this isn't very festive!

[iheartmahogany]

Effie could walk in anything, so long as she was wearing the proper wig - otherwise, her balance was thrown completely off. But that was how she liked it; everything had its proper place, from train schedules to mealtimes to even the weight proportions of her dresses which, in some instances, were so large they practically engulfed her.

That's why she liked to keep her skirts above the calves, so that her shoes may never be missed by anyone who might be looking (and she expected many to do so). Even now her feet, tipped in five-inch high monstrosities that made her clip along as if she had hooves, were in full display. The rest of her dress curled in generous lines around her but, like her golden wig, was rigid and composed. In fact, the only real movement was Effie's face and hands, but that was fine; she was a very animated creature, always had been, and it worked well on camera, she liked to think.

Her main concern just then, though, was the fact she had gotten lost on her way from the restroom. There were always places to watch the Games and she usually had a front seat, but though they were soon to start, her real concern was to find Haymitch. Peeta and Katniss were going to need sponsors again, and it was her duty to make sure the right people were spoken to - though, to his credit, Haymitch had gotten a bit better in the charm department as of last year.

The largest Capitol buildings could turn anyone around, and Effie had no idea where she was. She recognized absolutely nothing, and even her sense of direction seemed off. The result was that Effie, while composed, was beginning to get anxious. She hated being late, anywhere, and she had places to be not just for decorum, but for her Victors! In fact, she was so distracted with concern, one could forgive her for missing the fact she was technically not in the Capitol anymore - nowhere near it at all, in fact.

Comments

[burn_with_us]

There are some things that Katniss doesn't think fit in with the hotel. She's one of them - she doesn't think she fits in anywhere except in the Seam. Even her house in Victor's Village seems too fine for a girl like her. She's having the opposite problem now because Effie Trinket is walking toward her and she doesn't fit with the hotel at all. Effie is all things Capitol from the wig on her head to her dangerously-pointy shoes and she doesn't fit with the lower-key luxury of this place.

"Effie? Is that you?" If Effie's here, the Capitol probably isn't far behind and while Katniss is glad to see another friendly face, she doesn't like the idea that maybe this safe haven isn't anything but a trap. She's let her guard down and now it seems like maybe that wasn't so wise.

[71st_victor]

Johanna feels like she needs a stronger drink. She's taken to nursing one or two here and there, cautious never to drown herself in alcohol or other drugs, unwilling to turn herself into one of those addicts. Still, as soon as she sees Effie Trinket clicking her way into the hotel, she knows things are definitely going to get interesting.

Johanna gives a slightly derisive scoff. "Looking for the runway?" she asks, mock-politeness in her tone as she cocks her head to the side. "Hate to break it to you, but it's intermission right now for life as we know it."

[hungover]

Haymitch doesn't think this place could really be any less strange. People seem to have little to no knowledge of the Games, and from what he's gleaned off of other peoples' conversations (and his time with Peeta) many people are from different places altogether, places he's never heard of. He's spent a good portion of his time here thoroughly embalmed in alcohol, and it's obvious from the way that he's leaning his forehead against his palm at the bar that he had a particularly successful night of forgetting the evening before. The clip-clop of shoes strikes at his temples like an anvil and he looks up sharply, eyes narrowed.

They soften just barely around the edges when he follows long legs up to a frilly outfit that he fully expects to end in Effie's slightly hurried, perpetually busy face. He swallows thickly and his face twitches into a wince before he turns on the stool and stands, sweeping his arms open with his palms up.

"Let me guess - you took a wrong turn post-vomit at the pre-Games morning bash." This reveals two things: that Haymitch remembers what she was wearing that morning, and that he's trying to hide his relief with sarcasm.

You're shocked, we know.

[65th_victor]

Finnick visibly paused when he saw who was standing mere feet away. She was decked so outrageously in Capitol fashion that it practically startled him for a moment. It'd been weeks since he'd seen anything approaching that level of clashing color and distorted shape, and seeing it again made him feel like he was underwater.

They'd been arriving in waves, so maybe he should have been prepared for this -- him, Jo, Katniss; Annie; Peeta; Haymitch -- but everyone who had come had been so firmly rooted on the side of the resistance that he had failed to consider that maybe a Capitol person would just stroll in. He'd always thought they'd come to attack, to tear them apart. He hadn't considered that they'd just arrive, an apparent accident like the rest of them.

It took Finnick a further moment to actually place the woman standing in front of him -- Effie Trinket. Katniss' and Peeta's handler. He made a point of knowing all the escorts, all the stylists who worked in the Games. They overheard all sorts of things and empty-headed as they usually were, were oblivious to what sort of secrets were valuable and which weren't, so they were ready to spill all of them. Out of everyone who could have arrived from the Capitol, they were probably luckiest it was Effie.

But that still didn't completely soothe Finnick's worries away.

Still, he smiled charmingly, dimples on stark display as he fell back on old training without a second thought.

"Miss Trinket," he greeted her, a touch of coyness curling into each syllable.

[withbread]

The moment Peeta sees her, he knows that it's her. There's no one else that can carry that look off, even in the Capitol. There's a conflict of emotions at seeing her. The last he'd seen her, he'd said his goodbyes, certain that he'd never see her again. She'd helped him beyond measure with the locket, given him a way (he hoped) to keep Katniss fighting even when he'd given up. It hadn't quite turned out that way, but Effie had helped him none the less and he appreciated it.

Finding her here was a surprise to say the least. He approached her carefully because he knew how confusing and traumatic it could be to show up here.

"Effie?"