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Who| Callista and Venus
What| Venus starts to go through medical withdrawal and finds one of the people in the Arena who won't take advantage of that.
Where| Candy Arena
When| Towards the end of week one
Warnings/Notes| Venus is going through medical withdrawal, so mentions of that. Also, mentions of Ian's body.

Callista was still pretty shaken from Ian's death. She had stayed with his body for a while, certain that they'd come for it, but when it became clear that they were going to let it rot in that place, she had left. Despite their friendship, she had no desire to watch someone she enjoyed being around decompose. She bit away the worry that this meant she wouldn't see him again. Grief was painful and would cloud her judgement.

She had used the cape of his costume to cover his body. She knew that he deserved a more respectful send off and she wished that she could make a pyre, but it was too risky to start a fire. Instead, she bundled up what she could of the pieces of extra costume he had had on him--the Clark Kent pieces--and carried them with her as she moved on.

Then her time was spent finding another place to meditate. She had spent the days and nights in the same spot, eyes closed and mind clear. Once again, she was stubbornly refusing to play the Game.

Despite that, she was still aware of the sounds around her. When she heard someone drawing near she moved to get a good spot to see who it was. She didn't want to put herself in danger so she needed to see the other Tribute before coming up to them.

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They'd given her a booster shot before the Arena. Slow release, they'd said. Not enough to get through the whole week, so she'd better be likable if she expected the Sponsors to send her more. Venus had smiled with that grin that once sold toothpaste and said that wouldn't be a problem.

It's become a problem. It'd hard to be likable when your mind is racing and your body is moving through quicksand. Venus can feel her mind stretching out like a wad of bubblegum being pulled in two directions, holes coming up through the middle, thin and membranous and all-consuming, she can feel as if she can see through the world itself, that she can see between instants and pick at the starry space in between the seconds, that she can...

And yet her body lacks all this power. Her body moves slowly, shivering, cold-sweating. Her arms wrap about her torso despite it being perfectly decent weather. She's dizzy, but if she stops to think about it maybe it's not so much that she's dizzy as that she's floating. Tears streak her face but she doesn't remember crying.

She pauses against a candy cane tree and sees someone nearby, someone on higher ground than her. In a better state Venus might go for the kill - but right now her shivers are racking from her shoulders to her guts, and she sits down with her back against the tree, watching Callie.

Callista watched Venus for a moment, taking in the way that she seemed so hurt. She knew that it could all be a rouse, but the memory of Ian dying from the poison was still too fresh in her mind to be ignored.

Instead of staying far away in a safe distance she moved more into view. Her hands were up and clearly open. "I'm unarmed," she said in a careful voice. "I'm going to come closer to see what I can do to help you, but you're within your rights to tell me no."

"I used to be unarmed," Venus says with a strange giggle, her words spilling from her like alphabet soup, a slurry of language with the emphasis on the wrong parts of each sentence. "I didn't have any arms. That's why they named me after the statue."

She tries to get up and then shivers again, clasps a hand over her gut and moans. She sinks back down, staring at Callista with glassy eyes. "You're not coming to kill me?"

"No," Callista answers. "I want to help you." She moved closer to Venus with a deep frown. "Were you poisoned?" The idea of watching another person die of that poison was unsettling.

"No. I just need my medicine." Venus winces and wraps her arms around herself, looking helpless. "I thought they'd like me enough to send me some. They said...why won't they like me?"

She reaches a shaky hand out to Callie, as if trying to pet a cat.

Callista reaches out after a moment and offers her hand to Venus. "It's okay," she says. "I'm sorry I don't have it to give you."

Venus takes Callista's hand and squeezes it. Her own palm is clammy, her fingertips twitching with nerves shorting out.

"I think I'll be okay in a few minutes. I think. It comes and goes." She rolls her eyes up. "I tried asking for something but I just must not have done a good job at the Cornucopia."

She sounds shattered to say that. All she is is an entertainer. If she can't even do that, what is she?

Callista nods and then moves closer. "Come on, I'll help you up and we'll get out of the open."

Venus gets up with Callista's help. She moves as fast as a normal person but she feels like she's simultaneously moving too fast and crawling through each action. She can feel the impulse rolling from her brain to her muscles.

"You're not playing, are you?"

Callista shakes her head. "This is their Game, not mine." She doesn't care if that broadcasts or not. Although it might cause trouble for Venus, who is sick and relying on her for now. She can only just imagine all of the nonsense the Gamemakes might toss their way.

"Where are we going?" Venus blinks a lot. She's trying to reset herself to where she is, like blinking restarts the metaphorical game of her mind wandering away from her body. "I kind of um, I kind of didn't make many friends at the Cornucopia. I made bruises. I think I took out a kid's eye."

She doesn't know why she's saying this. "Who are you?"

"My name is Callista and I'm taking you to the nook I found. It's hidden enough that I'll be able to defend you if anyone comes to take advantage of your current state." She felt worry going through her again, and focused on walking to shove it away. Fear was part of the Dark Side. Fear could incapacitate you.

"But why? Are they that big on friendship around here? Everyone told me not to bother making friends." Mostly because you have to kill them at the end. Venus starts to walk and feels like each footstep sends an electric pulse up to the base of her skull.

"Why not? If you don't play, why worry about the rest?" Callista pointed out. She got Venus into a safe place. "I'm sorry the floor and walls are so sticky. I think the candy is getting old."

"It's so high-calorie," Venus murmurs. She reaches her hand up and realizes she's crying again, but she doesn't know why. It's less crying and more like her face is leaking.

"I don't deserve you to be nice to me, can't you get it?"

"I don't think that we're a good judge of what we do or do not deserve," Callista pointed out. "We can only deal with what's been handed to us."

"Yeah, well you got handed a killer who blows up families." Venus curls up into a ball and brushes her hair, now sticky with snot and tears, away from her face. "And I don't even know your name."

"Callista," she answers that last part. "And right now, all I have with me is another Tribute. Another person who has been forced into this Arena. We make the choice if we play or not, and right now I don't think either of us are. Let me help you."

"I'm Venus," Venus says quietly, arms over her knees. "And I'm always playing."

"I'll keep that in mind when you start to feel better," Callista says, though it was more of a slightly humorous tone in her voice than any sort of fear. She really isn't scared of the Games or the other Tributes, even the ones who are psychopaths. She can be wary and careful, but there hasn't been real fear since her first night in her first Arena. With Venus, doing the right thing seems more important than fighting. "For now, what can I do to help you feel better? Is there any way I can make your medication?"

"No, I don't remember what dosage I'm on. I just take what the pharmacist gives me. I just need..." Venus lays on her back on the sticky ground, letting her hands hang at her sides, sugar collecting in her fingerprints. "You're too nice. It'll get you killed. Shame."

Callista gave up after a moment, realizing that unless the meds came from the sky there was no way to ease Venus's pain. All that she could really do was offer a distraction. Slowly, she sits down to the side of Venus to let her look out of the nook while also keeping an eye on the other woman. "Have you heard of the Jedi?" she asks after she is settled. She thinks that this will help explain why she's being 'too nice.'

"What's a Jedi?" Venus' voice gropes through the air, seeking something to latch onto while she closes her eyes. Callista's voice is an excellent tether. Something to keep her from just floating away entirely. A little sweat begins to pool on her brow.

"A Jedi is a member of an ancient order. For thousands of years, we guarded the universe. We brought peace to warring worlds and worked towards finding our own inner peace."

"Does that make you immortal?" Venus drapes her wrist on her forehead. It would be funny, to send an immortal here, to a game where the goal is death.

"Not in the way that we live forever, but once our psychical bodies pass we can exist as a part of the Force."

"The fuck is that..." Venus mumbles. Her mouth feels dry. "Do you have water?"

Callista pressed her lips together. "I don't," he admitted. Everything was sticky around her, even her skin and her hair. Talking made her realize how sugar coated even her teeth felt. Water sounded like a good idea for many reasons. "I could go try to find some, if you think you'll be okay on your own."

"I'm not a danger to myself or others," Venus says, sounding as if she's reciting something out of a text book, not only telling people what they want to hear but not even really believing it.

Callista nodded then. "I'll try to be back as soon as I can. They can't see you unless they duck their heads in." She stood and tried to wipe off her hands, but it just spread the stickiness around.

For a while, Venus just waits there, quietly lying on her back and watching her vision make weird spots of light and color on the ceiling of their little tunnel. She shivers, and she thinks about God, and she wonders what impulse drove Callista to help her and to believe in Forces and all sorts of things. And she dreams.

By the time Callista returns, Venus has left. There's a smiley face and a heart drawn in chocolate on the ground where she was, but otherwise, she may as well have vanished.

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