Legion Building

[gluteus]

Who| Maximus and OPEN
What| Maximus wants to build an army
Where| around the capitol
When| across the week before the arena
Warnings/Notes| None so far!


Maximus had been formulating a plan.

Perhaps plan was too strong a word. Commanding was in his blood, it was what his entire career, his entire life had been based on. So he didn't even realize it when he had started to work out the logistics in his head. It wasn't until that he was devising particular strategies for the arena - strategies that weren't just for him, but for a team, for an army that he knew what he had to do.

The best way to ensure survival, and to silently rebel against the capitol, was to stick together. Was to find men and women that he could count on, that he could trust with his life, and that could trust him with theirs. Keep them all alive as long as possible. And last out the Arena together, and refuse to take each other down.

He even  had an idea of who could fit that bill.

All it took was finding them.

Comments

Fontem Hot Springs and Spa

[polyturtle]

They gave him his kill credits that day. It had not been as much as the last time, only 200. Not that he particularly cared. He hardly spent it anyhow, or when he did, he went to a cheap place for a quick bite to eat.

Which made it surprising that he was at the spa, in one of the private hot baths - a place one wouldn't see him often. But the private room was very inexpensive, partly because he was only doing a soak in the bath, and nothing more complicated. Also, it was partly because it was a Thursday morning before the next Arena; most of the wealthier spa patrons were at the betting tables, or at work, or preparing themselves for the next Arena. The employees were always willing to make the rooms much cheaper during the down times.

Down time. He needed it. He needed the peace and quiet, and the relaxing hot bath. He needed to just stare at the ceiling, maybe close his eyes, and zone out, and not let everything get to him. He needed to meditate. He needed to just be. And thanks to the cheap rate of the private room (seriously, 20 dollars for 5 hours) he could take his time.

[gluteus]

He came to the hot springs often for the baths. The shower in his suite was too strange and too foreign - though he'd been shown how to use it, it could never settle with him properly. He never felt clean, and he certainly never felt refreshed. At least at Fontem they had proper baths, built in the old roman style even if they didn't realise that was their origin.

It was one of the only moments he nearly felt home.

The capitol citizens usually gave him a wide berth (it seemed the magazine article about his barbarism had been widely distributed), but on this particular day they were talking about another tribute. A tribute with green skin and a hard shell...

The monster from the ice.

Maximus finished his bath but couldn't push the memory from his mind. Knowing, now, that there were tributes strange and varied, and not just from Don's own lips. He'd seen them. Knew they were in the same position he was, even if he could not grasp or comprehend where they had come from.

So he pulled himself from the bath, wrapped in the towel that they had gave him, and requested directions to Don's room from a slightly terrified staff member. Within moments, he was knocking and then entering the room.

[polyturtle]

Don had just closed his eyes, finally starting to fall asleep, when he heard the door open. His eyes quickly opened, and he looked up to see...

"...Oh."

He blinked. He knew this guy. The man who'd called himself the Spaniard in the Arena.

"Hi there." He gave a tired wave. "Fancy meeting you here."

The Speakeasy

[the_marshal]

Wyatt was, in many ways, a creature of habit - especially as the new arena neared.

He wanted nothing to do with the speculation, with the tension, and uncertainty. He didn't want to think about what might be waiting, what they might all be focused to endure, to do, this time.

He wanted to enjoy, as best he could, the short time he had left.

The Speakeasy a refuge, now even more than ever. Even if they didn't really understand here, they at least knew enough to let him be as he sat at his table, shuffled his cards and dealt himself into endless patience games.

[gluteus]

He knew where to find Wyatt, of course. They'd spent many a long evening in almost near silence, and more than a few in hushed voices.

He was one of the first people that Maximus thought of when he began to formulate his plan, and so he made his way almost immediately to the speakeasy once he began to consciously think about it.

So it was that he found Wyatt, exactly where he was expecting him, and slid into the chair opposite with a very small but personable smile.

"Creature of habit," he pointed out amiably.

[the_marshal]

Glancing up from his cards, Wyatt shot him a smile, before looking back down.

"What can I say, I like the company here."

[gluteus]

"Can't understand why," He murmured with humour. He motioned to the waitress for a drink - by this point she knew exactly what to get him - before taking his seat and looking over at Wyatt. He was quiet for a thoughtful moment before speaking.

"I must be honest. I didn't come for cards. Or a drink."

[the_marshal]

Wyatt paused, mid-card turn, an eyebrow raised.

"And I'll hazard a guess ya ain't here for my good looks neither." He settled the card on the table (the nine of spades) and leaned back in his seat.

"So what can I do ya for?"

[gluteus]

"I've been thinking." He leaned his elbow on the table, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he considered how best to explain what he had been thinking about, and have Wyatt understand completely, without worrying about eavesdropping. He glanced at the card deck, frowned, and put out a hand.

"May I?"

[the_marshal]

Bemused, Wyatt passed the deck over.

"By all means," his mustached twitched, "help yerself."

Shopping Center The Districts

[lassoftruthiness]

Probably the strangest part of all of this, so far, was the amazing amount of free time Diana found herself with now. Training could only take up so much of it, and not everyone was so willing to sit down and discuss politics or explain the history of this world without all the obvious censorship.

Since she's got the time and they're not allowed to visit the Districts they're supposed to be representing, she's at the shopping center, curious to see how the Capitol views the Districts. So far, in the section of stores for 5, she's mostly found batteries and pinwheels.

[gluteus]

She wasn't entirely new to him. They'd never spoken, but he'd seen her in the training area. He always had a keen eye for anyone who went there and looked like they knew what they were doing - and she certainly did.

He wasn't scouting for anything in particular when he went out that afternoon, but he couldn't help but notice her as she walked down the street. So he decided to finally speak to her.

He walked up until he was next to her, casually strolling alongside, not even looking at her directly when he said in a calm, but quiet voice: "You're a new tribute, correct?"

[lassoftruthiness]

Diana took the hint and kept her face turned away as he spoke, examining the shop windows curiously. "I am," she said, cautious but open. She had seen his face, briefly, and recognized that he was one of the more experienced. "My name is Diana."

[gluteus]

"Maximus."

He kept walking as he spoke, though he did glance at her, offering her a small smile. His posture was casual but it was impossible to remove the tight clip of military precision from his strides.

"I've seen you. In the training centre. You're not new to the fight."

[lassoftruthiness]

She nodded back with a smile of her own, still wary, but this didn't appear to be about threats or boasts about the Arena to come, anymore than it appeared to be a random, casual conversation. "I have some experience, yes," she said, looking him up and down with a quick glance. "I'm not the only one."

Training Area

[originalgaangster]

Sokka knew that the Arena was coming. He didn't like it. He didn't want to participate in it. But he figured the best thing he could do was prepare and hope that he would be good enough to get out unscathed. So he can be found in the training room in most of his spare time, going through sword movements, practicing with a spear, or any of the other weapons he expects he'll be able to use. He wheels through a variety of spear guards and thrusts and then comes to a stop, breathing heavily as he stares a hole into the far wall.

This was going to suck.

[gluteus]

Maximus spent quite a bit of time in the training center, and much of that watching the people inside - old tributes and new. He didn't watch the televisions so he wasn't always sure of how long any given tribute had been in the city, but he was getting an eye for the latest additions to the roster.

So he found himself watching a particular tribute one afternoon, arms crossed across his chest and leaning up against the opposite wall. Earnest, with some training, but not nearly enough. After a long moment he crossed the floor.

"Your guard is too high."

[originalgaangster]

Sokka pauses as he hears the older man speak, lowering the spear a little with pant. He frowns, glancing over and appraising Maximus. Older, tough. Definitely looked fit. He chews on his lip a moment, then shrugs.

"It's how I was taught--what am I doing wrong?" Being humble is good. And this guy might be able to help him survive a little longer.