thearena | She Does Not Take Much Ease or Pleasure [Open]

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She Does Not Take Much Ease or Pleasure [Open]

WHO| Venus and Marius, Venus and Enjolras, Venus and open!
WHAT| Venus gets her powers back and puts them to use.
WHEN| Hellrena
WHERE| Shoe store near the town green.
WARNINGS| None yet.

She feels it the instant her powers come back, and she can't explain what it is about coming back into her body, but it's as if she's suddenly present inside each of her cells in a way that she wasn't before. Where she existing, sitting at the back of the shoe shop, ears trained for anyone approaching, turning the handle of her chain over in her hand, she is now awake. She is her own blood pumping in her veins, is her own atoms and her chemical bonds.

If it were anything less than this total transformation, she would be distracted by the air raid sirens going off and the fog rolling in as aggressively as the tide. This switch flipping in her brain would have gone unnoticed. Instead, she sees one thing, hears another, and feels that final piece clicking away inside herself. She's on her feet in an instant.

"Boys, if any of you are getting beauty sleep it's time to wake up!" She opens the back door to the shoe store and looks in at her allies, her Frenchmen and little Max, although half of them are out securing the perimeter or searching for food. The whole building seems to sag, and Venus looks up with alarm at the ceiling.

It holds for the moment, so she rushes in and crouches next to Marius. He looks unwell, pale and weakened from his broken collarbone and the pain. Combeferre and Joly may have patched up the bleeding, but he clearly is only just hanging on this Arena. She presses a hand to his forehead. "Marius, wake up."

-/-

It doesn't take long for the dogs to arrive. Little Max has taken to defending the roof, where a spider the size of a small dog is attempting to crawl in. Courfeyrac has joined her. Marius, Joly and Combeferre are defending the front from some abomination Venus can't even lay a name to.

There's scratching at the door, and the thump of bodies less than human-sized against the wall, and yapping that cuts even through the stifling heat.

"Enj," she says, breathing heavy. Healing Marius sucked some of the energy out of her, making her feel as if the hands she used to do it are detached and bloodless. She meets Enjolras' eyes. "Let's go do something about that."

-/-

Having secured the perimeter of the shoe store, even as it disintegrates, even in this hellish, dehydrating heat, she goes out. If she and her allies are suffering, Ellie and Kankri can't be much better off. Sweat rolls down the small of her back, settles in the curve above her lip, drips from her chin.

The chain drags behind her until she discards it entirely in the street in front of the shoe store. At the moment, she doesn't need it. She holds her hands out, closes her eyes, and wishes herself across the Arena. The air around her vibrates, and her eyes glow yellow, and then in a flash that's more like the light and color around her being sucked into a whorl of nothingness, she disappears and then reappears in the amusement park.

"Ellie!" she yells, cupping her hands over her mouth. The heat seems to mute her, as if sound is covered with a damn towel. "Kankri! Are you out there?"

She casts her gaze around, looking to see if anyone else is out here.

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She looks pale, fragile and drained in a way that's atypical to her. Nevertheless, the shuffling is disconcerting and speaks of something to be dealt with in all the haste they can manage. With a nod, he moves as quickly and quietly as possible toward the noises, brandishing carefully one of the knives that had arrived for them.

"What do you suppose that we're up against?" It doesn't matter, not really. Whatever it is, they'll handle it. They have to. Just then, one of the larger creatures manages to knock out a more fragile section of the dry wall, it's great claws scratching through it. Its dark and diseased fur is a stark contrast to the dingy, almost chalk-like tones of the wall. It thrashes about, enlarging the hole in an attempt to get at them.

"And there we have our answer. If we wait for them to come to us, we may be able to talk them one at a time."

Venus is rather suddenly glad she never owned a dog as a child. She's got absolutely no sentimental feelings for the ugly mutt throwing itself through the drywall. Enjolras is right; let them bottleneck, and they'll be lining themselves up to be taken out.

"Not exactly how I wanted to get my protein today." She could fire with her lasers, but she knows that she has her limits, and tolled herself pretty hard with the healing. Instead she grabs her boxcutter and waits for those gnashing jaws and claws to get close enough to use. Sweat runs down the triangle of blade peeking from the handle.

We're all going to die of heat stroke, she thinks. Before the dogs can even get us.

Another patch of drywall heaves open, and the dog and one behind it practically spill into the store room. Venus takes the one in the front, expecting Enjolras to take the second, and the rusty blade in her hand swings upwards and pulls a spew of red blood behind it in a mermaid arc. The dog's momentum is enough to knock her on her ass - it probably weighs twice what she does - but its feet slip on the blood and linoleum back here, keeping its jaws away from her by inches. She grabs its paw and twists, snapping the bones of its foreleg and bringing it down beside her.

Unfortunately, while the bottleneck would have worked in normal conditions, the Arena circumstances right now are that the building is literally falling apart, disintegrating in a way that almost emulates melting. The hole the first dogs came in is quick widened by the rest of the pack.

The sound of the wall crumbling is actually what puts him on high alert, not the barking or the scratching of the dogs' claws as they bound after each other. One by one they could take them. Altogether will be significantly more difficult.

The second dog leaps toward him and there's a sickening resistance to his knife as he stabs it, twisting the handle before picking a direction and dragging the blade down as hard as he can. It's gotten duller in the lasts several things of tending to non-violent camp work, and he regrets not using one of the less sturdy cutting devices for all of that now. Still, when he pulls away the thing is still whining pathetically and his hands are soaked with blood. It's hot and thick, even in the humidity that surrounds them. The sweat on his hands mingles, thinning the dying animal's viscera.

He turns around just in time to catch the third dog as it barks, crashing through the rubble of what used to be the wall with a vengeance. They both stumble and he rolls, hoping to avoid getting stabbed with his own knife in the process.

They're both losing ground. In tight confines like this, that's a death sentence. As such, Venus decides to take a bit of an unusual approach after she jams the boxcutter into the dog's neck.

She stands up and lurches over the counter, grabbing a folding display table. There's bottlenecking, and then there's outright plugging the hole (it occurs to her that she's probably been spending too much time with les amis d'ABC, whose response to every other problem is 'build a fucking barricade'). She almost passes it to Enjolras to help her get it in place, but he's on the ground with a third beast.

A fourth tries to scrabble past the new obstacle. The table won't last them forever, either. Or even more than a few moments.

She's lost the boxcutter, so she pummels the animal attacking Enjolras with her fists. It would look ridiculous if she didn't put so much power into each blow. "We have to make a run for it if the building won't stand!"

The dog pulls away with a yelp, but not before snapping at his shoulder. Its teeth seem to burn as they sink in, and while he isn't particularly intimately acquainted with puncture wounds, he'd be surprised if there weren't venomous aftereffects to the injury. He can't help but his as he uses that arm to pull himself up again. Fortunately, his knife is still clutched tightly in his other hand.

Still, there's little time to celebrate as no sooner than he gets to his feet than another dog charges at them, having shoved the table enough out of the way to get through. This one seems determined to go after her, as if sensing the fatigue in her. While she's probably perfectly capable of handling it on her own, Enjolras still steps in front of its path. It only makes sense. Between the two of them, at least he's still armed.

"We run and they follow. We will not lead them back to the others." They're standing right next to each other, but the adrenaline still has him yelling, hoarse and tired. This dog isn't so willing to jump in front of the small knife, and he actually has to look for an angle of attack.

The blood dripping from Enjolras' shoulder, wetting his clothing, pisses Venus off enough to stomp on the dog's skull the instant she gets it down on the ground. There's a stomach-churning crack as she does, but when she looks up Enj's injury is turned from her as he faces down their next opponent.

She didn't used to fight mad. Angry fighting is sloppy fighting. That said, she's already just about had it with this foggy, bullshit Arena.

It's a bit of a check to her own ego to have Enjolras step between her and danger, and for a moment she wonders if this is how he feels when she silently insists (again and again) of being the one to face any danger first. It feels wrong, even though she's allowed the same of her teammates back in the X-Statix; the difference, she thinks, is that she felt like a team back then, with all of them playing the same roles.

But the truth is, of course, that she's wasted too much energy healing Marius. Half of her is distracted just holding herself together on a cellular level.

She nods. "I got a way to give us a good escape if we stick together." At least there's no fog to lose each other in.

Edited 2014-06-30 03:44 (UTC)

[Sonja was merely wandering by, searching for a place to rest. She was feeling significantly weaker than when she had first started out. It reminded her of the time she had been poisoned and forced to wander the frozen wastes to die. Only at that point in time she had lucked out. She had been saved, she had been given a reason to continue and find a cure.

Now? Now she was alone, it was most likely the food and water she was eating. And this time there was most likely no cure.

Her own rations had run out a while ago, forcing her to rely on the sustenance she had found in the arena. Not to mention the damned heat. Still she continued to move on. Sonja would be damned before she allowed exhaustion to claim her. Then the sound of someone calling out for people she had yet to meet echoed into her ears. Sighing, her first thought was to avoid the person. She was in no shape or mood for a fight right now. But then figured that she may as well risk a chance.]

Oh quiet yourself, or do you wish for all to know where you are? [She called back, to the person, approaching them.]

Venus looks up, seeing a woman who looks, from the musculature of her arms, as if she could handle herself, even if the hollowness of her eyes suggests that hunger and dehydration have begun to set in. Venus hardly looks better, given that she's barely eaten and has sweat out most of her water; still, she doesn't back down, doesn't let her muscles tighten or tense at all in some feigned intimidation.

It doesn't matter if people know where she is if she can teleport.

"I'm looking for a girl, fourteen years old, reddish brown hair. And a boy, grey skin, horns like candy corn. Help me and I won't kill you."

Well to be completely honest an athletic build like hers requires quite a bit of food...like a lot. S to be deprived of it for so long, or at least a decent amount of it, would lead to her feeling a bit more fatigued than normal. Still, she kept her wits around her, even if her mind would occasionally turn towards finding adequate food.

"If you wish for a fight I would not turn you down." But she does know of her current limitations better than anyone else would. And right now she was not exactly in much of a condition to fight at full strength. "Though perhaps I can aid you in your search. Where had you last seen them?"

"I could do a fight too." In fact, Venus realizes that now's probably the best moment for her to make her move on someone who could be a powerful foe. Neither are at peak fighting form, but Venus has her superpowers on her side - she could shoot now and reduce Sonja to ash, she thinks.

Wouldn't exactly play well for the camera, though, shooting someone who isn't attacking her and is, in fact, offering to help.

"I haven't seen her since the Arena started."

Whether or not the red head would even go down that easily would have to be speculative as well. She has fought against magic users before and came out on top. And in a place where "mages" seem to run rampant, it would not be all too much of a surprise to find a person with powers here.

But again, that is all speculative. Fighting is good, yes. Especially when one comes from a culture and lifestyle built around war and surviving. However the greatest victory was always found in stopping a potentially needless battle before it occurs.

"Then would you know where she may attempt to go? A specific area that she may be attracted to."

"The Amusement Park, maybe. I don't know." And for that Venus is all the more frustrated, how helpless she is to protect the people she's dedicated herself to.

"Who are you?"

"Then let us begin our search there." In truth she did not really feel like walking much right now, and her stomach was grumbling something awful. But hey, she needed to do something.

"I am Red Sonja."

"Russian?"

Venus knows there's a new Russian Tribute, but she hasn't met her yet. All she knows is redhead. She falls into a walk that looks casual, but vigilance binds tight the end of each muscle.

She follows soon after, setting in an even pace. Her muscles tense, ready to retaliate at any form of provocation towards her being; as well as that of her companion. Who knew what was lurking out there now?

"...Russian?"

"Sonja. It's a name that, um, people from the country Russia have. But you don't have the accent." Venus purses her lips, feeling stupid. "Where are you from, anyway?"

It's idle chatter, and she's listening past it for signs of Ellie and Kankri, but it's something.

"I hail from Hyrkarnia."

Something that she has probably never, ever heard of before. Unless she was able to break the fourth wall...and reads comics and Conan stories. Which, if she had, would probably when her the hearts and minds of ever single man around.

"Gesundheit."

That doesn't even sound like a real place.

Venus decides at about that point that she, while having nothing against Sonja, isn't gaining all that much from her presence. She pulls the chain out and lets it unfurl from her hand.

Though the wound has been dressed and the blood loss impeded, Marius continues to find himself in a feverish state that is almost trance-like. He is aware that he has broken into a cold sweat, that he trembles and that his skin is cold, but more as an impassive, detached observation than an actual raw, real feeling. It is as if he is both present and not, or perhaps that everything occurring around him is nothing but a strange, lucid dream. So he closes his eyes and wonders when and where and if he will wake. He cracks them open upon hearing his name.

For the briefest of moments it is Cosette that he sees and her gentle, caring voice that speaks to him.

And then Venus's features come into focus, slowly, and Marius forces himself to blink away the fogginess in his vision. His voice is soft and weak, and cracks when he asks, "I-Is something the matter?"

"No. No, everything's going to be fine." And with that, she probably goes a bit further than most of Cosette's own actions with Marius, because she starts to pull off his shirt and rip at his bandages. "I need to see where it hurts."

There isn't quite time to explain. The heat's already brutal, making it hard to pull away his clothing as her hands get slick with sweat. And she doubts that she's going to have the chance to differentiate mutant powers from witchcraft here. She doesn't doubt Marius' ability to understand the concepts, but she questions her own ability to articulate herself.

What matters now is the power coursing through her veins, that makes up every cell of her. "What is it, broken collarbone?"

For a moment the actions following her response stuns Marius into silence and complicity and he forgets to protest, instead staring at her rather dumbly in surprise, until he grabs a hold of himself and starts with a, "What are you—"

But he cuts himself off at her question, and his brow furrows. He doesn't understand, not yet, at least, but there's nothing that tells him that she is not to be trusted. And Enjolras trusts her; therefore he does, too. He swallows and manages a weak nod. "Y-Yes."

"Would you believe me if I said that I was magic, and that you don't need to be afraid?" She rests her hand over the wound, putting a bit of pressure on him and wincing apologetically. Then she closes her eyes and begins her work.

It's all in the detail, all in her own molecules trickling away from her and into Marius' own, stitching together broken cells, rearranging parts. Working with what is there to add more. On the outside it'll just look like she's holding a hand to his chest while screwing up her face, but the magic is inside. The magic is atomic.

It'll feel like the world's most amazing back massage combined with foreplay.

Marius gives her a puzzled look in turn, then whimpers and bites hard on the inside of his lower lip to prevent himself from crying out in pain. Truthfully, he would accept magic as a reasonable enough explanation for a great many things about different worlds, different homes, he found difficult to understand. So he keeps silent and watches her through his haze-filled vision.

And then there's a sharp intake of breath and he bites his lip to prevent an entirely different kind of sound from leaving him. He's so confusedly bewildered that he squeezes his eyes shut and remains completely still, until the sensation passes and he flutters them open to glance at her once more. "W-What did..."

He freezes and blinks, his eyes growing suddenly large with realization. Tentatively, he presses his fingers against his wound. His eyes dart down to it, then back up to her, and all he could say in conclusion is, "Oh."

"I'm not done yet," she says, and her eyes aren't open. Her lashes are twitching a little, and sweat is beading down her forehead; it clearly isn't the same pleasurable feeling for her as it is for him. "I'm getting your collarbone back in alignment..."

She focuses again, and there'll be the deeply unsettling feeling of bone moving, before she heaves a sigh and sits back. Her face is a shade paler and she's breathing heavy. "There. How do you feel?"

He falls completely still at that, though he doesn't take his generally befuddled and mildly worried gaze off of her. The only discomfort he outwardly displays is a wince and a little squirm when he feels the bone move from underneath his skin, and when she leans away he sits up a bit more and presses his hand against the now-healed injury. His eyes widen in amazement.

"Um." At her question, his eyes dart in Enjolras's direction for the briefest moment—somehow he feels as if something disturbingly intimate occurred between them, even if thinking it does not make sense—before they settle back on her. "I-I am better, I believe." An awkward pause, and then, with concern, "Are you well?"

"Yup," she says, sounding almost drunk. And then sits down rather suddenly, head lolling to the side comically. She closes her eyes again, then opens them again, wondering if it's the strain or the heat or something worse that's sucking away her energy.

She grabs the counter and hoists herself to her feet.

"Good. Now make yourself useful."

The heat has driven them out - the monsters have driven them out. With the mist and lethargy, it was relatively easy to clear out a building and hunker down, but now? Now the best thing to do, even with the searing heat, is to try and keep moving, despite the pain and the discomfort. Despite how much he slows them down.

"You should just go on without me," he mutters eventually, leaning against the side of a building to catch his breath for a moment. "You should -"

He stops, though, at the sound of someone calling Ellie's name. "Who the hell is that?"

"I'm not fucking leaving you," She snaps, irritably. She's never known heat like this - even the worst summers in Boston never got this hot. She didn't even know air could get this hot and thick, like you could taste it, more like you were drinking it than breathing it. She hates it. "I'm not fucking leaving, alright, so-"

She stops when she hears the voice too, but it isn't suspicion that courses through her in that instant. It's relief. Full-bodied relief.

"Venus!" She calls back, more of a hissing whisper than anything else. "Venus! We're over here!"

We're over here.

A flush of relief floods through Venus' system as she runs towards the voice, hissed but audible only a few yards away. She twists past the remains of a tilt-a-whirl to see two figures right before her.

"Oh, thank God. I thought I'd never find you." She'd wrap Ellie in a hug if the idea of body heat and sweat wasn't so profoundly unappealing right now. She's certainly not as bad off as Joel, but using her powers and the heat has sapped the color from her skin, leaving her looking like a half-melted candle.

"What's wrong with him?"

Joel sighs and sinks down to the ground for a moment. He's been on his ankle far too long already, and if he doesn't get off it for even a short time soon, it won't hold his weight regardless.

"I am right here, and I ain't lost my hearing," he says, wiping a sweat-soaked sleeve across his equally-sweaty forehead. "Ankle, ribs, a smack to the head."

"He fucking wandered off at the cornucopia," Ellie gripes, though her tone is fond, and she doesn't mean it. She's simply terrified of the idea of people wandering off and getting hurt without her, and she's been taking it out on everyone else.

Speaking of -

"What the fuck happened, Vee? You look like you've seen a fucking ghost."

"Shit, I look that bad?" She's normally extremely aware of her appearance in front of the cameras, but between the dogs and the heat that's become a peripheral concern. She wipes sweat from her brow again. "I been teleporting everywhere looking for you guys. Takes it out of a girl."

She probably only has a bounce or two left in her, if that, and then she'll likely just disintegrate if she doesn't fuck up the jump and phase into a wall or appear six stories high.

She raises an eyebrow and looks at Joel. "Can you handle that damage, big guy? I got a healing touch but I'm running on fumes."

"I'm fine," Joel insists, grumpy as ever. God, he hates being fussed over. He hates being treated like an invalid. He can handle it! He's been through worse!

"Don't waste your energy on me." As though to demonstrate, he attempts to stand up - a bit of a struggle with his injured ankle.

"You've been-" Her eyes widen and a grin comes to her face, "You've been teleporting? Your powers are back! That's fucking awesome!"

"I've been taking care of him," Ellie says, smugly, and she has.

Though she's seen him through worse. "So we're okay. Have you seen anyone else?"

"Good. I won't." Venus tilts her nose up at Joel.

"For now, yeah." She was a bit more excited about it back when they returned; now she's just exhausted, and focusing very hard on keeping herself from coming apart at the molecular seams. Still, she responds to Ellie with a grin. "Came in handy against the mangy dogs that tried to eat me and Enj. I've got all the French guys over at a shoe store."

Anyone else, though. "I ain't seen Riley or Kankri or Guy yet. Fingers are crossed, though."

"We'd know if they were dead," Joel points out with a grunt. "Riley's been with us for a while."

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She Does Not Take Much Ease or Pleasure [Open]

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If you don't mind.

Re: If you don't mind.

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for Ellie + Venus?

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