keep on smiling, today is going to be the best day of your life

[plushaeusrumpified]

Who| Bro Strider and CLOSED prompts to various people
What| Dave died and Bro breaks the news to people
Where| Around the mall
When| During/After the alarm
Warnings/Notes| Death-y stuff

He hadn't been expecting it, making his way through the mall in the futile attempt to find somewhere that the alarms can't violate his ears. Along the way, he passes the fountain. It very nearly escapes his attention, until out of the corner of his eye he sees the red in the water. How can you not investigate that, even when you've got a pounding headache raging on. When he does look, it's not what he's expecting at all.

It's not really the way anyone wants to find their little bro. Floating in a fountain, sword through his chest. That's the part that really, truly gets to Bro simply because it's the most disgusting form of déjà vu, only back then he'd been the one with the sword through his chest and it hadn't been this Dave there at the time, but that makes no difference. Bro feels numb as he pulls Dave's body out of the fountain, but there's a pounding in his ears that seems to drown out the alarms.

When he gets the boy's body out of the fountain, he collapses against the side of the fountain with Dave half resting against him. Bro slumps, his head thudding against the fountain behind him. In the back of his mind he knows that it's stupid to be upset about it, because they'll eventually take Dave's body back to the Capitol and he'll be as good as new. But when it's right in front of your face, when your little brother's dead body is resting against you, wet and bloody and beaten from some sort of fight he hadn't witnessed, it's more than a little difficult not to let that bother you. And that's what really bothers him; the fact he wasn't there. The fact he hasn't been there any time shit's gone down, and now the ultimate shit has gone down and he wasn't there. Short of handcuffing himself to Dave, he really doesn't even know how to prevent it from happening.

Nothing shows on his face though, except perhaps tiredness- though, that isn't entirely true. His eyes always have been the most expressive part of himself, never truly hiding everything like his pokerface tends to. It's partly why he wears shade. But those have been stripped from him, on the grounds of being too sharp and potentially used as a weapon. If you were to look closely at them, you'd probably see the pain in them, but an anger too. He's fucking pissed off that this happened and that he wasn't there, and he doesn't even know who the fuck did it, so he can't even go after them. After a moment, he opens his eyes and looks back down at Dave's body, taking in the damage. Whoever did it really wasn't playing, they fucked him up good. It makes his stomach churn and an anger boil underneath his skin, like an itch that can't be scratched.

Good job, Bro. You got what you wanted. The thought comes to him suddenly and bitterly. He'd just been complaining to Dave recently that this arena had been too friendly and uneventful, now this. This arena officially sucks. For the longest while, he just sits there, hand reaching over to rest atop Dave's head. He still barely registers the alarm, everything feeling far away and almost nonexistent. It's just the two of them there. Or just him, really. Just him and a dead body. This is his way of mourning, no tears and no sobbing. Just sitting there with Dave, quietly thinking about the past. Maybe it's stupid, considering Dave will be back. But it feels like he's lost him, even though he knows he hasn't. He can't help it. So he's half in the present, half in the past and thinking about everything they'd ever did together. In a way, it feels good to do. In other ways, it just makes it all harder and eventually he realizes there's a dull ache in his chest.

This is stupid.

After a while, he finally finds it in him to move; staying out there in the open like this is a stupid idea in a murder arena and he fucking refuses to just leave Dave's body out in the open. With all of the stores closed for the night, there's not really much he can do. When he gets up, he hesitates a moment, feeling a little weird about doing what he does next- but he can't very well leave it there, can he? So after a second, he tugs the sword out of Dave's chest and slips it through his belt loop, hating that he's even having to do this. But with the sword out of the way, he bends down and picks Dave up, ignoring the way watery blood drips all over him. What he can't entirely ignore is how fucking awful it feels to be holding Dave's body, cold and stiff, in his arms. This isn't something he ever fucking wanted to have to do. It makes the ache in his chest grow, but his face is set in a firm pokerface and he doesn't intend on letting anything show. He'll be damned if he lets the Capitol know how he feels over this. After a few seconds of getting himself together, he sets off. On his way to finding a spot to wait it out until morning, he finds Dave's shades. It's an even longer moment of deliberation than when he'd pulled the sword out, but eventually he decides to slide them on. He knows the Capitol is watching and he's not having them read too much into the look in his eyes, and in a weird way it makes him feel closer to Dave anyway. With those on his face, he goes off and eventually finds a safe place to stay.

He refuses to leave Dave's body, not until morning when they'll take it away. Bro is just stubborn like that, and he'll be damned if he's going to let anything happen to his body, even if it's kind of pointless. The alarm is an ever present annoyance, but in his mourning he can ignore it more easily. Somewhere along the way to morning, he decides he ought to be the one to tell people it happened. Dave's made a damn lot of allies- no, friends- this arena, the least he can do is let them know that it's happened. They would probably want to know, and he figures Dave would probably want him to tell them or something, maybe. It takes him a while to work out who he ought to tell, but by the time morning comes and the sweet relief of the alarm stopping finally gets there, he's got a sizable list of people in mind.

In a way, he's reluctant to leave Dave's body but he knows that if he lingers, they won't take it away and he might even be at a risk of his life. Wordlessly, he kneels by Dave's body for a moment, a hand placed on his shoulder, before he just sighs quietly and stands up. He won't look back as he begins to walk away.

Comments

Loki

[plushaeusrumpified]

Loki is the first one that Bro decides to break the news to. It seems only right, since they have the whole boyfriend thing going on. If he were in Loki's shoes and his boyfriend had been brutally murdered, then he would want to know. Hell, he would be a little pissed if he wasn't the first to know. That's just the kind of thing a boyfriend ought to know first.

It takes him a while to find Loki, but he eventually spots him around the escalators. It doesn't show in his demeanor or expression in any way, but he's… almost a little nervous. He's never had to break this kind of news before, let alone to someone Dave is close to. But it's not crippling or anything. If anything, when he does approach Loki, he can probably feel a subtle anger coming from Bro. Because he never did stop being angry, if anything it's only intensified after leaving Dave's body.

He's still wearing Dave's shades when he approaches him, which might make it obvious there's something up. The other thing that might make that obvious is that he doesn't look like he's in any mood to crack jokes. Also, the biggest thing that might tip Loki off is that he's still covered in Dave's blood. "You and I need to have a little chat," he says when he's close enough to Loki. His voice doesn't have its usual casual air to it, it's just straight and to the point.

[onedirectiony]

He and Dave had frequently separated from each other during the arena. Loki had retreated from the alarms as soon as they set off. It hadn't been that long since he had seen him, and he figured after the alarms, they would meet up again. He was making his way towards the escalators so that he could head back to their meeting spot. He had his supplies on his back, looking a little tired, but otherwise not bad considering that he's been in this arena for nearly a month.

He knew, mostly, that people dying here was inevitable, and even spent a lot of time thinking about how the appropriate way to react to someone he cares about dying (or appears to care about, at the very least). As an Asgardian, death was a part of their life. They had no reason to fear it, even if it was taken seriously (and still, it could hurt). Then, he had to consider that he was, at least to everyone, a teenager.

Every move of his was calculated and considered many times. He wanted to win, but he couldn't do that without losing everyone else in here.

It's when he's at the escalators that Bro approaches him, and immediately - something is not right. Loki knows it. He was wearing Dave's glasses and he is covered in blood.

"Yes?" he asks. His tone is cautious, curious, and he raises an eyebrow. He's taking Bro in inch-for-inch again and again. Externally, he keeps his cool, but internally he's going over the long list of things that could have happened to cause this and the appropriate way to respond to each.

[plushaeusrumpified]

Already he can tell Loki is cautious, both in his tone and the way he's carrying himself. Who wouldn't be, in a situation like this? It's horribly apparent that there's something wrong. When Loki replies, he has to try and quickly figure out a way to say it, because he hadn't actually thought about it until now, having been more focused on thinking about how hard or awkward it might be. Now that he's here, the words seem a bit harder to get out than he had anticipated.

"I'm not gonna bullshit you," he says, throwing his hands up in a vaguely defeated kind of way. "The alarms weren't the shittiest thing to happen today." And as he thinks about it, the anger and bitterness just sort of comes back at him like a wave and his body tenses.

In a spur of the moment decision, he reaches up and tugs the aviators off his face. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he always knew he'd end up giving them to Loki. He closes the arms to them and tosses them at him. "He'd probably want you to have 'em." It's pretty fucking obvious then, what he means. He'd intended to be more blunt about it, but it's hard to do that sort of thing when you're just damn mad. "He was in a fountain with his own fucking sword through his chest, in case you wanted to know."

[onedirectiony]

Loki believes himself to be good at reading and understanding people. He listens to everything he says, going through his list of ways to respond to this. He catches the glasses in his hands, and immediately puts them on. His response takes a moment, as if he is processing what Bro had said. He needs to make sure that while he expresses that it upsets him, that he keeps it real. Over-doing any reaction would make it seem fake, but under-doing it would seem like he didn't care.

And, at the core of it all, he did. He'd have to care a little to be able to fake it. Loki didn't put effort into things he didn't care about (even if it was all about benefiting himself).

"What," he says. His voice takes on a low, and a little dangerous tone. He doesn't even ask who. It doesn't actually matter to him. Just the information presented to him. He's sure that if Bro knew, he would have mentioned it anyway.

He you go, Loki. Do it for the Academy Award. His voice shakes a little. "Is he...still there?" The question was to be sure that he wasn't.

Tony

[plushaeusrumpified]

After he tells Loki, he decides to go for all of the people he doesn't personally know. It's easier to tell people he doesn't know that somebody died- it's a bit like a doctor telling a family their son died, or something. Easier than telling someone you know. Dave's mentioned Tony before and overall he's aware that the two of them know each other well enough that Tony might want to know Dave is dead.

Naturally, the first place he looks is the Marvel store and he pretty much hits the nail on the head, because that's where he finds the man. His approach is almost business-like in its stiffness and air. "Yo." That's his only greeting. If he were in the mood, he'd probably be going This is crazy and I just met you but blahblahblah. He's not in the mood. "I got some shit to lay on you, so if you've got a minute… You better have a minute. And maybe a seat, if you're the type to take shitty news badly."

He still hasn't washed himself off, clothes still stained with Dave's blood. Everyone wants a bloody stranger approaching them like this, right?

[arrogantalloy]

Now that the siren had since stopped blaring and everyone who could be moved away from the alarm had been moved. Tony had come back to scavenge what remained of what he had built sadly only one repulsor shot was left undamaged, after putting it on his free wrist he begins to see what he can get at in the car itself. The hearing had all but gone in his left ear, his right could only hear muted tones and his clothes were ripped and stained, he knows that Steve, Thor and the others are on the lower floors and he had every intention of coming back to them.

He didn't hear the person speak for his attention but saw him from the corner of his eye, jerking his head up to look at him he eyes him warily before his head tilts to try and hear him better.

"Uh, you're going to have to speak up a bit." He gestures to what's left of the store. "Guess where I slept last night." He says to him with his own voice louder than normal because he can't hear himself properly, but the look on the guys face makes Tony feel like moving closer is something he should do, so he does edge closer.

[plushaeusrumpified]

Bro almost cringes when Tony asks him to speak up. This is already difficult enough, but having to basically yell it because the guy decided to go deaf at an inopportune time? Not exactly ideal. He guesses he can't hold it against him, though. It's not like it's his fault the alarms decided to go batshit.

"Well that sucks for you," he says loudly, but there isn't any bite to his words, and he does have the courtesy to speak a little louder. "Look, I don't even know how to tell you this shit, but. You know Dave, right?" Gotta at least make sure he's right in regards to this being something relevant to the guy. It would be awkward if he just decided to go telling him his little bro is dead only to have him not even care.

Carlos

[plushaeusrumpified]

Then there's Carlos, who he knows even less but again he's well aware of his relationship with Dave and that the man would want to know. It feels sort of weird, telling all of these people. It's like a shitty fetch quest in a video game, the kind you don't want to do but have to for some reason or another. Luckily for him, Carlos isn't that hard to spot.

People carrying roombas generally aren't.

He approaches, and Carlos is the first person to get anything other than a poker face, because he's raising an eyebrow at him. He isn't wearing the shades, so he avoids direct eye contact and just looks at the roomba. "Alright, first off- why?" He gestures at it. "Second, I got shit to tell you." And just as with everyone else, he's still wearing the bloody clothes so Carlos can enjoy wondering just what someone like him has to say.

[youbarium]

Carlos whirls around to look at Bro. His first reaction is fear: his nerves are frayed from the alarm, and being approached by a stranger in the Arena is a dangerous situation to be in. Is he about to be attacked? Is he going to die in the Arena before he finds Cecil? He takes a step back, Darwin still in his arms --

-- and then Bro goes on. Carlos is still cautious, but it looks like this man in the pointy sunglasses wants to talk, not fight. He looks at Bro sideways, the artificial mall lights catching in his glasses, and says slowly, "...what, this?"

Give him a second, he's going to put Darwin down. Roombas are heavy, and Carlos was only carrying him because roombas couldn't take stairs.

[plushaeusrumpified]

"No, that other thing you were holding." His tone is a little biting, but he reminds himself to reign it in, that people probably don't deserve hostility just because he's pissy about his dead brother. But you know, if there were ever a time to actually be pissy at people, he also figures that this is a pretty solid excuse. Still, he'll try and not to be an ass.

He lets out a sigh. "Whatever, I don't give a fuck about your roomba. It's not important." Burn. "You know Dave, right? Because if you don't, or I'm interpreting things wrong and you hate each other or whatever, this is going to be fucking awkward, so I mean- whatever. Just answer the question."

Sollux + Feferi

[plushaeusrumpified]

In his time here, he's come to realize that Sollux is someone Dave is friends with, so of course he has to go tell him. It's almost as awkward as it was when he told Loki, simply because of the last time he met Sollux and trolled the shit out of him. How do you approach someone you trolled mercilessly to tell them that their friend is dead?

You pretty much just do it.

It takes him a while to find him, because he has absolutely no idea where someone like Sollux would even be and he's cautious, not wanting to get into much of a fight when he's on a mission like this. But eventually, he does stumble upon Sollux- and he's with someone else that Bro doesn't even know. Goddamn it. Now he's approaching two semi-strangers in bloody clothes with a bloody sword at his hip. This isn't fucking weird at all.

But regardless, he approaches the two of them. "I got shit to tell y'all- or, well. You." He looks to Feferi. "I dunno who the hell you are, to be honest." He turns back to Sollux. "You got a minute? Yeah, you got a minute. Everybody has a minute for me." It's a lot different from the first time Sollux met him, in that he's way more serious and isn't wielding a slingshot made out of panties.

good job Bro you just gave the worst impression

[onthelii2p]

There are a couple things Sollux has had enough experience with to be used to in his life: constant, unavoidable noise and terrible headaches stemming from it. The trick is, that noise was a certain thing. It was not a fucking loud ass alarm going off constantly for four hours straight. It also didn't come unpredictably out of nowhere. Hell, even last week's unrelenting drone of Christmas music was tame next to this.

At least the pain was easy to stand, but by morning Sollux is left surly and irritable to the point that even the cessation of constant noise hasn't fixed it. The one good point is that his girlfriend is used to dealing with his moods. (He's grateful under the grumpiness.)

The short version is that he's in no mood to have someone covered in blood with and carrying a goddamn sword demand to talk to him. He recognizes Bro at least, but it doesn't stop his posture from stiffening up at the sight of him. A single encounter at a lingerie store probably didn't make them friends; even if it had, it wouldn't be enough to override this.

The thing is, he hasn't had a single fight in his time here. The worst of it was getting dragged through blood by a mute clown first thing in, followed closely by his run-in with mute clown #2 post-eletrocution and learning he'd been avoxed. Neither of those involved real danger to him. On the contrary, both involved uncomfortable amounts of helpfulness.

This is...

It slams into him. He's been in here over two weeks and how the hell has he grown contemplative, how has he let go of that nerve over everything? Of course people are going to die, are going to kill, are going to get armed and bloody and come to him in time. It's obvious in his face, the way his eyes go wider, and his skin goes a paler gray.

His hands fumble. He drops the bucket he's lugged around this whole time, the sound rattling with the skates and spare ammo. He fishes behind him and draws up his revolver with shaky hands. He only learned second-hand from Feferi.

And Feferi--he can't look at her, too worried now what Bro will do, and not daring to betray how important she is. What if he uses that? He doesn't even give her name.

"No." He can feel his blood rushing. "You--Put the thword down. You can't be that fatht here--they took our powerth, you can't be. You put it down and leave." And he hopes, hopes so hard that he's right, that what he saw over the view screens can't be true in here when he can't even summon a spark.

[fintastic]

Feferi, on the other hand, isn't nearly as used to the cacophony in her head, or the way the hours of loud, penetrating noise not only makes her ears and head hurt, but very nearly drive her crazy. Even now that her tears have ebbed and she's started to recover, it's hard for her to stay perky and smiling. The throbbing headache fades, but slowly; she never wants to hear anything like that again, and even now, the ringing in her ears makes it hard to hear much else.

And then there's Sollux.

It's not that Feferi wants to wallow in her own misery, and she does her best to smile at the human that approaches him. But as soon as she parses just how bloodied he is, her fins droop, giving away the anxiety that she's been keeping to herself for Sollux's sake. She wants to protect him, and to support him, but the human is on them before she has a chance to do anything, and Sollux is brandishing the pistol--

"Don't talk to him, just shoot!" She doesn't even bother to introduce herself, either, her eyes wide as she readies her crowbar to back Sollux up, though she imagines the gun will be much more effective. More than just the blood, she doesn't trust the sword.

Clara

[plushaeusrumpified]

He's making his way down the list, slowly getting to the people he sort of knows. He's met Clara before, at least, and it's a no-brainer to tell her considering how much she had been there for Dave in the mini arena. Something just tells him that she would appreciate knowing, so he decides to break the news to her before he gets to Anna and Rose, two of the people he knows best and feels like he'll have a harder time telling.

Bro finds her on the bottom floor, after a while of searching. He feels like he's traversed the entire damn mall, at this point, and he still isn't fucking done either. He doesn't feel as weird about approaching her in bloody clothes and a sword, because he feels like there's some sort of mutual understanding that he won't kill the woman who made the mini arena better for Dave after he'd been iced by sharks. It's just one of those things you don't do, in his opinion.

"Hey." His friendliest greeting so far, oddly enough. "You got a minute?" No sarcastic quips this time, just a bit more of a somber air to him as he takes a step closer to her.

[seestheman]

To say that he finds her at a bad time is an understatement. She doesn't know who does it or how they do it so fast, but one of the mannequins in the window is now wearing Dave's shades and she knows what that means (the same thing it meant when she saw one wearing Clem's hat or Dennett's tweed or Alex's armor). And if Dave's dead, that means she's failed to protect him. That means he isn't going to make it to win this and she doesn't have a reason to be in here anymore.

Which is why, when he finds her, she's holding her saber and seriously considering just getting this over with and taking herself out of the competition on her own terms.

"Dave's gone, isn't he?" Though, from the way she says it, it's less of a question than a statement. Really, all she needs is the confirmation and then...well, that's the end of the Arena for her.

[plushaeusrumpified]

The situation doesn't currently look very suspicious to him, all things considered. She doesn't look the happiest, but who really looks happy in a murder arena when shit is starting to get serious? Either way, he has no idea that she's currently thinking about taking herself out of it. But when she asks him that, his eyebrows shoot up and his expression turns vaguely surprised- also a little relieved, all things considered.

"Well. That was easier than I expected." His voice is more of a murmur to himself. "Uh, yeah. He is." That's all there really is to say on the matter. "I've been making the rounds and letting everyone know."

Anna

[plushaeusrumpified]

Bro isn't looking forward to telling Anna, but he knows damn well that the two of them have grown close in their time in Panem. She would want to know and he knows how emotional she is. It's as if she wears her heart on her sleeve, so knowing that makes it harder to tell- probably harder than telling Rose might be. At least Rose is more likely to hide her emotions, much like himself. He knows what to expect with Rose, he doesn't know what to expect with Anna.

It's with a heaviness that he finally finds her hanging out with Thor- and he decides then that he ought to mention it to Thor too, but he's gonna pull Anna away and do this in private. When they're alone, the awkwardness hits him even stronger. He wishes he could go back to feeling angry and intense, but telling so many people is really just wearing him down. "I have some bad news," he says, deciding to just get right to it instead of beating around the bush. "And I think you should take a seat, because you ain't gonna like it."

[rediscover]

Anna's dawdling near the frozen yogurt shop, a stone's throw from where Thor and his allies have been sticking around, and dreaming about how delicious the items on the menu look, when Bro finds her. Immediately, she has a sick feeling in her stomach, which isn't improved when he explains why he's there. She looks up at the older Strider with pain in her eyes. Watching Elsa die was hard enough. And now he's going to tell her something just as awful, she's sure.

"...Right. Okay." She hops up on the counter, and where normally her legs would be swinging impatiently, Anna's perfectly still now.

"Please, just. Get it over with," she goes on, sounding pained.

[plushaeusrumpified]

Bro is glad that she doesn't seem to want him to sugar coat it. He supposes in a way, he's underestimating her ability to take bad news. He's just afraid that she's going to break down and sob and he isn't going to have a goddamn video game here to distract her, so it's like what the fuck will he do then? It just wouldn't be cute.

"Yeah, alright," he says, taking in a deep breath and letting it out in a sigh. "Dave's dead." There. Short, to the point, and said through lightly gritted teeth because he's still really fucking sore about it. "Found him a while ago." He doesn't think she would appreciate knowing how it happened, so he refrains from telling her.

Thor

[plushaeusrumpified]

He hadn't expected to see Thor during his little quest, but when he does he realizes that Thor probably has no idea that it's happened, that his brother just lost someone important to him. If he were in Thor's situation, he would want to be there for his brother. It goes beyond simply being courteous- it's a brother thing. Having just lost his own, he can't not tell Thor what happened. Loki would probably benefit from having the presence of family right now, all things considered.

Brothers need to stick together.

So after telling Anna, he goes over to Thor. His demeanor is a far cry different from when they met at the fountain. Bro doesn't have the humorous and troll-like air he had before. He's tired and beaten down mentally. He decides to get right to the point, assuming Loki hasn't been around given the fact that if he had, he would probably still be around. "You should probably go find your bro," he says. He realizes how ominous that sounds, so he holds up his hands quickly, "He's fine. Physically, anyway. But some shit went down and he probably shouldn't be alone right now."

[worldsaway]

It's a little suspicious, the way the man he met at the fountain needs to pull Anna away. He knows him as Dave's older brother, that he knows of Loki and that he has seen them together. He cannot help but feel concerned, but he gives space and makes a point of not intervening until he's approached individually. It's then that he understands something has happened, and it doesn't take much guess work to assume what it is when Bro specifically tells him to seek out Loki.

He doesn't need to state the obvious, the boy Loki is courting has died. He's not sure how his brother would process it, whether he would even want Thor's company or sympathy, but he does know how he would feel knowing Loki had died. With that mutual understanding in mind, Thor nods at what he's been told and wastes no time bridging the space between them and pulling Bro in for a hug so tight it surprises even himself. He wasn't quite aware of the depth of his sympathies, but he won't let go for a long while.

"It is good of you to spread word at such a time." He keeps his compliments low, not figuring Bro is the sort to want them declared loudly. He pulls away, keeping a hand on his shoulder. "You have done more than you need already- surely there is something that can be done for you?"

[plushaeusrumpified]

Being hugged is the last thing Bro is expecting to happen when he tells Thor about what happened. He doesn't know what to think when Thor's arms are around him and he's being pulled in for such a tight hug. For a moment, he tenses up, not sure what to do or how to feel. He's not usually the hug type, never feeling like he particularly needs them unless circumstances are extreme.

He guesses circumstances are such, because after the few moments he tenses up, he realizes there's just. Something nice about it, that he can't really even describe. It has nothing to do with an attraction to Thor or anything stupid or shallow like that, even. There's just something comforting about the hug, and maybe it's just because right now, even though he'll never admit it, he's in a fragile mental state. Hugs are nice, but Thor hugs are especially so.

Slowly, he brings his arms up to return the hug. He feels stupid, accepting it. Needing it. But for once, he's allowing himself this. Hasn't he earned it, anyway? In his quest to spread the message, he's been mentally rattled and shot at. He's tired, he has a head and chest ache and he's got his brother's blood on his clothes. If that doesn't give him a free pass for receiving a hug and returning it, then he doesn't know what does. By the end of it, his own grip is pretty tight without really meaning for it to.

As Thor pulls away, he averts his gaze, trying not to look awkward or let it appear it's obvious he's swallowing against a stupid, sudden lump in his throat that came on during the hug. He clears his throat, shaking his head lightly. "Uh, yeah, no... " he says, his voice quiet. "Not that I can think of, anyway. Fuckin' tired though, I'm ready to crash. Still can't though, gotta go tell one more person." He's trying very hard to sound casual about that, like it's no big deal. "Thanks," he blurts out before he can stop himself. He doesn't want to admit that he's thanking him for that hug, so he throws up his hands. "For looking out for Anna," he adds quickly enough. "I would myself, but I got my hands full."

He's so very bad at deflecting when it really counts.

Rose

[plushaeusrumpified]

It feels like the longest day of his life. By the time he gets to Rose, he's ready to just collapse in a bed or a corner somewhere and just fucking sleep. He's tired of everything, but mostly he's tired of hearing his own voice talking about Dave dying. His only consolation is that Rose probably isn't going to turn into a boohoo-y mess at the news.

But that doesn't make it much easier, honestly. He finds her in the pantie store, probably the easiest one he's found so far. Given that she's good at reading people, she can probably tell that some shit has gone down with the way he carries himself, but also the fact he's still in the bloody clothes and the sword at his hips. He hadn't had that when he left that day. When he steps into the store, his headache becomes disgustingly apparent and he really wants to goddamn lay down.

Regardless, he moves over to her. "He's gone." Bro doesn't have it in him to draw this shit out, and he knows Rose out of everyone would prefer if he just cuts to the chase and gets it out. His tone is tired and there's an edge to it. He reaches up, massaging at his temples almost irritably. "And before you ask, no. I don't know who the fuck did it. They were long gone before I got there."

Rose

[arosewiththorns]

It's been a fairly normal day for her. As normal as a day in this hell could be at least. Get up from crashing in the lingerie store and leave with only a slight nod to say bye to Bro. The alarms had gone off and in turn she had tried her best to avoid the ear splitting sound as best she could, whilst avoiding others at the same time in turn. It's been a long day sure, and she still half hears the alarms screeching as she comes back to what is now base, beating Bro in by just a few minutes.

She looks up when he enters, shoulders stiff before she's certain it's him and it's slight but they slump, Rose letting her bag hit the floor with a thump. The question of 'what happened' is on her own lips when he speaks, Rose isn't blind, nor stupid and on top of that she's trained to read body language and something is wrong and Rose already half guesses what that is when he speaks but it doesn't stop her gut from clenching, her heart almost seeming to stop. It's the sword at his hip really, which is dumb, because it's not that unique, not beside the name on the blade, but she knows it, she's seen it on Dave and Dave wouldn't just give up a weapon like that, nor would Bro just take it and the world seems to spin for a moment.

Dead. Dave's dead, and Rose can tell by the way Bro holds himself that he was the one to find him. That doesn't help as much as she'd like to to and there are so many questions she could ask but what does it matter. What does any of this matter, if Dave's dead. She has no interest in winning herself, not when it would keep her out of this and unable to assist and she's not sure when she gripped the bench beside her so tightly but her knuckles are white and they start to ache and Rose lets go, her breath escaping her in a sudden huff.

"Oh," she says, and it's flat, emotionless, because he doesn't need emotions from her right now, she knows that much. Nor would she give the Capitol the prize of seeing her grieve openly, but the way she holds herself shows how close she is to shattering and she takes a shaky inhale, meeting his eyes. "What now then?"

Is there anyone else they should try to get out of this game or should they just stop it now.

[plushaeusrumpified]

Her reaction is about what he'd expected, and in a way after everyone else's, he's glad for it. It's subdued and hidden, kept primarily to herself so that he doesn't have to feel the weight of it on his shoulders. Maybe that's selfish of him, but after telling so many people it's really nice to experience a much more withdrawn reaction.

As Rose processes it, Bro is moving around the store, getting himself ready to lay the fuck down and go to sleep. When he moves near the pile of panties he'd been sleeping on the last few weeks, he can't help but bitterly kick it, scattering panties everywhere. In his current mood, the idea of doing something as fucking idiot as sleeping in a pile of panties just doesn't appeal to him. He'll sleep on the goddamn cold, hard floor if he has to. But before he lays down, he's gonna fucking change. He's tired of wearing Dave's blood. So Rose will have a long moment to wrap her mind around it while he peels off his shirt and replaces it with one from the pile of clothes he's hoarded.

It's when he's collapsing against the wall and sliding down it that she speaks, his eyes flicking over to her to meet hers, and her words make him laugh. It's quiet, tired and bitter laugh. "We keep fighting, Rose." Bro can't even fathom doing anything aside from that, honestly. If anything, losing Dave has only made him even more determined to keep going. He can't avenge him without knowing who did it, but he can fight. "Do you really think he would want us to just give up?" he asks, an edge to his voice. That's the last thing that Dave would want. The absolute fucking last, and she should know that regardless of whether or not she's from the alpha or the beta universe, young or old. Dave is Dave, and he wouldn't want anyone throwing their life away. "I can guarantee you that if from here on out we don't give it our all, it'll fuck him up. It would fuck anybody up," he adds, knowing that Dave might be able to see this in a few days when he wakes back up in the Capitol.

He refuses to entertain an 'if'.

"So we go the fuck on and we do what we've been doing this entire time," he finishes, finally looking away from her now that his stupid little speech is over. He closes his eyes and lets his head thud against the wall, before he open them and just stares up at the ceiling. He's tired, but at the same time it also feels like sleep is never going to come to him. Too much in his head and too much ache in his chest. It's going to be a long day.