rise up the waterfall | marauders v slay | day 2
Feb 28, 2023 6:16:56 GMT -5
Post by Arrows on Feb 28, 2023 6:16:56 GMT -5
There is something explicitly appealing about the equation of force to Duke. Although in actual terminology the equation calls for mass x acceleration, the boy from Three finds it intrinsically applicable to his current circumstances as the first night eats away at the edges of the day. Sunlight becomes bouncing beams of the moon and simple conversations of stupid strategies of separation turn to, well, conversations about snoring? No, this was not at all what he had been expecting to experience in the arena.
Even when he was still back home in District Three, Duke has had a complicated history with sleep. Some people struggle with commitment so they become rampant fuck boys, and some other people struggle with things like focusing. Duke likes to say that he himself is just a literal struggle personified as a person, but no where is it more true than when he's alone standing on the edge of the cliff of rest. There's something unnerving to him about the lack of control, about entirely giving himself over to his body's basic operational expertise.
Maybe that's why he isn't asleep when it happens.
The twitch, the snoring, the cursing of a sleeping teenager at being awoken. He plays witness to is all almost as though he could be eating popcorn watching some kind of movie. Only this isn't a movie or something he can eventually review negatively to his friends at school. This is real life. Even the moment Rene comes up to him as morning begins bleeding over the stars is real. It's all real whether he wants it to be or not. "Did you sleep okay?"
Her words are so kind, so attentive. The unexpected sweetness over just a night's sleep really does catch Duke's attention. "No the existential dread kind of ate me alive like usual." Why couldn't he have just lied? Why not just tell her that it was fine and he got what little ounces of rest he could? Either of those options probably would have been preferred and yet here he is: a true wordsmith. His cheeks flush slightly embarrassed. "But uh... it's okay I'm used to it I never actually sleep anyway back at home because I find sleep to be a rather terrifying experience due to a number of fac-"
Duke wishes for his own death as he ace palms from his own words. Well, he's in the perfect place for that.
"I'm fine, it's fine, everything is fine I swear." He'd rate his recovery a solid -1/10, but thankfully the weather saves him. The rain comes with a chilling grasp that seems to almost be spun out of frost. Of course it has to be more water. Every inch of Duke's skin is crawling as they walk forward. To say he's uncomfortable is already an understatement until they arrive at the next literal body of water... why the hell did he ally with District Fours? They are basically fish on dry land while he's just- His hands begin shaking as he watches the surface ripple from the storm- he's just entirely himself.
"Wait perhaps we should think over some of our-" Duke's words fall over deaf ears as Dyno not only goes ripping through the air into action at the first sign of another alliance, but takes them straight INTO the water. It's not just him though, one by one the fight seems to start taking to the icy depths and Duke is NOT having any part of it. This is especially true when one of the tributes from District Eight not only calls him a dick, but sends him toppling over the railing trying to avoid most of the blunt of the oncoming attack.
"NOOOO!" Duke's voice rises fearfully to a decibel far higher than it normally lives as his plunges into the waters alongside the Fours. "What ever happened to, 'hey, how are you? It's nice to meet you.' But no, let's just jump to the part where we try to DROWN each other. Fucking hell...." Duke's voice trails off as his fingers tighten around the glaive in his hands. The words could be for anyone at this point, even Dyno for charging in first. It doesn't really matter. All Duke knows in the moment is that he is as far from a fighter as anyone can be, but there is one thing he can say for certain as he starts to swing wildly alongside Rene: pure panic makes for great motivation to fight.
Duke attacks Dorothy Hope with his Glaive
ch|YHpbibpglaive
{Shallow Cut on Right Bicep -- 3.5 damage}
glaivech|YHpbibpglaive
{Shallow Cut on Right Bicep -- 3.5 damage}