Killer Queen

Cashmere Price. Victor of the 64th Hunger Games. 

[aayla-securas]

“ Fucking men–! ”

[pixel-del]

The suite was nice. Vega had to give it that. Much more technology than any location in One, and the escort had designed it so that the furniture was plush and comfortable. An assortment of fruit and vegetables lay arranged on the dining table and three or four avoxes were walking in between the rooms to give them their final touches. 

But Vega didn’t want to lounge on cushy furniture or sit around eating room-temperature veggie platters. Training wasn’t due to start for a couple days; hell, there were still several tribute trains that had yet to arrive. But what was the point of sitting around when she could be prepping strategies or getting some under-the-radar athletics in?

Vega tapped on her watch anxiously, biting her lip as the rest of the team from One got themselves situated and went through the motions.

“So…” she said. “What now?” 

[cashmere--price]

Cashmere took a seat on one of the couches, looking to Vega with a critical eye. She’d already had all of her clothes and belongings moved into a bedroom on the floor so that she could spend her time fully in the tower. “Now everyone gets situated.” The trains carrying tributes from the outer districts would arrive, the tv’s would start flooding with commentaries, early stats would be released on tributes. With district one so close to the capitol, their tributes always arrived earlier than most. “Care to tell me if you’ve got a plan for when things kick off?”

[soracities]

My bones do not taste of crown and silver / I am not a thing to be owned

Adonis, from ‘This is My Name’, Selected Poems   (via sempiternele)

[ripleycoda]

Well, everything sucked. 

He was Reaped, Kali was Reaped, and his happy little family was quite possibly down to two members, plus Ms. Hilade. The train ride had been an overwhelming bummer, to say the absolute least. And he wanted to think that it couldn’t get worse, but those were dangerous words. And Levi Jameson was not in the mood to play Russian Roulette with fate after the day he’d had. 

He had slipped away from his team after Kali had been taken down to be styled, and found himself sitting at the bar, ordering a milkshake. He sipped at it, a massive concoction with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles. When someone took the seat beside him, he flashed them an awkward smile. “I’m drowning my sorrows,” he said around the straw, taking an over-exaggerated sip of the milkshake. 

[cashmere--price]

“Cute.” Cashmere rested her folded arms against the bar, glancing only briefly to the tribute. She hadn’t been to pleased during the reaping to see an academy student break rank and volunteer. District one was going into it’s twelfth year without a victor. She didn’t need a loose cannon. She needed the next victor. 

She draped her hair over one shoulder and ordered the bartender over so she could order a drink, paying little mind to the boy from twelve. 

[thepersonalquotes]

[amberheard]

[cashmere--price]

Finnick let out a chuckle “Hello to you too, Cash. Thanks for your concern about my genitals. I’m happy to tell you the doctor gave me the all clear.” Finnick cocked his head to the side and looked Cashmere over. “How are your knees and throat holding up tonight? Think you got enough in you for another Sponsor…or ten?” 

“Charming as ever, Odair.” She rolled her eyes. They were both two of the most heavily requested victors of the past decade, but what empathy she might have felt for him was extinguished the moment he opened his mouth. 

[cashmere--price]

Elsie watched the lights reflect off the surface of the dress with wide eyes, absolutely taken with the glittery fabric. The slight drag at Nine’s losing streak made Cal smirk a little. “Tough blow. We’ll get there. These two are the good luck charms,” he added, scooping Elsie up to give her a closer look at the dress. But the comment about Elsie working hard as a Victor made Cal’s stomach drop a little.

“Maybe we’ll stick to the sparkly dresses and stay away from the Reaping,” Cal said quietly. The idea of Elsie or Piper being reaped was a distinct possibility, but one that absolutely terrified him. It was the only thing that scared him anymore, and he knew the Capitol would figure that out and use it as an incentive. “How’s the Tower been? Any important news I should know about?”

As if the capitol would let that happen. Victor’s children were prime targets for those fixed reapings. That was the capitol’s bread and butter. You either got with the narrative or you ignored it until said children were returned in wooden boxes. It was harsh, but it was reality and Cashmere was more concerned with keeping herself secured than worrying about the tragedy of others. 

“Become a victor kid and you can have as many sparkly dresses as you’d like.” She looked to Cal at his question and shrugged. “It’s still standing, everything else is just window dressing.”

[cashmere--price]

Glitter smirked at Cash.  “Well I was thinking of staying an extra week or two,” she mused playfully.  “Maybe take Emmy snowboarding.  I’m in no rush to get back to see my parents.”  That was the last thing Glitter wanted to do.  While the Capitol had a lot of really negative implications in her life, it also held some of the best pieces too.  Namely Cash and usually Wiress whenever Glitter was in town.  The two women were so very different but Glitter still considered them both her best friends.  “What do you say?  Are you up for some fun with me and the kids before I head back to One?”

“Of course I am.” In truth, she was dying for some company. She was set up perfectly in the capitol, but she often found herself missing the safety of someone she could be honest with. No capitolite was going to listen to her rage on about Snow, and certainly no one wanted to let her vent it out in the training center. “Maybe we can even sneak in some time without the kids so Auntie Cash doesn’t go insane.”

[cashmere--price]

Cashmere Price Candlenight’s outfits. (night one, two, and three)

[cashmere--price]

“I can’t even remember the last time I went snowboarding,” Glitter sighed wistfully.  Perhaps she could extend her stay in the Capitol and they could take Emmy.  She had no doubt her daughter would take to that the same way she took to so many other activities.  Emerald’s determination was something Glitter admired.  “I really should teach Ems.  I bet she’d love it,” she told Cash.

Once the bartender placed her drink down in front of her, Glitter lifted it and took a sip.  “I am glad to hear you’ve been staying out of trouble,” she teased her.  “What would I do with you if you weren’t?”

“Did I say I was staying out of trouble?” She clasped her hands together, leaning forward against the bar. Life in the capitol was exactly what she had dreamed it would be. Freedom from obligations and more importantly her parents. Her money never ended, and when she set her own fancy. In return, however, she was carted around the bedroom of anyone rich enough or influential enough. “You just might have to stay in the capitol if I was. What do you say? I’m a lot better company than my brother and parents back in one.”

[teachersgazebo-deactivated20200]

She has a mouth like unswept glass—-when you least expect it she cuts you.

Junot Diaz, “Otravida, Otravez (via kylelucia)

[amberheard]

[do-i-odair]

Finnick planned on making the most of his forced time in the Capitol and the continued attention he had been receiving since the end of the last Games and that meant getting to numb himself and forget everything by spending his time with beautiful women and handsome men. Finnick stood towards the wall down a random hallway in the Snow mansion. Finnick had a women in each arm and was just about to switch who he was kissing when he sensed someone else’s presence. He looked up at the figure and cocked a brow. “You going to join in or just stand there and stare?” He half teased, half challenged.

[cashmere--price]

Cashmere had just come from the arm of one of those girl’s father. A rich sponsor more than often bred ditzy little things that would waste what beauty they had on surgeries and cosmetics. She couldn’t fault a good tumble to work out the frustration and pain, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to judge Finnick on his choices. “So the chlamydia has cleared up then?” she asked.

[cashmere--price]

[cashmere--price]

Glitter smiled at Cash and moved to give the woman a half hug.  Sterling seemed perfectly content to play with the necklace she’d worn that evening.  Soon enough he’d drift off and she could set him down for a nap with an avox and truly enjoy the rest of the evening.  “That’s good to hear,” she chuckled.

Gesturing towards the dance floor she pointed out where Emmy was playing with a few other children.  “She’s over there,” she told her.  “The boring rubbish is worth skipping if we’re being completely honest,” she assured her.  “But what have you been up to since I last saw you?  Please tell me it was something exciting.”

With a glance over in Emmy’s direction, Cash shook her head. The baby she’d known was growing, and fast. It didn’t feel too long ago that the girl could be swallowed by one of Cash’s wide brimmed summer hats, or look like a doll playing with her jewelry.

She shrugged at Glitter’s question. “Wine festival, concerts, dinners with boring old men and their pretty wives. I went snowboarding the other weekend. Now that was fun.”

[cashmere--price]

The festivities were in full swing, and Lincoln Conway took it all in. The Capitolites seemed to have an exceedingly interesting way to celebrate. While the food during his training period had been lavish, the dishes served during Candlelights were downright strange. Goose liver and puffy bread? Cake flambé? Pale purple melon? He supposed each one tasted well enough, but he still had some doubts about the peculiar food.

The bar, on the other hand, seemed more recognizable. They served a variety of drinks he was previously familiar with and others he wanted to try. Consequently, he loitered near the bar to give different variations a try. “Dunno, it’s my first time at one of these events.” He mused to Cashmere Price beside him. “I saw a few people drinking glasses of clear liquid to induce vomiting, but something tells me that’s a pretty normal around here.”

“Child’s play.” Cash tilted her seat toward Lincoln, keeping her face pleasant as she assessed him. He was handsome enough to turn the head of Snow’s favorites, but she didn’t know if he had the stomach for that yet. It would be a shame to see a face like his crumble under the pressure.

She gestured to couple dressed in matching red furs, her teeth flashing. “Come to me when those two have their annual candlenight break-up, or when one of the drunkards sets the curtains on fire.”