[OPEN]

[luckofthedevil]

Who| Alex Rider and OPEN
What| Dinner and Districtmate bonding. Or lack of bonding. Also, Alex just out and about.
Where| District 4 suites and around the Training Center
When| post Arena 6 sometime
Warnings/Notes| none atm

It wasn't that Alex didn't like the other Tributes in District 4. He just hadn't gone out of his way to talk to them very much. When he'd first arrived he'd made the decision to not form any connections, to keep himself distant from the other Tributes. That way it wouldn't hurt him if someone was injured or killed (and, later when he noticed some of the Tributes weren't brought back, if they disappeared altogether), but in the last couple Arenas he'd begun to see the futility in that position. He found himself liking some of the other Tributes, and the ever present loneliness gnawed all the more.

So when his stylist chattered happily about 'just a little dinner' to help the newer Tributes of District 4 'feel more at home', Alex's protestations were mostly habit. He figured he could at least make polite small talk. He was curious about the other Tributes to some extent, where they'd come from and what their homes were like. If it weren't for the frequent death matches they were forced to engage it, this situation would actually be pretty exciting for Alex. How often did you have the opportunity to meet people from other realities? (Though, Alex hadn't completely dismissed the possibility this was all a delusion brought on by a psychotic break.)

The dinner that night was just as nice as it usually was, but it was distinctly District flavored. The dishes were made from fish and other aquatic creatures, and Alex noticed a certain prevalence of seaweed as both a garnish and a food item.

- - -

Alex had worked up a sweat, as he did most mornings. The equivalent of 5 km in laps of the large room followed by and hour of weights. He was mostly healed from the state his body was always in after each resurrection, the bruises properly faded away, and in another week or so he would be back at his peak and ready for the next Arena.

Rubbing his hair with a towel, Alex eyed the ropes course, waiting for the line to die down. Even if it was popular with some of the other Tributes, it was Alex's least favorite part of the room. It reminded him too much of the week and a half he'd spent in the Brecon Beacons, which in turn reminded him of Blunt. And that was just something best avoided. Still, he ran the ropes course all the same, because it was good for agility and balance. He just made sure there was no way to construe that he might favor the ropes over some other part of the training room.

Comments

[savedbyasong]

Shion blinked, with the history here being similar to his own worlds; albeit with a very different present and the only other person he had talked to about home worlds being Karkat he was surprised to here from someone whose world didn't sound as destroyed.

Or maybe it was, but had a lot of fish. "War and destruction led my planet to the brink of extinction, humanity is contained in six separate cities, though there are pockets of people in the wasteland conditions there are harsh and resources scarce."

[luckofthedevil]

Alex's eyebrows raise slightly. To him, it sounded like something out of an apocalyptic sci-fi film. But what were those films except speculation on what could possibly happen in the future?

"My world isn't to that point yet. There are a lot of wars going on, but their effects are mostly regional rather than global."

[savedbyasong]

Shion nodded, "I'm not sure of all the history leading up to the current state of my world. Well I learned it but I don't believe any of it." He smiled again, "So are there still countries in your world?"

[luckofthedevil]

"Loads of them, all over the place." It was a little hard to think of his world, Earth, reduced to just six cities. To decimate everything to that extent... he could only think of a few things that would result in that level of destruction. "For instance, I'm English. I was born in Great Britain, which is part of the United Kingdom."

[savedbyasong]

"Great Britain." Shion nodded, he had no idea if a country called such had existed before his own world destroyed itself, the names of the countries had long been lost to history. Or kept from the citizens anyways.

"Is it a large country?"

[luckofthedevil]

"Land-wise, not very. It's a cluster of islands, though there are a couple of big ones that make up most of the area. About... 240,000 kilometers square and about 93 million people." He didn't bother to make the distinction between 'Great Britain' the island and the UK itself. Splitting hairs when it wasn't really necessary. "Lots of countries bigger and with more people."

[savedbyasong]

93 million people, that was almost the population of Shion's entire world. His mouth dropped open.

"And that is a small country?" He shook his head in amazement, "So you have seen the ocean then?"

herp i typo'd, it's 63 mil, not that it makes much of a different for Shion XD

[luckofthedevil]

"The ocean? Of course. It's only about a little over an hour down to Brighton by train." But then he thought about what Shion had asked him, and he noticed the significance of the wording. "You... haven't seen the ocean?"

herp it makes no difference, it's still huge ;;

[savedbyasong]

So many concepts that were new to him, the idea of traveling an hour and being in a different place, where there was still life.

He shook his head. "No, never. I've learned about it though."

[luckofthedevil]

Alex tries to piece together just what Shion is telling him. Most of the fish are extinct. Humanity mostly lives in only six cities. The land has been completely devastated. It did not paint a very pretty picture.

"Is it that you've never been able to go... or are they gone?" he asked, trying to confirm what Shion seemed to be saying.

[savedbyasong]

"They aren't gone, some parts of the planet are mostly water with no land at all. They are just far away, I only left my city six months ago, and I didn't go far."

At all, but living outside the walls of No. 6 meant that West Town might as well have been a million miles away.

[luckofthedevil]

"Oh, I see. Growing up in England, I was used to having the ocean rather close-by, but there were some countries that were really large and some people would never see the ocean if they didn't travel much."

There was something about the way Shion mentioned leaving his city that made Alex a little curious. "What made you decide to leave the city, if you don't mind me asking?"

[savedbyasong]

"I didn't really decide it just happened." He grinned a little sheepish, "I got arrested, and someone rescued me and took me from the city." Exile was better then death after all. "Most people never leave, I didn't even think there was anything outside, not apart from endless wilderness and the other cities, but there was a town outside the walls."

[luckofthedevil]

Life did that to you sometimes. Just came in and swept you off your feet before you even knew what hit you. And then there were the times you saw it coming a mile off and still couldn't run fast enough to not get caught up. "But some people did leave? You weren't completely locked down?"

[savedbyasong]

"Some people went to other cities, but only if they were allowed to because of studying our business. My friend Safu went to No. 5 for example."

[luckofthedevil]

"Ah, so they generally didn't go outside of the cities. I see. Did you like it there, outside the city walls?"

[savedbyasong]

Shion blinked thinking about that, it was not something he had really thought about before. "It was very harsh there, the Winter was bitterly cold, there wasn't enough food and many people struggled to survive, death was a much more constant threat then it ever had been inside." He looked down, "But I think that even starving, and freezing, struggling to survive from one day to the next, it is always better to be free."