thearena | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who| Justin Law and open (also a thing closed to Terezi)
What| General interactions/meeting people/trying to get food.
Where| Jungle
When| Backdated to day 4
Warnings/Notes| none yet. Justin has no problems killing people so idk.

It's one thing to spend a few days and nights in a jungle full of actively carnivorous plants. It's another thing entirely to spend a few days and nights in a jungle full of actively carnivorous plants with no weapons, no special abilities, and no food. After three days of wandering, avoiding the other contestants, and searching for any plant in the jungle that doesn't seem poisonous, the death scythe realized that not making a run for the supplies had been a mistake.

The morning of the fourth day found Justin moving through the jungle with no apparent concern for stealth, moving quickly enough to avoid the vines. He'll find someone, he's sure of that. And if they refuse to share their supplies, he will simply take the food by force.

For Terezi: Nighttime meant that Justin headed into the trees, climbing up further than most people would have bothered. He needs to try and sleep.

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Up in the trees is Terezi's territory, though, and the night even more-so. She doesn't need torchlight or firelight to move about. Visibility is for losers.

It's still fairly dark out when she discovers one of the tributes perched high up in the trees, higher than most would consider going. She pauses and considers just skirting the figure, when it occurs to her that he hasn't noticed her presence. She creeps a little closer, then waits. Even rustling a few branches doesn't seem to catch his attention.

Amused, and slightly curious, she climbs up even higher, perching herself above the height of the other tribute but in the next tree over. "Hey... Captain Oblivious!" she calls, thinking for sure that he'll hear that and answer her. When no answer is forth-coming, it leaves her even more confused. Is he seriously that deeply asleep, or is he just ignoring her? She honestly can't tell.

Either way, her curiosity is piqued. She lingers on the tree branch, puzzling at the weird human as sunlight begins to creep over the horizon...

If Terezi had moved into Justin's tree, she would have found out that he wasn't sleeping quite as deeply as it looked. Motion would wake him up, but noise did nothing.

The harsh, not-quite-right sunlight is what wakes him up, and he opens one pupil-less blue eye to glare at the offending dawn. Conveniently, he happens to glare at Terezi as well, simply because she's in the way.

It certainly looks like this human tribute had simply decided to ignore the troll until sunrise.

Terezi freezes at the sudden glare. She could have sworn he wasn't awake. Was he just messing with her? Or did she finally do something to get his attention? She couldn't imagine what she was doing any differently from a few minutes ago.

"Good morning! Do you always sleep so obliviously in the treetops?" She's not about to give him the benefit of the doubt so easily, so she might as well hassle him about it. "You're lucky someone didn't come by and slit your throat. That could have been messy."

The person in front of him is obviously not human, and it takes a fraction of a second longer than it normally does for Justin to read her words. He shrugs.

"If someone managed to slit my throat, then I did not deserve to live. I did not see you making any attempts at my life."

"Of course you didn't. Your eyes were closed." Which is beside the point, but it's funny enough to Terezi for her to point out. She leans on the tree branch and sniffs at him curiously.

"I don't remember noticing you before. What's your name, and when did you get here?"

He wasn't expecting her to sniff him, but she is a completely new type of creature. Perhaps they use scent for identification.

"Justin Law, and I arrived here just a few moments before we all entered the arena. Who are you and how long have you been here?"

Howard has set up a nice place to sleep in the trees. A stash of his supplies is in a nook in the tree, and he's nestled between a bough and the trunk about twenty feet up, legs hanging down. He's tied onto a branch with his belt, in case his kicking and tossing and turning throws him off in the middle of his rest. The heat makes traveling by day exhausting, and while night presents its own challenges, Howard's feeling weaker than he's feeling helpless, at the moment.

He's in that dazed state between dreaming and waking when he hears someone coming through the grass and vines below him. If he were more conscious, he'd lay still and let them pass. But his subconscious jerks his vocal cords into giving a strange sort of surprised bark as he wakes up, and it's only a second later that he realizes that involuntary noise might have given him away.

Justin... Law? The grin that splits Terezi's mouth starts slowly but surely, like an oncoming storm. That is the most fantastic name she's ever heard of.

"Terezi Pyrope. I've been here for several months--since before the last arena." That practically makes her a veteran, right? She's not really sure, but it puts her at more experience than he has, at least.

"I'll cut you some slack, Mr. Law--" She has to fight hard not to laugh right there. "--since you're new. It would be really depressing to get your throat slit by a stranger this early in your first arena. Unsurprising! But still depressing. If you're going to sleep, you should find a better place to do it."

"Ah, you have returned from the dead to fight again." He's not amused by her instance that he was making himself easy prey, so he has no problem calling attention to her own previous death.

"And if you are going to insist on formalities, you should call me Father Law."

It's not so much the involuntary noise as it is the flail of motion that catches Justin's attention, and the priest looks up into the canopy. He waves, expression set a polite (though insincere) smile.

"Ah, hello!"

Justin Law never learned the concept of an indoor voice.

The fact that that's a good sign barely registers over Howard's impulsive hatred of loud noises. He gives a shushing sound that would please a librarian.

"You'll draw attention!" he hisses down. He doesn't even bother trying to match Justin's smile. His hand goes to the belt wrapping him in the tree.

"Ah, of course. My apologies." Justin drops his volume slightly and stands under the tree, staring up at Howard.

"Who the fuck are you?"

Howard's short on charm.

Justin shakes his head. "Such terrible language. You should be ashamed."

"We're in a death match," Howard hisses.

"You are correct." Justin does not seem very concerned by this piece of information. "That reminds me. Do you have any food?"

Howard pauses. If he weren't so serious he'd laugh.

"Are you fucking serious?"

"Ah... yes?"

It's a simple enough question. He hadn't even asked for any food.

"Why would I tell you?"

"You realize that no one who did not have food would be so defensive." It's as good as carrying a giant 'I have food' sign.

The smile comes back, polite and blank.

"I would appreciate if you were willing to share."

"I've returned from the dead to kick your ass, if you imply that I was anything less than a stunning figure of graceful slaughter. I made it almost to the end--unlike a lot of people!" Which could either be taken as a dig towards the other tributes in the arena, or as an expectation for his own results. Honestly, she means the former, but she's not going to correct him if he happens to think the latter.

"Anyway, you're not my lusus. I'm not calling you Father Anything. Mister Bananacream Law."

"I am not your anything," he's not even going to attempt to say that alien word, "but I am a priest, and human priests are called 'Father'. Not bananacream."

"But you don't smell like a priest." In that he doesn't smell like face-paint and Faygo, which are both some of the worse smells in the world. Combined, they might just be the worst of the worst.

"Your hair smells like bananas. And your skin smells creamy. And maybe a little peachy! Whatever it is, it's delicious. Therefore, Bananacream is a perfect name for you."

Of course he doesn't smell like facepaint and Faygo that would be gross. He might smell a little bit like wood and metal even though his weapon form is locked away, and he probably smells like human gross sweat because of the humidity and heat of the arena. And mud. But there is certainly banana cream too.

"What are you expecting a priest to smell like?"

Flatly, one eyebrow lifted:

"Shitty Faygo, greasepaint, and blood. The blood part is optional, but usually included. In fact, I know a bunch of priests who would attest that the blood is not optional, but their opinions are not fact."

"Ah, how unusual. They sound like no priests I am familiar with." Blood was always optional, though certainly not frowned upon.

"Have you met many priests, Miss... Candycorn?" He's not as quick with the food allusions as Terezi is, but the horns are an obvious target.

Edited 2013-11-07 22:32 (UTC)

"I don't got food. And if I did I wouldn't share it. Don't act like this is fucking Halloween and you're ringing my doorbell." He matches the smile with a scowl.

"I thought asking would be better than simply snapping your neck."

Howard's hand instantly goes to his pants pocket, where his knife is. "Was that a threat?"

"Ah, and now I know you have a weapon. Perhaps I should just take that instead."

"You should back off now," Howard says, bluffing. He doesn't feel as confident as he sounds.

"Ah, is that a threat?" Justin, on the other hand, is completely confident.

"Just a warning." Howard finds a steady place to balance.

"Is it a knife or a gun?" It's almost as if Justin casually has conversations about death and killing all the time.

Howard decides he's done with this conversation. He starts to shrink away into the canopy, hoping the leaves will shade his attempted departure.

"Running away already?"

Howard doesn't respond to that. He just books it.

And puts Justin on the mental shitlist.

The nickname pulls a grin onto Terezi's lips, erasing the flat stare she was giving him a before. He's a weird human, but at least he catches on quick. Not a plus in a combat setting, but she'll have to remember to bother him once they're not technically enemies.

"A few! Back home, mostly. There's one here, too, though. Not quite as annoying as the others I've met."

"Ah, I am sure he and I would have much to talk about." Talk, argue, fight. Something along those lines. "Are you and he allies in this arena?"

"We were, last arena. I'm not sure about this arena, but I'm pretty sure we're not going to be killing each other, at the very least." She's quiet for a moment, then gives a little shrug.

"He's my friend. Much as they'd like to have us slitting throats right and left, I still don't like turning on my friends."

"Turning on him would more than likely ruin your friendship." Justin knows how to state the obvious. But he doesn't really care about this alien and her friendships.

"You seem to have quite an interest in slitting throats."

"Good thing that I don't have any intention of doing that, then," she responds, cheerfully if nothing else. She doesn't have much else to say regarding that, though, so she focuses on the remark about slitting throats.

"We're in a killing game," she remarks with dry humor. "If I didn't have an interest in slitting throats, that would be a pretty bad sign."

"You could have an interest in bludgeoning people," he points out. "Or poisoning, or hanging, or even just generally stabbing."

"I do have an interest in hanging! Hanging is the preferred method of execution for all proper Legislacerators." But hanging usually requires the victim to stand still for long enough to get the noose around their neck. And she doesn't have time for that.

"Bludgeoning and poison are boring, though. Stabbing is just lame. Anyone can stab someone. Where's the excitement in that? We are supposed to be entertaining the masses by slaughtering each other."

"And you believe a slit throat is the most entertaining form of killing you can offer?" That seems like a lack of creativity.

"I never said it was the most entertaining form. You shouldn't put words in the prosecution's mouth. It is entirely impolite and also in violation of like, at least five laws." Most of those five laws she made up off the top of her head right now. But he doesn't have to know that.

"But if you're such a know-it-all, then fine! Impress me! What's your favorite method of killing?"

"Perhaps those are laws where you are from, but they do not apply here. As for your question, I am quite partial to decapitations."

"And you're making fun of me for throat-slitting? Those are practically the same thing."

"They are in no way the same thing." Especially when it is Justin's own blade doing the killing, thudding heavily through flesh and bone. Killing is a form of worship, and to use your weapon form the way the gods intended was the purest worship of all.

"Would you prefer I said drawn and quartered?"

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