thecapitol | (no subject)

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Who| Cuthbert and Open
What| Extremely mature pouting and moping
Where| District 3 Suites, mostly
When| After his death and return to the Capitol
Warnings/Notes| none so far

Cuthbert Allgood is not taking his latest death well. It doesn't help that his fight with Sherlock is making the rounds in the highlight reel, and he's taking it harder than he has in the past. He hasn't talked to anyone so far, not even the avoxes who he will carry on half conversations with most of the time.

For someone who spends a lot of his time training normally he hasn't been further out of the District 3 Suites than to ride the elevator down to District 1 and back up. He hasn't even been able to get off the elevator to see someone he really wants to see.

Most people will find him wrapped up under a blanket from his room in the main District 3 eating area watching and (surprisingly) not commenting on their activities. All of this is abnormal behavior for him, not that he would notice or care at this point.

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Eliot definitely notices the difference in his districtmate's behavior. They may not have spent time together and Eliot may not be in the District 3 suite much at all but he's had enough time to recognize Cuthbert's usual manner. He's not the type to get someone to talk about their feelings, though, and that won't solve anything here anyway. So he doesn't say anything until he's finished what he's cooking this time.

He sets a bowl of soup down in front of the other tribute. "Ya want me ta turn the tv off for a bit?"

It takes longer than he really wants it to for Karkat to come down to see Cuthbert--and it's probably just as well that Cuthbert hasn't been able to get off the elevator at District One, because Karkat hasn't really been staying there since he got back. He's sharing Signless' room again and this time it isn't because Karkat's terrified of his suitemates--luckily from him, most of the psychos are gone--but because Signless is currently so fucked in the pan from what the Initiate forced him to do that he hasn't felt right leaving him alone for very long.

But right now Signless is sleeping and Karkat finally has time to see the other person he's been worrying about.

"Hey," Karkat says, sitting down next to Cuthbert. "What's with the torso-covering thermal retention fabric?"

That is a confusing greeting, so Cuthbert just stares at him in return. Even at his best he probably wouldn't have anything good to say about it.

He flips on the television and watches the latest highlight reel. It's nothing too upsetting so far, people he vaguely recognizes. He doesn't want to kick Karkat out again, but he doesn't want to talk to him either. Watching other people die with Karkat next to him is the closest compromise he can get right now.

Cuthbert just shrugs and stares down into his soup. He knows he should eat, he hasn't done much of that either since he got back.

"Won't change the outcomes."

His voice sounds rough, like he's been hoarse or crying too much. He can't meet Eliot's eyes, even as he eats a spoonful of soup.

"Thankee. For the food."

Eddie has been doing, shockingly, about the same.

He was still feeling weak from his injuries. It might all be mental, given the Capitol's medical skills, but it didn't stop him from feeling it.

It also might have to do with the withdraw, and sudden return of the morphling in his system. his body was not exactly thrilled with him lately. No drugs, death, too much drugs.

So when he flopped down next to Bert, he looked pretty worn out.

"Sorry for being a shitty mentor."

He meant the blanket, Cuthbert. Honestly.

Karkat sighs. "Look, did I do something to piss you off? I'd have come to see you right away if I could, but Signless was seriously fucked up by what happened and I didn't want him to-- I mean, for all we know if you die out here you stay dead."

He shakes his head at Karkat, he isn't upset at him, he just doesn't know what to do with himself. He shifts deeper into the blanket so it's up to his ears. That way if he does talk it will be too muffled to make sense, which feels better than actually talking at the moment.

"I could test that theory for you."

The TV is showing some of the murder party and Cuthbert just stares at it blankly.

Bert spared a quick glance for whoever was sitting with him. Eddie looked as bad as he felt right then, and that just made him feel worse. No one got out of the arena in good shape, it seemed.

"Sorry for dying pathetically in front of everyone."

That was the crux of what he was upset about. He wasn't exactly a deserving gunslinger when he could be killed so easily. And for the third time. Not to mention that he let down everyone who was betting on him, and his whole district.

Unfortunately for Cuthbert, trolls have pretty good hearing.

Karkat slaps Cuthbert.

"Oh my fuck, no. No, you dumbfuck, you are no going to 'test' anything. Not with yourself--and certainly not with anyone else, do you want a mandatory recreation period with that Penny psycho? Look, I'm sorry I didn't come to find you right away, but you're not the only person who's important to me and the world's shittiest harlequin didn't make it his personal mission to break you."

He grabs Bert by what he thinks is the arm. It's hard to tell under all that blanket.

"You're coming with me where I can keep an eye on you."

"Mayhap not everything is about you!" Cuthbert snaps at him.

But he doesn't resist being pulled up and out. It's just as well because there's more disturbing footage up on the TV, more things Cuthbert doesn't want to watch again.

He's quiet again in the elevator, not letting his eyes meet Karkat's as they make the short trip up. On the one hand, he's not happy to be treated like he's a danger to himself when he doesn't think he is, but on the other it's nice to have someone care enough about him to fuss over him like this.

"Then why," Karkat says through grit teeth, "are you trying to use the thermal retention fabric to give yourself the cocoon you can't actually spin if you aren't being petulant about me being late all the fucking time."

He doesn't let go of Cuthbert's arm. He doesn't plan to until they're both in Signless' block where he can keep an eye on the both of them together.

Edited 2013-11-26 23:09 (UTC)

Cuthbert doesn't have a good answer for that. So instead he tells Karkat: "If I can't spin a cocoon then what do you call this?"

He pulls the blanket tighter around himself and burrows deeper into it so his face is mostly hidden. Being horribly immature is a far better choice than telling Karkat how mortified he is about his death, among other things.

"No." Eliot knows about that all too well by now. "But it'll give ya some time ta focus on somethin' else."

He steps back to the stove and dishes out a bowl for himself. "It's no problem. It's relaxin'."

"Thermal retention fabric," Karkat replies, rolling his eyes. "A really shitty fake cocoon." He sighs and gives Cuthbert's arm a squeeze. "If it makes you feel any better, the only cull I got was when I was avenging you."

He's not entirely sure if Cuthbert is being petulant because he didn't live up to the last arena's record, but it seems as good a guess as any.

"You like to cook, then?"

One spoonful is about all Cuthbert can handle at the moment, but he will stir it around a lot and stare into it. It's easier than looking Eliot in the eyes or staring at the TV like had been doing previously. All of this is a good distraction, and even when he's feeling his worst, he can't seem to help but be somewhat sociable.

Cuthbert's eyes narrow in a glare and he tugs his arm free. Really he should last out at Karkat again, but he is trying to help. And he's afraid to let his actual concerns get out.

Cuthbert will walk himself to Signless's room rather than be escorted at this point. At least, that's where he's assuming they're going. And he gets as far as the door before he feels useless and weak again and just stands in front of it trying not to turn around and leave again. He knows if he does Karkat will come after him again and it will be a worse scene than it currently is.

"Yeah." He sits down across from Cuthbert. "It's relaxin' sometimes."

He waits a few minutes, just watching Cuthbert. "Ya sure ya don't want me ta turn it off for a bit?"

"I'll buy you a drink, you buy me one?"

He offered a pathetic, half assed smile, before nudging Bert. And trying to find some words of comfort. What would he wanna hear?

Well 'The train back to 3 leaves at noon' would be a good start, but it wasn't happening anytime soon. So pointless to day dream about.

"Everyone dies in there. And no death is pretty."

It took him almost two days to wake up, and all he could feel was blades for several seconds before his brain registered he was alive.

He spent the third day huddled in his room, blanket wrapped around him, staring out at the city.

On the fourth day he went looking for Cuthbert.

He wasn't entirely sure why or what he wanted to say. He knew the man was back in the capitol, knew he was still alive, but something compelled him to check. As if he wouldn't be satisfied with Cuthbert's continuous existence until he had seen it for himself.

So he took the elevator for District 3 and walked in with a very false sense of confidence, immediately looking for an avox to lead him to Cuthbert's suite. Once there, he knocked soundly on the door.

Karkat sighs. "Fuck, you're balky today." He opens the door with his right hand, while using the other to shove Cuthbert forward. "Come on, in there. You can hang out with us until you stop needing that lame cocoon. We have food and this weird fuzzbeast that keeps purring."

He doesn't understand what Eliot means for a second, he's not really watching the TV so much as staring at it. But when he focuses again he just shakes his head.

"No, I deserve to watch this foolishness again and again. I died a terrible death and I shouldn't hide from it."

The more he watches the more Cuthbert gets quiet and introverted again.

Eliot shakes his head at that. "No more than the rest of us," he says quietly. "We've all had our share of bad deaths. That don't mean we can't find somethin' else ta think about sometimes."

His voice is still raspy when he responds to Karkat.

"I hate you."

But even saying that he's walking in and sitting on the floor in the corner of Karkat's room. He sits so he's facing one wall, but he can still see Karkat out of the corner of his eye. For the moment he isn't giving the troll a nice look.

Bert sighed and turned away. He wasn't sure he could explain how he was feeling, so he stares down at his hands instead.

"No death is pretty, aye. But a death can be useful. And mine wasn't, I couldn't even be useful before my death."

He was a waste, and he couldn't shake that feeling. It would have been better for him not to wake up from this death at all.

He was wrapped up like a Cuthburrito and staring at his window, which he had turned to a scene of a rainy city. It was like he was trying to enhance the sense of macabre. Or just being dramatic.

"Whatever it is, I do not want it right now."

He thought an avox was in checking on him again. He wasn't angry about it, he knew it was their job to make sure he didn't die. But he certainly wasn't in the mood for it at the moment.

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i think this will date this thread as the last in the log

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