there ain't nothing in this world for free [OPEN]

[firefall]

Who| Riley and YOU
What| Obligatory open intro log
Where| District 9's suite, and then wandering the tower
When| TODAY
Warnings/Notes| Riley has a foul mouth. Also possible mentions of violence and zombies & her being expectant of her own worse-than-death fate whoops.


Despite her much more pressing concerns, the first thing Riley does when the soldiers (ignoring the creative invective she sets on them the whole way) leave her in the large room - cleaner and better furnished than any she's seen, that's for sure - is raid the fridge. Because fuck it, you know? She's dead to the world in a few hours to a couple days, if these assholes decided they just needed to bump in on an infected girl's last few moments of sanity then she's going to take or use all their good shit because she fucking can and it won't have any consequences she'll remember. She intends to have something good in the final hours she's spending as herself, and anyway the stuff they've stocked in here is way better than your ordinary unfortunate ever glimpses in their rations.

But once she's stuffed herself to the metaphorical gills and left the kitchen a mess, she's back to her real priorities - finding Ellie, or finding a way the hell out, hopefully both if she's got some luck left. She doesn't want to be in a populated area when the mushrooms start growing in her brain, she's out to protect the people, from her own shambling not-a-corpse if need be. Alternately, if the creepy military jerkwads intend to use her as a caught infected for experimentation, she will do her damnedest to deny them the utility of her mindless shell. She doesn't owe them shit.

She'd rather find Ellie, though. She doesn't want to be alone. Doesn't want to leave Ellie alone like this, either. And if they kidnapped Riley, they probably have her as well.

"Holy shit," she mutters to herself as she wanders the halls, trying to find some kind of exit. The whole place is so lit up it's a sheer fucking waste. They could be using this kind of electric power to actually help people live in a less shitty situation, and instead they're wasting it on some bigwig's personal playground. "Every time I think I can't be surprised by how shitty and self-serving the higher-ups are anymore, they gotta do something like this just to prove me wrong."

Comments

[polyturtle]

His arm was getting better. He could tell - his desire to eat was gradually eroding, which was good for him. If he kept eating the way he had, he'd either get sick from overeating, or just turn into a balloon - or both. But that wasn't going to happen, it seemed. In fact, he was going to celebrate by not eating a lot today, he decided, as he got out of the shower, drying himself off.

It was then he noticed the newcomer. She had to be - he'd never seen her before. But the tenseness radiating off of her? An all-too-familiar thing.

"Oh." Hoping not to startle her too much, Don stayed where he was, nevertheless giving her a greeting. Let her know she wasn't alone, at least. "Hello there."

[firefall]

Riley stares. Okay, she has seen a lot of shit, but this is just plain bizarre. "Okay, so hallucinations are a thing I can look forward to, got it. As long as they're interesting hallucinations, guess I can't complain. You an interesting one or just one of those that babbles disjointedly about the wind being purple and so on, turtle guy?"

[polyturtle]

"Eheh..." At this, Don sheepishly rubbed his head. "Well, I like to think I'm a little bit interesting, though I'm afraid I'm no hallucination. And...wind isn't really visible."

[firefall]

"But that's what I'd expect a hallucination to say," Riley points out in a reasonable tone. "I mean, if my brain's trying to make me see shit that isn't there, it's not gonna be half-assed about it, right?"

[observationalhazard]

Hanji is doing her own exploring in the District 9 suite. Much like Riley, she's amazed by the sheer size and decadence of it all. She's going to take advantage of it, of course, but it's still a disgusting display of excess. She turns the corner and comes face-to-face (well, not quite, she's much taller) with Ellie. She also catches the tail end of her observation on human nature. Hanii being Hanji, she simply responds, as if she was the one being spoken to all along.

"I have to agree - humans always want to hoard more for themselves, even if it means the whole human race has to suffer for it."

Hanji grins. Cheery thought, isn't it?

[firefall]

Always fun meeting a fellow-traveler. Riley grins up at the other woman in return, assessing her with a brief once-over. She looks the sort of less-than-polished that comes with being easily distracted by big thoughts, she decides, but still, good build. Definitely not average citizen material.

"Eh, I don't think they're setting their sights that high," she replies. "Just so long they can keep the next poor bastard more miserable than they are, you know? Not like we're not all in the same shithole."

oh God I just noticed I got the name wrong. i'm so sorry.

[observationalhazard]

For all of her faults, Hanji is used to dealing with teenagers of one stripe or another. After all, most of the new recruits are fairly young, even after they graduate from training. There's something a bit familiar in the way the girl holds herself. She's used to hardship.

"Ah, I don't think it's about keeping others miserable. It's more about making sure that they can keep living lives of luxury and to Hell with the rest."

Hanji cocks her head curiously, "You're not from around here, are you?"

it's cool, no worries

[firefall]

"Looks like the whole place is impeccably clean besides me. I kinda stick out like a sore thumb, huh?" She smiles. "You any more familiar with the place than me? I'm pretty much lost here."

[revvinguptheharley]

"Bwahahahaa! Whoo hoo! Gang way!"

As the newest edition to District Nine wandered the halls she would come across a most surprising and possibly distressing sight.

A blond woman, pigtails waving wildly was sitting in a wheel chair using what looked to be fire works to propel herself down the hall and right at Riley!

Amazingly, the sparks and flames weren't setting anything on fire...but she was coming pretty fast!

"Either move it or jump on!" Shouted the woman with a manic grin.

[firefall]

"Haha, what the fuck?" Riley laughs, but like hell can she resist that kind of dare. Sure, she could break her arm or whatever, but what does she care when she won't know it soon enough? She steps to the side, and then with a whoop snags the handlebars as the wheelchair speeds past, neatly tossing herself into the stranger's lap and leaning into the accelerating movement of their makeshift chariot. "So how fast does this thing go?" she shouts to the woman behind her. "'Cause if you don't know then we should definitely find out."

[revvinguptheharley]

Harley cheered at having met someone daring enough to join her. "Alright, just pull the fuse on the rest of those fireworks and try not to burn your thighs! Those safety fire works are mostly fool proof but this ride ain't!" She cackled as she jerked a hard right and sent them blazing towards an elevator.

Drawing back her hand she flung a glass to hit the button. Hopefully the doors would open before they crashed into them.

[firefall]

"Sure thing!" Riley grabs the fuse and yanks, and the fizzing of the fireworks turns into a dull roar as they shoot forward. At the last moment, the doors on both sides of the elevator slide open and they blaze right through. "Fuck yeahhhhhhhhhhh!" she screams, throwing her hands up as they rocket down the hall.

Ellie will show up in a bit~

[aintyourdad]

Joel can't help but snort faintly at the girl's words. He doesn't recognize her, hasn't seen her face on any screens or around the tower before - she must be new, because she's clearly not a Capitolite. None of the natives react that way to the surroundings.

"Just wait till the next death match starts," he says ruefully. "They'll keep surprisin' you."

[firefall]

Riley shrugs as if it's no big deal to have perfect strangers busting in on her personal reflections, all casual unconcern. "They'll have to get a move on if they wanna surprise me much longer," she replies, inspecting the nails on her right hand rather than meeting his eyes. Her left hand throbs where it's tucked into her jeans pocket - don't want to set off a panic showing people the bite unless it'll get her a quick exit, which right now it looks like it won't. "So not that this isn't fun and all, but which way leads out of this happy little jamboree?"

[aintyourdad]

"There's no way out, kid," Joel says with a shake of his head. "They're watchin', all the time." He glances up, points at a nearby camera. "Try to get out of the city, they'll haul your ass back in before you can say uncle. We've all been kidnapped here, to play their fucked-up 'games'."

She can probably hear the scare-quotes around the word "games". Clearly, there is nothing game-like about them.

[firefall]

"Yeah, well, if they really wanna go to the trouble of hauling me back specifically rather than whatever runner they can get their hands on once I'm out then good luck to 'em. But there's always a way out, and I haven't exactly got a lot of time here." She pulls out her left hand, waggling her fingers to draw attention to the livid bite marks. They haven't even scabbed over. "I'm not gonna care pretty soon, but I'm betting you sure as hell will."

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy was already headed back to her suite because she had worked up a decent sweat in the training room. Right about now was a good time to lay on the bed and let her muscles unclench. At least, that's what she would be doing if she didn't run into someone new, in her district, no less, with an armful of food.

"Hey!" She said, stopping the girl. "The chicken legs are mine, I called dibs! Also, I'm a mentor or whatever, so...infinity dibs and shit."

[firefall]

Riley, kicking back in a chair with her feet propped on the kitchen table, just gives the new girl a shit-eating grin and takes a pointed and obnoxious bite of her drumstick. "Hey, I didn't see your name on 'em, isn't it first come first serve?"

She holds out the plate as a peace offering, though. "Far be it from me to part a girl from this kind of greasy goodness. Some of us know how to share."

[hit_girl_mindy]

That bitch. She liked her already. That was literally the best way to react to her ever. Mindy takes the plate, smiling back.

"Did you just get in? Normally we don't get many visitors here. I think people are still pissed we have another mentor, probably saying we're imbalanced. Or maybe we're just unfriendly as fuck. Anyway, food first, questions later."

She chowed down. Apparently she'd worked up an appetite.

[hanssome]

There was a time when Hans was much like Riley, wandering the halls of the the towers in confusion and annoyance. Nowadays, he can carry himself more confidently! He may not always know how to open doors or change the tv channels, but he knows his way around the tower and he knows enough to get by. If that doesn't warrant a self-assured air, he doesn't know what does!

As such, he's more than able and eager to help anyone who might look a bit confused. He doesn't know everyone here yet, but he's started to figure out when someone is a little newer than him. When he rounds a corner to find Riley, it's pretty telling early on. He doesn't really understand what she's saying, so he'll just breeze past it and on to the important things.

"Oh- hello! Are you new here?"

[firefall]

Riley arches an eyebrow, a little smirk quirking at her mouth. This guy looks completely ridiculous, like something out of a book of fairy tales, and it's honestly kinda hilarious.

"If everyone here dresses like you, I gotta say, I'm pretty good with sticking out."

[hanssome]

Try as he might, Hans will probably never get used to the reactions he's garnered for his appearance. It's funny, really. There are grey men with horns and something that looks like a monster from the very same fairy tales and he gets funny looks for his sideburns. People truly are fascinating.

He lets out a lighthearted chuckle at her observation, shaking his head in response. "I think you'll find I'm the exception here, most people dress more like you on a daily basis. Unless they're a native here, that is."

[celebrityskinned]

Unfortunately for Riley, Venus is looking a little bit like an example of excess when they first meet. On the other hand, Riley's probably too young, and her world too wrecked, to immediately recognize 'Hollywood casual'. Venus has been sunbathing, and is wrapped in a sarong around the hips, with a wide hat and designer sunglasses that block out most of her face. She has some new purse that a store-owner practically threw at her for the free publicity, and some big gulp of fruity soda in the other hand. She's currently trying to balance one of those fat-free chicken salads in her other hand.

She almost runs straight into Riley. Turns out these bullshit sunglasses - which she never needed before Panem, because her chances of blending in as a red-suited energy glob were next to nil - have godawful peripheral vision. And she drops both the soda and the salad.

"Oh, shit, sorry!" She sweeps the sarong aside with one hand so she can bend over and start picking stuff up. "I didn't get any on you, did I?"

[firefall]

"Hoooly shit-" Riley backs off with a quickness lent by reflexive paranoia, so the plate and cup go spilling across the floor a few inches from her worn-down shoes.

"Nah, I think I'm good," she says after a moment's quick glance for confirmation. "But you know, juggling all that seems kinda awkward. Don't you have a better way to carry stuff around?"

Riley comes from a world where everyone wears backpacks at every possible moment, so this seems like common sense to her.

[celebrityskinned]

"Well, you can get the Avoxes to do that, but it seems kind of rude when I can try and carry it myself these days."

Venus almost feels reflexively like she has to do her own work now, if only because she lives with Azula, who makes messes just to watch the Avoxes scramble. It's not as if Venus is unused to being waited on, but by now it's out of spite for her less-favored Mentor.

Riley, by contrast, doesn't look like she came up in the lap of luxury at all. She's skinny, ragged, looks jumpy. She reminds Venus of Ellie a little, or of some of the other kids in the Arena.

"Sorry. Hi, I'm Venus." She holds her left hand up. "You mind shaking on the left. I've got soda on the right, it'll be sticky."