paradisa | Sixth Drink

Entry tags:

haymitch abernathy

Sixth Drink

[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?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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.]

[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.

[And of course, she catches it. For a moment, something rising in her throat blocks her from speaking. The resulting silence answers for her. The nightmares have picked up again, just as bad as they ever were. Maybe worse. She's about to collapse over from exhaustion even though it's been a while since she moved from this room.

Then she manages to grab hold of her voice again.]

What were you looking for? [... The edge?]

[He can tell, of course. He just knows. The sleepless nights. She found a way to chase her nightmares away, but to have that once piece of sollace be turned against you...

The kid was never going to catch a break]

Something we could use. There was a broken bridge over a big expanse of water. We'd need a lot more supplies to get all the way over. [Yes. The edge]

[Something tells her that there'd be a lot more to getting out of this place than simply finding a force field. This isn't an arena they've ever been in. In a sense, it's almost more sinister, preying on them in ways that the Capitol could not.

Nevertheless, she's found a new line of thought to focus on temporarily, a much-needed distraction from what's been constantly haunting her mind for days on end and creating dark circles under her eyes that no amount of work could cover up.]

Are you going back?

[A distraction is something they all need. Haymitch's tone is dry and sardonic as always, but the hint of worry is there. After all, leaving in this place means leaving people at RISK]

I don't know if I can leave you people here again without something stupid happening.

[He's toed dangerously close to that line. The one they're not supposed to speak of. 'Something happening.' Silence takes over again for a few moments.

Distraction had only been short-lived.]

You couldn't do much, anyway. [What has the potential to be bitter and/or argumentative on a normal basis now sounds more... resigned than anything.]

[Wow, she's not even really snapping. The girl must have been shaken hard by this. He expected it though, however much she wants to think otherwise, her feelings for Peeta are there for anyone who pays enough attention]

Anything would be better than doing nothing.

[Now that that line has been reached, there's no real going back from it. She lets his response hang there in silence for a good few moments. Maybe long enough to make someone think she'd hung up. (That wouldn't be such an odd thing for Katniss, especially as far as Haymitch is concerned.)

But she has one more question on her mind. One burning thing she wants answered. Again, her tone really isn't accusatory; it's the same flat, quiet one she's adopted over the course of this entire conversation.]

Did you know? [Did you know and not tell her?]

[He's surprised she's still there. He honestly thought she had stopped talking to him. Still. He was expecting this question. He knew, eventually, he would have to answer it, and deal with the fallout it brought.

He'd just hoped he'd of had more time to think of a better way to handle it all]

Yeah. Not from experiencing anything back home. Finnick told me not long after he showed up here.

[His own tone was neutral. There. It had been said. Let the dice fall where they will]

[Katniss, however, isn't surprised by any of this, but something in her just needed to hear the confirmation straight from the horse's mouth. Of course he knew. Just like he knew everything and chose to keep it from her. Just like Finnick...--

Finnick. It always came back to Finnick. Finnick, who hasn't been even a semblance of straight with her since he got here. Who never was. In some ways, he's worse than Haymitch.

But right now, she doesn't have the energy to get angry. Any inclination she has to is quickly usurped by the black hole that has been her existence for several days, leaving her only with familiar, cold numbness.]

What else did he tell you?

Nothing that you need to know.

[He's quiet, debating actually telling her what he's learned about District 12. But no. As much as she wants the truth, he knows it won't do her any good. It won't be anything she can fix here.

...But there is one thing, perhaps, that could come up]

I think I figured out what your loss is.

[The first part of that response, the oh-so-Haymitch-like "Nothing that you need to know", is profoundly irritating enough to bring some life back into her. It begins to cancel out the numbness, and returns function to her muscles and nerves. This is more than just keeping things from her; this is dangling the truth in front of her like a carrot and still choosing to withhold it. And this is something that she can't deal with right now.

Her hand moves toward the edge of the journal, ready to snap it shut. Why did she even start talking to him in the first place?

... But then that last part comes through, and everything takes a pause. Her fingers freeze in place, still curled on the edges of the book, a breath catches in her throat, and it brings back something, something she hasn't dared to think about. That conversation she'd had with Gale, when he'd mentioned that her mother and Prim were safe. When she'd first become aware of a strange emptiness, a hole she knew shouldn't be there. Something that would've driven her insane and that she knew she couldn't afford to dwell on, not in a strange environment that required her full focus, and so she'd pushed it out of her mind like she pushed everything out of her mind.

There's no pushing now, though. Not when deja vu is practically slapping her in the face. The best she can get out is something close to a whisper.]

What?

[He had a feeling the journal slam was coming. In fact, for a moment he even doubted that she'd bother answering him at all. That she was curious...at least it meant she wasn't totally lost.

He heaves a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. He hadn't wanted it to come to this, but the nature of Paradisa was proving to be a tricky one. Better she find out now, before the girl in question arrived]

Do you remember Prim?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sixth Drink

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Katniss

Haymitch

Katniss