[Open] The journey thus far...

[aboveangrybees]

Who| Steve and Anyone!
What| This feels too much like sitting around and waiting to die. Or a catchall for before and during the first Hell-rena.
Where| Everywhere.
When| Weeks 1 & 2 (or the week before and week of the first Hell-rena)
Warnings/Notes| Mild language and violence, update as needed.

Watching videos of past arenas can only make someone so prepared for the real thing, but actually being here is far more chaotic and unpredictable than the videos ever depicted. This place is a veritable wonderland of possibilities. Steve really has no idea what to expect.

But still, he didn't expect it to be this, well, calm. Sure, he got attacked on the first day and he's had to fight off some nasty creatures here and there during the days after, even ran had a few peaceful encounters with people, but the fog acts as a blanket over a birdcage, making everything quiet. Too quiet maybe.

He just didn't know exactly what too quiet would lead to, but he was smart enough to know it would be no good.

When the sirens first blare, Steve immediately goes to find his allies, so he can get them somewhere safe; the noise is an all too familiar sound from his days in the war. But then the fog clears and temperature rises with unnatural speed, the walls dissolving instead of the telling sounds of planes and bombs, well, wasn't hard to catch on.


[ooc: I'm going to comment some prompts below, feel free to use them or, if you rather, you can leave me a prompt! I'm open to anything, including some scuffles. Just make sure to specify when it's for so I know where it fits in. You can use the prompts as an idea for what's going on during those times.

Also, prose or bracket RP is fine by me, I don't have a preference, so do which ever you prefer.]

Comments

[yourmove]

Alex catches himself slurring, his eyebrows drawn together as he concentrates on things like words and speaking up. For some reason he focuses on: " - You dragged me?"

There's something weird about that and it takes him awhile to click that into place: there's no way he managed to lift him by himself. No way. Alex doesn't know exactly how much he weighs with the chassis, but he's assuming in the ballpark of a few hundred pounds he didn't have before. Maybe.

Says a lot for Steve's people skills because Alex feels like he should be worried than he already is. Especially when he starts to stand up and to his shock, Steve actually pushes him back down like he's a kid. Alex plunks back down against the wall, his surprise written all over his face.

"Uh. Sorry. I'm Alex." He at least remembers his name, despite how crappy he feels right. "How'd you drag me in here again?"

[aboveangrybees]

Steve tries not to use too much of his strength, he doesn't want to cause anymore injury to the other man. The hole in Alex's side is already concerning enough, but he's glad when the other man finally settles, even if that's mostly on Steve's account.

"With a lot of effort," the humor is dry, using it more to defuse the situation. Trying to lower the stress of it. For Steve, it wasn't actually that difficult to drag him in, actually he carried most of the weight, but it was very awkward and dead weight is the worst. So, yeah, there was still some effort.

"I know it might not feel it, but you're safe for right now, Alex. I'll stick around until you're on your feet again, okay?" He keeps the calm voice, making sure it comes off as protective and reassuring.

"So, how about you drink some water and collect your thoughts, then we can talk," Steve offers his water bottle, ready to help him drink it if needed. And he knows he shouldn't be offering out his limited supplies like this, that he's running low on water, but this guy needs it more than Steve does.

[yourmove]

Cute. The guy can make jokes in the middle of a death match. Alex almost, almost finds himself starting to smile, despite everything. "Appreciate it."

He reaches out, aware of something vibrating along an arm that he's convinced might not be all there underneath the suit. Feels real, though. It feels as real as Steve, who has this whole wholesome Kansas vibe to him or something. Alex catches himself thinking it's the swept hair or the jaw and then realizes he's definitely got heat stroke or something. Taking the water bottle, he sips it gratefully, expecting to feel it going down his throat down to his stomach. It makes it to his mouth, he can feel it swish in his mouth...but when he swallows, he loses track of it. It's like it just goes through a net or something.

Alex tries again, doing his damnedest not to panic. Same thing. Maybe he can't drink anymore. Or the suit doesn't let him.

In denial, he tells himself it's just how crappy he's feeling right now. Of course he can drink. He'll feel in later, that's all. Alex cradles the water bottle as he looks up at Steve. The motion would've been a drunken loll if he'd had a neck with bones and tendons and muscle.

"Thanks," Alex reaches up to wipe his mouth. "You're way too decent for this place, y'know."

[aboveangrybees]

Yes, he excels in being able to use dry or deadpan humor in some of the worst situations. It's part of how he copes.

Steve watches him carefully, more to see if the man is recovering, if he needs help. Yet, as he looks at Alex for those signs, he can see the conflicting emotions on the man's face. Able to see how the man is struggling with some internal conflict of his own. The rapid shift to one emotion to another, settling on something that strikes Steve as a mask of some kind.

Part of him wants to ask about it, but Steve doesn't poke into the other man's business. At least not with how unfamiliar they are right now.

"Well, couldn't very well leave you out there to bake." What can he say, he's invested in life, not death.

Still, that hole in the guy's side is a concern. "This suit of yours, are you able to take it off?" Steve wants to see that wound better, try to patch him up, but if the Gamemakers let him keep it on, well, that says something.

[yourmove]

Alex almost shoots back with actually yeah, you could've left me out there but decides to keep his damn mouth shut. Steve seems like a decent guy. Nice. Real nice. The kind you wouldn't really see that often in Detroit. He doesn't want to give him any second thoughts like cyborg's being dead weight, drinking all the limited water. Least he could do was be a good guest.

"Don't think so," Alex shakes his head in this purely horizontal side-to-side that looks vaguely wrong, like an animatronic playing at being human. "It's acting like life support or something. Why'd you ask?"

Seems like he hasn't noticed the hole himself and once he sees it, he's not going to take it too well. Alex has had it up to here with his new body. He appreciates all the effort Steve put to drag his sorry ass in here but he doesn't like the look in the other man's face. It's not exactly pitying, thank God.

Alex starts to make another motion like he wants to get up, something in his arm clicking as he raises it and braces it against the wall. The motion increases the trickle of lubricant, the black-red fluid glistening as he shifts.

[aboveangrybees]

Life support?

Well, crap.

The liquid really doesn't look like blood, so the chance of an injury is slim. Maybe it was some kind of oil for the suit? Maybe a coolant? It would explain the overheating. If it's life support, than whatever is leaking out of it could be endangering the man.

"Woah, not so fast," Steve grabs Alex's arm and keeps him from standing. He doesn't want to exert force if he doesn't have to, but he doesn't plan to let this man get up just yet. "Your suit has some damage, just let me take a look, see if I can fix it."

Maybe he can stuff it with something? Where's Stark when he actually needs him.

[yourmove]

"Damage?" Alex's goes a little higher. "Like what?"

Normally he'd be taking this a little better: Detroit and cops don't mean you can look forward to a cushy retirement. He'd expected one of these days he'd get tagged on the job. Sure, he prepared himself for that. Saw it happen some other officers. He probably would've taken "you got shot/your legs broken/etc" over that one word, like he got into a fender bender or he ruptured a fuel line. Alex swallows reluctantly as he stops where he is, glancing at Steve's hand on his arm.

"Anything I can do to, uh, to help out?" It occurs to him that wasn't the smartest question he's asked, ever. It's not like he knows about how this rig works anymore than a total stranger like Steve does.

[aboveangrybees]

"Well-" how do you tell someone they have a hole in them when they are obviously not taking it well already, "I'd say- it'sa hole. One that's leaking oil," or something.

Steve honestly doesn't know how to fix this. A car he could tweak with until he figured something out, but this was a man and this was his life support system. This was something more along the lines of surgery.

Though, he did learn quite a bit in terms of being a field medic.

"I can do my best to patch it up, but you should find a man named Tony Stark, he's- a mechanical engineer, he'd be able to help you," it's the best Steve can offer. Where Tony is right now, he has no idea, but he'll do what he can right now.

[yourmove]

Alex would've said "I'll live" except now he's not even sure if that oil's important or not. He pauses, biting his lip unconsciously as if weighing how he wants to take the hole-in-him business.

"Christ," Alex says simply. He feels a little bit better hearing about this buddy of Steve's, though, because it's a least something and he tells himself that the idea of a mechanical engineer finding the right tools here is something he can worry about later. "I'd appreciate that. And this. The - the repairs."

He stumbles over the word, feeling it unfamiliar in his mouth. Steve seemed too good to be true. He had values, which the Capitol didn't have, and he was offering repairs and water to a total stranger. Alex had seen a lot of crap back in Detroit. A lot of good, too. But he'd never met anyone like Steve and he almost didn't know what to make of him. Alex keeps his arm lifted to give the man some space to work. He'd almost feel better about today if he wasn't left wondering about -

"Have you seen a blonde woman around? Her name's Clara."

[aboveangrybees]

Steve reaches what he can into the hole, looking for whatever is leaking, seeing if it's a tube he can tie off or something he can plug up. neither seem a good idea, but he really has nothing else to offer. This is nowhere near his area of expertise.

Maybe he if it's a tube he can plug up both ends with one piece of cloth and when saturated with oil will drip down from one tube to the other? It'd be something easy enough to rig and while not the best, it wouldn't entirely stop the flow of the liquid. It'd be something more than what's happening now.

"I haven't, is she a friend?" It's just conversation but then something more important comes to mind. "Is she still out there?"

[yourmove]

"Wife," Alex says with a sigh. "I think so. We were sticking together until the town...well, you saw it."

He's not even sure what to call it. Alex doesn't believe in magic or any of that crap, but he does know he can't explain the walls peeling the way they did.

Alex resists the urge to crane his head and watch Steve work, just looks stonily ahead because he doesn't want to look at the hole in his side and see wiring or oil. Whatever it is that's there instead of skin and blood. He'll assume he knows what he's doing. Maybe it's just like patching up a car, he thinks, and realizes after a few seconds that isn't that reassuring.

"You got anyone out there?"

[aboveangrybees]

It is like a car, so Steve does his best, but mechanical things were never his forte. Not that Alex needs to know it. He works on rigging the wound and patching it up the best he can, but he knows it'll only go so far.

"Yeah, got separated from them after this heatwave nonsense started," he's especially worried about Bucky. Stark was with Thor, so he doesn't feel much need to worry about them. "I'll be going back out there to look for them, if I see your wife, I'll point her this way."

Well more he'd probably escort her here. It's not a problem, he'll help anyone he runs into, but it's also the least he can do for the man. Who knows how long this patch up will last.

And how long the man will last after.

Thread end?

[yourmove]

Alex almost smiles. For a second he thinks Steve sounds like his grandpa with the "heatwave nonsense". It's a lot more old school than his dad, who would've just gone with "heatwave bullshit" and called it a day.

"Thanks. I mean it." First Bucky that first night here and then this guy. He can't help but wonder what people like Steve will do as the days go by and the number of Tributes go down. He hopes they keep to their guns. It'd be nice to think they're out there, being a lot better than some of the cops back home and remembering principles, human decency. "Stay safe out there. If you don't find her by tonight, I'll probably head out. Don't want to use up all your water."

Perf

[aboveangrybees]

Steve is an old guy, so Alex isn't wrong to make the comparison really.

With the patch job done, he places a hand on Alex's shoulder in a more reassuring way, even if the man can't feel it. He wishes he could do more, but knows there's little chance of it right now at least. He almost waves off the thanks, feeling more needs to be done and not having the means to, but instead he gives a small shake of his head, trying to say it's fine.

"Alright, well, you stay safe yourself. And the water is yours, use it anyway you want," with that, Steve is standing and resituating the bag on his shoulder. He moves for the door, but looks back at Alex, "Good luck."

And with that, Steve is out the door and back into the heat.