thearena | [open]

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WHO: Draco Malfoy and open
WHAT: Draco's made it out of the Cornucopia, and is now exploring a little
WHEN: immediately after the Cornucopia until some time that evening
WHERE: leaving the Cornucopia and heading north towards Fantasyland
WARNINGS: none right now.

He hadn't made it out of the Cornucopia with nearly so good a haul as last time. It left a bitter taste in his mouth, though he was still relatively unharmed, and that seemed good enough for him. He wasn't dead. Though that might have been a bit difficult, what with the complete lack of weapons in the Arena.

Draco rolled his eyes, wrapping his three cans up in the end of his cape, keeping it close to his body in case someone attempted to grab him with it, and with that, he began heading off north, just like he'd told Katurian he would. Maybe this Arena wouldn't be too bad after all.

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The first thing Katurian did after escaping the Cornucopia was take off his cape. After using someone else's cape to restrain them not once, but twice, wearing his own was messing with karma or irony or whatever. He intended to take every space step.

Draco was not a safe step.

Katurian had meant what he said to Howard in the lounge before the arena, he had meant that it was infinitely wiser to avoid allies and kill anyone who made the suggestion (surreptitiously, quietly, hushed in the night), but Katurian was not cold-hearted and he couldn't leave the younger Tributes to fend for themselves. He saw himself in their eyes. He saw his brother. The dilapidated amusement park bursting with ruined innocence only made it worst.

So he approached the north, his cape rolled up and pulled tight between his two hands. He thoroughly intended to strangle any strangers who stepped too close.

Draco had been walking for some time now, eyes always working to keep an eye on his surroundings. Even with Atticus as sometime company, he made sure to watch his back, lest he find a knife in it. Metaphorical, by the looks of things; it was almost disappointing to find that there weren't that many weapons, if for no other reason than the fact that Draco would have to make do some other way.

He caught a glimpse of Katurian from afar, a good few metres away, with his cape, and wondered if that wasn't a rather brilliant way to go about it. He cleared his throat, and glanced over his shoulder, trying to see if anyone else was around before turning back and calling over in a low hiss, hoping it travelled: "Oi!"

Atticus' first instinct was to head for Tomorrowland. That had always been his favorite part of the park, but he wasn't sure he was ready to see what they'd done to it yet, so instead he headed north, toward the castle. There were some rides up there he was pretty sure would make some cover.

When it seemed as though the other Tribute actually knew a little bit of where he was going, Draco made it a point to follow him. Not obviously, mind; he wasn't looking for a fight. No, he was too busy ruminating on how the Capitol had thrown him right back into the Arenas again, even after everyone seemed to like him, had wanted to keep him out.

So much for that being an option.

At any rate, he needed to get somewhere decent, and if trailing after fellow Tributes was going to get him there, then so be it. And over time, Draco would just creep a little bit closer, moving a bit faster, perhaps with the intention of greeting Atticus.

He heard it. Draco could have dropped a pin, and he would have heard it. Katurian was hyper-aware, every little rustle of wind kicking up his pulse, every creaking ruin sparking his muscles. There were disadvantages, of course, to this constant surge of adreneline. When Draco called, Katurian practically jumped out of his skin, his eyes wildly scanning the horizon.

And then he saw him. Thank fucking Christ.

Katurian had also escaped the Cornucopia unharmed, although specks of blood rested on his face, his dark black clothes. He rubbed at a spot on his cheek, self-conscious, before slowly making his way towards Draco, ducking behind capsized rides and storefronts as he went.

It was sort of disconcerting to watch Katurian freak out like that, not that he was terribly surprised. Not when every other noise could be a potential assailant. He threw another look over his shoulder before starting to meet the other man halfway, darting around objects and rides with a sort of practiced ease. He might have hated being in the Arenas, but damned if he wasn't getting good at them.

The last time Atticus teamed up with someone in the arena, he ended up being attacked by a zombie. He wasn't too keen on having that happen again, so when he noticed Draco getting closer he was more wary than anything. He kept heading for the castle though, wanting to get somewhere less open before slowing down.

The odd castle in the distance seemed like a good enough destination.

Merlin tugged at the absolutely ridiculous clothes (no armour to go with it, though, that would be too useful) as he went down the street, taking in the sights as they were. Twisted metal contraptions, bits of debris, and abandoned streets.

Well, mostly abandoned. There was a blond man over there, headed in the same general direction, though whether he would be an ally or an enemy remained to be seen. Might be best to just not get his attention.

Draco was making sure to keep an eye on every direction, as long as he could. If there was something in the way, obviously he wasn't about to go out of his way, but if he could see it with just a turn of the head, then it was getting watched. He had learned his lesson about letting his guard down when he let Howard get the drop on him in the last Arena.

The walk had been long and tedious, his surroundings disconcerting at best. Everything was putting Draco on edge, though for good reason; he thought he heard footsteps around one of the rides, though he couldn't see the source. Instead, he cleared his throat loudly, hoping the sound carried somewhat to the other Tribute he thought might have been there. Stalking him? He didn't know. He didn't care to know, either.

Atticus' wariness went largely unnoticed for Draco's own unease and the fact that he was more concerned with learning the lay of the land. He'd rather not have to make a run for it and get lost somewhere down the line. Still, he was managing to catch up to the other Tribute slowly but surely, still not making a peep just yet. In all likelihood, he was more likely to accidentally trip over Atticus than to say 'hello'.

Atticus was too much on the watch to let Draco trip over him, but he did look back over his shoulder at Draco, giving him a faint nod by way of a greeting and also to test the waters.

He approached. While he wasn’t out of breath, he felt like he was. All of the muscles in chest were tight, so tight, and the air burned when it filled his lungs. He looked Draco over for injuries, again feeling for the blood sticky on his own cheek.

“Someone tried to kill me,” he said, answering the question before it could be asked. “I guess it’s not, you know, I guess it’s not really the start of the Games until that happens.” He swallows the self-pity in a harsh gulp. “How are you?”

He wasn't all that surprised that someone had already tried to kill Katurian, even though it probably wasn't personal. Not the way that Howard had killed him last time, nor the way he wanted to kill both Howard and Eponine right back; he kept his thoughts to himself, his expression steeled as he was studied.

"Alive," Draco offered back, choosing to state the obvious just because he could. "Had to fight tooth and nail for a bloody bag that I ended up losing in the end anyway." He rolled his eyes, disapproving of that turn of events before jostling his cape. "I got some food, though. I assume it's food."

The acknowledgement almost made Draco trip over himself, though he was far too graceful to ever allow that to happen. He merely blinked, frowning to himself before hesitantly nodding back, beginning to move in a bit of a semi-circle around Atticus. As though catching up in a sort of round-about fashion.

That just made Atticus even more wary, and he slowed down just a little. He didn't like having the other guy behind him.

Is he clearing his throat?

Surprised, Merlin stopped in his tracks for a moment, debating what to do. Clearly, the person already knew he was there, so more subtly seemed rather pointless. Yet he hadn't tried to attack thus far, so perhaps...

Coming to a decision, Merlin stepped out into the open.

"Hello?"

Edited 2013-03-27 13:43 (UTC)

Before long, Draco wasn't behind Atticus any longer - more in front, rather - and after thinking the whole thing over, he just gave a loud sigh and came to a full stop, giving Atticus a pointed stare.

"All right, this is fucking stupid. We're going to circle around each other until one of us decides to jump the other one in an attempt to bump off some of the competition, and it's getting obnoxious," he stated, clearly exasperated. "So hello. I'm not planning on killing you, mostly because I've nothing to kill you with."

"Hello," he replied mildly, clutching his cape a little bit closer to him, the cans rattling against each other. Now was when that bag would have come in handy, but such was life; he considered himself lucky that he had this cape at all. "So out of curiosity, how long were you just going to follow along like that? And what were you planning on doing if I hadn't noticed you?"

"Well, that's...not terribly comforting," Atticus said, eyeing the other warily, though he stopped as well. "But I'm not planning to kill you either?"

"Better than the alternative, isn't it?" Draco merely asked, tipping his head to one side as he stared at Atticus, giving him a once over. Not much of a threat, by the looks of it, but then again, who was in those outfits? "Though I appreciate the reassurance. Hopefully you're not one of those who decides to stab me in the back because I've decided to let you go on for the time being." With that, he lifted one brow, challenging Atticus to speak up now if that was, in fact, the case.

"See I was kinda hoping the alternative was, 'I don't plan on killing you ever because I'm a decent guy, and that's kind of fucked up,'" Atticus offered. "But I don't have anything to stab you with, so I think you're safe on that score?"

"It's not, sadly. Whether I'm a decent guy or not is fairly irrelevant in a place like this, especially given that we've never met before, and I have no real reason not to kill you. Feel free to change my mind, however," he invited, frowning a little bit. This was, actually, better than fighting. Draco could go for this.

"All right. So neither of us are going to kill each other. Which leads me to my next question: where are you headed exactly?"

"I would have thought the reason not to kill me was the decent guy thing," he said, frowning right back.

"I thought I'd hide out in Fantasyland. Good places for it."

He merely shrugged, "Maybe. I suppose you can determine that, though. Given that I was heading in the same direction you were, and it seemed to be creeping you out that I was following you. You seem to know this place fairly well."

Atticus wasn't entirely sure he wanted to stick around with this guy, but he didn't particularly want to be on his own either, so...

"I sort of grew up here. I mean, not here, but I came here a lot as a kid."

"Really? This is an actual place?" Draco asked with a frown. They could probably split off eventually - Draco was sort of banking on it - but heading around in a group was more of a deterrent to rogue Tributes.

That's what Atticus was thinking and why he wasn't taking off.

"Yeah, it's...an amusement park?"

Draco's mouth twitched, and he glanced around again. "I certainly hope it looks a lot more enjoyable the rest of the time. I can't imagine anyone finding any amusement around here."

"Well, it didn't look like this when I was a kid," he said with a frown.

"So what did it look like?" He asked, one brow arching. He was curious; he couldn't help it.

"It was...happy. Bright. Cheerful. Really crowded..." He shrugged, not really in the mood to reminisce. "It was nice."

"Bloody bizarre," Draco simply stated, shaking his head a little. Atticus' mood went straight over his head, mostly because he just didn't care. "This is the furthest thing from nice I can think of. Except maybe one of the previous Arenas."

"Well, yeah. It sucks now," Atticus said, ducking under an archway into the castle.

"What a brilliant statement of the obvious," he drawled in return, glancing back over his shoulder before following after Atticus into the castle, and giving that a judgemental once-over in return. "I'm Draco, by the way. Not that I think you knowing my name is going to make you any less inclined towards turning on me if it suits you better. Common courtesy, that's all."

Crossing into the castle, Atticus could feel the change immediately. He felt warmer; he could smell...everything; and he could hear small and not so small creatures scurrying around the area.

"Atticus," he said distractedly, slowing down to look around the entrance way warily.

"Charmed, I'm sure," he replied in a murmur, pausing for a moment as the change washed over him as well. Just a tingle in his fingers and toes at first, spreading through the rest of him until he felt complete, instead of like the shell of a person he'd been for most of his time in the Capitol.

"Did you feel that?"

Atticus turned his wariness on Draco at the question.

"Yeah...that was...yeah."

"So I wasn't the only one. Excellent," Draco frowned, glancing around them for a second. He had a suspicion as to what it was, and if Atticus was feeling things as well, then that meant he wasn't exactly the typical Tribute either. For a moment, Draco's wary curiosity gave way to legitimate interest, and he narrowed his eyes slightly at the other man.

Atticus definitely didn't like the way this guy was looking at him, and he didn't like that Draco had felt the same thing he had. He'd watched enough footage of the last arena to know it didn't necessarily mean Draco was a werewolf too, but he didn't particularly want to find out exactly what he was.

"Right, well...I'm just gonna...head off. Nice meeting you?"

As pleasant as the company had been, Draco didn't like the way Atticus was looking at him either. He simply nodded, taking a step or two back before twisting to turn another direction. "The pleasure was all mine, I assure you. I'm going to go this way, if that way's fine by you."

"Yeah. Knock yourself out," Atticus said, nodding. He was probably better off on his own anyway.

"Hey...good luck, man."

He'd already started off when the final comment reached his ears; he paused, glancing over his shoulder.

"You too. Try not to die too quickly."

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space step??? what, self??

just let it happen 8D

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