thearena | [open]

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WHO: Draco Malfoy and open
WHAT: Draco's made it out of the Cornucopia, and is now exploring a little
WHEN: immediately after the Cornucopia until some time that evening
WHERE: leaving the Cornucopia and heading north towards Fantasyland
WARNINGS: none right now.

He hadn't made it out of the Cornucopia with nearly so good a haul as last time. It left a bitter taste in his mouth, though he was still relatively unharmed, and that seemed good enough for him. He wasn't dead. Though that might have been a bit difficult, what with the complete lack of weapons in the Arena.

Draco rolled his eyes, wrapping his three cans up in the end of his cape, keeping it close to his body in case someone attempted to grab him with it, and with that, he began heading off north, just like he'd told Katurian he would. Maybe this Arena wouldn't be too bad after all.

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Atticus' first instinct was to head for Tomorrowland. That had always been his favorite part of the park, but he wasn't sure he was ready to see what they'd done to it yet, so instead he headed north, toward the castle. There were some rides up there he was pretty sure would make some cover.

When it seemed as though the other Tribute actually knew a little bit of where he was going, Draco made it a point to follow him. Not obviously, mind; he wasn't looking for a fight. No, he was too busy ruminating on how the Capitol had thrown him right back into the Arenas again, even after everyone seemed to like him, had wanted to keep him out.

So much for that being an option.

At any rate, he needed to get somewhere decent, and if trailing after fellow Tributes was going to get him there, then so be it. And over time, Draco would just creep a little bit closer, moving a bit faster, perhaps with the intention of greeting Atticus.

The last time Atticus teamed up with someone in the arena, he ended up being attacked by a zombie. He wasn't too keen on having that happen again, so when he noticed Draco getting closer he was more wary than anything. He kept heading for the castle though, wanting to get somewhere less open before slowing down.

Atticus' wariness went largely unnoticed for Draco's own unease and the fact that he was more concerned with learning the lay of the land. He'd rather not have to make a run for it and get lost somewhere down the line. Still, he was managing to catch up to the other Tribute slowly but surely, still not making a peep just yet. In all likelihood, he was more likely to accidentally trip over Atticus than to say 'hello'.

Atticus was too much on the watch to let Draco trip over him, but he did look back over his shoulder at Draco, giving him a faint nod by way of a greeting and also to test the waters.

The acknowledgement almost made Draco trip over himself, though he was far too graceful to ever allow that to happen. He merely blinked, frowning to himself before hesitantly nodding back, beginning to move in a bit of a semi-circle around Atticus. As though catching up in a sort of round-about fashion.

That just made Atticus even more wary, and he slowed down just a little. He didn't like having the other guy behind him.

Before long, Draco wasn't behind Atticus any longer - more in front, rather - and after thinking the whole thing over, he just gave a loud sigh and came to a full stop, giving Atticus a pointed stare.

"All right, this is fucking stupid. We're going to circle around each other until one of us decides to jump the other one in an attempt to bump off some of the competition, and it's getting obnoxious," he stated, clearly exasperated. "So hello. I'm not planning on killing you, mostly because I've nothing to kill you with."

"Well, that's...not terribly comforting," Atticus said, eyeing the other warily, though he stopped as well. "But I'm not planning to kill you either?"

"Better than the alternative, isn't it?" Draco merely asked, tipping his head to one side as he stared at Atticus, giving him a once over. Not much of a threat, by the looks of it, but then again, who was in those outfits? "Though I appreciate the reassurance. Hopefully you're not one of those who decides to stab me in the back because I've decided to let you go on for the time being." With that, he lifted one brow, challenging Atticus to speak up now if that was, in fact, the case.

"See I was kinda hoping the alternative was, 'I don't plan on killing you ever because I'm a decent guy, and that's kind of fucked up,'" Atticus offered. "But I don't have anything to stab you with, so I think you're safe on that score?"

"It's not, sadly. Whether I'm a decent guy or not is fairly irrelevant in a place like this, especially given that we've never met before, and I have no real reason not to kill you. Feel free to change my mind, however," he invited, frowning a little bit. This was, actually, better than fighting. Draco could go for this.

"All right. So neither of us are going to kill each other. Which leads me to my next question: where are you headed exactly?"

"I would have thought the reason not to kill me was the decent guy thing," he said, frowning right back.

"I thought I'd hide out in Fantasyland. Good places for it."

He merely shrugged, "Maybe. I suppose you can determine that, though. Given that I was heading in the same direction you were, and it seemed to be creeping you out that I was following you. You seem to know this place fairly well."

Atticus wasn't entirely sure he wanted to stick around with this guy, but he didn't particularly want to be on his own either, so...

"I sort of grew up here. I mean, not here, but I came here a lot as a kid."

"Really? This is an actual place?" Draco asked with a frown. They could probably split off eventually - Draco was sort of banking on it - but heading around in a group was more of a deterrent to rogue Tributes.

That's what Atticus was thinking and why he wasn't taking off.

"Yeah, it's...an amusement park?"

Draco's mouth twitched, and he glanced around again. "I certainly hope it looks a lot more enjoyable the rest of the time. I can't imagine anyone finding any amusement around here."

"Well, it didn't look like this when I was a kid," he said with a frown.

"So what did it look like?" He asked, one brow arching. He was curious; he couldn't help it.

"It was...happy. Bright. Cheerful. Really crowded..." He shrugged, not really in the mood to reminisce. "It was nice."

"Bloody bizarre," Draco simply stated, shaking his head a little. Atticus' mood went straight over his head, mostly because he just didn't care. "This is the furthest thing from nice I can think of. Except maybe one of the previous Arenas."

"Well, yeah. It sucks now," Atticus said, ducking under an archway into the castle.

"What a brilliant statement of the obvious," he drawled in return, glancing back over his shoulder before following after Atticus into the castle, and giving that a judgemental once-over in return. "I'm Draco, by the way. Not that I think you knowing my name is going to make you any less inclined towards turning on me if it suits you better. Common courtesy, that's all."

Crossing into the castle, Atticus could feel the change immediately. He felt warmer; he could smell...everything; and he could hear small and not so small creatures scurrying around the area.

"Atticus," he said distractedly, slowing down to look around the entrance way warily.

"Charmed, I'm sure," he replied in a murmur, pausing for a moment as the change washed over him as well. Just a tingle in his fingers and toes at first, spreading through the rest of him until he felt complete, instead of like the shell of a person he'd been for most of his time in the Capitol.

"Did you feel that?"

Atticus turned his wariness on Draco at the question.

"Yeah...that was...yeah."

"So I wasn't the only one. Excellent," Draco frowned, glancing around them for a second. He had a suspicion as to what it was, and if Atticus was feeling things as well, then that meant he wasn't exactly the typical Tribute either. For a moment, Draco's wary curiosity gave way to legitimate interest, and he narrowed his eyes slightly at the other man.

Atticus definitely didn't like the way this guy was looking at him, and he didn't like that Draco had felt the same thing he had. He'd watched enough footage of the last arena to know it didn't necessarily mean Draco was a werewolf too, but he didn't particularly want to find out exactly what he was.

"Right, well...I'm just gonna...head off. Nice meeting you?"

As pleasant as the company had been, Draco didn't like the way Atticus was looking at him either. He simply nodded, taking a step or two back before twisting to turn another direction. "The pleasure was all mine, I assure you. I'm going to go this way, if that way's fine by you."

"Yeah. Knock yourself out," Atticus said, nodding. He was probably better off on his own anyway.

"Hey...good luck, man."

He'd already started off when the final comment reached his ears; he paused, glancing over his shoulder.

"You too. Try not to die too quickly."

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