[OPEN]

[luckofthedevil]

Who| Alex Rider and OPEN
What| Dinner and Districtmate bonding. Or lack of bonding. Also, Alex just out and about.
Where| District 4 suites and around the Training Center
When| post Arena 6 sometime
Warnings/Notes| none atm

It wasn't that Alex didn't like the other Tributes in District 4. He just hadn't gone out of his way to talk to them very much. When he'd first arrived he'd made the decision to not form any connections, to keep himself distant from the other Tributes. That way it wouldn't hurt him if someone was injured or killed (and, later when he noticed some of the Tributes weren't brought back, if they disappeared altogether), but in the last couple Arenas he'd begun to see the futility in that position. He found himself liking some of the other Tributes, and the ever present loneliness gnawed all the more.

So when his stylist chattered happily about 'just a little dinner' to help the newer Tributes of District 4 'feel more at home', Alex's protestations were mostly habit. He figured he could at least make polite small talk. He was curious about the other Tributes to some extent, where they'd come from and what their homes were like. If it weren't for the frequent death matches they were forced to engage it, this situation would actually be pretty exciting for Alex. How often did you have the opportunity to meet people from other realities? (Though, Alex hadn't completely dismissed the possibility this was all a delusion brought on by a psychotic break.)

The dinner that night was just as nice as it usually was, but it was distinctly District flavored. The dishes were made from fish and other aquatic creatures, and Alex noticed a certain prevalence of seaweed as both a garnish and a food item.

- - -

Alex had worked up a sweat, as he did most mornings. The equivalent of 5 km in laps of the large room followed by and hour of weights. He was mostly healed from the state his body was always in after each resurrection, the bruises properly faded away, and in another week or so he would be back at his peak and ready for the next Arena.

Rubbing his hair with a towel, Alex eyed the ropes course, waiting for the line to die down. Even if it was popular with some of the other Tributes, it was Alex's least favorite part of the room. It reminded him too much of the week and a half he'd spent in the Brecon Beacons, which in turn reminded him of Blunt. And that was just something best avoided. Still, he ran the ropes course all the same, because it was good for agility and balance. He just made sure there was no way to construe that he might favor the ropes over some other part of the training room.

Comments

[savedbyasong]

Shion peered at the seaweed with interest, he had never tried it before nor known it was edible by humans. Maybe it wasn't, but he doubted the Capitol would actually give them food that could make them ill.

He had settled in a little better, and though he still dreaded the Arena, and in many ways wished he could just get it over with so he could stop worrying so much he had stopped looking like a lamb ready for slaughter. Mostly.

He only really knew R from his district and so he was looking around the table nervously not sure what to say, he still wasn't sure on how to act around people who would probably try to kill him soon. Still he smiled at the boy near him, he seemed close enough to his age.

[luckofthedevil]

Alex eyed a few of the dishes dubiously before cautiously filling his plate. Ever since his first Arena, Alex had lost most of his enjoyment of seafood (which made being a Tribute for District 4 a little awkward). Still, he couldn't exactly reject fish fingers completely. They were just too nostalgic a dish.

As he glanced around the table, Alex caught the boy sitting next to him giving him a nervous smile. He nodded in reply an gave a small smile of his own.

"I'm Alex."

[savedbyasong]

"Hello Alex." He smiled, "I'm Shion." There his voice was steady and normal sounding. "It's nice to meet you."

[luckofthedevil]

"Nice to meet you too, Shion."

Hypothetically, of course. This was hardly a 'nice' situation to meet anyone in, though compared to how mid-Arena meetings tend to go, this was by far preferred.

Alex was fairly sure he'd seen Shion out and about the Training Center for at least a couple weeks now, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly when he'd first seen him. Things tended to blur together a little between Arenas.

"You've been here about a few weeks now, right?"

[savedbyasong]

"I have... I came just as the last arena was ending..." He forced himself to eat a mouthful of food, ignoring how sick he felt just thinking about the arena and the dread of it. "How about you? Have you been here long?"

does Shion know about the whole resurrecting thing?

[luckofthedevil]

"A while," Alex replied as he dissected a fish finger. More breading than fish, not how he liked them. "I've been here ten months." It was a fact he tried not to dwell on too much, but each time he realized how long he'd been stuck in Panem, he couldn't help but feel just a little more disgusted with himself.

yup he does sob

[savedbyasong]

Ten months... that was longer than Shion had been in West Town. Ten months of constant fear, of dying over and over again.

Shion dragged his gaze away when he realised he had been staring in horror. "That's a long time."

/patpat/ it's okay Shion, it's okay .... maybe

[luckofthedevil]

Alex almost felt like laughing at the expression on Shion's face. His time in Panem was starting to catch up with the time he spent under MI6's thumb in terms of level of danger and risk to his person (though it had exceeded MI6 in terms of actually killing him), but the emotional torture was still significantly lower.

"There are worse things," he replied. And Alex was doing his best to avoid those.

[savedbyasong]

Shion blinked again, this time because of the memories that flashed through his mind. The smell of rotting flesh, the persistent wail of a child.

He dropped the food he had been holding up, back onto his plate and put down his fork.

"Yeah." He tried to smile, failed a bit. "There are."

He took a breath and made himself pick the fork up again.

"Almost nine tenths of these fish are extinct in my world, and though I could probably name them it's a little harder when they're dead."

Well done Shion, excellent conversation starter right there.

[retrieverchef]

Eliot had just gotten off the ropes. His eyes narrowed as he saw Alex. It'd been a while since the Arena and Eliot having to kill the kid. The Games were bad enough without having to worry about being turned into a zombie. That would be worse than just dying. He'd been too busy to check in on the kid since then. "Hey, Alex."

[luckofthedevil]

Alex hadn't realized Eliot was in the room as well, but now that he was, he couldn't help but feel a little awkward. He'd asked something rather terrible of Eliot back in the Arena, and Alex wasn't sure if Eliot resented the position he'd been put in or not. If the roles had been reversed, Alex wasn't sure he'd have been able to do the same. Or maybe he could have, and that was part of his discomfort.

"Hey, Eliot. How've you been?"

[retrieverchef]

"I've been busy. Finally got some time to train a bit. How 'bout you, kid?"

The question of how he was handling nearly becoming a zombie was left unspoken.

[luckofthedevil]

"I've mostly just been training, getting ready for the next Arena. Best not to waste time, right?" Because he was definitely not going to fall prey to his zombie District-mate next time. That had been a singularly unique experience for Alex, but so had a lot of things that happened to him since arriving in Panem.

[retrieverchef]

He smiled and nodded. "Definitely right. Once you're done on the ropes, ya might wanna try out the archery station."

[luckofthedevil]

"It's on my list," Alex replied. And it was. Ever since Arena 5 where he'd gotten ahold of the arrows, Alex had been working on his archery between Arenas. It was a useful weapon if he ever got his hands on one.

[retrieverchef]

The older Tribute nodded. "Good. That and the throwing knives are probably your most important weapons stations." He knew the kid could fight. He'd seen the footage. But Alex needed to be able to take R and anyone he'd turned out before they got close to him.

[luckofthedevil]

Alex nodded. Fighting with ranged weapons was definitely not his strong point. He'd done some training with them on Malagosto, but he was much better at close quarter combat. However, as his run-in with R had shown, sometimes it was better to not let them get close at all.

"I've been working on those too," he admitted. "Though my aim could use improving."

[celebrityskinned]

Venus enjoys the rope course; it's where she can best show off how limber and quick she is. When she takes to the course, she jumps, somersaults and flips, scrambles over the ladder, slips under the bars and barrel rolls over obstacles. She's gearing up to do that today when she seems some blond kid about her age is taking it up.

She throws a towel over her shoulder and waits, tapping her foot a bit impatiently and crossing her arms.

[luckofthedevil]

Alex noticed the girl waiting as he scrambled up the first ladder. Oh well, she'd just have to wait. Used to the burly SAS soldiers scrutinizing his every move as he ran the Gauntlet (because, let's face it, trying to get the fastest time was just another manly chestbeating contest) Alex tuned her and the rest of the room out as he completely the course.

Alex's objective each time he did the ropes course was the same: match the time from the previous day or get one faster. And that meant finding more efficient ways to climb the ladders and get through the obstacles. He runs the course more like a soldier than a gymnast, always going for the quickest way through than one that might be more difficult or fun.

When he reaches the end, his feet barely make a sound as he drops to the ground. Turning, he gives the waiting girl a short bow and sweeps an arm at the ropes course, as if to say, "all yours."

[celebrityskinned]

"Damn right you better bow to me."

Venus' style is the complete opposite of Alex. She has the bounce and flexibility of a gymnast and the grace of a dancer, used to being both tight and balanced as well as beautiful as she moves. She has to be; cameras are unforgiving things. A single unflattering shot could become her legacy.

She tumbles, flips and leaps through the course, coming to a stop in the pose of a runner at the starting line. She stands up and brushes hair from her face.

"You like?"

[luckofthedevil]

Ah, so she was the diva kind. That was all right; Alex had known some back at Brookland. He quietly watched as she completed the course, noting the way she moved and that her run was executed to be seen. In comparison, his must have looked very cut and dry.

When she'd finished, he clapped his hands politely. "You certainly have moves," he commented. "Moreso than most people here."

[celebrityskinned]

Venus' smile meets her eyes, but stops right there. It's simultaneously genuine and posed. She doesn't know how to smile any other way anymore.

"Thanks. You're not so bad yourself, but a little functional, you know? You'd be great if we weren't about to be on camera." She bats her eyelashes. "Not like I'm trying to advise an enemy or anything."

[luckofthedevil]

Alex looked a little sheepish and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not very good with the whole camera thing," he said, which was the truth. He was used to operating in the background, which was difficult when there were cameras everywhere. "It's hard enough to survive in the Arenas that I can't really spare any thought to trying to look photogenic." In any case, he subscribed to the school of thought that candid shots tended to be better.

[celebrityskinned]

"Well, I'd like to say it's all training, but." Venus flips her hair with her hand a bit. "Some of it's just natural talent."

There's a hobby horse she hops up on to sit. "So what's your name, soldier?"

[luckofthedevil]

Alex casually leans against a rack of weights. "Alex Rider. District 4. And what's your name?" With as many tributes as there were now, it was getting harder and harder to remember which face went with which district.