ain't got a care in the world, but got plenty of beer

[korosu]

Who| Kenny and (individually) Mindy, Sandy, and Eponine.
What| Kenny hangs out with a cute girl at the arcade, gets decked in the face by another, and then goes out for ice cream with a third. In that order.
Where| Various places in the Tribute Tower.
When| Various points after the mini-arena ends. Mindy and Sandy are the same day as his network post, and then time's flexible for Eponine's.
Warnings/Notes| Probably just foul preteen language, but will update if necessary!


[Mindy]
After they agree to meet up, Kenny heads to the arcade to do precisely that. It's easy enough since... he was actually heading in that direction anyway, as soon as he made that soppy post on the network. After the attempt at damage control, he needs to get his mind off what happened. Going into raging berserk mode isn't like him, but neither is dumping his heart all over the place. It's not that the words themselves were lies--he actually does feel pretty damn guilty for the shit he pulled in the kiddie arena--but it was definitely a reaching performance. He can only hope that putting himself back on level ground with those he fucked up doesn't end up painting a shining target on his back, too. It's too soon to be making enemies.

As soon as he crosses the threshold to the arcade, his vision assaulted with colourful lights and bright screens all over, Kenny can't help but grin to himself. Being able to actually indulge in a place like this was rare back home, tending to involve either 1. mooching off his friends or 2. the occasional lucky breaks he'd gotten. Like being paid to eat gross shit off the ground. So, this is pretty fucking sweet. He's already spent a decent amount of time here, and he still hasn't gotten sick of it. Leaning back against a wall, he settles there and waits for Mindy to show up, eyes remaining on the entrance. If he doesn't recognize her first--which he likely will--his own ridiculously unseasonable attire would be unmistakable.

--

[Sandy]
Some time later that day--closer to the evening, really--finds Kenny back inside the training center. He's spent some time here, too, and after the mini-arena has resolved to work his shit even more... but it's tended to be every two or three days. This time, it's intentional for reasons that go beyond strengthening his skills, his coming here. How one girl who looks no older than himself can piss off the Capitol that fucking much, enough for them to set everyone on her... he's not going to deny it, he's curious as Hell. Their grudge against her definitely has to go beyond mob mentality, although he still regrets letting himself become a part of that.

Which is why Kenny has no problems letting her deck him, if she was actually serious about it. He's betting more on the side of 'yes', which is kind of funny when he stops to think about it. So far, none of the girls he's met here are even remotely like the girls at either of his schools, not even the few that tended toward bullying. They don't fuck around or pull punches here. It's actually pretty awesome, in a strange way.

When Sandy does show up, Kenny's messing around with archery stuff; time has definitely passed easier for him when he's gotten absorbed in activity instead of consistently looking toward the entrance.

--

[Eponine]
The next day, Kenny's up on the rooftop, mainly because... he hasn't gone up there much. Looking out over the edge makes him feel a little nervous, even though he knows there's barriers in place. How many have tried to escape their fate like this, he always ends up wondering-- and he doesn't like thinking about stuff like that. But there are other aspects of the roof that are awesome, especially since he's heard through the grapevine that sometimes interesting stuff happens up here.

It's actually pretty peaceful up there right now, which is kind of nice. Wandering around some, Kenny stops dead in his tracks upon seeing a figure several feet away in the garden. Though it's when he sees her face and recognizes her as the hot girl who talked to him in the preschool that he happily trots forward.

"Eponine!" he calls out, waving. "Hey, Eponine!" It's even pronounced decently. Unfortunately, his voice is also muffled somewhat by his hood. Given that she saw Kenny last time in formal wear without said hood covering half his face, who knows if she'll actually recognize him or not. But none of this deters him.

Comments

Kenny at the Arcade

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy gets here and, not surprisingly, waited to see what this Kenny kid was like. The arcade was, as per usual, all loud and distracting like it was meant to be. She had always enjoyed it, honestly thinking of the time her dad took her to places like these. They were a comfort, even now, with the watermelon size ball in her stomach of losing a best friend and coming to terms with losing her dad. Again.

Mindy wasn't happy.

But she could fake it, a little. It was rare to meet kids her age, let alone ones that had violence to atone for. It made Kenny interesting, and more importantly, human. She would meet with him, sure.

"Waiting long?"

argh, took me long enough, i am so sorry

[korosu]

As soon as Mindy approached him, Kenny made to push himself off the wall, giving the girl a once-over. After all, the communicator didn't afford much of a person's view beyond their face. She was definitely pretty from what he'd seen before, but now he could see she was even cuter in person. He grinned from beneath his hood.

"Nope!"

With a wave of his hand, he motioned for her to follow him toward the machines. There were so many different varieties that he'd been kind of overwhelmed the first couple of times he came here, but at this point he practically had the place memorized.

"What's your preference?"

Glad enough you replied!

[hit_girl_mindy]

So he had a hood over his head. Weird. Did he have some kind of facial deformity or something? Mindy wasn't the type to pry of course: if he wanted to do that, it was his business. He probably had a good reason to do it, right?"

"Good." She managed a smile. OK, so maybe forgetting some of her troubles wouldn't kill her. She could certainly use a more relaxed environment. "Figured we could fuck around with a beat 'em up, and go from there. Most people tend to favor the Panem Hunger Games one."

She gestured to the game which, interestingly enough, had people in the arena as characters.

[korosu]

"Sure." He'd seen it before, but kind of avoided it. It seemed a little too close to home to feature a game of Tributes beating up one another when they were tossed into a very real game that was already being used for the Capitol's entertainment. Even for someone like Kenny, who was accustomed to a fuckton of pain, it left a bad taste in his mouth.

But he offered up no protest when Mindy made the suggestion, taking his position at one side of the panel.

"I'm not playing as myself or anyone I know," he added with something of a muffled dry laugh. "That's fucking awkward."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"In that case," Mindy offered, "try someone you're probably not gonna meet. That Molotov bitch, she's there and she's got some killer moves. An assassin is what you need, and she's stone cold and dangerous. Just watch out: in real life, she's not gonna hesitate to come after you."

Mindy would know. Personally.

"I'm gonna play this girl Ellie," Mindy said, trying to sound level though her stomach was twisting in knots. "She's the shit with a bow and arrow. Not like Katniss, but good enough. So. What's your take on this place so far?"

[korosu]

At the suggestion, Kenny went looking for the person Mindy had just named; the discovery of her full name had him smirking a little to himself. To say nothing of her style of dress: a neckline that plunged so far down her body he had to wonder if there was some sort of correlation there. All in all, she seemed pretty badass. Kenny had indeed never met this "Molotov Cocktease", but he decided he liked her already.

She could come after him as much as she wanted, honestly.

"Maybe I will," he replied, "then I'll recognize her!" He took in the girl that Mindy had picked out, noting that she also seemed fairly young, leading him to wonder if they knew one another. But Mindy had asked him a question, and so he decided to answer instead of pressing on his own curiosity.

"You saw it," he said with a shrug, and pressed the button that confirmed his character selection. "I dunno what else to think. I'm not a murderer." The words could have been melancholy, but he voiced them with as much ease as the rest of the conversation -- their muffled quality aside.

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Don't warm up to her in the Arena," she said, noticing the look. Boys. "Molotov gives zero fucks about killing a kid. I should know, she offed me in the last one. I figure she's the real deal in assassins. Her skill set in the game is pretty bad ass."

It annoyed her to praise a person that killed her, but at the same time, you had to have some respect there. Molotov was efficient. That let you know where the other stood right off the bat. Few people could give you that much.

"I missed it," Mindy admitted, having her Ellie fire off some arrows and finishing with a taunt: Ellie proudly raised her middle finger in the game. "So what did you do?"

[korosu]

"If she's smart, she wouldn't." After being in that kiddie arena? The kids here weren't exactly cuddly and innocent. He had to wonder, with Mindy's statement about Molotov holding no qualms about offing children, how many adults would be naive enough to feel for them. To spare them.

He yanked his stick to the side and pressed a few buttons, watching with some amusement as the arrows flew in the mercenary babe's direction; some landed on their mark, some were dodged, as he gradually got the hang of her skill and sent her in that Ellie girl's direction with a blade.

"You didn't watch the arena?" he replied without taking his eyes off the screen. "Why not? Did you get in trouble too?"

[hit_girl_mindy]

"There's a difference between being able to kill a kid, which I think an adult ought to do, and going out to kill one just because. She's an assassin, so she ought to be able to anyway. Most kids though, they're not. So just watch yourself. You want to eventually stop being thrown in the goddamn Arena, right? There's one of your obstacles, right there."

Ellie against a woman with a blade was tough, but Mindy played games and characters for a reason: with this it was all about knowing how to parry your opponent and take advantage of their weaknesses. She knew how to block, crouch and stab back when she had the chance.

"I opted not for once. It'd be pretty screwed up to go and see a bunch of kids killing each other. You didn't answer my question."

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy had to admit...she was surprised he'd actually been so receptive to the idea.

Maybe it was living on the edge of death that made people more receptive to quick bursts of pain in exchange for forgiveness but it seemed to be a trend among tributes that they weren't objectionable to a little beat down when they had done something wrong.

She hung back watching him mess with the archery stuff and was even more surprised to find herself mentally adjusting his form. She had learned how to shoot a bow from Katniss who was widely praised as one of the best. While Sandy herself was no Katniss she was proud to say she had a sharp eye for it.

She did some stretches to warm up, if she was going to actually hit this guy she might as well make it a good one. Some other tributes and mentors were milling about so this would make for good gossip later no doubt. Finally she crept up on him.

"Next time you release, wait until you're letting the breath out then once it's all out let it fly." She suggested copying word for word what Katniss had taught her.

[korosu]

He'd actually gotten pretty wrapped up in what he was doing. Sure, before coming here he'd played with toy archery sets, but this shit was the real deal. It was a little daunting, though that didn't cause Kenny's excitement to wane in the least.

Sandy's approach startled him, broke his focus; he turned his head and stared for a moment until it dawned on him who this was. Kenny's bundled clothing obscured even more of his face than the costume at the mini-arena had--revealing nothing more than his freckled nose and the wide hazel eyes that gaped at her now--but they had seen each other on the communicator beforehand. So while she managed to catch him unawares, it didn't actually shock him that Sandy recognized him so easily. Anticipation fluttered in Kenny's stomach a little, but instead of letting it show, he blinked away his surprise and shouldered the bow.

"Yeah," he agreed with her, although he wasn't certain why she was trying to coach him now; probably trying to get him to let his guard down so that punch would really send him packing. But he wasn't going to let that happen, nor was he going to be a pussy about it. After a few long seconds of deliberation, Kenny reached for the ties of his hood with his opposite hand and yanked it off his head entirely.

"So you've done this before."

[justoutrunyou]

She gave a stiff nod, still guarded in her mannerisms.

"Yeah, never in the arena but one of my mentors is the best archer in the Capitol. Maybe this whole world. "

At least as far as she knew.

[korosu]

"Which mentor is that?"

He wasn't entirely sure if she'd even supply the answer, but it was worth a shot. Keeping a view on Sandy out of the corner of his eye, Kenny drew an arrow back against the string of the bow, inhaling deeply as he did so.

[justoutrunyou]

"Katniss Everdean?" She offered unsure if Kenny had heard of her.

"She and her boyfriend were the last two people to win the Hunger Games before they started pulling people here from other worlds. They were also the first couple to ever win together. Before that the rules were very strict. Only one winner each year."

Hopefully Kenny would be able to put two and two together to see that something so unlikely might have been the reason for the entire system changing.

[korosu]

"Oh," was all he said to that. He'd heard the name, yes -- she seemed to be something of a legend. Kenny hadn't been here long enough to witness any other arenas beyond the childish one he and Sandy and all the other youth were cast in; but the briefing he'd gotten upon arrival was pretty clear. Only one winner per arena, and they no longer seemed to be a year apart.

The bowstring creaked a little against the weight of the arrow. Staring hard at the illusionary target before him, Kenny released the breath he'd been holding, sending the projectile flying straight ahead of him.

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy watched the arrow arc towards it's intended target a little more accurately. She nodded approvingly, hopefully she wouldn't regret helping him like that.

"What was it like where you grew up?" She offered deciding for better or for worse she should learn about this kid. There were always too few kids around the Tribute Tower for Sandy to connect with and usually they didn't last long.

[korosu]

That was pretty sweet. A toothy grin actually split the kid's face as the arrow connected with it's intended target; perhaps not quite where he'd wanted it, which was right in the center of its forehead, but this was progress. "Yes!"

He didn't realign his practice bow right away, instead pausing to consider Sandy's question. It was quite the loaded one, and given her own circumstances, Kenny briefly wondered if she knew that somehow; if it was intentional.

"Pretty fucking stupid, actually," he decided upon, and shrugged as if she'd just asked him what the weather was like. It was as accurate an assessment of South Park, Colorado as any, he figured. "What about you?"

[gardienne]

Eponine had been knelt at Orc's 'grave'. It wasn't really his grave, not in an official sense. It was the rock in the midle of the flowerbeds beneath which she had been hiding her 'treasures'. After Cyrus returned Orc's ashes to her, those treasures had been removed so that she could stuff the little box of his remains underneath. She came up here every now and again just to think and remember and - and, well now it was to recite Eva's last letter to herself.

At the sound of her name though, she jumped and turned around, curious as to was calling her. Hurriedly, she stuffed the locket that hung about her neck down the neckline of her dress, as the strange figure approached. That was for her, not to share with no one except maybe Venus.

"Pruna?" She didn't recall knowing anybody else so small. "What are you doing? It is not so cold!" Indeed, she was wearing just a deep green hoodie and a pair of black leggings - and boots - alone. "What are you doing here?" Quickly, she wiped away a tear.

[korosu]

Oh, shit. Was she crying? Kenny tried not to stare, though he suddenly felt a whole lot of guilty, so much that it didn't register at first she'd called him by some other name. Who the fuck was "Pruna"?

"Uh, no! It's me! Kenny!"

Far be it for him to hide behind the padded safety of his hood when willingly allowing another girl to deck him, but it didn't occur to Kenny right then to actually reveal himself. He glanced around them, noticing the rock beside Eponine but not really drawing the connection that it might have been some sort of gravesite. After all, there was nothing imprinted on its surface.

[gardienne]

'Kenny?' Who on earth is Kenny? The name takes a minute to register, and Eponine dimly remembers the boy in the nursery. Is that him?

"Sir? You? From the arena? Why are you hiding?"

[korosu]

"Yeah!"

Hiding, though? He didn't quite understand what that meant, so Kenny kind of just blinked up at her. "I'm not hiding. Are you okay, though?"

[gardienne]

"You have your hood up. I cannot see your face." She laughs again. "That is why I say hiding. But... if I tell you a secret, why I am sad a little, will you tell anyone?"

[korosu]

"...Oh."

It's rare that anyone even comments on his style of dress. He hadn't actually thought of it as hiding before. Still doesn't; but Kenny reaches for the ties of his hood, undoing them and pushing it away from his face with a shrug.

After that's taken care of, he reaches out and lightly touches Eponine's forearm.

"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."

[gardienne]

"You look better now." Eponine smiles, genuinely touched at Kenny's gesture.

"Look." She takes his hand, urging him towards the stone. "My boyfriend is buried beneath this stone. It is a grave for him. Do you understand? He died to try to save my life, the silly boy. And this is the best I can do for him now."

[korosu]

Oh. Wow. This is some heavy shit indeed. Kenny fidgets with his coat a little, peering down at the stone. Some guy's body is under there, in some state of rottenness. He, personally, doesn't like cemeteries at all, and avoids them as much as possible. They always remind him of how many of his own bones might be lingering beneath the ground close to his own home, regardless of where he is.

There are a few unlucky ones (or lucky?) here who apparently bite the dust and don't come back... this must be one of them. God damn. What does he even say to something like this? It seems far too personal, and any questions he can think to ask are silenced before they even reach his tongue.

"Wow," is all he can finally settle on saying. "Yeah, I understand."