Second Dispatch. Finally I Have Triumphed Over This Domestic Catastrophe. Action.

[trinkett]

[Effie Trinket has been sorely disappointed in Katniss Everdeen ever since arriving in Luceti. The girl seemed to have dropped all notions of propriety and her renewed place in the world as the Girl on Fire. No, here she seemed content to be muddy and sit on the laps of scruffy men and kiss

NO, that hadn't been a kiss. NOT a proper kiss! That had been a slobbery thing! Slobbery and licky! A slobbery slurpy licky thing!

KISS IN A RESTAURANT OF ALL PLACES. And live with that Sharpe person in what Effie could only describe as a cross between the District One Career Tribute Boys' Locker Room, a weapons closet, and a barn. The only thing she remotely liked about the place once she finally broke into it was the eagle. It would make a perfect wig stand.

With Katniss and Sharpe gone, Effie could take her time redecorating their house. The Welcome Center wasn't welcome in her life anymore. The only sense of purpose she could gravitate toward at the moment was Katniss. They could just deal with that when they got home from the battle. They would live like HUMAN BEINGS. Of course, she would have to prevent Katniss ever finding anything out about Jack Horner, but domestic bliss surely rested down this chosen path.

Feel free to run into her picking out properly upholstered furniture at the items shop, or other homegoods-type stuff. A lot of it will be in shocking colors. Most of it will look uncomfortable and gaudy.]

Comments

[towered]

[ Flora's poking around the shop. It's not that she actually needs anything, really, but she likes taking a look at all the different things from different places (Some she'd never actually seen before). It was fun!

That is, until she sees a very...interesting woman looking at one of the oddest footrests she's ever seen. She pauses beside Effie, head tilted slightly as she puzzles over it a moment. ]

My, that certainly is very vibrant, isn't it? [ But the question is, would anything actually match it... ]

[trinkett]

Oh, do you like it? We call it "Nuclear Pink" in the Capitol. [She eyes this newcomer; not everyone in Luceti was happy to hear about how things were in the Capitol.]

It's one of my Power Colors.

[towered]

Nuclear pink? [ Huh. She gives the piece of furniture another look before laughing lightly. ] Well, the name certainly fits! Ah--But it's not wholly unpleasant a color. Certainly not my favorite shade of pink, but it is very fun.

[ She gives a smile. ]

I don't believe I've ever heard the term Power Colors before. Is it something like having a favorite?

[happyhungergames]

A Power Color makes a woman feel strong. Sure of herself! When I wear Violent Purple, for example, I feel as though I could sit down at any negotiating table and win everyone to my side.

[Effie shakes out another bolt of fabric.]

This, now -- this green color. [It's an in-your-face shade of apple green.] This would make anyone sitting on it feel powerful.

[towered]

Ah, that's very interesting. I'd always read it was darker colors made people feel strong, though I suppose it must be different in different places, ah--

[ Wow that green is really shocking. ]

It certainly is a very...strong color. [ ... ] Are all colors so bright where you're from?

[stillplaying]

[She never had expectations that the draft would actually go well. It was a war, a fight that she had not wanted any part of. So many of the people she actually liked here had been drafted. In essence, the draft had all the makings of a disaster.

But she hadn't expected it to be this bad. She hadn't expected for Henry to die. Or Zevran.

The thought that they wouldn't necessarily stay dead was of surprisingly little comfort. There were costs associated with that resurrection. Costs that she wouldn't ever want Zevran to go through, let alone a little boy like Henry.

No, the draft hadn't gone well at all.

But the last thing she had expected upon opening the door to her house was a sudden gaudiness and brightness Katniss couldn't ever recall her living room looking like? What had happened to the beat up couch? To the hunting equipment and boots and jackets thrown against the wall near the door?

A loud meow caught her attention and her eyes widened upon seeing her sister's cat: muddy yellow coat surprisingly well groomed with a clashing orange bow around his neck.]

...Buttercup?

[trinkett]

Surprise!

[Buttercup, so clean. So not-thrilled with the world.]

Welcome home, Katniss! Good to see you alive!

[At least Effie seems genuinely happy to see her.]

I threw out all of your socks.

[stillplaying]

[She had thought her eyes couldn't grow any wider. But she had been wrong, hadn't she? Because when Effie appeared in the living room - how had she even gotten in here? - she shook her head in disbelief. Looked at the cat now rushing to hide behind her legs to the Capitol woman in front of her.

What, what, was Effie Trinket doing here? In Katniss' living room? In the one place that was supposed to be hers. A house, a home that she and Peeta had actually made. All she really had left of him, even as she struggled to move on.

And Effie had invaded it. Had thrown out her socks! What kind of person threw out another person's socks?]

What? [The word is little more than a squeak.] Why?

[happyhungergames]

"Because I found you much BETTER ones in the shop!"

They were all neatly ironed and folded in Katniss's dresser. Effie had taken pains to iron and re-fold each item in there, including underwear.

"Also, undergarments! They had lovely ones, I just couldn't pass them up."

Calmly, she reached for Katniss's coat.

[greenjacketed]

[ after so many consecutive days of combat, sharpe expects to feel exhausted. he expects to want to sleep for a week. however, the devil's deal made with the tall and gingery sorcerer seems to have other plans for him on account of how not tired he is. energy still hums under his skin. as pleasant as it is not to be drained, he...kinda wishes he could still flop down on his bed and take a holiday from being conscious.

before sleep, he must run the gauntlet of a redecorated house. at first, he somehow manages not to notice. the colours bleed into each other. his attention is fractured. but it's when he looks for reassurance from his eagle, left last in the front room, he's horrified to find it's...sprouted hair. ]

What the devil? [ he growls to himself, kneeing a pink-draped chair out of his path. it isn't long before he's hauled the wig off his precious trophy and is examining it -- utter bewilderment on his face. is it some jest? or some unfathomable experiment? ]

[happyhungergames]

Richard.

[Could this thin-lipped look get any thinner? Effie surveys his actions with hands on hips from the entrance to the kitchen.]

What do you think you are doing with my wig?

[greenjacketed]

That depends -- ma'am -- on what the bloody hell you think you're doing with my bloody eagle!

[ not a question. nor was he trying very hard to be polite. still, he grips the wig in one hand and stares violence down his nose at the gold bird with its spread wings. although it's been in his possession since christmas, this is the first instance of him genuinely claiming the bird aloud. his eagle. ]

/keywords

[happyhungergames]

"This eagle is yours?" She looked rather surprised at that as she held out her hand for her property. "Really?"

[moehealer]

[Yellow's just looking around the shop, browsing since she really didn't have much else to do! And of course, while there, it's a little hard to miss seeing things that are that garish... they look so uncomfortable. She couldn't really imagine anyone really wanting those kinds of things, but sure enough, there's Effie over there just scooping 'em up.

Don't mind her and the Pikachu beside her just kind of watching for a moment..]

[happyhungergames]

Hallo, my dear! That's an interesting plump furry yellow kitten you have there.

[Unfazed, Effie continues humming a little song as she sorts through fabrics, looking for something suitable for drapes.]

[moehealer]

Kitten...? [She looks down at Chuchu a little confusedly, then back up at Effie.]

Oh, she's not a cat. [That's what kittens are, right..?] She's a Pikachu.

[trinkett]

She's SO very yellow. Do you dye her fur?

If she isn't dressed and done-up in the same way she is in the userpic, lemme know and I'll edit.

[relictusdeus]

[In comes Isaac with a penchant for drawing attention in his own way, meaning to swiftly swipe jewelry made of semi-precious stones and valuable metals before teleporting back home and taking the time to rest a little longer in the draft’s wake. But before making his way out, his gaze falls on what he quickly decides is a curious eyesore of a creature with awful taste. Having spent half his life in a castle with some very ornately furnished chambers, he likes to think he has some sense of style and composition when it comes to interior design (and tattoos and piercings, but that is a little different).]

It suits you... [He flashes a thin smile, motioning to some sort of armchair with a jerk of his chin.] ...looking quite a bit as if you were beaten and broken into the shape of a chair. Not very comfortable, I imagine. For the one sitting upon it.

YES SHE IS ALL CAPITOL COUTURED-UP! IT'S ALL GOOD

[trinkett]

[She is probably dressed like the chair of some old lady who died in that castle.]

Hello! [She returns his smile formally.]

I assure you, we don't use human-shaped chairs in the Capitol! But I do find it suits me greatly, nevertheless! It will look perfect in the house.

Dashing!

[relictusdeus]

[Canting his head, he asks with all possible sweetness:] And, pray tell, where might that be? [His eyes widen in a show of feigned curiosity and astonishment.] ...Has a brothel been erected in the village?

SO DASHING

[happyhungergames]

"In Panem and........what?" That brought Effie up short. She stared at him. "A brothel?"

[unseenspy]

[And on that day, Jay decided to browse around the item shop himself, perhaps looking for more toys for his kitty. But the bright colors of Effie's items catch his attention, and he just glances at her. Those are some weird looking clothes and wigs she's wearing... not that Jay's own star-spangled getup is any less weird.]

[trinkett]

Hello! [She says this cheerfully enough when she sees the young man looking at her. Effie is always cheered up by shopping.]

[unseenspy]

[What, that wasn't supposed to happen! She wasn't supposed to see him and greet him! Well, plan B is to pretend like everything's okay.]

Um...greetings.

[trinkett]

Are you here to shop as well? All of these free things! So lovely!