thearena | [open] Wood and stone will fall away

Who| Phil Gray and open!
What| Week 2 Catchall with various prompts
Where| Everywhere except the Castle (ha ha no)
When| During Week 2
Warnings/Notes| None at the moment!

A. The Village

Getting Linden's parachute was a godsend, as Phillip unwrapped the package and read the note. He chuckled a little at the "noble angle" snipe, it sure didn't feel like that. That would imply that Gray had done more to prevent the murders instead of just covering them up. Well, better late than never, the former guard sighed out and stuffed what he could into his makeshift bag. He'd seen the mess that comes from getting too close to powered Tributes, a legitimate threat this time around, and he had turned into old instincts to keep off the beaten path. Survived this long to get blasted? No thanks.

But none of that, nor the temporary beauty that came with every sunset gave the Phone Guy any comfort that this was anything but the death match he knew and resigned himself to. Nowhere was this more evident in the way tried to sneak into the Village. He'd heard inklings about ghosts roaming the Castle and catacombs at night...and just maybe...

"No, I won't find them here," Phil assured himself as he made a quick lasso for any emergencies. Who "they" were was known to a select few but for being merely memories, they sure weighed a lot in his mind.

Focus on finding Clementine and Sandy, make sure they're safe, figure out the rest later. Raiding caches was distasteful, yes, but if the Capitol wants to see how far Phillip Gray could go to meet those goals, then he'll do his best to give them a show.

B. The Village Part Deux For Firo

If Gray was good at something, it was keeping a level head through stressful situations, and raiding had to be listed as one of those sorts. But keeping the rats at bay just reminded him of the dumpsters out back from Freddy's. The stink was just as bad anyways but not too unfamiliar. Either way, there was food here and nothing a little brush of the hand couldn't fix so he could store it away. By now though, Phil had no issue with keeping the small folding knife somewhere close, ready to defend himself.

Prochainezo said he was going to help me, he thought as he bit into a piece of the rations he had for himself. The other? Stored away for any young or hungry Tribute he ran into that wouldn't try to kill him. What? It might be his second Arena but he's not about to give up being who he is for the bloodshed.

Even if it kills him.

"Firo?" Phil peeked into an adjacent building, hoping Firo wasn't playing him after all this time.

C. Wild Card! Pick whatever you'd like to do!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

As soon as Phil realized Jet had no intentions of getting the easy kill, he relaxed a little more, "I'm okay, I'm good...Are you?" That was more on the whole cracked skins showing-

"Wow, you were not kidding on that whole cyborg thing, holy crap."

He does take a moment to say, "I'm sorry about Albert...and Vee's somewhere." He didn't want to be rude but there is worry in his voice for the superheroine. He's not yet gotten the news of the aftermath so he's keeping hope alive that Venus is safe somewhere.

He doesn't address whether he's okay or not or the cyborg thing, there wasn't much else to say except he was getting along, so he doesn't.

"Thanks." He doesn't meet Phil's eyes when he says it, but he gives him a small sort of smile, the kind a grieving widower like him ought to give on the subject before moving on.

With the subject of Venus, his expression gets darker. "She's gone, Phil. She burnt herself out. But I'm sure she's back in the Capitol right now, watching us do our thing."

"Wha-how?!" there was more than the normal concern a Tribute would have to another, there was an underlying fear of loss, that Venus had run herself ragged. It visibly disheartened the man to know that even with her powers, she'd gotten killed, "I-I'm sorry to hear that."

There was no way for Phil to hide his grief, and for a few crucial parts of a second, he felt alone. When he came back to reality, he did his best to mask it with a smile, with some weariness added to it, "Well, let's give her a good show, okay? You got something set up? I have supplies I can share. I don't mind..."

The memory of the conversation he'd had with Vee about 'that cute guy she wanted to bang' came back to him and he gave Phillip a look that clearly would have told the poor guy Jet was assessing him, if Jet hadn't aimed it at him right when he was distracted.

"I'm sorry, I know you're close, but don't worry too much about her. It's probably better she's back in the Capitol now, I think she'd gotten hurt pretty bad so a little reset was probably what she needed." That was the best he could offer.

He shrugged at the offer of supplies and glanced to the ax in his hand and the bag over his shoulder. "I'm pretty good, honestly, I've got a group to go back to. Do you have a weapon yet? I've got a few to spare."

Whatever Jet was doing or observing, Phil missed the looks, distracted and regaining his composure. "I hope so, I hope she feels better..." he tried to keep his optimism alive in this statement then lifted his face at this. He has his hope resting on seeing her again, and he's a bit transparent on that. "Let's-Let's give her a good one, let's pull through for her." The offer caught Gray off guard for a moment, and he blinked in the surprise. He could have picked the ax, but there was an added weight. He patted at the folded knife close to his belt, "I wouldn't mind something a little bigger but portable. I-I'm making caches, I'm trying to keep a promise." He promised Linden he would not change and began creating the caches.

Jet nodded and fished around in his bag for the spare dagger he'd picked up then offered both it and the ax to Gray. "Take your pick, or both if you'd rather, I can pick up more if I need to. Plus, they're both good for other things." Things besides killing. The ax could chop up wood and the dagger could cut things up like rope or hide or meat.

"I think, as long as you do your best and take care of yourself, she'll be happy to see you again on the other side." Phillip didn't strike him as a killer and he doubted V would be happy if he turned into one, but if he stuck to being a survivor, that would be good enough.

Such generosity makes Phillip smile for a moment, it really did rekindle his drive to keep giving and helping the other Tributes out. "Th-thanks! I-all right...if you're sure." He hesitated to take the ax, the heaviness wasn't exactly a good thing but this would do wonders to ease trap-making and raiding. Taking advantage of the handle, Gray tied his own sack and freed his hands. Jet and Venus could rest easy knowing that Phil wouldn't resort to kill anyone if he could avoid it. He didn't want to be like that monster, and even self defense had a terrible taste in his mouth.

"Here's hoping I can, um, I can get her some flowers, to celebrate her recovery." And maybe ask her out properly.

Edited 2015-06-29 06:23 (UTC)

"Yeah, there you go." A grin flashed across his face as he watched Phil get himself set up. He was about ready to simply say good luck and then walk off, but the mention of flowers (and his own thoughts of the guy taking V out to some place classy) spawned a left field response.

"Just make sure you take good care of her, okay? I get the feeling you're a good guy, someone who'll treat her like she should be treated, but she's my sister and if I hear you proved me wrong, I'm not gonna be too happy about it, got it?" It wasn't said threateningly but it was definitely serious in his intentions. He liked Phillip well enough, but Venus was his priority and Jet wasn't above giving him the once over for her. Hell, Jet had done as much to Joe and Joe was his best friend.

Jet would be treated to the sight of a blindsided Phillip Gray, just..."Oh-Oh yes, I will treat her with respect and if she doesn't want to take another step, um, I mean, she doesn't want t-to pursue anything further, I will back off. Yes sir."

Did he just get the Talk? Granted Jet was like family to Venus and Phil knew he was an outsider coming in. He was thirty-one and he was still caught off guard and nervous about asking this, of asking Milo out. Last time he had this talk, it was senior prom way back when. And he still stumbled on his words. "If it's all right with you of course...sorry."

Edited 2015-07-03 23:22 (UTC)

Jet scoffed and shook his head. 'Hapless' was right, Phil definitely wasn't Jet's kind of guy, but he could see how he was Venus'. She could use someone who would take care of her emotionally while she protected them physically.

"Hey, don't need to go apologizing to me, just do that and that's all that matters. Take care of her and take care of yourself." He reached out to clasp Phil's shoulder with that small smile back in place. "Good luck, Gray, I'll see you around." He pulled away and gave a lazy salute before turning to head back to base. He was half tempted to invite Phillip along, but he figured the guy had a better shot at surviving alone than he did surviving with a bunch of reckless people who got themselves into shit half the time.

[open] Wood and stone will fall away

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