Tonight is bottoms up

[plushaeusrumpified]

Who| Bro and You
What| Recovering, post arena, multiple prompts in the comments
Where| The kitchens, D6 Suites, D9 Suites (Closed to Dave)
When| During the last week of the arena
Warnings/Notes| N/A

[The kitchens]

That had been an experience, and that was all there really was to say on the matter. No, actually. The experience had been pretty fucked up, even for his standards. He wasn't about to get all boohoo-y about it, but it also wasn't the kind of shit that just left you the second it was over, either. He'd killed a lot of people, so it felt like there was a lot of blood on his hands. Did it make him feel guilty? Nah.

Did he need a good, strong drink? Yeah, he did.

It was one of those moods where he wanted to have a few drinks and settle down and play a fucking video game or something. Basically, he wanted to couch potato for a few days and not do a damn thing. He could be pissed off at the Capitol later, nobody had time for that shit. It seemed like a lot had happened since he'd been there during the family thing, but man he wasn't in the mood to deal with it. His potatoes were already sprouting.

He found himself in the kitchen eventually, and damn if he wasn't pretty impressed by it. The thing was bigger than their apartment back home, for fuck's sake. His stomach grumbled at all of the junk food he'd be able to bury himself in- but first, that drink.

It didn't take him long to find something pretty damn strong, and as soon as he did he was tipping it back and taking it swig.

"Hell yeah, now it's a fuckin' party," he said, before swaggering off to see what sort of junk food he could find.

Comments

CLOSED TO DAVE

[plushaeusrumpified]

But before he finds himself in the kitchen, his first thought and priority upon waking up is Dave. His not!girlfriend troll girl had sent him a small gift in the arena, along with a note that had tipped him off on the fact Dave is in the Capitol. Ever since then, he's not been too worried about the kid. He's been pretty fucking self sufficient for the last what, three years while Bro's been a rotting corpse? He's pretty sure the kid is fine.

That doesn't mean he doesn't miss him, though, nor does it mean he's gung ho to leave him all alone when you've got assholes who like to throw people in murder arenas. There's also the fact that dammit, they're brothers and a good fistbump or two would be good, especially after all the things he'd experienced in the arena. The Capitol is a fucking huge place though, so he really has no idea where to start, besides knowing Dave is in District 9.

So he does what any good Bro would do. He gets paper, he gets marker, and he makes a fucking double sided sign.

Lost Dave. If found, return to Browner.

And with his sign in hand, he goes in search of his missing little bro, starting in the D9 suites.

[shenunigans]

Dave hasn't been keeping track of the Arena with any real dedication. The brief flashes of Bro had been enough for him. He's back, barely weeks after he'd killed Dave, the idea of it almost exhausts him. He doesn't want to get his hopes up again only for them to be squashed flat by the sick fucks who run this place, but when he sees the guy looking for him, he still gets the same flare of excitement he did when he was thirteen. It's not often you catch a wild Bro Strider moseying around looking for you and not sneaking up on you like an asshole.

Reminiscing leads to the realisation that every time he's seen Bro has felt like the last time he ever would. When he found his body, when they dragged him away, when they brought him back and Dave personally killed him again. He shudders at the thought of it, at the idea of them doing it again, but he can't bring himself to ignore him all the same. He'd rather appreciate it every time than waste the opportunity.

So, with that, the sound of padding of shoeless feet hitting the ground will speed up as Dave forbids himself any chance of regretting slamming against Bro's chest for the most awkward and uncomfortable hug of his whole life.

"You motherfucker."

[plushaeusrumpified]

It's the sound of padding feet that make him turn around, half expecting some sort of freakish monsters to be coming his way or something. The arena shit still has him on edge, so he's all kinds of tensed up. What he isn't prepared for is to find just the guy he's looking for crashing into him. Bro's basically a wall of muscle, so he only sways slightly as Dave crashes into him. It's confusion and bodily instinct that has his arms coming to to wrap around Dave before he even really comprehends what's going on.

"What?" he asks, slightly dumbfounded. He would think Dave was angry at him, if the hugging wasn't a thing that was happening.

Hugging.

Physical affection is a rarity in the Strider household. The closest you'll ever really get is a fist bump, or a noogie, so this is sort of awkward for Bro. He's never really been the type to get all mushy and gunky, so the fact it feels sort of nice after not seeing Dave for so damn long is kind of weird. For the briefest of moments, he allows it to happen, tightening his arms around Dave before he lets his arms fall, appearing as if he'd only done it to stop them both from falling.

"Gaaaaay," he'll deadpan a second later, trying to tug against Dave so he'll let go.

[shenunigans]

Luckily, Dave is safe during the day from most suspicions. Mostly. Sometimes he feels on edge around Capitol people and obviously Peackeepers, but it's night where he has the real problems. He's had a track record of shitty dreams, he shouldn't be surprised to get the occasional dose of absolutely terrifying nightmares. He's just glad this isn't one of those.

"Fuck you." Is the only response Bro gets. A muffled, irritable response as Dave tries to hide the surprise he feels when the hug is reciprocated. Almost.

He doesn't let it linger, he's stepping back and folding his arms quickly and acting as if he didn't let the cool slip one bit. "No incesto." He responds curtly, crinkling his nose. "Guess you're a loser like me now, huh?"

[plushaeusrumpified]

So much irritation, so much curtness. Bro can't help but find Dave's reactions a little amusing, and it makes him feel nostalgic. How often had he annoyed Dave back home, and gotten these same responses?

The little dig should annoy him, but he doesn't have it in him to feel annoyed. He'd been reduced to a fucking hairless, sharktoothed monster. The thought has him reaching up to run a hand through his hair, not having had the chance to replace his cap yet. The hair is back and firmly attached to his head, thank god. "Yeah, guess so," he says with a shrug. "But I took plenty of bitches out along the way, so I feel like a damn winner."

As much of a winner as a murderer can feel anyway, which is to say not all that much. "Did you watch, or were you too busy watching reruns of The Simpsons to notice the fact I killed a bunch of people- and a goddamn Ninja Turtle, too." He reaches out to noogie Dave's head after asking, feeling the need to make up for that hug with something more manly.

D6 SUITES; OPEN

[plushaeusrumpified]

When all is said and done with, and he's got his drink and junk food in hand, Bro makes his way into the suites that he'll now have to call home for the next however long. He doesn't know. Right now, he doesn't care. All he care about is eating these chips and becoming one with the couch in the most potato-y way possible.

He kicks his shoes off, he falls gracefully onto the couch, and props his feet up on the coffee table. After that, he spreads out all his junk around him and settles down to watch whatever's on TV- and he won't give the remote up for any goddamn thing. In fact, anyone who looks like they might bother him is going to get a very intense stink eye, and maybe a warning fart to ward off predators.

This is his man couch, no one else's.

TRAINING CENTER; OPEN

[plushaeusrumpified]

A day or two later, he finally peels himself off of the couch so that he can do something productive with his time. He's done his potatoing, it's time to stop being a useless sack and actually fucking do something. Because he hasn't had enough violence in his life, he decides that a visit to the training center is obviously the thing to do.

He starts with the punching bag, deciding to go to town on it to let out some steam. And he has plenty to let out, to be honest. As chill as he's trying to come off, he's angry at the Capitol for some of the shit he's heard about, and for bringing him and Dave here in the first place- oh, and for the fact that he had to fucking kill his daughter, who just so happens to be older than him.

So yeah. He's got some issues with this place, and he's going to take them out on a punching bag.

Then, when he's sufficiently sweaty, he decides to grab a sword and behead training dummies for fun and profit. But mostly fun.

[blinddrunkenmaster]

It's a surreal experience to die, come back to life and seeing your killer... And have little to no ill will towards him. Kota supposes it makes sense objectively; he tried to kill the other man himself, and really, it was very likely that neither of them was in their right mind when it all happened. Plus, it wasn't as if they had been sent somewhere for anything else. Kota himself would probably have to start doing some killing himself soon enough, he realized.

But yes, it's weird to see Bro out of the arena. The fact that he was beheading dummies was rather fitting too, he supposed, given how he'd killed Kota.

Of course, given that Kota was there for the same reason, he really preferred if Bro didn't destroy all the dummies. It was just rude. So, doing what was clearly the smartest thing to do in this situation, Kota lightly swatted Bro's head with the flat of his training sword. "Don't destroy them all."

[plushaeusrumpified]

Bro is so intent on beheading his dummies that he doesn't notice Kota approaching. His senses aren't as sharp as they had been in the arena, and he blames the whole recovering from death bullshit. He crinkles his nose and steps back, turning to face whoever had dared interrupt him, only to come face to face with someone he killed.

"Ah."

It's said so matter of factly, as if he deals with people he's killed every day. "It's you." He doesn't even know the man's name, but he's surprised by how little he feels bitter about it, too. It was what it was, it wasn't like it was personal to him at the time. "I'm surprised you're talking to me after our little one-sided spit swap session."

[blinddrunkenmaster]

Why he didn't expect the spitting to be one of the first thing to be mentioned, Kota will never know. And before he can help himself, his lips are moving. "I can spit back now, if it'd make you feel better."

It was petty and stupid, and really, Kota would do better to just move past that. So that was what he set out to do right after. "Are you done with the dummies?"

[pythianjudgment]

It doesn't take long for Terezi to notice the new arrival to the training center. She's in there at least every other day--though she doesn't use it for training very often. It's her art space, one that she sometimes shares with Fraysong or Meulin or anyone else who might draw with her. The floors, the walls... No one really cares where the paint and chalk goes. They just wipe it all down later.

She's alone today, and Bro catches her attention as soon as he starts hammering out a rhythm on the punching bag. The temptation to bother him is great, but Terezi resists. He obviously has some sort of score to settle, and she can't blame him. When he starts in on the swords, though, Her resolve wavers.

She picks up one of the little paint tubes and chucks it at him. Dave's reflexes are pretty good. She wouldn't be surprised if he learned that from somewhere...

[plushaeusrumpified]

Bro isn't aware he's being watched, so caught up in hitting on the punching bag that he's tuning everyone out. It's true, he does have a score to settle. He may or may not be pretending it's the faces of those in charge that he's hitting.

The swords are just for fun, to cool down after such an intense workout, so he isn't as distracted. He manages to catch a movement out the corner of his eye, and when he turns he sees something flying at him. In a flash, he swings his sword through the air and slices through the tube of paint as if it were butter.

The red paint splatters all over him.

"...Ah. Deja vu." His voice is nothing but a deadpan.

sorry for the delay, friend

[pythianjudgment]

Terezi knows she should probably be a little sorry, but she's not. She just grins in Bro's direction and waves one of her paint-colored hands. The evidence is very incriminating.

"Nice reflexes. You smell good in red." The significance of his comment doesn't seem to bother her. It's not like everyone bleeds red in that arena... Just most of them.

CLOSED TO ROSE

[plushaeusrumpified]

Of all the things he'd done in the arena, killing Rose probably had to be the part that he regretted most. He knows it had to be done, and to be honest she'd been batshit insane, but that doesn't mean he likes the whole killing her thing.

Actually, there's a lot he doesn't like about the situation. The list could probably number in the hundreds, if not thousands, but he's trying not to dwell on it. He knows that in order to get over it, he's going to have to talk to her, though. He's pretty sure that she's logical enough to know that it had to be done, but still. She's a Lalonde.

She could hold it against him forever.

It's a risk he has to take, so after doing a few things, he goes in search of her, having no idea where to even start. He doesn't make a sign like he does for Dave- mostly because he wants to keep this shit on the down low. Ain't nobody need to get involved in the family business, after all.

[arosewiththorns]

Rose likes to think she's not that hard a person to find, if people really want her. But in truth she's grown accustomed to solitude and keeping to herself. The floor of her district is spacious sure, but there are still far more people than she's used to, not the same amount of space allowed to as she's used to.

She's taken to wandering to find new spaces when she's not sussing out the people around her or training in the off peak hours. The gardens on the roof are lovely, filled with spots that she can hide away in, skim though a book and maybe smoke her ecig that she had managed to find if she feels like it. Plenty of places where she can hide and still see whoever comes up to the roof.

The elevator dings conveniently whenever someone arrives and Rose looks up, exhaling smoke slowly as she watches to see who'll come out when they part. And she's surprised, a little, to see those familiar shades and shade of blonde as he steps out, and the way he glances away makes her assume he's looking for something or someone.

So Rose stands, stepping out of her little alcove so he can see her before calling out. "Looking for someone?" a beat. "I don't think Dave comes up here often if it's him."

[plushaeusrumpified]

When he steps out and hears her voice, he isn't prepared for the wave of guilt that hits him. He hadn't realized how much he'd been pushing it back, so he doesn't know quite what to do with himself when it hits him like that. Still, he's the master at emotions. At concealing, not feeling, etc. He's Elsa.

In Strider form.

"Actually," he says, his voice casual, "I was looking for you. I've already seen Dave, so I figured I'd look for you next."

He raises an eyebrow as he looks her over. "Never pegged you for a smoker."

[arosewiththorns]

She's honestly a little surprised that he's been looking for her. Surprised and touched, though it only takes a second to mask those feelings, replace them with a careful brow raise of curiosity. She hadn't even thought that he would want to find her, had been giving him some time to adjust before tracking him down herself. After all, she's not Dave, they never really had a bond.

"Oh. Well, congratulations, you're successful." she sounds just as casual as he, crossing one arm over her waist.

She glances to the ecig between her fingers, shrugging in a way that seems graceful. "Replaced one thing with another I suppose. I've heard it's fairly common." She can't help but twist it between her fingers. "It's been a long few weeks and it relaxes me somewhat"

[rediscover]

For a dainty little princess, Anna spends a lot of time in the kitchens. Mostly, she's hungry a lot, and the room service panel in her room is still tricky for her to operate. Partly, she wants to be not alone, because hiding away in her room isn't good for her, and she wants to meet more people. But she also equates food with comfort, which is why when Bro strolled into the kitchen, she was going to town on a giant bowl of mashed potatoes.

"Mmf!" She's got a mouthful when she recognizes who it is that's just walked in, and she swallows thickly. "Hey! You--Bro!" Anna's on her feet, moving toward him swiftly, and it's hard to tell if she wants to hug him or kick him in the shin. A mixture of both; she's grateful for what he did for her, but it's also a tad bit upsetting when she thinks of it. It was just a bad situation for everyone involved.

[plushaeusrumpified]

So set on his mission, he doesn't even realize that Anna is there until he hears her running towards him. His eyebrows raise in alarm, because he really can't tell if she's coming at him to attack or something else. He's just going to side step quickly, dodging out of the way completely.

"Whoa there, hoss," he says, "Somebody's in a hurry." It takes him a moment to realize just who it is- with so much blood on his hands, it just sort of runs together. "Oh, snap. It's the princess. Well look at you, squirt. Alive and well."

Shit, he owes her a chocolate fountain.

[rediscover]

She's not expecting him to move out of the way so quickly, and Anna goes flying into the countertop. "Oof." She turns quickly enough, though, eyes wide and a little scared and definitely very confused about her emotions.

"Well enough, I guess." She's suddenly shy, not really sure what to say to him. He helped her, after all, so she begins with the most obvious thing.

"Um, I wanted to say--thank you. You might not have saved my life, but you made dying a lot easier."

[plushaeusrumpified]

Bro's pretty damn good at doing unexpected things, not to mention moving quickly. There's practically no way to hug and/or kick him in the shins unless you take him completely by surprise. He nearly laughed when Anna hits the counter, but reigns it in and just shakes his head.

But ew, gratitude.

"Eh," is is so eloquent response. "If they hadn't tried making me play hero, I'd probably have offed you a lot sooner." He still feels slightly bad for letting her suffer for as long as he did. But they'd obviously wanted him to save her, so whatever. "Don't thank me for it, though. Seriously. It ain't deserved."

He really doesn't want to talk about it, because killing in general hadn't been something he'd taken pleasure in, so he's just going to deflect it and change the subject. "So, I owe you a fountain, yeah?"

[reallynow]

[It's a dark day for Jolie. It takes all the effort in the world to get out of bed and even more so to get dolled up, but he doesn't want the Capitol to see the cracks he can feel forming. He might not feel like his normal, steadfast self but at the very least he can look like it. His outfit is a little less extravagant than usual, because he's heading on his way out of the tower to cruise for a little fun. It's not a healthy way to deal with sadness, but if he feels like he's going to die soon he might as well get as much fun in as possible.

He arches a brow as Bro Strider approaches in the halls, immediately noting those arms and that blond hair. Yep. He's liking the view from here, but he's obviously a tribute, probably not even worth the time it would take to flirt before he gets turned down. Alas, sometimes a girl can't help herself. Maybe they could help one another.]

Where're you going with all that booze, mister? [He points a finger at the bottle and looks inquisitive.]

[plushaeusrumpified]

[Bro isn't oblivious to the shit going on around him. He knows about D3, and he's heard talk of those people getting avoxed. He doesn't know them, though. It's hard to really let it get to him. Does it suck? Yeah. Does he think this government is fucked up? Hell yeah. At the same time though, it's hard to realize that it bothers the natives, too. Bro would expect them all to love this shit. Delicious drama, right?

Either way, he's fully prepared to go couch potato with his booze when he's stopped in the halls by Jolie. From a distance, he's pretty damn convinced Jolie is a woman. It's only when he speaks that he realizes it.

Drag queen.

Damn, it's been a while since he's seen a queen, so he can't help but split into a grin. Things just got more interesting.]

We have plans for a threeway with the couch. [He rubs the bottle of booze sensually.] S'up, queen?

[reallynow]

[Jolie thinks this may be one of the few times that the Capitol staff in the Tower are shaking harder in their boots than even the tributes. It was a pretty obvious warning aimed right at them, but he doesn't expect everyone to get it.

His face is tired, but it lights up ever so slightly both at his response and the fact that he calls him that. Queen. It's been a while since someone used that word, maybe they think they'll offend him.

He sidles a little closer, reeling his grin into a sly expression.]

Oh you know, a little of this and a little of that. [He shrugs his shoulders.] Your roomies are gonna think you're a slob. [He points out, helpfully.] If you're gonna get drunk on a nice day like this, you should do it on the roof.

[plushaeusrumpified]

[When he's closer, Bro can tell that Jolie looks a little tired, but he isn't focusing on that. He's more focused on the assets, if you catch his drift. Jolie picked a damn nice looking outfit to wear, obviously to show off his figure. Bro approves.

He still hasn't managed to get his shades or hat back, so his orange eyes can be seen sliding down Jolie's body as he takes her in, before settling back on her face as she gives him that sly look.

And he scoffs at the thought anyone would think he's a slob. Let them, he doesn't care. He embraces it]

Oh, I dunno... Brandy here really had her heart set on a threeway. [No, his drink isn't brandy, but it's the first pun-like name he can think of.] So I think it'd only be fair if you come with.

[What can he say, he likes interesting company. Besides, it'd be nice to have somebody to talk to. He hates the Capitol, but he doesn't have to hate the natives. Not all of them, anyway. Jolie is the epitome of interesting so far, so either way he wins.]