Guess who's back!

[mannersmatter]

Who| De and/or Effie and/or Lottie and/or Katniss and/or other NPCS AND YOU.
What| Them around the city, doing things, meeting people.
Where| Mainly the Training Center, but any setting is good!
When| Around this week.
Warnings/Notes|

I made a thread with a tag for each character, so just tag in there! if you'd like any of my other NPCs besides Katniss, just PM or private plurk me so we can hash it out real quick.

Let me know if I can add anything, and I am down for minor assumptions/handwaving some things!

Comments

Re: Lottie!

[amourtician]

Jay spotted Lottie in the training area, while he was watching everyone, trying to figure out where to begin training and whether it'd do any good at all.

She didn't seem to be busy and she didn't look threatening and he hadn't spoken to anyone since that morning, having not found the Initiate like he had meant to.

Plastering on a smile that he didn't quite feel (the dread of the upcoming Arena was starting to really catch up to him), Jay approached Lottie.

"Morning, darling! Can't decide where to start?"

[needsaprince]

She flashed a quick, broad smile back at him. A completely fake one, but it would work for now.

"I've never been too great at this whole training thing."

Which wasn't entirely true. She could now tie knots, start fires, and generally avoid poison things. She just never seemed to get any stronger.

[amourtician]

Jay smiles again. This time, it's more genuinely and even slightly sympathetic. He's very relieved to see someone who's not atrociously hypercompetent and willing to admit it.

"Ah, well. Neither have I, dearest. Really, I don't know why they pulled me into this whole deathmatch business at all," he smiles again and winks "I mean, do I look like a latter-day gladiator?"

[needsaprince]

Well, Lottie was easily charmed already. Anyone so well spoken had to be good to rub elbows with.

At least anyone who wasn't a Capitol citizen.

"You can join the woefully incompetent warriors club. We meet on Tuesdays."

It was a joke. But not a bad idea.

[amourtician]

Jay laughs, covering his mouth. His eyes sparkle with genuine amusement.

"Will there be tea? And biscuits, of course! Maybe we can discuss non-lethal methods of disposing of the ... ah. Distastefully competitive? Or lethal but non-violent ones. We could swap notes on poisonous plants!"

He beams, clearly pleased with his riffing on Lottie's joke. She looks a great deal more like the sort of people Raimut ran with than most other Tributes. Familiar ground. Familiar-ish. Jay never did much talking by himself, taking a strictly ornamental role at Raimut's society parties.

[needsaprince]

"The accidental intentional kill list. It is a club secret."

She giggled herself, hiding her mouth before her still well manicured hands. It was always nice to find like minded company.

"I'm Charlotte, by the way. But most people 'round here just call me Lottie."

[amourtician]

Jay smiled and bowed, proper Tulun fashion, from the waist, the first time in a long time he felt like extending such niceties to anyone. It's surprisingly nice to just joke around with someone like this, and make them laugh. It reminds him of the days when he and his sister got on.

"Charmed, dearest! I'm Jay. I came in just as the last Arena was wrapping up. Glad to have missed it, really."

He grimaced. The dragon had featured in a couple of dreams not disturbing enough to be called nightmares but unsettling enough to stick in his mind.

[needsaprince]

"You...didn't miss much."

She grimaced at the thought, before shaking her head dismissively. No clouds here. Not today.

"Then again, the same could be said for most arenas."

[amourtician]

"Mmm, yes. I'm afraid I'm not ... ah. The fighting type."

Jay cocks his head to the side, contemplating Lottie. He's not a great judge of character (and he knows it), but she seems harmless. Trustworthy, perhaps.

"You'd think they'd send back people who don't seem to ... ah. Be suitable for gladiatorial combat. Neither of us would be very entertaining in a fight, would we? Unless one likes one-sided slaughter."

[needsaprince]

"I think they might. Or they like rooting for underdog, maybe? Or to see how long we can make it."

All of them, pretty awful options, in Lottie's opinion, when you were discussing people and not race horses.

"They want variety. We provide it."

She had figured out this much of the system, at least.

[amourtician]

Jay smirks at that, but there's not much venom in it. At least, none that's aimed at Lottie. It's not a comforting thought, to be the spice of someone else's bloodsport.

"Well, that I can give them," he says, trying to sound winning and eager. Some bitterness -- whether or not Lottie picks up on it -- does slip through, however.

[needsaprince]

"it's really the best some of us can hope for. Be interesting enough, get enough sponsors to stay comfortable, and hope for some...trick of fate."

She let out a strange little laugh.

"Do you know, in my first arena, I was top three? I almost made it out."

[amourtician]

"Really?" Jay says, looking at Lottie with sudden respect. "That takes some doing, darling, even with astronomical luck."

Maybe Lottie can be a valuable ally. Who would've thought? He was talking to her because she looked like his kind of person, a potential kindred spirit. Future (or current) arm ornament.

[needsaprince]

She shrugged, blushing a little.

"I wish I knew what it was that I was doing. But look at Momoko."

Lottie wasn't sure if joining Momoko was still her goal, but it gave her comfort to know the other woman had made it, while being made of similar stuff as Lottie herself.

[amourtician]

"Oh? I'm not familiar with the name, darling," Jay said, leaning in. "I really thought only the very brutal would survive this sort of thing."

It's been a relief to find that wasn't necessarily the case. Maybe he won't have to die. Just maybe.

[needsaprince]

"Momoko is a friend of mine. And she is...much more geared towards are speed. She won, not too long ago."

She sighed, dreamily, before suddenly perking up.

"Oh, my dear..." She glanced at her device. "I am late. We'll have to chat some time later? It was lovely to meet you!"

[amourtician]

"Same to you, darling," Jay said, bowing to her. "I hope we'll both survive the Arena, one way or another."