Everyday I'm Shuffling {Topaz
Jun 20, 2011 13:35:38 GMT -5
Post by Baby Wessex d9b [earthling] on Jun 20, 2011 13:35:38 GMT -5
life is bigger, it's bigger than you, and you are not me
the lengths that I will go to
Maverick had never imagined that getting a job could be so difficult. He assumed it wouldn't be too easy, because then everyone would have one, and not everyone in the Capitol did. But it didn't seem quite right to him, either, that he should have to spend quite so much time interviewing, filling out forms, interviewing again. And again. His mother assured him that he was making progress, based on the fact that he kept meeting with people of increasing rank at the television station. But still, it had been over two weeks since his first interview, and he was getting a little tired of it.
Mind you, he didn't actually mind the interview part of the whole thing. Just the excessive lag and time. But the interviews themselves were a delight. A whole new outlook on things. In fact, he rather fancied himself a better man, a better conversationalist. He had never thought to ask anyone to interview him; and who would he ask? His depressed father, absent mother, mentally unstable sister? The Avox they had justadoptedhired? And it wasn't like Maverick had a whole lot of friends at his disposal. Most of those he had known in school either had no ambitions or had menial jobs. A few partied, but he could feel himself drifting from that group too. He knew what he wanted, and he couldn't find it at the bottom of a glass of champagne.
But he could find it behind the shiny doors of the station. It was hot, damnably hot, but he had worn a suit anyhow. The coat tucked back over his hips, dropping low in the back to whisper against his knees. It was a lovely, deep burgundy with subtle gold stripes. His mother's work. There were pants to match, a gold vest and tie, and a burgundy shirt to complete the ensemble. He had chosen simple cuffs (because it seemed ironic to show off one's wealth while seeking work), and his hair had a fresh coat of onyx paint. He'd bought sunglasses, because the summer had been very uncooperative, and he thought they made him look... older? Badder? Some combination of those two. He'd put them away when he went inside the building, but otherwise he intended to get the full use of them. Maybe even at night.
It was unusually crowded getting into town. It was peak time for the market, but Maverick quickly got the feeling that wasn't all. There was a buzz in the air, a suggestion of something more. Of something better. Maverick smiled and waved at the vendors he knew as he passed, stopped for a quick conversation with one of the cloth importers to show off his latest suit, and then turned towards the station.
He really should have noticed the increase in Peacekeepers sooner.
They stood at passable attention, clearly having been there for awhile. There weren't so many as they had during the games ceremonies, but still, Maverick thought they had doubled in number. Curious. Other Capitolites gaped, but as he turned his ear to their conversations, he discovered they were as much in the dark as he. But he didn't have to stay that way. He had been invited back one more time, supposedly for more paperwork (honestly how many trees did the outer districts have?) and he had a guest pass which would allow him through the back door. He dug it out of his breast pocket, pulled the lanyard over his head, and then lifted his chin.
He passed through the Peacekeepers without so much as a nod in either direction, and then turned to the right, heading around the building to the shadowed alley. He was loathe to give up his glasses, but without the sun he couldn't hardly see two feet in front of himself. Reluctantly he pulled them from his head and as he put them in place of his guest pass, his vision adjusted. It was empty, for the moment, but he had a sense that whatever it was that was happening would present itself shortly. Maverick leaned casually against the side of the building, looking both down the alley, and then back out to the sunlight Peacekeepers and crowd beyond. He was wasting time, to be sure, but the paper could soak. He wanted to be in the thick of this, whatever it was.
And then, bless him, one of the Peacekeepers leaned in to the others. Maverick could only hear clips of words, useless one like prepositions and conjunctions. The last word though contorted the man's mouth in such a way that Maverick read it as plain as the daylight in which the man stood. "Topaz."
His heart convulsed, shattering the steady rhythm. A victor was coming to the Capitol? Today? Maverick looked up the building and wondered if perhaps he had already missed his chance. But no, the crowd would be alive with gossip if anyone had spotted her, and with that red hair, it was unlikely anyone would miss Topaz Ross. Then, if she hadn't arrived yet, he was in the best possible position. Right near the door they were likely to bring her through.
Maverick squared his shoulders and prepared to stand his ground. He was not going to be waved away when there was the opportunity to meet the Victor who had lost it all.
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