OPEN

[doc_holi]

Who| Holiday and YOU
What| Surviving and what not
Where| All over the museum
When| Weeks 2 & 3 (before the volcano blows)
Warnings/Notes| N/A


The crowbar and water she had snatched from the elevators had been an extreme help in the last week or so, but it wasn't enough by a long shot. She had grabbed some food from the cafeteria, a little bit from the edible plant exhibit, but nothing was helping. Try as she might, the water didn't last long and she found a bathroom or two for refueling but-

She could hardly grasp things, her hands shook so much. Her breathing was labored, she was sweating a lot. It was the first time she wasn't careful with her drinking in between arenas and now she was paying for it. She officially had a problem.

Holiday just took deep breaths and tried to keep the rations at a normal level, though water was becoming liquid gold for her... With any luck, it was probably going to be over soon anyway.

Comments

gift shop!

[lessthanelementary]

The sponsors had, once again, not been kind to Neffa. And the lingering paranoia left in the wake of the Initiate's masked rampage had left him furtive, mistrustful, and anxious in the company of others - which hadn't helped him strike any bargains. Every time he woke up from the small hours of fitful sleep he managed to catch, he was more surprised to find himself in one piece.

The gift shop, when it was empty, was not a bad place to hide. It was crowded with shelves and racks and piles of useless goods ripped down from their places; a person sitting very still in a corner in his stupid bright-colored assi-printed pajamas could maybe escape notice from a distance, if he curled up his knees and buried his head in his arms and did not tremble too noticeably.

That was what he was banking on, anyway-- and moreso when he heard footsteps.

[doc_holi]

It wasn't the first time she had seen the little shop, but it was the first time Holiday decided to enter it. Her temperature had been going nuts lately. Usually, she was hot and sweating, but sometimes she was cold. Desperately cold. Really, she didn't have to fight much against the withdrawal since it was going to be over and done with soon anyway, but she just couldn't handle these swings in body temp. There was nothing she could do about the heat unless she wanted to make a few thousand sponsor deals, which she didn't, so more clothes was needed.

She walked down the aisles as quietly as possible, looking for a jacket or something. Maybe a blanket if she was lucky. At the same time, she was watching the floor and peeking around corners in case someone made this their home and laid down traps.

[lessthanelementary]

Neffa hadn't set traps. That would have made noise, might have drawn someone. He had no weapon to hand, either, and he scanned his immediate surroundings - there was a set of plastic troll horns, a shirt with Wyatt's mustache on it (labeled as such), a soft smiling Some toy, about fifty little red-white-and-blue lapel pins, and--

--A bag of cheap metal coins. Play money. ...With his face on it. Gods. It was the heaviest thing he could find, and he scooped it up off the floor, wincing at the clink it made as he hefted it in one hand.

He stood up, out of his little nest of blankets and shirts, and waited for the shadow of the intruder to appear around the corner of the aisle of shelves between which he was hidden.

"I've seen you," he declared hoarsely to the air in that direction. "I know exactly where you are. Don't--" No, that was stupid. They needed to move. "You should come around the corner. Where I can see you. Now." He let the coins clink again in the ensuring silence-- maybe his voice had stopped trembling enough that that could sound ominous.

[doc_holi]

She heard the clinking of coins before she heard the voice. Still, Holiday stopped moving and thought less about what he said than what he sounded like. She blinked at the familiarity of the voice, but failed to place it. It was someone she hadn't heard in awhile...

Still, she obeyed. Running away might have been the best option, but the curiosity was bugging her. After all, it could be anyone. She held her arms up and slowly moved around the corner, allowing this person to command the situation and hoping she wouldn't be bludgeoned for it.

[lessthanelementary]

Neffa let his breath out in a soft, trembling sigh of relief when the intruder actually obeyed him. He didn't lower the bag of coins in his hand - for all it wasn't anything like a serious weapon, he hoped the gesture at least communicated his intent not to back down - but the look on his face was far from hostile.

"...Holiday." His tone was still wary. She was not an ally. The fluorescent lights were not kind to her, especially in the state she was in. "Are you alone?"

[doc_holi]

Neffa? She wouldn't consider them enemies, but she would really trust him completely either. Still, that was the last thing on her mind right now. She was, needless to say, pretty shocked to see him.

After a beat, she nodded. "There's no one else with me. I didn't see anyone near by either."

Holiday had heard of people vanishing for some time and returning, but they either didn't talk about what had happened or didn't seem to remember. It didn't stop her from wanting to ask, but she had to see if Neffa would take his chance to do her in now or not.

[lessthanelementary]

He considered it.

She looked weak, and also not like she was lying about being alone. The bag of coins in his hand wasn't much of a weapon, but he was at least her size, and not ill besides. He could throw it at her-- connect with her face, catch her off guard, tackle her when she flinched-- a weapon wasn't necessary. The floor was hard tile. The shelves were metal and thick wood. One well-placed head injury--

--Gods.

Neffa swallowed. Hefted the bag in his hand. ...And after a long second, lowered it.

"Good." His voice trembled. Oh, gods. "You'd better not be lying." The image of his hands around her throat, the crack of her head against the tiles, wouldn't leave his mind. "I-- I will kill you, if you're lying." Stop. Stop thinking about it.

He concentrated instead on what she looked like now. On the sweat standing out on her forehead, the paleness of her face. Something about it spoke to more than fear. "What happened to you?" he asked-- almost demanded. His last Arena, there had been poison.

[celebrityskinned]

Venus isn't doing much better than Holiday. She isn't suffering alcohol withdrawal, but coming off her medication has scrambled her mood and weakened her. Her fingertips have gone numb and she keeps sweating, although that could also be the fever from the infection her mauled leg.

Her face has managed to avoid infection. That's about the only nice thing that can be said about the slash that divides her face in half.

She runs into Holiday in the bathroom. The restrooms are a hazard; the source of running water is tempting to a lot of Tributes. Venus isn't surprised to find someone else there, but she's ready to defend herself.

"I just need to change my bandages. I'm not looking to start anything."

[doc_holi]

Holiday stiffens when the door opens, but the sight of Venus isn't too alarming. Sure, the woman would probably kill her, but she was one of the few people Holiday didn't really mind dying by. But the shock comes back when she sees the woman's face.

"I'm not going to do anything. I'm not even armed... Do you need help?" Not that she would blame her to reject the offer. Trust like that showed a little vulnerability, after all, but she could at least offer some spare bandages in her first-aid kit, if nothing else.

[celebrityskinned]

"Not really." She limps over to the sink and starts to run it. It's not that it couldn't use attention, but between Julian, Kankri and Joly she's had enough of being poked and prodded.

"You're not looking so hot yourself, Holiday. Not sleeping?"

[doc_holi]

"Not really, to be honest." And she hadn't been. "Just been... really thirsty."

Holiday shuffled through her bag of things, setting a red box on the sinks between them. "You can use anything you need out of that. I haven't needed it yet."

[celebrityskinned]

Venus pauses for a moment, hand hovering over the medical kit. "Thank you."

She remembers splitting shares with Holiday back in the candy Arena. It seems ages ago now, and the idea is almost funny, except that suddenly she can't get the thought of it out of her head - it's not a flashback, but her mind just getting stuck in loops and eddies.

She turns the water on and splashes water on her mauled face, cringing.

[doc_holi]

"Venus?" A reaction like that wasn't from a leg wound, no matter how bad it was. Or maybe due to blood loss?

Still, Holiday remembered the other woman mentioning her medications in another arena, so it was the first thing to come to mind.

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy was still going through floors, albeit slower now that she'd had a few fights under her belt. She was a wild card now, doing what was needed in order to keep going. She wasn't slaughtering at will though, the last time she had even killed anyone had her met with a pretty irate guy seeking vengeance. She was glad enough she didn't get wasted, and now she was hoping to have time to apply first aid.

As it would happen, she came face to face with a familiar face: the Doc.

"Hey, uh, Holiday? You don't look so good. You get into something that didn't agree with you?"

[doc_holi]

Oh, she recognized this girl from last time. Holiday hoped those potatoes from before were enough to spare her this time, but she wasn't going to go ahead and bank on it. Still, she smirked a little, her only sign of defense being that she watched the girl's movement's closely.

"More like it agreed too well with me," she said, squeezing her hands together, "But I'm okay, though. Not the worst arena I've been in... yet... How about you?" She didn't look great, either.

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Eh. I ran into some trouble I caused. It happens. I'm not dead."

She walked over, unscrewing the top of a water bottle. "Hey, drink a little. You look pretty shitty right now. Shittier than me, anyway."

[doc_holi]

Well, if she was offering water, Holiday was pretty sure Mindy wouldn't try to kill her. Besides, water would be a nice thing to have.

"Just a little, but thank you." She took the bottle and took a small sip, forcing herself to not down any more. She was getting more than her share lately, despite what her body said. "Thank you," Holiday told her, handing it back, "... Do you need help with any wounds? I can help patch you up or something."

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy had not forgotten her from their last Arena: she had been starving and the Doc had given her two potatoes. The idea of attacking her was laughable.

"Just wanna make sure you're ok," she said, then sighed. "Yeah, actually." She wriggled out of her onesie, showing her a pretty deep cut at her side. "Got into it with this one guy that got the drop on me. I think he was trying to take me out for real, but couldn't manage it."

[doc_holi]

"Thank you," she said again, gratefully. Then her face fell at the wound site. Hmm.

Holiday looked around and pointed to a little corner behind a wax display. "Let's sit over there and patch you up. It'll be best to get out of the open for this."

okay if he has ideas as to what's causing the shakes? He's his team's doctor

[googledox]

"Are you ill or have you been poisoned?" asked a voice behind her. There was a beat as another thought occurred to him as he looked over the visible symptoms he saw staring him in the face. "Or are you finding a lack of certain poisons to be a problem?"

His voice was ringing with...something. Maybe it was his usual condescension - maybe he planned to try to kill her.

Maybe it was something else.

o7

[doc_holi]

Holiday turned quickly at the sound of a familiar voice. The guy had irritated her enough on the train that she was pretty sure that trusting him in the arena was out of the question.

Still, she frowned at his guess. "I'm still getting around," she said, readjusting her bag on her shoulder. "I just didn't take things as easy as I should have in the Capitol. It's fine." Sort of. Well, it was irritating, but she wasn't going into shock or anything... She really didn't want to go into shock in an arena again. There was no Chris to hold on to her this time.

[googledox]

"You absolutely didn't 'take it easy' if you're the one who devastated the train's mini-bar," he said, seeing if the comment would provoke a reaction.

[doc_holi]

It did. The reaction consisted of shifting her weight to the other leg and rolling her eyes.

"It was a long trip." The way there wasn't too bad. The way back? They didn't have enough liquor for that.

[googledox]

"It was a large mini-bar, despite 'mini' being in the name."

Yes, despite him being...well, him, he was judging her for her life choices. Apparently, this was a thing that was happening.

"Look at you: tremor, agitation - though to be fair, it seems to be your usual state, hyperhidrosis..."

[doc_holi]

"I'm aware of what's happening to me, thank you."

Let him judge her. She could be so much worse with her drinking, so he should at least be thankful for that much considering they were roomies.

"This is your tactic for surviving the arena? Getting on people's last nerves?"