[OPEN]

[saisamour]

Who| Pruna and Marius, Marius and you???
What| Marius is dicking around, and eventually gets robbed and stabbed by a little girl. Today is not his day.
Where| First floor
When| Week 3, after Felicity's attack and death
Warnings/Notes| Blood, violence, etc.; PM me if your character is planning on stealing from/attacking Marius so we can sort something out? :3


Marius blinked rapidly, trying to keep out of his eyes the warm, bright-red blood that oozed from the long and deep incision close to his brows. He was still panting heavily from the sudden encounter with the distraught mademoiselle, his sweat and tears mixing with the blood that trickled down his face and the bridge of his nose.

He watched her die. The thought caused him to choke. He slapped a hand over his mouth and let out a helpless whine, leaning against the cold metal of the elevator. He could not save his friends at the barricades in Paris and he could not save Cosette from Eva's poisoned blade and he could not save this woman, who was bleeding and weak and hysterical and in need of comfort and assistance. Was this the grand fate that the Moirae weaved for him? To simply watch incapably by as sword of Thanatos struck down everyone around him?

No, cease your thoughts on it.

In his other arm, he clutched the bundle of food from sponsors and the crowbar tighter against his chest. He knew he should return to their hide-away in the fourth floor, but he was afraid that if the body of the unknown mademoiselle was still there, he would fall into a sickness he could not recover from. Besides, he had to search for food; the camp was running low on it, and he could not allow them to starve to death.

He recalled that the first floor had a cafe. His attempt to explore may not yield fruit, in retrospect, but it had become something he needed to do. It was a distraction.

The chime signifying his arrival on said floor sounded like thunder in his ears in the silence of the steel box, and he wiped the blood off his brow with his arm, wincing only slightly; the shock from the attack and the death of the woman took over his senses far more than the pain from the knife wound. He shifted his crowbar to his free hand and stumbled out of the elevator: a man with vision blocked every so often by the sticky liquid from his head wound, dizzy and highly distraught, clutching a bag of food against his chest like a lifeline.

Comments

[69problems]

Signless had flattened himself against the wall at the sound of the chime -- there wasn't really a lot of places to hide on this floor, unfortunately. Once he saw who it was, however, and what state they were in, he forgot all about hiding.

"Marius, what happened to you?"

Well. It was obvious he'd been attacked, but, you know, principle of the thing.

[saisamour]

A gasped escaped Marius, and he jumped a little, muscles tensing, before he recognized who it was. Immediately, his stance relaxed and he sighed in relief, his grip on the crowbar loosening, although he still held the sponsor package close to him.

He blinked away the blood threatening to seep into his eyes. "A mademoiselle on the elevator..." He made a vague gesture to one of the three elevators; he could not even remember in which one he had found her. Somehow, that caused him to panic, his voice rising and speech quickening. "I know not who she was, but she attacked me when I had attempted to help her and then she died and then..."

He drifted off there and gave a helpless, wide-eyed stare at Signless, suddenly feeling very much at a loss of words.

[69problems]

There was nothing for it but to immediately go into comfort mode.

"Shhh," Signless murmured, setting down his bag and putting both hands bracingly on Marius's shoulders. "Shh. You're okay. You're alive. Though..."

He looked up at Marius's forehead, and frowned.

"You should sit down, and we should clean that up. I have a first aid kit."

[saisamour]

Marius stared at him, a little dumbly, as Signless's words arduously made its way into his brain. He took a deep breath, nodded silently, and pressed his blood-soaked sleeve against the cut.

His eyes darted across the floor, an abrupt weariness of what danger suddenly in the shadows tiding over him. "W-Where to, monsieur?"

He knew he should eventually return to the elevators; his Cosette was on the fourth floor, after all. But the encounter had shocked him, and it would be best to fix himself before facing her once more, and not just physically.

[69problems]

"Not far, not in your condition," he said, helping Marius away from the elevators and gently but firmly getting him to sit down against a wall. With all that blood he was losing he really didn't need to be moving more than strictly necessary, right?

He took out the first-aid kit and started to clean and bandage the wound as best he knew how. He was hardly an expert in medicine but he'd done this enough times for himself on Alternia that it probably wouldn't go too badly.

"Were you coming down here for food? There's still a good amount left that's fit to eat." Not in pristine condition, of course, after being picked over by other tributes, but that hardly ruled out being edible.

[saisamour]

Marius allowed himself to be guided away from the elevator and onto the ground, and dropping his guard completely granted in him a mild sense of relief, as if a burden had been temporarily lifted from his tense shoulders. He leaned back against the wall, staying obediently still as Signless fixed his wound.

He attempted a nod at the question, but only managed a wince at the sudden pain on his forehead. "Yes."

And he gestured at the bag of food he had retrieved from the elevator, now settled safely next to him. "I-I have found a package for myself, but it will not last until the end of the week, and so..."

It was not the only reason, of course, but he should not worry Signless more than he already had.

[inhumanity]

Christopher, who had apparently been admiring the architecture, turns at the chime towards a boy in a great deal of distress. Without caution or consideration, he approaches the boy, smiling a mouth full of shark teeth. "Hello. I'm sorry, but I don't have my handkerchief on me. Would you like my sleeve?" He holds up an arm so Marius can see his blood-red pajama sleeve. "It's the right colour."

[saisamour]

Marius yelps at the bold and sudden move and takes a step back, clutching the sponsor bag protectively, the grip on his crowbar so tight that his knuckles turn white.

And then he blinks, an abrupt confusion eclipsing the surprise and alarm in his expression. He holds his stare for a while, then glances down at the pajama sleeve, and then returns it to the man. His brows draw together. "I... I am sorry?"

[inhumanity]

Christopher chuckles warmly. "There is no need to be, friend, but I appreciate your thoughtfulness. It's so nice to meet someone so mannered. Shall we go to the drinking fountains now? It's best to start by washing the injury."

[saisamour]

That... that was not at all what Marius had meant by his words, yet there was a certain pointlessness in pointing out such. His lips form the tiniest of pouts; he is not entirely certain he should freely and willingly follow a man he had just met under such precarious circumstances, and such a cheerful one at that.

But the man is honestly so nice.

So Marius keeps his guard up, but he does give the man a hesitant nod. "I-If you may kindly lead the way, monsieur."

[inhumanity]

"It shall be my pleasure—no, it will be my delight! The presence of a friend in dark circumstances is illumination of the soul in shadowed cells. Thank you for the sun you have brought into my world of neon lighting." Christopher spins on his heels, apparently unconcerned about walking with his back to Marius, and strides forward through the floor to seek out the nearest fountain. Casual though he strides, he is alert—not to the threat that Marius might pose, but to the threat that others might pose to Marius. Christopher has, after all, decided just now that he wants to look after Marius at the moment. So he shall.

When he reaches the fountain, he pushes the button so that the water comes out. "Truly, I admire humanity's dedication to making their own geysers. Mimicking nature through unnatural means is just so much fun."

[saisamour]

Marius wipes away the blood still seeping out of the cut with his soaked, red-stained sleeve as he follows the odd man a little ways behind. His vision blurs for a moment, and he has to blink and force himself to focus, that he only catches part of what his companion had said.

It doesn't do much to alleviate his general disorientation. He stops and stares at the dim light catching in the water for a moment before saying, with an arm still pressed against the wound, "Oh... Are we to be friends then, monsieur?"

[inhumanity]

"Of course!" The exclamation gives no regard for any disorientation. Christopher glances over Marius, and then says, "Sit, won't you? If you don't, I might get dizzy and fall to the floor."

To demonstrate this, Christopher wobbles and, indeed, collapses. Of course, he makes certain he sets up that fall so that he doesn't hurt anything, but the melodramatics are what matter.

[knifewithnoname]

Pruna was waiting. The elevators were dangerous, entering one could mean someone else entered, someone who could kill you and there was no where to hide in the small boxes. Leaving one meant someone could be close and the sound let them know you had arrived.

But she had realised quickly that went both ways, she could lie in wait, and attack someone leaving the elevator, see what they had. Steal any sponsor gifts inside it.

So she had been hidden just out of sight and she grinned as she saw the man who stumbled out. The man who had spilled wine on her once, the one whose wedding she had been to. He wasn't very clever she thought, and though she remained wary she figured he would be a good one to get. She turned to grin at Sandy, a watch me grin and then jumped, leg kicking out to try and sweep his legs out beneath him, knife aimed at his shoulder.

[saisamour]

Marius could barely even see in front of him, much less a little girl taking advantage of the corners and shadows of the room. He barely even had a chance to reacquaint himself with the dim lights of the museum floor when something struck him at the leg.

He cried out in shock and collapsed onto the marble ground. The blood from his gash trickled into his eyes, and he curled around the sponsor bag he pressed closer onto himself just as he felt a sharp, stinging pain against his shoulder.

His eyes squeezed shut as gave out a pained yelp. He lashed out, blindly, with his crowbar, swinging it in the vague direction of the attacker.

[knifewithnoname]

The crowbar hit her side and she yelped, but quickly turned the yelp into a growl as she dived forwards again, aiming a slash towards his side. This time doing her best to avoid the crowbar, now that she knew he would use it.

[saisamour]

The mild guilt that came about from the dull thud of metal hitting flesh and bone was not enough for him to begin blindly launching another hit at his attacker. It was the yelp that reached his ears that made him freeze, abruptly, mid-swing.

His eyes snapped open, wide and alarmed. It was a cry of a little girl. Through his murky vision he glimpsed just enough features in the dark for him to recognize who she was.

"Pruna—"

He cut himself off with an anguished cry as her blade cut through his side; in his shock and horror he had failed to evade it. A few canned goods slipped out of the opening of the bag of food from his sponsor, rolling with a reverberating clutter onto the marble floor stained red with his blood.

[knifewithnoname]

Pruna grinned as she hit again, she was unsure about why he had stopped but it had been stupid of him. She saw the cans and scurried to grab them, rolling them towards where Sandy was, not taking her eyes off him.

"Be giving me the rest or I will be stabbing you again."

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy appeared from her hiding place to scoop up the loot so far. She had been ready to bolt for them if the duo had kept struggling but thankfully this guy was already throwing up a surrender. Good!

Maybe then Pruna wouldn't have to end him.

[celebrityskinned]

It's not that Venus hasn't had opportunity to see Marius, but to an extent she's been avoiding him on her trips to the Frenchmen's camp. She has an established rapport with Joly and Courfeyrac, and what she's seen of Marius doesn't exactly fill her with enthusiasm. And she's fairly certain he would want to protect Cosette from looking at her, given that her mutilated face makes her quite the upsetting visage.

Still, she knows his face, and she hasn't heard his name over the intercoms. She isn't shocked when she sees him. She is shocked to see the state he's in.

"Marius?" She limps over to him, holding her hands out to catch him if he trips and falls (not a possibility she'd discount, given the blood coming from his head and, well, the fact that he's Marius).

"I'm a friend. Enjolras' date to the wedding, do you remember?"

[saisamour]

He does not fall, but he does limp and stagger into her arms. The crowbar in his hand drops with a loud clang against the marble floor when he clamps his arm on her shoulder to steady himself. He blinks several times and squints; in his dizziness and half-blindness, it takes a while for her features to focus.

His eyes widen a fraction when he finally recognizes her. "Ah! Mademoiselle..."

The sound of sliding metal doors causes him to jump. His entire body tenses as he glances over his shoulder, half expecting for it to open holding another dying woman inside.

But it was only the metal doors closing behind him, and he releases a sigh of relief, his eyes falling shut and his shoulders sagging.

[celebrityskinned]

She catches him, though her own injuries mean that taking his weight sends a shot of pain so harsh as to numb the flesh in its wake down her legs. She barely gets a chance to look over his shoulder to confirm the elevator is empty.

"I got you." She pats his chest. "Let's get to shelter and we can stop you bleeding."

And maybe get some information on how that injury happened. Her eyes trail down to the crowbar, and she makes a note to grab that. She doesn't want someone else to grab it and use it on them.

[saisamour]

The pat snaps him out of his panic and his eyes dart quick glances across the floor, as if he is only now recognizing where he had escaped to after leaving the claustrophobic metal space. His breathing evens as he acquaints himself with dim lighting and the contours of the various features and displays, and his hold on the crowbar loosens at the same time he releases his grip from Venus, so that he can press his red-stained sleeve to his forehead.

And then his brows furrow when his gaze settles on her face again, only now having focused enough to notice her injuries. "Oh... Your face is..."

[celebrityskinned]

"It's fine. It's stitched. Joly helped me clean it." And Kankri and Julian, but she imagines a familiar name will be of more comfort to Marius now. "And by the way? Your face isn't much prettier."

She puts a hand to his shoulder and guides him. "Come on, let's get to safety and we can clean each other up. I'll make sure you get home safe and sound to Cosette."

[saisamour]

Cosette. Immediately, Marius straightens, the clouds in his eyes seemingly clearing at the mere mention of her name. He stares at Venus's wounds for a brief second or two before hastily averting his eyes, looking more than a little apologetic.

"The mademoiselle's body might still be there." He allows Venus to guide him without much resistance despite the mild tremble in his voice, however. No matter what remains in the fourth floor, Cosette is still there, waiting for him, and so he must return to her. He would traverse the nine circles of hell for her.