lovelyassistant: (No...I didn't mean it....)
Charlie ([personal profile] lovelyassistant) wrote in [community profile] thearena2014-09-13 11:15 pm

[OPEN] I've seen the world, lit it up as my stage now....

Who| Charlie and OPEN!
What| Charlie faces up to a reminder of where she came from. She isn't taking it so well.
Where| The Don't Starve themed store.
When| Early Week 3
Warnings/Notes| Angst, possible mentions of death, entrapment, and starvation. Your characters are welcome to either assist or attack while she is vulnerable. IF ANYONE SITS IN THE THRONE, they will find that there is a mechanism that will 'trap' them there. It's a gimmick, and is easy to break out of given a few seconds, but may be put to use if a fight breaks out.

Honestly, Charlie had figured it out right away - right at the start of the arena, in passing, she had worked out exactly what this store was and what it was doing here. It was about her, about where she had come from before this place...but most of all, it all meant him. She couldn't work up the nerve to think about him - where he must be right now, now impossibly, inescapably far away from where she was - and yet survive a death match at the same time. She needed to keep moving, she told herself.

Now it was weeks in, and she had barely made contact with anyone at all. She was tired, she was lonely...and most of all, she realized she couldn't wait any longer. The audience out there was likely dying to see her walk through this door, and someone out there might wind up being her lifeline. Like Harley had said, even if she felt like she was alone...someone was watching. Someone was waiting for the show, and if there was one thing that she knew beyond a doubt, it was that the show must go on.

Biting her lip, she walked through the door, makeshift spear in hand, the boots she had acquired tapping softly against the checkerboard tile that comprised the floor. All around her were familiar things made to feel unfamiliar, and her eyes rested upon them in turn, one by one.

Stuffed toys made to look like strange hounds and birds.

Flat, stylishly drawn cut-outs of trees and bushes all over the walls.

Foam toy axes and picks and spears.

Piles of twigs and rocks and plastic flower crowns.

There were so many things staring her in the face that she knew that she barely knew where to look - until her gaze fell upon the centerpiece of the store. Two statues of a wicked-looking man, surrounding a huge black throne. Charlie's hands clapped to her mouth, muffling her whimpers. She knew the man in the statue. She had even seen these statues on the island, giving her glimpses of the one she most desperately wanted to see again. Here they were, even farther removed from their subject.

They accused her, somehow, standing there looking so wicked. Looking nothing like she knew he was.

Stumbling back, she fell to the ground in front of the throne. The people had their show now. The glittering, smiling, poised figure that had been so careful until now sat sprawled on the floor, put her face in her hands, and cried. She knew she was vulnerable. She didn't care.

She was tired of being alone.
69problems: <user name="paperseverywhere" site="tumblr.com"> (xtra | Now I know why)

[personal profile] 69problems 2014-09-16 06:36 pm (UTC)(link)
He kneels next to her and, after a moment's hesitation, slips his uninjured arm around her shoulders. Only then does he take a moment to actually look around. Twigs, leaves, strange beasts, an overwhelming theme of wild, unforgiving land...

"Is this... are these things from your island?"
69problems: 8-xenon-8 (xtra | I hope there is  a way)

[personal profile] 69problems 2014-09-18 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
Poor thing. He can't begin to imagine what she's feeling, that particular mixed bag of emotions that are coming from places he doesn't even know about, but for whatever reason he feels almost obligated to try and help. She's been nothing but kind to him and as far as he's concerned she doesn't deserve to be in this much pain.

"Is there anything I can do? Would it help to talk about it, or would you just like me to stay with you?"
69problems: <user name="paperseverywhere" site="tumblr.com"> (xtra | Keep you near)

[personal profile] 69problems 2014-09-29 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
Of all the things he had expected her to say, that isn't it. His look of concern only deepens and he tightens his arm a little around her. He's fairly certain she means that in the metaphorical sense, but who can ever really tell with this place.

"What do you mean, you were a monster?"
69problems: <user name="paperseverywhere" site="tumblr.com"> (xtra | Now I know why)

[personal profile] 69problems 2014-09-30 01:00 am (UTC)(link)
Ah. He looks very hard at the opposite wall. This has now officially taken such a sharp turn that he's not sure what to do, what to say, and his need to make this better for her wars with his own horror and curiosity at what she's telling him. The need to talk her through it wins, though, it always does.

"If you can't remember it, then how do you know for certain that it was so very terrible?"
69problems: <user name="bedsafely" site="tumblr.com"> (xtra | You had Jesus on your breath)

[personal profile] 69problems 2014-10-28 01:02 am (UTC)(link)
That's what he does. He listens and he provides understanding and comfort even if he can't necessarily condone. From the sounds of it this isn't something that she enjoyed, either, and not something that she had a choice in -- what kind of person would he be to hold her responsible? It would be monstrous if she enjoyed it. As it is it's just sad.

"That doesn't make you a monster. That makes you a person who did monstrous things that they had no control over."
69problems: monosketch (xtra | In this world you tried)

[personal profile] 69problems 2014-11-04 01:38 am (UTC)(link)
"Shh, no. Often in our lives there are things we can't control, things we can't fight no matter how much we want to. We're only mortal; that is not a personal failing. It doesn't have to be anyone's fault."
69problems: <user name="robokatar"> | <user name="karkinophile" site="tumblr.com"> (6 | You know it's worth the fight)

[personal profile] 69problems 2014-11-30 01:34 am (UTC)(link)
The barest hint of a smile settles around the corners of his mouth and he nods in encouragement.

"You're safe from it here." At least for however long until the Capitol decides to undo whatever blocks it in order to wring some more entertainment out of it, but, details. "You can move forward now even if you can't undo the things that happened in your past. You have the nights and you have people that care for you."

It feels strange to suggest that being in the Capitol is in some ways beneficial, but he's not naive. He knows that for many, their lives here are better than their lives back in their native universes. It would be simplifying the situation to cartoonishly black-and-white levels to suggest otherwise.