get ready

"sounds great." Linden shrugged, walking a pace behind Gemma, just trusting that she had any idea where the food would be. "one's a city too, isn't it? Anything like this?" Linden had never conceived of buildings this tall before, although she was used to height surrounding her, it was usually living trees, not cold walls.

"Not all of it," Gemma replied, "but where I live, yes, it's a city. Not quite the same." She didn't want to admit that it was shabbier, poorer. One was the best of the Districts and still did not hold a candle to the Capitol. That had become most clear no her arrival here. She was quick to add, "But of course it's not as nice, it's District. Shouldn't be as nice."

Heads on sticks. This tribute was certainly something. Denver had never ben a fan of the folks who glorified the Games. "It was never about glory," Denver said. "Maybe to the Victors themselves, but the Games are so much greater than that. It's not glory. It's sacrifice. And that means that all the political perspectives need to be heard, to show that we're all the same. Because in the Arena, you are all the same. You are no different than someone from District Twelve. A Victor wins, but it's Panem that triumphs, and that's what matters."

"There's glory in sacrifice for the greater good," Gemma responded. "You say all perspectives should be heard, we're all equal, but that Panem should triumph through it all. Of course it will -- but the cost of having rebels get their propaganda into the Games is high. Lots of lives are lost. Not all perspectives should be shared because we aren't all the same."

"I can only give you advice, the final decision is yours in the arena. Just make choices you know you can live with. A lot of Victors get haunted by the faces they see in the arena." Sheen shockingly was not one of them, he was haunted more by the arena itself. Sometimes he felt bad over it, other times he told himself he had done nothing wrong, and shouldn't feel guilty for not feeling guilty.....all he did was survive. He rolled his eyes at the mention of the girl from Three. "Everything I have heard against her has been against my will. If you or Jade take her out, let's just say I will put in extra work to show my thanks. She has no reason to be as cocky as she is."

Gemma laughed freely at that. "Well then we have that in common," she said. "Our mutual dislike of a self-centered bitch." She had been called self-centered plenty of times in her life, but she didn't view herself that way. A bitch, on the other hand -- that, she was. "As for choices I can live with -- I'm not worried about that. This is the Hunger Games. It's supposed to be brutal. I'll do what I have to."

"Oh, wouldn't you like to find out," Farina replied suggestively, arching an eyebrow. She was unable to help herself from falling into old habits, like Gemma was just some over-confident, mouthy farmhand that had found their way to the same backroom bar on a stuffy August night. Farina only had two defense mechanisms: sarcasm and flirting, usually some potent potion of both.

A little thrill ran through her entirely despite herself, and that reaction made her angrier. "I'm gonna stop you right there. You may have seen Helios walking around doe-eyed towards just about every other tribute, but that's not what we're like in One, he's an outlier. Flirting won't get you anywhere."

"Hmm," was Keres response for a moment. Sharp eyes flitted over the girl before her. It took her a moment to figure out where she had slotted into the videos of reapings, Keres always found herself preoccupied with making sure the story was told rather than the names. That was someone else's job, to fill in the nameplate that would run on the bottom of the ticker, as Keres sat and thought of the stories each person told.

"A graduate and the top pick for these Games," she replied, proud of herself for having made it to the top of the pyramid of students competing to be chosen to volunteer. It hadn't been her goal all throughout her time at the Academy, but once Copper had died, she'd shifted her goals and made it there with little issue.

"Because I'm prettier than you and about- i don't know, a hundred times more likeable? I'm special and you're just you're run of the mill career from one. There's nothing interesting about you. I'm not going to die. I still have things to do after the games. They're not the end all and be all for me."

Gemma was a bit hurt by the jabs, but she tried not to show it, as she knew that was exactly the point: to bother her. "And what's likeable and pretty going to do for you in the Arena? When you've got someone who knows how to use a weapon staring you down?"

She was waiting. Biding her time until Twelve arrived, simmering in an odd guilt that she hadn’t been able to support Slate at his first Reaping from the stage. But the doctors had been clear. Travel was ill-advised this late in her pregnancy. A particularly bumpy train raise could induce labor, and then what? Hoping for a rogue midwife? It wasn’t a slight against Twelve and its resources. It was that everyone was scattered or dead.

Seeing Cress, Gemma was filled with mixed emotions. Before, she'd have been starstruck, completely in awe. But now, Cress's very obvious pregnancy just made her think about who had impregnated her, who Cress was still with -- and while Slate had changed his tune, Gemma couldn't stop seeing him as responsible for so much of what had happened with the rebels, including and especially Copper's death.

The floor of the lobby magnified the clicking of Keres's heels as she walked in. The Avox which always hovered near her to carry anything she required scurried to keep up. Before her, a group of wide eyed tributes was walking, clearly glancing around curious at their new home until their impending demise.

"you want me dead, I want you dead. we're being honest about that, doesn't mean we have to avoid each other." It would be easier not to make friends, she knew that. but this wasn't friendship, there was too much hostility here. so it was safe. "You're hungry too, aren't you? I'm proposing an alliance until we can find food. does that work for you?"

Gemma figured it would be best to spend a bit more time with Linden so she could gauge her threat level, so she said, "Fine, it's a deal. A short-term alliance that ends at the buffet table." She started walking in the direction she thought food would be in.

Jade laughed with her, she was funny, at least there was that. Some of one’s prospective tributes were so serious, it was draining. You were still allowed a sense of humour, as far as Jade was concerned.

Denver looked at Gemma. She wasn't sure that she'd say Mason had a disconnect from reality. His brother certainly had - he'd needed to in order to sacrifice himself for Mason in the Arena. But hers was an interesting take. "Do you think Alecta was brought down more by Cyril or...Cordelia?" she asked, trying to get a sense for what love was and wasn't acceptable in the Arena, according to her.

"Alecta was brought down by her own weakness," Gemma replied, not giving either Cyril or Cordelia the time of day nor the dignity of having been part of the takedown. She was a bit annoyed that Denver seemed to miss the point of her threat, jumping from all the tributes I'll kill to the logistics of ornaments versus trading cards. "Right, ornaments, trading cards, heads on sticks, doesn't matter. You'll sell them all. The Games need to be restored to their glory, not just a playground for rebels to get their ideas heard by the nation. I don't care about merchandise."

Nodding his head, "Good, good. I'm very friendly with the District Two Mentors. I can talk to them, and work something out for all of you, so we're all on the same page for the early part of the games." When she asked about Jade being told not to kill Gemma, he nodded his head. "I am, yes. If me and my partner made it to the finals together and I didn't have to kill them, I am sure the two of you can do that." Running his hand through his hair, "Have you met any of the other tributes yet?"

"I'd love a District One finale, but I can't promise that I won't try for a more... personal approach in the end," Gemma said. She had every intention of killing Jade if it were the two of them at the end of the Games, rather than letting a mutt do it. "I've met a few of them. Outer districts, and... well, the girl from Three is a serious piece of work. She'll be an easy target."

"I'm sorry that you're so jealous of me. It's a natural reaction to meeting me. I get that." This wasn't the first time someone called her dumb, or asked if she was dumb, but as always she just brushed past it.

Gemma was almost speechless -- almost. But she managed to push past it, and her awe at the girl's disconnect from reality, to say, "Why would I be jealous of you? You're about to be thrown into an Arena that you are clearly not prepared for, and you'll die very quickly if you're lucky, likely in the Bloodbath, as you'll be too busy checking your reflection to notice that you're in danger."

Farina looked at her hands in mock shock, wiggling her fingers, then testing her elbow and wrist joints. "Oh my God, you're a genius," she gasped, tone dripping in sarcasm. "See, my teeny, tiny District Nine brain never thought I needed these, wow, so glad you were here to save me."

Gemma rolled her eyes at the sarcasm she was met with. "Imagine what else you can learn now that you know you need your arms," she replied with a dose of her own sarcasm.

Jade found herself sat beside Gemma, watching the other tributes like they had the right to judge. She knew of her though, knew it would be smart to team up, if that was an option, so she laughed at her sarcasm and sipped her own coffee. "That guy is pretty tall" she pointed out, as Oxford passed them. Tall didn't necessarily mean strong, but she'd keep her eye on him anyway.

"Good point, if we're not careful he might step on us," Gemma said with a laugh, glad that she and her district partner were on the same page. Of course, she wasn't interested in a genuine friendship -- how stupid would that be? No, she was interested in using Jade just as Jade was probably going to use her.