Prior to their departure, the Tributes have to suffer a photoshoot, a few interviewers asking them a thousand questions about how excited they are, and more than a few members of their style teams asking the Tributes to bring back mementos. "Don't worry about quality, dears, we can get that all here - we want you to bring us souvenirs for the novelty of it!"

The day of the trip, Tributes are roused bright and early, well before sunrise, and driven in Peacekeeper vans to the train station. It's all rather dour, and not like the start of a vacation at all; if one didn't know what was going on, and if the Escorts and head Stylists weren't chattering excitedly, they might think they were being hauled off to a war zone.

The trains, on the other hand, are plush, fancy things, and there is one per District. There's a single blockaded car for cargo, another for maintenance, driving and Peacekeeping staff, and then several others which are open to the Tributes. A dinner car serves three meals and has small snacks available throughout the day. Another car is an entertainment center with a selection of Capitol-approved films, and a the last one is the Tributes' temporary room. It has a bunk bed for each with sheets that was a truly intense threadcount, and a single massage chair in the back. The Stylists, Mentors and Escorts sleep in the same car, although separated by a partition.

Unfortunately, all the Tributes have to share the sleeping quarters, and it's first-come, first-served.

For the most part, the trip is so smooth that the surface of a glass full of water would not be disturbed. The trips to the closer Districts are a little under a day, but the furthest Districts - 3, 4, 7, 8, 11 and 12 - take nearly 48 hours.

[OOC: For Tributes accepted during the District tours, you can assume they arrived before the departure so they can participate in the District festivities. During the train ride there is still network access. There will only be this post and the party post from the mods for this event, so players are encouraged to make their own of their characters exploring their surroundings and enjoying the Districts.]

WHO| R and Julie
WHAT| R's on his gradual road to almost-humanity. He finally asks Julie out on a date.
WHERE| A coffee shop and park. Big wide open space.
WHEN| After Timaeus's party and this
WARNINGS| Mentions of zombie stuff

He must be having a good day: his feet don't seem to drag as often, his spine feels slightly less crooked. That, plus the way his stomach flip flops instead of lies there like a lump of meat, and R's starting to think that medication might actually be....working. He doesn't understand how it does. They could've gotten tired of his shuffling from Arena to Arena for all he knows. Or they could've taken his moans to Peeta and Shion to heart and decided to try curing the uncurable. Maybe it doesn't matter.

He asks Julie out.

R thinks he means a date, like...an actual date and not just them hanging out, hoping the other zombies (or Tributes) mind their business. A date date. It might be months and Arenas late, but still. He asks. Finally.

To his shock, she says yes. He wonders if she knows about Perry because back in that jungle, it seemed like Zombie Charades wasn't working out between them. Then he catches himself worrying about his groaning, his shoes, his hair and for awhile, there's no room for Perry. This is probably what it was like during life Before.

R's waiting by the coffee shop. His hair looks a little less brittle, a little less straw-like, and there's something that could be almost mistaken for a flush in his face. It's probably just a trick of the light. The smile that spreads behind his muzzle when Julie crests the small hill is more natural, less jerky as if the muscles are fighting off rigor-mortis. Julie's always brought that out in him. Smiles and even topping his old syllable record.

"Glad...you can make...it," R groans as his face lights up. There's still some pauses in there. He'll have to work on that. "Hi."

Who | Timaeus Nadir and guests
What | Timaeus is hosting a picnic get-together/catch-up.
Where | The picnic will be taking place in the Tropical Habitat Dome.
When| We'll be using a bit of wibbly time so that people who want to attend can.
Warnings/Notes| None as of yet.

(This is an opportunity for me to make some new CR as well as catch up with ongoing relationships, but I also want to encourage tagging around between characters! Feel free to do whatever you like in the setting with whoever you like! Also I will be backtagging this so don't feel you've missed the boat if you haven't tagged in immediately <3)

Timaeus certainly knew how to organise a gathering- even if it wasn't an outrageously opulent celebration to be held on one of his own yachts. This one was to be held under the expansive dome of the Tropical Habitat- the entire location rented out for the day to Timaeus and his guests, a loosely private affair- formal invitations as such hadn't been extended, but those welcome knew they were. Naturally, all tributes and victors were included in this group.

The Dome was a beautiful piece of architecture in itself, though antiquated when compared with the technology used for the Arenas. Rather than invisible forcefields, the climate of the interior was separated from the outside by elaborately curving steel and glass. Inside, tropical plants of all types thrived- there was a still, green pond and, deeper inside, a cascading waterfall. Butterflies in hundreds of colours, sizes and shapes flitted about, tropical birds swooped between the trees, brightly coloured fish darted in the water.
Blankets and cushions had been scattered in the main clearing with hampers of food, but there was plenty of space for the guests to break away from the gathering if they so desired- the dome was full of winding paths through the greenery- some even climbing around the trunks of the largest trees and leading to viewing platforms above. In a temporary gazebo in the clearing, a string quartet played music that wasn't quite the classical pieces Tributes were familiar with. 

Timaeus himself seemed in a brighter mood than he had been for months, more than happy to make conversation with anyone who approached him- though he was certainly keeping an eye open for particular individuals. Some that he'd met, some that he'd lost and had returned to him, and others still that he had yet to meet.

Who| Julie and R.
What| The most awkward not-date. :|
Where| The Capitol park.
When| Before the aliens plot.
Warnings/Notes| Visceral descriptions of past deaths.

( She was totally turning into a hermit. )

Who| R and Joan Watson, R and Shion, R and Maximus, R and Bert.
What| R searches for help for his eating problem. He also searches for help on his groaning. Throw in the awkwardness of post-Arena.
When| Before the aliens plot.
Where| About the Capitol. R has a surprisingly wide shuffling range given enough time.
Warnings| None yet.

Cuthbert
( He hangs around the Training Center even after Maximus takes off for whatever it is Victors do when they’re not killing people )

Joan Watson
( R gets nervous after the first day going cold turkey )

Shion
( Day Two of his new diet )

Maximus
( Three days later and R’s really struggling to remember things like punctuality and battle plans )

Who: Glinda, Blaine, Shion, Calico and Julie
What: Being interviewed for Captiol Citizenship
Where: Lounge of the Tribute tower
When: Through the week?
Warnings: None as of yet.

For each interview, Glinda made sure that there was tea and snacks fine enough for an afternoon tea each time, thanking the avoxes profusely for their assistance. Upon the recieving the note telling her to contact the other Tributes (And a Captiolian?) she made appointments with each on separate days and made sure to clear her social diary as much as humanly possible. This was by far more important to her.

When they arrived she would rise to meet them with a smile. "Thank you so very much for coming."

Who: Julie Grigio and OPEN
What; Getting used to being around myriads of people and generally reacting to a normal life in general. What is normalcy???
Where: The training center, wandering around, WHEREVER U WANT HER.
When; Post-Arena
Warnings/Notes: idk cursing I guess

( She could use the vacation. )

Who| Every tribute.
What| Interview time!
Where| The training center.
When| Through out the week after the arena's end.
Warnings/Notes| You can either reply in prose or action, but please use the text area box and leave the questions bolded for mod ease. Also, nothing will be left private, she's lying. We're not sure when part 2 of this plot will happen, so feel free to take your time responding.

Through out the week, each tribute is escorted to an office room. It is a nice, posh comfortable room, with light food and drink to the tributes preference set out on the table.

A screen comes on, showing a very friendly looking, but strangely generic female. Although it is too minor to truly be noticed, the avatar is geared to subtly reflect the tribute to put them at ease, and their style is very simple for the Capitol.

The avatar speak in a calm yet friendly and engaging voice. Again, pitched to a tone similar to the tribute being interviewed.

"Hello! Given the influx of new tribute, the Capitol would like to get to know you, one by one, in your own words. Everything shared here will be between you and the screen, so feel free to speak freely!"

The woman goes through her questions, waiting for a response from the tribute. If a tribute doesn't respond, they are left in 10 minutes of silence before the next question is asked. Anything, no matter how it relates to the question, is treated as a proper answer.

<b>What's your favorite thing about the capitol?</b> <b>Least favorite?</b> <b>What do youthink of the newest winner? Who else could win?</b> <b>Who do you consider allies in the arena? Who do you consider targets?</b> <b>What do you miss from home?</b> <b>Anything you would like to add?</b>

Who| Timaeus Nadir and all his guests. If you are in the Capitol, you've been invited!
What| A spectacular Viewing Party and opportunity for tributes to get sponsorship
Where| The Victoria Ascendant, on the lake
When| After the most recent death roll!
Warnings/Notes| Probable skeeviness of the Nice Guy variety.
( Read more... )