voice testing/considering Beastly Roses

[stayafloat]

No. No more games. I won't go.

I'll be good, be quiet. You won't notice me, promise.

Don't wanna go back.

Comments

[kissmyaxe]

[There's a pause here, because Johanna's about as good at comforting people as an actual tree.]

Look, even if you do go, it's not that kind of game. [She might be lying a bit] So there's no need to freak out, or anything. [Where is Finnick when you need him]

[stayafloat]

[Nevertheless, she's got a hand in her hair, pulling at bits and pieces here and there.]

How do you know? Katniss and Peeta are there.

[kissmyaxe]

[A faintly pained sound] Don't do that to your head. [W h y is this happening]

Katniss and Peeta have been a lot of places, that doesn't make all those places the Games. Right?

[stayafloat]

[Her hand's not moving from her hair, and she shakes her head a bit.]

They don't end, you know that. Never end.

[wirescrossed]

Silence is not a preclusion to observation, I'm afraid.

[stayafloat]

For them it is. Run and hide, keep running far away.

They don't want broken toys.

[sugarcubing]

Annie. It's okay don't worry. You know I won't let anything happen to you.

[stayafloat]

[She just stares at him for a moment, slightly uncertain.]

Not there. You're not in their arena, just Katniss and Peeta.

[a_good_detective]

...ma'am. If it is any consolation, muns are prone to changing their minds on such things. I'm sure you will not be going anywhere.

[Sherlock has one weakness: women in distress.]

[stayafloat]

[She shakes her head, hands slowly moving up to cover her ears.]

No, no, they want to watch me play. I can't, I won't.

[a_good_detective]

[He gently, gingerly places a hand on her shoulder.] It is alright. You can refuse to speak to your mun, force them to forget you. You won't be hurt.

[stayafloat]

[She backs away at the touch, with a brittle laugh.] Already am, it doesn't end.

[a_good_detective]

...where is your mun thinking of sending you? Perhaps I could accompany you, Miss.

[stayafloat]

Don't know. Some place like old stories.

[a_good_detective]

That doesn't narrow it down, Miss.

[stayafloat]

Think it's called Beastly Roses. Fairy tales. No more roses; they don't want the mad girl in the Capitol. Bad publicity.

[a_good_detective]

I'll have my mun look into it. And you are most assuredly not mad. You have simply experienced great trauma with little in the way of coping mechanisms. That last part can be changed.

[stayafloat]

No, no. [A hand's going up to tangle in her hair, almost frantic.] Have to be, I can't go back; have to be broken. Safe.

[a_good_detective]

...I don't understand what you mean.

[stayafloat]

They forget, if you're broken. Leave you alone.

[a_good_detective]

But it must hurt. Being broken, I mean.

[stayafloat]

[She tilts her head at that, with a slight giggle.] No. The breaking is what hurts. The Capitol hurts.

[nevermissing]

What's the matter, Crazy?

Afraid the first time you won was a fluke? [It was. Ask Clove.]

[stayafloat]

[There's a quiet stare.]

I won. [That's as close as she's going to get to an outright argument, here.]

[nevermissing]

Like I said. Fluke.

[Not intimidated]

You wouldn't have survived much longer if the arena hadn't flooded.

[stayafloat]

[She's quietly clenching the hem of her shirt, now. It helps a little, anyway.]

Doesn't matter, I still did better than you.

[nevermissing]

[Shut up Cresta right now, not cool.]

Yeah? 'course you believe in the power of love and all that crap.

Trust me, if 12 hadn't had her pathetic love story with lover boy? They would both be dead. And I would have won.

Would have killed off my partner, too, the second they changed the rules.

[stayafloat]

[Her hands go up to cover her ears for a moment, breathing quickly.]

No, no killing. No more.

[nevermissing]

Well that's what's gonna happen if you go into this game.

[stayafloat]

[A shaky breath.]

No. Won't. I'll run, take Finnick and go.

[nevermissing]

Yeah?

Good luck with that. One of the most high-profile victors? They'll find you in an hour.

[stayafloat]

[Her hands are twisting at that hem, now, itching to move them up tp her hair.]

Leave me alone.

[nevermissing]

Why? Can't hear the voices in your head over me?

[vainqueurdeluxe]

It's a losing fight, you know. They don't listen. They never do.

[stayafloat]

They said no more games.