thearena | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who| Cuthbert and Open
What| Making poor decisions as he so often does
Where| Out and about in the arena
When| Now
Warnings/Notes| None now

Cuthbert and Karkat have been keeping each other safe and watching each other's backs. They're running lower on supplies now and Cuthbert has gotten more bold and venturing further and further away. He's carrying a knife and a somewhat unnerving smile and he's leaping out at anything he thinks he can scare or kill out of any good supplies.

To be fair, he's jumped out several times at things that weren't alive.

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"I'm going to break more than that when I'm done with thee. Of course you could save us both the fight and simply give me what I want. The pack and everything in it."

As strange as he might seem, Cuthbert is entirely serious about this. There's spots of blood on his shirt that aren't his and an air about him that (for once) isn't joking.

With 'thee'? Great. A Shakespearean throwback; taste for violence and all.

Putting his hands up to show he wasn't armed, but seemingly no less impressed than a moment ago (if there was an edge of concern to his gaze, it wasn't all saved for himself), he replied evenly,

"Hold it, kid. I don't plan to put up a fight. All I have in the pack are berries; a few edible leaves. But rations are just that; rations. If you're hungry, they're yours. But they won't last you for long. Might be more useful to see where they grow, so you can supply yourself." He hoped the kid was in the habit of listening to good sense. "Name's Leonard, McCoy. I'm a doctor. In other words; I'd really rather not fight, if it's all the same to you."

Really, this was more of an annoyance to Cuthbert than anything else. He was hoping for more than just a few scraps. And other supplies would have been even better.

"That's it? I can pick my own berries. You really have nothing better? I would hate to go to all of this trouble for nothing."

He's not as interested in attacking anymore, it's not really in his nature to kill an innocent man, especially not a doctor.

"Mayhap you can show me what can be used to heal around here. That would at least be worth my time."

"'All this trouble'?" He repeated, brows raising at the younger man, as if in scolding. His tone stayed even, but his eyes were hard; if by 'all this trouble' he meant 'gutting you', then McCoy would rather he not go to the trouble of it, either.

"Fine." Agreed, curtly, shortly after, with a nod. "I can do that, if you're willing to learn. Any specific injuries you're focused on, or you're thinking more in terms of preventative, a catchall?"

Snotty kid or not, healing is something he can do. Better to have purpose and direction, even in the midst of chaos. Better to hang on to that humanity.

He meant the trouble of stalking someone down to try and kill them. That sort of thing took preparation, mental and physical. And if worse came to worse, Cuthbert could get his lessons and then kill this man after. There were always options!

"Healing cuts and bruises would be helpful, and anything to prevent poison."

He wasn't about to put his weapon away though, just because he didn't think this man was of any real danger to him didn't mean he was in the clear.

"Right." A nod at that, and he gestured for him to follow, with a hand... before promptly turning his back on him and beginning to walk.

Mistrust breeds mistrust, after all. So, he was gonna trust the kid.

"First things first; is it always like this? These 'Games'?" Because which plants would be useful depended entirely on location.

Cuthbert already felt he had the upper hand in this situation, which meant he didn't have to take advantage of a conveniently turned back this time. He wasn't surprised to hear that this stranger didn't know much about the games, he certainly wasn't acting like he'd been in the arena before.

"They are always a confusing and stressful fight to the death, aye. But I suppose one can get used to anything if exposed to it long enough."

He wasn't sure what else this man wanted to know. If it was about previous arenas, he might have to be more specific. Some memories Cuthbert wasn't eager to dredge up.

"Getting used to it... almost a more horrifying concept than participating in it, or being brutally killed." A gruff sigh, and a grudging nod. "With no end in sight, huh?"

Less of a question, more rhetorical.

Well, that just wasn't acceptable.

"How long've you been stuck here?"

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