NOVEMBER INTRO MINGLE

[asgardmods]

Who: Newbies and anyone who wishes to greet them!
What: Getting used to the city
When: Days 351 and forward
Where: Anywhere in town!
Rating: PG-13 tops! If it gets worse, move to a private log please.

[Please include your location and the IC day (ex. Day 353 - this can be found in the schedule) in your top-level comment or your subject line when starting a thread! It can be any welcome hall, major attraction, or just out an about in any district. For newbies making a top-level thread, you may include your character's name/canon/house in your subject line if you'd like, to make housemates easy to find! :) If a God is needed or wanted, please ping the mods and depending on availability we might be able to throw them in where asked.

Also, keep an eye on the event schedule for November! If you're ICly introing during an event, make sure you take that into account. Thank you!

Have fun!]

Comments

Annie Cresta | Day 351 | Anywhere!

[oceanborne]

[All things considered, she thinks she's handling this incredibly well. Annie's kept moving, kept walking these unfamiliar streets despite the panic skittering around every part of her. She lost the map a few blocks back, but she's not going to touch the strange bracelet --tracking device?-- they put on her. She'll just keep going until she figures out what's going on, however long that takes.

And maybe, every now and then, she'll find a suitably out-of-the-way place to stand with her hands gripping the sides of her head like she's trying to hold herself together. Okay, maybe the panic is getting to her just a little.]

[becauseichooseto]

[Irving's a little alarmed, because that takes a certain amount of distress to happen. His voice is calming and in control.] Are you all right?

[oceanborne]

No, no... [With an effort, Annie brings her hands down and clasps them together in front of her. She's still tense, eying the stranger warily, but even mad girls have manners.] Sorry. I'm not... I'm confused. It happens. I'll be fine.

[becauseichooseto]

Confused? [He lifts an eyebrow at the term.] …You don't have to explain, of course, but… [He's reaching. But new arrivals are swimming in and while he'd certainly not been here long enough to know everyone who'd been here before he arrived, he'll take a guess that she is new. And if she isn't, well, it's quickly corrected anyway.] if you're going to be in a strange place for… the foreseeable, it might be useful to have someone about that… knows about… you.

I'm very discreet, if that'll sway you?

[oceanborne]

[Hmm. Is he trying to get her to trust him? That easily? This is clearly not Panem, or this man would know better than to even be speaking with this particular victor. Still... He has a point. She doesn't know this place, and these people don't know her. He really does have a logical idea -- it can't hurt to have an ally of sorts, who would at least be aware of her difficulties.

After a moment Annie shrugs and offers a tiny smile.] I'm mad. Sometimes I get mixed up or... distracted. Thought that was what this was.

[becauseichooseto]

I see. Well, as far as I know, if there is madness here, it's not of your making.

[oceanborne]

That's comforting, I suppose? [Which it is and it isn't. If it's not just a figment of her troubled mind, then she doesn't have to worry about being caught in one of her episodes right now. But at the same time, the idea of actually being in an entirely different world, all on her own and who knew how far away from her baby... well, that's not at all comforting.]

I'm sorry, I'm being so rude. Thank you for stopping to check on me. It's a little much, you know?

[becauseichooseto]

[He lifts his hands in a helpless fashion.]

I quite understand. I'm a somewhat recent arrival myself and you're certainly expected to hit the ground running, so to speak.

[oceanborne]

Do they do this often? New... arrivals? [She wonders if it's a foolish hope to expect someone else from Panem, anybody. Even Johanna would be a welcome sight, for all her acerbic nature.]

I suppose it's not as bad as it could be. It seems -- [Annie pauses and hunts for the word, tilting her head. "Safe" is nearly a foreign concept to Panem citizens, "peaceful" equally so. Hmm.] unique.

[proudofwhatiam]

[Evy's on her way to the library when she catches sight of a girl holding her head. The expression on her face is excruciating, enough so that she can't not stop. Staying a few feet away, she pitches her voice low and hopefully reasonably reassuring.]

Excuse me--miss?

[oceanborne]

[It doesn't even register with Annie at first, that the woman might be addressing her. But she hazards a peek just to see who that voice belongs to, and oh. Yes, it appears she's being spoken to. She curls her fingers tighter in the tangled mass of hair and tries (fails) to match the same calm tone of voice.]

Yes?

[proudofwhatiam]

Do you...need anything?

[Some water, an aspirin, a stay in Bedlam?]

[oceanborne]

[Well, Annie can't be too upset at the woman for being... what was it, cautious? Cautious, then, around her. She wasn't projecting the most shining example of "fitting in."]

I need to go home. [To her son, her baby, she'd just put him down for a nap and now he's not with her. It's more terrifying than any arena.] I don't know what's going on.

[proudofwhatiam]

I'm afraid going home isn't an option for you right now. [Best not to lie to the girl, right? She might not seem the most stable, but lying might do more damage in the long run.]/small> Did you read the explanation you were given?

[oceanborne]

Why not? This isn't... it's not an arena, is it? We don't have to fight? [She looks momentarily confused at the mention of an explanation, unused to anything so straightforward.] No. The map, you mean? I lost mine.

[The bracelet doesn't even register in Annie's mind as a place to find this guide or other info, she's already accepted it as simply a tracking device like the one she was injected with in the Games.]

[proudofwhatiam]

No. We don't have to fight. [...Well. They don't have to fight now. It's not exactly a lie. She takes a step or two forward, gesturing at the woman's wrist.] When they brought you here--didn't your bracelet show you an explanation of the place?

[oceanborne]

It can do that?

[So that's a "no," then, on if Annie even noticed the auto-play when the guide popped up. She was probably very busy panicking, it's a full-time job for her. She looks at the metallic bangle with newfound suspicion.]

What else do they do?

[theshabbiestofmen]

[He finds her when she's huddled in a little alley, looking terrified and out of place. Remus has never had a panic attack, but he knows what they look like-- he's spent too much time in the Order, running missions and chasing Death Eaters, to not know what raw fear looks like.

He approaches, hands held up to show he hasn't a weapon.]

Ma'am?

[oceanborne]

[It's actually a little bit frightening, how helpful everyone she's encountered is, from the castle maid right down to... well, Annie doesn't know this man yet, but he's coming towards her. She's used to everyone at home writing it off as another mad fit of hers, ignoring their disappointment of a victor and going about their days. That's easy enough to ignore.

But now he's talking, and a questioning tone like that really deserves an answer. With a deep breath to gather her nerve, she releases her death grip on her head and casts an unsure look at the speaker.]

Yes?

[theshabbiestofmen]

Is there anything I can do? I could find a drink of water, if you'd like.

[oceanborne]

[Oh, water. That's important. Always important to find water in the arenas, so finding a source here sounds like a good plan. Annie uncurls a little more, losing just a touch of that wildness in her gaze.] That sounds good. If it's no trouble?

[theshabbiestofmen]

Certainly.

[He digs into his pocket-- but oh, right. No wand. Damn. Instead Remus extends a hand.]

Would you like to come with me? I promise I won't let anyone come near you, if you don't want.

[oceanborne]

Oh, I...

[She pauses, weighing options. What's the worst that could happen? He seems very kind. But it could be a ruse. After a few seconds of staring at the outstretched hand like she expects it to explode, produce a knife, or otherwise turn harmful, Annie reaches out to very lightly take said hand.]

Thank you, yes. Um, no, I mean. To anyone coming close by. I'm not good with crowds, sometimes.

[theshabbiestofmen]

[He takes it quite lightly, ready to drop it the moment she pulls away, and leads them forward. He sticks to the side of the road, keeping himself as a buffer between her and the crowds.]

Everyone has things they're not good with. A friend of mine is absolutely awful with dust, he can't even go into a library, but he'd never admit it.

[oceanborne]

A library? I don't think I've seen one of those before.

[Unless one were to count the minuscule room in her district's school, with an assortment of pro-Capitol propaganda and books on basic techniques for fishing and net-weaving. Huzzah for the comprehensive educational system of Panem, everybody.]