Feel the thunder {Zoe}

[Sleepy Fluttershy]

Eloquentia Ludus

Silence is always followed by horrendous storms...

It is Elque's only thought as she is standing in front of the all-caps analysts' office. Everything is quiet, only a vague sound of voices can be heard from the other side of the door. Her thin gorgeous fingers are resting on the handle, but she cannot make herself turn it and enter.

She is late. Awfully late for the first time in her life. On her first day of work. Can she be fired for being late? Losing her dream job before even starting it... This is not exactly what she had in mind when she struggled to get this position.

This can't be happening, this can't be happening... 

Though always a nerd in her heart, she has never been too fond of geography. Maybe the subject decided to get back at her in this treacherous way. Elque left home an hour early, her topographic cretinism was the only reason for her lateness. She never thought it could take her so much time to find the right office.

Open the door, silly, you will only be delaying the consequences if you just stand here...

The closest she ever got to being late was arriving two minutes before her teacher. On that day she pushed at least ten people in the street and ran through the school corridors like she was being chased by a pack of mutts. At least she knew where to run. This time she even asked a girl she encountered in the building to show her the way, she still got completely confused and only accidentally found the door she needed.

What if the boss is late? She can be late, right? Then she won't find out I am late...

Elque's heartbeat intensifies, she shuts her eyes and opens them again... No, it is not a bad dream. It is real. She should have left home earlier... There is no excuse for this... And the wave of guilt covers her with a huge splash. Cold sweaty hands, uneven breath...

Turn the handle, silly...

The light of a huge room is like a lightning that strikes her the moment she steps inside. A lightning before the thunder. A few people are standing in the office and one of them is...

Uh-oh...

...the big boss herself, Xena Duchane. Trying hard not to lose her courage completely, Elque makes several steps forward towards her fate. Of course, when the girl opens her mouth, another embarrassing thought strikes her.

What an idiot, you forgot to knock...

There is no way she can turn back now. Xena has probably noticed her already. If it wasn't for the makeup on Elque's face, she could have turned white. 

Is she going to fire me? Say hello, fool! She seems kind, maybe it won't be that bad...

Xena is nice, but it doesn't have to mean she can't get angry when somebody is that late. Anyway, something has to be done.

"Good morning... I'm sorry I am so late..."

The murmur that comes out of her mouth can barely be heard behind the buzzing of other voices.

[✨ zozo.]

XENA.

a song like you 

would never tell me the truth

a song like you 

would have me lost in my youth

It's not that she thinks she's in over her head, she's just...

In over her head.

But Xena doesn't think she is. Won't believe that she can't do this. The people that hired her for ALL-CAPS seemed to think she was up for the job, and she's never been one to judge herself based on the opinions of others or anything but their confidence fuels her determination. Producer, Head Analyst, business cards sit in a neat little container by the framed photograph of her daughter and she smiles at them both. Two weeks in and things are going well, trial-runs have been successful and they've been picked up for a whole Games season. More work meant more hands on the wheel - three auditions later and she'd found her new stars. 

Sure, one of them was her sister, doe-eyed and blinking when Xena had told her there wouldn't be cameras. Anything to get her parents off of her back, their constant begging of their older, more successful daughter to help their youngest child. Zanna is beautiful and elegant and her voice was as clear as day and Xena had sighed, head in her hands, "Fine," she had muttered. "But she won't get special treatment."

Two different last names had helped, their features separate enough for her hiring to slip underneath the table. But nobody above her seemed to care - no-one to take orders from meant that Xena was free to do as she liked. They trusted her judgement. She was left to create her own plan from scratch, her own set of rules, to monitor and organise and control everyone else for a show that had had no predecessor, nothing quite like it, no template to build from. Blind, Xena trusted her gut and the voice inside her head. It told her what to do, who to hire, how to feel and think and act.

9:13am and her newest recruit is late. Sure, the trains aren't always on time, but there's 4 departures before the 8:30 shuttle ride and it's her first day - surely she'd know better. Her thoughts filter to her sister and she sighs, youth and their own schedules - impatience doesn't hold back and she drums her fingers on her desk, 9:14am.

She keeps the other colleagues she'd invited in to welcome Eloquentia Ludus busy with small talk and free coffee, taking orders and handing out refreshments as they filtered in. The girl had the looks, upbringing and potential to be a star - but most importantly, she had a voice and rhythm that could work for podcasts. Her punctuality could be improved on, however.

9:15am and the last knock of the morning rattles on the door. "Come in" she waves at the door, excusing herself from conversation as the door swings open and the room quietens around her. 

Standing in the door-frame is a blushing, bewildered Eloquentia. At least she had the audacity to look like she'd rushed, aware of her blundering 15 minutes of infamy.

"Good morning" the girl peeped, her confident voice from auditions now wavering with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry I am late..."

Xena cocks her head and folds her arms, fingers warm around her coffee cup. "What will today's excuse be, traffic? Train running late? Old lady crossing the road?"

She winks in the girls direction - her words mean no harm, but the colleagues around her chuckle in unison. Tough love won't kill the girl, but it'll bring Xena amusement this morning. Best to get her newest employee used to her on-the-spot ways.

"At least you can make an entrance. Sit down, everybody - and let me introduce you to our newest broadcaster."

Xena sits at the head of the room behind her desk, nodding to one of the empty chairs. "Or you can introduce yourself if you'd like."

a song like you is a ballet black swan dance

that's brought down by a shot-gun blast

if i wrote a song that was anything like you

it would turn from colour into blue

[Sleepy Fluttershy]

Eloquentia Ludus
Speech Thoughts Actions

Hands folded, cup in one hand, the woman glances at her in such a way that it is hard to determine her further actions.

Smells like coffee... Oh no, what am I thinking about?

Any second now, the storm must begin. And eventually, it strikes:

"What will today's excuse be, traffic? Old lady crossing the road?"

Huge blue eyes blink several times, measuring the danger, wild with perplexity. Of course, people usually have to explain why they are late, she hasn't thought about that. Why would she? Such a situation has never occurred before in Elque's life. Now she has to make something up really quickly. And Xena has already named two most common excuses people use to explain lateness. How thoughtful of her.

What else could it be? President Snow crossing the road? Broken alarm clock? Isn't it wrong to lie to a boss though? But I can't just say "I got lost"... It will make me look like a fool. Maybe I am a bit of a fool. But that is not the point.

Keeping silent proves to be the best option. It is slightly better than telling the sad truth anyway. A few chuckles from different sides of the office make the girl blush intensely, but she can bear that much. Besides, she deserves worse than just a few laughs. The office lights, the faces and Duchane's wink in her direction become a blur in her brain as she tries to understand if she has been forgiven.

"At least you can make an entrance. Sit down, everybody - and let me introduce you to our newest broadcaster."

Just like that, the hurricane is over. She didn't expect her boss to go easy on her after such an inexcusable crime. All of a sudden, the girl is feeling like every part of her is blushing now, even the neat blonde curls - this time with relief. A nod to one of the unoccupied chairs follows and Elque makes her way towards the empty seat, awkwardly and hastily.

"Or you can introduce yourself if you'd like".

Caught by surprise, she blinks one more time and clutches her small bag - a desperate attempt to regain confidence.

Introduce myself? Right... How do people introduce themselves on the first day of the most important job of their lives? Oh no, I am so not making things easy for myself today...

Searching for words desperately, she gulps, trying to calm down.

"Thank you... I am ...um... Elque - sorry - Eloquentia, a Hunger Games historian."

Quite a way to embarrass myself... Well, that could have gone worse... 

Last time she had to introduce herself in front of a big crowd, it was a total disaster. Her mind is instantly flooded with images of her sister's twenty-first birthday and her eighteen-year-old self staring at one of her older sibling's friends. She was so flustered then that she accidentally told him her sister's name instead of her own. Even though she corrected her mistake immediately, everybody around found it hilarious. And later in the evening, her sister whispered with a meaningful look on her face: "Oh, you are so adorably awkward!"

Anyway, she is often horrible at introductions and everyone around her usually manages to figure it out rather quickly, unless she is prepared to shoot a well-rehearsed "Hello, I am Eloquentia" phrase at them.