So Hard for It, Honey {Meri, Open!

[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

life is bigger, it's bigger than you, and you are not me
the lengths that I will go to

Another Games, another successful Reaping, and new friendships unfolding. Maverick could hardly believe his good luck, although he could pinpoint the source. Ever since Topaz Ross had picked him out of the crowd, Maverick had been climbing uphill as though he had wings. He had been upgraded from an intern to a full time employee at the television station, and though he wasn't yet on the other side of the screen, he felt he would be, soon. He had never been shy about his intentions at the studio; surely the promotion demonstrated their faith in him, in his abilities to coax stories and truth out of people, both willing and not.

He found that with his daylight hours fully occupied at the studio that he didn't get out and around town as much as he liked. This meant he also saw Zell less, which was at once perplexing and a relief. He really didn't know what to do about the innocent beauty; he liked her, and that itself was a problem, because he would never like someone so much as he loved his career. He knew being around her made him happy though, and for now that would simply have to be enough. As for the other friendships he had struck up, he was still waiting to see if anyone had long-term potential.

Maverick didn't necessarily need friends. All he needed was the attention of Panem. As soon as the sunset invaded his cubicle, Maverick cleaned up his desk, slung a light jacket over his shoulder, and exited the studio. Many of the other regular employees had already gone home, but as he lacked a family, Maverick opted to stay late. If it reflected better on him to work longer hours, so be it. He had plans for this particular night, though. Instead of turning towards the residential area, he walked from the executive park to the city circle, where a queue had already begun. No doubt it had been slowly building for hours, but it was still reasonably short. Some people were so overly enthusiastic.

He took his place at the tail, jumping once on tip-toes to see the front. It was rather silly to have to fill out so much paperwork just to give his hard earned money away, but he didn't have much choice, still being relatively unknown. He was sure more wealthy families, the Marks for example, didn't have to wait in line. Their money would be welcome any time, no red tape. But for the rabble of the Capitol, some order had to be established. He wondered how the districts managed and then immediately felt a sneer overtake his otherwise pleasant features. Probably all bidding and betting, like apes.

Maverick managed to shift the expression into something more welcoming almost immediately. He was, after all, angling to be a public figure. Couldn't have his face all twisted up, now could he? With his expression smoothed, Maverick began to study those nearest to him in the queue, to see if there was a likely target, someone he could talk to, could practice his interviewing techniques. Subtly, of course.

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[L'Amelie]

Meriweather Hansbury

Meri caught herself tracing the patterns on her arm with her pink felt-tipped pen for the third time in the past eight minutes. "Concentrate, Meri." she muttered to herself. Her arms did look absolutely stellar; Dr. Callahan had done an amazing job as always. Ella Stargood, who was always up to date on the latest fashion trends, had proclaimed lace pattern skin inlays the mod statement of the month and, of course, Meri just had to get them. She held an arm out in front of her to admire the thin strands of silver to crisscrossed up her arms.

"Concentrate!" she hissed to herself again, drawing her attention back to the small list she held in one hand. After she had watched the Tribute Interviews (in studio, of course), she had painstakingly written down which ones had seemed promising, in her neatest handwriting. This was the first year she had enough money of her own to sponsor a tribute and her father would never let her live it down if she chose one who died at the Cornucopia. She read over the names. She had drawn stars next to a few names, Seah Storstrand, Saskia Hamilton, Razor Creel and a few others. Those are the ones she liked the best. On second look, Meri noticed that the star next to Saskia's name was rubbed out.

Oh, right. That was the blind one. But she had been so pretty, up there under the stage lights and Meri had always felt a shallow kind of favoritism towards the beautiful. Ever since Melchior had died in the Games, Meri had always felt a bit uncomfortable watching the interviews. It was so easy to see which ones would be killed off right away.

Glancing ahead of her in line, she saw that the teller windows that had been set up in the middle of the City Circle hadn't even been opened yet. She had a while to ponder where she wanted to put her money. She had divided her sponsorship money into two piles- one for an initial bet for whoever she liked best at the start, and then another to be granted to whoever showed the most promise five or six days into the Games.

For her initial bet, she was favoring either Seah or Razor. Tapping the cap of her pen against her perfect teeth, she found herself again distracted by her beautiful arms. No! She needed to make this decision within a reasonable amount of time. In front of her, there was a well dressed boy with impeccable hair. He seemed like the type who might be more intuitive to these sorts of things than she was. She tapped him on the shoulder.

'Excuse me!" she chirped. 'But I was wondering if you happened to catch the Tribute interviews the other day?"

[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

life is bigger, it's bigger than you, and you are not me
the lengths that I will go to

Maverick decided that those ahead of him in line were either too far beneath his station (neon hair? honestly!) to too absorbed in the process to notice him. He needed someone who was both intelligent and interested, but also aware enough of themselves not to be sucked into the statistics and gossip of the day. Someone he could actually draw out and strike up a decent conversation. As it turns out, he needed have looked quite so hard. From behind him a tap, and Maverick looked over his shoulder first before rotating his body on his newly polished shoes. They squeaked on the asphalt, although the sound was mostly lost to the crowd.

There, right behind him, stood a remarkable beauty. Flawless in a way that wasn't natural but was all the more desirable. It meant she cared about fashion, she had wealth, and she was a Capitolite to her core. Maverick opened his smile another inch, white teeth in two perfect rows. He noticed as he turned fully to her that she had the latest and greatest webbing on her skin, the silver of it catching the summer sunlight. Maverick rather liked it on her, although he had seen several botched attempts. Men really oughtn't try to wear something so delicate.

"I did," he answered, voice full of warmth. "Quite the group this year, although I have to say I'm a little harder pressed than in Games past to come up with a likely winner. Not that it was easy last year. Lost quite a bit of my earnings." Because who would have picked Heron from the get-go? He shook his head slightly at the wonder of the 57th before catching her gaze. "I'm Maverick, by the way." He opened up his smooth, soft palm to her. He was going to like this girl, he just knew it.

With his hand still wrapped around hers, he pressed his luck. "Did you watch them as well? Any favorites? I'm always looking for new insights." And new pretty faces to stare at, he added quietly. He wondered how many alterations she'd had done, and by whom. It wasn't exactly polite to ask right off the bat, but he was fairly sure he could ease the question in soon enough. Certainly whomever the surgeon was, he was an artist. The soft scope of her nose, the wide iridescence of her eyes. Yet, this is what a Capitol woman ought to be - the very best version of herself.

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[L'Amelie]

Meriweather Hensbury

The boy was better looking than she had initially assumed. He had a beautiful jaw line (enhanced?) and piercing eyes. Meri could feel herself smiling just from looking at him. She wore her preference for beautiful things on her sleeve, it seemed. She watched his eyes as he gave her a once over and a small, silly blossom of pride welled in her chest as he gave a small nod of approval. Not all Capitolites are created equal, but she could tell that he was of her breed. She noticed him eyeing her lace meshing and she dropped one arm to her side so that the strands could catch the light.

"I did. Quite the group this year, although I have to say I'm a little harder pressed than in Games past to come up with a likely winner." he answered, and she was pleased to hear that he had a voice to match his face. Every word was inflected just right, as though he had spent hours perfecting that very sentence. "Not that it was easy last year. Lost quite a bit of my earnings. I'm Maverick, by the way"

"As did my father!" Meri responded, pleased that she was able to converse so easily. After Melchior, she had been finding it hard to speak with men as she used to. "He had his money on that girl from Three." At least, she thought he did. She never really paid attention to her father and his choices of tributes. It took her a minute to see that the man in front of her had introduced himself and held out his hand for her to shake.

Her cheeks were rosy with an embarrassed flush as she took his hand and shook it. "I'm Meriweather Hensbury. Meri for short. So pleased to meet you." And she meant that. He spoke to her as if he actually valued her opinion, not just asking her questions out of politeness or because of her altered face.

Still holding onto her hand, he continued. "Did you watch them as well? Any favorites? I'm always looking for new insights." She grinned and waved her list slightly.

"Of course I watched them! They're my favorite part of the Games season. My family's had a reserved row on the ground floor of the studio for years." She explained, extracting her hand from his and unfolding the piece of paper. She was proud of herself for putting so much effort into choosing a Tribute. She hardly worked for anything at all and it was a nice change for once. "I'd say my money's on Seah Sorstrand this early in the game." She had initially picked Seah purely because of his superior aesthetics, but his interview had show that he knew how to work a crowd and that was important.

"What about you?" She inquired, forcing her voice into a slightly more blase tone. Nothing was more unattractive than an overeager female. But this Maverick really was something. He had chrisma and charm, something so many male Capitolites felt they were allowed to go without. And, of course, Maverick was beautiful, and wasn't that the most important trait of all?
.

[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

life is bigger, it's bigger than you, and you are not me
the lengths that I will go to

Her hand, delicate and smooth, fit easily into his own. Maverick squeezed, not tightly, but demonstratively, as though to say - I am here, I know who I am. He grinned a little wider as he held her soft flesh and after a moment released her. All in all, a very smooth greeting. "I think it happened to many" he managed to slip in, after the news that her father had also lost his winnings. Maverick had not bet on the girl from three, either, but he wasn't about to admit that publicly. To have bet on someone who barely made it to the top eight was absolutely infuriating. He would not make the same mistake.

With his hands free, Maverick tucked them in front of his hips, holding them together lightly, perhaps a little formally. "Meri. That's lovely, and it suits you." He was equally pleased. What luck! Someone beautiful and talkative. This day really was shaping up to be great. If only the heat would let up, a little. But then, he supposed, he ought to enjoy it while he could because the other side of the year in the Capitol were nothing to enjoy. Snow and sleet and winter storms. He was not looking forward to that one bit, as he would have to contrive ways to find people. Haunt bars, visit the library, and so on. This was much more natural.

A reserved row? Maverick raised his eyebrows a bit, unable and unwilling to mask the surprise. That was quite a feat. Hensbury, she had said. He couldn't place the name immediately, but then, there were so many well-to-do Capitol families. Usually, though, something that special would mean an in with the President. If he had been curious about Meri before, he was now hooked. He kept his eyes on her angelic face as she unfolded the paper, declared her support for Seah.

He hesitated just a moment, trying to decide what she was really asking. Did she want his opinion to compare? Did she want him to agree, or disagree? "I hadn't quite decided yet. I tend to support the Careers, as it seems do you, and of that lot I had also liked Seah... and Sylvania, from Two." There was something about the mining district, a strength of character and body, that Maverick had always thought should prevail. The odds were not with him though.

"Between you and me," he continued, his voice lowering conspiratorially, "I wish they would pick better looking tributes. Or at least ones with names more manageable than Seaborgium."

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