I'm sure all of the reprimands for my conduct and tone of voice are necessary, but that doesn't make suffering them any more fun. I at least get a few breaks when the escort works with Maya, but Interview Day is pretty tiring.
And then there's getting to stand up the whole time my costume's being done. I'll at least get to sit down while I'm waiting to be interviewed. That's about it.
I'm still going over my lines in my head when the stylist finishes up my outfit. I'm guessing this time around we're focusing more on the nuclear part of energy. I don't know why my suit needs glitter flakes in it, but the glow-in-the-not-so-dark effect is pretty cool.
...As long as this is as "nuclear" as it gets. If she tries to simulate the hair loss I'd get at this much exposure, I'm out of here.
But she only gives me a little makeup before she sets me free. I step outside my room, but Maya isn't out yet. Hoping it won't somehow mess up my outfit, I sit down for a while and wait.
It's half an hour before Maya's done. Her hair is down again, and her ballgown is glowing but still clashes with my getup. Oh, well. I each each stylist has her own vision here.
"Ready to go down?" Leaning one shoulder towards me, she smiles. "It's still a while before the interviews. I bet we could hang out with some of the others for a little bit." She claps. "Ooh! I wonder what their costumes look like this time around?"
"Yeah." I smile, although I'm sighing internally as I get back up. "Let's go see."
We're the only ones in the elevator, but the ground floor button is a little slick with sweat. We'll be running into somebody down there.
Sure enough, when the doors open into the mostly covered-up training floor, a small group of tributes is standing around, their escorts and stylists off chatting as well. It doesn't take much effort to locate Will, although his district partner doesn't appear to have come down yet. In a bright orange suit that goes surprisingly well with his hair, he's talking to his escort when he catches sight of us.
"Hey, WP." Maya hurries to meet him first, lifting her skirt a little to do so. "You look great!"
He smiles. "Thanks. You, too!"
"Thanks." She grins at him. "Mister Eleven, huh?"
"What? Oh." He chuckles. "Yeah. I was pretty surprised by that myself."
I rest my hands on my hips. "I'm guessing you didn't just throw a couple of things around...?"
He shakes his head. "I actually tried some fighting. Since my character was a martial arts master, one of the older fellows in the troupe had taught me some good moves, you know? It was a little weird trying not to pull my punches at the last minute this time around, but I guess it worked! Surely I'll get some sponsors from that, right?"
"You'd better!" I say. "To think you were worried about that!"
"Haha, yeah, I know." He lets out a breath and glances at the door. "I'd better stay calm for now, though. My escort decided it would be best for me to act mean for my interview... I've been practicing all day, so I should be able to pull it off, but..." He slouches a little. "I hope it won't be too jarring for Penny. Or anyone else, for that matter."
"She'll understand." Maya fists her hands, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "I'm kind of looking forward to this now, though! Mean WP! It's hard to imagine."
"Thanks..."
"Hey! How's everybody doing?"
I turn to see Gumshoe, his big smile as lopsided as ever. He's done up in a decent suit, all brown and grey with gear-shaped buttons.
Maya jumps—has she ever not when he shows up?—but recovers quickly. "Hi, Gumshoe. We're doing pretty well." She grins, raising an eyebrow. "But probably not quite as well as you after getting an 8."
He grins, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. "Impressive, huh, pal?" He rubs the back of his neck. "Even though I almost tripped on my way into the room..."
"Really, sir? I did trip on the way in!"
Flinching, Gumshoe turns to see Maggey joining the circle. In elbow-length gloves and a somewhat modest dress that's covered with what seems to be a cross between feathers and tree bark, she pulls a strand of hair away from her glasses. Gumshoe stares at her for a second before looking off to the side.
"Good evening, everyone," she says to us, saluting. She then flinches back a little, blinking. "Oh, dear. Maybe I shouldn't do that so hard with the cast."
That recaptures Gumshoe's attention. "C-cast?"
Maggey lowers her arm, her gaze dropping with it. "Yes, sir. I managed to trip and break my wrist right at the beginning of my private session. The rest didn't go well, but... you already know that much, sir." She rubs her hands together. "My stylist came up with these gloves to try to cover it up, but I guess it won't stay a secret for long."
"Oh, no..." Maya slumps, loosely covering her mouth with one hand. "Right before the Games, too..."
"Yeah..." Maggey straightens up. "But don't worry too much, sir. I'm sure Dustin will take care of me."
I nod, although I can't help but look down. What rotten luck...
"Maggey!" Maya grabs her hands. "You can always come to any of us if you need help, okay?"
"That's right, pal!" Gumshoe's panting again. "We'll do whatever we can to help, too!"
Maggey rubs her elbow. "Thanks, you guys."
Dustin joins us, followed by Lotta and Penny, but Edgeworth doesn't arrive until there's no time left to talk.
I wonder why he insists on taking the stairs, even when he's all dressed up. Does he have something against elevators? I only know of one usually working elevator in District 5—the one in the Justice Building we've both ridden a few times before—but I don't know much about District 6. I wonder if something happened to make him afraid of elevators... and more reserved... and maybe even move to another district? Come to think of it, he did move away not long after Mayor's Day...
...This is all just conjecture, though. I should try not to go too far when I don't have any evidence.
The interviewer takes a little time to warm up the audience before we get started. Violet White is the first to take her spot in the middle of the stage. From her dress and attitude, I can only guess her interview angle is something along the lines of "strikingly brilliant."
The interviewer starts off the conversation with her training score, to which she responds elusively, although she does mention that she has a mean punch.
"Are we going to need to stow some brass knuckles in the arena for you?"
She scoffs and flashes her ring-laden right hand. "Such a drab weapon is not suffadequate for my personage. I demand gold knuckles!"
Uh, gold is pretty soft. I don't think that would work out so well for you.
...Unless they're also studded with diamonds, in which case we might still have a problem.
I have to steel myself when the inevitable question about Redd White comes up.
"Are you planning to follow in the footsteps of your older brother, the victor of the Eighth Games?"
She laughs. "Of course. I do believe antiquity will recapitulate itself." With that, she just manages to flash a wicked grin at Maya before her interview continues.
I feel my district partner shiver and, since the others' eyes are fixed on Violet, I take Maya's hand for a minute. You're not going to get hurt. She's not going to kill you like her older sibling killed yours. I promise.
I let go when Richard Wellington is called, and, thankfully, Violet doesn't spare another look at Maya as she heads back to her seat.
Wellington gets out a surprising amount of words for a three-minute interview. Of course, when the host can't get a thought in edgewise, it must be easy. Still, you've got to hand it to the guy for making all-but-terse comparisons of himself to Galileo, Joan of Arc, Maurice Utrillo, Spartacus, Julius Caesar, Cellini, Wagner, and Darwin in under five minutes.
von Karma's interview has a clear sinister ring to it, although I can't help but just label him as arrogant. Gumshoe's angle is a "lovable oaf" type, although I don't think he's acting much. Wendy Oldbag is ferocious, Jack Hammer quietly determined.
And then Maya's up. I wish her luck silently, and she steps up to the interviewer. Although she's plenty cute and mischievous in response to the typical questions, the host still brings up Mia. I catch myself fingering the district token pinned to my lapel as the audience quiets.
"Sis..." Maya's eyes tear up. "I-I still really miss her. A lot of us back home do. She helped so many people, and..." She looks down. "It seems a little silly to think I could do better than her here, but I-I'll do my best!"
She bows just in time for the buzzer to ring. My turn now. I get up, giving Maya a nod of approval as we pass each other.
Thankfully, the host doesn't jump to any conclusions and ask me about Chief. The audience already knows about her from her own Games, more than I could hope to tell them in three minutes, and this interview is about getting to know me. So, here we go.
I think I do all right. I'm a little too nervous and tired for all of my jokes to be good, but the interviewer at least plays off them well. It's over more quickly than it seems it should be, but I sit down with no objections.
I'm still trying to get the sweat off my palms when Lotta's finished. Then Edgeworth is up.
...Well, good thing I didn't try to pull any observational stunts in my interview—the escort dissuaded me earlier this morning—because Miles manages to correctly deduce the names of the host's girlfriend and two pet cats. At least he isn't specifically making me look bad this time.
Maggey, managing not to give away her broken wrist, hints that she may have been hiding a thing or two in her private session, and Dustin stays calm for his interview. They don't give many clues about their relationship, although they do admit to being allies. After them come Winston Payne, who starts off well but becomes increasingly flustered, and April May, who quickly accumulates a loving male fanbase.
Polly Jenkins, District 9, won't stop shaking, although she presents herself fairly well as her district partner's girlfriend and sometime caretaker. Yanni Yogi has to be woken up for his interview. He's still half-asleep throughout it, not saying much until he starts to ramble about his noodle shop back home.
Next is Penny Nichols, the cute little girl of the year. And then Will Powers. I watch in anticipation as he marches to the center of the stage, his hands clenched and his shoulders back. While he's facing away from me, there are plenty of screens around for me to catch a glimpse of his face. Serious, which is a pretty terrifying look on his mug.
His introductory responses are all growls and glares, and I can't figure out whether it's more frightening or hilarious. Frightening because... it's frightening, or hilarious because this is WP threatening to hurt someone, which is just impossible. He's definitely a great actor, I'll give him that.
At one point, the host, seeming a little nervous and searching for a question, says, "So, do you plan to crush the other tributes' bones to make your bread?"
Will crosses his arms, flexing them pretty heavily in the process. "That's a little cliché, don't you think? I'd rather try something a little more... creative." He ends with one heck of an evil grin.
You know what, he actually is pretty terrifying when he wants to be...
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Manfred smirking. Upon catching my eye, he raises an eyebrow at me victoriously and turns back towards the show.
He seriously thinks this is the real Will...! I mean, it is a pretty convincing act, but—hey! von Karma's whole theory was that WP was trying to get our guards down—how would revealing his "true nature" now be consistent with that motive?
As much as I want to point that out right now, I manage to do nothing but squirm in my seat a little until Will's time is up. He lets out a breath but makes sure to keep his scary face on as he goes back to his seat.
The 11 girl looks like a model, while her district partner just looks nervous. Vasquez isn't bad-looking today, either, although her terseness doesn't make for a very fun interview. And last is Manella, whose speech is so peppered with incomprehensible slang I'm not sure how to interpret it. At least he's too nervous to give Maya another look.
And that's it. We stand for the anthem and file back inside. Edgeworth goes for the stairs immediately. Dustin looks over Maggey's hurt wrist, saying something quietly. Will apologizes profusely for having to act like he did. Miss May flirts with a smiling waiter who's still carrying a tea set.
I step into the next empty elevator with Maya before I realize I'm not going to see these guys again until we're in the arena. In the Hunger Games.
But... that's okay, right? White and von Karma are the only ones I can see trying to kill someone. As long as we stay away from them, what do we have to fear? The arena? We've trained a little bit. Between the lot of us, we can pull it all together and survive.
No big deal.
I keep telling myself that as I say goodnight to Maya and try to go to sleep.