A slow lead into death - CLOSED

[makeflowersgrow]

Who? Eponine, Steve, Howard and Sigma
What? Steve has 'saved' Eponine from the Cornucopia and made her run with him. They bang into Howard and Sigma runs into all of them. Shenannigans of a survival-y nature ensue.
Where? Somewhere in the arena. Near that snowy bank. Yeah. That one. Right there.
Why? This is the lead-up to Eponine's off-ing. Stay tuned for more!
When? Straight after the Cornucopia
Warnings Hands up who's gonna swear?
I have no idea, but probably talking about death and Eponine's suicidal notions to get back to Capitol life... possibly swearing. Possibly some mild violence.

It's hard going in the snow, even with the snow boots, and Eponine is soon puffing with the exertion. Her teeth chatter, and she tucks her hands beneath her armpits to keep warmer. Steve is with her too; she can hear his footsteps, though she carefully avoids his eyes. She feels bad for having asked him to kill her; she did not mean to upset anybody. And she didn't really want him with her on her death march. But it felt awkward to ask him to leave.

And so Eponine trudges on in the snow, her thoughts fixed determinedly on the pleasures of the Capitol as she stares at the snow. The unchanging, never ending snow.

Except - except, there are foot prints now. And footprints mean a person. Eponine holds her hand out to Steve and turns to him, a single gloved finger raised to her lips.

"M'sieur." She hisses. "You must go quiet. There is someone here."

Comments

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Don't talk about food," he says to Eponine. "At least not hot food."

He has a can from one of the sponsors, but he's not going to share it with Steve, and he's sure Eponine would insist he did. Other than that, he hasn't eaten yet today. He squeezes her hand in her glove, reassuring her that he's serious about missing her. He needs to believe he has at least one friend out here, doesn't he?

"Are there caves around here? Is this the kind of place where caves exist?" Howard has no idea. "The only thing I know about this terrain is that sled dogs are the best way to get around and auroras are pretty."

Yes, his knowledge of the northern world comes from Balto movies.

[makeflowersgrow]

"Food. Already that is all I can think of. It was not so bad last time; I was used to not eating... now it is bad. I COULD be back in the Capitol now; it is no big deal."

She sighs though, and squeezes Howard's hand back. "I have not seen any caves anywhere. Maybe that is the plan, for us all to just freeze?"

Eponine doesn't actually feel too dreadfully cold. She IS cold, but not as cold as she was in Paris when she was forced to sit outside for hours in the snow, barefoot and without even a shawl. But she'll go along with it; maybe one of them will feel sorry for her and end it now, quickly, instead f letting her linger over a slow death.

[pursuitofcappiness]

Well, they can't build an igloo. That'd be waiting to get ambushed.

"We should at least find a warmer patch to talk; it's going to get cold soon," he states, lifting his collar up over his face and crossing his hands together in his jacket. The nights are long, and sleepless; he can't recover from that like he used to.

It's a hard adjustment, and it's not close to time but they should bunker down. At least the two of them; Steve can go out hunting in earnest if he trusts Eponine to Howard and vise versa.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Alright. I don't know the first thing about this place, so..."

He points towards a bluff, where the glacier has made a wall. "Probably better to get out of the wind, at least? Or maybe down a crack? I keep worrying it's going to crush us, all the noise it makes, but it doesn't seem like we got a lot of choice."

Nor does he seem keen to hang around Steve; he's happy to have found Eponine, but Howard's easily intimidated, and while Steve seems solid and upright now it could all be an act. Howard knows he and Eponine aren't always charming company.

[makeflowersgrow]

Not always charming company? She's the most charming gamine in the whole of Paris, she'll have you know!

"Okay then. Let's talk." She starts trudging off towards the bluff. She has no idea what to do; She hates to give in, but neither Steve or Howard will kill her and she can't kill herself. She isn't brave enough. So she folds her arms across her, and starts to trudge, refusing to look at both of them

[pursuitofcappiness]

He follows, hoping they can find somewhere safe to be for a bit. He'll have to be out by sundown, to hunt. And he'll hope that he can find his way back to the camp in the dark. If not, they'll at least hopefully have breakfast, if he doesn't get himself killed in the meantime.

But for now, just getting to a place to stay will be good. So he presses on, hugging himself to keep the cold out. "It'll at least be a decent place to hide."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard stays a few yards ahead, although he keeps casting glances back to make sure Eponine's okay. Soon enough, he finds a crevice of sorts, and they can probably fit all three of them in there tight enough for some warmth. Getting closer to the ice isn't very inviting, but getting away from the wind is convincing enough.

"I'm not going in there first," he says. He doesn't want to end up backed into somewhere he can't get out of. "Steve, you want to do the honors? Housewarm? Literally?"