thearena | Choose your own adventure with Azula

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Choose your own adventure with Azula

Who: Azula and anyone foolish or brave enough to get close
What: detoxing off her meds and other games
Where: The Labs and surrounding area.
When: Week two
Warnings/Notes: Azula is coming down off an addiction to Morphling, so she may be volatile and violent

These labs were a dark and depressing place. And that was perfect for someone who wanted to wallow in her own misery.

Huddled in a nest made of desks, chairs and assorted furniture Azula had set up her tent in a far corner of the lab. She needed privacy for when the cravings became too much. When she was incapacitated with sweating and muttering and visions. Unfortunately she lacked proper privacy because somewhere in the melee and madness of the first week, one of her tributes had found her and was sticking close to her for protection.

Diana was decent company on the whole. A bit too relaxed about personal space for Azula's taste, and entirely weak and pathetic when it came to combat. They'd hardly had any training time accomplished before this arena so who knows if Diana maintained any of it.

The needs came and went. Sometimes she felt clear headed enough to hunt, and so she did. The rewards were few but she was gradually gaining an understanding of the area. Their dwindling food supply however warned they would need to travel farther from the lab if a fresh food source couldn't be found.

And worse of all, she had been in the arena this long and killed no one. Not a single person! Her last arena was over in a matter of days. This time around she'd been so focused on protecting herself and ensuring she had a safe place to detox she hadn't managed to kill anyone.

Well the time for that would end soon. How much longer could her body need to adjust to the lack of chemicals in her system?

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The lush plantlife provided plenty of places for Azula to hide her beartrap.

Lurking in the trees with a sharpened stick she waited, she could wait for hours without moving, at least until the shaking from her detox came back around. For now she had her nails buried in the bark of a tree so she wouldn't accidentally shake the leaves and was grinding her teeth waiting for anyone foolish enough to cross under her. If they stepped in the beartrap it would be perfect.

If they were just close enough she could jump on them from above and try to force them into the trap? Even better.

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She hated the rain.

She hated it so much that she could just scream if she wasn't biting her lip to keep from giving away her position.

Stupid STUPID Azula. She had let the hallucinations get to her. The aching and the heat and the need for her medication! Chasing some vision deeper into the woods then usual she'd found herself caught in a rainstorm and was currently taking shelter under a tree in her poncho shaking like the leaves above her.

The sound was gentle and soothing to most people, but to her it was a deafening roar that only brought back memories of her first brush with death. How close she'd come to passing on as nothing more then another failed tribute. All it would have taken was one more moment...her mouth would have opened gasping for the air it needed, sucking water into her lungs instead...

...she hated the rain. But could not, would not dare to venture out into it to try and return to the safety of her nest. The thought of it was enough to make her bite her lip even harder and taste the blood from it.

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The smirk doesn't leave Diana's pretty lips as she rolls her eyes at Azula's comment. "So prude."

Diana reaches into her pocket, the opposite one to where she's keeping the wire. It was better to keep them apart. Less chance of loosing both of them.

"There was this aswel." She holds up a small folding knife, carefully pulling it out of its safety position to show off the blade.

She notices the shivering and casually, as though she's shifting to be more comfortable, stretches her leg a little more so that her foot touches Azulas, testing the waters.

Azula's eyes shot to the blade and instantly she was imagining what she could do with it...or worse what Diana could do with it to her in her weakened state. Every muscle tensed and she had to remind herself that Diana knew she needed Azula alive...for now.

"Good, now you'll be able to sharpen some sticks for me to use if I get in close with someone." She muttered "Do you know how to whittle wood at all?" She pressed. Her gaze fell to the foot touching her leg and she did nothing to stop it. If that's how Diana was establishing a connection, Azula could play along.

"No. But I'm sure you can show me." She folded the blade back away. "Can't be too hard sharpening a stick can it?"

Seeing how Azula had not completely wigged out at the physical contact Diana saw this only as an open door to take it far further than it needed to go.

She reached over and rubbed a flat palm against the dark haired womans arm. "Stop shivering. You're making me feel cold."

Grabbing the rolled up sleeping bag, she dropped it heavily onto Azulas lap. "Here, get in that."

Azula grunted at the touch and recoiled. When Diana made that ridiculous demand and dropped the sleeping back in her lap she growled "I'm not cold." But she knew that the truth was it could be getting cold, and she might not notice in her state.

When the sleeping bag was dumped in her lap she considered the options. It might make her feel more comfortable while she tried to throw off the needs, but it would restrict her movement if an attack came.

She starred at it for far too long trying to decide. Finally comfort won out over her paranoia and good judgement. Her reasoning was that hopefully when she died horribly in this arena it wouldn't be humiliating.

"Mmmhmm. Of course."

Azula's recoil only served to make Diana want to push further. It was her biggest downfall. She always had to poke the bear, just a little harder each time.

She waited until Azula pulled herself into the sleeping bag before she played idly with the other womans hair bangs. "So, we're gathering sticks tomorrow?"

Her bangs.

Of course it had to be her bangs. Azula's hair was well known in the capitol and when she had won last time many men and women had adopted the bangs in a fashion statement that made Azula feel like the entire population worshiped her for a few minutes.

Inside the sleeping back she dug her nails into her palm. She just could not imagine a way that she could convincingly spin the story if she ended up having to kill Diana before the final two tributes were decided. She could kill Diana easily and take her knife...but those at home might not agree with her choice.

And so she sat, and tolerated.

"The sooner we have them the better. If you find a broken wooden leg here, table or chair you can practice on that. Just remember to cut away from yourself and be careful with your fingers."

Edited 2013-11-03 21:03 (UTC)

"Sounds simple enough."

Diana decided to busy her hands by gently gathering up Azula's hair on one side and slowly begin to plait it.

It was such a normal activity, plating another girls hair. Normal for young girls on sleepovers. Not for one full grown woman and one older teen, sat in the small tent in a death arena. It nearly made her laugh as the black hair passed through her fingers.

Azula on the other hand...hated to admit she enjoyed the attention. It was almost like going to the stylist or the spa. Having her hair tended to like she was some great work of art and needed upkeep to continue inspiring people.

And so she relaxed...slowly.

"Have you always done this to get by?" She questioned "Find the most capable people and cling to them?"

"Yes." She uses her fingers to stroke Azula's bangs and separate them out of the plait to do later, then continues her work.

"Is that really a surprise?" It's not like it didn't work, at least, for awhile. Then complications had to come along and spoil her work.

"Not in the least." Azula shot back sounding unimpressed "But at least you're aware of it." She added "Too bad that will only get you so far in the arena." Another none-too-subtle jab at the fact that she knew almost everyone in the arena could out fight Diana.

"That's why I have you, isn't it?" She commented back, finishing up the plait. Not having anything to tie it with, she made sure to make the end as tight as possible and began trying to wrap it upon Azula's head.

"To teach me the best ways to live. To win. To not get gutted in the first five minutes."

Diana shifted positions, moving infront of Azula, closer, with even less regard for personal space, delicately taking one of her bangs and starting to intertwine it into a perfect little braid of its own.

"The question is how much you'll listen when it becomes difficult." Azula muttered begrudgingly enjoying the attention Diana gave her.

"I wish I'd had more time to work you in the training center, but so long as you don't stay dead I suppose that's not a problem."

It was easy to tell by the set of Diana's face she was suppressing the urge to roll her eyes again. "Why wouldn't I listen?"

She tucked the smaller braid into the larger one to hang in a loop, hand brushing Azula's ear as she did. "Do you really think I'm just going to stop listening to you when you're the thing keep me from dying?"

Diana stops the activity for a moment to keep speaking. "And staying dead or not I still don't like the whole process so I'd rather avoid it." She rested her hand on Azula's knee through the sleeping bag, pretty face looking right at Azulas. "You're not going to let me die, are you?"

Azula wanted to explain her reasoning, to prove Diana that she was right and understood the snarky young woman, but the last part took precedent.

"Well obviously I'm not going to let you die. But it's up to you to do what you're supposed to which is listen to me and stay sharp."

Diana gave a sly smirk and pressed her full lips to Azula's cheek. "Thankyou, Mentor."

Then moved her hand and began to plait Azula's other bang in the same fashion as the previous one as though nothing has happened.

Azula stiffened and her eyes went wide for a moment, then narrowed accusingly as Diana went back to her business as if she hadn't just committed some kind of personal space crime.

"Why did you do that?" She grunted in a barely withheld accusation.

"What?" She said in such a casual, perky tone you'd think she'd really already forgotten, focusing on plaiting the last strands on Azulas bang.

She growled at Diana playing innocent and in the sleeping bag made a fist.

"The kiss. Why did you kiss me just then?"

"Because I was happy that you said you weren't going to let me die." She said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You're doing something nice for me so I replayed you to show my thanks." Diana leaned in to tuck the braid into Azula's hair the same way she had with the other. "Like this." Then she used the closeness to her advantage and placed another kiss on Azulas opposite cheek.

Her face got redder at that and she almost jerked away but managed to maintain some dignity.

"Well maybe that's how people like it where you come from, but I like to have my personal space respected." She insisted feeling like she wanted to wipe the kisses off her cheeks but not wanting to give Diana the satisfaction of seeing it.

With her hands free again, Diana rested them on Azula's lap, not moving from her spot sat infront of the other woman. Close and clearly content with it. Looking at her with an amused glint in her eye and those constantly smirking lips.

"I am respecting it. That's why I'm kissing it."

A visible twitch in her eye warned that Azula did not find that response nearly as clever or funny as it was.

"I don't like to be touched." She tried to explain in vain. "Especially not when I'm coming off my medication by force."

"Maybe a little contact would give you a bit of comfort while your adjusting." She replied, idly rubbing her hands up and down Azula's lap through the bumpy sleeping bag, this idea of not touching clearly not sinking in.

Azula groaned and tried to turn away, shifting the sleeping bag with a little effort "I doubt that very much. You don't need to thank me for doing my job." She shot over her shoulder trying to hide how very unsettled she was by this sudden turn of events.

It was confusing, she didn't like confusing.

This time Diana didn't bother suppressing her eyeroll. "Well, I'll thank you anyway so you don't think I'm ungrateful."

She slides her hands from Azulas lap to around the girls knees instead and leans forward to rest her head against Azula's body and the sleeping bag.

Choose your own adventure with Azula

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