thecapitol | (no subject)

(no subject)

Who| Everyone
What| A chance for the teams to meet, mingle, and, lets be honest, for goodbyes to be said.
Where| The common area.
When| Evening before the attack, about a day after Creuntus' network announcement.
Warnings/Notes| Time is going to be a little ~~more~~ wonky then normal, if you haven't noticed. They will be going out to attack "tomorrow" but that thread will not, likely, be posted tomorrow, to give people time to play in this one, etc.

There is food and drink, plenty of it, but no decoration, and it is clear this "party" is no sort of celebration. There is the small spattering of Peacekeepers still in the Capitol, those not on duty at the edge of the boundary.

A long table at the front has a set up for each team. Everyone has a folder with who is in their team, who is watching their team, a list of the various weapons they will have. On the list is a flame thrower, a handful of small explosives, and an automatic weapon for each team member. There are no weapons laid out for the Tributes to handle, however - those were waiting for them elsewhere, for when the mission truly started. Nor does the folder mention that the weapons all switch off outside of the combat area, but it's also not a secret, or a surprise.

Each folder also includes the rather useless stats and images they have of the creatures-the photos are blurry, the stats mainly stack up to "they are very deadly" and a collection of the various bits of information put forth by other tributes who seem to know more then the Capitol. Last, a detailed map of both the neighborhood, and the tunnels for them to study.

Another table has folders for the intel, with much of the same information. Last, a third table is set up for those that are staying at home. Those folders contain some basic first aid information, and a list with what sort of basic medical supplies and food stuff is in the training center.

Each table set up has an Avox or two to hand out the folders. Creuntus is no where to be seen, and you would be lucky to catch any of her team. She knows where she doesn't want to be. The furniture has been dragged to facilitate the conversation of small to medium sized groups. Say, about the size of a team and their Intel.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Because. It's complicated." Too complicated, if you ask her. She takes a deep breath, tries to coax back her good humor. There no need to be acting like she's still in schoolhive. It's not even that big of a deal, right?

She turns back to him. "He's not my hate-date or whatever. It's how we've always been. Sort of. It's not exactly unusual; it's just never been this bad before." Not even after SGRUB, when everything was going to hell.

"He's just..." Jegus, this is embarrassing... "He's jealous. Of you."

The Initiate raises a brow.

"JEALOUSY UNTO HE. And he's shouting at you? SISTER THAT DON'T MAKE FOR A LICK OF GODDAMN SENSE," He says. "What the fuck is he even jealous of?" Something is telling him it isn't his cull count.

... maybe his horns or height.

"Of... well..." She winces internally, and maybe it shows a little externally. She can tell he has no idea. Maybe it would be better to just get it out there, so she doesn't have to tip-toe around the idea of him finding out about Karkat's crazy accusations. The embarrassment from hearing him assault Dave back on the meteor was bad enough, and even then--those were actually true.

"He thought we were dating. You know... Matesprits." She really can't force enough casualness into her tone to outweigh the flush of teal that creeps back into her ears. She briefly considers the pros and cons of chopping them off.

"I had to straighten him out on that point. And some other things. He's just a mess of unreasonable issues."

The Initiate stares. It's like when... when the Neophyte kissed him all over again. Too many thoughts and all at once a sudden jamming of them.

He thought they were Matesprits. "HE THOUGHT WE WERE MATESPRITS?"

His hair is too short. Fuck him. Fuck this. His hair is too short and his ears flush and of course, of course he just can't flatten them enough. He can't bring his hands up to do it because, dammit, she'd see.

"That...so. WHY... WHAT ALL WOULD PUT THAT UP IN HIS HEAD?" He regains his footing. "For that motherfucking matter, why is it his goddamn business!"

If anything, his embarrassment just makes hers worse. Thank god for blindness--at least she doesn't have to look him in the eye while this conversation goes on. It doesn't make her response any less flustered, though.

"It's not any of his business! But he just doesn't get that. He's so--" She makes a motion with her hands to emphasize her frustration. "...He likes me. Or hates me. I'm not sure which it is anymore, but he thinks that just because I've been spending more time with you than with him, there must be something going on."

Why was this his goddamn life? Why was he being so tangled up in Pyropes? He never asked for this shit. The Initiate makes a face.

"OH BECAUSE HE'S THE MOTHERFUCKING WELCOMING COMMITTEE IS HE? He's sure made at for a lot of goddamn effort what to keep you near," He says. Even if it were black flirting, he shouldn't be letting Cuthbert in on it. A kismesis would be a little more protective of that which they made suffer he thinks. "THAT'S STUPID, AND HE'S MOTHERFUCKING STUPID. Can't motherfuckers just be--" Fuck. Fuck every Vantas and may they rot wherever they lay. He grinds his teeth. "WE'RE NOT... A MOTHERFUCKING THING... WHAT ALL IS LIKE THAT." He tugs at his hair. The sudden image comes to mind of her kissing him, the way the Neophyte did. He stomps it down furiously, all but shaking his head to get it out.

He huffs and grumbles, "Regretting for involvement with that fucker more and more every motherfucking day."

It stings a little, his comment about Karkat not trying very hard to keep her close. It's hard to hear your thoughts repeated back to you by someone else, especially when you've been doing your best to ignore them.

"A-men to that," she mutters, though she's pretty sure that their idea on what exactly they regret is different. It's not that she hates him. She's not sure that she even could. She just... wants things to go back to normal. Not this mess that's become their relationship. If it's going to be like this now, she wishes she could just avoid him, so she can at least remember him without remembering this trainwreck, too.

He's right, though. It is stupid. But at least it's out there, and she doesn't have to worry about Karkat making things awkward between them.

"...Don't worry yourself about it. I'm pretty sure that I set him straight on that. He's going to hold his stupid grudges regardless, but at least that's one less thing on his list."

"IF HE'S GOT AT MORE A GODDAMN PROBLEM WITH I, HE OUGHT AT TO MOTHERFUCKING TAKE IT UP WITH I," He growls, with a shake of his head.

He's still rather flushed, but he looks back to her anyway, trying to smooth his face out and all the color with it. They certainly didn't need this. Things between them could be irritating enough without all that thrown in.

"He supposes this list extends more than what all she is saying then?"

Terezi shrugs a little. She's not really one to gossip like this, but... Jegus, does it feel good to talk with someone who's not spending half the time screaming at her. Besides... With the way Karkat tends to yell, it's not really a secret what his problems are.

"Yeah, there's more, but it's... also complicated. He thinks that by being friends with you and the Helmsman, I'm trying to replace our friends--" She expertly surrounds the word friends with a set of air quotes. "--back home, but he's wrong. Again. I'd never want to replace Sollux, and honestly, I told him that Gamzee wasn't fit to lick your boots. I think that's about when he really started yelling."

Edited 2013-10-16 22:20 (UTC)

The Initiate gives her a curious look, just slightly tilting his head. It was pretty evident, and had been since the first mention of him, that she didn't particularly like his descendent, this mystery troll, Gamzee. It still has him wondering, how different could they be? One who was blood of his blood, who would share the same deep growth of voodoo.

Except... "THEY'RE FRIENDS? Gamzee and he? MY DESCENDENT AND..." He makes a face, like he has a bad taste in his mouth. "And who is sollux like to be then?" He's got a feeling, deep in his gut, that he may know. But he wants to hear it confirmed or debunked.

"Yeah, Karkat and Gamzee were friends... Moirails, even. But Karkat doesn't know that yet, and I'm not about to tell him." Not that it matters... It doesn't do shit for what he's already done.

The question about Sollux mellows her out a bit, though. She looks almost sad when she continues. "...Sollux was the Helmsman's descendent, as far as I can tell. They're nearly identical, and both really powerful psionics. He was one of my best friends, even despite his stupid moodiness." She doesn't know what else to say about him. There's too much to tell and not enough words to find.

"I miss him a lot."

He was right.

And...

He didn't even have any idea. He keeps his face steeled, as much as he can, but even still it winds him some. They were pale. He blinks and he's small again, he sees Kan-- No. No, no. It didn't mean anything. It didn't have to mean motherfucking shit. It did not mean for fuck all. Never again shall such sin mark his name except it motherfucking did, didn't it? To bring ones of shared face to meet in mirror, he wonders why such motherfucking things the Messiahs wished of this. Surely there was some greater purpose.

Just as he had Mituna. His palest brother. His true friend. She describes him briefly as just that; a moody motherfucker, but a best friend all the same. But she speaks of him in another way too.

"...WAS?"

Was. Was, was, was... She gives a little shrug, but that doesn't do her feelings any justice. She's not sure if she wants to tell anyone. She does, and she doesn't. But... the Initiate is her safe out, isn't he? Out of everyone, it doesn't matter to tell him, she's already told him so much by this point. And it's not likely that he'll tell anyone else.

"He died." She hesitates, reassesses her control on herself, considers her words. "...There was a creature after us out there. A demon. We had been hiding from him on a meteor, while he unleashed destruction on everything around us. We had plans to flee to a new place, where we hoped he wouldn't follow us to--but we had no means of travel. Even knowing what it would do to him, Sollux used his psionics to fling the entire meteor towards our destination. Witnessing him die like that, right in front of us, for us... It was horrible."

His eyes close and his fists clench. Carnival bound. May Messiahs have his soul. And may so then Shangri-la's great garden of mirth open before thee. He can't help but think of the Mituna, trapped like that as Helmsman. How many times over would he have died? How many times did he come so goddamn close? How much did he owe to the fishbitch for keeping him alive? Perhaps as much as he wanted to tear her apart.

And part of that, that a motherfucker would just give that all up... it stirs something unpleasant. He doesn't think he understands it, at least, not from the point of someone without the faith to hold and guide them. He's not sure if he could see it of Mituna. He's not sure if he wants to, though that is sin surely, the ticket taker was there for all, one way or other.

"The Helmsman's blood and flesh," He says, finally speaking. "STILL. The motherfucker ought at to know it ain't the same. HE'S A FUCKING FOOL, BUT HE'S NO GODDAMN SIGNLESS. He should know."

She winces a little at the name Helmsman. It bothers her on a deeper level, hearing that in conjunction with Sollux... She knows what sort of fate awaited him back on Alternia. She understands it, now. And frankly, the thought turns her stomach. The more she thinks on it, the more she doesn't like that title at all.

"He doesn't get it. He doesn't know any of this. Any of it. Not about Sollux or Gamzee. Not about any of the other deaths. Not even about the demon. He's so blissfully, stupidly ignorant of how terrible things will get the actual second that he goes back." If they can even go back. For a brief second, Terezi wonders if she would be relieved if they couldn't--if that option was taken out of her hands, so she wouldn't feel obligated to return. But she squashes down the thought before she can complete it. She can't afford to think like that.

"It's like he's standing on the edge of a cliff and staring out at the horizon, not realizing that he's about to walk right off the edge."

Edited 2013-10-19 08:15 (UTC)

"HE AIN'T REALISING FOR AN EDGE WALKED OFF... And you have. YOU THINK YOURSELF FALLING, PYROPE?" He stares at her. Expression odd and curiously blank. His head tilts. "He was sure dragons could fly."

He caught the wince before. He knows why. He didn't like it either for the longest time. But it was what was wanted, more than the Psiioniic, and even as it suits so much more, that title is so intrinsically tied up with all that caused this problem in the first place, connected to something they both hated and didn't need. He'd been so grateful to get his name, for so many motherfucking reasons.

"I CAN'T TELL YOU IT. His name ain't mine what to give. YOU'LL HAVE TO ASK OF HIM FOR YOUR OWN MOTHERFUCKING SELF IF YOU AIN'T LIKE ALL FOR WHAT IS. Until then it's all what you get."

That question catches her off guard, granting him a blank sort of surprise. Falling? Her? ...Maybe. If she is, then they're all falling, and she's not really sure where or when they're going to land.

Terezi shrugs a little. "Maybe my wings are broken, then," she answers dryly, trying for humor and falling a little short. "I haven't felt much like flying in a while, and besides... What kind of friend would I be if I left everyone else to fall without me?"

The Helmsman thing pulls her up short again, but for entirely different reasons. "I wouldn't ask you for his name, and I wouldn't expect you to give it. It's his to share, I get that." More shrugging. She leans on the table. "I can ask him myself. If he doesn't want to give me something else to call him, I'll make up my own name for him."

"ONE WHAT DON'T FALL?" He suggests. "One what up and motherfucking survives?" This should be the obvious answer he thinks. He doesn't know why it's so hard to see for her. "PERHAPS SHE COULD CATCH A FUCKER IN CLAW, IF SHE TRIED, BUT THE GROUND COMES UP FAST; I wouldn't wait." He shrugs. She hadn't struck him a lot cause burn out at first. Maybe he was wrong.

"HE SUPPOSES THAT TO BE FAIR, THEN. Don't know what all he'd offer you up on that. OR YOU, HIM."

"We haven't hit the bottom yet." And they've been falling for over a year. Or maybe they already hit the bottom and just haven't realized it yet. Who knows. "I'm not going to be doing any catching while I'm here, at any rate." She smiles a little, pulling up the corner of one mouth. It's not much, but it's something.

"I don't know what I'd offer, either. That's the problem with titles, isn't it? It gets so complicated. It's a lot simpler when you don't have one to use. There's no leverage or meaning, but... You're not implicitly tied to some job or concept, either."

Edited 2013-10-19 09:32 (UTC)

It doesn't really reassure him. But then, he wasn't really looking for reassurance. So much he could argue but in the end, if she planned for a nosedive then that's where she'd be.

He hums. "Perhaps. BUT HE WOULDN'T SAY AT THERE TO BE NO MEANING. It just ain't a meaning what all he has fancy for. IF A MOTHERFUCKER IS ALREADY BEING TIED AT TO A THING, IT AIN'T NO WRONG TO RECOGNIZE IT. But without you're already implicit unto something all anyways. UP AND MOTHERFUCKING STUCK TO IT YOU ARE, UNTIL SWEEPS MADE FOR THE SHAKING OF IT WITH TITLE ANEW. It can be it's own sort of simple to have such a thing be motherfucking safe, instead of getting display and risk on with who all ever which you speak unto." He shrugs. "HE WOULDN'T TAKE IT BACK, PERSONAL."

For the first bit, Terezi seems to be following along. She can sort of understand the logic behind it... But at the word 'safe', her brow furrows. She tilts her head a little and lifts her brow a little at that. "Risk? ...I think you've lost me. What sort of risk is there in giving someone your name? It's not like they have any control over you."

Edited 2013-10-19 10:06 (UTC)

He's silent for a moment, eyeing her. Not with suspicion, just observing. He's never had to explain this concept to anyone before. He always thought it was simply implicit.

"You want for respect, for a motherfucker to see you and hear for you, then they ask for a title. YOU GIVE A MOTHERFUCKING HATCH NAME. The first thing what all ever you were like to be. A GRUB, A WRIGGLER; WEAK, SISTER. But it ain't what you motherfucking are. NOT WHAT ALL YOU ASPIRE AT TO BE. You're taking shit what ain't full formed to offer to they and you will be ground under their motherfucking heals like that goddamn grub. BONES GROW. So too should your outer goddamn shell, should all it not? YOU GIVE A TITLE. They look at you; respect or scorn it ain't goddamn matter, but they up and look. YOU KEEP THE NAME SAFE, YOU CAN KNOW AT FOR WHO ALL IS SAFE. You know for who means it, when they call unto you. YOU ALL KNOW WHAT THE FUCK THEY MEAN." He explains it calmly, sober. He watches her to see whether or not she understands. He won't really be surprised if she doesn't. Mostly because it would fall further in line with him not understanding her. "It ain't about what all fuckers have control over you, but what all control you got. IT'S ABOUT CHOOSING ALL WHO YOU WANT AT TO BE. And giving the other to those what count, not the all." He shrugs.

She's silent at first, just listening. She's trying to understand. It's not that the use of titles is uncommon to her, but it's not something that she's put into use personally. She's never had a reason to keep anyone from knowing her name. She's never had a reason to not be proud of it.

"Do you think of me as weak for giving you my hatch name? Has it stopped you from looking at me?" she asks, more curiosity than anything else, but the expression she gives him is expectant--like she's waiting for his answer to tell her something more than just what he intends to say.

He starts, just a little, to hear her ask that. He grasps for failed words, what to say slipping from his tongue without even coming to life. His eyes dart from her and down. He feels like he's pointed out exactly where the ammo is, just assuming she wouldn't shoot. Fuck him.

It's a long moment before he says, struggling with getting the words out, "... NO. It ain't like that. YOU'RE NOT..." Not an adult? Not from a time this mattered? He frowns deeply. "He never up and expected for one given from she. WOULDN'T HAVE GIVEN QUESTION IF ALL IT WERE. But she didn't and he didn't all expect at for more." Which is... stupid. So fucking stupid. "MAYBE THINGS GOT TO CHANGING UP ON THAT, HE DON'T MOTHERFUCKING KNOW, BUT ON THE ALTERNIA WHAT ALL HE KNOWS, THAT'S HOW IT'S LIKE TO BE. He didn't expect her over it but he ain't Alternia as whole." It isn't getting better. This is not getting better. Finally he sighs. "SHE DOESN'T NEED ONE. If she doesn't all think at she needs one then she up and don't."

Fuck him over goddamn coals.

Once again, Terezi listens--quiet and contemplative. As much as she tries to be casual about her question, the answer she's looking for means more to her than she lets on. The Initiate isn't the only one who wants to be taken seriously.

What she does hear pulls a smile to her lips--one she quickly tries to fight back. The way he stumbles around his words for the sake of making her the exception... She's pleased, and honestly a little touched. But she's not sure that he would understand if she started grinning happily at him right now like she wants to. She lifts a hand instead, pressing it against her lips in what she hopes is a casual gesture.

"I've never heard anyone say that before. It's always something about being a wriggler, not knowing what I'm talking about..." The Helmsman does that a lot, for one. "Are you sure you don't want to take it back?"