[OPEN] What a day, what a night.

[shinyisfalse]

Who| Peeta and OPEN (and two threads closed for things)
What| Group meetings for damage control, a little break, and some fun.
Where| District 12 suites, Training Center lobby, and the roof.
When| The day after the interviews aired.
Warnings/Notes| Language, some cuteness. One thread is for the District 12 mentor/escort/stylist team, one thread is for Peeta and Katniss, and the other is open for anyone!

[District 12 Team]
Oh man, the interviews last night. Everything had been clearly doctored, words taken out of context and some awful pictures thrown in to make it all look like the Tributes knew what they were talking about. But while the Capitol citizens must have had a field day with it, the District teams knew there was some damage control that needed to be done. Especially for District Twelve. There were a bunch of little supposed cannibals running around, and at least one of them was theirs. There were people shown in ways that they shouldn't be, some who might not be as bloodthirsty as they were shown, or maybe not as meek. Whatever it was, though, the team could fix it. They could do this. That's why they were all sitting around the table, after making sure the other Tributes weren't around.

"So, last night was... interesting," Peeta started them off.


[Peeta and Katniss]
Once upon a time... wasn't that how all good stories went? Well, once upon a time, these two knew the other existed, but had never talked. Then they were almost killed, but they survived. Then they had to do whatever they could to survive. It always came back to survival, didn't it? Having yourself survive, having the other survive, having your family and friends survive. They always had to look happy, deliriously happy, even, at parties and in large groups. But they were happy, in their own way. There wasn't the chill that had been there before the Victory Tour, because now they were friends. Good friends, even. Good friends who helped each other out at night, trying desperately to keep away the nightmares, and not even caring about how scandalous (and adorable) their prep teams thought about it.

But ever since his talk with R, Peeta had been thinking. What was romance? How did you do it? Did you sing to someone (Peeta couldn't sing). Did you get them flowers (Peeta thought it was weird, having to buy flowers). What did you do? He thought that being with her, sitting outside on the roof, and looking up at the night sky was... well... pretty relaxing, if not romantic.

"This is nice. We haven't gotten to sit and talk in awhile."


[Open to everyone! Roof, lobby, District 12 suites]
The light of day always brought new ideas to light. Night was scary. There were too many dreams, too many things to think about as you lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, looking at the window, or hiding your head under a pillow. The softest beds and the silkiest sheets couldn't help you fall asleep, sometimes, and with your mind running wild, who wanted to lie still? But day was nice. Even on a cloudy day, the light illuminated everything, and everyone. Sure, the Capitol citizens didn't really need any illumination, but it was better to see them then to see their faces creepily illuminated by shadows.

Peeta didn't want to think about the Capitol right now. No, he wanted to have a reasonably relaxing day. He wanted to talk to people, especially the new Tributes, if any of them were around the lobby. He wanted to sketch people; all of the people. He wanted a book filled with everyone's faces, in case some of them never came back. He wanted to talk to the people he had to mentor; he wanted to know their names, their hobbies, their ideas, their friends.

And he wanted to play catch with someone on the roof. Really, that force field and a couple of pieces of fruit was one of the more entertaining things this city had to offer.

Comments

District 12 Team

[shinyisfalse]

[Peeta, Cinna, Katniss, Effie? Or whatever!]

[mannersmatter]

Effie has spent most of last night doing as much damage control as she possibly could.

She had no idea though, if it was enough. Which was why she'd called their whole team here to discuss this. This whole matter was, well, awful.

"How could they put people with...with those habits on our team, without even giving us a head up?!"

((OOC-I'll have Katniss tag after Cinna and Peeta get a chance))

[setfires]

"I don't think it's an entirely accurate description of the facts," Cinna replied easily. "You know how people over blow things to make a point."

[shinyisfalse]

"From what I understand, the trolls don't actually eat people," Peeta scratched the side of his head with a little smile. "Besides, being a different species, they'd be cannibals if they ate each other, right?"

That's what he gathered, anyway. Plus, he'd spoken to their district troll, Signless, and that guy wasn't having anything to do with killing. So, no killing and eating people. It went hand in hand.

[inciting]

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure were not in any immediate danger."

She pressed a fist to her mouth, to keep the smile of her face, though she couldn't help seeking out Cinna and Peeta's eyes.

"We just need to convince the Capitol of that."

[mannersmatter]

"Are you all absolutely sure of that?"

It was a relief to here. But Effie wasn't going to take any chances with this. It was rather important."

[setfires]

"Yes," Cinna reassured her. He was still sitting back observing them more than actively participating, but he could at least explain this to them all. "There are Tributes who do eat people, but the trolls are not among them."

Peeta and Katniss

[shinyisfalse]

I can read.

[inciting]

"We probably won't get to much soon, either."

She leaned against one of the walls, letting her head thump back against the stone as she looked out over the city.

Maybe the roof wasn't exactly the same anymore, but it still held good memories. Well, maybe good was a stretch. But memories of the first time she and Peeta had talked. And not matter what angle was pushed on them, it was obvious now he was someone important in her life.

<333

[shinyisfalse]

Peeta was slightly perched close to the edge, as close as you could get with the force field still there, of course. He was still opting to look up at the sky, rather then look out over the city. He wanted to see if he could see a star or two.

Maybe not the right night for it. "They've been keeping us busy," Peeta agreed. "I don't know how many more 'original' parties we're going to have to go to soon, and that's along with mentoring these tributes. Getting sponsors." He did miss Haymitch, but even moreso now; at least he knew how to go about this. Peeta didn't think it was as simple as going 'Hey there can you pay for some water for this guy? Thanks'.

[inciting]

"Fun, fun, fun!"

She snorted, shaking her head.

"I understand how Haymitch got the way he was. And we're gonna have 25 games under our belt way soon enough." Sighing, she followed Peeta's gaze out over the city. At least they didn't have to watch their friends reaped, train them how to die. Then their friend's siblings. Then their friend's children.

It was a small comfort, but one she held tight too.

[shinyisfalse]

"Yeah, I understand that, too." It was something that he'd gotten before the Victory Tour. Yes, the idea had made itself known beforehand, but when you're getting reaped, then fighting to survive, then lost in a fantasy, well. It was easy to get distracted from it all, wasn't it? Just a little?

And the guilt continued to pile up. "Twenty-five games in a little over two years, give or take. If we want to catch up to him, we better start drinking now." It was easy to joke about Haymitch, even if it wasn't in a joking tone. Easier then thinking about how many lives they were ruining right now.

It was sick. It was really sick, because yes, it was a good thing that no one in the districts had to worry anymore. Peeta would never say otherwise. But these people were yanked from their homes without any idea of why, and that's what Peeta hated the most. At least the District kids knew what to expect.

[inciting]

She chuckled, the dry, humorless chuckle that went along with dry, humorless jokes.

Stretching her legs out in front of her, she nudged her toes against his leg.

"Hey. At least we aren't going at this alone, right?"

Even though they were still new to this, compared to other mentors, she was thankful to have him here. He was so much better at people than she was. Knowing how they ticked, what to say. Haymitch might be able to help, but she didn't feel so lost now.

Lobby

[likewhatilike]

Mickey is pretty sure that this guy is staring at him and it's getting on his last nerve. He's not some circus animal or whatever. Honestly he wants to ignore it and move on but Mickey was never that good at avoiding confrontation.

"The fuck you lookin' at?"

Re: Lobby

[shinyisfalse]

Peeta looked up from where he was sitting, a charcoal pencil in hand. He had been looking around, and had started sketching faces. Faces always took time, though hands took the longest. But he had a lot of pages with faces in them right now.

"I'm sorry, I was looking at you so I could work on some sketches," Peeta replied easily. He set the pencil down on the paper, wiping any of it on the side of his pants and holding his hand out.

"I'm Peeta."

[likewhatilike]

He looks down at Peeta's hand and scowls at it. People actually shook hands when they introduced themselves? All he can think of is that it seems like a really easy way to get yourself stabbed.

"Should I care?"

[shinyisfalse]

The longer he looked at his hand, the slower he retracted it as he shook his head. "No, probably not. I just thought, since you seemed worried, I'd introduce myself. You know, to show you that I didn't mean to do you any harm. I can rip up the drawing, if you'd like."

[likewhatilike]

"Do whatever the fuck you want, usually when people stare at me like that they're gonna jump me or some shit."

He thinks art is pretty gay and therefore will stay away from it, a pretty simple thought process for him.

[shinyisfalse]

Peeta had to laugh at that. It wasn't really funny, the way he said it, but really. It was hilarious.

"Trust me on this, the people staring at you here? Aren't going to jump you. They might ask for your autograph, or to take a picture with you, but they're not going to hurt you in any way. Same can't be said for when you're in the arena, though, obviously."

Roof - catch is a go

[retrieverchef]

Eliot was relaxing for a bit before he had to go back down and let Valeria dress him up for tonight's date. He'd developed a fondness for the rooftop garden. Too bad this city had no real plant shops. It'd be a great place to raise some vegetables.

yesssssssssss

[shinyisfalse]

The city didn't have a lot of things that were taken for granted back home. Much like the people here had things they took for granted that people would be grateful for back home. But when Peeta thought about how you could buy flowers...

He loved it up here. Peeta was sitting on the side, up against the wall with a couple of oranges and apples near him that didn't look like they had been considered for eating. "Hey!" He gave a little wave; it was that guy who played football with them, right? Football-ish, anyway.

[retrieverchef]

Eliot hadn't expected anyone to be up here until he'd gone. It was part of why he'd picked the roof instead of his suite. The voice was young, though, and not as familiar as his district mates'. He looked up and smiled at the boy. "Hey. Peeta, right?"

[shinyisfalse]

"Yeah, Peeta," He replied, giving a nod. "And you're...Eliot? You're Chris' friend, we played some of that ball game together." Knowing who it was, he went back to relaxing against the ledge and the wall.

"It's really peaceful up here, especially once it gets a little darker out. Only District 12 got to use the roof before. I think. I'm not sure on that, I just know I'd never saw anyone from another district up here when we were," He picked up an apple, tossing it between his hands. "I love it here."

[retrieverchef]

Eliot nodded. "Yeah. That's me."

He gave a hum of agreement. "Best place in the city. As private as it gets around here." Which was why he found his way there whenever he got a chance. "The most like somewhere back home."

[shinyisfalse]

"It's pretty secluded," Peeta agreed, looking down at the apple. "And the view is great. We don't have anything this big back home. This tall, I mean. You can see all of the Capitol from here."

He paused, grinning sheepishly. "Okay, maybe not all of it, but a lot of it. So what's your home like, then? Private and full of gardens?"