Fun for all ages.

[revvinguptheharley]

Who: Harley Quinn, the build a buddies and you!
What: Harley has set up camp in the build-a-buddy store and is having a little me party.Tea party. Stop by and she'll help you make a dolly of your very own! Or she might stab you...this is Harley we're talking about.
Where: The Build-a-buddy workshop on the first floor across from the movie theater.
When: Week 1
Warnings: Well it's Harley Quinn...so let's start there and see what happens.

Harley had always had a fondness for plush toys. In fact back at her room in the district suite there was more stuffed animals then anything else despite her recent addition of a small jungle's worth of plant life to honor her long lost friend Poison Ivy.

So after the scramble at the Cornucopia she'd wandered about in delight exploring the mall only to settle on this store loaded to the gills with plushie parts! Her eyes were wide as she marveled at all the different combinations one could prepare to design your very own plushie based on tributes that were either currently in the mall with her, or past favorites. In a matter of hours she'd made a small army of them and they lined every available shelf and counter.

As the first few days of the arena past she made the little shop more comfortable for herself every day, but the irritating robot janitors of the mall kept trying to put things back where they belonged which included dragging off her lovingly crafted plushies. That simply couldn't do. The latest of these mechanical offenders had been impaled on a broom handle and left outside the store like a warning to it's fellows.

Having cobbled together an outfit appropriate for a tea party complete with white makeup covering her face and black makeup around her eyes and lips, Harley seemed to be taking a break from the usual arena activities of seeking out food or victims and was sitting down at a table with a collection of little dolls that looked eerily like her closest friends and allies. Many were long since dead like a little Diana Prince doll, and at least one was recently dead as the Cinderella doll sat to one side with a lovely little black dress and her own cup of imaginary tea.

"Now now Damian, don't threaten Timmy's girlfriend. There's plenty of cookies to go around!"

And sure enough while the tea was imaginary Harley had collected a platter of cookies from the food court. Each cup had some water in it to help wash down the sweet treats.

Oddly enough, Harley didn't feel the need to barricade the door to her little lair, either she had confidence in her ability to defend herself...or she was being incredibly careless.

She considered it "Inviting".

Comments

[lifewithnoconsequence]

Krebs believed himself to be well prepared by now. He had scored a number of items from the camping store, including a new set of clothes, which included a brown jacket, a pair of cargo pants, boots, gloves, socks and a backpack. There were a few other items on his person as well, of course. A water canteen, that ice skating outfit and pair of skates were stuffed in the bag. He had also, reluctantly, grabbed a knife.

So to say that he felt lucky was the understatement of the year. But now? Now he didn't feel so lucky. It was that cute blond that he had met earlier, of course, that he walked into. Completely by accident as well. To say that he was less than enthused would also be an understatement. But with luck always came disaster.

Perhaps this wouldn't be a disaster however? If he could just make it back to the entrance....

[revvinguptheharley]

"Oh hi!"

Too late.

She sprang from her tiny plastic chair and danced over to him delightedly in her platform boots. "Look who it is! My favorite new straight man! You're still alive yay!" She declared throwing her hands in the air.

[lifewithnoconsequence]

Why was that such a surprise? He keeps to himself and no one will bug him. Simple as that. Or at least it should be in his mind. After all, why should anyone bother with the quiet guy who doesn't even say one word to them? The answer is that they shouldn't. It would just be a waste of time for both Krebs and them.

"I suppose I am."

[revvinguptheharley]

"Well we're still in the first week so don't lose hope. I'm sure someone very special will try to kill you when the food runs out...if it runs out. How nice of those Avox to keep bringing us snackies." She declared skipping back over to her table.

"Well don't just stand there being as boring as you are handsome, why don't we get started! This place is all about plushies so we should make you one. Do you have any friends? Lovers? People who think you're slightly more interesting then topsoil?"

[broadsidewaltz]

Having been sticking to the solo plan for a little while, Hubert had been infinitely careful about grabbing supplies. And while he had a vague idea of where the lockers he was interested in getting to was, he wasn't going to charge in right after the Cornucopia. No, instead he found himself exploring the area.

It was a little eerie to be honest. After all, the speech had him believing that maybe the lack of carnage might have the Capitol try to work something up. He was still wearing his spandex skating suit, but had lost the skates in favor of a pair of wool socks and little brown booties. Equally he had slipped on a long trenchcoat, something he picked out mostly because of the amount of pockets.

After that, and a few survival tools such as a knife and water bottle, he supposed finding a new quiet unpopulated nook was in order. A store with something no one particularly cared about in it, for example? Eventually he found himself peering in the plushie store, fingers wrapping around his knife still in his pocket-- before noticing the tea party of sorts.

He didn't quite recognize Harley for a moment- the interesting make-up scheme had him furrowing his brow even... before shaking his head.

"... Harley, is that you?"

What was she doing here?

[revvinguptheharley]

She perked up from her quiet party and grinned a wide Cheshire cat grin.

"Well if it isn't my favorite new tribute! Come in come in! There's plenty of room the parties just getting warmed up!" She ushered him in and sprang to her boot clad feet.

"Well aren't you a little trend setter? Most people have ditched the spandex look, but I guess when it hugs your body that nicely you like to show off. Might be easier without the creeper coat though." she teased.

[broadsidewaltz]

The friendly reaction has him relaxing just a little, still on-edge about hanging out with anyone here-- but this didn't seem so bad.

So he'd step in, moving a little closer- not really wanting to... well, get in the midst of said tea party, even if that might just happen yet.

The teasing has him clearing his throat though, embarrassed. "If you'd refrain from being so lewd about it, please. I kept it because it's something I'm used to wearing."

And, well. Adjusting his glasses, Hubert found himself eying the plushies with mild curiosity. "And this-- creeper coat has many pockets to store important things in. To be honest, I'm more concerned as to why you're here. You're a Mentor, are you not?"

[revvinguptheharley]

"Ah...yeah about that..." She grinned sheepishly. "Haven't been watching the news much have ya sport?"

She spun on her heel and led him deeper into the shop where the shiny blank glass eyes of a hundred or more plush toys stared at them.

"A bunch of people were arrested for the murder of one of the Capitol's tip top torture specialists. A couple of em were my friends. Two of them were your mentors Mindy and Eva." She explained. "I couldn't very well let that stand! So I teamed up with this fella named Roland to try and bust em out...and we got busted ourselves."

In the dim light of the shop it was hard to make out but the branding on her cheek was still visible despite the makeup she'd liberally applied. It matched several others around the arena.

"So we were tortured for a few days, kept locked up and Mindy and I were thrown back in the arena as punishment. I think we're still technically mentors, but we're being taught a lesson." she winked cheerfully.

"Jokes on them, I love this place."

[seestheman]

Clara's wary of venturing out again after the fight with Venus on the first night of the Arena, especially considering she's down an eye and is trying to adjust to the sudden disappearance of her depth perception. But sitting around in the backroom that Alex decided was secure and thus safe is going to drive her completely bonkers if she doesn't get out for at least a little bit.

The sight of Build-A-Buddy immediately makes her think of David and taking him to Build-A-Bear back home. She's about to pass it by when she notices something in the window: a little plush Alex. It's silly. She admits that it's silly. But she can't resist certain things and if her husband was going to be the way he was the last time she saw him in Detroit and act like a robot, then she needed something to cling to in the middle of the night and his small, plush lookalike would have to do.

With a quick glance around (which now takes more effort than it did before she lost her eye), she quietly slips into the store and over to the window where the little plush cyborg was sitting. With him under her arm, she almost leaves until she hears Harley and turns around, the mention of cookies making her stomach grumble just the slightest bit.

Making sure she could easily grab her knife (after all, if Venus was willing to jump her, all bets were off about most of the people she had trusted somewhat) if need be, she steps out into the open. "Are there enough for surprise guests?"

[revvinguptheharley]

Harley glanced up surprised but grinning, her face fell when she saw Clara's lack of an eye.

"Oh gosh sweetie what happened?" She sprang to her boot clad feet and slid across the room gracefully with practiced ease. "Or I guess more importantly, who?"

[seestheman]

The fact that Harley doesn't decide to jump her makes the tension she was holding in her shoulders slip away. Clara's somewhat aware of what Harley's capable of, she's seen the footage from the Arenas that were held before she was dragged here, but knowing that, even in a horrific death match, she's still friendly is comforting, to say the least.

She's half tempted to just say 'I got into a fight and lost' and leave it there. Spilling the gory (very gory, really) details about who did it almost seems wrong, except she doesn't especially care about people gunning for Venus at this point.

"Venus jumped me. I think the eye was an accident, considering her reaction," though from the tone of Clara's voice, she isn't forgiving Venus for what she did. "How've you been holding up in here?"

[revvinguptheharley]

Harley's face twisted into a scowl and she punched a fist into an open palm.

"That girl's really starting to toast my buns. ya know she killed me two arenas ago? Yeah slammed an entire vile of deadly neurotoxin into my face. You can't imagine how long that death felt!"

While she spoke about it in a cheery sort of way there was a fire in her eyes.

"Well come in come in, we can't have you wandering around bumping into things. Did you get a dolly?" Her eye settles on the Alex doll and she grins knowingly.

"Ah~ Of course you went for that one. I've got a few lovers of my own over here." She gestured to the table where apparently her favorites were sitting, these included Susannah (With a grumpy Detta sitting next to her), Cinderella, Wonder Woman, Donatello, and a few other faces either in the current arena or long since gone.

[void_whereprohibited]

There was a logic to Cecil's presence in the Build-A-Buddy workshop: Namely, that he couldn't fathom what anyone could possibly find to use there. Every other store, it seemed like, sold something useful enough to be dangerous-- and he had no intention whatsoever of hanging around anywhere that someone else was shopping for a weapon.

He still had the weapon he'd found in the shoe store his first day - the black shoe with the seven-inch heel, as yet unused but beginning to feel comforting to hold in his hand, somehow. He had no illusions about his ability to use it to bludgeon anyone else (he definitely did not have the ability), but-- it helped. To have it.

He was not expecting to see anyone else in the store, and so he was less careful than he should have been. Really, the impaled vacuum cleaner should have tipped him off-- but it wasn't until he was inside that he caught sight of Harley and her entourage of build-a-buddies, and their... provisions.

He stopped dead in his tracks; made an involuntary, voiceless choking noise; took a hasty step back; and tripped magnificently over a discarded teddy bear (wearing a tiny cowboy hat and fake mustache). He managed to right himself, with a moment's frantic, silent windmilling-- but any hope for a stealthy retreat was utterly dashed.

[revvinguptheharley]

Harley's head snapped up and she cheered "It's everyone's favorite mute man Cecil! Aw baby!" she sprang to her boot clad feet and danced around the low table arms open flinging herself at him for hugs.

"I was so so SO mad when I saw what they did to ya you don't even know! It's a crime! A crime I tell ya! And I should know!"

[void_whereprohibited]

Cecil flinched as she approached, drawing his high heel up closer to his chest, much more a shield than a weapon-- the hug could hardly be called a hug on his end, as he had his shoulders drawn in and his hands balled into fists, to avoid making more physical contact than he absolutely had to. Not because he was unhappy to see Harley, but because hugging Tributes simply wasn't something he was allowed to do, and even here, with no one to chastise him for it, the idea of being caught engaging too enthusiastically in something forbidden was deeply unsettling.

He tried his best to look neutrally sympathetic, though-- neutrally sympathetic, with backdrop of polite disagreement. This was a great deal to try to fit into a single facial expression, unfortunately, and he wasn't sure how well he managed it.

So, he tried to change the subject in the only way he knew how - by pointedly directing his attention elsewhere. Even before Harley took her arms from around him, he looked up at the abandoned tea party, eyes wide and slightly less than blank-- inquiring, he hoped. What is that?

[revvinguptheharley]

"Ah this! Yes well it's my tea party you know? It's easier to take care of your friends and lovers and keep them close when they're made of fabric right? Here I'll show you to your table."

And she took him by the hand and led him to a table set for two where a little plush Carlos (Perfect hair model) was sitting with a little blush Cecil (Sad Avox model, but Harley had taped over the sad mouth and drawn a happy mouth over it.)

"Aren't they precious?"

[gardienne]

Of course Eponine had drifted towards the dolls. Hadn't she wanted dolls for ages? And now, here they were. They could be, she had fancied when she had seen the shop, friends in place of real flesh and blood allies that never seemed to stay around.

Upon entering, she had almost laughed aloud. She had stumbled over a little soft body - on closer investigation, she saw that it was her own likeness made into a doll. She began to properly look then. In minutes, she had pulled several of Harley's toys down from the walls - herself and Eva and Orc and Howard and Ian and Parker and Mona and Sigma as well. She knew it wasn't practical, but she couldn't bare to leave any of her friends behind, even if they were simply dolls.

Clutching the dolls in her arms, she ventured further into the shop, to look for a bag. But then she heard Harley's voice and froze. She couldn't be here - she was a mentor. It was a trick.

Eponine moved forward confidently - and stopped short when she saw Harley sat on the floor.

"What are you doing here? Where's Eva?"

[revvinguptheharley]

Harley glanced up and despite herself grinned a broad unsettling grin.

"I dunno, she's not in the arena so far as I can tell. I haven't seen her since I got arrested trying to rescue Susannah."

She turned her face and tapped at the makeup painted cheek where her branding was still vaguely visible.

"As for what I'm doing? I think this is part of my punishment for trying to rescue Susannah. Jokes on them this is fun!" She gestured to the dolls around her and the little tea party she had set up.

[gardienne]

She couldn't help it - she bent down to look more closely at the brand on Harley's cheek. Her own bore the same mark.

"How did you cover it, Miss? How did you hide it? Is it not so dreadfully sore for you?"

[riddledwith]

Edward is, admittedly, a little sad to see the impaled roombah outside the workshop. So much possibility, so much promise. Though, he could also see about salvaging parts from it later, which would certainly become useful for one thing or another.

Usually he wouldn't go looking around a build-a-blank workshop but you never knew where you'd find something useful. Or someone, the sight of Harley with her collection of dolls greeting his eyes.

"Is this party open attendance or should I have received an invitation?" He'd swapped out his figure skating outfit for a comfortably fitting grey suit. His socks and tie were both bright green, the only bursts of color on his person. The suit wasn't tailored, so the sleeves and pants were an inch or so short, but at least he wasn't under-dressed for a party, no matter how imaginary.

[revvinguptheharley]

Harley's head snapped up from her conversation and she let out a cheer "Eddie!" This seemed to be her customary greeting for him.

Springing to her boot clad feet she tottered over to give him a hug and a peck on the cheek. "Not dead yet! Great job!"

As if that was some huge feat.

[riddledwith]

Slowly, he comes to terms that it will probably be this way every time they meet. The cheek pecking is new, but as long as she doesn't intend on greeting him with french kisses anywhere in the near future, he has no reason to argue about it.

"And with spoils." He twirls his locker key around his finger triumphantly. "Is it really so easy to die here, or do you have so little faith in me?" You're getting a mock pout there Harley.

[dividedgirlofmine]

Susannah's rolling by on the rolling platform called a "skateboard" she'd taken from the sporting goods store when she overhears the sounds of Harley's tea party. It's a kind of awkward way to travel--she frequently has to lean down and push or use her hands to redirect the way the board moves--but it's certainly manageable. And it gives her a break from crawling.

She awkwardly attempts to turn around on the board to see if she's really hearing what she things she's hearing, but that ends up upsetting both Susannah and the board. Harley can probably hear the clattering outside the store doorway.

[revvinguptheharley]

It only takes seconds for a head to pop out of the shop to see what all the fuss was about, though it's probably not the head that Susannah might have been expecting.

It's a Harley Quinn doll! Complete with makeup and a mask just like Harley at one of her parties. It's scanning around before it spots Susannah and waves it's tiny little doll hand (With fingers clearly visible to manipulate the hand from behind.]

[dividedgirlofmine]

Susannah blinks at the dolly. "What in the world...?"

Ow. That hurt. She wiggles her fingers. Nothing broken, it looks like, so she pushes herself up to her knees and checks behind her for the board. Hopefully it hadn't gone too... ah. There. She reaches back for her board.