crawlin in my skiiiin

[saisamour]

WHO| Joel and this asshole right here
WHAT| Marius should really just stick to shooting people at a distance
WHERE| Cinemas
WHEN| End of Week 4
WARNINGS| Suicidal thoughts, death



The momentary respite, that temporary freedom wherein he, for the first time in a long time, had been free to speak his mind, is gone all too soon.

Now he stalks the hallways again, guarded and careful, uncertain why it matters for the Capitol has already killed the person that matters the most to him, and what remains--his dear friends from Paris, the friends he has made in the Capitol--will soon disappear. Just like Cosette has, and just like Eva will. Why stay on the side of caution? We are all doomed, he thinks, for this fight will end no other way; Death is ever-present, waiting for the right moment wherein he chokes every single one of them in His eternal embrace.

His footsteps are light and he keeps to the shadows, a neck-tie wrapped tight around one of his cold palms. He's still reeling from the drain in his emotions after his talk with Signless but then he remembers the Capitol and the anger and helplessness resurfaces. End the Games, he tells himself, and end it quick. And then... And then perhaps they could win their freedom in death.

He almost thinks he imagines the flicker of movement, or the flit of a shadow. But he presses himself against the wall, nonetheless, and waits, his fist tightening its hold on the neck-tie.

Comments

sorry this is so late!

[aintyourdad]

Joel is, quite frankly, on the hunt.

He doesn't like to think of himself as a violent man, despite the amount of violence he's perpetrated in his life. It was necessary violence, done in the name of survival. For the most part, he doesn't hurt people unprovoked.

But the last few days have been hell. He lost Ellie, he lost Tess. Why? Because other Tributes killed them. For no reason at all, just because they could. Joel doesn't consider himself a violent man, but he'll be damned if he lets anyone think they can hurt his people and get away with it.

He could be quiet if he wanted to be, but he's making very little effort to be so right now. If someone wants to attack him, they can sure as hell try. He might not survive, but he'll give as good as he gets, he knows that much. If anything, he hopes someone comes after him. Hopefully one of the people responsible.

it's completely fine! :3

[saisamour]

Marius tenses when he hears the sounds of an obviously living person, a fellow tribute stalking the same grounds he's in. He unwraps the necktie, holds it in his hands, stares at it as if waiting for a sign that he is in the right.

Briefly he wonders what his father would do, if he was here right now. Would he reprimand him, would he shout at him to move onwards, to go, silly fool, and fight without hesitation? He swallows drily and stays close to the shadows, following the sound of footsteps.

Soon enough he spots the man. He only knows him, vaguely, from videos, perhaps he's passed him along the hallways or ballrooms once. It feels almost wrong to mark for death someone he barely knows, but no one deserves to suffer long in the arena, no matter what he may have--or have not--done.

Marius slips into the depression in the wall, next to the doors that open into a theatre room, waiting for the man to pass by him so he could catch him from behind and choke him with the neck-tie. A greater part of him hopes he fails, that the man is too strong for him, and that he instead will be led into his own death.

[aintyourdad]

It would be a mistake to think that just because he's making no effort to be quiet and stealthy, that Joel isn't paying attention or aware of his surroundings. He's expecting and ready for a fight around any corner, of course, and when he feels someone behind him, feels the - cloth? - around his neck, well, his hands go up immediately.

A true garrotte - a piece of wire or something - would be way more effective, or at least, that's what Joel would be thinking about if he wasn't caught up in his own survival. He is strong, after twenty years of climbing and fighting and doing all kinds of terrible things, he wrenches at the cloth, hoping to startle his unknown assailant enough to get it loose, pull it out of their grasp.

[saisamour]

Marius isn't very good at this.

He isn't expecting a counter. He isn't even expecting fast reflexes from the tribute he's recognized only vaguely from bright, blinding screens he rarely pays attention to. So when he feels the wrench he gasps and stumbles, his grip loosening on the neck-tie. One end slips from his fingers although the other end is still wrapped around his hands, and he scrambles backwards in an attempt to right himself.

[aintyourdad]

Joel has been in enough fights - survived enough fights - to know how to recognize and take advantage of momentary hesitation, weakness, surprise. He didn't make it twenty years in his world without that kind of knowledge.

So when he feels the fabric loosen, he immediately takes advantage, spinning around, wrenching at the arm with one hand - sharply enough to hopefully dislocate the shoulder - while swinging out with his fist in the general direction of Marius's head.