cachumbambe! vasco/valentino blitz

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cachumbambe! vasco/valentino blitz Aug 28, 2020 23:49:25 GMT -5

Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2020 23:49:25 GMT -5

Valentino had already made himself comfortable in the Justice Building's throne, finger grease wearing at the white numbers on the telephone. They let him in early -- well, they received money and unlocked the building in exchange, but if you skip those steps it sounds better on paper. It smelled like moth chewed fabric stools - as it had when he checked earlier that month - along with that familiar layer of sawdust.

District Seven had a way of littering it everywhere, the smell of sawdust in his nose even as he kicked back and dialed the next number.

Slowly crossing through names on the list, making bargains and creating that list as he went. Carpenters to District Two, and to District Six -- Pierre remembered Valentino's name, if only from five year old rumors. It's nice to be remembered, he thought to himself, especially so as he dialed the digits next to V., Izar.

Each candidate casts their own shadow; Talon had held office for twenty five years, stepped down, and left a room empty of everyone but her sister. That takes some fear tactics -- Valentino would know. And evidently, so would Vasco, the only three candidates with no oppositions. Talon's sister, Jacinta's father, and, well.

The Izar, a family Valentino had kept a thumb on.

The dial tone rings for just a bit, just long enough for the man to stitch his sentence together. Old tongue he kept under lock and key and a dead weight marriage, and by the time the other man had picked up, Valentino was still clearing his throat.

Ahem, "yes, Mr. Izar?"

Valentino had always been careful to keep the language to his family- maybe that's why Jacinta always felt so out of place. Speaking it so forward to Vasco Izar felt like a crime of itself, and Valentino can only get away with so much in one day. "Hello, this is Valentino Salazar, the upcoming mayor of Seven. You see, I'm the only candidate this year and I hear you're in a similar position," he says, thinking of what else they could have in common.

Where to begin? The dead language or the dead children?

"Which is fantastic! I must admit, I'm glad to have the head start."

marguerite harvard d2a (zori)
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cachumbambe! vasco/valentino blitz Aug 29, 2020 1:24:28 GMT -5

Post by marguerite harvard d2a (zori) on Aug 29, 2020 1:24:28 GMT -5

V A S C O

We spent the early part of the morning in bed listening to the rain come down. The soft pitter-patter of the storm rumbling through while we wrapped together tighter underneath the sheets. I’d pressed my head onto her pillow and wrapped and arm around her waist when the lightning came, less for her and more for me. Emma smelled of wildflowers, the white, red, and purple ones that grew by the wooden fence up the road. I trailed my fingers along the length of her thigh. The slow rumble of thunder presaged the soft kisses I stole at the nape of her neck.

Heavy rains washed away the noise of the outside world and kept every sound between us.

I daydreamed from the foot of the stove that morning, silver espresso pot boiling over a blue flame. Yani had to yell to me to get my attention, and clucked her tongue, wondering why on earth I could be so tired with how long I’d slept in? I poured a cup for myself and sipped, hand on my hip before making a face at her and crossing my eyes. She let out a snort and busied herself with her oats. We’d spend the evening going over her homework (she was still young enough where the answers I’d give wouldn’t lower her grade) and playing imaginary games with her stuffed animals.

It tided me over the walk through the drizzling rain to the justice building, past the leering peacekeepers and into the darkened office of the mayor.

When the phone had rung, I’d tipped over the receiver and listened to an unfamiliar voice on the line.

(Salazar?)

“Hola,” I whispered, but in the half breath before I could speak he pressed on. The new presumptive mayor of seven, father of a victor, ready to start his hard work.

“Ah, disculpáme, Mr. Salazar, I hadn’t been expecting you,” I leaned back in my chair, feet on the desk. Perhaps I could talk a little shop, too. “Congratulations, my friend. Have you already started to think about how you're going to get things done for seven?”

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Last Edit: Aug 30, 2020 0:51:15 GMT -5 by marguerite harvard d2a (zori)

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cachumbambe! vasco/valentino blitz Aug 29, 2020 21:46:21 GMT -5

Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2020 21:46:21 GMT -5

His eyes widen as Vasco excuses himself; so polite, he near chuckles. Disculpáme and Valentino can't help but grin hearing it so blatantly over the phone. It nearly raises his pulse. He adjusts his collar, silently clearing his throat as Vasco responds. What's more fun than a surprise? He felt his blood drain from his feet thinking about how dangerous it can be to live that openly.

So loudly.

But the confidence is very nice, he must admit. These candidates are all so interesting, he learned that very quickly. Between Vasco, Pierre, Shiv, Eurydice -- ever growing list here, but they've all been very exciting to talk to. These are connections that make a mayor, make a man powerful, but could they all be in one room together? Honestly.

If the Izars and the Salazars met, good lord the language Elena would learn.

Surely, not a great idea, but an interesting one nonetheless. "I've got great plans, Sr. Izar," he presses the grip of the pen to his bottom lip. "It's just... where to begin, esa el la parte difícil."

"Of course, I've already called Le Roux, and Irvine in Nine, and they seem promising!" Very promising, indeed, just disappointing that he wouldn't be able to reunite with Leia or Talon again upon his election. Their replacements would hold their own, it seems, but "I was hoping to hear your opinions on some of the candidates, truthfully. Just to point me in the right direction."

Perhaps he's talking too much.

Meh, what good is a silent politician anyways. There's power in people who can talk powerfully, and then there's Vasco, who talks like family.

marguerite harvard d2a (zori)
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cachumbambe! vasco/valentino blitz Aug 29, 2020 23:37:41 GMT -5

Post by marguerite harvard d2a (zori) on Aug 29, 2020 23:37:41 GMT -5

V A S C O

Something about the way he said, I’ve got great plans sat different with me.

It was an excited energy I could remember from the first time I’d sat in the mayor’s chair, hopeful but worried for what was to come. He hadn’t decided where to start, or at least, wasn’t going to let on then and there. He’d already been put through hell more than once; did it create the same fire inside of him that it had for me? Or was he going to be more like Pierre, stolid and stable, measured and waiting for the world to show itself?

Then I heard the words, the familiar whisper of a language that was supposed to be left for dead, and I could hardly stop from smiling.

Growing up, we’d been told that there were no other languages in panem (no one that looked like us outside of casco viejo, at least, not from what we could tell on the television screen). I’d like to think it was our first act of rebellion, all those years ago, refusing to submit to the assimilation that the capitol had demanded.

“My help?” I raised my eyebrows. Curious. No one else had expressed any interest in any of the other districts, save for myself. Had word traveled so quickly already?

“Venga, Pierre has been a good friend to me this past year. And Althea may be… a bit stern, but she cares far more than I think she lets on.” I offered the names freely, already picturing a time when I could sit across the table from Mayor Salazar and strategize over drinks. It felt good for someone to ask for my advice, especially a man primed to become head of another district.

“I’ve spent the last year or so traveling out to see some of them, you know?” Was I talking too much? Bakar said I had a habit of chattering at the least bit of interest. “My campaign is about showing that what we have isn’t adequate. Not what we’re born into, and not where we’ve wound up.” I let out a laugh.

“Hombre, a man like me shouldn’t even be sitting in this chair, and yet here we are. What a blessing.”