ɢᴀʟᴇ (traps) wrote in evaluation, @ 2020-01-04 15:49:00 |
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Katniss almost preferred the harsher environment of the last room. The familiarity of having to scavenge for food, the crumbling of the buildings and stark color swatches of the world were something she knew, something she could understand. It was similar to home, to the rules and regulations, to the war that had invaded every aspect of her life. But she knew how to navigate that setting. This new one that they were in had her on edge. Everything about this room screamed Capitol at her. It brought about the nightmares that she had thought she had stifled down far enough with the games currently being played. But they had come roaring back when she had tried to sleep the other night; the faces of the dead haunting her every minute. There was no relaxing at the spa for her, no hapless strolling down the beach. Each experience brought about reminders of being prepped or being in the Games. Especially at the beach. She kept waiting for the insanity to begin as one hour changed to the next. But nothing happened and that only unsettled her more. So she sat on the sand, not bothering with the chairs or towels offered, and stared out at the horizon, wondering if it was real or not. Unsure if it mattered if it wasn’t. Being that Gale had gone nineteen years of his life without seeing the ocean in person, he was still kind of in awe of everything about the beach - he liked walking along the sand in the morning (or afternoon, or evenings, but the sunsets over the water held special appeal); it had an interesting feel, with every forward motion there was some backward and down, and it was kind of like trekking through freshly fallen snow, which he was more familiar with. Watching the waves roll in, white-tipped, and spread like lace over the shore was mesmerizing too - he was more comfortable hunting and gathering, probably always would be, but he had to admit this was just really scenic. He was taking one of those walks along the beach, in a t-shirt and jeans with a hoodie thrown on to fend off whatever bit of salty breeze there was, when he saw a familiar form sitting there in the sand. “Hey Catnip,” he greeted as he approached and he didn’t want to hover over her awkwardly, so he sat. “How are things?” He’d just been thinking about her, hoping she was doing okay. Obviously a lot had happened between Canada and...now. “Hey Gale.” She didn’t expand on her own greeting at first; not entirely sure how to answer his question. Instead she kept her gaze on the ocean, waiting for the inevitable shoe to drop. “I can’t really complain.” Well, she could, but it wasn’t really in her to do right then. She missed Nadia and the few others she had taken the time to get to know who had all left. Katniss turned slightly to look at him, taking in his appearance. He looked healthier to her than she’d ever seen him before. Happier too, at least it seemed that way to her. Considering their pasts, that wasn’t too surprising, but it was still something to see. “You?” “That’s a rarity among people here, I think,” Gale snorted, referring to the whole ‘can’t really complain’ thing. He’d seen a lot of it, scrolling by on the network which was a chore to read sometimes, and while he understood the hesitation about accepting this paradise he also didn’t feel the need to read about it from six-hundred different people either. Maybe he was just - not ‘hip’ to the internet communication fad. He’d gladly used his communicuff, but those positive feelings had more to do with the device being a symbol of the rebellion, not because he liked memes or whatever. “I’m okay.” He rested his elbows on his knees, watching the water. “Gretel’s teaching me how to swim.” It was going fine too, luckily - after that lake adventure in the first room, he was pretty adamant about learning. Since they had plenty of pools to choose from here it seemed like a decent opportunity. “I’ve been thinking about you though. I thought - I mean, you didn’t want to choose the exit door?” The war was over, the Capitol had fallen, they were all rebuilding - could be that the daunting task of trying to move on past the insurmountable sorrow was too much. Gale could see that, if it was the case. He had his own reasons for staying. She shook her head, a glimpse of a smile passing on her lips at his first comment. He wasn’t wrong; people really did seem to enjoy complaining to anyone and everyone who would listen. It was why Katniss rarely checked the network. Once every other day or so was more than enough for her unless there was something actually happening. Places like this one and the place in Canada didn’t seem to need as much check in as the house or the last place had. There was the puzzle to figure out, but wading through the asinine posts to see if anyone was working on them didn’t seem worth it. “There isn’t much left for us back there.” Her attention turned to the sand, trying to make some sense of the little grains of it shifting between her toes. Her mother and her rarely talked. Prim was dead. Haymitch was around but not much company either. Without Greasy Sae and her granddaughter Katniss wasn’t sure there was anyone else she would see much of. No one wandered into the Victor’s village, even with the beginnings of people coming back to the District. She missed the cat, but he was good at keeping himself afloat without her help. “Here I can help.” Back home she could barely get out of bed. “That’s true. There’s a lot of helping that can be done here. A lot of good,” Gale mused, watching the crash of the waves. Sitting here, like this, on the beach - it sort of reminded him of when he and Katniss would start the day with a hunt, the sun blooming into the sky, sending what was left of the moon packing - all until its next shift, guarding the night. They’d spend all day together. Take a break in a clearing, or by the strawberry patch. He missed that, sometimes. A lot of the time. “I know some of your friends have left. But you still have me,” he offered. “Do you think - well, do you want to have dinner with me and Gretel one night soon?” For some reason, he felt that the two of them getting along was important. Maybe because both of them were important to him. “I know I have you, Gale.” It was easier to look at him now than it had been before. He wasn’t a stark reminder of Prim’s death any longer and all that they had lost, but a snapshot of times before she had ever entered the Games. It hadn’t been as easy to see when she had first arrived, but each room it had become easier to remember moments before everything had gone to hell. The trick was just not letting the good memories drift into the harder ones. She figured she would eventually get better at that. “And I’m glad I do. I missed you.” Even if she hadn’t quite realized that she did. “And I could do dinner with you two.” It sounded nice, normal. “We might want to do it soon. I think we only have a few days left.” Every other room so far had been seven days. She wasn’t sure if that pattern would hold or not, but she thought it might. Gale was surprised to hear that Katniss missed him - a good kind of surprise, anyway. “I missed you too,” he admitted, and he always did. She had been such an integral part of his life for so long - she still held that place, if she wanted. He could only hope that they’d get back to that at home too. Somehow. After the bitterness faded, and the anger, and for someone like Gale, he never thought he’d have a chance to live without all that anger. But he was doing it now, or trying to. “Yeah, it’s been a week in every room?” he glanced at Katniss. “May as well seize the day. Tonight?” Who the hell knew where they’d end up once their recovery week was up. “That’s what I’ve noticed about them. Seven days and by the fifth one things tend to get crazier.” The uptick in discovered clues and ghost sightings in the first to the uprising in the latest. Maybe this room would give way to an even bigger relaxation theme; though she wasn’t sure how that would work exactly. Katniss just hoped that the map wasn’t leading to some weird twist that brought about sea monsters or something similar. It wouldn’t surprise her if it did though. She vaguely remembered the old stories about pirates in the oceans, but wasn’t entirely sure what that would contain. “I don’t have plans so tonight should be fine.” She did smile then. “Meet up at the buffet?” Even if the place made her skin crawl slightly with the amount of food constantly on display. Gale nodded, “The buffet it is.” It was pretty much their only food option and it was just so much. He was surprised the tables didn’t collapse with all the silver serving dishes piled on top of them - at the very least, people weren’t hurting for protein here with all the steak and chicken and fish options available but still. He just thought back to the revolting idea of stuffing your face, filling your stomach, only to throw up on purpose and start over again. Luckily no one was doing that here (that he saw, anyway), or he’d punch them in the throat. “Thanks, by the way,” he added. “I just - you know, I kind of like her and. It’s nice if you like her too?” That probably didn’t make sense, but it wasn’t as if Gale knew what he was doing with this sort of thing. Katniss nodded. “I like what I’ve seen of her so far,” she assured. Not that she had much of an idea how any of this worked either. Emotions, especially the romantic variety, were something she had always had trouble understanding. The insanity of the last few years hadn’t helped much in that regard either. “But it’s good that you like her.” She did know that it helped to have a connection with others, even if she tried her hardest not to have connections with anyone. “And I’m guessing she likes you back.” She had noticed that Gale and Gretel had spent most of their time together since that first room. It helped her not worry too much about her friend. He had allies, he’d be fine. “I - yeah, she does,” he chuckled a little, though it turned into a throat clearing because how do emotions? It was a question both Gale and Gretel seemed to struggle with, however. Not like she was particularly great at it either - even if she was probably more experienced than him in other ways. But he still had trouble fathoming why anyone would like him, would want to be with him in the romantic sense. “It’s weird. Different. But good,” he admitted. He was trying - to be a good partner, to make friends, to find purpose and not wake up wondering why he hadn’t taken the exit door. “I’ll stop bugging you though, if you want to be alone for now?” She smirked at his throat clearing and the tumble of words that came next. Happy was a good look on her old friend. Katniss wasn’t entirely sure if she wanted to be alone or not, but she knew they could catch up again later that night. There wasn’t much more that she needed to say. Words had never been entirely easy for her to do, not unless she was in the middle of a battlefield, but there was no rush of adrenaline now to help push anymore forward. “You’re not bugging me, but I do kind of want to just sit here for awhile.” Think of Prim and how she never got the chance to see the waves crashing along the sand. Or Peeta and how he would have been able to capture the scene perfectly with his paint. Finnick and how easily he had moved through the waves... “I’ll see you at the buffet.” “Yeah, definitely - tonight,” Gale agreed and moved to stand. But then he sat back down, thoughtful. “Actually, I’ll stay with you. We can just sit here.” They didn’t need to talk, to fill the space with words - it had never been like that for them, and it didn’t need to be now. So Gale stayed, sinking into his spot in the sand, listening to the waves fizzle and bubble like brine and feeling the caress of the breeze against his cheeks. It was nice. And a rare moment of something nice too, so he’d bask in it for as long as he was able to do so. |