[UNRECORDED]

[illdrinktothat]

Walter didn't sleep at all last night. He spent as much of it as he could trying to figure out what, if any, damage Zopf's interview had caused and... maybe more importantly, what damage Caro's had done. Those questions sat weird with him long after he'd given the all clear that she'd salvaged the moment. Sure the sponsors and the audience probably didn't much of those particular questions, but they had been very specific. Someone had been trying to make a point with them and Walter can't stop worrying over it.

So he paces, strategizes and drinks the night away. By the time the sun rises he's sobered (and showered) up, and actually dressed despite it being his usual hours for grumping about in his bathrobe. He takes to the dining room before the staff even begins to set out breakfast, and he waits. And he waits. Weyoun should be out soon.

So he waits some more.

Where the fuck is Weyoun.

Comments

[caroflower]

Caro is up early, but perhaps a little later than usual. Most people would probably expect a Tribute to sleep badly the night before the Games, but not Caro. She went to bed earlier than usual and even slept in a little. She had no way of knowing when she'd be able to sleep next, so she made the most of it. But now she's on her way to the dining room.

Sullivan is there... and Weyoun is not. Huh.

"Morning," she says as she slides into her usual seat.

[weyountrinket]

Weyoun at least doesn't look like he spent the whole night on the roof with Data, but getting himself put together to his usual Weyoun Trinket level did take time and... well, he had left the roof much later than he should have anyway. He's regretting that a little but he can't change it now.

When he does make it to the dining room, he's honestly surprised to find Sullivan already there. Caro's presence is less surprising, as is Zopf's absence though he's sure the other tribute's arrival is imminent.

"Good morning." He's got the usual bright cheerful face on even if the first thing he goes for is coffee, black. It's going to be a trying day.

[egarak]

Garak glides in right behind Weyoun, surprised that he's only just arriving.

"Good morning," he says pleasantly as he waits for his turn at the coffee. "This is an interesting order of arrival."

He could make all sorts of remarks about Sullivan being there already, dressed and awake, or Weyoun only just arriving looking ever so slightly less than his best, but there's really no need. Caro is the only non-surprise here. She even looks well rested. Well done. Garak nods at her as he sits down with his coffee and one of his favorite donuts.

[illdrinktothat]

Walter greets Weyoun's unusually late arrive with a bit of a scowl. "We interrupt your beauty sleep?"

He'd say more but it's right about then that Zopf arrives, rolling in in his normal oblivious sort of way. He looks troubled but that's not terribly surprising given that it's only a few hours before he and Caro will be whisked away to their fates.

It's only then that Walter bothers getting anything to eat before finding his own seat. He's gotta go over the schedule since apparently Weyoun isn't going to. "We've got..." He checks his watch. "A few hours before I have to take you both down. If there's anything you want to know before the arena, don't put it off."

[caroflower]

After the initial flurry of activity dies down, Caro hops up for some breakfast. She goes for simple, filling, and absolutely nothing new. Everything she gets is food she's had often enough to know it won't upset her stomach later, or end up suddenly sleepy from it or similar. She slides back into her seat and eyes Sullivan thoughtfully.

"What if it's really cold in the Arena," she asks, eyes wide as Zopf looks over at her. "Should I risk a fire?" When he looks back down at his plate, she rolls her eyes at Sullivan.

Might as well be an annoying little shit at her last good meal for a while. Think of it as acting practice. Garak shoots her a look over his coffee, and she smirks back, but down into her breakfast.

[weyountrinket]

Weyoun is actually too nervous for food this morning so he's going to subsist mostly on coffee for the time being. He replies to Walter's questions with a flat tone of voice, not even looking up from his cup. "I don't sleep."

That should surprise no one.

Caro's question gets a Significant Look from him once he's sure Zopf probably won't see it.

[illdrinktothat]

Walter sighs at Caro in a distinctly long suffering sort of way. From the tired look he adopts, you'd think she asked him shit like this all the time. "Only if you want the careers to roast you like a pig over it."

He aggressively spears some kind of sausage as if to prove a point or maybe just because he's especially irritable this morning. "Find or build shelter."

Zopf looks very smug at this, as if it's suddenly become clear why Caro got more training then him. Of course, as smugly superior as he looks now, he's got a dumb question that's all too sincere. "What about the Cornucopia? Is there any way of getting supplies without ending up in the bloodbath?"

"No." Walter frowns. "Pass the bacon."

[caroflower]

Caro has to shove a large bite of eggs into her mouth to keep from laughing at Sullivan and Zopf's exchange. Oh, that is better than she'd hoped for. She'd really only wanted to have a little fun at Zopf's expense, but now he'll genuinely think she's an idiot. So much the better.

Sullivan clearly knows what Caro's up to, because he just gave Zopf advice completely contrary to what he'd actually told her to do. Well let's see... what other bad advice can we give Zopf?

"What about water? If you don't have any of those tablets, I mean." Since Zopf isn't suppsoed to be making a run for any supplies and all. She smiles shyly at Zopf then rolls her eyes again when he looks away. This is way too much fun.

[illdrinktothat]

Zopf doesn't look all that pleased with the answer he got from Sullivan, but is apparently secure in the knowledge he is probably the better tribute. Walter isn't going to do anything to shake this idea, either.

"Filter out sediment with cloth. Try for rainwater if it's possible and moving water if it's not. Groundwater and standing water will do. But anything you can't purify is a risk." He grumpily gnaws on his bacon. "Don't even bother with salt water, you'll just dehydrate yourself worse."

Of course, he's already gone over much better water collection and purifying tips with Caro. Zopf got a little of it, but not much.

"Don't be stupid and skip water just because you can't purify it properly. You'll die quicker from dehydration than whatever you're gonna catch, anyway." Cheerful! He goes to refill his coffee at that.

...Actually, while everyone's got questions, he has a question of his own that he'd really like an answer to. "So, Weyoun..." He pauses to find sugar and cream, which is apparently not where he last saw it. "Where the fuck did you disappear to last night?"

[caroflower]

Caro pauses, fork halfway to mouth. Weyoun wasn't in at all last night? This is news to her. Well to be fair, she was stocking up on sleep last night.

"You were gone last night?" She turns to look at Weyoun.

[weyountrinket]

Weyoun almost chokes when Sullivan suddenly turns the conversation to him. It takes quite a lot of control to keep his pleasant expression to only twitch slightly and to not just answer with a dismissive 'it's not your business'.

He'll just answer Caro instead, since he likes her considerably more. "Yes. I was enjoying the view from the roof."

[caroflower]

"It's nice up there," Caro says, nodding. Now she's curious as to what he was doing up there all night, but she doesn't quite have the heart to get pushy about it, since he clearly doesn't want to talk about it.

So she glances over at Garak, hoping he'll bite. He raises an eyebrow. Go on, Garak.

[egarak]

Garak is plenty interested in this anyway-- not that Weyoun was out all night or even on the roof in particular, but that he was careless enough to be caught doing... whatever he was doing. And then Caro shoots him a look. Oh, why not. If she wasn't going to ask, he might as well. It'll be phrased more politely than if Sullivan has to ask.

"I'm sure it is, but... all night?" Garak blinks and smiles innocently at Weyoun. It's the sort of innocent smile that fools almost no one, particularly if they've ever spent more than five minutes in the Capitol.

[weyountrinket]

"Oh, very." Weyoun would like for the subject to go back to the Arena now, please. But all eyes are on him now and they're all so curious, even Zopf.

Weyoun lets the fake cheer drop long enough to very briefly frown at Garak and his innocent smile. The really? expression vanishes as quickly as it appeared, though. "I went out there very late. Seemed a good enough place to be."

[illdrinktothat]

Walter isn't buying this at all. Well, that and he's found a new way to torment Weyoun, soooo...

He settles back into his seat with his refilled coffee and just levels his gaze at the escort. "Bullshit."

[egarak]

"Why Weyoun, you aren't trying to hide something, are you? You're being most circuitous about this." Garak smiles again, eyes even wider.

He sips at his coffee and takes another bite of his donut. Caro is making an almost identical Innocent Face between bites of breakfast. If they were sitting closer together, Garak might feel compelled to pat her hand. She really is a delightful girl.

[weyountrinket]

"No. There isn't anything to hide." Weyoun sighs and tries not to look at either Garak or Caro. You little shits. "I simply don't see what's so interesting about this."

Unfortunately he doesn't think he'll be able to dodge this for long. Not with the looks he's getting from Walter. "I wanted some fresh air so I stayed out on the roof. I ran into Mr. Soong and spoke with him for a while, and I lost track of time."

He's really getting slightly exasperated. "Nothing that happened is worth discussion."

[illdrinktothat]

Walter just... slowly leans back in his seat, eyebrows raised. "You were out on the roof all night with... Data."

He has to chew on that for a moment. "You were out on the roof all night with Data."

[caroflower]

Well, that's certainly not what Caro was expecting to hear. Although really, she hadn't expected anything in particular. But Data? Talking to Weyoun? It's a little hard to imagine.

"Did you meet Spot?" Caro thinks she's decided to like cats, even though she's really only "met" one.

[weyountrinket]

"Yes, and...?" Weyoun quirks a brow at Sullivan. There's nothing especially special about what happened, but he knows Walter won't let this die so easily. He's fairly certain he's going to regret mentioning Data at all.

"I did, yes. Very sweet cat." Oh god this is so awkward.

[caroflower]

"She really is." Caro pauses a moment. "Okay, I don't really have any frame of reference, but she was nice when I met her."

In before Zopf makes some remark about her never having pet a cat before. Ugh.

Caro realizes she's finished her plate and gets up for seconds. She's being careful not to overeat, but again, no telling when she'll eat next.

[illdrinktothat]

This is of course when Zopf launches into how his family had a pet cat. Goddamn townie. It's truly fascinating to someone, Walter's sure, just not anyone in this room.

Walter rolls his eyes and ignores the tribute's apparently endless prattling on. He's got an escort to annoy, after all. "I'm a little surprised, Weyoun. I wouldn't have pegged him for your type."

[caroflower]

Oh of course Zopf's family has a goddamn cat. Fucking townies. Yeah that's a delight and a half, now just shut up. She takes a deep breath in through her nose as she browses the buffet table.

She loads up her plate and sits back down and Zopf is still talking. That's all right, she has an idea of how to shut him up.

"That must be really nice, having pets," she says slowly, letting her face fall a little. Like she's sad but trying not to show it. "Out in the Seam, we'd have probably had to eat the cat." She looks down at her plate and pushes her food around a little.

There, Zopf. How about that.

[weyountrinket]

Zopf looks a little horrified.

...And so does Weyoun, both at Caro's comment and Walter's... Waltering. Fine. FINE. He'll play this game.

"Seeing relationships everywhere?" He delicately sips his coffee and raises his brows. "My, you've been reading too many of those romance novels, Mister Sullivan."

Of course once the horror's worn of Zopf just... takes the chance to start talking again. Weyoun's tuned him out entirely.

[caroflower]

Damn. So close, and yet here's Zopf prattling on some more. What about mice indeed.

"Actually, some of my neighbors would be glad for a chance at some mice." Caro's family is a little better off than most out in the Seam, but they're far from townies. She's doesn't think she's ever actually eaten cat, but everyone with half a brain knows there's no telling what Greasy Sae is actually serving. It's all beef once it's in the soup, and all.

[illdrinktothat]

Walter's ten cents to add to Zopf and Caro's discussion is... well. "Mice are alright. Kind of crunchy."

Zopf's horrified expression gets a really rather confrontational look from Walter. "What? You eat what you can or you starve." He aggressively chews on some bacon. "Keep that attitude up, cupcake, and you ain't gonna last long in the arena."

Weyoun should be happy this completely distracted him for the moment.

It won't last.

[caroflower]

"I've had mice before. Pretty good actually, with the uh," she hesitates, "pork. And the tree bark of course." Caro smiles sweetly at the rest of the table. "As far as I know I've never had cat, though."

Nothing quite like Greasy Sae's cooking. After a long moment she adds, "Dog's not too bad either."

[weyountrinket]

"How... interesting." Weyoun just... breathes in deeply and slowly through his nose. Well, it's horrifying Zopf into silence, at least.

He folds his napkin and thinks for a moment before joining in because why not. "Guinea pig is rather nice. I've heard it's similar to squirrel."

[illdrinktothat]

Walter doesn't even care. "I know that stew."

The dog meat comment gets a laugh that's almost a snort from Sullivan. "Don't let Murphy hear you say that, he'll have a fit."

[caroflower]

"I'm not even sure what a Guinea pig is, but squirrel's pretty good." She glances over at W-- Sullivan. "Greasy Sae's not exactly a secret. Her ingredient list might be, though." Caro laughs a little. "Wait no, I'm sorry. Everything's beef."

The comment about Pendleton doesn't really make much sense, so she just lets it slide.

[illdrinktothat]

"They're kind of like rats. Capitol people keep them as pets." Walter's way more amused at Zopf's discomfort than he has any reason to be. "Sae's a damn miracle worker, as much beef as she manages to get."

He finishes his food of and settles back, crossing his arms over his chest. "Alright, you little shits have about... half an hour to get yourselves together."

After a moment he adds. "I'm including you in this category, Weyoun, I don't care if you spent all night fucking Data on the roof and you're tired. You're still on the clock today."