Call It What It Is [Open]

[earthborn]

Who| Shepard and Anyone who crosses her path
What| Various things in and around the Capitol
Where| See the following options
When| Both before the reveal re: the "Gas Leak" and before the actual event portion of the event gets underway
Warnings/Notes| Probably cussing, violence, and reference to violence

♦ The Training Center:

Shepard has made a terrible habit of confrontation throughout her life, and it's earned her more than one broken bone. As it stands, she does tend to lie around insulting people a lot, and while ordinarily she exhibited that hobby by lounging at the edge of the sparring ring and mocking her fellow tributes, she wasn't feeling that playful today. No, today finds her with the punching bag, sweating and thinking, remembering another time, older days, with a friend now far beyond her.

…Also this is the second bag, she's already destroyed the first. Look, there it is, bust seams and leaking sand, just to the side. You feelin' lucky, punk?

♦ Out And About:

The nicest thing about being a bloodthirsty bitch was that when they paid you afterward, they paid you well. And that meant that when you wanted to sit on a public park bench and pull directly from the bottle, no one could stop you. No one.

But it was a nice evening, and a pleasant vintage, and anyways if these Capitol idiots had a problem, they could cross the street to avoid it, like good little patricians. She didn't have time for it. Besides, thanks to Cerberus, it'd take more than this to put her over the limit, however loose her personal standards for such a limit might be.

♦ The Gas Leak:

If anything had prepared her for the utter two-facedness of every living creature in the galaxy, known or unknown, it had been her work as a Spectre. And here, she was both pleased and chagrined to discover, was no different. But of course it was no surprise that the kind of people who achieved prominence in a society that felt blood sport was an acceptable substitute for war-debt reparations were less than honest to those over whom they held power. It was just so damn tiring, after all this time.

"Just once, I'd like to have someone screw up, and then just fix their own damn problem," she muttered, watching the grainy security footage for the third time. It was the same as the rest; a loose formation of peacekeepers, a black shadow, and then it was over almost before it had begun, and all that was left was blood and corpses. Given the circumstances, they should probably consider themselves lucky the damn things hadn't taken them alive, not that she would call that 'luck'.

If anyone wants to approach her about this, she is the picture of an open-door policy, spread out in one corner of the tribute center's main commons room.

Comments

[celebrityskinned]

"Boo, gloating's for whores," Venus says, rolling her eyes. She loops one leg over the back of the bench, then both, sliding onto her butt on the seat in a manner that manages to be both graceful and childish. She crosses her legs in a way that would be ladylike if she weren't doing so to show off the slit in her short skirt. "We both get a round two, so who's keeping score?"

Venus is, of course, but not in personal terms. She's just figuring out which strengths to play to, which people to watch out for.

"I mean, I feel a little bad, eensy bit bad, about mowing my way through the Arena, but everyone I killed came back so it's not that bad." She makes a 'small bit' gesture with her hands. "Come on, there's a bar that way. You can pick your poison."

[earthborn]

Shepard snorts at that, and allows the invasion of personal space. Having known a few whores in her time, she's unlikely to defend their dubious honor against claims of ego. They were long beyond caring, now.

Fine, then; we'll play a game.

"You're full of shit, and you're not sorry," It's almost a compliment, drawled like that, lazy and drunk. There's no booze on this planet that can take her down; no batarian liquor, or radioactive Krogan ryncol, "Does that make this an apology?"

[celebrityskinned]

Venus knows not to take offense where it isn't meant. She's still new to this 'actually processing alcohol' bit, rather than just disintegrating it in the dark matter she calls a body, so she fully intends to order something virgin.

Hah, hah.

"Sure. Sorry I bashed your brains in." She pauses, then smirks. "Must've been a lot going through your mind at that moment."

[earthborn]

"Actually, I was just trying not to pass out. Unamplified biotics are...not generally recommended."

Shepard considered the offer, the whole of Venus with a wary eye. It was fiction, all of it, from her demeanor to her action. If she wasn't ten lies atop a half-truth in the shape of a person, then Shepard was a much poorer judge of character than she thought she was. But then, so had everyone been, at one time or another. Hell, she'd allied with worse— and more, when you got down to it.

So she thought about it, then smirked offered the bottle, "Cut you a deal. I drink. You drink. Your generosity only gets to last as long as you do. After that, we'll just see how we feel."

[celebrityskinned]

"It was a joke. You know, because the shank went through your brain. 'Lot going through your mind'?" Venus shrugs it off, tilting her head to the side in a carefree manner.

"Fine. You have to carry me home, though, and you're cutting yourself short. I'm a lightweight."

[earthborn]

"Everybody has to start somewhere," Shepard levered herself off the bench and stretched, rotating the shoulder that had always seemed to ache, after Cerberus. Not so bad, really; she'd had worse drinks and walked away. Hell, there was that one time...

Focus, Shepard. Ah yes, to the bars; she set off at an easy amble.

"And uh, Venus? It was shitty joke. If you're going to make puns about me dying, you need to come up to the minimum standard already set before your time."

[celebrityskinned]

"Hey, I don't need to be clever. I just need to be endearing." She waggles both shoulders and pouts, tapping her foot slightly. "I'm a superhero, not a comedian."

They don't love her for her brain. Venus is well aware of that, and it soothes the knowledge that she's not a genius. Not stupid, no, but...average. Average in a world of people above that.

But that's only mentally.