

[porcelainandsteel]

Sansa clears her throat, straightening her back and offering a smile as she takes the tea. It reminds her of when Luna first arrived in Panem, when, like Anna now, Sansa hadn't been able to do anything but offer tea and platitudes. It's a bittersweet sort of thought, now Luna's gone as well.

"Right," she agrees, and tries to put all thoughts of dead wolves and defecting robots out of her mind. "And this Lady is so sweet, aren't you, girl?" She leans down to scratch the puppy between the ears, then straightens back up and takes a sip of tea. "How about you? Did you have pets, back home?"

[rediscover]

"She is," Anna agrees, reaching across to scratch behind the pup's ears. "She should meet Max. My roommates' dog. I bet they'd get along so well!" Probably, anyway. Dogs are like people, right?

She pours out a cup of tea for herself, adding copious amounts of cream and sugar, and shakes her head. "No, I was never allowed. I always wanted one, though...I suppose there's really nothing stopping me now!"

[porcelainandsteel]

"There isn't," Sansa agrees, adding sugar to her own tea and taking a sip, and smiles. "They make for good company, as well. Not as good as another person, but..." Well, they have just been talking about loneliness. And unlike people, dogs aren't likely to join the Rebellion without you.

Not that she's bitter.

[rediscover]

"Well, truth be told, I could use the company," Anna admits. Her roommates being MIA is taking a real toll on her. "Maybe I should take a look around a pet store. Do they have big ones?"

She's thinking about Sven the reindeer, and how it might be fun to have something like a Great Dane around. Something big and floppy and sweet.

[porcelainandsteel]

"I don't know," Sansa admits after a moment's thought, and laughs, taking a bite of her lemon cake. It feels nice to laugh, even if it's a little self-conscious, a reaction to her own ignorance. "I hope so, though! I love Lady, but I do love big dogs too. Why don't we take a look together, some day? We used to have dogs back home, not just the wolves. I could help you pick one out, maybe?"

Perhaps that's a little too obvious. Perhaps her loneliness and her clinging need for company is showing through. She can't really make herself care, though.

[rediscover]

Anna, in the middle of chewing the probably-too-large bite of lemon cake she's just taken, sits up a little straighter and nods vigorously while she finishes chewing. "Oh! Yes, please! I definitely need advice, I've never picked out anything this important before."

She seems to have made the decision that the possibility of a friend outweighs the possibility of losing a friend. Why shouldn't she let herself have this? She's earned it, darn it all.

[porcelainandsteel]

Sansa smiles wider than ever, relaxing a little more. "Oh, good!" It's not just that she's glad that she seems to have made a friend (although she is), or that Anna accepted her idea (although that, too, is gratifying) - she's been feeling so helpless lately that being able to do something for someone, even something as silly and unimportant as helping to pick out a dog, is a wonderful feeling. She can't help in a war, but at least this is something. "Where do you stay? So we can meet up again?"

[rediscover]

"Oh!" Anna wipes some crumbs away from her face with a sheepish giggle. "I have a house. With the other District Four mentors. It's um—" She goes on to describe its location using the former Tribute Center as a starting point, hands waving. "I don't do much on the days we're not running drills, so I'm happy to go any time!"

She places a hand on the table, palm down, reaching toward Sansa. "Really. Any time. I've been so bored, lately, cooped up by myself."

[porcelainandsteel]

Sansa smiles, putting her own hand out to touch Anna's. "Gods, I know," she agrees, with a little giggle. "When I'm home, it's always so empty." Molotov and Tom are still there, of course, but she does all she can not to cross paths with them unless she can help it, not trusting them in the slightest; Arya was the link that made her part of that household, and Arya's gone.

[rediscover]

Anna shrugs her shoulders, trying to seem casual, but honestly it's just...far nicer than it ought to be to touch someone else in a way that isn't an attack or a defensive measure. To touch someone else's fingers and have it be just that—fingers touching fingers, no ulterior motives.

"Well, you can come by and visit whenever you like. Bring Lady, too, she can meet Max. He's Chuck's dog. I'm sure he'd love the company, and once I get my own dog they can all be friends!"

[porcelainandsteel]

Sansa smiles. "I think she'd like that," she agrees, scratching Lady between the ears with her free hand. "Dogs are like wolves in that way, I think. And like people, too. They like company." She looks down at the puppy thoughtfully, her smile fading to be replaced by something much more wistful, not quite sad. "When the Winter comes, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. That's what my father used to say."