(no subject)

[shambler]

Who|| R and [Semi-Open] – PM me if you want to bump into him so I can write a prompt.
What|| R wakes up to realize he’s a zombie all over again and the Cure, in fact, wasn’t a cure after all. He’ll be in a funk. Mostly he’ll be blocking traffic (cue finding him in the District 4 shower, creepy-staring, or else where). Basically R needs cheering up, pep-talks, even the awkward ones telling him he’s better off as a zombie.
Where|| Around the Tribute Tower and Training Center. Also District 4’s suite.
When|| After reviving in the Capitol from Howard mercy-killing him and before the next Arena. Basically a catch-all.
Warnings| Zombie references, depressed zombies.

Prompts in the comments for each character. Heads up I may be slow posting, so a post per day or every other day (so backtag central?).

Comments

Ellie

[shambler]

Ellie has some sort of zombie-radar, because she finds R wedged between some planters where he was convinced no one could find him. The fact those planters groan every now and then probably has something to do with it. When he hears her voice, he turns (nearly gets stuck) and faces her, his head dropping down and down until his chin touches his chest. The muzzle glints at her as he moves, avoiding direct eye contact.

“Not…guh-good time…Ellie,” R mumbles, miserable.

Re: Ellie

[onlyimmune]

Her heart nearly breaks, when she sees him. He'd been her hope, too, for a little while, though she'd seen that nearly break down in the arena. And now...

"Oh, R," She said, looking just as miserable as he did. "What are you doing?" Besides nearly getting lodged between planters.

Re: Ellie

[shambler]

At this point, it might not even be nearly - in his panic, he really did get jammed in there, his shoulders wedged between two planters that weren't built for zombies. Ellie would be as safe as they come, if he was hungry enough to lunge at her.

"Not...feel," R moans. "Here."

He points at his heart, then his head, trying to mime to Ellie that he really, really wished he was like her: pumping heart, a life ahead with an actual expiration date.

[onlyimmune]

She sighs, watching him, because really it is kind of extremely pathetic. But she feels bad, too, as he motions, because she can't completely understand, but she can take a guess.

"It feels different?" She asked gently, as she reached out, keeping her hands away from his muzzled face as she tried to dislodge him from the planters.

[shambler]

The look in Ellie's eyes makes him wish he could retreat backward, hide from it. He's not exactly making the best impression as a zombie here: zombies aren't exactly the brightest bunch, but he's sure they wouldn't trap themselves in between two planters that are rubbing glitter into his sleeves if he tries to move.

R's surprised when she reaches out and actually tries to help, tugging on clothes, trying to do it gently without knocking a body part off. It's very thoughtful of Ellie.

"Not like...Arena," R mumbles. Even that night with Ellie and Joel hadn't been too bad - he probably looked and acted more like a human being there and right here, stuck between planters and desperately hoping he didn't drool on Ellie through the muzzle. "Wanted...to stay...like that."

[onlyimmune]

She was incredibly careful, but god how had he managed to get himself so stuck? Unfortunately for him, a bit of drool landed on her hand and she made a face before wiping it off on his shirt.

"I'm sorry, R," She said, extremely sympathetically. "I... I wanted that too, you know? I really did. I'm sorry that they put you back like this again."

[shambler]

R's face froze in a slack oh God expression when he saw the drool hit her hand. Talk about timing. "Don't...get why. Think...Cured again?"

Or was it a one time thing? Why couldn't he be like Ellie, infected but alive?

[onlyimmune]

"I don't really understand what happens to us when they bring us back," Ellie said apologetically.

"But if they fixed you once, R, I'm sure they can do it again. And if they won't - well - we just have to show them why they need to, right?"

[shambler]

R had no clue either. Before he came here, what he knew about the world was that if you died, you turned into something like him. Assuming someone didn't destroy the brain. Then you straight-up just died, the old-fashioned way. None of this dying and then coming back, almost as good as new business.

"Hope...so," R groaned. "Show...them?"

He was really glad Ellie had his back on this, that she knew what it felt like to be infected. Not shuffling infected, sure, but at least the idea of not being quite right. Having something wrong running through your body, waiting.

[onlyimmune]

"Yeah. We gotta figure out what it is that they like enough about you to keep around, and then we gotta show him that you'll be better at that cured." An idea suddenly struck her.

"Hey! Hey, we could write letters to your district, right? Get them to write a lot of letters about how they think that you've been working so hard for them that you deserve the cure! Then I can like, teach you how to be a real survivor and shit!"

[shambler]

R deflated. "Can't...write. Or...read, Ellie."

His groan sounds a little embarrassed now, because it's such a great plan and something as simple as his illiteracy is getting in the way. R knows he used to be able to read and write and lose himself in books. The knowledge is there. But whenever he looks at letters, the connection always gets...confused. They look like shapes, not meaning. R wheezes hopelessly again.

"Think...still...work?" R has a vague idea that he could ask someone to help him write the letters. The question is if District 4 thinks he deserves the Cure.

[onlyimmune]

She gave him a very sympathetic look. Fuck. Of course he could read or write. God, she was stupid sometimes.

"It's okay R," She assured him. "I can help you. I can write them out, and read back any letters we get to you, okay?"

[shambler]

R felt a little better. Not a lot. But a little. "Thanks...for being...friend."

He held out his hand, gray and blackened at the fingertips, and touched Ellie's hand for a second, brief as he could make it. Most people didn't want to touch a zombie and he assumed it probably went doubly-so for a survivor like Ellie. Still. He wanted to show he really appreciated it, dead boy to infected girl.

[onlyimmune]

It made her skin crawl, a little, and she flinched. But then she felt horrible, and reached out and took his hand, grasping and squeezing it firmly, ignoring how dead the flesh felt. She met his eyes and held his gaze, fighting back the revulsion until it was smothered into a little, ignorable ball in her chest.

"It's no problem, R. People like us gotta stick together, right?"