(no subject)

[needsaprince]

Who| Lottie, and Some, Jay (&Neffa?) and eventually Shepard!
What| Lottie meeting up with her people, and running into Shepard late down the line.
Where| Candy arena
When| A bit after the cornucopia
Warnings/Notes| None atm. The thread is started within for Shepard!

This was disgusting.

Once, when she had been very young, Lottie had fallen into the Bayou. She was scooped out incredibly quickly, but she smell and the feel of it had clung to her, and it was the most disgusting thing she could think of.

She would glad go for a swim in the bayou right now. The sun made everything soft and stick. her costumes didn't help, glad to gather a stick residue. She had already ditched the wig and stockings, thought the later were tied around her waist just in case.

Tired, and not really caring if she made a very obvious target, Lottie dragged herself to a shaded rocky outcropping, and did her best to find the least stick place to rest.

Comments

[gruesome]

There was no way for Some to trace anyone's scents out here. He'd actually been just heading for the shade when he spotted Lottie, and sped up, though grief still made him slow. His costume was garish; his fur was all bleached into bone-white stripes, and the tunic he wore was bright, reflective silver, with a hood hanging down his back, and a zebra's neck and head stretching up his chest and along an upper arm.

When he was near, he waved, and slunk into the shade to all but collapse to the ground beside her.

[needsaprince]

"Oh, Some, darling!"

If this sun was harsh on him, she couldn't even imagine how hard it must be on him. She felt in her outfit for something to cover him with, but had nothing to help.

[gruesome]

He had his hood, but wearing it up felt stifling and close, and blocked six of his eyes. Exhausted, he rested his head on a translucent pink boulder near her side, then lifted it in distaste when it found that to be sticky. "Does this whole place smell like sickness to you?"

[needsaprince]

"The smell is making me sick, that's for sure."

She sniffed, trying to find a way to rest while touching as little as possible.

"I think I will never eat candy again."

[gruesome]

He crept a little closer, until his shoulder was against her side.

"Rapunzel died."

[needsaprince]

"Oh, darling." She wrapped her arms around him, squeezing.

"It just means she's back in the Capitol. Not too bad, really."

[gruesome]

"She didn't even- didn't even have a chance. And I- I know, I know... but it looked so painful..."

[needsaprince]

If Rapunzel was much like her, and she felt she was...she didn't have much of a chance anyway.

"She'll be waiting for you at home, love."

[gruesome]

"... I am starting to call it home too."

FOR SHEPARD

[needsaprince]

Now she had some companionship, and with it, some food and water, Lottie was feeling much better about things.

Picking out a small selection for lunch, she ducked out of their hiding spot, going to find a tree to tuck herself under to eat. It was, she had found, the least stick and disgusting combination in the arena.

Oh, and was she ready to dig in. She had, perhaps, grabbed a bit more food than she should have.

[earthborn]

One thing to be said about Lottie; she was neither stealthy, not subtle. It felt a bit too much like plain murder to simply kill her. It would've been easier, but... She was just walking, out in the open, like this was a picnic.

Shepard really couldn't condone it, not when the girl had the foresight to bring a good couple of meals with her. Jane had begun life with an awful lot of petty theft; she wasn't above it now.

So, carefully, she came up in the lee of Lottie's tree and tapped on it with the sword she'd been given, "Don't get up."

Well, that was practically polite. It really wouldn't do, after all, for her to scream.

[needsaprince]

Oh lordy.

Lottie went stiff, before her gaze landed on Shepard. She considered screaming, anyway. It was pretty ingrained in her.

But Shepard looked pretty lethal, and while she did enjoy her companions, it was not because they were deadly killers.

"...what do you want?"

[earthborn]

That's a pity, Lottie: Shepard finds that deadly killers make wonderful companions. Not bad for drinking buddies either, which has on occasion surprised her.

"I'll take everything you have," said Shepard. Whether you agree or not, said her tone, and the looming tip of the blade over Lottie's shoulder agreed. It was bright pink there, fading through the spectrum up to red near the hilt, where Shepard stood, glaring, "And don't make too much noise about it. It'd be a real shame if those little creatures smelled blood over here."

[needsaprince]

Lottie swallowed, heavily. Wide did her greedy little hands hav e to take so much of the supplies?

"Are you sure you don't want to...sit and share?" She asked, with a hopeful little giggle.

But her hands were already reaching to gather up everything she had.

[earthborn]

She wants to share. What is this, grammar school?

"Yeah, I don't think so."

But Lottie looks smart enough to have seen the lie of the land— even while trying to negotiate, for a sufficiently loose definition of the term, she's complying to Shepard's demands. Fair enough, you keep up like this, lady, you get to live. Good choice.

A thought occurs to her, "What's your name?"

Ordinarily she might not care— hell, in a real deathmatch, she'd never be speaking to Lottie again after this moment, but this woman might come up again. Acceptable civilian losses aside, the Capitol was probably going to keep throwing this particular egg at the wall until it stuck.

[needsaprince]

"...Charlotte."

Usually she followed up with 'my friends call me Lottie.' Strangely, she wasn't feeling like extending that grace to Shepard, not while she was holding out the small bundle of supplies to her.

Though to be fair, the woman was letting her live, which was far more than she needed to do.

[amourtician]

Jay approaches Lottie very carefully, not entirely sure that she's who he thinks she is. The costumes are confusing. Once he's positive it's just Lottie, he quickens his pace and even dares to wave at her. It occurs to him that he might be attracting someone else's attention just a second too late and he swears under his breath, before hitching a smile back up.

"Lottie! Lottie, darling! Are you quite all right there?"

[needsaprince]

"Jay!"

She quite down after her first out burst of delight.

This isn't a Sunday brunch, after all, and although she is less attached to her life, she shouldn't assume Jay is in the same spot.

[lessthanelementary]

For a brief moment, Neffa isn't sure whether she's addressing Jay or him. He grimaces and tugs at his hair, throwing a cautious glance over one shoulder to make sure neither Jay nor Lottie had drawn anyone else's eyes, and wishing very much that they had just given him a wig.

He trots a few steps to keep up, grateful for the shade of the outcropping. "Keep it down," he cautions them, once he's close enough to be heard without raising his voice. He considers dropping the heavy bag of supplies over his shoulder, but no, he doesn't know that they're safe yet-- better to clutch it tighter. "You'll get us robbed, or worse."

[amourtician]

Jay rolls his eyes.

"Don't worry, darling, there's three of us and Lottie here," -- he beams at her -- "once made it to the final three in an Arena! We'll be fine."

He's bluffing, of course, but he figures showing fear might be a bad choice, here. He doesn't want Neffa any twitchier and he doesn't want to worry Lottie.

[needsaprince]

"Sorry." Lottie gives a little sheepish grin to Neffa, pressing her fingers to her mouth.

"Oh, doll, don't give me too much credit." Waving a hand, she shakes her head. "I'm not exactly a champ her. I'm Lottie, by the way."

She extends an unfortunately sticky hand to Neffa.

[gruesome]

Some has been atop an outcropping, trying to see as far as he can in the unforgiving light, but when he sees people near Lottie, he takes the quickest way down; half-climbing, half-dropping straight down the face of the candy rocks to land just outside their little circle in a six-footed crouch.


"Lottie, is everything okay here?"

[lessthanelementary]

"Neffa a Reyeth. A pleasure." Not his usual list of Titles To Remember, but this is hardly the time. He shakes her hand with his equally-sticky one. "Not to worry, I'm sure you're very capa--"

Then Some appears, and Neffa comes embarrassingly close to leaping out of his skin.

Some sticks out against the bright-colored cliff face, but with his rapid movement he looks rather like a huge spider, dropping in great leaps - it's not until he's on the ground and Neffa has taken a stumbling step back that he realizes who it is.

"--Gods," he manages around breath that does not seem keen to return. "Is anyone else coming?"

[amourtician]

Jay clutches at Neffa for support, trying very hard not to stare at Some in utter terror. Some isn't really all that different to spirits back home -- hell, Jay's own ancestry holds at least one spirit with eight limbs -- but Jay doesn't exactly hold counsel with spirits once every octet. And while Jay himself is eight-eyed, six of those are blind and merely decorative, there to inform people of his unusual heritage, not there to see and sense. Some's eyes all work, as far as Jay knows.

The point is, sentient and reasonably courteous or not, Some is still fucking terrifying and far too like mortal-hating spirits in appearance. So Jay cringes back, clings to Neffa and looks away.

"Ah. Some," he says, his voice trembling. "H-hello, darling. Glad to see you haven't died of diabetes yet!"

He dares to look up at Some and smile, shakily. He figures joking might discharge the atmosphere, even if the joke is somewhat poor.

[needsaprince]

"Some, darling, these are our new friends. It sounds like you've meet Jay, and this is Mister Reyeth." She acted like she was simply introducing a family friend, not a potentially terrifying nightmare creature.

Hopefully it would make this go smoother. She reached out, loosely looping and arm around Some's waist with a reassuring smile to the other two boys.

[gruesome]

Some set a protective hand on her shoulder, still watching the two boys with some suspicion. "Yes, I have met them both. I didn't see anyone else coming... I think we have the area, for the time being."