metalicarus: (Hair Undone | Refrain)
Jet Link | 002 ([personal profile] metalicarus) wrote in [community profile] thecapitol2015-04-03 05:02 pm

[Open] Find my way back

Who| Jet and open
What| Jet's going through the motions because that's better than crumbling
Where| Jet's apartment, the training center, the city, just about anywhere you'd want to run into him
When| Roughly four days after the crowning and all through the next week.
Warnings/Notes| Sad cyborgs and cute shenanigans

Jet had been a complete mess when Sam had found him and now, a few days later, he wasn't much better but he was sober. That was an improvement. Every time he thought about what kind of person he'd turned into, avoiding his friends and family, drowning himself in a bottle like his father, he felt sick to his stomach. But he hadn't touched alcohol in days and he didn't think he'd ever touch it again for the rest of his life. This meant he had some free time now that he wasn't spending it drinking, so the hunt for something to distract himself began.

The Apartment) Those first few days were mostly spent with him trying to talk himself into leaving the apartment and not succeeding very well, but he took steps. He showered, brushed his hair (forgoing the hair gel) and actually got dressed. And that was about all he could claim to have accomplished that day. The next, he managed to do the same and then add straightening up the apartment to his list of accomplishments. It wasn't much, but it was more than he'd been doing before. The greatest accomplishment over all of these days was the fact he left the door unlocked for the first time since he'd woken up in the Capitol. It wasn't an open door, but it wasn't a barred one either.

The City and Park) Once Jet had managed to venture outside of his apartment, he decided to try and go for a walk out in the city (during the daylight hours for once). The hustle and bustle was soothing in it's familiarity, even if the people around him were just as ridiculous and irritating as before. He soon found the 'distractions' he could find there weren't distracting enough, they were all food and clothes and entertainment and things too shallow to hold his attention. The Capitol was too shallow. So the next day, he turned to running and running became what he did every early morning, waking up at hours that would have impressed Albert and taking off the minute he was outside. He'd run as fast as his cybernetic legs could take him and keep going even once his organic lungs burned and ached in protest. It was a distraction and it became his new addiction.

The Training Center) The running could only last so long before he'd have to admit his lungs had limits he was close to breaking and had to stop. Usually, this meant retreating back up to the apartment and showering and sleeping for however long he'd sleep. But once he woke up, he'd be faced with an empty room and a full head and nothing to do. This lead him to the training center where he was left with the options of painting the walls for the hundredth time (surly someone would learn some day and simply take the paints out. Until then, he'd take advantage of their stupidity) or actually training. Depending on the day and hour, he could be found doing either.

When he painted, he was careful to avoid faces and stuck to inanimate objects and animals, some of them from home and some of them from around the Capitol itself. Sometimes he didn't paint anything specific at all and simply chose to smear paint along the wall for the hell of it. It was a healthier distraction. When he trained, it was with all kinds of weapons. He'd practice his archery and marksmanship for as long as he could before the memories of who taught him how to use it caught up with him and made him stop. Then it'd be on to knives and slicing up programmed enemies, his movements more often than not as graceful as a dance. He'd occasionally try his luck at throwing the knives instead of fighting with them with mixed results and even picked up a sword when he thought to, though it was clear in his movements and form that he was still learning. This was probably when he felt most open to connecting with others again. At least here he didn't avoid eye contact; fighting wasn't a distraction, it was a comfort.

The Downstairs Kitchens) Approximately two and a half weeks after he'd woken up to an empty apartment, Jet felt a twisting in his stomach he almost didn't recognize, it wasn't a feeling he'd had in so long, even before the arena's end. He was hungry. This wasn't the insatiable appetite he used to have, the one that often made Albert comment about how Jet would eat them out of house and home some day, but it existed and that was new. He'd eaten in the past few weeks, but sparsely and only the couple bites it took to make him feel sick. This time the idea of food actually seemed pleasant and a few things came to mind that Jet realized he'd probably be able and willing to finish. Of course, it also happened to be after midnight.

Jet wrapped himself in a robe that was too big across his shoulders but a bit too short in the sleeves for him and snuck his way downstairs. Well, it wasn't really sneaking, he didn't anticipate running into anyone, but he moved silently anyway. Once he was in the downstairs kitchens, he began rummaging through the supplies for something he could sling together that wouldn't end in setting off the fire alarms.
walking_dead_walker: (Default)

Training Center

[personal profile] walking_dead_walker 2015-04-04 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
Kieren, recognizing Jet from their short encounter in the arena, started to head over, when he noticed what he was doing. Curious, and interested due to his own artistic endeavors, Kieren paused, watching him as he worked, but staying out of the way for the time being. He remained silent, too, not wanting to break the man's concentration until he reached a point where he wanted to stop of his own volition.
tookthewheel: TWS (Processing)

Training Center

[personal profile] tookthewheel 2015-04-04 11:06 am (UTC)(link)
"Jet."

Bucky waits until Jet is taking a break, sitting down in a corner of the training centre, to approach. He's here frequently enough to pick up on how Jet's presence in the room has increased exponentially, either painting the walls or working out at one of the many stations. It's easy enough for him to connect the reasoning behind it, even as he struggles on how or if he should try and say anything about it.

Eventually he decides just to go ahead and approach, with a cold bottle of water in hand (retrieved from a store outside the Tribute building, because Bucky is still paranoid over that) and offer it out to his friend. "Here."
a_minute_younger: (I like where this is going)

The City/Park

[personal profile] a_minute_younger 2015-04-04 10:32 pm (UTC)(link)
It's later in Jet's run that Gary appears. He doesn't have any reason to be out early, and in fact he prefers sleeping in as late as possible, if only so that once he does wake up he's filled with restless energy to go out and explore. He likes that feeling--it motivates him, drives him to push himself to new and interesting limits, and makes him feel less like he's just looking for distractions from his increasingly mopier friends. Which he totally is. But that's beside the point.

The point is, Gary is bundled with energy at this point in his jog and he's happy to find some kind of outlet for it. Jet he recognizes (how couldn't he, after that huge wedding he had?); more importantly, Gary recognizes that Jet is running very fast. Is he going somewhere? Somewhere exciting? Maybe he's in a race? Gary likes all of these options. With a small chuckle, the teen puts on a determined grimace and sprints ahead, coming up quickly from behind.

"Passing left, chump!" he teases. Gary angles himself to pass right.
lionhearted_victor: http://girlyb-icons.livejournal.com/19937.html ([CLEAR THE ARENA])

Training Center

[personal profile] lionhearted_victor 2015-04-05 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
The last time Leo had any contact with this particular Tribute was in the long-ago network communication. Ever since then, the Trainer had kept a closer eye on Jet as he went through the Arena with his partner...no, the term was significant other at this point. It didn't matter to Cora what the Tributes did in there as long as they won. And yet, the mourning was there.

Albert died and by the looks of things, wasn't coming back for the next Arena.

Leo had taken to practice his choke-holds and kicks (for someone of a short stature, the trainer could deliver a devastating blow to the throat) that day until he saw the blond man step inside. He took this moment to study the cyborg as best he could, no comments for now.
lionhearted_victor: http://lunasenzanotte.livejournal.com/8242.html ([WHAT NOW])

[personal profile] lionhearted_victor 2015-04-05 04:58 am (UTC)(link)
"I was hoping to study your combat in a more controlled environment," Leo replied as promptly as possible. He wasn't one to be petty towards people, even Tributes that earned his respect.

"You performed admirably then...but I'm guessing the Arena holds a bitter memory for you," he added, acknowledging Jet's loss as it was: a loss. He wasn't that big of a dick to rub salt in such deeply personal wounds.
Edited (keyword!) 2015-04-05 04:58 (UTC)
walking_dead_walker: ([Flesh] Almost smile)

[personal profile] walking_dead_walker 2015-04-05 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
Smiling slightly, going up and grabbing his own brush and paints before heading over to a blank bit of wall. He stared at it for a bit, contemplating it before he began to work. Thinking of what he wanted to paint, and moreover, thinking of how he wanted it to look, imagining the lines and curves of it before he began to work, not wanting to make the sort of mistake that could be prevented by simply knowing what he wanted to do.

Normally, he preferred painting portraits, but in a place where people could be 'avoxed' for 'rebelling', he didn't want to risk drawing attention to anyone who was either here, or had the risk of being pulled into this world just as he had. Instead, he painted a forest, where the trees were sparse and blackened, and all the plants were dead. The scene was mostly painted in greys, the only splash of color was the red hoodie of a figure curled up at the base of one of the trees, his hands covering his face.
tookthewheel: (Gloom and doom)

[personal profile] tookthewheel 2015-04-06 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Bucky knows what it's like to try and work yourself into exhaustion just to try and get through the day, though he has never had the same reason to do so that Jet now has. learning that Albert hadn't returned from the arena had been difficult for him but for Jet whose connection to the other cyborg is so much stronger it can only be infinitely worse.

The only way Bucky can imagine it is how he would feel if Steve did not come back, a concept that his mind shies away from anytime he tries to think about it.

"It's fine. I... understand." he says, a little gruffly and shaking his head as Jet apologises. He doesn't want him to apologise for this. Bucky runs his thumb across the knuckles of his metal hand, uncovered because he'd been taking both fists to one of the punching bags while he waited for Jet to take a break. "I'm fine."
a_minute_younger: (huh)

[personal profile] a_minute_younger 2015-04-08 09:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"Woah!" Gary cries, as if this is completely different from what he expected to happen when he decided to fake Jet out. That, he had anticipated (as soon as it came out of his mouth--this was hardly a premeditated plan); what he does not anticipate is how much weight Jet has behind him when they collide. Gary stumbles, pinwheels his arms, takes several ungainly strides forward and finally manages to regain his balance. All things considered, that could have been much worse.

The other guy, with how much inertia he had, is probably fine. Gary keeps running on the assumption that he is. "The one that makes an 'L' is your left!" he calls, and holds up his right hand in the shape directed--twisted so it makes the correct shape. Gary, of course, plays this off with complete innocence.
walking_dead_walker: ([Flesh] Listening)

[personal profile] walking_dead_walker 2015-04-09 04:29 pm (UTC)(link)
"It's just..." he paused, thinking about it. "It's just how I felt during the last arena. When I was stuck out there, waiting to see if I'd die or go rabid or both."

In the end it was both. Not that that made any difference during all that time and dread and anticipation. Realizing he wasn't going rabid after a day, but also realizing he had no idea what he should do, since he certainly didn't want to kill anyone, but that was the only way to survive in that place.
lionhearted_victor: http://girlyb-icons.livejournal.com/19937.html (Default)

[personal profile] lionhearted_victor 2015-04-10 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
There was a time and place to be a commanding dick towards the Tributes, but this wasn't it. "May I see your knife work? I know you're skilled with swords but you know as well as I do they can be cumbersome and unwieldy." Combat therapy was something Leonidas believed in. "Vent, I want to see you destroy the dummy."
tookthewheel: TWS (Processing)

[personal profile] tookthewheel 2015-04-11 06:48 pm (UTC)(link)
No, he's not fine. He's rarely truly fine, but what is he can't change and in the end he's suffered worse. He's lived worse for seventy years so Bucky can survive this, quietly and without complaint now that he understands what he's dealing with and has had the time to process it. Especially that now he has his friends help.

There are more important things.

"Somewhere else." Bucky decides after a moment. He considers staying in here, doing what the two of them are both comfortable with doing and working themselves down to the bone. At the same time he finds the idea unappetising, which... "Are you hungry?"
lionhearted_victor: http://lunasenzanotte.livejournal.com/8242.html ([WHAT NOW])

[personal profile] lionhearted_victor 2015-04-12 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
Cora took some quick notes without looking down to the pad, making sure that he made a mention of Jet's brutality and almost dance-like flurry. So this was the tribute Torin believed in the most after Felicity...the faith would not be misplaced and now the coach had a better understanding. The power in those mechanical enhancements were great but it was the human inside that remained as fascinating as ever.

"You were a soldier you came here, were you?" Leo commented absently as he studied the absolutely destroyed dummy. All vital areas have been eviscerated and somehow, he wished this had been a pig or one of those medical dummies, the mess would've been worth to see the actual damage.
carnagecarnival: (I'm just waiting for you to come back.)

The Training Center

[personal profile] carnagecarnival 2015-04-14 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
Every day. Every single day since he's gotten here, he's painted. He used to paint all insanity upon the walls. Then those beautiful disasters because interwoven with trees of chalk, and the color grew. Things came clearer, faces, meanings. There weren't so many demons as before.

One day he started cleaning up after his mess, a quick lesson with Cecil the avox and he'd been determined that his art, what he claimed beautiful, would not be another's pain. And then, soon enough, there came a time he couldn't paint upon the walls anymore. It pained him too-- to do it, to not. Then Terezi came with her paper and boards that they could tape up in the Training Center, keep up their art together and without the drawn out scream in the back of his pan. He'd been grateful.

He'd been looking forward to Albert's promise of painting his and Jet's apartment. He'd been looking forward to having both his friends safe and well. Not leaving holes and being full of them. He didn't find out at first. It tore through later. He wondered why he wasn't there for Jet, how Jet managed not to cull everyone like he'd so very nearly done in similar loss. How many motherfucking times had he lost someone just to break down entirely. Maybe he really could survive it. Stand it, never, but...

Jet's here. The Initiate's got paper under his arm, but Jet's already being wall-side when he walks on the fuck up. He doesn't know much what to say. He stares at the paint on the wall, opposing urges going to strife in his pan. He sits on down beside Jet, then with a deep shaky breath, puts the great piece of paper down. Out of the way.

His fingers dip into the paint no problem, just like always. It's bringing them to touch the wall that makes them shake and shake hard. But no matter the tremble, he forces himself to paint on as how Jet wishes on it.

"Didn't know you was being into this," He says quiet.

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