fourth snare

[fanstheflame]

[it's kind of an important day for Gale - sort of, by extension. but he knows that it shouldn't be a big deal for anyone else.

so without any fanfare, he delivers his gift, wrapped in brown butcher paper, to in front of Katniss' door: it's a bracelet, woven out of grass and rope and leather sinews. the kind of thing they would give each other back home in Panem. simple but intricate, no wishes involved, just time and care. there's a quiver strap to match, too, and a note wrapped around them: "Happy birthday, Catnip." hopefully it'll at least make a start to evening out the blow of Rue running away.

his gift needs no other elaboration, so he'll head down to the kitchen and start in on the other thing he'd had in mind for the day: stew. he's already cleaned and dressed the meat he caught, and is in the process of laying it out on a block on the kitchen counter.

you might not want to ask him what he's cooking. he's used to not being picky about his catches.]

Hey, if anyone wants lunch, I'm making Mulligan stew. It should be ready in a few hours... come on down to the kitchen.

Comments

placeholdarr

[jammin_with_ed]

[Food? You said the magic words, Gale. It's not long at all before there's a redhead crouched on the kitchen table, peering at that food]

[chancing]

Mulligan stew? What is that?

Dictated

[youhavebeenflynned]

Mulligan stew? I've never heard of it before.

Dictated

[peeta_bread]

[He's so embarrassed by what he said to Gale. He knows he can never take it back, but he can try to fix it.]

Hey. Can we talk?

[courageous_wit]

Mulligan Stew?

[accidentalrebellion]

[She's frustrated with a lot of things. Mostly herself. No matter what, no matter Rue's insistence that she'll be fine, Katniss has more than half a mind to rush out into the woods and find her. Given the sheer number of trees out there, the odds of finding Rue in an individual one aren't exactly in her favor, even if she's managed to beat them before. But as she's headed out the door, something catches her eye, something she almost missed. When she bends down to examine it, it's cause for a definite pause.

It was exactly like their friendship had always been: simple, without fanfare, but thoughtful. The kind of simple that goes a long way. She has to take a moment to swallow something forming in her throat, and decides to take a slight detour on the way out.

Some time later, she appears in the kitchen, and sure enough, he's there. She stands in the doorway for a moment, watching him make the stew, before speaking up.]

I didn't even remember.

[wastheexample]

...Is it poisoned?

[ino]

[she'll just be appearing behind him silently, in the ino way she does, peering over his shoulder to see what he's doing.

... okay, more like around it, because she's so short LMFAO]

[fanstheflame]

[he turns to get a dish towel for his hands, and --]

Whoa. Hey. I didn't even hear you come in.

[fanstheflame]

It's a catch-all name for stew that you make with whatever ingredients you can find. It's usually a group effort, where I'm from, but - I figure I can probably manage something decent on my own.

[fanstheflame]

It's a miner thing - we used to make it back home a lot. Each person who showed up brought an ingredient to add.

[fanstheflame]

Well - you've got your voice, and I've obviously got mine. [his tone's flippant at the outset, yeah, sure, but it's still friendly enough. he was kind of ... expecting this. but it's not Gale's way to just track people down and MAKE them talk to him. he's a tracker. he figures out the patterns of the things he needs, and waits for them to come by]

Is this a filtering kind of talk? Do you want to come down here?

[fanstheflame]

Yeah, it's an old tradition from home. Basically just a fancy way of saying "cook what you can with what you were able to find".

[fanstheflame]

Only if you ask real nice.

[fanstheflame]

[he tips some baby pearl onions into the pot - yes, whole, because what is this cutting small vegetables nonsense - and gives her a crooked smile]

That's okay. You didn't notice I took one of the chipmunks, either.

[fanstheflame]

[and she's the second person to sneak up on him, too. just be glad he's not chopping something when he gets that Being-Watched-By-Something-Close feeling. he just ... lets his gaze soften until he can start to pick something up in his peripheral vision, like he would in the woods ...

... and oh. purple. right. he smirks]

Do you always sneak up on people, or only when they have food?

aaand action!

[peeta_bread]

I'll be down in a minute.

[A few minutes later, Peeta's hovering in the doorway of the kitchen, nervously watching Gale before speaking up.]

Did I ruin our truce?

[courageous_wit]

Sounds... interesting.

[chancing]

And what ingredients were you intending to put in?

[ino]

Only when they're too tall to see me coming~

[she'll turn on her heel to lean against the counter next to him]

So what is that, anyways?

[chippedcup]

...What's Mulligan stew? Or, I guess the better question would be...what's a mulligan?

[fanstheflame]

[Gale grins to himself, before toning down the smile as he looks over his shoulder to face Peeta. for a guy who had enough of whatever it took to win the Hunger Games, he wasn't that smart, sometimes.] Would I have replied if you had?

phone keyboard hates meeeee

[fanstheflame]

Some game I caught out in the woods... onions, carrots, parsnips... [the shrug is audible in his voice] Rice or potatoes. Maybe noodles, instead, if I can figure out how to cook these dried ones I found...

[fanstheflame]

Trust me, if you know how to match up the ingredients, it can taste a lot better than it sounds. This one woman back home, Sae? She could make anything me and Catnip brought in taste decent enough.

[a sudden lump starts low in his throat as he realizes he's not sure where Sae was when he arrived .... whether or not she was safe]

[peeta_bread]

[He considers that a moment before continuing.]

Gale, I'm so sorry. What I said... it was awful. I'm so sorry.