luca--acero

[luca--acero]

"Meetings are always better than no meetings" Luca smiled, but he only half believed it. He knew communication was important in most lines of work, but he'd rather not have the burden of it, of the small talk and the empty compliments, it all seemed such a waste of time for the most part.

"Business is good, busy as ever, it seems tattoos are very popular these days, even with the older capitolites" he smiled. "You have any yourself?"

Lee thumped a fist against his chest to dislodge the last bit of hazard from his lungs. "Well, I've been more graceful in the past." He shook his head. "But I suppose I can't complain. Back in the Capitol. Already besieged by requests for meetings. Which I'll choose to be thankful for." It was better, after all, to have too many meetings than too few.

Luca was a known entity around the Capitol, even all these years later. It would be a missed opportunity for him to simply pass by. "How's business?" Lee blurted out. Luca had a business. Or he had. Hopefully it was still operating, or else Lee may have just blundered his way out of support.

[luca--acero]

"I'll never understand it" Luca shook his head. "If I could choose, I'd definitely start things after 12, at least." he agreed. "I used to wake up at like 1pm when I was a teenager, I don't know how my parents let me away with it" he laughed.

"We shall," Cat said decidedly, following Luca out of the line. Maybe it'd give her a better chance to really wake up anyway, to stretch her legs the half-mile down the road. Cat snorted out a laugh, thinking about caffeine as a drug – caffeine was basic motor function to Cat at this point and barely even pinged as something to be addicted to compared to ether or the technicolor pills she used to collect from Mahlon. "Yeah, guess so," Cat said, at least agreeing that it had been normalized, "It's what they get for makin' us start all a' this shit so goddamn early, like c'mon who really wants to be up before, like, noon?"

[luca--acero]

“Some people don’t have that” Luca explained, but he wasn’t sure if he was going to make any difference to the girl that stood in front of him. It was worth a try. He was in quite an unique place, growing up in the Capitol but always having a past in twelve, it gave him a perspective on things that most Capitolites lacked. “Just remember that, you’ll be mixing with people from all over for the next while, and it would be good if you kept their situations in your thoughts while you conduct yourself”

The more she spoke, the more Luca was turned off. He liked confidence, but this was different in his opinion, although he did think she could fair quite well in an arena, so maybe he shouldn’t be so judgemental.

“You’re quite lucky to have grown up so privileged”

[luca--acero]

Luca laughed as she went through his exact thoughts out loud step by step. “It might be” he agreed with a nod, stepping out of the queue easily enough before nodding to the door. “Shall we?” He asked, not sure why he hadn’t bit the bullet sooner, but he supposed it was nice to have a companion on the walk, even if most of the time he preferred to be alone. “This is what happens when they make drugs legal” he joked, coffee, maybe the biggest drug of all.

Another cycle, it felt like time went by so quickly these days, but maybe it was just because Luca was measuring it in Luna sized milestones rather than actual days— and at this age, she learned something new every hour it seemed.

“I don’t know why I forget to grab a coffee at home on these days, the tower is so busy, we might be standing in this queue forever” he remarked, turning to his left where the queue for the cafe stretched out, Cat just behind him.

@catmillers

[luca--acero]

Luca laughed, but he could understand, everyone had their own way of things, people didn’t always understand how he liked to have classical music on as he slept, but each to their own was always the way he liked to judge things.

He sat up when Lee began to choke, trying to recollect his thoughts back to the first aid video he’d watched years ago, sighed a breath of relief when he figured he wouldn’t have to put those skills to use after all. “I’m well, how are you?” He smirked, realising the choking episode had been caused by his presence.

Luca had been stalling. Usually, in the past, he'd hide himself away on the twelfth, but he wasn't so sure he was welcomed there at the moment. He'd found a quiet spot in the lobby where he could sketch, because it was the only thing he felt comfortable doing while surrounded by hoards of new faces, and some old.

"All good" Luca smiled, wondering which sponsor Lee might be meeting with, because he knew it wasn't himself. "They didn't give you a bed or anything?" he asked with a smirk, because the sight was something he couldn't help but find amusing.

[luca--acero]

The more she spoke, the more Luca was turned off. He liked confidence, but this was different in his opinion, although he did think she could fair quite well in an arena, so maybe he shouldn’t be so judgemental.

“You’re quite lucky to have grown up so privileged”

Luca looked around at the empty space around him to confirm she was in fact talking to him. Tributes never really approached him, whether it be he didn’t come across as very friendly, or that they knew he was a sponsor and were afraid to say something wrong, he wasn’t sure. He smiled though, at her question.

“I think your escort might be able to help” he offered. “Plenty of creative people around this tower, you shouldn’t have trouble redecorating”

[luca--acero]

Luca looked around at the empty space around him to confirm she was in fact talking to him. Tributes never really approached him, whether it be he didn’t come across as very friendly, or that they knew he was a sponsor and were afraid to say something wrong, he wasn’t sure. He smiled though, at her question.

“I think your escort might be able to help” he offered. “Plenty of creative people around this tower, you shouldn’t have trouble redecorating”

Nanni got bored staying on her floor of the building pretty fast, deciding now was the perfect time to go and explore while everyone was still settling in. There was no time to waste. So she showered and changed first, making sure her hair and make up was flawless. First impressions mattered and she wanted people to see her from her best side. Who knows, maybe someone would see her, fall in love and then give her enough money to get all the possible sponsorship gifts and then she was practically guaranteed to win. Her plan seemed foolproof in her mind. Seeing someone walking towards her she smiled. "Hey, do you know who I have to talk to to get some decorations for my room? It looks so generic and I'd like to add a little bit of color to it. Liven the space up a little, make it more me, things like that. I work much better in a space that's cute. Obviously it won't be as cute as me, that's totally impossible, but it could come close."

[luca--acero]

Luca had been stalling. Usually, in the past, he'd hide himself away on the twelfth, but he wasn't so sure he was welcomed there at the moment. He'd found a quiet spot in the lobby where he could sketch, because it was the only thing he felt comfortable doing while surrounded by hoards of new faces, and some old.

"All good" Luca smiled, wondering which sponsor Lee might be meeting with, because he knew it wasn't himself. "They didn't give you a bed or anything?" he asked with a smirk, because the sight was something he couldn't help but find amusing.

The train ride had not been as restful as he had hoped. It never was, after all. But it had taken Sponsors all of about five minutes to see him on the television at the Reaping ceremony to connect the dots: Lee Hatchett was back as a Mentor. And they had been calling. While he loathed most all Sponsors, he knew he had to take at least one meeting. But he would have his nap beforehand.

Lee was fully wrapped in a plush blanket he had stolen from the seventh floor, looking something like a moving mass of bedding. He spied a Capitolite in the lobby giving him an obvious scornful look. Lee narrowed his eyes at the blue-haired pest and pivoted to face him.

“You got something to say?” He barked across the lobby. “I won the Hunger Games! What have you done with your life?” The Capitolite was successfully shocked into silence, and Lee smirked as he watched the creature scurry away. He turned again, his tunnel vision set again on the large velvet couch. He arrived and uncerimoniously threw himself onto it with a soft humph - whether the noise came from Lee or from the couch was unclear.

He caterpillared his way to the armrest of the couch to use the throw pillow for his head. It was only then that he realized he had selected a couch that was already occupied. He glanced down at the person on the other side of the sofa, his face peeking out of his blanket cocoon.

"Oh. Sorry. Just trying to be efficient with my time. You know, catch a few z's before a Sponsor meeting. You get it."

[luca--acero]

Luca had made the mistake of arriving at the tower in the midst of tribute arrivals and the chaos of the crowds was a bit too much for him, so before he knew it, he'd ended up on the twelfth floor, only remembering when the lift opened that he probably shouldn't arrive unannounced now that they weren't together.

"I missed my girls" it slipped out before he could think about it, which was so unlike Luca, but it's not that it was a lie, more of something he probably shouldn't have said out loud. "I can go if you're busy, I know today is a bit crazy" he laughed, trying to shrug it off-- hugging Luna as he spoke. "Or, I could stick around and help out?"

"Good morning, tea's ready on the stove if you--" She turned her head away from where she was offering Luna a toy to fully register who had joined her on the Twelfth floor. She'd seen movement out of the corner of her eye and ascribed it to Moxie, Slate, Cress, maybe even one of the tributes, but the words died on her tongue when she realized it was Luca. Why did that happen? They'd split so long ago now, they'd decided it was for the better. Didn't most people lose the butterflies after this long.

She smiled, trying to mask her surprise, the sudden flush of heat to her neck. "Oh--! Hello. Wasn't expecting you to visit."

@luca--acero

[luca--acero]

Another cycle, it felt like time went by so quickly these days, but maybe it was just because Luca was measuring it in Luna sized milestones rather than actual days— and at this age, she learned something new every hour it seemed.

“I don’t know why I forget to grab a coffee at home on these days, the tower is so busy, we might be standing in this queue forever” he remarked, turning to his left where the queue for the cafe stretched out, Cat just behind him.

@catmillers

[luca--acero]

"Let's do it, so" Luca smiled. Some people were eager to get going, and some people liked to talk beforehand, get to grips so to speak. He had an inkling maybe Cain wanted to get this on his skin before he changed his mind, but he didn't share his thoughts on that.

Luca worked easily through his set up, opening a new needle, screwing it into the gun, cleaning Cain's arm with an alochol wipe as he hummed to the music playing in the background. "I'm going to free draw, you okay with that?" he asked, because he rarely worked with tracing, always found it worked better the other way.

"I'm sure," Cain nodded. "Cool." Luca was right, he had been through worse, but it'd also been years, and that pain had been mostly forgotten about now, except for the few scars and the occasions when his shoulder still acted up a little. "I'll let you know," he agreed, but he planned on getting through the whole thing without stopping if he could manage it. "Let's do it," he grinned.

[luca--acero]

"No word of a lie" Luca smirked as Everett laughed, glad to see it, at a time like this, if even only for a brief time. "I turned the music up real loud" he laughed himself then. "It was nice, the rose, couldn't really understand the meaning of it, but hey, sometimes that doesn't matter"

Everett snorted out a laugh. "You're fucking kidding." At least the Capitol was always a reliable source of entertainment. "You did it? How'd you make small talk during that one?"

[luca--acero]

"Oh yeah, a real shame" he hummed. He couldn't say his evening was anything to be tarnished, he was basically forcing himself to be here, but he had forgotten that a lot of the other guests were only delighted to have been invited to this victors ball, a real privilege, apparently.

"I guess once you fight for your life and win, what's there to be negative about?" Luca hummed, it was something he most definitely didn't believe, because being forced to murder not only your competitors, but sometimes your friends, well that was never a good thing. But Daffodil didn't think like that, so it wasn't safe to share his true views with her.

"No matter…" she began, casually dismissing his previous statement, having taken no offense. "I would have responded the same had I suspected someone was gearing up for a business discussion. It would be a shame to tarnish this evening with talk of work," she mused, a gentle smile gracing her features as she absorbed his next words.

"Ah, yes, and I'm absolutely delighted to witness him in such high spirits. I had my concerns, what with all the chatter about rebellion, fearing he might be too far gone. But it appears he's basking in the great light of the Capitol!" she declared, nodding with a subtle grace as she brought her glass to her lips, savoring the liquid within. "I spoke to him earlier, and his spirits were soaring, even higher than the tour!"

[luca--acero]

"Luca" he confirmed with a smile this time. Maybe Slate had told her about him after all, or Hestia-- which warmed him a little even if he'd never admit it.

"All good, I can only imagine" he grimaced. He'd never been on a tour, of course, but he'd witnessed many, and although they always painted the victors as happy and healthy, he could sometimes catch a glimpse of exhaustion in their expressions, especially if he ever had to paint them. "I am, from twelve originally-- but I spent most of my life in the Capitol, actually" he told her, leaving out some details he wouldn't mind giving, but waited for the questions first.

Luca. Cress' demeanor changed, easing. She leaned forward, her guarded expression falling, eyes widening with interest. "Luca?" Cress' hand covered his. Protective shield dissolving into the warmth of a genuine, albeit hesitant, smile. Hestia had told her, once or twice, about Luna's father -- about the love that she had once held. Slate didn't have a father, but Luca came close, didn't he? Couldn't he? She had to know.

"Forgive me," Cress squeezed his hand before sinking back, cradling her stomach adoringly. "The tour is daunting and wears on even the most outgoing among us. But he's--" A pause, as she considered her words. "Well, he won't protect his own energy, you see--" So she would. "I'm not sure why, but I wasn't expecting to see you in the Capitol. Are you-- Not from Twelve?"

[luca--acero]

Luca smirked before he said the name, and really there was probably a whole client - tattoo-artist confidentiality agreement he was violating, but Everett was good, he could trust him. "Snatchblossom-- A red rose, right on the thigh, I almost died when the request came through"

Everett was glad for the subject change, because he didn't want to get into any more political conversations; it all had his head spinning, and the guilt just at having been a Peacekeeper in the past was enough to keep him up at night about all of it. "Okay, then tell me," he said with a smile, grateful.

[luca--acero]

A smile made it's way onto Luca's lips once Cain showed how happy he was with the design. "You're sure?" he checked, but he believed Cain wasn't the type to say he liked it just because he might be afraid to offend. He moved his gaze to where Cain suggested it might go, and nodded, happy it would work.

"You've been through a whole entire games, Cain-- A tattoo is nothing in comparison" he smiled. "It doesn't hurt much, especially there, but let me know when you need a break, sometimes it's more uncomfortable than anything."

Cain had come into the shop with no real idea of what he wanted. He didn’t want anything too big for his first tattoo… mostly because he was pretty sure his mom was gonna kill him when she saw it, and it being not giant might soften the blow a little. Then, after that, he might be able to delve into some pieces that were a little bigger. “It’s totally the vibe,” Cain grinned seeing the sketch Luca had drawn up for him. “No, I love that. It’s perfect.” And it was. It wasn’t some deeply meaningful piece that had to be perfect to be right. He trusted Luca to do a good job, but this drawing was just something easy and fun. It felt very Cain. “I’m thinking right here,” he told Luca, pointing the area on the back of his arm just below his elbow. “Heard that’s not a crazy painful spot or anything,” he said, but it sounded more like a question than not.

[luca--acero]

Luca didn't really understand why she was being so hostile, but he could only imagine the past few weeks had been difficult, not only for Slate, but for the people around him too. If it had been a year ago, he would have been one of those people, but now he just picked and collected Luna up, and left them to it, even if it's not how he wanted things to be, it's how they'd turned out.

"Luca" he smiled. It had been quite a while since someone had asked him for his name, and it was refreshing, if anything. "Acero-- I own the tattoo shop across from the tower" and I'm a sponsor, was the part he left out.

Her gaze narrowed, unimpressed, but Cress was walking a fine line between protective and cold. "Is he?" she inquired, head tilting. "I hadn't noticed." Cress spent every day with Slate. She made sure he ate, tended to his wound, held him when the grief made it too difficult to sit up. In truth, it had been a long time since Cress had gone more than a few hours without Slate in some capacity -- on a screen, in her arms, on her mind. Her life revolved around him. His arena, his addiction, his injury, his tour--

"I don't think I caught your name," Cress smiled, holding the coup glass between them. "I like to know whose company I'm enjoying."