[CLOSED]

[69problems]

Who| The Signless, Peeta, and Cinna (not all at once!)
What| Signless meets his mentor and stylist properly.
Where| District 12 suites; prep center
When| Now-ish probably!
Warnings/Notes| Probably none. If anything comes up I'll add.

The Signless has spent a good deal of time in his room since he died and was brought back to the Capitol. It's not that he's antisocial -- he's quite proud of all the alien acquaintances he's made -- but there's simply so much to take in and a good deal of it he can get to without walking more then ten feet. He spent a good several hours messing with shower combinations once he figured out how it worked, and even though he's used it a few times now, the idea of being able to order any food you like at any time and have it appear immediately still enchants him.

The Capitol doesn't have much of the sort of food trolls recognize, so he's been being adventurous and picking at random. Today that means some sort of shellfish in bright green sauce, which is turning out to be remarkably good even if it may be a little strange to eat it while sitting cross-legged in a pile of blankets and pillows in the middle of the floor.

***

The Signless has been here before, but he's still not necessarily comfortable in the prep center. It's so sterile and, well, alien, far more alien than the rest of the Capitol. He thought the first time they brought him down here and did their very best to remove fourteen solar sweeps of calluses was the last time, but here he is again, because apparently there's someone else who'd like to see him. He hopes they aren't going to try to scrub the bottoms of his feet off, whoever they are.

Comments

[setfires]

"Pacifism?" Cinna asked, intrigued. "What do you mean?"

[69problems]

"I mean that I don't -- I refuse to cause harm. I don't believe that any sentient being deserves to be killed, especially not for the entertainment of those who've never known a hardship in their life and find it novel and therefore funny." His tone is perfectly measured and reasonable, but he's expecting a fight. He knows enough by now to know that this is not a popular view of things.

[setfires]

Cinna nodded at that, thinking it over. He didn't seem like he wanted to fight. If anything, he was impressed by the conviction. "Are you prepared to die because of that?"

[69problems]

He nodded. "For as long as I'm a prisoner here. I was prepared to die for my beliefs long before this, so really, nothing's changed except location."

[setfires]

Cinna nodded at that, accepting it. "Then my job will be to make sure that people care when you do," he said. "If you make an impression, you can do more to honor your convictions."

[69problems]

He mulled that over. Really, it made sense. If he kept to what he believed and died for it, he had more chance of reaching more people, of touching their hearts and minds, if they cared for him.

"... Alright. How do you suggest I make an impression? My horns already have." Even if troll horns didn't come in rainbow. It wasn't like the Capitolites could be bothered with particulars.

[setfires]

Cinna nodded and stood then. He came closer to the troll, inspecting the horns in question. "Do you mind if I touch?"

[69problems]

"Oh." Well, he couldn't possibly mean it in a flirtatious way, could he? "No, go ahead."

The horns wouldn't feel particularly strange; they were smooth and hard, inflexible -- though the Signless's were so small that they wouldn't have bent much either way.

[setfires]

Cinna's fingers tested the texture of the horns as he looked at them carefully. "It might be a good idea to play off of them," he commented. "They are the unique thing." People could always dye their hair, skin or eyes. He pulled back then and looked over the form in front of him.

"How do you dress when you're home?"

[69problems]

His face brightened immediately. His mother had been his original stylist, after all.

"A gray cloak," he said, "And a pair of chest-high leggings with red ornamentation. Simple. Easy to move in. No shoes," he added. "There's a particular human woman who's very insistent that I wear them. I never have and I do better without."

[setfires]

"We can work with that," Cinna said. "Not wearing shoes is a sign of humbleness in human culture. If we do it right we can play into your pacifism with it." A pause. "Though you can expect my prep team to constantly be cleaning them. I hope you won't mind too much."

[69problems]

He sighed. "I'll bear it. Just tell them to leave my calluses alone, if they can. If I'm trying to walk around an Arena on perambulation nubs with skin as soft as a grub's underbelly, I won't get very far."

[setfires]

"Can you withstand extreme temperature?" Cinna asked. "If the Arena is covered in ice should I plan for shoes then?"

[69problems]

"We can't stand extreme heat. Our sun is in its later stages of life; we're nocturnal partially because we have to be. It's too hot during the day and looking anywhere near the sun can be permanently blinding. I don't have as much experience with cold, since Alternia is a warm planet, but some protection might be good until we know for certain how much cold I can take."

Better safe than sorry, right?

[setfires]

Cinna nodded then. "I'll keep that in mind. I don't know a lot of the Arenas but if we have a bad summer here, I'll work with you to make it bearable."

[69problems]

He smiled, baring those blunt triangular teeth.

"Thank you. It's appreciated. I haven't met a lot of humans here that are so... understanding." He was quiet for a moment, and then asked something that had been on his mind since he'd gotten a better idea of how Capitol fashions worked. "You're not going to alter anything too drastically, are you? About me?"

[setfires]

"No. I'd prefer not to. I'd rather bring out the parts of who you are."

[69problems]

He looked visibly relieved. "So, a lot of red then, I assume. If you want who I am, my blood color would be the best place to start."

[setfires]

"Does that mean your blood isn't red?"

[69problems]

He shook his head. "No, no, it's red, which is unusual for trolls. Our hemospectrum has twelve colors but my candy red isn't one of them, which is especially odd because it seems to be the norm across the board for humans." He sighed. "I should really just write up an explanation of troll biology and basic norms. We don't have horns in any of those colors the natives here have been wearing, either."

"The point is that my blood is bright red, which is considered a mutation worthy of being killed on sight over. I wear it proudly because I don't believe that the color of a troll's blood should determine how much or how little respect they're given."

[setfires]

Cinna listened to all of that and found himself more and more impressed by this Tribute. He wasn't sure how to translate it for the Capitol though. It wasn't as if the citizens here would fully understand the implications of The Signless was saying. He was quiet for a moment, thoughtful. "It might be a good idea to push the color of your horns. If we can make them popular..." he trailed off a moment, still thoughtful.

[69problems]

He nodded. "Humans here are already wearing horns, just because we're here, since I don't think anyone else has tried really pushing them yet. And barely any of them are getting the colors right." You couldn't get much further from candy-corn colors than dark blues, and he'd seen a few of those around.

"Some of the work is already done for you, anyway, if you wanted to go that route. I'm sorry that my horns aren't terribly impressive, but their size is non-threatening, which might fit in with the image you're trying for?"

[setfires]

"It will," Cinna said with a small smile. "We should work on making yours the most popular."

[69problems]

"And what will you need me to do, to make that happen?" He was on board with this, definitely. It was a nice, non-violent way to go about safeguarding against death, and he liked that.

[setfires]

"Be who you are, I think," Cinna replied thoughtfully. "Your mentor may want to try a different approach. If that's the case, they'll talk to me."