paradisa | ninth snare

[well. Katniss, Haymitch, AND Finnick all gone in one day. Haymitch and Finnick are no skin off his back, but Katniss, well. as complicated as things had become with her, she was still his best friend. and they'd started mending that, as of late. it had been slow, hard going - but they'd been managing. especially with Prim's arrival ...

and now it was like she'd been thrown right back into the Games. off with Haymitch, leaving him to look after Prim and make sure no harm came to her. it almost felt ... normal. Gale wasn't sure if that made him feel that much better, or ten times worse. he can't even go check his traps to take his mind off of it ... because that'll just bring Katniss even more to the front of his mind.

he needs something that's as far from Panem as he can get, as strange and foreign as possible. so he finds himself back where this all started, for him, where he arrived: in the Seasons Room.

he's got a cold drink - iced tea with a big slice of lemon - wedged into the sand next to him, as he starts building a mound that he's hoping he can figure out how to turn into a sand castle]

[Prim & Rue]

Hey, I'm up in the Seasons Room if you want to come say hi.

[/Prim & Rue]

... Does the tide even come in, here, or does the water stay in the same place all day? [tick, tock ... no. he's not even going to think about that.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[doing that ninja thing she does where she is just ... there, behind him, without any sound or indication. what, she had to check on him after peeta's post!!]

It's a fake ocean, so I guess it doesn't need a tide.

[SOMEDAY he will get used to this.

today is not that day and he sort of ... knocks his iced tea over]

Yeah, see, that was kind of what I figured. You're never going to get tired of doing this, are you. [it's not a question.]

[... that gets a small smirk, but she'll step over the spilled tea and sit down next to him. with a bento box! because food makes everyone feel better :)]

I admit, it is kind of funny.

Uh huh. [side-eyes her for a second, flatly, before glancing down at the bento box]

And now you're fattening me up so I can't run away when I do hear you coming.

[an innocent little pout as she opens it up to a couple glorious layers of delicious bite sized things] You would run away from me?

[her voice is quiet, distant]

The seasons room?

...Is this a thinly veiled philosophical question, or a literal question?

Edited 2012-08-08 17:37 (UTC)

That's something Finnick would notice.

[It's not a thing to make him feel better, but more something the remind him that he's not the only one that lost someone close to him. That he's not alone in that. She's not being rude, just a reminder that if he wants to talk, she doesn't hate him anymore.]

[he smiles, and hesitates a moment, half-leaning toward her]

Not really.

[he's still in that awkward boy phase - sure, it's okay to kiss her, she's his girlfriend and all now - but at the same time, IS it okay? hngh.]

Yeah, it's a room that turns into a whole beach. It's where I first showed up, when I got here.

... Literal question. But if you're really bored, I guess we could make it philosophical?

... Yeah, it is. I thought that, too.

[which is his way of saying he's sorry he's gone, and that he agrees, it sucks.

THEY ARE THE BEST AT HEAVY CONVERSATION]

[oh, come on, gale. BE A MAN AND DO IT ANYWAYS. she'll lean in and meet him halfway for a quick kiss, though, to let him know it's fine! ... and then pull away to shove a piece of vegetable tempura she's grabbed with some chopsticks at his mouth instead]

Well, then, you won't mind if I have to roll you around instead.

[THE BEST EVER!]

I think I'll go watch just to see. [In which she's saying you could come if you wanted to.]

[and then he nearly chokes on the tempura, coughing, eyes wide. if he weren't having a near death experience, he'd be laughing...

eventually he manages to get food down his throat and air down his windpipe where they belong]

If you don't kill me first, sure....

Well, if you've got nothing better to do than stare at the water.... [come on down, basically]

[LMAO ... oops.]

I didn't think you'd be so distracted. [TEASING ... she is sorry, really ;;]

It's easier to distract me than you'd think, I guess. .... Did you bring anything to drink? [since you made him spill his tea. way to bat a thousand, Ino]

[just gives a chuckle before closing the book and heading there.]

[SHE IS A WINNER, REALLY. but she was prepared for that, at least!! she produces a thermos of tea, and pours a cup]

... Seriously, though, are you okay? [talking about the choking, not ... you know, all the other crappy stuff]

[sorry, Ino, but he's going to just take that as a general okay, too. he nods a few times as he takes a drink, his voice starting out rough from the coughing, but slowly coming back to normal]

It's okay, you didn't mean to. [he pauses, cradling the little thermos cup in his hands as he looks out at the water, remembering the last few months]

Haymitch wasn't any big loss, and I barely knew Finnick, but ... I was gonna tell her about us.

[hey, general okay is good too! she just didn't want to make him talk about it, considering how he reacted when she asked him if he was okay during the baby plot. she is learning boundaries here!!!

there's a little frown while she listens, fiddling with her chopsticks idly]

It's okay, it's not your fault that she left when she did. [she's ... sadly used to being the Other Girl anyways, lmfao] But won't you miss her?

I ... [he frowns, closing his eyes, trying to decide what he misses - because he knows the answer is 'yes', but he also knows it's more complicated than that. and the first images that flash through his mind are of the two of them sneaking through the fence, setting up signals for each other to tell them where to meet, setting nets and traps, railing against the Capitol - or rather, him railing and her listening and trying to calm him down ... the way they'd make their way through the Hob, chatting and even occasionally laughing ... those rare moments when, somehow, despite what their lives were, they were happy, both for and with each other.

there's maybe one fleeting image of the same, where the woods are different, and they're leaving the castle over their shoulders, and not the shacks of the District.

his face creases briefly in a wince, before he breathes out, and lets it go, even as his hands tighten around the cup. it wasn't that the castle changed her - it was that the Games changed her, and now she's got to go back to that, to being a pawn ... and whatever that will make of her, too. and the news that her home is gone, obliterated ... the news he hasn't given her yet, because he's not sure if he'll ever see her again.

but that's out of his control, and slowly, the sound of the ocean and the warmth of the cup in his hands brings him back to himself. back to the present, where he's got someone who cares for him, enough to come and find him and bring him food and company, and listen to him, and not run when whatever their life has become is too much to handle. he sighs, slowly, and when he speaks, it's as though he's realizing the truth]

I already missed her before I even got here.

[.. hmm. she doesn't really know enough about the situation, or katniss, to really offer any words of advice or comfort. there's that moment of hesitation first -- because first she has to remind herself that it's okay, and then she has to wonder for a moment whether he'll refuse the affection. but she shakes it off discreetly, and reaches over to wrap an arm around his and lean her head on her shoulder. if she can't say anything, at least she can let him know she's here for him!]

[he lets out a quiet sigh of surprise at the sudden contact, then smiles, letting go of the cup with one hand, so he can put his arm around her, too. it's still taking getting used to, having someone in his life like this. sure, he'd fooled around with a couple of girls, but it had never been anything serious. they'd been cute and interested, and he'd been - well, also interested - but it had never been anything more than that. this is different. he's quiet for a moment, just settling into the feeling of having someone near]

... Thanks.

Page 1 of 4

ninth snare

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Gale

dictated

[dictated]

no subject

Rue

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

going to action?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject