Fourth Dispatch: It's Not What You Think. Voice.

[trinkett]

Dear Fellow Residents of Luceti,

Wouldn't it be entertaining to put on some Games here in Luceti? Not that the Cultural Fair wasn't amusing, or any of the other activities going on here -- but true gladiatorial games. The pitting of one creature against another! Think of the thrill and drama and the release that goes along with that sort of entertainment! And here in Luceti we are ideally suited for a very exciting Games indeed.

Who would you sponsor or volunteer for this entertainment? Or would it all be...

[There is a pause here.]

Pokey-mans? I find human beings MUCH more interesting to watch, personally.

Comments

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[trinkett]

[She can't look at him. She can only breathe and try to calm that racing heart. But Effie cannot stop shaking. What if they've SEEN? What if they've heard her? What will the penalty be?

She won't think of the children. She cannot. Won't. Not since the fireworks on a fashion extravaganza had drowned out the weakening wails of an infant.]

Merciful.

[She echoes that quite hollowly. Mercy does not exist in the Capitol. It is bereft of mercy on all levels. She doesn't trust it.]

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[asthehawkflies]

[He gives a bitter, twisted little smile at that and inclines his head slightly.]

I didn't let it continue. I didn't make you fight. I didn't make you stab someone and feel their blood on your hands, or smash their head in with a rock and feel their skull split. Didn't make you look into someone's eyes and see the terror as they die.

Or maybe you'd have enjoyed it. It's just entertainment after all.

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[inyourfavor]

You don't know what I enjoy. [She mutters this in a low voice, afraid to pitch it louder. So far, she's done very well at keeping the sobs from exploding out. She's been trained so well, in her own way. Beautifully.]

So stop judging.

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[asthehawkflies]

You made it pretty clear, that post, those replies. I know what goes on in your world. You send children to kill and die and call it entertainment and enjoyment.

Heh, like you've never judged anyone before. Pretty sure you spent our whole meeting judging me. What did you come up with?

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[happyhungergames]

I think Katniss was wrong. She thought you'd kill me.


I don't think you'll kill me.

[Killers don't usually look after the bruising, bloodied-up knuckles of a rage-filled Trinket.]

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[asthehawkflies]

Thought about it. [Let's get that straight right now.] Thought about doing worse honestly. It would be easy.

But everyone deserves a chance to learn from something. You're not the problem, you're just a product of a system and no-one's ever shown you there's another way to be. I know what that's like.

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[inyourfavor]

[I thought about it. About doing worse. What would be worse? The words chill her. She tries to pull back in order to wrap her arms around herself.]

I have to go home. [She mumbles that. Babbles, even. How does one even get out of this place.] They'll be wanting dinner. I make dinner for them sometimes.

[She has no intention of making dinner. She only wants to lock herself in her room and dream about what kind of dog she is going to get. A big one. A big, loyal one.]

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[asthehawkflies]

[He lets her go easily enough and gives a soft sigh.]

You need to put some ice on those hands. It'll take down some of the swelling.

[He heads over to where he'd dumped his bag and roots around in it before pulling out a tube of cream then holds it out to her.]

Put this on your knuckles too. You're gonna be pretty bruised tomorrow.

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[inyourfavor]

[What if there is poison in that tube? He said he was an assassin; what if the cream is worse than death? What if it hurts or burns all her skin off?]

What...what's in there?

[She starts backing away toward what she hopes is the exit. She's heard of Snow using poison, before. Most of the political class did. Almost casually, really. And not all of them were the kind you ingest.]

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[asthehawkflies]

It's a painkiller. I use it when I'm training sometimes. Even professionals get hurt sometimes.

[He watches her back away with a raised eyebrow.]

Do I need to demonstrate?

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[trinkett]

I've never been Sequestered. I've avoided every Reprimand, my whole life. Every Inquisitor. I'm sure we can make some kind of deal.

[She speaks quickly even as she finds her back against a wall. There's no handy doorknob digging into it. Damn. There had to be something.]

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[asthehawkflies]

[Clint gives her a bemused look for a moment, not entirely sure what he's said to make her babble like this.]

I really have no idea what you're talking about. I was just gonna show you that the cream isn't poison.

Trust me, I don't need to hurt anyone else to prove how frequently professionals get hurt. [He had enough obvious scars.]

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[trinkett]

[Now she feels like a total idiot, on top of everything else. Great. Some of her sturdy, bubbly personality surges back to the surface.]

Are you friends? You and Katniss?

[That could be the deciding factor.]

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[asthehawkflies]

[Now there's a 180 if he's ever seen one. He smiles a little and gives a short nod.]

Yeah, we are. She's a good kid. Seen too much that someone her age should never have to. Got that in common.

And she's a hell of an archer. I like people who can compete with me in that.

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[trinkett]

[There. She relaxes. Any friend of Katniss is unlikely to torture her with acid posing as painrelieving cream. Probably. Her high and mighty tone returns.]

Then I accept the use of your pain killer. Though you probably want to use some first, I suppose.

[You know. After all that punching she did to you. She's fairly impressed with herself, really.]

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[asthehawkflies]

[Clint blinks at her slowly and tosses the cream over.]

Me? I'm fine. I finished with my workout ages ago.

[Yeah, sorry. Some things he is pretty oblivious to.]

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[happyhungergames]

[..............Right.

She catches the tube very awkwardly, trapping it against her chest, before unscrewing the cap and squirting some -- rather too much -- on top of her left hand. To cover up any embarrassment at that, she tries to smoothly change the subject. Get herself back. Come on back, Effie.]

She's mentioned me, of course.

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[asthehawkflies]

I dunno. She might have mentioned you once. We usually talk about other stuff.

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[inyourfavor]

Ah.

[Her face falls slightly. But of course, why would Katniss ever mention her to this well-trained murderer from some godforsaken underworld? She mattered to Katniss.

Effie hurriedly rubs the cream into her knuckles, ignoring the steady throb under the broken skin. He's definitely right about one thing: they're going to hurt in the morning.]

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[asthehawkflies]

Why? Should she have? She doesn't seem all that fond of life back home.

[And this woman was someone who was part of that messed up system.]

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[happyhungergames]

[If Katniss hasn't talked about her, then Effie will have to explain this.]

I'm her Chaperone. She's the champion from District Twelve. It's...not a very nice district.

[There. The other hand gets a squirt of cream and she hurriedly fumbles the tube back Clint's way.]

My position as Chaperone is to prepare her; help make her ready for the....

For the Hunger Games. [She goes on quickly:] Bring her to appointments, monitor her manners, feed her, acquaint her with people she should know, make people like her...

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[asthehawkflies]

Places that aren't nice generally aren't nice for a reason. That reason is very rarely the people who live there.

[A pointed hint. He has a pretty good idea of who to blame for that.]

Like her? She seems perfectly likable to me just how she is. She's a smart and capable young woman. Anyone should be damn well honoured just to speak to her.

[And maybe there's something in the words, the lingering feelings from that last shift.]

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[ruthlessismore]

[Likeable to people like you, maybe; but not to people like me.

She's too ashamed to say that. Instead:]

You sound like that Sharpe fellow, now. Please understand, in the Capitol, people aren't as accepting as they are here. They like manners; they like heroes they can understand. Their heroes need to be well-spoken and dramatic and have very white teeth. People HERE seem to accept nearly everyone without too many questions asked.

[Then she laughs. Effie Trinket so RARELY laughs -- oh, there are silly giggles and twittering expressions of jollity, but not laughs like this: underlaid with acid and regret.]

Unless, of course, you're different like I am.

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[asthehawkflies]

Manners. Heroes they can understand. Dolls that they can control but will never ever make them think beyond their safe, narrow little view of the world.

They want a pretty story. All fluff and cotton candy. Like hell they want the real person.

[There's a definite sour note to his voice when he speaks.]

Different. Oh, I'm different alright. But definitely not like you are.

[action -- SIX O'CLOCK.]

[trinkett]

I sell a pretty story to the pretty people. Yes. And that is how I try to keep my Tributes alive.

[And she'd always seen it as a rather noble profession.]

And find my own way in the world. [Succeed. Rise.

She notes his thoughts on her difference with a sniff:] Though here, it seems, I can only look forward to scorn and threats. Tell me, whoever-you-are: what are your thoughts on dogs?

[Why does she sound so hopeful when she asks this question?]