you were only waiting for this moment to arise [open]

[tasermaiden]

Who| Darcy Lewis and YOU!
What| Darcy suddenly feels like she's 16 and a mallrat yet again.
When| Covering Week 2
Where Anywhere in the mall!
Warnings| None yet, will add them as they pop up.


Life for Darcy's been good as of late, all things considered. Sure, she's in a very Battle Royale-esque death match where she's expected to kill other people to try to win to get out of here, but other than that, things are good. Within her brief time here she's already learned that Tony Stark is aware of her existence and had been given a taser that he made, she's learned that Thor's in here somewhere and his friend the friendly neighborhood badass warrior chick also remembers her, and she's managed to survive over a week in here which is amazing on its own!

So Darcy's wandering around the mall/death arena, on the hunt for...something to do with her taser in a holster. Between that and the leather jacket she nabbed, she honestly feels about six different kinds of badass.

The only thing (in her opinion) that might make her an easy target is the fact that she has her earbuds in to block out the endless loop of Sleigh Ride.

Comments

[Closed to Thor]

[tasermaiden]

Ever since Thor's badass warrior friend mentioned that he's here too, Darcy's been trying to find him. She's looked high and low and has managed to find Tony Stark (which is cool as fuck!), but no sign of her Pop-Tart devouring, well muscled, extremely loud in bed (whiiiich she didn't need to know but did, sadly) spacebuddy.

So finding Thor sitting on a fountain eating a cheeseburger, after all her searching, is...well, a shock to say the least. Not the cheeseburger part, because, well, it's Thor. But the fact that he's here, out in the open and not dead or hiding and just...very Thor. Even with the ridiculous The Dude look, considering the bathrobe.

"Thor? I've been looking everywhere for you!"

[worldsaway]

Similarly, Thor has been searching for Darcy since Sif mentioned her. He's worried for her, painfully worried. He has brought enough harrowing trouble into her life through his connection to Jane, this is the last thing she deserves.

Still, he is not so upset that he cannot replenish himself when need be. He eats the cheeseburger with a terribly concerned expression, but he isn't at all scared of anyone who might fancy an attack. Despite this, he reels back when he hears Darcy's voice and leaps up to his feet, crossing toward her quickly as if she might disappear before he gets to her.

"Darcy." Before he can really think about it, a hand is moving to her shoulder and pulling her in for a quick hug. He hadn't been so affectionate with her before, but these are troubled times. "I am glad to see you safe, but I am not glad to see you."

[tasermaiden]

Hey, Thor's hugging her and she can't say no to that. Especially since she's well aware of the truly amazing abs underneath that skating costume and bathrobe. And, okay, yeah, technically those abs (and Thor's...Thorness in general) have already been claimed by Jane and Darcy has no intention of getting in the middle of their relationship. But that doesn't mean that she can't enjoy being pressed against his truly magnificent abs in a completely platonic friend way.

"That goes for both of us," Darcy says, giving him a small, weak smile. "How long have you been here? I saw you with Jane the night before I woke up here and then find out that you're here and it sounds like you've been here for a while and I'm so confused right now."

[worldsaway]

Though Thor would never express it, he isn't blind to the fact that Darcy herself is quite lovely. Though Jane inspires all of his affections, so acknowledging that she's pretty just makes him want to find a suitable match for her. One that Jane would approve of, hopefully, but let's not get into this.

"Some months. Four, perhaps." He looks visibly strained thinking about it, and it's all he can do not to wince when she mentions Jane. It hurts to remember that he'd been so close to happiness with her only to be brought here. But he cannot think about that. Darcy is here. Darcy. She is less a warrior than Jane, though not short of courage and resourcefulness, she doesn't belong here. He'll just have to help all he can.

"What do you know of this place?"

[tasermaiden]

Really, Darcy would be positively touched if she knew that Thor wanted to play matchmaker for her. It's sweet and just very...Thor. But she doesn't know so she can't heckle him for considering being her own personal Norse Yenta.

"Four months? Seriously?" She isn't a genius scientist type like Jane, but she knows that shouldn't be possible since she's been here for all of a week and change. "How's that even possible?" Not that she expects him to know. Not that she thinks Thor's dumb, because he isn't, but this is bigger than them. Or at least she thinks it is.

"That the Capitol or Panem or whoever brought us here to fight in a death match. And that whoever set this thing up is a giant asshole for doing this Christmas in September schtick."

[Closed to Rocket]

[tasermaiden]

Darcy has seen some outlandish shit. She's seen a giant, firebreathing robot try to destroy the town she was living in. She's chilled with a legit Norse god who's actually an alien. She's seen alien elves of the non-Tolkien or Keebler variety try to destroy London (and the world).

None of that prepared her for the sheer cute that is a raccoon walking on two legs wearing clothes. Which, holy fuck, that's adorable. If she had her phone, she'd take a picture of him (or her, she can't tell) and post it on all her social media outlets. And okay, so he looks pretty grumpy, but still, holy shit, dressed up raccoon walking around a mall.

She doesn't know what to say or do, other than stare and make the softest "Awwww" ever heard.

Early Week 2

[honeyibrokeharlem]

Bruce is scavenging when he sees the young (too young) woman in leather. And by scavenging, he means he's tearing down Christmas lights to cannibalize them for wires and light bulbs. Merry Christmas and let's go make more tasers.

He has a whole strip of lights wrapped around one arm. He arches one eyebrow at her, immediately tense but not hostile. He doesn't intend to start fights with anyone, but he expects them to start them with him.

"Hey there." The statement isn't so much a greeting as it is a statement that he has noticed her and doesn't intend to attack. It cuts down the odds that she might try starting something, though he's still tense.

[tasermaiden]

On some level, Darcy would disagree with the too young part of his assessment, but that'd mean that there's an appropriate age to be kidnapped from your home and brought to fight in a death match. Though, seeing a dude tearing down the Christmas display fills Darcy with a little sort of glee. There are somethings that are fine. This Christmas display when it was months in advance is so not fine and it needs to go.

"Hey there, Mister Grinch," she says with a small smile. Not that she believes that he's Grinchy, so much as it's a good opportunity considering the way he has the lights wrapped up. Though that isn't going to keep her from being a little cautious and keep the taser Tony gave her ready just in case. "Found a burnt out bulb and taking it back to your shop to replace it?"

[honeyibrokeharlem]

The Grinch? A grumpy green man who avoided contact with people and ruins things when he doesn't? Oh, she's more accurate than she thinks.

The corner of his mouth twitches slightly in dark humor. He keeps an eye on her, but usually, people don't open with a joke if they intend to kill. "You could say that. Can't have the Capitol ruin September Christmas on top of everything else, can we?"

He loops the lights around his shoulder loosely to give his arm more freedom of movement. "Are you just patrolling?"

[tasermaiden]

Darcy tries to cover her laugh so that it sounds more like a scoff as she pulls out her earbuds. Instead it turns into a gigglesnort which is far less cooler than what she wanted. Way to seem cool and composed, Lewis. "I'm still giving them a 10 in tackiness for this whole Christmas in September thing." Aaaand suddenly she catches who he said. Not Panem, but the Capitol. Which makes sense, maybe it's just what people call the government here, buuut she's curious. "So, the Capitol runs Panem?" Which totally sounds cool and not at all prying, nope, not at all.

Yeah, this time the scoff sounds much more scoff like. "Nah, just window shopping. Girl's gotta have something to do to pass the time."

[honeyibrokeharlem]

The noise she makes makes his mouth twitch again into the slightest of smiles. He has a noticeable lack of smile lines and even amused smiles don't reach his eyes, so it's clear he doesn't smile all that often.

But it's gone pretty fast.

"The Capitol is the capital of Panem, as I understand it. They're the central authority, and the rest of Panem is just made of subordinate districts. I take it you haven't been here long?"

He readjusts the lights on his shoulder. "Can't say that window shopping here is too safe."

Early week 2

[tookthewheel]

The mall had changed and one poor brainwashed assassin doesn't know what to make of it.

The irritatingly repeated music is soon ignored, it's the bright lights and decoration which catch his attention more. He explores, moving slow and silent in case any of it turns out to be a trap as he tries to figure out the strong sense of familiarity that accompanies the sight of brightly lit trees and fake snow.

Bucky knows this, he knows it, metal fingers closing around a piece of tinsel and rubbing the thumb over it even though that hand barely has any of the sensitivity of his real one. He can almost smell cooking food, hear the sound of excited laughter and feel the icy coldness of real snow. The feelings absorb him and carry him in a haze of half-remembrance.

[tasermaiden]

Darcy would be lying if she said she didn't recognize the dude fondling the tinsel. She's taken college level history classes and has heard all about James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, the one non-Captain America member of the Howling Commandos to be lost in the war (and then the only one, once Cap was found). Hell, she had a crush on him back when she was in school before it occurred to her that the handsome, ladyboner inducer from her text books and the news reels was long dead. And even then, she was more than willing the admit that Bucky Barnes was damn hot.

She decides that the best way to go about this is to play it cool and not act like a squealing fangirl. "They're kind of late for Christmas in July. Or early. I think." This is so not smooth, Lewis. Not at all. "I'm not actually sure what month it is."

[tookthewheel]

"Christmas." luckily he's distracted and there's no immediate leap to hostility, he shifts his eyes away from the tree to the woman who's approached him curiously. Nothing outwardly threatening, no signs of concealed weaponry -- meaning it could simply be very well hidden indeed. She presented a friendly demeanour, probably genuine based on many of his experiences with the other tributes.

Still, caution is a necessity around unknown variables. "It's September." Bucky informs her. "Early." yes, it's too early for Christmas, so strange that it's all here.

The brand on his cheeks has now scarred to a raw pink, he's dispensed with the need for a bandage any longer so it sits obviously on his cheek now Bucky is facing her.

[tasermaiden]

"September? Seriously?" Yeah, that's definitely kind of a shock since the last thing she remembered it was coming up on Valentine's Day. "It's definitely too early for Christmas stuff then. I mean, I know that they've been setting stuff up earlier and earlier, but this is just tacky."

It's only after she finishes rambling that she notices the scar on his cheek and winces. And, yeah, sure she wants to ask, but it'd be tacky to do so. Instead she puts her hand out toward him, "I'm Darcy, by the way. Darcy Lewis. And you are...?" Sure, she knows that he's Bucky Barnes, buuuut she doesn't want to come off as a creepy stalker chick from the future.

[tookthewheel]

"Yes?" Bucky replies, a note of uncertainty in his voice at her questioning. Of course he was being serious, even if it occurred to him to joke about it why would he? "I remember it... not like this."

It's the best he can vocalise what he's feeling in concurrence with her judgement of the situation.

An incline of his head is given at the introduction. "Bucky." consideration is given to the offered hand, he knows the gesture she is attempting but doesn't reciprocate.

[celebrityskinned]

Venus has Darcy sized up as an easy target long before she even noticed the earbuds. Whatever's crammed into the holster isn't a gun, and Darcy looks like she can slap better than she can actually throw a punch. It doesn't mean she's unfit, it just means she hasn't spent years honing her body into a killing-and-sex-appeal machine like Venus has.

Venus waits behind a rack of clothing, grip tightening on the baseball bat, before sighing and slipping from a catlike prowl to a frustrated huff. Seriously? Killing someone who doesn't even see you coming? It may be the most merciful course of action in the long one, but it feels somewhat crass. It doesn't sit well in her stomach.

She rises up from behind the aisle and waves at Darcy. Darcy looks the teen magazine idea of a badass, all jacket and plush hair and swagger. Venus has shed many of those trappings, and appears far more the veteran. It's a less-flattering look, given the awful brand it comes with, the bruises and the burns.

"Hey, kiddo, take off the fucking headphones."

[tasermaiden]

Had Darcy known that she'd end up in a death match along the lines of a weird sci-fi dystopian novel, she might have put more effort into training for a situation like this. Maybe. Okay, probably not really because that's just ridiculous since she's always been pretty good at getting by on her wits and, if need be, fluffing up the girls to get out of trouble (usually involving speeding tickets).

She has the distinct feeling that boob fluffing isn't going to do jack shit for her in here.

Darcy sees the woman waving at her and almost jackrabbits out of there. The only reason she doesn't is that, last she checked, people who are planning on killing you don't wave. Though maybe she's one of those sadists who enjoys watching her prey suffer (Darcy very much doubts it). So Darcy pulls out her earbuds and looks at her, seeing the same scar she saw on Bucky's cheek earlier. She wants to ask, really, she does, but she knows it's rude so she won't.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

[celebrityskinned]

"I told you to take the earbuds out. You know how easy it would have been for me to run up behind you and shove a shank in the base of your neck?" Venus shrugs, then makes a slow-motion stabbing gesture with one hand. "Way easy."

Maybe, she thinks, the clueless deserve to die here. Why should someone so carefree get away when kids like Ellie have to be hardened, when Kankri has been scrapping for his life?

But still, it's not the person Venus is to attack someone without some form of engagement. It's not something even her neonatal morality can manage.

"How new are you?"

[tasermaiden]

"That'd be a serious dick move." From the way Darcy says it, she isn't that scared of dying. Okay, logically she is. But Thor told her that this place brings people back from the dead and...well, she isn't going to win this thing. And if she gets out of here soon enough, then Thor won't have to worry about making sure she's safe.

"Little less than a week. Is it that obvious?"

[celebrityskinned]

"You're lucky I'm not a serious dick, then." Venus shrugs, irritation - at herself as much as Darcy - starting to go slack inside her chest. It's out of resignation as much as anything. She doesn't have it in her to go killing today.

She saunters over, cocking a hip so the cut-up t-shirt she's using as a stylish tunic shows her curves. It's something like posturing: my face may be fucked up but I'm still just as cute as you, hipster girl.

"What's your name, newbie?"

outside of the stores, on the second floor~

[onedirectiony]

Loki isn't really on the hunt, to be honest. He's spending time with Dave, trying to make sure that he behaves and keeps himself from going all out on anyone. Especially if he were to continue to be a positive influence on him. It makes it frustrating, but that doesn't mean he can't enjoy the people in the arena. Especially if others were going to walk around with ear buds in their ears.

Who does that anyway?

Hearing was such an important thing to have while in the middle of an arena. He depended on it personally. How good could one be at this if they weren't practicing caution. He moved after her, watching, careful to keep his footsteps quiet, but not too concerned about silence since she did have those earbuds in.

Finally, after stalking for a few minutes, he picked up his pace and took a few steps up next to her, tugging on the wire for one of the earbuds in an attempt to pull it out - without saying a word.

Loki, personally, looked like a man prepared for war. A heavy duty backpack, which appeared to have food, water, and weaponry on it. He was dressed in a green top, black slacks, and gym shoes.

[tasermaiden]

There's something about music that makes just about everything, even being tossed into a murdermall, okay. Especially the music on her iPod. It's like a warm, comfy blanket of familiarity's been wrapped around her. It's warm and safe and home.

Or it was until one of her earbuds got yanked out. Which is a dick move and what kind of person does that?

"Wow, rude," she says until she notices that her music cockblocker isn't just bigger than her by maybe a foot. Oh no, he's well prepared for this place. It's kind of impressive, actually. "Where'd you get those manners?"

[onedirectiony]

"Rude? What would have been rude is if I came up behind you with a hammer and smashed your head in while you listened to music on an iPod." He din't even bother answering the second question.

"Here, you walk around with one earbud in, one out. That's basic. Unless you like not hearing your attacker coming first. I mean, if you don't want to hear, that's all on you." It wasn't that he was feeling helpful, but he was just being good considering that he had an entire Capitol to impress with his behavior.

He was up for a challenge.

[tasermaiden]

"No, that wouldn't make you rude, that'd make you an asshole." There's a difference, Loki, duh.

Okay, so that doesn't completely block out the endless loop of her now second least favorite Christmas song (though it's still not as bad as "Christmas Shoes"), but it's a decent enough workaround. "Huh, thanks. I mean, there's still muzak, but at least it's mashed up with not-shitty music." She can live with that.

She puts a hand out to him, "I'm Darcy."