katniss everdeen - au, jaha (burningwings) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2017-11-04 21:34:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log/thread, finnick odair (au), katniss everdeen (au) |
WHO: Katniss & Finnick (mentions of Annie & kids)
WHAT: mogwai turn into gremlins and Katniss & Finnick team up to take them out.
WHEN: today, Nov 4
WHERE: Annie & Finnick's house
WARNINGS: gremlin death
Finnick had been really pleased with how well they were doing with the Mogwais.
And, of course, he had forgotten the realities of having kids. Everything could be done with perfect precision and then you left Tristan alone for 30 seconds.
When he had returned to the bathroom where Tristan had been taking his bath, each of their five adorable Mogwais was in there with him, and had, for obvious reasons, transformed into the Gremlins that they had been warned against. Finnick’s heart nearly stopped at the sight, even though Tristan seemed almost unaware of any potential danger. Finnick had moved very quietly forward, scooped up his son from the bath, wrapped him in a towel, and then proceeded to move very slowly back out of the room.
He shut the door and went to find Katniss.
…
Katniss was not difficult to find; she was in the room that Finnick and Annie had given her in their house, tending to her plants that she kept just inside the window. It was a small collection of herbs and edible flowers, a hobby and an emergency supply if needed.
She looked up when Finnick entered, and immediately stilled at the look on his face. “What’s wrong?”
--
The Mogwais got wet, Finnick signed, glancing at his still dripping-wet son. We’ve got Gremlins now. They’re in the bathroom.
He knew that it was likely that they were going to have to send Annie out of the house with the kids. Finnick wasn’t too overly worried about dealing with the Gremlins, because they had some idea of what to expect from what everyone had been sharing on the network, but he wasn’t going to risk either of the kids being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or seeing something that was so gruesome.
…
Katniss watched Finnick’s hands carefully as they moved. She still wasn’t completely comfortable with forming signs with her own hands, because it was usually easier just to speak, but thankfully she’d had a lot of practice with reading them from Finnick. This was definitely the kind of message she wouldn’t have wanted to misinterpret, or need extra time explaining.
She met his eyes, and nodded, not needing to be told anything further. She had read the warnings about the gremlins too - people had said they were destructive and murderous.
And she was also aware that Tristan was still there, and that he shouldn’t know what danger they were in or about to happen. She glanced over at her bow where it hung on the wall by her bed, and then back to Finnick. “I’ll go.”
--
Let me give the kids to Annie, Finnick said. Then I’ll come back and help. He wasn’t going to make Katniss handle this on her own. It was a house problem now.
He headed out of Katniss’ bedroom to find Annie, explained to her what was going on, and asked her to take Tristan and Madga out until Finnick messaged her to say that everything was clear.
That accomplished, he headed back to Katniss. He grabbed a broom on his way, guessing that it wasn’t going to be quite as deadly as her bow and arrow, but it was the closest thing to a trident he could think of.
…
Katniss nodded, and as soon as they were out of sight, she reached for her bow. She always kept it close, because in this place she never knew when she was going to need it. It wasn’t really a surprise that the cute fluffy pets they’d been taken care of had turned into evil monsters. It was exactly how things here usually went.
She slung the sheath of arrows over her shoulder and strung one on the bow before moving out of her room and treading silently down the hall. The closer she got to the bathroom, she started to hear noises from inside of it, horrible garbled sounds that must have been the gremlins, and crashing, breaking sounds from whatever they were doing to the bathroom.
She was debating how to go about opening the door when Finnick reappeared. She gestured for him to open the door and stand behind it, and positioned herself at an angle to where the opening would be, her bow taut and an arrow ready to fly.
--
Finnick did as she instructed him, knowing that he was going to essentially just try from letting anything escape from the bathroom while she did most of the actual killing. He figured he would be able to stun the Gremlins with a good blow from the broom, but he didn’t know if he could kill them.
He swung the door open and then took position.
…
Katniss took one breath in and let it out, and then the door was opening. Almost immediately, one of the creatures rushed out - a horrific, monstrous version of the cute fluffy thing it had been before. Without any hesitation, Katniss shot it, her arrow going right through the eye.
And, in the space of time it took for her to grab another arrow, two more of them were coming at her. She shot at the closest one, hoping Finnick would manage to hit the other and give her a moment to grab the next arrow.
--
Finnick moved as soon as the Gremlins came in a pair. They were a much, much smaller target than he had ever aimed for before (and he was years out of practice, if they were being completely honest), but he aimed for the neck all the same, hoping that he might be able to snap it.
That didn’t happen, but he did manage to send it thwacking backward. It hit the wall of the tub and dropped into the tub again, momentarily stunned.
He felt a little bad for them, in all honesty. Half an hour ago, they had been practically family pets. But Finnick wasn’t going to take any risks with his children’s safety.
…
Finnick did exactly as Katniss had expected he would, and they had a moment to breathe as the third gremlin went flying backward. Katniss had managed to restring her bow, and she allowed herself a glance at the two dead gremlins on the floor, and then she took a step towards the bathroom, looking inside.
The last two gremlins had been more concerned with destroying the bathroom than they had with getting out to attack, but as soon as she came into view, one of them leapt at her. Her arrow went through its neck, and it fell down to the floor. Before it hit, the other one had emerged from a hole it had made in the wall beside the sink, and she moved quickly to shoot that one too.
That just left the one that had been stunned in the tub, and she glanced at Finnick before approaching it cautiously, ready to shoot it if it moved.
--
Finnick tightened his hold on the broom, adjusting his hands to swing at the jumping Gremlin should Katniss not get the chance to shoot. Unsurprisingly, she took the shot and hit the creature.
Finnick looked back at Katniss when she looked at him, and they edged toward the tub together. The Gremlin in the tub still looked knocked out, but Finnick could see its chest still rising and falling. It wasn’t dead yet.
As an unmoving target, though, it was far easier to take aim. Finnick swung the broom again and snapped its neck.
…
Katniss was a little relieved that Finnick took care of the last one. It was not quite the same as shooting game, or even shooting a monster in the arena. These had been cute and cuddly little creatures, and Katniss had even taking a liking to them. It upset her a little bit to have to put them down, but she was too practical to do anything else.
“They made a mess of the bathroom,” she said, looking away from the dead creatures for a moment to take in the damage that had been done. Then she leaned down to start retrieving her arrows and wiping them with toilet paper. She glanced over at Finnick to make sure she would catch it if he started to respond.
--
Finnick nodded as he looked around the bathroom. They had managed this in just a few minutes. He was glad they hadn’t had to find out what they would do if they had more freedom and time.
He also felt the same pang of remorse. He had hoped to keep their little creatures safe, but it was done now.
Finnick pulled out a garbage bag from under the sink to start picking up the carcasses.
…
Katniss swallowed her disgust - they really had turned gross in the water - and helped Finnick with picking up the bodies. She wasn’t certain if there was anything in particular that needed to be done with them, besides throwing them out, and didn’t particularly love the idea of asking on the network. But she supposed it might have to be done.
When the gremlin bodies were all in the bag, she straightened up and took a deep breath. “It’s too bad,” she said. “They were kind of cute before.”
She’d never really been a pet person, but she had to acknowledge that she saw why the kids had liked them so much. “We could get the kids a cat or something that won’t turn evil and try to kill us.”
--
Probably a good idea, Finnick acknowledged. He didn’t mind the idea of a cat. He still wasn’t quite sure what exactly they were going to tell the kids when they came home and found out that their five friends had gone missing.
He figured that was a problem to figure out later, probably when they got home.
Thanks, Finnick added.
…
Katniss nodded. “Of course.”
She felt that it went without saying, for fellow victors and rebels, that they were always going to be allies when one or both of their lives were in danger. Especially when the kids’ lives were in danger. She wouldn’t have just sat back, or run away, while the gremlins destroyed the house and hurt her friends.