at the memorial dome

[she_sells_seashells]

Shell Bell tries not to think too hard about Tony's sketchy Capitol friends or why they'd send him a train. She stows away for the short trip. She wears her godawful stupid dress. She paints triangles over her eyes and her cheeks, and squares around them, and she irons ringlets into her carefully divided hair, pins it up, and attaches the hat to the heap of white and blue.

She tucks her amulet under her neckline - the chain is fine enough to look like some more conventional piece of jewelry.

She holds her stick in her hand and stuffs her hand in her pocket.

It's early when they get there, barely dawn. The poll workers are setting up, but voters haven't accumulated yet.

She scopes out a starting place.

Leaning on a wall of a building across the street, pretending to be bored, forgetting not to chew her lip and tasting makeup - she finds one.

There are decorative torches, here and there, and that one has a bit of the Panem flag dangling quite near it in the calm. The flag has a cord. The cord touches the arch of the dome. From there she can get everything.

She waits for Sherlock to find where they'll duck when the panic starts. And when she gets the nod...

She assumes control of the torch. Yes, it's real fire, that's useful.

It flickers, it sways, it leaps.

It touches the flag, and maybe it wouldn't have caught, normally, but she makes it catch. The flag goes up in smoke; the cord catches and burns.

She sends the fire a quarter of the way around the circle at the base of the domed roof, first, before letting it climb any higher. She can still see all of the borders of the fire, but it's going to be implausible for her to keep it that way much longer.

People have started to notice - a poll worker, someone walking her dog. They don't seem to know what to do about it.

"Time to duck out of sight?" she murmurs to Sherlock in her best imitation of a Capitol accent.

Comments

[sicaria]

"It's very striking. And of course your face is in the middle of it. That helps considerably."

[she_sells_seashells]

Bell giggles and squirms self-consciously.

[sicaria]

"Are you displeased with that assessment?"

[she_sells_seashells]

"No, just - I dunno. You're making me feel pretty," Bell accuses, grinning.

[sicaria]

"I believe I can live with that result."

[she_sells_seashells]

Bell reaches up and boops Sherlock's nose. "You're pretty, too," she says contently.

[sicaria]

...Sherlock giggles.

"I love you," she says, and leans down to kiss Bell's forehead.

[she_sells_seashells]

Bell wasn't really expecting that!

She's not sure what to do about it, either.

Traditionally it is replied to in kind.

She consults herself.

She doesn't have one of those to give Sherlock. That is sad.

[sicaria]

Sherlock is still smiling fondly down at her.

[she_sells_seashells]

Well, okay then. The time for pauses between remarks in conversations is past and Sherlock is still smiling so that must be okay. Bell smiles back and closes her eyes.

[sicaria]

"I believe the remark about epiphanies was related," she adds, consideringly.

[she_sells_seashells]

"Howso?" asks Bell.

[sicaria]

"I think it meant that I love you, and I only just noticed."

[she_sells_seashells]

"Aww. No wonder I thought it was sweet."

[sicaria]

"Astute of you," she compliments.

[she_sells_seashells]

"I do sometimes flatter myself into thinking I'm clever," snickers Bell.

[sicaria]

"You are," says Sherlock. "It's delightful."

[she_sells_seashells]

Bell grins at her. "We are both clever and pretty, and so we match," she declares.

[sicaria]

"What an excellent circumstance."

[she_sells_seashells]

"It really is. When do we go home again?"

[sicaria]

"Whenever Tony's friend decides to send us. It won't be too long, I don't think."

[she_sells_seashells]

"Hours? Days?"

[sicaria]

"Days is likelier."

[she_sells_seashells]

"Okay. I wonder if there's anything else we should incinerate as long as we're here anyway."

[sicaria]

"Shall we find a map?"