Sixth Drink

[wastheexample]

[Given all the things that have happened to Peeta in the last week, it's not been a fun time for Haymitch. Somewhere between chugging the remaining booze in one night and arriving in the castle, he's ended up in the clinic. After all, he's only human and his liver tends to not like it when he punishes it to these extremes.

So he wakes up in a clinic bed, the journal beside him catching a quick rustle of bedcovers because Haymitch does not like waking up in places he has no idea how he ended up in]

Oh. Great. Still in this place.

[He sits on the edge of the bed for a moment, grimacing as his stomach protests at all this movement. He belatedly realises that his hand hurts. A lot]

...Did I punch a wall? [No...no wait. Fuzzy memory, coming back] ...Or maybe Daniel's face.

[He notices the journal, picking it up and flicking through it. He really should apologise to Daniel for the face thing]

He probably asked for it. [Or not] How long have I been out?

Comments

Dictated

[i_got_this]

[South chuckles. At least she wasn't the only one Getting In Trouble, it sounded like.] Poor Daniel, whoever he is.

[Except she doesn't sound he least bit sympathetic.]

forever!

[wastheexample]

Don't feel sorry for him, I must have had a good reason to punch him.

ditto!

[i_got_this]

Yeah, I bet most people have what's coming to them

[wastheexample]

Well, there's a loaded comment.

[i_got_this]

Let's just say I'm trying to work through some confusing information from home.

So what about you, doesn't sound like you exactly remember what happened?

[linguistical]

Did not. [ Oh, he is scowling from his room. Scowling up a storm. ]

Good morning Princess, enjoy your coma?

[wastheexample]

I disagree. Did I break your nose? [<>Scowl all you like bro. SCOWL ALL YOU LIKE]

Yeah, I dreamt of a faraway land with rainbows and no bratty, obnoxious teenagers ruining my existence. It was wonderful.

[linguistical]

My glasses actually, but you came close. [ HE WILL!! ALL THE SCOWLING!! FOREVER!! ]

Well you'll be happy to know one of those teenagers is no longer wanting to kill the other.

[wastheexample]

I;m sure you can fix them. [Still not apologising]

So it was a loss? [There's a sigh of relief, here] Well, that's one less thing to worry about.

dictated

[accidentalrebellion]

[It hasn't been a fun time for Katniss either, to say the least. Enduring almost a week of one of your closest friends completely convinced you're going to kill them, that you're a mutt, will do that to you. But that didn't even begin to scratch the surface of it. There was that one moment with Peeta that kept playing over and over in her mind, haunting her waking thoughts and starting to take on an even more twisted turn in her nightmares. The one she couldn't understand, no matter how hard she tried...--

Thus, our resident Miss Everdeen has been sulking with a vengeance over the past few days, using the journal less and having less to do with anyone than she normally does.

Until now, that is. When this comes over the journal, this that's almost a... relief, in a weird way. Maybe she's so starved for something familiar, something normal, that even if it's Haymitch of all people, she'll take it.

It'll be a moment or two on her end while she processes what's actually being said ('out'... why doesn't this surprise her) before offering some semblance of a communication attempt. The first one she's offered in a fair number of days.]

Where are you? [... We can start with the basics.]

forever!

[wastheexample]

[He's surprised to hear from her. He'd honestly expected to be frozen out of all communication for a good month or so.

He's glad to hear from her, too, of course. That Peeta didn't kill her (something that would have destroyed their entire little self-made family unit) that she's still with it enough to talk. She's alive, hopefully Peeta is alive too and he hasn't completely failed in the task he's appointed himself for the rest of his days]

The clinic. [Nice and simple. Small words]

[accidentalrebellion]

[She could get there easily. After all, she'd gone to visit Rue there, and knew that path almost as well as she knew anything in this castle.

In a daze she's somehow fallen into, her feet are on the floor and she's half-standing before she seemingly comes to and stops herself. Thinks the better of it. Slumps back down onto the bed in the position she's been in so long that she could practically grow into it at this point.]

I'm not surprised. [Her voice, though, is quiet. Quieter than usual.]

[wastheexample]

[He notices, of course. And in that wordless, gesture-less way they have, he asks her how she's holding up. He apologises for not being there and he really did try to get back as fast as he could, only to be too late. Again.

It's all there, silent and lurking in his tone. No one else but her would catch it]

It was a crappy expedition anyway.

Haymitch

[wizard_redfive]

[Oh great. NOW the useless mentor decides to speak up. Brilliant.

Dairine scowls at her journal. Here she is, trying to keep HIS tribunes out of trouble, and when one of them goes on loss, the guy is nowhere to be found.]

Long enough. Where have you been?

Dairine

[wastheexample]

[Such is his horrific luck which has plagued him his entire life. He makes a noise that is almost like a chuckle. Hello, Angry Girl]

Somewhere else. And now I'm here. Like magic.

Haymitch

[wizard_redfive]

[Oh yes, she's most definitely Angry Girl right now. So angry she has to hold herself back from outright yelling at Haymitch. Or getting up and doing something even more regrettable, like breaking his drinking arm.]

How convenient... for you. Getting to go "elsewhere" while all the excitement happens. Must be nice.

Dairine

[wastheexample]

[He gets the angry, he's been expecting it from a lot of people]

Everyone was fine when I left. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not a damn fortune teller. I didn't know this was going to happen.

[peeta_bread]

[Peeta had resigned himself to the fact that he had probably messed up their relationship, whatever it was, for good. But when he says things like he'd just arrived or woken up or something... maybe he hadn't seen his filter.

With a little spark of hope, he grabs up his journal.] Haymitch?

[wastheexample]

[Oh, it's Peeta. It's Peeta and he doesn't sound crazy or angry or spiteful. He just sounds like PEETA. Good, honest, decent Peeta, better than them all]

That's the name, don't wear it out.

[peeta_bread]

You hate me?

[wastheexample]

[This...this was a stupid question. He'd smack the kid if he was anywhere near]

Why would I hate you, exactly? What happened to you wasn't your fault. It was mine. You got it right even when you were out of your mind.

[periculis]

Welcome back to the Land of the Aware.

[wastheexample]

Thanks. It's super to be here.

[periculis]

I am sure. How's your head feel?

[wastheexample]

Like someone beat it with a brick wrapped in lemon.

So. Are they both alive? [He left you to be the responsible adult, Cinna. WHAT WENT WRONG?]