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.




[[There's some prompts down below but feel free to make up your own!]]

Comments

[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."