thecapitol | You'd Be an Animal Too [Closed]

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You'd Be an Animal Too [Closed]

Who| Punchy and Holiday, Punchy and Topher
What| Punchy has guilt all up ins.
Where| The rooms of Holiday and Topher, respectively.
When| Post-Arena, maybe a week after
Warnings/Notes| Discussion of the Arena, probably swearing.

For a little while, the glitz and glam of the Capitol sweeps Punchy up, and he manages to shove all those messy feelings from the Arena entirely out of his mind. Spots of memory are buried in new clothes; cold sweats are drowned in booze; guilt is blasted away by flash photography and screens and the hounding of interviewers. It's a shallow life, but that's the glory of it - for a while, Punchy skates on the surface of what is, content in the vapidity of it all.

But eventually he falls through into the cold depths below, and that's what finds him checking the halls in the night. The Capitol's given him a legitimate 'superhero; costume, largely based on his original design, which they found colorful and flamboyant enough. They even gave him night-vision goggles, which he uses to wander the halls without flipping the lights on.

Two different District suites. He pauses at each door. He knows the occupants are alive, he checked that especially, but he hasn't faced them yet. And he's been working a long time on his apology, though it seems to have escaped his brain entirely.

He knocks.

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Holiday hadn't been doing a whole lot these last few days. She barely left her room, barely ate, barely spoke to others. It just seemed so pointless in this place. She felt completely useless. Most of all, she felt alone.

Maybe she should try for sponsors. They were barking at her door a lot anyway. It wouldn't do them much good to bet on her, though, and they knew it, but the goods weren't for her.

She was mindlessly looking through her wardrobe that her stylist had made out for her when the knock came to the door. Holiday closed the closet and quietly opened the door. "Hello?"

Punchy's at the door with a sheepish grin that doesn't hide that he looks very sad. Holiday doesn't look that much better than he does.

"Hey, Holiday." He adds a deliberate pause in between the words, just to remind her that he's following her request not to call her 'shawty' or 'honey' or whatever other name he'd give a lady. "You okay?"

Holiday paused for a moment when she realized who it was. Poor kid didn't seem to be holding up all that well, much like she was, and she couldn't blame him one bit.

Still, she couldn't help but appreciate that he would check on her. She smiled to him.

"I am." More or less. "What about you?"

"I'm aces. Been ridin' this hype wave like a board, you know?" He shrugs again. "Just been kinda rattlin' up in the membrane worried about you and Tophs. Glad you made it back."

"I'm glad you did, too." Holiday looks around for a moment, then back to him. "Don't get too sucked by these people, okay. Their adoration for us only runs skin deep." She doesn't want the kid hurt or disappointed. Holiday knows what these people think of them.

"And don't worry about any of us. We're all safe here. No one wants us gone for good." At least, not the Capitol. Not yet.

"Yeah, but, you know..." Punchy shrugs. In a way this is almost...disappointing? Maybe he'd been envisioning Holiday as needing him more than she did, and his inability to gallantly save her from her angst is harshing his style. "Doesn't mean it ain't jank on the spinal."

Holiday didn't want to need anyone here. The world was too harsh and unforgiving for that... but she would eventually.

"I know..." She allows a moment for a brief silence to pass between them, until she reaches out and hugs him.

Punchy's more than happy to hug her back, and he's got the big, sprawling sort of bear hug that could swallow a person. A hug that says 'I'm here for you'.

"So. You liking your pad here?"

Holiday gives him a big smile at the returned hug. "I don't suppose I can complain about the living accommodations too much." She was always going to miss home, though.

"What's it like, where you was at?" He hops uninvited onto her bed and sprawls all over it.

"It was... always busy. Not particularly great, but... I do miss it."

EVOs and junk running everywhere. It wasn't exactly fun but she'd do anything to get it back. "What about your home?"

"You's a doc, right? You know if you can fix me up with some herbal? For like, health and shit."

He's clearly evading the question about home. It's not a good story. It's boring and lame and the more he thinks about it, the more he'll have to wonder if there are people back there waiting for him.

She caught it and decided against bringing it up again. Instead, Holiday raised one of her brows in a joking manner. "I do hope you mean tea."

"Nah, dawg, I mean some bubonic chronic. A fatty. Some of the wacky tobacky." Punchy pauses as he finally translates her comment into disapproval. "Like I said. For medical reasons."

Wacky tobacky. As much as she liked Punchy and his overall attitude, she did silently pray that not all people his age from his world spoke like him.

"Uh-huh," she replied now with a frown. To be honest, wacky tobacky didn't sound all that bad of a stress reliever in a place like this considering what they were here for, but uh yeah no. "Even if I had connections, the answer is very much a no way. Nice try, though."

"Aww, don't be square, Holiday." He shakes his head. "Was worth a shot."

So much for his dreams of being Snoop Dogg. "You tried the food here yet?"

Oh no. She's a square as could be, buddy.

Holiday sighs, glad that's over, before sitting on her bed beside him. "I've tried the stuff they've given me, but I haven't really gone out somewhere. Have you?"

"Fo' shizz, I been flossin' up and down this 5, you dig?" What's the point of being a celebrity if you don't enjoy it? "It's all I ever wanted."

Holiday gave him a sad smile. Part of her wanted to beat it into him the situation they were in, but the rest of her relented against that idea. Focusing on things like that made people insane. "I'm glad you're enjoying it."

Punchy's smile in turn is oblivious. "I ain't the broodin' type, you know? Can't be wastin' shit on the downbeat. Glad you ain't either."

She is, though. Just acting like she's not. "You're right. There's no sense in brooding, especially here." She just can't help it.

Topher's room was an organized mess that his escort had long since given up insisting he keep in proper Capitol order. He'd taken apart and put back together every piece of technology in the room in order to get a clearer idea on how the Capitol set up its tech. It was like grad school all over again and he was loving it.

The knock at his door was ignored as he finished piecing together his tablet to a small consul in the corner of his room. Stepping back to admire his handy-work he noticed the knocking and walked to his door, opening it with a slight frown.

"I told you I'd go to that party la- Hey, Punchy! Come in, come in!"

"Yo, dawg, you're all breezy and shit!" Punchy grins and lets himself be ushered in. He pauses when he sees Topher's collection, jaw dropping slightly, eyes bulging.

He's impressed. Oh yeah, he's definitely impressed.

"Your pad is off the chain, homeboy!"

"Isn't it." It really was amazing how casual these people were with their tech, which was fine by Topher as it gave him more access to it and his sticky fingers. "Before I can begin any real work I gotta see what I'm working with. Pretty much the same as what we have back home minus the 'Made in China' stickers."

He cleared off a chair and motioned for Punchy to have a seat. "Hey, I watched you finish off the Arena. I was totally on Team Punchy for the win." He doesn't mention Punchy comforting his killer or Punchy's own ending. Wasn't it enough that he kept rooting for the kid? He thought so.

"So, what's up? Bored? Not up to the assistant stage yet, but eventually I wouldn't mind an Intern."

"Next time I hit dat club, dawg. I'mma be rocking that gold chain at the end of round two, put money on that shit."

Punchy flops into the seat with the bonelessness of any good teenager.

"Intern? Nah, man, I hit this code and I'mma make you my bitch." Punchy pulls a bag of Goldfish out of his pocket and tosses it over. It's easier talking about this, about tech, than about the whole part where he let Topher down. He didn't even really care that he died too.

The Goldfishes find a home in Topher's stomach. Aside from what the Capitol serves the Tributes Topher has found himself in serious lack of snacks. His days are filled with research and his credit card is sadly underused.

He munches on the cheesy goodness of Goldfish as he takes a seat on the bed. "Man, you are sorely underestimating my skills. These hands have broken through codes that have broken greater men. It's okay, I'll put you to good use fetching me juice boxes and other non-nutritional essentials."

It is easier to keep things light in view of their shared past as short as it was. Topher does give a serious look and wonders if Punchy is feeling, well, feelings. It had taken a few days for Topher to calm down and realize how lucky he'd been to have a relatively simple death.

"So, I'm guessing you're into the whole party and babes thing, right?" Punchy was a teen after all.

"No way, homes. But you can keep hyping yourself for now. I won't harsh you too bad when I send your measly technique home in a body bag."

Punchy seems to have a bag of holding for snack food, and he pulls out a bag of sour candies. He pops them in his mouth by the handful, talking without chewing or swallowing.

"Word up, I'm totally into the shawties and clubbin' and shit. Been ballin' it up around here a few days. But sometimes a man has needs, yo." He pats the side of Topher's monitor. "Honest to god needs."

"Hey now, watch the tech; I don't know where your hands have been after all that partying." Topher didn't move to protect his open monitor as he was fairly certain Punchy knew when to be delicate despite the fact that he spoke like he watched way too many action movies as a kid.

It was hard to actually like anyone in this place, but Topher did find that he wasn't too annoyed with Punchy and the kid did know his tech as pedestrian as it was. If Topher worked things his way he could have a little Ivy 2.0 in Punchy.

"Now, tell me what brought you here other than my charming personality? If you're bored I wouldn't mind if you did an errand or two for me."

"They're clean, homie! I ain't gonna be greasin' up a hottie like this with no shred, you know?" He rolls his eyes at Topher, kicking his feet up and starting to click around and acquaint himself with the system. He doesn't want to admit Topher's above his league in this, but...

"Oh, you know. Just checking up on you after that whole slice and dice shit in the primo." He tries to say that as nonchalantly as possible, so as not to give Topher the impression that he suspects he might not be okay.

That causes Topher to raise an eyebrow. Yeah he remembered the way Punchy held him as he faded off into the good night, and he really was thankful in the way a guy who suddenly discovered death isn't exactly the end, but he didn't dwell on it. Punchy seemed like the sort who would dwell.

"Dude, no biggie. I mean I was all about being traumatized when I first woke up, but I've read up on the pamphlets and self-diagnosed myself as having got over it." He shrugs. "It's part of the game."

"Aces!" Punchy flashes Topher two thumbs up. He doesn't seem to realize how strange that is for discussing someone's bloody death. "I knew you was breezy, dawg, I was just, you know. Checking."

Topher held his hand over his heart. "I'm touched with your little crush." He grabbed a pillow off his bed and tossed it at Punchy. "It's a game, right? Besides, it's not like we die forever."

"Ain't no crush, jackwagon. No homo." Punchy scowls. "Don't be getting all up in my ass about it."

Topher can't help laughing out at Punchy's face. "Did you just 'No homo' me? Dude, what are you twelve?" Considering all that Topher had programmed Dolls to do for clients he had zero qualms about anything his fellow humans got up to in their personal lives.

His door buzzed and Topher's smile turned to a frown as an Avox stood at his open door. "You're not allowed in here." He looked over at Punchy and shrugged. "Dinner?"

"I'm eighteen, bitch." He rolls his eyes at Topher. "And fo' shizzy I did just 'no homo' you."

He tilts his head to the side as he looks at the Avox. "What's the beef with Chatters over there? He ain't gonna peep on your sitch. Let him in."

Topher ignored Punchy's remark about his age and pointed a finger at the Avox. "Ignore him. Out." The confused Avox looked between the pair before leaving at Topher's shout.

"They're creepy okay." An nosy. Topher was nosy too, but he hated that in other people especially people who ultimately didn't answer to him. This was why all his work was in code and seemed to be missing vital pieces of information. Topher trusted Topher. "You wanna defend your new love of the speechless then ago ahead. I'm going to dinner."

"A'ight, a'ight, straight up. I'm going." Punchy hops up out of the chair and stretches, patting the computer like one would to calm a particularly beloved skittish horse. "Let's hit that spread, I'm over the bogchi."

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You'd Be an Animal Too [Closed]

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