Discovered

[formersurgeon]

Who| Joan and Some and OTA
What| Joan is hiding out, but her options are limited, so she's bound to be discovered.
Where| Sixth floor
When| Week 1
Warnings/Notes| None yet.

The information kiosk was a counter up against one of the walls. It had glossy, brightly colored pamphlets that told visitors who each featured wax Tribute was. Very flashy and utterly useless. What was useful, however, was the space beneath the counter. There wasn't much of it, but Joan was small and it was the one spot that afforded her any sort of cover. If a Tribute stood at the right angle, they could see her, but it was the best she could get. She couldn't run. Couldn't even walk. But she could hide

She waited there while Sherlock and John explored. Her leg was immobilized by a makeshift splint, but they had no pain killers, no anti-inflammatory medicines, not even an ice pack. Her knee was swollen, and pulsing with near unbearable pain. So she spent that time alone in hiding with her eyes closed, taking slow, deep, measured breaths, trying her best to just let the pain wash over her.

Comments

[gruesome]

Some had only just reached the sixth floor and already he hated it. Hated it. Hated the sunlight that left so few shadows. Hated the dead figures in their stiff poses. But he had to know the whole place. Just in case.

It took a little while for him to detect her scent under the overpowering smell of wax. But once he'd noticed it, it was unmistakable. Injured human. Bruised flesh. His stomach clenched hard, even though he'd started this Arena barely hungry at all. He would just see, he told himself. The scent was clearly alive, and he was nowhere near hungry enough to kill, but he would just see. They might need help.

Silent, his claws all curled in against his palms, Some padded along the walls, upper body low to the ground as he tracked that scent like a massive bloodhound.

[formersurgeon]

[Joan opened her eyes, needing to adjust her leg. Then she saw movement, a shadow on the wall. Something was there, something bizarre. She swallowed, her hands curling into tight fists. She didn't have a weapon of any sort. She just had silence. She stayed completely quiet save for the bare sound of her shallow breathing, and prayed that whatever it was, it would pass by and not even be aware of her presence.]

[gruesome]

He followed the scent to the desk and stood half-up, forefeet propped on it, as he sniffed, mouth open to let more of the scent reach his palate. Not familiar. Or, semi-familiar, but he wasn't connecting it to a face or name. Just to the elevator at the Tribute Center. When he held his breath, he could hear hers.

He stood a little higher, using his full height to look around the nearby space. No one was close, at least no one who wasn't more invested in hiding than either of them. So he dropped back down to all fours, and came around to the side of the desk.

"I mean no harm," he said, deliberately slow as he came into view, all four hands held visible. He was unarmed, had nothing but his loose longshirt and a band from one of the queue markers downstairs, tied around his forehead to shield his eyes.

[celebrityskinned]

Venus is used to being stealthier than this, but her injury has hampered her a bit. Her breathing seems upsettingly loud to her, and yet still not enough to keep her from being short-winded. She's gone back to limping now that she isn't trying to look tough composed for Kankri. Her quest for museum maps has been in vain thus far, and by the time she reaches the sixth floor she's exhausted and considering drawing up her own.

When the elevator doors open and present her with wax figures of her former competitors, she startles, hands clenching to fists, every muscle tenses. But the statues don't move, and soon she slinks among them, examining each one for signs of life. It would be good camouflage here, surrounded by the commemorated dead.

"This is..." Creepy, says the voice inside, the one that doesn't have to worry about looking good for the cameras. The Venus that radiates cool and collected, however, the one Sponsors squabble over, says something different out loud. "Interesting."

She pauses in front of Topher Brink, one of her victims they never revived. On the outside she smirks. On the inside she cringes. She continues hobbling along until she reaches the kiosk, where she leans over and pulls air into her aching lungs, sucking in deep in spite of the agony that causes.

She pauses only when she hears breathing that isn't hers less than three feet away. She stands up, hand finding her knife, and slinks around the kiosk to come face to face with Joan.

Sorry about the brackets! Reflex.

[formersurgeon]

She watched the shadow grow bigger, heard the thing grow closer, and her breath grew increasingly quick and sharp with fear. Then the thing came around the desk, and her eyes widened as she tried to pull back with nowhere to go, her breath seizing in her chest. When he told her he meant no harm, though, she remained tense, but started breathing again.

"Who are you?"

It was a deliberate choice to ask "who" and not "what."

[formersurgeon]

She hated it. All she could do was sit there and listen as people walked past. And then didn't walk past. She didn't recognize the voice, but could tell the woman was injured, from the sound of her walk and the sound of her breathing.

Then the woman was there, knife in hand. Joan drew back, eying her. If the woman was going to kill her, there was nothing Joan could do about it.

Except try to help her in the hopes she'd leave her alive.

"You're hurt."

[celebrityskinned]

For a moment, Venus considers just lunging forward with the knife, letting the sharp point speak for her. It would be easy for her to overpower Joan - she outweighs her by at least a little, she's got both feet beneath her, she's armed - so it's not a matter of risk assessment. It's a matter of what makes for good airtime.

There's nothing really photogenic about stabbing an unarmed person with a busted leg to death. It's only fun for the viewers who like torture porn, and Venus wants to avoid that demographic as much as possible.

"Someone kicked my ribs in. What's your excuse?"

She lowers the hand with the knife.

[formersurgeon]

"Someone stomped on my knee. Tore my ACL. Nothing a little surgery can't fix. Or a resurrection."

She glanced at the hand with the knife, then back up at the woman's face.

"I don't think we've met. I'm Joan."

[celebrityskinned]

"Ouch." Venus pulls a sympathetic face, then tucks the knife back into her pouch-pocket and holds a hand out. "Venus Dee Milo. Surprised we haven't met yet, but I've heard of you and the, uh, detective boys, I think?"

[formersurgeon]

"Ah," she said, recognizing the name. "I've heard of you. You cut John's leg last arena. And you have both your arms for some reason."

She accepted the hand, though, shaking it.

"Nice to meet you finally."

[wronglychosen]

Zelos ducked out of the elevator as soon as the door opens, the 'ding' as it announces his presence almost deafening in the near-silence of the floor. Holding his injured arm closely to his body, he crouched near a statue and scowled at his arm. He'd wrapped some gauze around it and called it a day, but given that it was bleeding through already, he was going to need to take some time to look through the first aid kit more thoroughly.

Spotting some kind of info booth against the wall, Zelos gripped the dagger he'd scored his arm injury for tightly in his left hand before making a run for it.

He had to bite back a swear when he came right up, face to face, with a woman hiding beneath the counter. Just his luck.

[celebrityskinned]

"It's pretty hard to win an Arena without arms. I just hope this John wasn't a friend of yours so I don't owe anyone any explanations or apologies." The corner of one side of her mouth tightens slightly as she considers what to make of Joan and what to deduce from the handshake.

"How long you been huddled up here? Anything useful?" Venus pokes her head up above the counter and counts each of the wax figures, seeing no new forms.

[formersurgeon]

Joan would have rolled her eyes hard if it weren't for the fact that she had to keep her eyes on this man and the dagger in his hand.

"Seriously, this is the worst hiding spot ever."

She frowned faintly at his arm. Judging from the way the blood had soaked through, the wound was probably pretty bad.

"You're bleeding."

[formersurgeon]

"He is, actually," she said, her voice deceptively mild. "But it was during the cornucopia, and you obviously don't know him. I'm not okay with killing anybody at anytime, but at least it was in the fog of war."

Joan shifted, grimacing, repositioning her leg.

"I have been here way too long. Seriously, I need a change of scenery."

[celebrityskinned]

"Well, I'm not going to lie to you and say I agree with you, because if you've seen the tapes at all you'll know that's not how I roll." Venus pull open a drawer and rifles through, looking for maps. No luck. "But let's face it, killing an unarmed gimp isn't going to play well to anyone but the sickest audience members. No way, José."

Second runner-up in the seventh Arena, highest kill count in that same Game. Worse performance last time, although still with a respectable three kills (four if you count the velociraptor).

Venus sighs and closes the cupboard, then stops to sit across from Joan. She'll be more visible, but it also means she's able to see danger coming. "This scenery is unnerving, I'll give you that."

[wronglychosen]

"I got attacked by some pretty vicious broken glass. You don't want to mess with them," Zelos said jokingly, lowering his dagger but not his guard. His eyes zeroed in on the splint on her leg, his thoughts turning in his head.

"But hey, you don't look much better. Did you take care of that yourself?"

No problem.

[gruesome]

He kept his hands in clear view, crouching low, and the main two eyes focused on her face while the other six flicked down her body. He could see the heat of the injury, and he shut them to stave off that distraction.

"Some ovMennet. I'm a grue," he added, because frankly, he'd been expecting the other question. "I belong to District Two."

[formersurgeon]

"I appreciate the honesty. And thank god for sponsors who actually draw the line somewhere."

She watched as the woman rifled through the drawers. She had already tried that of course, but who knows, maybe a new set of eyes would see something she didn't.

"Yeah, the creep factor is pretty high. I think we might need a different floor."

[formersurgeon]

District Two. Yes. Joan remembered seeing something...someone...like Grue at one of the events. She had never gotten a good look, though. This was what she got for not watching the footage from previous arenas.

"I'm Joan," she replied. "District 11."

[celebrityskinned]

"First floor's wide open, nowhere to hide. Too many people on the second floor looking for weapons. Third floor has a volcano, and you know that sucker's going off before the Games are over. Fifth floor's full of the techies, and they're unprotected far as I could tell, so someone's going to start mowing through them soon enough if they don't move their asses."

Venus had heard people talking about repairing the systems and kept walking. Capable as she is, she didn't feel like going in after a group of people without knowing the lay of the land first. But she knows that the tech-savvy people in this Arena - she's done her research - aren't much of a threat.

"And fourth floor's my territory. So you might be better off staying up here." Venus cracks her neck. "At least you get a view of the stars, right?"

Or hypothetically, since it seems overcast today.

[formersurgeon]

"That would have been a trick." She shifted, groaned a little in pain. "No, I have a couple friends. They helped me with the splint." She looked again at the soaked bandage. "I can help you with that, if you like."

Funny how she was still so reluctant to say that she was a doctor.

[formersurgeon]

"Great. Thanks for the info. I'm loving this arena already." Interesting that Venus didn't tell her what's on the fourth floor. Joan is going to have to talk to Sherlock and John about that, find out if they know anything about the fourth floor.

She moves again, grimacing.

"Have you had anyone take a look at your ribs?"

[celebrityskinned]

"At least we can eat in this Arena." At that, Venus pauses for a moment and then pulls a pastry out of her pouch and hands it over to Joan. It's a bit squished and stale, but it's a cinnamon roll without the frosting. "Here, on the house."

Venus has no qualms with being friendly. She isn't a mean person at heart; in fact, she's got quite a sweet disposition under the ability to cut her way through enemies and strangers alike.

"Kankri Vantas gave them a look. He says he's used to being the healer for his little group. I think he's a bit young for that, but..." Venus shrugs and then winces. "My foot's more of a problem. Got broken glass in my heel."

[formersurgeon]

She smiles in pleased surprise when Venus hands her the cinnamon bun.

"Thank you. Yeah, much better than poisoned everything." She tilts her head and frowns a little at the bun. "Unless this is poisonous."

She doesn't believe it is, though. She doesn't think Venus would not stab her just so she could poison her with a bun.

The woman tells her that she has glass in her heel, and Joan sets the bun down and wipes her hands on her dinosaur onesie. "Actually, that's a lot better. I can't do much for broken ribs. Glass, I can help with. You don't happen to have a first aid kit, do you?"

[celebrityskinned]

"Probably not. I had a bagel a few hours ago and haven't felt funny yet." Venus pats her stomach in the most light way possible to avoid hurting her ribs more.

Venus actually grins when Joan offers to take a look at her foot. She extends her foot out; it's wrapped in a sock that covers only up to her shin and down to the arch of her foot stolen from one of the dioramas. "Thanks. And no, I went for one, but, you know. Someone kicked in my ribs. And sent me through a car window."

She pulls back the front of her hair to reveal a nasty bruise spreading across her cheekbone (it could have been mistaken for a shadow in this lighting) and several small cuts along her neck and the side of her head.