All this nature and I forgot my toggle.

[arrogantalloy]

WHO| The MCU Cast and anyone who passes by!
WHAT| The Avengers make it through their first week!
WHEN| From the middle of the first week to the start of the second week.
WHERE| The caves near the river.
WARNINGS| Talk of death, animal slaughter. Clint.

Tony knew three things. 

This wasn't his week. He wasn't dead yet. And it was a really relaxing feeling to be once again surrounded by Avengers in an arena.

While it took them all a few days of crossing each other's path and in at least one instance of one of the team actively trying to Kill Tony, they all for the most part found themselves together making a little camp in a small but defensible cave for them all to sleep in while still able to defend it. To be honest, Tony hated the idea of the cave for very understandable reasons, but made do by trying to sleep as close to the entrance as possible.

The camp had started with Tony and Steve, after Steve had found Tony cowering hiding in a crevice which he used to escape Thor who had only had Tony's extinction in his mind. After that the others came close enough to happen upon it on their own, or by coming across each other during scavenging.

During the week, most of them seemed to get something from Bianca Del Rio and others, none of it remotely unwanted. Tony was especially glad for the fire starter kit, and made a mental note to make sure he gives her those sill booklet things of free foot massages from him. Because right now, that kit was the only thing making him feel of any use, because everything else so far is really escaping him.




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[atethecanary]

Between his lack of ability to get any food, or start fires, or really to do much of anything, trying to survive on his own hadn’t proved to be very successful for Julian, so it was a good thing Sam brought him here when he did, even if Julian insisted to himself, all the while still following Sam, that he could have definitely managed on his own if he had to. Totally.

Since arriving at the camp, he hasn’t been hungry, which is a plus, but it’s getting colder and colder and Julian really isn’t equipped for this, despite the blanket that Sam gave him. Muttering about horrible living conditions with no central heating, Julian leans in as close to the fire as he can possibly get. Except, he sort of forgets about his scarf, one of the only sponsor gifts he had gotten and already ripped by geese, still dangling around his neck, and when he leans forward the ends of it are close enough to catch on fire.

It takes Julian a little while to figure out what’s happening, but when he does he flails around uselessly for a few moments, cursing, and then hurriedly rips the scarf from his neck, stomping it into the ground before the flames finally go out. He stares at his poor ripped, burnt scarf sadly, briefly mourning its loss, before seeming to realize, oh wait, there are people around who could have just witnessed that.

In his desperate attempt to pretend like nothing happened, he moves to sit ever so nonchalantly on his now completely ruined scarf, trying to hide it from view. Yes, nothing to see here, not at all.

[honeyibrokeharlem]

There's a man who sticks mostly on the outside of the group. He's had a knife in his lap since people outside of their group started coming in (just because someone trusts them doesn't mean Bruce does), and he's been sewing up a hole in someone's shirt with animal sinew and a bone needle when some idiot sets his scarf on fire.

He considers telling the man what's happened, but he figures it out on his own before Bruce comes to a decision. Bruce looks down at his work with an audible huff of amusement and the slightest smirk at the corner of his lips when he sees that the man has put out the fire and decided to hide the scarf by sitting on it.

"You're going to need something to keep your neck warm out there."

[atethecanary]

The huff catches Julian’s attention, and Julian jerks his head to look at Bruce, tries to figure out if he saw everything. Judging by the slight smirk, Julian’s pretty sure he did, but Julian’s just going to choose not to acknowledge what happened anyway, even as Bruce mentions his neck, which definitely means he knows about the scarf.

“That’s what the blanket is for.” No, that is what a scarf is for, but Julian would really rather pretend that doesn’t exist right now. He shifts, not so subtly glancing down to make sure he’s completely covering the scarf before he says, “Not that you can really keep anything warm out there unless you have a portable heater or something. The wilderness sucks. Why does anyone like camping?”

Okay, Julian might admit there’s a tad bit of a difference between wilderness themed Arenas and camping, but right now Julian’s hatred for all things outdoors trumps that.

[honeyibrokeharlem]

"Some people consider it simpler than modern living." He keeps sewing, not bothering to hide the way he's still visibly amused. "It's easier if you know what you're doing."

He nods towards the mouth of the cave, but he doesn't make eye contact. He has his work to conveniently give him an excuse to not make too much prolonged eye contact. "You can make yourself warmer clothes from animal hide. It helps retain heat in the absence of space heaters."

[atethecanary]

“That’s dumb. Why would you want to live simpler? Modern living has so many nice amenities.” He sounds completely baffled. Raised around so many luxuries, he can’t quite grasp why other people wouldn’t want to be surrounded by them too, if they had a choice.

“How do you make clothes? Sew the hides together?” He watches Bruce sew for a few moments and his brows furrow in frustration. “I don’t know how to do that.” Which is pretty true when it comes to doing most anything around here. At the very least the animal hides sound like they would make good blankets though, and he looks to mouth of the cave in consideration.

[honeyibrokeharlem]

"Some people would prefer to not have all the amenities. Sometimes they find it easier to survive in the wilderness than deal with the complications of modern life."

Bruce keeps sewing up the hole, moving it on his knee so it can catch the light better. "Sewing is pretty easy to pick up. You might not be able to sew well, but an amateur could probably make something that'd last long enough for the arena. Getting hides would be harder. It's more complicated than just killing an animal."

[atethecanary]

“Modern life has complications?” As far as Julian’s been raised to believe, there are no complications, not when everything is so easily solved with a bit of money.

“It is? I’ve only seen it in movies before, where usually it’s a grandma sewing.” When he had ever somehow gotten a hole in his clothes back home, he just bought something new. There was no need to sew anything. But Julian supposes it does look relatively easy. Maybe he could try. The hides on the other hand are a different story. “Killing an animal is already complicated enough.”

[honeyibrokeharlem]

"Yes. Usually complications involving money and social problems."

Bruce looks at the man with an arched eyebrow. This has to be one of the least qualified tributes for this arena. How is he still alive? "I can show you how to sew, if you want. Tanning would be harder. If you barely know how to kill an animal, you won't be able to figure out how to skin it properly any time soon." Or how to properly brain the hides, but that's less because it's complicated and more because he has trouble imagining someone so happy with modern living being comfortable doing it.

[atethecanary]

“Huh.” Julian still looks a little bit confused; neither of those had ever particularly been an issue for him. “Weird.”

“Skinning doesn’t sound that… enjoyable. I don’t really care if I figure out how to do it.” He should, because it would help him survive more, but Julian clearly doesn’t have his priorities straight. “Besides, there’s the hides in the cave, right? I can use those.” And it’s a good thing he was brought to the caves, and has access to all the supplies in them, because otherwise he would have died a long, long time ago.

For all his inexperience in just about everything, sewing still doesn’t seem too bad to Julian, so he decides to take Bruce up on the offer. He stands up, stuffs his burnt scarf into his jacket as sneakily as possible, and then plops down next to Bruce. “So, how does this sewing thing work?”

[honeyibrokeharlem]

Bruce looks at Julian sharply. "There are hides in the caves that other people catch and skin themselves. Those people might not feel generous forever, if they even stick around to be generous." He doesn't mind helping people, honestly, but he does mind when people take it for granted and depend on the charity of others, because they're in for a rude wake up call when people stop helping them.

But he's always happy to teach people what they need to know. He moves his sewing so Julian can see the stitching. "Think of it as a kind of knot-tying. You're running a needle and thread through two pieces of fabric and arranging the thread so it won't undo itself. Can you thread a needle?"

[atethecanary]

Julian’s summarizing what Bruce says as a no, he can’t use the hides, and he pouts a little, no matter how childish it may make him look. “It’s not like I would need that many. Only enough so I don’t freeze,” Julian grumbles, but he’s not going to press it. It may be a different story in the Capitol, but in the Arena Julian’s not going to take something he’s told not to.

His sullen expression clears some as he focuses in on the stitching, though, and he nods along as Bruce explains. The nodding stops at the question and Julian pauses, glancing at the bone needle, before he answers, “No. I’ve never tried before. Is that easy to pick up, too?”

[honeyibrokeharlem]

Bruce isn't going to go out of his way to clear up the misconception. You learn to accept charity gracefully and with gratitude and you learn how to take care of yourself when there's no charity to be given. That's how one survives, and that's how Bruce has survived for many long years on the run.

"It depends on your dexterity. There's a small learning curve, but once you can do it, you never forget." What kind of luxury has the man lived in that he's never threaded a needle? Bruce knots his thread before cutting it and slipping it out of his needle, offering both thread and needle to Julian. "Give it a shot. You just have to slip the thread through the hole at the top of the needle."