Still like a child lost in the wood

[alonelikeme]

Who| Cosette and YOU
What| Cosette just arrived and is just kind of... wandering and exploring.
Where| Pretty much anywhere.
When| Just after arriving!
Warnings/Notes| None, but will be updated as things come up.

Cosette wasn't sure how to take any of this, to be perfectly honest. She'd blame it on being all a very detailed dream, but even she didn't believe her imagination to come up with such strange things. She felt lost and alone, two things she hadn't imagined capable after so long a time with her father and in his care. She had not been entirely pleased with him, mind you, after his insistence that they leave for their safety... But that hardly mattered now. She did leave. Without him, it would seem... and not for somewhere safer, but somewhere far more dangerous. She was expected to fight. To die.

She made her way from the 8th floor in a kind of a haze, not entirely sure of where she was going or what she was doing. All she knew was that she didn't particularly feel like being cooped up in yet another room. She'd had plenty of that in her life as it was. Still, idly she thought of Marius and what he may be doing currently, unaware that she had not left for London, but for another place entirely. Of her father, who must be stricken with grief and worry. She thought of the square card they'd given her and explained it as a "credit card", of the map of the city, of the communication device that she had no idea how to use... But perhaps she should give it a try.

Once she found her bearings... Once she broke from her trance and accepted this for what it was, or at least until she found a way to anchor herself to the reality of this place. It wouldn't do to withdraw and submit to what they wanted of her... The strong would survive and the weak perish.

Comments

[polyturtle]

They replaced Lottie.

Don knew it would only be a matter of time - how could they not? She'd been useful, for a time, but expendable. As they all were, in the end. And now, there was a new Lottie. Timid, frightened, clearly out of her depth in the Capitol.

How funny. She was even blonde and blue-eyed.

And yet Don felt little compassion for her. Why should he, when compassion for the defenseless had been pointless? It paved the way for Ariadne's death. Momoko had all but disappeared. And Lottie wasn't brought back.

So, to the wandering Cosette, this creature, this thing in the Training Center hallway, was hardly someone who could comfort her. Of course, he'd answer her questions. Of course, he'd explain why she was here.

But he could make no more promises for her beyond that.

[alonelikeme]

Cosette had noticed there were many strange things in this place. Rather... there was little that wasn't strange. But this was among the stranger she'd come across. She tried not to stare at the-- was that a turtle?-- as she passed him, but that wasn't the easiest thing to do.

She wasn't looking for compassion. She wasn't looking for sympathy. Despite how frightened and timid she might appear.... she wasn't looking for anyone to feel bad for her. "Pardonnez-moi... Might I ask you a question?"

[polyturtle]

Yes, Cosette. He was a turtle. A larger than usual one, but...still a turtle. And he stopped at her words, for a moment, as if debating whether it was even worth it to open up any kind of discussion. It...wasn't really, but...

"...Yes." He turned around to face her, his face as expressionless as he could make it. "What is it?"

[alonelikeme]

Forgive her, she's not used to walking, talking turtles. Pressing her lips together for a moment, she debated which question would be the best to ask. Which would make the most sense in the long run?

"How long have you been stuck here?"

Well, she was very curious about it. And it would give her a clue of whether or not he was open to further discussion or if she should just leave things at that.

[polyturtle]

"Long enough."

The best answer, really. It had been over a year, several lifetimes, perhaps. But that was the best answer.

"Its best you expect to be here as well, as long as they think you worth it."

[69problems]

It was so strange to the Signless, this sudden influx of new faces. Every time he left the District 12 suites to wander around the building he'd pass someone new. This one in particular seemed lost and a little uncertain, and for the thousandth time he felt a stab of righteous indignation at the Capitol's apparent love for kidnapping primarily those who weren't suited to what they were being forced into.

"Hello. I haven't seen you before, are you new?"

Between the yellow and red eyes, the grey skin, the dull triangular teeth and the horns, he probably doesn't exactly present the most welcoming appearance to someone not used to non-humans.

[alonelikeme]

This was the first person to speak to her... To acknowledge she existed. She wasn't particularly bothered by this, but she was a little concerned by the way this person looked. As if seeing a turtle person wasn't weird enough. Cosette tried not to stare as he spoke and instead smiled slowly, a little reserved, before nodding. "Is it that apparent? I'm afraid so, yes."

Manners were still important, even if she knew nothing of this place.

[69problems]

"I would have seen you before, otherwise. There's only so many of us, so you learn names and put them to faces quickly." He held out a hand, something he'd learned since coming here was a common human greeting gesture. "My name is Signless."

Really, it's a title, but trolls go exclusively by titles as adults and he's found it's far less confusing for humans if he just calls it a name.

[alonelikeme]

"Oh... that makes sense."

Cosette glanced at his hand and accepted it in an older fashioned way than he had probably experienced so far. Giving it a light squeeze, she curtsied before standing and releasing it again. "I am called Cosette. It's lovely to make your acquaintance."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

For a few floors, a scrawny, shifty little shadow follows Cosette along. Howard's convinced his stylists to continue letting him wear natural tones that keep him from standing out (for a while they insisted lemon-yellow worked with his skin tone, and the last thing he wants to do is go around in an outfit that looks like it's made from caution tape). He's managed to put enough weight back on that he merely looks runtish instead of starved, although the fact that he has a cold right now doesn't make him look to be too healthy. There's a tribble in his pocket that emits occasional quiet purrs.

As is his tendency, he's keeping his eye on the new Tributes, trying to decide if they're a threat or not. This blonde girl has come in, looking stunned and confused, baffled by the technology, and Howard tags along in the shadows to try and see if this is a ruse of hers to look non-threatening or if she really isn't a competitor.

When an opportune moment comes up, in a swell of crowd, Howard does the polite thing to welcome fresh meat to the Capitol: he brushes by and tries to frisk her pockets for a wallet or coin to palm.

[alonelikeme]

Cosette passed off her uneasy feeling as the surroundings, not that she had someone following her. Perhaps that was too naive of her. Unfortunately for Howard, she was currently holding the few things she was provided with in her hands.

Overwhelmed, however, by the large crowd, Cosette stops where she is to look around and gather her bearings. She doesn't even know where she had been planning on heading, but now she has to figure it out. Turning to head in a different way just as her shadow decided to get closer, she nearly bumped into him. Wide eyed, she smiled softly and murmured a quick apology.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard pauses in that split second of bumping into her with his hand splayed on the things on her arms, on her belongings. Caught. The light glints off the cuff around his wrist that marks him as a troublemaker.

Immediately, rather than waiting to see if Cosette noticed that he's trying to feel her up for carriables, he goes on the defensive.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Her smile speaks to goodheartedness, and that smells like weakness to him, so his tone is as vicious as hers is gentle.

[alonelikeme]

Cosette's gaze flicked to the cuff on his wrist briefly, but didn't linger. She glanced back at him, brow furrowing as her smile faded. There was no reason for him to be as upset at he was when she had hardly bumped into him.

"I'll be more careful next time," she replied softly. "Neither of us were harmed, though, so there's no reason to take such a tone with me."

[gardienne]

Eponine was a few steps below Cosette as she made her way up to the District Eight rooms. At a loss of what to do with herself, Eponine had decided to go and see Sigma, to see if he would let her play with his cat. Dressed in skinny jeans that showed off her long, slim legs, and a pretty blouse, with her hair combed and braided back in two fat plaits, she was a far cry from the beggar girl Cosette had last seen in Paris.

But Eponine recognised Cosette even from behind - that long blonde hair, her petite, feminine figure - even the way she moved - yes, Eponine recognised her immediately.

She stopped short on the stairs, watching Cosette travel upwards. Why was she here? Why - out of everybody -
Her presence would mean that Marius would never even look at Eponine again.

Her heart sank - and the bounce that had been on her step at the thought of playing with Nye for the afternoon left her immediately With a heavy heart, she moved closer to the wall, pressing herself against it, and followed Cosette up the stairs.

[alonelikeme]

Although a stylist had changed her when she first arrived, Cosette (in a fit of rebellion) put her day dress back on. She left her bonnet back in her room, realizing that it might have gained her too much attention that she didn't want, but otherwise looked little different from Paris. Well... Her hair was curled in a style that was more normal here than it was back home.

But even after wandering for however long she had, she grew tired of it. Overwhelmed. She longed for the comfort that even the foreign room could grant her. She was completely oblivious to anyone following her currently, chalking it up to a busy staircase. Why would she imagine anyone finding her interesting enough to follow anyways?

[gardienne]

It had to be her. Slowly, always a few steps behind, Eponine stole after Cosette. Her costume might be different, but her gait, the way she hunched her shoulders as she walked, the way she kept her fisted hands thrust tight to her sides - that was all the same. But perhaps Cosette hadn't noticed her mannerisms in Paris.

Oh, why was she here? She had ruined everything. Eponine thought mournfully of her plan to ensnare Marius - now even Cosette had ruined that. Eponine could rip the very hair from Cosette's head - but no. No, of course no. What good would that do? She had to just accept it. She'd be on her own forever.

Still, she followed Cosette. She'd liked that gown when she saw it on Cosette in Paris, had thought enviously of it whilst she hugged her own soaked rags about her. And still, that jealousy flared when she saw Cosette in it now. She had asked again and again for a dress like that - just one. And even here, that had been denied. Always, they wanted to show off her legs or her tiny waist. And here was Cosette, allowed to wear it. It wasn't fair.

"Oh what the hell?" She muttered to herself, thoroughly fed up, thoroughly annoyed. There was no point thinking on it, the dress. No point dwelling on everything that Cosette had - that she would still have even in the Capitol - that Eponine could only dream of.

She sighed, and continued to trudge up the stairs behind Cosette, watching the trailing hem of the girl's dress.

[alonelikeme]

Cosette didn't pause until she heard the voice, the soft comment that she wasn't sure was meant for her or no one in particular. She turned to glance behind her, tucking off to the side as soon as she realized the girl behind her. "My apologies, I hope I wasn't in your way."

There was something vaguely familiar about the girl, who had to be her age, but she couldn't really place it. And it could just be her nerves or anxiety about this place, looking for some sort of familiarity when there was little to be had.

violently breaks hiatus!!

[saisamour]

There had been an unsettling feeling in Marius's gut that refused to leave no matter how much he had attempted to push it away the entire day. He had wandered around the Capitol, read through several senseless and highly confusing magazines at shops, even spent some time at the training grounds although he never as much as touched a weapon inside there, all as a means to distract himself. And still even now, as the sun began to set and painted the world in hues of red and orange and yellow, the restlessness had yet to cease.

So he allowed his feet to lead himself to the place where he always found rest and peace and daydreams of nights bright with starlight and moonbeams and her smile: the quiet, tiny garden by the Tribute Tower.

But his footsteps came to an abrupt stop as he spotted someone else occupying the gardens. It was not the first time someone had been there before him, of course, but there was something about this lady that made his heart simultaneously leap in his chest and sink to the pit of his stomach. He stared for a moment with wide eyes that wandered from her hair, yellow strands that turned gold to the touch of the late afternoon sunlight filtering through the leaves of the cherry blossom tree, to the light pink of her cheeks and the rose of her lips that had once touched his, back in a wild and untamed garden worlds and centuries away from here. The lingering fear in him that had taken root ever since he first realized that he spoke her name aloud in the Arena abruptly swelled within him. It felt as if his heart was about to explode in his chest, and yet even then he was inexplicably drawn to her, like she was calling out to him even if she had yet to turn to him or speak his name.

And so, hesitantly, he took a step inside the garden, large, disbelieving eyes fixed on her, and he was not certain whether he was afraid that she was merely a vision, or that she was real.

"C-Cosette?"

!!!! <3

[alonelikeme]

Cosette had given pause to her explorations, it was all becoming a little too much. The gardens were lovely enough, something familiar in a place so strange, and they calmed her when she spent her time there. Much like the gardens back home, really.

Sitting with her back turned to the tower, Cosette fiddled idly with the communication device that had been handed to her, as she struggled to figure out just how to use it. For a moment, she believed that she was hearing things. Her name, to be precise. Blinking at the device, it took her a moment to determine that: yes, it had been her name. And yes, it had been that very voice she didn't dare imagine to hear again.

Turning to face him, her own eyes were as wide and disbelieving as his and she found it hard to find her voice for a moment or several. When she finally did, she managed in a tone just barely above a whisper: "Marius?"

[saisamour]

Marius likewise held his wide-eyed stare; perhaps she was merely an apparition, a blink and she will be gone, or one of the Capitol's perverse tricks—it would not be the first time, him having have heard one of the stranger beasts in the last Arena scream in a terrified voice that was a perfect replica of hers. He would even have compliantly accepted that he was going mad than the truth that she was anything more than a hallucination.

But then she whispered his name in with that voice that in any other place, in any other world, would have caused him unbounded bliss, yet at present only made a cold chill run up his spine and the panic and dread in him to swell even more. Knees suddenly weak, he staggered towards her, forcing himself past the myriad of plants and flowers from all corners of the world, cherry blossoms and yellow tulips and maple trees that were perpetually in full bloom, until he was a mere couple of feet away.

His lower lip trembled when he opened his mouth to speak so he forcefully bit on it, hard enough to almost draw blood, and yet it did not wake him; he was still right here, standing before her, an angel in the midst of a hell disguised in excesses and lavish parties and blinding lights.

"Is... Is it truly you, Cosette?" There was a slight tremble in his voice, caused by both fear and a slowly rising anger towards the Capitol and their mind games. He balled his shaking hands into fists, the light catching a cuff on one of his wrists. She cannot be real. She simply cannot be here!

[alonelikeme]

They both stared as though they had not seen the other before. Cosette had no clue what this place was capable of, so her doubts weren't as strong as Marius'. Still, it seemed too good to be true that he was there as well. Yet here he was, rushing towards her, feet away from her with hands fisted at his sides and the most petrified look she'd seen him possess.

"It is... I had not... I did not believe that I would see you again."

It was a quiet confession, but with it she was abandoning her things on the bench beside her and standing to quickly close the distance between them. One hand covered his to coax it from the fist, her other finding his cheek. She needed the reassurance that it was him. That he was here. And with that assurance, her eyes welled with tears that she refused to let fall.

[orestes]

Enjolras didn't make a habit of wandering idly. His day began promptly and was spent between the tribute residence and the library, with a limited amount of time shoved somewhere in there for meals and breaks in his studies to digest the information and make sense of it. In Paris his friends had joked at that he would hardly have noticed the changing of the seasons were it not for the progression of classes and he found that the more time he spent in Panem with its idyllic city and the general lack of direction forced upon him, there was truth to that sentiment.

Idle wandering he did not, as a general rule, do, but there were moments during which he was so lost in contemplation that his leisurely trek from the library to the tower and back might have been mistaken for an idle stroll. It was during one of those moments that he crashed, practically headlong, into the small form of Cosette. The three books which had, seconds go, been tucked carefully under his arm, and the bundle of papers, notes scribbled across them in a perfect hand crashed and fluttered respectively to the ground. He turned, somewhat wild-eyed to verify her condition. He didn't have the money to replace the books if they had, in fact, been damaged, but they were of less consequence than what his thoughtlessness might have inflicted upon this woman.

"My apologies, Mademoiselle. Are you alright?" There was a polite reservation to his tone, marking it quite transparently as courteous, but not overly interested or even friendly.

[alonelikeme]

Cosette had been off in her own world, thinking about everything and nothing all at once. When she bumped into the man, she let out a quiet sound as she stumbled back a few paces. Her fingers gripped tighter to the items in her hands as she looked at him wide-eyed. As he addressed her, she soften and smiled just a bit before nodding. "I am, monsieur, oui. Let me help with those."

Without waiting for him to agree, she knelt down to help with the scattered papers and books, setting her own things aside so she could easier gather what he dropped.

[orestes]

An argument against her actions quickly died on his lips, and he gratefully accepted the help. Clearly, he wouldn't be given the chance to truly express any protest. He had nothing against the help in and of itself, but it wasn't right to make a woman attend to things of which he was more than capable and which were, in all actuality, his fault. The small assortment of books and papers was quickly enough gathered between them, and Enjolras found himself for the first time with an opportunity to get a good look at his small and unassuming victim.

"Thank you, Mademoiselle. And again, you have my sincerest apologies. Too much abstract study tends to render the more practical senses nigh useless." He resisted the urge to wince at his attempts at smalltalk. The stylists and escorts and other members of his District mandated entourage insisted upon its importance and yet, it inevitable felt foreign to him. Why pretend to have a conversation when you had nothing to say? With a certain stiffness largely due to his own embarrassment at the incident and its perpetuation through the necessity of the conversation, he drew himself up, his expression changing from one of passive surprise, to one that bordered on disdain.

[alonelikeme]

When Cosette intended to help, nothing would change her mind. So if he had wasted his breath arguing with her, she would have ignored it or argued back. She could tell that he did not care to further the conversation, however her curiosity got the better of her. So with a small smile, she she rose and smoothed out her gown again. "Hardly useless at all, monsieur. The mind may be our greatest weapon of all, though studying so much may distract it only makes one more powerful in the end."

She glanced at the books and papers, then back up at him. "Might I inquire to what abstract thought you are studying? If it isn't too bold of me, that is."