ARENA 09 - THE MUSEUM

[etcircenses]

The Tributes are woken up early for this Arena, and switched from whatever sleeping attire they're currently in to a set of pajamas, each designed for the individual in questions. Women wear onesies, and most of the men wear two-pieces, but other than that any similarities are at random - the outfits are in all sorts of colors and patterns.

The floor of the helicopter taking them to their Arena location, and of the underground entrance to the tubes that hoist them to the surface, will feel cold under their bare feet.

Rather than bringing them to sunlight, like the tubes have in the past, instead the Tributes are presented to a dark concrete ceiling in a badly-lit parking lot. Fluorescent lights do little to illuminate the cavernous space.

The countdown begins, announced as if from far away.

20

19

18…

The Cornucopia, a ghastly thing carved from stone and concrete, sits at the center of a pattern of white and yellow lines reminiscent of spots for parked cars. The painted lines create a sort of spoked wheel, providing lanes for the Tributes leading to the prizes at the center. Some of the more unfortunate Tributes will find the concrete architecture has placed pillars in their lanes.

8

7

6…

Six parked cars lie around the outskirts of the huge lot, barely visible in the dim lighting. Glowing exit signs on two opposite sides of the chamber announce where Tributes should go to escape the bloodbath. Elevator doors are perched beneath them.

3

2

1

The gong rings out, and the countdown's voice announces "the Arena is now open". The Games have begun.

Comments

[swill]

He'd apologize later, and heavily. But now all he could do was think about his negligence towards the girl he was speaking of at the same instance, hurried again by the invisible force of urgency and guilt. Hawkeye would run into Ellie soon, but not yet knowing that another day would come, his gestures are even grander than before. "Good! Good," he says again, and thinks yes, they're friends. They're damn good friends if he's going to signal out Ellie to Kili to search for. And if the dwarf doesn't think it's an important task then to hell with him, you know.

Hawkeye starts by raising his hand so the palm ends where he estimates the top of Ellie's head must be. It's off by a significant height. "She's gotta be around this tall- skinny in the scraggly kind of way but she's tough. She's not too young, either, but I mean, she's a kid. I don't know how many kids you know, but-- so she's about this tall, right? Reddish, brown hair. She has freckles-" and Hawkeye taps his cheekbones with the tips of his fingers. Freckles! See what they are? And her eyes-- Jesus, he knew they weren't brown but. Were they? Oh God, he was leaving Ellie to run back to the dead before the machines scooped them off the ground. There's fondness in his words, fear too. Hawkeye's nearly out of breath, his mind reeling. How many Tributes were there? And they all were raised at the Cornucopia, right? He didn't remember seeing Ellie there.

He's nearly breathless and so he swallows. Hawkeye swallows and pretends to calm himself and there's a loose, frantic little upturn to his lips when he says, "She likes to say 'fuck' a lot. Or 'fucking'. 'Fucker, fuck you, fuck that'- swears like a sailor, I swear. She's a sweetheart," like he was lovestruck himself in the purest sense. "She's a sweetheart but really tough. Tough as nails. Kili, you'll love her."

[emptytrousers]

Hawkeye's grand gesturing only makes the fresh wound in Kili's heart bleed more, presses salt into the injured flesh and it takes every last inch of self-control to simply listen to the instructions. If nothing else, he can focus on the girl, on finding her and helping her even though Kili wants to ask why he's too slow to help Hawkeye but not this girl. He blows out a breath and only looks up at Hawkeye out of necessity when he sees more gesturing and height estimates. Taller than him, reddish-brown hair, freckles, but even Kili can see how the doctor becomes more frantic and panicked and the nervous energy is quickly rubbing off on him while he's still too raw from the insult. Was he afraid Kili wouldn't be able to find her? Did he truly doubt the dwarf's skill with a bow and arrow?

He redoubles his efforts to capture every word that comes from Hawkeye's mouth, though he's not sure why he feels the urge to prove himself to Hawkeye. Taller than him, reddish-brown hair, freckles, swears a lot, tough as nails. The doctor seems to love her quite a bit, more than him certainly. She must be faster.

Despite the injury to his ego, Kili nods urgently, "I'll find her."

wrap up?

[swill]

It didn't take a genius to know he's struck a nerve and only kept digging his grave deeper. But Hawkeye can't understand why he always seemed to be speaking some other language. Kili nods and Hawkeye nods and. That was it. He had hope riding on the armored tank. How much safer could it be? "I owe you," he says, and doesn't think an apology would be worth anything if it's clear to them both that there are other things on his mind but he goes on anyway. "I'll make it up to you somehow."

He starts to step away and thinks better of it and reaches out a hand to lay on Kili's shoulder for a moment again- thinks maybe what he's doing is rude because Kili can't possibly do the same to him, thinks maybe if he tries hard enough, the sentiment of the gesture will translate flawlessly through the silence said. Then he takes away the heavy hand and feels skittish just because he has to find something to do when he lowers himself to the basement again, or else he's the loon that Holiday thought he was. But he didn't show it much anymore. Chances were, you know, he was only going to die (wouldn't that excite anybody, though?). "Thank you. Tell her Hawkeye's fine. Try not to get into trouble. You're too smart for that." He had to pry himself away sooner or later, and with a nod that might seem like it would accompany a toast, Hawkeye moved away. "I owe you," he repeated. He'd remember that he was in debt, too, because Hawkeye had a habit of paying those things. It might just strain his memory a little, though, because it was going to be a long few weeks.

sure! c:

[emptytrousers]

Kili doesn't care about Hawkeye owing things to him, or that he'll make it up later; he would rather they stay together here and now. Still, the dwarf won't let a young girl be put in danger because of his selfish desire to keep a friend around. The hand that lays on his shoulder so briefly is not enough for him and once more Kili finds himself missing his golden-haired brother, who would tease him for the frown on his face or otherwise promise they would never be parted. He misses Fili so much in this moment that he can hardly stand it.

Still, he nods along as the doctor continues, his heart sinking lower into his stomach. There's nothing he can say to sway him and keep him from the cornucopia and it hurts in so many ways that Kili is unaccustomed to.

"Alright," is the only thing he can muster up after all of that, amid the choking in his throat.