We're wide awake now, our eyes are wide open. We're running this world, we keeping it turning

[opheliac]

Who: EVERYONE ON THIS DANG SHIP!
What: IT'S A PARTTTYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When: last week of april before more shit happens.
Where: rischie
Warnings: PG-13??? alcohol is definitely involved, teens being teens, drunk people or doing bad decisions??? who is to say!!!





Fast Travel Thread Links

★ ENTRANCE.
★ THE DANCE FLOOR.
★ AT THE BAR.
★ GAME AREA.
★ DJ TABLE // PRIVATE WITH JINX
★ LOSER CORNER.
★ THE FOOD TABLE.
★ KARAOKE.
★ OUTSIDE RISCHIE.
★ WILDCARD.

Comments

[diana_abel]

She nodded, her lavender eyes flashing with sympathy. Not pity, of course. Because no one wanted that. But she saw an important distinction between the two.

And definitely felt the difference, when it was directed at her.

"I'd say 'nice to meet you,'" she said, "but that feels kinda vulgar under the circumstances." All the same, she offered him her hand. "Name's Diana. Diana Abel. A-B-E-L. As in, 'Caine and dot, dot, dot...'"

Diana always introduced herself that way. And didn't like it. She was pretty sure that she'd been conditioned to do it. It was a brand on her soul she couldn't escape. Just like Grandmother herself.

She shook her head, mostly at herself, dismissing the introduction. "What should I call you?"

[juststayalive]

"I don't know who that is," he admits. So she never has to worry about him associating her with that particular story. If he forgets who she is, it's no fault of hers. Although he is making sure to pay attention this evening, to notice as much as possible, so he shouldn't have to worry about forgetting too much.

"Haymitch Abernathy."

[diana_abel]

"Haymitch? What an interesting name. Never heard it before." But she said it with interest and curiosity. No derision.

Her hand was just lingering there between them. Did he not shake hands? Maybe he was afraid of germs? Or maybe it was something to do with his world?

Regardless, she tried to find the least awkward way possible to lower her hand, tucking it behind her back.

"Abernathy, though. I think that's a city in...Texas?"

[juststayalive]

Oh. He's forgetting his manners again. Effie would be disappointed in him. Good thing she's not here to see this then.

"I don't know where that is either." Despite sounding American. In fact, to someone with a linguistic ear he sounds vaguely West Virginian. Texas, though, he thinks that was one of the places that existed before Panem came to be Panem. Back when towns apparently had names. "I don't know anything about the name." Families from the Seam have no history worth recording. Just a list of deaths in the mines.

[diana_abel]

It was taking a lot of faith on Diana's part to reconcile herself to the fact that people were coming in from other universes. She was a damn Cainite, so she could stretch her belief.

But it was still...baffling.

Nevertheless, she just shrugged, smiling politely. "Well, you're not missing much. Texas kind of sucks. Great, if you like horses. Less great if you're into things like civil liberties and women having rights."

There were pockets of hope out there. She'd enjoyed her visit to Austin. But Austin was the exception, rather than the rule.

[juststayalive]

"Doesn't sound like a place I want to visit then." Not that he has to, really, because he lives in a place like that. Except no one has rights, other than those who live in the Capitol, so it's not just women. But he's not getting into that right now. "Not that it matters. Travel is restricted in Panem."

He can talk about Panem with someone who's not from there. What he says will never make it back to anyone who could do anything with the information.

[diana_abel]

"Panem? Where is that?"

At this point, Diana wanted ready to accept anything from 'north of Cleveland' to 'somewhere in the Andromeda Galaxy.' Which wasn't to say that she was, but some part of her was bracing herself for an answer that would, no doubt, manage to completely defy her expectations.

The small mercy of it was that just talking was highly unlikely to release the little beast, even if she clawed at the back of Diana's mind.

...she hoped.

[juststayalive]

"North America." Geographical education in Panem had been lacking, but the history of how the country came about had been mentioned every year. At least in a form that claimed to justify why things are the way they are. "It used to have other names -- I assume ones like Texas -- but after a civil war and a rebellion, the country was reorganized."

[diana_abel]

"Oh. Wow. Okay."

Her lavender eyes got wide enough to show the whites, all the way around. Another...bad future? At least, it sounded reasonably better than what Clarke-with-an-E had described. As far as Diana could tell, her earth had no more countries or cities or...anything.

Panem, though. Easy enough to break down the Latin roots there.

Still. This was getting weird.

"Used to have," she said. "Did something...bad happen?"

[juststayalive]

It's a history he knows well, because it's repeated every year before the reaping. At least, the Capitol's version of it is, though he knows enough about the stories they tell to realize that the actual truth is probably somewhat different. Not that anyone would ever admit it.

What he gives her is a short summary, because it's a party and neither of them is here for a history lesson, and he doesn't know all the minute details, anyway.

"After the civil war, Panem was divided into districts and a Capitol. The districts rose up in rebellion against the Capitol, which the Capitol managed to put an end to, with the goal of ensuring peace in the future." He's not sure how much more he should say.

History is repeating itself, and all he can do is hope the current rebellion turns out more favorably than the last one.

[diana_abel]

She listened with practically unblinking attention, her cheeriness faltering a little bit.

Okay, maybe a lot.

Diana had faith in humanity. Strong, unwavering faith that had always seen her through even her darkest moments. What she counted on, when she couldn't count on anything else, was that human beings were the good guys. They were the spark of creation and with them, things would always get better, even while the Cainites tried to make things worse.

But there probably weren't Cainites in such a world.

And the story just sucked.

"Merde," she swore softly. "I'm so sorry. That's terrible!"

[juststayalive]

"You had nothing to do with it." He agrees that it's terrible, has thought so for years. He would wager that most others in District 12 would agree with him, and most of the other Districts too, even if most of them don't have his perspective on the situation. He's just a little confused about why someone who isn't part of it all would be apologizing for anything.

[diana_abel]

Diana frowned. "Well, no. I mean, I hope I had nothing to do with it. I just..."

There were worlds without empathy. Her own world was like that, half of the time. Which was all the more reason why Diana tried to spread as much love and kindness as she could.

Her fingers brushed against her chest, directly over her heart. "This kind of sorry, I guess."

[juststayalive]

He sips his drink with a slight tilt of the head in acknowledgement of her statement. He's not used to people expressing that sentiment, or to responding to that sentiment. "No one knows any different."

[diana_abel]

Well, he might know different now.

Diana still wasn't entirely convinced that the intentions of the Captain and Friday were malevolent. She'd meet far too many people coming from far too shitty situations not to hold out the hope that, in some strange way, they were being rescued.

Ever the optimist.

"I guess this must be a weird transition..."