snowblindrpg | [log] Event: Lavender's Green, Part Two [open]

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[log] Event: Lavender's Green, Part Two [open]

Characters: everyone
Location: mysterious, white hallways
Date: Day 193-194
Summary: Find friends. Get lost. Don't look.
Warnings: Potential for gore and psychological horror. Please note any specific warnings in your subject lines!

While confusingly similar, the area is split into a few different sections:

The Core
The hallways here are narrow and twist at a rapid rate. With how dazzlingly white everything is, it's easy to not realize you're coming on a turn and slam right into the walls. There are no rooms here--no one starts here, though they may find it while they wander. At the center is a large, round area, like the center of a spiral. There's a lot of air pressure here.

The Inner Hallways
The largest area, filled with dead ends, gentle slopes and twists, and, occasionally, difficult-to-see drops where a higher hallway intersects with a lower one without a wall to separate them. The whole place tastes vaguely like blood. Most rooms are here--most people start here.

The Outer Hallways
The outer ring of the ball of yarn. It's not as thick with halls and twists as the other two areas, leading to a lot more boring walking in one direction. It's totally possible to circle around the same path multiple times without realizing it, as everything is so similar here. Occasionally, footsteps can be heard just outside the farthest walls. Sometimes, something breathes. There are a few rooms here--some people will start here.

Remember to note what kind of eyes your character has in their top level!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No.

[He comes to a dead end and just slams his fist into it in frustration. By the state of his knuckles, this isn't the first time.]

Barnes.

[She understands his frustration, really, she does, but it isn't going to help.]

Come on, let's try the other branch. We're going to be fine.

[He turns on his heel to start stalking past her, back towards the other branch.

His conversational skills have ground to a halt again. He's too frightened, too tense.]

[OOC: Let me know if this isn't okay.]

[Like a mirage, he appeared in the branch, stepping to it as he looked both ways to decide on his neck course of action. He had taken the backpack with him, hooked over his shoulders as if this were nothing more or less than a camping trip. His suit is dirty but otherwise well pressed still, and his hair might not be quite so brushed with more than fingers, he still exuded an air of being in control.

His eyes were glowing, and when he caught sight of the dangerous individuals heading in his direction, he gave them a simple nod of his head as if simply acknowledging fellow travelers. Then he was off down the branch opposite to their direction, humming a jaunty tune.]

[Natasha raises her eyebrows as the man moves past them, glancing over at Bucky a little incredulously. She doesn't recognize Pierce at all, but anyone acting so nonchalant about this is weird enough.]

[The only reason Pierce is able to get past them at all, is that Bucky can scarcely believe his eyes. Hearing this man's voice over the tablets and actually seeing him face-to-face is such a different thing, it's like being back in time. He hates that a part of him stands straighter by reflexive habit.

But the frozen silence doesn't last long.

He has no eyes for Natasha, no warning for her, before he's sprinting after Pierce at full force and trying to tackle him to the ground looking like he's gone mad.]

[Pierce was wise enough to turn his head enough to sight the Soldier a moment before he was tackled over. It allowed him to bring his arms up in order to brace when he tumbled to the floor. How rude!

There was a flare of pain along his arms and ribs, but he was hopeful that he hadn't broken anything. The Soldier hit like a freight train. That irony was not lost on him either.]

That's quite enough of that. [Okay, he might have wheezed that out.]

[That's the last reaction Natasha was expecting, and she sprints after the two of them, sliding to a stop when Bucky takes Pierce to the floor.]

Barnes.

[He was jumpy enough to slam her against the wall, but she's not sure he's jumpy enough to chase people down and tackle them.]

[There's no way in hell he's getting off Pierce, staying straddling the man with his one remaining arm reaching to try and take him by the throat to hold him there.]

Pierce.

[The word is spat out as an explanation, but it almost seems a curse at the same time. He's so angry that he's trembling head to foot.]

What have you done?!

[Being pinned for the floor limited what he could do, and he definitely knew that fighting back would only earn him some violence. He remained as calm as possible, fighting down the fear that had infected him from staying in that room so long.

There was nothing to be afraid of, he told himself. It was all mental. He was in control of his emotions.]

You may remove yourself from my back if you want any sort of explanation.

[Ah. So this is Pierce. Natasha feels suddenly very, very pleased to see him pinned to the floor, but she feigns confusion.]

You think he had something to do with this? Why?

Look around you, this whole place--

[He cuts off, words choppy and panic rising. He knows this isn't HYDRA, he's not that far gone, but he won't rule out the possibility of them being in league with one another. He can't use his other hand to flip Pierce, because he only has the one now, so he's forced to release his hold just a little to try and flip him over so he can look in his eyes.

It infuriates him down to his bones how very calm the man still is, always has been. It makes him want to beat him to a bloody pulp right here and now, it makes him want to submit.]

[The fact that Romanov wasn't surprised by his name was a good indication that she had been informed of their association. That cleared up a few details that he had been considering, but now he was in a right pickle when it came to his position. His bruised ribs probably weren't all that helpful either, especially as he resisted being flipped over.

He turned his head, searching for the left arm with his eyes. Searching for a sign of weakness behind his calm.]

Off.

[Natasha crosses her arms, studying Pierce for a moment.]

You certainly seem calm, Pierce.

[It's one word, but it's the tone in which it's given. An order, no smarmy suggestion, and some part of him reacts instinctively. He moves, shifting off and away, before a look of horror flickers across his face at the fact he just obeyed that man.

He tries to cover it, to reach down and try and grab hold of his shoulder to haul him up and slam him against the wall, as if he meant to.]

[He was pushing himself up gingerly before the rough help was offered, and then he was slammed into a wall. His glasses were askew, and he lifted a hand clearly and slowly to right them. Normally he would put them in his jacket pocket since he wasn't reading, but they were likely to be broken with all this rough manhandling.]

And would anxiety and paranoia assist me in making my way through this maze? If it would, your partner in crime would already be out.

A bit of healthy caution, perhaps. It's not the most intelligent idea to whistle and make needless noise when we have no idea what's in this maze, is it?

[It writhes under his skin that Natasha is just talking to him normally, as if he's anyone she might meet here, but he's not so far gone as to suspect her just yet. The paranoia whispers and eats at him, but he's still trying to fight it.]

Don't engage him.

[It's a low warning. Conversation is Pierce's weapon of choice, he'll generally win. The look he gives Pierce is very obviously the sort of look a hunter gives prey, deciding whether to kill it outright or not.]

Humming. I whistled when I was a young lad, but it's too obvious to give myself away. Besides, most of the people I've met here have been in the same position I am.

[Even while he was talking, he was watching the Soldier holding him hostage. It seemed that the base instinct to act at his order was still in place; it was good to know.]

I'm not talking about the people.

[Come on, new kid, keep up. But after that, Natasha glances over at Bucky, making it clear she'll follow his lead on this.]

[He doesn't know what to do.

He needs to get out of here as soon as possible, he's nearly certain that they're going to try and program all of them and he won't let that happen. He wants to hurt this man dearly, he wants to kill him, he wants to watch him squirm. He can't afford to let him go, and he can't take the delay of dragging him along. Killing him would make the most sense, even if it is a temporary reprieve.

But he doesn't want to be that man. If he kills Pierce in cold blood, isn't that another victory for him after all this? Proof that Bucky is still the Soldier underneath it all.

The conflict is growing on his face, he doesn't know what lead to take on this.]

Natasha...

[It's small and strangled, almost a plea asking her for help. It's a leap of faith to trust her in this, when he has only trusted her up to a certain point so far, but he has no other choice.]

[He's very aware of what she meant, but he hadn't met any of the potential nasty things that this place held. For now, his luck on that matter had held, but he was the first to admit that it was only a matter of time. He valued the people he had met more than the abominations that he might; one set was far more useful to the cause than the other.

He watched the conflict unfold, keeping his expression passive and simply allowed the Soldier to work through it. Let all those dilemmas build up to some boiling point. There was always a choice after all, especially in a place like this.

His gaze flicked to the Widow, watching her reaction to the plea.]

[For all she's changed since defecting, Natasha isn't always a merciful person. She'd let Bucky kill Pierce in a second if he chose to, if it would make him feel better. That's not really an option here, though, because he's almost guaranteed to revive, and she knows he could easily make Bucky's life a living hell if pushed.

Still, her focus is on Bucky, not Pierce, and she keeps her voice steady and calm.]

We can bring him along.

[It feels as if she's giving him an order, even though she's clearly not, and in this instance that calms him. It takes the decision of his ultimate fate out of his hands for now. So he nods, and finally takes a proper step back.]

You walk in front of us. You try to run, I will take you down. Understand?

[His eyes flicked between the pair, and he didn't move a muscle as he filed away that information to ponder later. How deep did this connection go? She was not the Natasha that he knew, which made her possibly even more dangerous. Not someone to be taken lightly in either case.

He stepped from the wall, straightening his suit collar.]

Oh yes, I understand. Charmed by it too. [He turned and began to head the direction that he had been going before he had so rudely been tackled in the first place.]

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