notyourutopian | Third Injection - [video

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Third Injection - [video - action]

[Eleanor is curled up on her couch when she opens her book. She looks distant for a moment, as if she isn't precisely sure how she wants to say what she needs to say, and then she draws in a breath and shrugs.]

For anyone that knew her, Brigid Tenenbaum is gone. I've been in and out a lot lately so I'm not certain when she vanished but she has.

I'm sorry.

[There's a pause. Eleanor really has no idea how she felt about Tenenbaum, the woman was her tormenter and yet also someone who cared about her deeply, it created...conflicts. But she wasn't going to go into all of that. So, a change of subject.]

I've started school recently. Well, I suppose everyone has who's going. I've never gone before, I always wanted to but I was never allowed. Not counting that strange town we were in all, anyway.

It's...different from what I imagined, somehow. I mean, it's interesting, just...it's hard to explain. Mother always described school as something terrible, honestly. A place where parents who didn't care about their children sent them away to be indoctrinated. She taught me at home, said that she needed to 'control what I absorbed.'

[A faint smirk.]

It hardly worked at all. I think I prefer this way. [A pause, and the smirk fades into a real smile, possibly the first she's ever managed through the books.] Even the homework.

But I've been thinking...my childhood was hardly a normal one, and even for other children in Rapture, nothing was...what someone in a normal city would have experienced. I don't really know much about how school is 'supposed' to be.

What was school like where all of you came from?

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[Speaking of which, Eleanor could be found at school throughout the early part of the day, though she's a fairly quiet student who tends to hang around in the background of groups as much as possible. It might change later on, but she's still convinced people are going to realize she's a monster and start freaking out. So low-key is important to her. The only class she really actively participates in is art, though everything she works on has a somewhat dark tilt that would probably make a psychologist worry.]

[Afterwards she can be found going for a walk around the edge of the village, then to some of the stores to get things for the apartment now that Doctor Tenenbaum is gone, and a bit of browsing in the clothing store searching for more skirts. A trip by the battledome mostly results in her poking absently at the control panel for a while before leaving with no better idea of how it worked than when she arrives.]

[And in the early evening she can be found on a bench in the center of town, the ball-shaped helmet from her diving suit turned upside down in her lap. There's a pile of bits and bobs from various machines scattered on a white piece of fabric next to her, and she's humming softly to herself as she tinkers with the radio and light inside the helmet, trying to get it to work properly again.]

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[She had spent the morning hunting, the same way she spent every morning here in Luceti. At least, any normal morning. She's usually back by late morning, noon at the latest. But thanks to a promise to take Foo Foo hunting with her, her morning had taken longer than normal. Sokka should have started training the animal long before. For a predator, Foo Foo struck Katniss as an utter failure.

She's stubborn though. And determined.

Rather than going straight home after dropping the saber-tooth moose lion off, she takes her time. Today's hunt had been one of the least successful in some time. With her bow and quiver over her back, she enters the store to do a little bit of shopping. Find some food to make up for the lack of success in her hunt. When she notices Eleanor, she offers a brief hint of a smile before moving on to the fruit.]

[Eleanor hasn't ever really had to worry about feeding herself. In Rapture, as a child her mother had handled everything, and when she was older, she'd had the pick of whatever food her mother's followers could find. It had been frustrating being the object of their worship, but it had given her an advantage sometimes.]

[So she is just sort of meandering, picking up anything that looks interesting. Figuring out how to cook it was going to be interesting, though. She's trying to pick a vegetable when she notices Katniss nearby, and the faint smile the other gives her. Hmm. It takes her a few seconds to recognize her, the girl who'd confessed on the network...they'd had an interesting conversation, at least.]

[So after a few moments, awkward moments where she tries to decide if she wants to talk to her, she finally picks up some broccoli and walks over.]

Hello. Katniss, right?

[She remembers the girl. She remembers all of those that had bothered to reply to the declaration she had made on the journal that August. Her stupid, pointless attempt to pus people away. It hadn't worked out. Not to the degree in which she had hoped.

But there's nothing that can be done about it now. She has to live with the consequences. Live with the consequences just like with every other stupid action she's ever taken her life. The consequences here aren't so dire. For some reason, people here still find her worthwhile to talk to. To get to know. Maybe Peeta was right all those years ago. She doesn't know the effect she has on people. Even still to this day.

While she recognizes the girl, she can't exactly remember her name. And so, after Katniss nods in affirmation, she gives the girl a sheepish sort of look.]

I don't remember your name.

[Those early conversations are burned into Eleanor's memory, her first real talks with people who weren't her mother's followers. Even if some of they had gone rather terribly. So she shakes her head as if it doesn't matter.]

Eleanor. [She hesitates.] How are you?

[She's a lot better than she was the last time they had talked. But she doesn't want to bring that up again. If she could have it her way, she'd wipe that whole journal entry and all those conversations from existence. Because, it turns out, she's not as good at pushing people away as she used to be. She doesn't want to do that anymore. Not when she really stops to consider it.

She's just not that good a person. She's too selfish.]

Well. [She tilts her head a little, considering the girl.] You were new here, weren't you? When we last talked?

[The dark-haired girl gives a little bob of her head in response.]

Yes. It feels like a hundred years ago, not just a few months.

It... It does that. Being here.

[The time goes by faster than expected. Even if they're trapped here in a prison. It doesn't seem to matter. Between fearing for the next upcoming draft or shift, between living something similar to a normal life, it goes by fast. The amount of hours between hunts seem less and less every day. The amount of time she gets with Prim.]

Mm.

[Eleanor frowns at nothing for a moment, then turns her attention back to the fruit.]

Shopping for anything specific?

[Aaah, smalltalk.]

Dinner.

[She's not the best at small talk, but this she can at least answer. However sheepish her answer is. Rarely does she have to buy food for her small family. The time she spends in the woods usually provides the meal for them.

Damn Foo Foo.]

You?

The same. Doctor Tenenbaum vanished, and she had been cooking before so...

[Eleanor frowns and picks up a vegetable, considering it carefully.]

I honestly have no idea what I'm doing.

[The girl isn't much younger than Katniss herself. Only a couple of years at most. And yet, given the way she considers the vegetable, the quiet statement, she seems so much younger. Sheltered. And not, she suspects, in a good way.

The smile that she offers is a small, caring one. The sort of smile she'd share with her sister once upon a time. That she'll be safe. Everything will be okay.]

You've never cooked before?

What? [Eleanor looks surprised, but probably not because Katniss is wrong.] I mean, of course I've cooked before. You could hardly be seventeen and having never cooked, of course. I mean, I've made...

[Right. Okay. A useful lie here. Ah...]

...roast...uh...potatoes?

[Those were a thing right?]

[She's not a very good liar, either. It had been a problem when filming the propos. Whenever they tried scripting something, Katniss had butchered it. This is how a rebellion dies. Weren't those the words that Haymitch had used? She was better when acting in the moment. Stating the things she thought to be true.

But it does, at least, make it easy to spot someone else just as bad at this. Just as self-conscious and maybe a little awkward. Her expressions soften and she looks down at the onion in her hand.]

It's not that hard. [She barely knows the girl. And yet...] Do you want to come over for dinner?

[Eleanor blinks at that question. It really was obvious she didn't know what she was doing, wasn't it. She just flushes and then shakes her head, setting the vegetable back down on the counter.]

Thank you, but...I wouldn't want to impose. And I really should figure out how to cook for myself...

[She shakes her head. Briefly, she considers what Richard might think. Prim, she knows, will have no problem. Her sister's nicer and more welcoming than Katniss could ever be. But Richard... Richard's so much more like Katniss. Maybe it's why they got along so well. Quickly became something akin to a family.

But, then, he's already taken in two strays. She never considered the odds to be that much in her favor. Odds that would let her find a family here, people to live for. And die for.

No. She doubted either would mind.]

I can teach you. While I cook.

[Eleanor still hesitates, considering the other girl carefully. It was so hard to trust people, any people, that weren't father or her sisters. She hadn't even trusted Dr. Tenenbaum, not really. Still...the prospect of learning to cook was tempting. None of the memories her mother had shoved into her head were of any use in that respect. Too many rich scientists with servants.]

[Finally she nods her head.]

If you are sure you don't mind.

[She still has a hard time trusting anyone. Katniss would understand if the girl said no. If she suspected the offer. Katniss has no reason to be this altruistic. It's not normally in her nature. But there's something about the girl that almost reminds her of herself.

This hesitation only reinforces that fact.]

I don't.

[Eleanor isn't sure if she's relieved by that or not, but she smiles anyway.]

A-alright. Then...what do 'we' need to pick up here?

[She could roll with this. Probably. Maybe.]

Meat. Vegetables.

[The sorts of things she'd normally gather on her hunt. Squirrels she would have killed and not have to sacrifice to the overgrown sabertooth moose lion in a bribe to get him to hunt on his own. Damned creature. She hadn't even made it to any of her normal root or tuber scavenging grounds thanks to him.]

I have some at home but not enough.

[And she wanted to keep her stockpile. Just in case there was ever a food shortage here again. She'd never let Prim face another Hollow Day. Never.]

[Eleanor nods, turning her attention to the shelves again, trying to figure out what exactly would qualify.]

In Rapture, after the war, we didn't get fresh anything. All these fruits and vegetables and meat...I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing it.

[She picks out some broccoli and holds it up as if to ask 'will this do?']

[She understands exactly what the girl means. There's no price to the food here. No limit to the quantity available. And it's all fresh. Food that's good to eat, safe to eat. No need to place your name in the Hunger Games for tessera allotment No poaching in the forest or fearing the next Hollow Days.

It's been over a year now. She'll never get used to it, either.]

Hopefully, you'll never have to experience otherwise.

Mm. [She considers the piece of broccoli carefully.] Hopefully.

[And then a breath, and a bit of a smile.]

So what am I looking for here?

[That was the nice thing about stews. You could put almost anything in there so long as those tastes go together. It was an easy dish. A very, very easy dish to make. And still one of the only things that Katniss had any confidence in actually cooking.]

Whatever you'd like.

I don't know what I'd like.

[Eventually she holds out some broccoli and a squash.]

[While she's not entirely certain if squash and broccoli go together, she'll find someway to make it work. Because she doesn't want to let the girl down. It's silly, really. She barely knows the girl. And yet...]

That looks good.

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[action] Do you want to play out this cooking lesson?

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