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Who | Torin Byrd and you!
What | The Mini Arena wasn't kind to Torin, but Torin is sick of the hospital. Surely wheelchair theft will solve his problems.
Where | Various places, see prompts.
When | Sometime after the Mini Arena.
Warnings/Notes | Discussion of Arena violence/injury/trauma.

[A - District 2 Suites]
Torin is reasonably certain that the gossip magazines are going to have a field day with this, but for once, he doesn't care. Let Celebrus think whatever it wants to think, he's getting out of the hospital today, even if part of that escape involves being talented at feigning sleep and another part of it involves what is essentially grand theft wheelchair. The end of Torin's time in the Arena hadn't been a kind one. He'd made it all the way to the prehistoric area, an area he should have conquered, should have been able to turn to his advantage to win--

--only to have his time there cut short by another meteor shower. He'd had injuries heading into that last part, but his second brush with the meteor shower had left him battered and broken in more ways than one. He was fortunate enough not to have been hit directly in a joint this time, but he'd still suffered several lacerations and broken bones. He was lucky the meteor shower hadn't killed him this time, and during the earliest parts of his hospital stay when they'd been pumping him full of painkillers, he was pretty convinced it had. But he was off of the worst of those now, and he was feeling better. Not completely healed, but better.

Given the severity of his injuries, no one should really be expecting him to roll himself into the District 2 suites fresh out of the hospital and looking not unlike he has escaped rather than been released. But here he is, coming "home" with his right foot encased in a cast up to his knee and his head wrapped in bandages.

[B - Training Center]
At this point in his life, Torin probably looks not unlike some weird Bond villain...not that he'd know what that is. Though his legs are still covered by a blanket and the outline of the cast can be seen poking out from underneath said blanket, his top half is wearing one of his trademark white suits, complete with a hat that's not quite managing to hide bandages wrapped around his head. Torin feels more like himself than he's felt in a long time, and he's sitting there in that wheelchair with an iguana in his lap. The iguana, which is wearing a harness so he can't run off on Torin, doesn't seem to mind. It's happily snacking on a salad Torin has obtained for it somewhere.

So now that he's back and trying to pretend like everything is just fine despite the fact that he's largely confined to a wheelchair, looking a little worn out, and moving a bit more stiffly than usual, there is only one thing for Torin to do--wheel himself to the Training Center to see what all he's missed. District 2's Tributes had better not be slacking off in his absence, though he doesn't think Leo would allow that. He's a bit of an odd sight, but he's trying to play it off like nothing is wrong. And if he gets nosy about training that doesn't involve one of his Tributes, well, he's been cooped up in the hospital for too long. He's bored.

[C - Outside the Tribute Center]
Yes, it's good to be outside again. After his stint at the Training Center is completed, Torin decides to take a walk. (Or is it a roll?) Whatever, he's still got the iguana in his lap, and he's rolling down the sidewalk, glad to be out in the fresh air.

"Mr. Byrd! Mr. Byrd!" The frustrated, scandalized tones of the hospital workers make Torin wince, and he's about to try to make a speedy wheelchair getaway when one of them catches the back of the chair. "Mr. Byrd, you were not cleared to leave the hospital!" No, this worker doesn't seem at all willing to let him go.

The hospital worker that has not grabbed the chair comes around the front of the chair to confront Torin, though he's flinching back at the sight of the iguana. Mini Arena loss or no, Torin sitting there with some sort of reptile in his lap is clearly intimidating the guy. Torin Byrd has a reputation where animals are concerned, and this guy wants no part of the business end of that reputation.

"Careful, he bites," Torin cheerfully tells the man. "Both on cue and off." The man visibly pales at that. The iguana seems unmoved. To the woman holding his chair, Torin adds, "You're overreacting. I'm fine." He doesn't really look it; the day's exertion has been more exercise than he's had in some time.

She grits her teeth. "No, Mr. Byrd, you're not taking care of yourself. Do we need to call your sister down here?"

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

It's clear someone needs help here, be it Torin or the orderlies seeking to wheel his stubborn butt back to the hospital.

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That whole mini-arena was.... not good. Very bad. She had watched it, of course, there was no way that she couldn't. It was important to know what happened, and if anyone saw her not watching it.... well, her dedication and patriotism would be called into question. And no one needs that. But she had to leave the room when her uncle Torin 'met his end'. And didn't come back in to finish her viewing for the rest of the night.

It had been a relief to hear from mom, the both of them red-eyed and sleepless the next morning, that he was safely being tended to in the hospital. A kind of bone-deep head-to-toe relief that she hadn't known since she had managed to get herself out of career tribute training. She was immediately putting together plans to visit him the moment visitors were to be admitted, which mom assured her would be very soon, of course.... but not soon enough. Days passed. Days where she started to put all that fear and anxiety behind her and slipped into her usual routine, part of which was visiting the public areas of the Tribute Center....

"...Uncle?" Is that him? Is that him? What in the heck is going on? She bounds on over, overpacked messenger bag rattling and new shoes squeaking (cute squeaky shoes were going to be the new trend, she knew it), determined to sort the situation somehow. "Uncle Torin! Uncle Torin, what... where... how... you're okay!"

And she is just swooshing on past that hospital worker and flinging her arms around him. Carefully. Lightly.

Nux is out and hungry--again. People got cranky when he dissected the toaster, even though he put it back together! And it still works! In fact it toasts...even toastier than before!

First, he's drawn to the wheelchair--it has wheels!--even though it doesn't have an engine. And, yeah, the yelling. What? War Boys thrive on conflict! But the real draw, when he gets closer is...the lizard.

Or as Nux likes to call it: Lunch.

So, you know what? While everyone's distracted with all the yelling, he's going to throw himself into the fray, grabbing for the lizard.

"...Tell me how you evaded the orderlies because I'm impressed," Leonidas said, his eyes still adjusting to the sight before him. The moment Torin was reaped to the mini arena, Leo practically begged the peacekeepers to let him take his mentor's stead, let the old king rest. But the rules were clear and the officer took too much delight in saying that only past Victors were to be reaped, not wannabes.

So imagine Cora's horror when Torin fell to the meteor shower, thinking that he was truly gone. To see him again, brings the coach such a relief that he becomes visibly younger.

"Felicity!" The iguana on Torin's lap is used to Felicity, and as such doesn't seem to care at all when she goes in for that hug, even if the orderly is looking apprehensive. Torin leans forward to try to hug her back with his good arm. It's not a terribly strong hug, and he's not moving all that fast, but hey, he's not dead! That is something. "So good to see you..."

The orderly holding the back of Torin's wheelchair seems to have realized that this just might be a good way to get her wayward patient back where he belongs. "He's hasn't been clear to be released, you know." She sighs. "He really needs to go back--it's for his own good so he can finish healing."

"Nonsense," Torin protests. "I'm fine."

"What the--?!" Even if he's not in the best of shape right now, Torin's still a Victor and still gets kind of twitchy with sudden attacks. His left arm is about the only part of him that's functioning well, and old reflexes die hard. That arm comes up to try to intercept Nux, though Torin's not exactly at his strongest right now.

And with his right hand, he snaps his fingers. Back in his Arena, he'd won by taming the Arena's dinosaur mutts. When he'd first acquired this iguana, he'd started training it in much the same manner. He hadn't lied when he told the orderlies the iguana could bite on cue, and he's just given it that cue.

"It wasn't easy." Torin laughs. It's a very tired laugh; he's still worn out from everything. "Takes a lot of acting like you're where you're supposed to be and pretending you're asleep. No one ever suspects a sleeping man in a wheelchair might be plotting something. They just think he's been left somewhere for someone else to come collect."

Hungry War Boys aren't put off by random hands shoved at them. Especially when grabbing for food.

But the FOOD isn't supposed to attack. That's...that's just not right! "OUCH!" he howls, and does the natural thing, which is to jerk his hand back and whip it around. If the iguana's keeping that bite, it's going for a bit of a ride!

Had this happened under better circumstances, Torin simply would have bought the hungry War Boy a sandwich. But now? In all this confusion? He doesn't really get what's going on.

King the iguana is resolutely hanging on, for he shares a few stubborn qualities with his master...and he's a weird iguana who's enjoying the ride, anyway. "Stop swinging him around and I'll have him release!" Granted, he can hold on for only so long, and it's quite likely Nux can shake him loose on his own.

At this point, the male orderly has taken off running for safety--there is no way in hell they're paying him enough to deal with this.

Does Torin feel up to explaining sandwiches and the whole variety of sandwich condiments to Nux? Because all things being equal, this might be the better option.

The orderlies can bail, and Nux won't mind--less people to share with!
"Tell him he's doing this wrong! He doesn't bite ME!" It's supposed to be the other way 'round!

"So you played sleepy until you got out? Not bad!" The laugh that comes out of Leo's mouth is an earnest one, especially after everything that has happened in the past few weeks. "Did they let you keep the iguana for therapy purposes or is that just during visiting hours?"

But in all seriousness, there was a worry in the coach's demeanor, "You were out for so long, Candy may have been hounding me for information I didn't have. What's the damage toll?"

"...why would you want to bite an iguana?" There's a bit of genuine curiosity mixed with annoyance here. "They'll all bite back; they don't understand how your world works."

"Essentially, yes." Torin laughs. "The iguana...probably wasn't supposed to be there, but someone brought him by. They didn't know what else to do with him, especially not after I started yelling at the nurse who was trying to take him away."

Torin sighs and grows a bit more solemn. "One leg's broken in several spots, the good arm was dislocated, most of my ribs were broken, numerous contusions both inside and out...and I'm not sure, but I may no longer have a gallbladder. If all Candy hears about is the broken leg, I'll be in good shape."

"How else do you eat something?" Seriously, where's your common sense!?

"Eat...?" Torin froze there for a moment, confused. "...how about you put my iguana down, I'll have him release your hand, and then I'll buy you an actual meal...two meals if you help me get away from her." He jerks a thumb at the nurse who's still gaping at the whole thing and holding onto the back of the wheelchair.

The long list of injuries made even a Career like Leo pale, from the sheer scope of things. By all accounts and the images shown from the mini arena, the man should be dead and more so by one of their Tributes...well, the Batter made good in his promise of being an efficient killer.

"I'm pretty sure she'll find out eventually but right now, we're all happy you're alive...sir."

The hint of formality was the only way Leo could show his vulnerability with respect. It's been months now since he called Torin that instead of by name or Mr. Byrd.

"Thank you. It's good to be alive...such as it is." There's a sigh and a bit of a frustrated gesture at the wheelchair. "I'll be glad to get out of this."

"How long did the sentence you?" Because it's a type of prison in Leo's eyes, especially given how Torin tends to chase those undesirable people away from Felicity's circle.

"You'll recover soon enough and your in-laws can make sure you're not to be taken back." Cora hides his own uneasiness about this mini-arena...why did the Capitol do this? What was the point?

Any hug at all is perfectly acceptable right now. He's alive and he's gonna get better. She laughs and indulges in a very, very brief squeeze. "It's so good to see you too! So good!"

Alas, there is that orderly interfering with this touching and heartwarming moment. That will not do. She huffs and pulls partly away from Torin, looking to them with an intense frown. "He'll be fine! He made it this far, didn't he? He's got family! We can take care of him! We've got it under control!"

Family's gotta take care of family around here. For sure.

Torin sighs. "I'll probably be off the foot for a couple of months. In a walking boot in a few weeks if I can swing it." Really, he's wondering if they're not delaying his healing on purpose, but he can't outright say it. "They tell me I'm not healing as fast as I used to. A normal side effect of the aging process."

"Yes, yes, see? It's fine, fine, she'll see to it that I'm well cared for." Torin seems satisfied at this arrangement.

The orderly gives him a withering stare. "Do they know how to deal with things if your wounds reopen, Mr. Byrd?" And then that stare is redirected at Felicity. "He's got several internal injuries, Ms. Yoshida. He needs to be in a hospital for a few more days."

"I make no commentary about your age, I value having a job and a proper face," Leo smirked, no one was safe from his brand of humor. But even he was intrigued by the long process, "Sounds like they want you to take it easy and keep you out of the training center."

After that Mini-Arena, Cora would rather have his Mentor settle down into something less injury prone but deny the man a vent? That's cruel.

"Smart man." But Torin sighs. "They want me to take it easy and out of anything other than a hospital bed for the time being." It's frustrating for him. Very frustrating. That much is obvious in his voice.

"So wheelchair jousting is out of the options?" Cora offered with a grin, "It's not like I'm always at one hundred percent." And to show support, the coach rolled a wheelchair and some dummy lances along the way.

"Or would it be too strenuous?"

The idea actually makes Torin laugh, and the laughter makes Torin wince. "Perhaps later. Right now, I think I just need to catch up with everything. Feels like I was in there for months."

"Maybe a few weeks but..." Leo is quick to offer the prescribed painkillers for his superior, "It's not much catch-up to do yet. Sponsors are getting antsy about a lack of wins in a Career District but I've reminded them of your past service. Youth is at a premium nowadays."

And he's talking in general, "They enjoyed the spectacle enough to not start pulling out."

Torin warily eyes the painkillers--he's had enough drugs in the hospital, thank you--but grudgingly takes them with a nod of thanks. He doesn't like having to rely on such things, but it seems to be a necessary evil for the moment. "We might be a Career District, but we're doing this without the benefit of Career Tributes." Much as he might dislike the practice, there's no denying that's what gets them wins. "At least the spectacle's holding their attention..."

The look on Leo's face was worried to hell and back: for how long can they keep up the act? For how long can they rely on the Tributes before the Sponsors tire of them and have them perform for their District? The answer is uncertain but it's always limited. And as a former trainer to Careers, Cora knows their lot in life is to live fast, die young, and leave a pretty looking corpse.

"Or hope that Cullen or the Batter perform better in the next Arena," he thought out loud before he wheeled Torin, "We have that much."

Torin is quite determined not to end up as one of those corpses, though it feels a little more difficult than usual these days.

"We do," he agrees as Leo starts to wheel the chair, "And I think it should be enough." It would have to be, wouldn't it?

"You stick more bandages and stuff on 'em, right?" Easy as that. Simple, simple. There's an important fight to be won, here, and she is not going to back down in the face of this orderly. She is protecting a family member. "Look, look... we don't live far from the hospital! He's not going to do anything stupid like strain himself because he's got people taking care of him! People that love him, and stuff, alright?" And Uncle Torin gets another little one-armed iguana-avoiding hug to demonstrate this.

"...also if you bring him back he's just gonna try and get out again." She knows her uncle.

"It's not that simple with internal injuries..." The orderly looks like she's about to have a headache.

But as for the rest of it, "She does have an excellent point," Torin points out with a smile. Really, staying with his family would be leagues better than in the hospital. "I'm very crafty, you know."

"He did do all that while drugged to the gills," the male orderly quietly points out to the woman, who seems to be in charge. It seems to him to be an important thing to take into account. Combined with the way the Capitol media treats Torin, he's got no doubt that the man would just escape again.

For a few seconds, Leo believed himself to be a failure, that he had not done enough to keep their district afloat and regain their past status. But a creeping horror has come into his mind as of late: the compromise of the Capitol to the Districts.

"What if they demand more? You're strong but you're not fit for another arena until, say never?" he murmured at this, adding a little dark humor at that.

"If they demand more, then I've no choice but to give all I can." Torin sounds resigned to this. He's been resigned to this since he was a teenager, a fresh-faced young Victor who'd seen more death and destruction than he'd ever wanted. "I'm sure I could rally," he adds in response to Leo's dark humor there. "Playing dead and waiting for them to turn their back is a valid strategy."

"He did? Did he?" She looks at her uncle with a bit of surprise, but it quickly shifts to proud fondness. You go, Uncle Torin! Break out of places while doped up on pain meds! She gives him one last little hug, then starts to dart around to take the handles of his wheelchair.

"So it's agreed? It's agreed! I'll get him nice and safely home and tucked away, and if anything goes wrong? We'll call, okay?" Gotta throw these guys some sort of bone. Even if the Byrd family definition of 'wrong' is wide with lots of wiggle room.

"And yet, here you are, recovering in a wheelchair with your pet iguana and no one can ever tell you that you can't muster up the strength to keep fighting," Cora encouraged as best he could though there is...conflict in his normally sturdy voice and resolve.

What the hell is going on in the Capitol that they- nevermind, even thinking like this puts me at risk.

"Unless you have a plan to stay hidden, I suggest we take you back to the hospital."

"What, you think they'd come looking for me here?" At least Torin's not being serious with that question. "I'm quite tired of the hospital, you know. So much poking and prodding...and I'm fed up with being told to sleep it off." So he wants to get up and do things.

"He did." The woman doesn't look too pleased with this scenario. "We'd have to send someone over there to check on him periodically, even with family care.

"It'll be fine, fine," Torin reassures her. "I'm not stupid enough to try to run away from Candy." Because he is pretty sure his sister would have his head for that.

Felicity nods very, very firmly at Torin's assertion. No one wants to run away from her mom when her mom has declared that to be a no-go. "He is going to be in really good hands. Oh boy, yeah, wow...."

From her spot gripping the handles of the wheelchair, she dips down to ask a question in a quieter voice. "...we'll head inside and then call a cab? Hmm? Sound like a plan?" And if they maybe had to spend a little time in District 2's suite getting things together, well, that's just fine....

"So you see, everything will be well taken care of. And I'm sure Candy won't hesitate to ship me back over there if things take a turn for the worse." Which is entirely the truth; he'd be doing the same for her.

"That's an excellent plan." Torin answers in the same quieter voice, giving her a nod.

"I suppose we'll have to allow it." Oh, the head orderly isn't at all pleased, but she's outnumbered here, and she knows it.

"Sir, this would be first place they'd look into," Leonidas quipped without missing a chance to poke a bit of fun. "You're sleeping it off, coach's orders at least?"

He wasn't about to lose a respected Mentor like Torin to the hospital irresponsibility and human stubbornness. "Let me at least wheel you in, pretend it was excursionary, right?"

"They're probably hunting me down with tranquilizer guns even as we speak," Torin muses. "I suppose if you took me back, they would be less likely to shoot."

"I was thinking more like those mutt-hunting nets. You and your pet might just manage to elude them before the tranquilizers take effect," And Cora knows that's probably true in some cases. He knows Torin would have fought his way out of the dozing effects and carried on.

"The Dinosaur Wrangler meets his match with a tiny, tiny nurse," he laughed at the thought, "You're going to be fine."

"I actually got out while on tranquilizers," Torin points out. There's a bit of pride in his voice. "That tiny, tiny nurse is going to need something a little stronger."

As Leo wheeled Torin towards the exit, he quickly replied with, "That tiny nurse also has multiple types of anesthesia on stock and ready for unruly patients like you. Are you want to play that game with her?"

Torin was strong but nothing like an injection full of sleepy straight to the ass to ruin someone's day. "You're going to be fine."

[ooc: wrap here?]

"Great! Great, great, great-great-great!" With the orderlies argued into submission and her uncle on board with the plan, Felicity beams and starts to push that chair into the tribute center. Though she is sure to call back over her shoulder, "Thanks so much for taking care of him, you guys!"

A little of that manic energy leaves her once they're out of sight. She dips forward, voice lowered a little, to say something a little more genuine. "We were really worried. You are gonna take it easy, once we get you home?"

"I've played far, far more dangerous games than that," Torin laughs. "I'd hope I would be fine."

[[Wrapping sounds good!]]

"Of course I'm going to take it easy," Torin says innocently. "I was trying to get out of the hospital so I could get home--I'm certainly not going to be trying to get out of home, now am I?"

"I don't know... you take your job pretty serious..." She makes a little uncertain grumbly sound, mouth flattening into a line. "If I do hear about you overdoing it, I'm making mom come down here and yell at you. Fair warning."

She threatens because she loves you, Torin. And she continues to wheel him away to safety and (hopefully) rest and silence.

That actually makes Torin grimace. "Alright, alright...no need to break out the heavy artillery. I'll behave myself." Really, he's lucky Felicity's the one who found him.

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C

C!!!

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bahaha, beautiful

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no lizards will actually be harmed

haha, good, good, Torin's attached

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