Open RP post!

[hominidae]

? Pick one of my characters (see below) OR drop any character of yours in and get a random choice.
? Use RNG and enter 1-14 for a scene; roll again for specifics.
? Or cheat and just pick something.
? You can also just throw a picture, quote, or whatever kind of prompt you want.
? OPTIONAL: combine a bunch of memes and scenarios and go nuts.
? NOT optional: HAVE ALL THE FUN OR ELSE.


MUSE LIST


I. BED INVADERS

A. Decide you know this person! (Cast mate, previous CR, etc.)

1. WAKE THEM UP. You don't care how friendly you are to the person in your bed; they need to get up.
2. PRANK! Oh, this has just got to stop. They need to be punished. But how?
3. CAN'T BEAT 'EM, JOIN 'EM. Push 'em over & snuggle up. You're too tired to deal with this craziness right now. Or sleep on your couch.
4. LET THEM SLEEP. Whatever. It's noon. They're asleep and you've got things to do. Regard them or disregard them.

B. Decide you have NO CLUE who is person is! (No CR, cast mates who have never met, cross-canon, etc.)

5. SCREAM 'OMGWTFBBQ GET UP!' Really. Default action going on here.
6. PRANK! What a better way for you to remember this moment of meeting than by painting a mustachio on your new 'friend's' face? (Remember, it's your bed. Be wise what you do.)
7. GENTLY AWAKEN THEM. Oh, the poor dears! They must be exhausted, but they can't stay here. Be nice, even if it isn't IC for your character. This is what you get for rolling. Shake them up quietly. Or re-roll.
8. GET TO KNOW THEM NON-BIBLICALLY. Well, they're asleep. But they left their wallet, important work, or identification out (no matter how OOC it may be)! Let's see who's REALLY sleeping in your bed. (Use your own judgment on what you find. AS a suggestion, have the most they find is the sleeper's name and maybe place of work.)
9. TIE 'EM UP. FUNCTIONAL typing up. Not kinky, no matter what the other party might think. Let them continue their blissful moment of rest. They'll answer questions later and you'll be safe and sound.

C. Decide - I do what I want

II. ROAD TRIP

1. BREAK DOWN. Oh snap. Your car decided to break down out in the middle of nowhere. WHAT DO? Is that Leather-face? Will this be "Children of the Corn"?
2. HITCHHIKERS? Is this even a good idea? Threads may also have a third participant. Go wild.
3. WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST HIT? Dude, I hear deer mess up cars... Or I think that was a deer...
4. DON'T MAKE ME TURN THIS CAR AROUND. Alas. You're the parent or disgruntled friend who has had it up to here with all the fighting in the back. This thread may also have a third or even fourth participant, if you can wing it.
5. OMG, I WANT TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THIS LANDMARK! No, no, and no. You tell that person that they're going to be driven around and they're going to like it.
6. THE GREAT ESCAPE. Either dinosaurs or the moth-man is chasing you. Don't stop now.
7. MAKE OUT. For whatever reason, the person you're traveling with in the car. You would love to make out with them and then some.

III. CUDDLES

1. SWEET DREAMS. It's been a long day and all you want to do is sleep or just rest your eyes for a bit. Hopefully whoever is close by doesn't mind if you use them as a blanket.
2. STORMY WEATHER. The heavy rain, thunder, and lightning won't be letting up anytime soon. Luckily, it's the perfect weather to stay indoors and snuggle up close and keep warm.
3. SLOW DANCE. It's the end of a party, or maybe it's only the two of you, but the tempo is slow and the lights are low. Let your dance partner take the weight and just sway.
4. SURPRISE ATTACK. Time to invade someone's personal space. Are they working too much and need a distraction? Maybe you just wanted to brighten their day. Either way, they won't see it coming.
5. MOVIE NIGHT. It can be on the sofa or in a darkened theater, but you've got your popcorn and someone to settle against during your favorite movie.
6. I LOVE YOU, MAN. It's totally platonic, really. You're just very good friends, no matter what people like to think. But you just love your friend so much you want to hug them, whether they like it or not.
7. JEEPERS CREEPERS. Welp. You were just frightened. Was it a spider in the washroom, a ghost in the attic, a bad dream? Either way, you're looking for someone to cling to right now, and who better than that person right there?
8. HURT AND COMFORT. Whether you're sick in bed, just been dumped, or suffered a traumatic event, you need someone to wrap their arms around you and make everything go away.
9. SUNDAY MORNING. Maybe you just had a wild night. Maybe there's just not enough space at your place and you need to share your bed. Or maybe you just got really tired and someone else happened to be there. Doesn't matter because now the person with you looks way more comfortable than any blanket or pillow. Drape to your heart's content.
10. MOMENT AFTER. You just had incredible, vigorous sex and if you weren't a cuddler before, you are now. You're probably too exhausted to do anything else anyway. Just enjoy the moment.
11. PLAYER'S CHOICE. Pick one or make up your own!

IV. HURT/COMFORT

1. INJURY. You've been injured. Broken bones or bleeding out or maybe just a tiny little paper-cut. The choice is yours.
2. SICKNESS. You're sick and laid up in bed, at home or in a hospital. The severity is up to you.
3. FEAR/ANXIETY. Something is happening and you're scared beyond belief.
4. LOSS OF SENSES. Sight, touch, taste, hearing, smell, etc. You've lost some important sense or ability and now you're left to deal with it.
5. DESPAIR. Nothing is good or right anymore and you can't shake the depression. Maybe that friend of yours can help though.
6. MAKE UP. Fight or break up, it's time to make up.
7. RESCUED. You've just been held captive and/or tortured for however long and finally, someone has come to the rescue.
8. BAD ROMANCE. Fight, cheat on, abuse, whatever the case is, someone else can clearly see you need comfort from someone who isn't your terrible lover tonight.
9. LOSS. You've experienced a loss of some kind and need help getting through it.

V. FIGHT

1. FISTFIGHT. Straight-up, unfussy, no-holds-barred face punching. Clearly you're emotionally invested in this argument. Or maybe you want some stress relief.
2. BAR FIGHT. Someone's had one too many drinks. Curses are being slurred, bottles are being smashed. Just don't be surprised if you get thrown out.
3. VERBAL. A caustic, intellectual battle of wits? Or just immature playground insults? Either way, the fighting here isn't physical; sticks and stones can break your bones, but we'll see if words can hurt you...
4. WEAPONRY. Fencing practice or a real sword fight? Paintball or battlefield gunfight? The only limits are your imagination (and the extents of human military engineering, of course)!
5. SPARRING. Maybe you're a streetwise punk teaching the new kid on the block the ropes of self-defense. Or perhaps you just want to get some practice in before your karate exam.
6. SEXY. That collar-grabbing led to a kiss, that knee stayed in a place a little too long, those gazes got a little intense... There's heavy breathing here, but it might not be because you've been exerting yourself.
7. DUEL. You insulted the wrong person. Or got caught cheating at cards. A duel, sir, a duel! The glvoes are off (and slapping you) and it's pistols at dawn.
8. COMPETITIVE. Boxing, wrestling, martial arts, the possibilities are endless. Just remember: the first rule of Fight Club...
9. OTHER. Combine any of the above, or make up your own!

VI. BODY HORROR

1. WATER-DWELLING. You've grown gills, or your skin is turning translucent, or you're sprouting fins, or maybe you're outright turning into some form of sea life. It doesn't matter what you're turning into - what does matter is taht you're slowly losing the ability to breathe air, and there's no water in sight.
2. ANIMAL. Something bit you, and you're turning into an animal. Your bones lengthen or perhaps shrink, break, twist, and reform. Your teeth lengthen or shorten. And above all, you feel your instincts being overridden. Your senses sharpen; you notice smells you never did before. Your vision becomes more sensitive to movement. If you're a predator? Man, these people look mighty tasty. Prey? OH GOD. EVERYTHING IS TERRIFYING. Lizard? Enjoy your new inability to regulate body temperature. Bird? Have fun with the whole beak and hollowing bones. And don't get us started on insects and arachnids.
3. PARASITIC. Something's inside you, and it's changing you from within, chewing up your insides and altering your thoughts. You're not sure how much longer you're going to be you, and when the parasite's going to take over completely...
4. DEMONIC. You've been meddling with dark powers beyond the ken of mortal man, and it seems you've accidentally sold your soul. Will you be the traditional kind of demon, horns and hooves, or something far more terrifying and ineffable?
5. UNDEAD. No doubt about it, you're dying. But as you are, something's been altered in you. Maybe you're becoming a vampire - and not the fun kind either; we're talking ugly, ravenous, and mad. Maybe you're a zombie, or a ghoul, and human flesh looks mighty tasty. Or maybe you're just turning into a ghost bent on vengeance. In any case, death is never fun.
6. CYBERNETIC. Get captured by the Borg? Strapped to an operating table? Injected with nanites? Whatever happened to you, you're slowly turning into something half-human, half-machine, and your squishy bits are being replaced by mechanical components.
7. LOVECRAFTIAN. You've heard their song, the terrors from beyond the stars, and even no they sing in your blood as your flesh transmutes into something ineffable and unknowable. You revel in the pain. You feel even as you seek to spread it, to herald the end of all things... Or maybe worse. You're aware of the transition as your mind becomes not your own.
8. FUSION/HIVEMIND. You've begun to fuse with the first person who tagged you - physically, mental, or both. Soon, you can't tell who is who, which one of you is the real you, as your thoughts become one. Join in the flesh song, mortal.
9. INANIMATE. Your body slowly petrifies and hardens, tuning to stone, wood, glass, or something stranger still. Or perhaps you liquefy or maybe you dissolve into the air itself.
10. WILDCARD. Pick whatever you like, combine a few options, or make up your own.

VII. HIGH SCHOOL AU

1. CLASS TIME. Pick your class, pick your seat. Whether you're paying attention or goofing off, you're interacting constantly with someone else.
2. BREAK TIME. Those precious minutes that aren't lunch, usually half an hour if you're lucky. Are you hanging out on the grass, rushing to get homework finished, or bunking off school early?
3. LUNCH TIME. Food, glorious food! ... As long as you're not eating the school lunches. What sort of chaos will you get up to in the endless queue that is the lunch line?
4. FOOD FIGHT. The natural reaction to being served school lunches: throwing them as far away from you as possible. You're caught in the middle, or maybe you're instigating it. Who knows? No one can tell.
5. STUDY PERIOD. Yeah. "Studying." They mean catching up on gossip, right? Or watching that crappy TV in the common room? Or maybe you really want to study. I'm not judging.
6. SKIPPING SCHOOL. Did you even get to school before you bunked off somewhere? Or did you just take the bus five stops further and in to town? Hope you don't get caught, either way.
7. EXAM WEEK. You're going into an exam, or just cramming every last bit of knowledge into your head. Either way, good luck! You're going to need it.
8. DETENTION. What did you do? Or were you innocent and wrapped up in your friend's scheme, and now you both have detention? I do not envy you at any rate.
9. SUMMER HOLIDAY. SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER! Burn your books, burn your uniforms. Everything is over for another 6 weeks (or however long you get off).
10. FACULTY. Oh, hello miss/sir. No, we weren't talking about bunking. Yep, you're the teacher. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you get this option, you or your partner can do a second roll for the scenario.
11. TAKE YOUR PICK. Free for you. Whether you want to pick something from the list, or make up your own scenario, this option allows that. (Of course, you could just bypass the rolling entirely.)

VIII. APOCALYPSE HOW

1. LAST ACTION HERO. You tried your best to save the world, but despite the superpowers, the teamwork, and the sacrifice of many good friends, you couldn't quite pull it off. Now you're left with your guilt and a universe where half the people left are depending on you to help them, while the rest are trying to hunt you down for your failures. Good luck with that, hero.
2. SCIENCE SAVIOR. They said it was impossible, they said it was futile, but you know that if you just got a little bit of support you could fix all of the world's troubles. Maybe your experiments are a bit on the unethical side, but the survival of humanity is depending on you! You can't let the world down. Time to grab those test-tubes and get yourself a lab assistant that doesn't mind getting their hands dirty.
3. THE LAST PERSON ON EARTH. Well, it's finally happened. A virus or disease or genetic mutation has all but wiped out members of the opposite sex and humanity is doomed. But what's this? A lone survivor? As the savior of the species, they'll be glad to lend a hand (or reproductive organ) to help restore the population, right? Maybe a little bit of persuasion is in order.
4. SO LONELY. You haven't talked to another person in days and you're starved for conversation. So when you finally meet another lone traveler it makes total sense to stick together, right? Maybe share some food, some companionship, some ammo. . . . Better hope you both get along.
5. MUTATION STATION. The bomb dropped and some people weren't fortunate enough to go in the blast. Now those left behind have to deal with nuclear winter, a dwindling food supply, and some strange additions to the human gene code. Maybe these super-humans are friendly and misunderstood. Then again, maybe they just want to eat your brains.
6. LAST DANCE. The world is ending. You know it, everyone knows it, so the only thing left to do is party like it's 1999. Complete your bucket list, do the things you never got the chance to do before, and maybe screw up the courage to do the things you were too scared to even think about doing. Oh, and watch out for looters.
7. FREEBIE SCENARIO. Anything you can think of that isn't already mentioned can go here.

IX. PARANOIA

1. EROTOMANIA. That person loves you. They belong to you. They might deny it and be with someone else but they're ridiculous. You know better here.
2. DISTRUST. Simple as it sounds, you're being lied to. You can't prove it but you're not falling for their tricks anymore.
3. HALLUCINATIONS. A vague classic. Those sounds, those sights, your senses are screwed up and the world is upside down. There's plenty of senses to screw.
4. TAINTED. You're completely wrong. Is it in your family's blood? Is it parasites? A disease? Aliens? A sin? But it's consuming you, whatever it is.
5. CONSPIRACY. Why are they after you? Who knows. Maybe you know. But everyone is in on it and you're the only one left fighting against it.
6. CONTROL. Your actions aren't your own, even if others insist they are. Somehow, either drugs or magic or something, someone is making you their puppet.
7. FIXATION. Either it's in you or someone else or a thing but this imperfection is clawing at your mind. Just fix it. Fix it and you can rest.
8. FOLIE A DEUX. The more either you or the other person talks, the more you feed into this unease and the more real it sounds. What can you two alone do?
9. REPLACEMENTS. Is it just this person or is everyone being replaced with a fake? You're not a fake, though. You won't let them replace you.
10. REAL. Is any of this real? Maybe you're dreaming or drugged. Maybe you're dead. But you need to prove that this is really happening, whatever it takes.

X. Texts From Last Night

1. Pick a character or leave that up to me
2. Go here (or make something up, insert a tfln gif whatever)
3. Comment.
4. See where it takes us!

XI. RANDOM LOCATION

1. LOST. Oh shit, how did you even get here.
2. ON THE RUN. Getting away from someone or something that's after you.
3. TREASURE HUNTING. Something you desire is here. Maybe it's being guarded or you're competing for it.
4. TRAVELLING. You turned up here on purpose. Why is up to you.
5. ESCAPE. Things have gone wrong and you need to get out of this place.
6. DISASTER. Something awful has happened whether you're the cause, a witness or there to help.
7. INVASION. It's a siege! Are you defending or attacking?
8. HOME. It's actually where you live.
9. DUEL. The predetermined location to end a feud.
10. WHATEVER. Just make something up, whatever.

XII. STOP! SOMEONE IS NAKED IN YOUR...

1. BED. Waking up after a wild night or just getting ready for bed?
2. OFFICE. Getting a leg up at work? Caught in a moment of indiscretion?
3. YARD. Someone's been communing with nature...
4. CAR. The warmth of a heater during snowfall... or the air conditioner during a melting summer.
5. BEACH. Oh look, there's a floating swimsuit... and there's its owner.
6. RIVER. God, can't even fish without hooking the wrong species.
7. BATTLEFIELD. Oops, someone looted the wrong corpse... who isn't actually a corpse.
8. SCHOOL. All right, who's been raiding the locker room?
9. BATHROOM. . . . Oh, hey, who needs a shower, right?
10. PARK. Sun and grass and lots of people to . . . watch . . . oh my.
11. . . . CLOTHES?? Okay, technically they are clothed, but it's not their clothes dammit.
12. OTHER. Because there are way, way too many more places than I can think of)

XIII. INTIMACY

1. PHYSICAL INTIMACY. It might just be innocent touches or it might be foreplay.
2. LONG CONVERSATIONS. Honest words can be more intimate than touch.
3. DRUNK. You're over-sharing or simply maudlin.
4. FORCED INTIMACY. Magic. A truth serum, whatever - you didn't mean to bare your soul, but that is precisely what you're doing right now.
5. SLOW-DANCING. There is something inherently intimate about trusting someone else to lead you, and someone trust you to lead them.
6. OTHER. Intimacy can come in many forms. Pick your poison.

XIV. OTHER

1. BOUNTY HUNTERS. You're wanted. And someone is chasing you. Maybe it isn't your fault? But maybe you did rob that bank. Either way, there's someone after that price on your head. Confront them, or run? Specify hunter or hunted.
2. TRUTH. You can't tell a lie. Maybe both of you can't, or only one of you, but now is the time to ask those embarrassing questions.
3. OBEDIENCE. The person posting is compelled to obey, no matter what. (Un)Fortunately the person commenting is compelled to give orders. All orders given must be obeyed.
4. LOTUS EATERS. The person posting is trapped in their own dream of personal paradise. The person commenting is trapped with them. Help free them, or fall into paradise?
5. PLANTS OF DEATH. Plants are trying to kill you. (Something's . . . happening.)
6. INSOMNIA. One or both of you can't sleep, and that sucks. Be awake together.
7. DREAMWALKING. One of you is trapped in the other's dream - or nightmare.
8. SOULMATES. You are meant to be, whether the relationship is functional or . . . less so. Maybe you've just met and yet you know this person (previous lives okay here).
9. PICTURE/QUOTE PROMPT. Throw a bunch of pictures and/or quotes around and see what happens, free-form style! Try RP Visualosities or A Sea Of Quotes.
10. OTHER-WORLDLY. Go to the Other-Wordly blog and hit 'Random' until you get a word. Use the word as a prompt to write up an RP scenario. Do this several times if you like. Mix & match.

Comments

Katniss | Modern AU

[preemptiveforgiveness]

At one time Matt had hoped the crime in Hell's Kitchen would be solved by taking Kingpin out of rotation. However, that hasn't been the case and he's pretty disillusioned about it. In reality, this disillusionment hasn't changed much in either his lawyer life or his vigilante life; if anything, he's only grown more determined and more grim. Hell's Kitchen can be saved and he'll at least help that cause as long as he possibly can.

It's a few weeks after Kingpin is put in jail that he hears about an underground fighting ring. At first, it doesn't seem much like something Daredevil would get involved. Once he finds out that the combatants aren't there voluntarily and are teenage runaways (primarily) snatched from the streets and forced to fight to the death in an abandoned warehouse, he changes his mind. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't take care of it.

He'd like to say it was a nice in and out job, but that would be a lie. It took weeks to hunt down who was behind it, to disable him and put an end to the fights. The finale comes one night when there's a scheduled fight. Matt gets in, disable the guys, sends the betters running and calls the cops. He's sending the teenagers toward the front entrance when he notices the dark headed girl near the back who seems reluctant to move. Regardless of much he talks to her and tries to assure her, she's not going with the cops. She's eighteen, she tells him. They're going to try her for multiple counts of murder despite the fact that she was forced to kill to survive. He's got little choice but to take her back to his apartment with her, but only after extracting a promise that his secret identity stays secret.

He'd thought it would be for a couple of nights until she could call her family and go back home, but it turned out that she didn't have any family or anywhere to go. A couple of stays turned into a longer stay and he got her several jobs in an attempt to help her be independent. Katniss is not a good employee. He hears from employer after employer (generally people he's helped that are doing him favors) that she's rude and surly. She's a hard worker, everyone agrees on that but she's just not a people person.

After living with her for a couple of months, he knows they're not exaggerating, but she's beginning to come around. When it's just the two of them she's funny and kind, pleasant and intelligent despite having large gaps in her education. She is a hard worker: his apartment has never been so clean and he doesn't have to call Claire for minor injuries anymore. There's a sort of tentative trust between them and while they're still working out what they are to each other, he's no longer looking for her a place to live, a job however...

He's also denying any and all growing attraction that he's got to her. She's eighteen, inexperienced and reliant on him. It would be taking advantage. They're friends, or better yet, she looks at him like a father or a big brother.

That evening, he comes home from the vigilante gig a little beat up (it's gotten better since he's begun wearing the armor though). Katniss is up (not waiting for him) when he straggles in, pushing off his mask. It's a relatively early evening for him.

"Let me change." It's actually easier with Katniss up because he's given his room over to her (it's impossible for anyone not blind to sleep in the living room because of the giant digital sign right outside the full length, huge windows that was the reason for him getting this place so cheap). Besides, he doesn't mind the couch. It's not like he's ever comfortable with all the broken bones, bruises and cuts he encounters.

He returns dressed in a pair of soft sweat pants and a dark tee shirt. "Can't sleep?" he asks her. He knows that she gets nightmares. He hears her in the middle of the night even when she thinks she's being quiet.

[stillplaying]

They had never been rich growing up but they did, at least, have enough to keep food on the table and everyone in decent hand-me-downs purchased from Goodwill. Bushwick might not have been the safest place to live but there was crime all over the city. It had been home. Life had been good. And they had been happy. Then, when Katniss was nearly twelve, everything changed. Her father died on the job for Con Ed and her mother had a mental break. Katniss had been willing to do anything to keep herself and her sister out of the foster system. She had taken a risk in dropping out of middle school but she had done so anyway. There were enough people willing to hire a hardworking kid under the books as cheap labor.

She hadn't realized what she was getting into when she had agreed to take the job in Hell's Kitchen. All Katniss could focus on was the amount of money they were willing to pay. She had been sixteen at the time and not naive enough to think that the job wouldn't involve time spent on her back or knees. But for Prim, she'd do anything. Even kill.

That had been two years ago. So long as she continued to fight in the arena, money continued to mysteriously appear in her banking account. A lot of the times, she won. Those had been the bouts that had been fights to the death. Some fights she had been forced to lose and suffered severely for it. At some point, Katniss lost count of all of it. All the children that she had killed. All the beatings that she had endured. The days blurred together. But she survived. She survived so much.

Now she doesn't have to survive. Thanks to Matt Murdock, she can live again. Katniss could have gone home that night that Daredevil had busted the underground fighting ring. After explaining an abridged version of the past two years, he had agreed not to make her go with the police. Matt had taken her to his apartment instead. She should have left to go back to Prim and her mother the next day. But she wasn't the same girl that had left Brooklyn. Her family was better off with her keeping away.

Adjusting to a real life proved to be more difficult than she thought. Working in bodegas and coffee shops had been common place for her once. Now she wants nothing to do with the people that come and go from these places. There's only one thing that Katniss thinks that she's good at these days and it's killing. For Prim, she does her best to work the jobs and send the paychecks home. Matt tends to cover most of her expenses, as well as giving her a place to live. She doesn't need the money for herself.

Katniss had thought that her ability to care for anyone other than her immediate family had died with her first kill in the arena. Matt's proved her wrong. Though she's certain that he sees her as a younger sister or daughter or something, it hasn't stopped her from developing a crush on him anyway. So tonight, when he comes back, it's not the nightmares that still has her up but fear for his safety.

She watches him quietly from the couch as he walks in and pulls off his mask. She clutches her knees closer to her chest and frowns at him as he enters the bedroom. When he comes back out in the sweats and tee, Katniss has a hard time spotting any visible wounds but that doesn't mean there's not something hiding under the clothes. She wants to reach out and touch him to find out but Katniss refrains.

"Yeah," Katniss mutters, still trying to search for wounds beneath clothes. "How's the perp?"

[preemptiveforgiveness]

Matt has never had the sort of experience that Katniss had to live through. Yeah, he'd lost his father and lived the rest of his childhood in an orphanage (no one wanted to adopt a blind, angry kid). He'd worked hard though, gotten that scholarship to college and he'd become a lawyer so that he could fight injustice. That hadn't been enough though, which is when he'd started being a vigilante.

He doesn't blame Katniss for the life she'd fallen into. Once she'd made that (uninformed) choice, she hadn't been able to get out, not alive anyway and he knows that. She hadn't had any choices and she hadn't wanted to do what she'd done. He can't condemn her for that, but he can help her get back on her feet, learn to live in the real world. She's very low maintenance and she helps out where she can. Besides, it's nice to have someone to come home to, but if she ever decides she wants to live on her own, he won't tell her that. He doesn't make a lot of money, but he doesn't need a lot either. There's enough to take care of both of them.

He's trying to see her as a younger sister or a daughter because he doesn't want to take advantage of her. She's young and she's unexperienced and she's had a horrible life. He wants to make things better for her, not more complicated.

HIs ribs are sore and there's a cut on his cheekbone. The armor helps though. He feels like he's been hit by a mack truck and he's got bruises forming all over his body, but there's nothing to sew up, not tonight. He sits down gingerly on the couch and leans back, head resting against the back of the couch. There's a foot or so of space between them.

"The police have got her and she's not going to be bothering anyone again. Not here anyway." He turns his face toward her, eyes unfocused. "How was your night?"

[stillplaying]

In the months since Katniss has moved in, she's learned a lot about the boy that Matt had once been and the man that he's since become. She knows that he had been in the very foster system that she's done her best to avoid. Sometimes, he makes her think that maybe she's made a mistake by keeping herself and Prim out of that system. Matt Murdock grew up to be a good guy. Successful. Everything that she wants for Prim. But Katniss? What can Katniss can say about her own future? That it's not much? That she's already ruined it?

For some reason she doesn't understand, Matt doesn't see it that way. He sees a potential in her that she doesn't see in herself. She can't help but almost love him for that. She shouldn't though. Unrequited love feels horrible. Not that she's ever had much experience with it before. A lot of the way she feels towards Matt is new to her. She's never wanted before, not like this. She still doesn't know what to make of it most of the time.

Some days it's easier. Nights, really. When her eyes are closed and she's trying to fall back to sleep after a nightmare and she pretends for a few seconds that her life hadn't been what it was. Instead, Katniss tries to imagine that her relationship with Matt had been completely normal. That they met in another way. She can only imagine how good it would feel having sex with a man she actually wants. How nice that might be. But that's not reality. Instead, she remains Matt's friend. He's offered her his home and Katniss makes up for it by being as helpful as she can. It's easy, really; she's been the head of a household for the past seven years of her life.

Despite all of this, he still thinks that she's young and inexperienced. She might be young, yes, but she feels so much older. Katniss has lived through more than most girls her age. It might as well be lifetimes in some respects. How he can consider her inexperienced is beyond her. How he still sees any good in her puzzles her.

But he does and she's still here because of it. Even though she shouldn't, once he sits, she reaches across that foot of space to lightly touch the cut on his cheek. Katniss looks down at her fingers and grimly smiles when they come away relatively clean of blood.

"Not as eventful," she finally says, still looking at her fingers rather than meeting his eyes. "I'm still in one piece."

[preemptiveforgiveness]

Matt doesn't mind talking about his childhood, not anymore and he'd wanted Katniss to feel comfortable here with him so he'd told her a great deal about himself. Eventually they'd settled into a comfortable existence where conversation wasn't strained, awkward or one-sided. He'd been very lucky to have people in the system that had cared about him. His case worker had been fantastic as had the nuns at the orphanage (for the most part) then there had been Stick, who in the long run hadn't been so great, but had definitely had a huge part in making Matt the person he is today and the vigilante that he is. He taught him how to use his powers, how to use his disability to his advantage and how to be independent; he taught him to fight and, in Foggy's words, be a ninja (Yes, it's the plot line to Kung Fu Panda, still true though). She hasn't ruined her future. She's too young to have ruined her future. She's just starting out again and Matt is determined that she will have one, and a good one.

Katniss is a survivor; she's already lived through things that would have done most people in and despite all of that she hasn't turned into one of the people that Matt hunts in the night. That alone speaks volumes about the potential in her. She's just got to figure out where to apply that potential. As for unrequited love, though neither of them realize it, it's not unrequited on Matt's part; it's more denied. He should love her for a long list of reasons that he lies on the couch in the middle of the night and composes. It would be so easy to slip into the bedroom at night where she sleeps, but that would make him a horrible person and he's not that person, no matter how much he might think about it.

The real reason that Matt thinks that Katniss is inexperienced is because he doesn't know about her experience. It's far too horrible to contemplate that sex had been forced upon her as well as self-defense and murder. He doesn't have that in him to think that someone would be horrible enough to do that. As far as he knows, all she ever had to do was fight and kill, as if that wasn't enough. In any case, even if he did know about that, she's still inexperienced at relationships and how a real one works, how sex ought to be rather than how she's experienced. He sees good in here because she's trying to start over; she's trying to leave all of that behind. She's trying to be a good person. That's admirable in and of itself.

Despite the fact that that cut is tender, he tilts his head ever so slightly into the touch. Being blind has made Matt very tactile. He can tell so much from a person's touch, from the way their heart beats and most of the touching that Matt gives and receives in the form of violence and combat these days. Claire hasn't been around since long before Katniss came into the picture and he hasn't been on a date since before then.

He reaches out to take her hand, his fingers curling around them. "Hey. I'm still in one piece." He takes her hand, and if she'll allow it, rests it against his chest over his heart. "I'm okay, Katniss."

He thinks she worries because she's afraid of being abandoned again or being on her own. He's got no idea it's because of the feelings she's got for him.

[stillplaying]

It's been a long time since Katniss has opened up to anyone as much as she's opened up to Matt. At first it had been extremely awkward. She'd sit there quietly as Matt would talk, occasionally grunting or nodding in response when appropriate. But the more that Matt had been willing to share, the more Katniss had felt comfortable talking about her own life. She never commented on the truly tragic parts. Instead, she talked a lot about Prim. She'd also talk about her father and what had life had been like up until he died. It's only been within the past month that she's offered small tidbits about the nightmares that would come at night.

Though Matt has some sort of (misguided?) belief in her, Katniss doesn't have that same belief in herself. Prim will have that good future, that life like Matt's. She'll be whatever she wants to be. Katniss' options are much more limited. She has a sixth grade education, nothing more. Worse, she's killed multiple times. All it would take is someone to recognize her and rat her out to the cops and she's certain that her rap sheet would be as long as half the villains that Matt takes down in the night. Theft, murder, prostitution, assault... The list has to go on. She did what she had to in order to survive but in the process, she narrowly limited future options. Then again, Katniss doubted that she'd live that long to care. Overall, it's okay if her affections remain unwanted. She's not the kind of girl someone like Matt ought to be with anyway.

Their chats have grown more in depth, more intense. But there are still things she won't tell him. On some level, she'd much rather have Matt draw her own conclusions about her life than fill him in on the details. For the most part, the jobs she had found had been legal(ish) before finding herself in the Games. He knows that she's killed and Katniss is okay with leaving it at that. She doesn't want to see his reaction if she ever told him everything else. There's something about her that Matt likes or he wouldn't let her stay in his apartment or keep calling in all his connections to get her a job. She doesn't want to ruin that.

Of course Matt would notice her touch. He probably noticed the second that she raised her hand towards his cheek. She watches as he takes her hand in his and curls his fingers around her hand. Her heart skips a beat as he moves her hand to his chest. Katniss can't help but smile fondly at him as he reassures her. "This time. You're not an Avenger, Matt."

Though she'd never stop him doing what he does, she'll keep worrying nonetheless. Too much of her life has become tied up with his. She doesn't want to know what it would become without him.

for Katniss

[couldmakeit]

one, two, three for that long-ago discussed AU where victor!Gale is also the other District 12 mentor?

i am so sorry this is so late

[stillplaying]

She grips the arrowhead tightly in her hand as her previous arrow continues its arc through the air. The fire burns bright in the evening sky, blazing as it makes its way towards a torch that'll announce the start of the festivities for the 77th Hunger Games. She never wanted to be part of the pomp and circumstance of the Hunger Games after surviving the 74th. But President Snow insisted. And President Snow always gets what he wants.

So she grips the arrowhead in her hand as the crowds of the Capitol cheer and roar in response to her arrow. She can feel the sting of the metal cutting into her hand and slowly, blood starts to well up within her palm. It's nothing less than she deserves. In a few days time, twenty-four children will find themselves in an arena with only the choice of kill or be killed. In a few days time, she'll have to live through the third anniversary of killing Peeta Mellark with the very arrowhead she holds in her hand. In a few days time, she'll be scrambling alongside Gale to curry favors among patrons in an attempt to help their tributes. In a few days time, the rot will once again set in.

The blood begins to drip to the ground and she squeezes tighter. But she does do her best to keep her fist away from the dress to preserve the vibrant red of the fabric. Once the parade of tributes is over, they'll be expected at Snow's mansion for the first of many galas. Canting her head slightly, she steals a glance at Gale. "How long do you think they'll last this year?"

[couldmakeit]

Effie's tried a thousand times to get Katniss to leave the arrowhead behind on nights like this. She thinks it's gruesome, an ugly stain on her precious Girl on Fire's carefully cultivated image. Gale pretends that his arguments in favor of letting Katniss keep it are purely to frustrate their escort --which is, normally, a favorite pastime of his-- but he does understand why she needs it. It's her own small rebellion against Snow, in the same way that Gale and other victors swap coded messages and plan a revolution that has yet to, and by this point may never, happen. They may all fall in line when the president snaps his fingers, but never without tiny, personal amounts of defiance.

He already has a handkerchief ready when she glances at him, having had enough experience alongside her by now to guess that she's probably gripped the arrowhead hard enough to bleed. "You'd better hope Octavia can fix that in the car," is his quiet admonishment, less a scolding than a warning. Their tributes are still alive, their families are safe at home, and as long as both of those things are true Snow owns the two of them entirely. Appearing in his presence as anything less than perfect, this early, would be too dangerous to risk.

Her question leads him to look down at the parade, their tributes seeming so tiny from this height. "A day. Two, maybe, if they actually listen to us and the trainers. But they're no Seam kids." It's callous to speak so heartlessly about their tributes, yes, but five years of mentoring have taught him that the Capitol is no place for soft hearts.

And he's only speaking the truth; every victor Twelve has ever had has come from the Seam. Maybe it's in the way they were raised out there, choking on coal dust and used to fighting for survival long before their reapings. But it's not something they can teach these merchant kids, and so while he'll strategize and cozy up to sponsors for them, a part of him has already given it up as a lost cause.

[stillplaying]

Effie can try all she wants but she's never going to succeed in convincing Katniss to leave the arrowhead behind. It's a reminder of the mistakes that she made in the arena. Everything that she should have done and never did. She deserves the pain and the ugliness of the scars that eventually form on palm of her hand. Only Gale seems to understand. Katniss will do everything that President Snow wants her to but she will never, ever let herself forget those mistakes.

Though she knows that Gale only has her best interests in mind when he scolds her, she scowls at him anyway. It's a small scowl, easy to gloss over by those who don't know Katniss well enough. Gale does. Secretly though, she appreciates the handkerchief he has ready and she's already doing her best to keep her bleeding hand away from the dress. Anything less than perfect in front of President Snow is dangerous and they have a long night ahead of them.

They're no Seam kids. The words are like a stab to her heart. She knows that he doesn't necessarily mean anything by it but she still thinks back to Peeta. And she thinks back to Mr. Mellark's words to her before she entered the arena. Everyone had been betting on her and not on the boy with the bread. No one will be betting on these kids. Gale's right; they'll be lucky if they get two days out of them.

"They'll need all the sponsors we can get," she says with absolutely no emotion attached to the words.

Katniss has yet to actually learn her lesson. Just like with the past three years, she'll do everything that she can to help these kids. It's almost as if in doing everything she can to help the merchant kids, she's atoning in a way that she can't when cutting herself with the arrowhead. Everything about the next few days will be a toll on her psyche, memories to later despise. But what other choice do they have?

Katniss | VIII, 4 (lol sorry this is so freaking dark, let me know if you need it tweaked)

[sanguinescry]

Sometimes, Lydia's not even sure she still wants to be a survivor. Everyone is gone. Everyone. Who would've ever thought she'd outlast Scott and Malia? Stiles, okay, as much as she hates to admit it, she was pretty sure she'd survive longer than Stiles once Malia was lost to them, but the fact that Lydia's the last one standing is both terrifying and heart-wrenching.

She's been walking for what seems like days, now, too. Lydia stops as the sun starts to rise, because she's too afraid to sleep at night. Her nocturnal hours make it harder, almost, to tell one day from the next, and she never stops moving because there's got to — got to — be something better out there somewhere, if she can live long enough to find it.

But she's starving. For food, for affection, for conversation, for safety in numbers; all of it. She's never been this much on her own and it's not even sunset by the time Lydia finally feels like it's just...too much. The shadow of a figure approaching from the other direction feels like a mirage and she ignores it for the moment as she slumps down against a tree at the side of the road congested with abandoned vehicles. And dead bodies. So many dead bodies.

[stillplaying]

It isn't easy. Surviving has never been easy and the latest catastrophe doesn't make it any better. Katniss' life has always been full of difficulties. Losing her father to a mining accident had made life difficult for all of them. Her mother had shut down and as the eldest, Katniss had been left to provide for what remained of her family. She'd never expect Prim to, even as her sister got older.

Not that that matters anymore. Prim's gone. They're all gone. Life has gone from bad to worse almost overnight. If it hadn't been for the survival and hunting skills her father had taught her as a child, she doubts that she'd make it this far. Or maybe it's her own sheer stubbornness keeping her going. Whatever it is, Katniss is convinced that she's been walking for days now. And she'll keep walking until she finds some sign of life.

When she first notices Lydia approach, she thinks that her eyes must be playing tricks on her. Although determined to find other survivors, the odds seemed to have been growing less and less in her favor every day. But she's almost certain that she saw another human being just now. A girl. The surge of excitement she feels seems almost out of place given the tragedy all around them but there's no hiding it. Her pace increases as she calls out, "Hello? You! Are you real?"

[sanguinescry]

At first, Lydia writes off the sound of another voice as just the banshee thing. It's almost never ending these days, what with the dead outnumbering the living by a landslide. She closes her eyes and huffs a soft breath. Thirsty. Hungry. Tired.

But the voice continues, not stopping after hello, and Lydia's eyes open. The figure is still moving toward her and Lydia's breath catches. Is it actually possible that she's run into another living person? Finally? She hopes with every fiber of her being that it does, and she's slower than she'd like to be, from the fatigue, when she gets back to her feet.

"Hello?!" she calls back. "I'm real! I'm alive and I'm real!" There's an urgency to her tone even if her voice is raspy and choked for lack of use. It's not like she's had anyone to talk to in a while.

[stillplaying]

Real or not real. It's a game that she once played with a friend, back when he had been suffering from hallucinations brought on by the illness. She had felt silly at first, playing a game when everyone around them kept dying. But it had helped them both hold on to some measure of sanity among all the heartache. That is until he died, too.

That was when she had left. There had been no reason for Katniss to stay in that town anymore. Everyone she had loved there was now dead. And as she had traveled, it seemed more and more likely that everyone, everywhere was dead too.

Even though Lydia gets to her feet and calls back, Katniss has a hard time believing it at first. Everyone's dead. But if she's going to hallucinate herself, why would she dream up a total stranger? Despite her exhaustion, she makes herself walk faster. "Don't go anywhere," Katniss insists lamely. "I'm almost there."

[sanguinescry]

Her heart skips a beat when the response that comes back is a request not to go away. Please, God, if there even is a God, don't let her be dangerous. Don't let her be a marauder. Please, please don't let her hurt me, Lydia takes a moment to think desperately because she's beyond starved for companionship and she will be shattered if this girl has more interest in stealing what few supplies Lydia still has and then leaving the ginger girl for dead or something. It wouldn't be unheard of in the world as it is now. That's probably the scariest part to think about.

"I'm not going anywhere, I'll meet you halfway," she calls out and it tears her throat a little to raise her voice like that when she's failed to use it for at least a week and change. She hitches her bag onto her shoulders and starts forward slowly. She'd love to approach with a matched speed to the other girl, but Lydia just doesn't have the strength or energy for it. Barely moving is better than not moving, though, and that's just going to have to do.

"What's your name?" she calls out, partially because she hasn't decided whether or not she believes this other woman is real or whether Lydia's just gone that crazy that she's dreamed up an imaginary friend in the middle of the damn apocalypse just to keep herself company. God, that would be pathetic...

Katniss : XIV: Quote Prompt

[runsonwater]

I mostly believe in chaos. If wishes came true, my bones wouldn't ache as if all the space inside them is used up. There wouldn't be a mist in front of my eyes that I can't brush away.

idk how well this works so let me know if there's anything i should change?

[stillplaying]

Why should she expect any different? A change of location doesn't always mean a change in circumstance. She had been stupid and naive to think that a move to Central City would make life better for anyone. Her mother remains as checked out as ever and Katniss' work in a butcher shop barely makes ends meet. But it's a cleaner city than Gotham and it has to be safer for Prim.

But chaos does seem to follow her everywhere. It's not as if she had meant to get involved with any kind of underground element. Not this time around. But the only things she really seems to be good at tend to fit best in underground fight scenes. She's a scrappy fighter. She's good with a bow. And she can easily make money off the bets.

Still, Katniss can't help but have doubts right now. Maybe she's made a mistake because facing off with a meta-human who appears three times taller than her has to be a guaranteed death sentence.

It's great! Sorry this has taken me so long to get to.

[runsonwater]

It's not as if he and Iris stick out like a sore thumb, except for the part where they absolutely do. When Iris had suggested that they go out for the night he hadn't expected her to mean going to an underground meta-human fighting ring for a story.

"Are you sure you don't just want to go to a rave or something?" he jokes as they make their way down the line of sloping folding chairs to seats up front. He watches as the girl with the bow and arrow faces down with the massive Goliath that steps out on the other side of the ring below.

"I just have to get enough evidence to give to dad and then..." Iris jumps as the Goliath makes a rush at the girl, missing and slamming himself into the wall near her and leaving a huge dent. Barry's gone in a flash, moving closer to the arena in case he has to intervene.

it's ok!

[stillplaying]

Maybe she's made a mistake but it had been her mistake to make. There aren't many options for a decent paying job when all you have is a high school degree. And with Prim starting high school this year, Katniss needed a way to earn more money. Money meant not just for now but for the future, so Prim can have the kind of life Katniss is convinced her sister deserves. This underground fight ring had seemed like a good idea at the time. So many things usually do.

Even though she's completely terrified when the Goliath walks into the ring, she holds her ground. Katniss pulls an arrow from her quiver and nocks it in her bow. Despite her fears, her hand remains steady. The Goliath rushes at her and Katniss somehow manages to side-step out of the way before it crushes her against the wall. When it's momentarily dazed, she lets her arrow lose. It's not her best shot but the arrow lands firmly in its arms, earning a bellow of pain.

[runsonwater]

The yell is loud enough that it seems to shake the short wall around the ring that Barry's now leaning up against. The crowd goes wild, alternately cheering or booing, considering who they've bet on.

The Goliath is clearly angry now and doesn't waste any time in rushing the girl before she can get off another shot. It seems pretty clear that the girl is out ranked in size, but Barry hesitates for a second before rushing in.

[in3]

Barry groans and turns over on his side. He rubs a hand over his eyes, still grumbling and groaning. He cracks open one eye to look at the time. It's Saturday (he remembers that much) 9:12 in the morning. He moves slowly, sitting up and getting out of bed and shuffling toward the shower.

"Ugh, I feel like I got hit by a car."

Those words bring him to a grinding halt.

Well, those words and the sight of a pretty blonde sitting in his living room. More to himself, as the night before came rushing back at him, he says "...or a space ship."

He looks to the blonde. "I got hit by a space ship."

With her in it.

And he's wearing boxer shorts


and

boxer shorts.

Crap.

"I'm just going to--"

Speedster into his bedroom and put on a pair of sweats and a long-sleeved tee before stepping back into the living room. He remembers now. He'd defeated one of Zoom's lackies, taken him to STAR labs and left his suit there. He as on his way home (at speedester speeds) when he'd been hit by a space ship. It had fallen out of the sky and the blonde had popped out full of apologies and very excited. She'd insisted on walking him home.

And now the thirty six text messages are probably from Cisco freaking out about the crashed space ship in the middle of the city.

[bitunlikely]

"I didn't mean to!" Jenny says almost instantly, rising to her feet just as quickly. Her blue eyes are wide and she holds her hands up as if to insist on her innocence. She really, really didn't mean to crash her small ship. It's her own link to the rest of the universe. But she had gotten too close to the trash ring circling earth, got hit by a piece of space debris, and well... The rest is history, isn't it?

But that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that he's awake. He's awake. He's awake and out of the bed and not dead. Oh, that's good. That's very good. Not that she thought that he'd be dead... He had been capable of walking home last night. And capable of stripping down to his boxer shorts (something Jenny had found very interesting). Then he had collapsed in his bed and even though the sun's been up for hours, he hadn't woken. So she had begun to worry.

He's awake now though and it's taking a lot of Jenny's self restraint not to hug him in relief. Her guilt helps with that.

"I really didn't mean to. You Earthlings have so much debris above your planet and no one warned me about that and it was an accident I promise it was!"

[in3]

Okay, well he had assumed she'd crashed it on purpose because...he's The Flash and that's what happens to him. People crash space ships into him, or he gets attached by shark men or cold guns. The point remains the same. "O-okay," he says, rubbing a hand over his hair. That makes him feel better.

He's definitely not dead, but sometimes he does do that thing where it's hard to wake him up. It's a super regeneration thing. He barely remembers anything after being hit by the space ship. In his defense, he was hit by a space ship. Normally, he wouldn't strip down to his boxer shorts in front of someone he didn't know but...hit by a space ship.

Yes, he's going to use that excuse a lot.

Hugging would be received well enough if she decided to go that route.

"Wait. Earthlings...you're an alien." And really, why should that surprise him. There's some face scrubbing going on. "Okay. It's okay. It was an accident. I'm...feeling like I got hit by a space ship, but I'm not dead. I'm Barry. What's your name?"

[bitunlikely]

She doesn't even know what a Flash is. Well, aside from in a sentence - like a flash of light. But he's a human and not some kind of insubstantial substance, so that obviously wouldn't make sense. No. When it comes down to it, Barry was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I'm not an alien," she says with a momentary scowl. "At least, I'm not any more alien than you are, am I? I'm a Time Lord." Time Lady? Maybe she should start using that instead. "And my name is Jenny. I really am sorry about hitting you."

[in3]

Actually, being in the wrong place at the wrong time is a lot more comforting than knowing someone is after you. Of course, at this point in his life, Barry always assumes someone is out to get him even if he doesn't know the who right at this moment.

He's just going to boggle at her a moment. Really, he thought that he'd heard and seen just about everything by now. It seems there's always a new mutant every week. He pinches the bridge of his nose then runs that hand back through his hair. "Okay." He takes a deep breath. "Jenny. Okay. Do you want some coffee? I want some coffee. In fact, I'm pretty sure I need coffee right now. We could go get it at the coffee shop, or I could go get it and bring it back here. Either way, I think it would help."

Clearly, he needs to caffeinate himself right now.