Arena 06 - Happy

[gamemakers]

The last few hours before the Arena have a strangely stifled quality, as if half the people they interact with are trying very hard not to laugh. Maybe it's the costumes, the fancy gowns and velvet tunics, the short capes. Or maybe it's their destination.

The round courtyard to which the tubes bring them could not be more different from the last arena. Though outside the circle of pedestals, disrepair and neglect has taken over the roads and buildings, the garden inside the circle could not be more perfectly sculpted. Every hedge is a smooth, rounded shape. Flowers bloom brightly in concentric circles of insane color. The Cornucopia sits gleaming and golden, and just in front of its mouth, a bronze statue of a man and a mouse stands amid the heap of supplies.

20, shouts the voice from the sky.

Aside from it, there is a hush. No flies in the flowers, no wind in the trees. It is a cool day, with the comfortable chill of early spring and noon's short shadows.

19 - 18 - 17

Outside the circle, behind the tributes on the northern side, a castle looms. Through its wide gate, devastation everywhere, but it, itself, is shining clean, glowing pink and blue. Opaque windows look down from the heights of it, as uncaring as every hidden camera the veterans know is there.

12 - 11

Music starts as the countdown nears the bottom, a whimsical, dramatic tune.

3

2

1

And with the final note, the gong rang out, and a firework shot into the sky from the castle's peak, bright enough to burst redly across the sky above them all. Let the Games begin.



((OOC NOTES: IF YOUR CHARACTER HAS POWERS THE CAPITOL HAS NERFED, make sure you are on this list.

And everyone really should review the arena post. Because there's a little more to play with than you might think.

And please remember to add your character's tag to each post they're in.))

Comments

[lessthanelementary]

He doesn't dignify the first statement with a response. Arguing business ethics isn't going to avail him anything now. He turns his attention to the snare, determined not to botch it - he'll show him wet behind the ears.

He takes the strip of cloth from Howard and shakes out the knot (he'll leave him with it when he goes, of course, but there's little point destroying his own cape now), and goes for it before his hands forget what his eyes just saw. His execution is less than confident, but he makes it through the first few turns of the knot successfully - but then something gets upended, some bit gets reversed, damned if he knows, and it falls apart in his hands.

A deep breath. "Once more," he says shortly, and he does not lose his temper-- he will not lose his temper-- with his nerves frayed to pieces his temper is all he has left to keep-- "Only once."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Actually watch what I'm doing this time, okay?" Howard seems unable to refrain from putting a little jab in. He repeats the process, this time a bit slower, then hands the knot back to Neffa. "It's easier to figure out how to tie it if you untie it first."

He folds his arms and watched Neffa work.

[lessthanelementary]

"Are you this friendly with everyone who risks their life to help you?" He unties it carefully this time, though, looks at what pulls through where and what connects to what else, and isn't sure if it's gratifying or embarrassing to find that it isn't that complicated - tricky, sure, but when he starts smaller, the loop doesn't pull through like it did before, and when he pulls the snare over his wrist and tugs, it tightens neatly.

"Ha!" He can't resist holding up the snared wrist to show off the knot, which is far less lopsided than he'd expected. It's not much of a victory, but it's his first real victory of the day, and that means something. Check starvation off the list; that's one less way to die.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"I thought we had a deal. Don't pretend it's altarism," Howard says, fully botching the term 'altruism'. "You can keep the knot."

He can't help but give Neffa a slow clap.

"Now. Food. There should be a train that way, you can sleep in the cars and it's elevated. You'll probably be safe, I'm betting."

[lessthanelementary]

"Don't worry. I have very little use for altruism." He only puts a little emphasis on the word. Only a little. Because the slow clap only stung a little. Because lording your education over someone in a death match, that's a victory.

He cranes his neck in the direction Howard indicates, but he can't tell if there's a train there or not in the gathering darkness. Well, he's got the concrete results he was looking for - he can take one thing on faith. Leaving the snare looped over his wrist (he'll want to practice that knot before it leaves his head), he opens the neck of his makeshift sack, businesslike, and proffers the contents to Howard.

"Two. As promised. I'll give you your choice." They're all more or less the same size, but their weights are different; he's not sure what that could indicate, but maybe it means something to Howard.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard takes two cans that slosh slightly when shaken - hopefully soup of some sort. "Thanks, man. Always a pleasure doing business."

And he runs off.