Who: Johanna Mason and Gale Hawthorne When: Early May Where: Joahnna's then Chinese Food What: Gale wanted to see Johanna's axe skills Rating/Warnings: Mostly Family friendly Status: Complete
Gale had expressed an interest in seeing her use her axe, but Johanna hadn’t thought that bringing an axe to the gym was the best idea, so instead she’d asked Gale if he wanted to come over and she could attempt to show off a little in the backyard since she didn’t want to accidently break anything in her apartment. She just had to make sure that no one else in the apartment was using the yard at the same time cause it probably wouldn’t go over well if she came outside with an axe. It was as if having an axe was frowned upon or something.
After dreams of being trained to use the axe as well as her first Games, Johanna was actually better at it than she’d thought she’d be and after showing off for awhile, Johanna had started to get hungry so they had decided to go grab something to eat, but not before Johanna grabbed a quick shower.
It was actually pretty awesome, observing Johanna show off with her infamous dream ax. Gale had seen her Games when he was younger, televised on the big screen in the town square, and her wicked ability to murder - once she revealed herself - was impressive in its own right. Here, it was just as impressive. And he got to learn something new about a weapon he’d never really used before, but he watched as she threw the ax - holding it over her shoulder, blade forward, an indentation of nails in the wooden handle. Arm forward and -
Thwack.
The blade had embedded itself into the tree trunk, having spun twice in the air in perfect rotations before it stuck. Way cool.
But of course the call of rumbling stomachs had to be answered, so he’d gone back up with Johanna into her apartment to wait while she showered. “Did you decide what you wanted?” he asked, once she looked fresh and clean and ready to go. “I can drive. Sky’s the limit.”
Normally, Johanna wouldn't leave someone she barely knew alone in her apartment while she went to take a shower, but there was something about Gale that told her she could trust him. He was Katniss's best friend in the dreams after all and Katniss's seemed like an okay judge of character. Sometimes.
Hair still damp from the shower, Johanna finally rejoined Gale in the living room and grabbed her bag, "Good cause my arms are so sore I don't think I could even turn the steering wheel." Using an axe took a lot out of you apparently. When you weren't used to it anyway. "What're you in the mood for?"
Hm, tough call. Gale thought about it while he fished for his car keys. “Maybe Chinese?” he suggested. “I know a few pretty good ‘looks like a dive, but isn’t’ type of places. So don’t judge a book by its cover.” Or let the darkened windows and shoddy paint jobs deter from what was sure to be a sheer mouthgasm.
Heading back outside, he made sure to tell Johanna, “Looked like you weren’t as rusty with the ax as you thought.” She’d thrown it with some amount of skill and precision - more than anyone would, who had just picked it up for the first time. It was probably like riding a bike, and came back to you as the cobwebs dusted off. For him and snares it was sort of the same thing.
"I love Chinese food. I don't think I'd ever turn down Chinese." Johanna smirked as they headed outside towards Gale's car, "Yeah, I was actually surprised how easily it came to me. When it first showed up, I thought, what the hell am I going to do with this, but as soon as I picked it up, it just felt right in my hand." She rolled her neck and flexed her arms, "Although, I'll probably need a massage or something later. My arms and back are probably going to hurt like a bitch tomorrow."
“Guess we really are connected with our dream selves, more than we think sometimes,” Gale said, and unfortunately, he had experienced that pesky bleed-over effect more than he would have liked. The scars on his back had faded some, thanks to the coconut oil or whatever it was, the regimen of that at Leliana’s insistence, but they were still jagged and harsh.
He opened the passenger door for Johanna so she could climb in, then went around to his side. “You’ve dreamed into the Quarter Quell arena or no? I’m right at the point where Katniss and Peeta left for the circus again.” You’d think it wouldn’t bode well, but Gale just had this feeling. A part of him wanted to ask Haymitch for details but then...another part of him really didn’t want to know.
Johanna thanked him as she got into the car then nodded in response to his question once he was settled as well, "Just about to enter." After the spectacle at the interviews and the plan she was a part of with Haymitch and Finnick, Johanna could only imagine what was to come once she entered the arena. On more than one occasion, recently, she too had thought about asking Haymitch for details or asking Peeta where he was with his dreams. "It's gonna be a fucking shit show though. I just know it. It's bound to piss off Snow."
Off to soothe themselves with lo mein and krab (or crab, it was the legit stuff at the place he knew of) rangoon, then. Not a long drive, and Gale settled in, putting on the radio at a low volume. Just for background noise, nothing to actually interfere with the conversation. “Fucking shit show sounds about right,” he chuckled bitterly. “Snow’s already pissed too. First the berries, then Katniss having to convince the whole country she’s in love with Peeta.”
He shook his head, disgusted. Not at the idea of the star-crossed lovers (though that was a little disgusting), but at Snow pulling the puppet strings. “The Games aren’t even that popular with the Capitol. Everyone’s too attached to the Victors. I bet something will happen.”
“They only believe it cause Peeta is such a good liar. They’re too blind to realize that one look at Katniss’ face would give it all away.” Johanna glanced over at Gale as he drove, “It’s a good thing most of the people in the Capitol aren’t too bright.” They were too concerned with what they considered fashion and having extravagant parties to really notice that they were possibly being played. “I don’t see how something won’t happen. The Quell is Snow’s attempt to eliminate Katniss. He’ll do whatever he has to to do accomplish that.” It didn’t take a genius to figure that out.
Gale thought so too, that it was kind of obvious that Katniss wasn’t in love with Peeta - but hey, why break the guy’s heart? Even if it didn’t matter now, since he seemed to be head over heels for Alyssa. Then again, it was possible she was and just didn’t know it. “Katniss probably doesn’t even understand what she feels,” he said, trying not to sound too bitter about that too. “All of her emotions are being exploited for the cameras, so, it’s just...weird. But Haymitch probably would have mentioned if everything just ended with the Quell, so it has to be something major that goes on.”
Or so he assumed. Sometimes he thought he didn’t dream fast enough, because he hated being behind the others.
“Do...you know anything?” he asked Johanna, because she was there, right? She’d be in on the plans?
Johanna could definitely see that as being true. Katniss seemed like the sort of person who was tried to keep her feelings bottled up and probably had a hard time figuring out what she wanted aside from keeping Peeta safe. “All I know is that Katniss’ ultimate plan is to keep Peeta safe. If all else fails, she wants Haymitch to save him.” Finnick, Wiress and Beete were all also in on the plan, which meant that her and Finnick were basically tasked with keeping them alive and keeping Katniss from doing anything stupid. “Katniss has no idea what the real plan is.”
They’d need alcohol for this. Beer or something. Gale wasn’t sure he could stomach wine, and he didn’t know what kind of selections a dive (not dive) Chinese restaurant, glowing neon sign out front, would have. Pulling up to the place, he found a good parking spot and attempted to formulate the right questions as they went inside. It was just that the dreams were getting intense - rebellion was escalating, and he didn’t want to get his hopes up but another part of him was itching to topple the regime.
“So what is the real plan?” he asked Johanna with a smirk, after they were led to a table. The tank of colorful fish swimming in murky waters was a good backdrop for this conversation, and he passed her a menu to look over. “I guess I should be asking how it’s going to get turned around on its ass, because Katniss has a knack for that.”
“Well, the real plan is to keep Katniss safe. They think she’s the one who can lead the next rebellion or something.” Johanna said as they entered the restaurant, “So, we’re supposed to keep her alive and basically blow up the arena or get out somehow.” Johanna didn’t know how they were supposed to keep Katniss from doing something stupid, but she suspected it was going to be interesting.
Oh, fuck it all, everyone keeping Katniss safe? Sounded like the most dangerous plan ever. Gale pulled a face of disbelief, then quickly ordered a beer - along with the ginger beef and fried rice. Hungry boy was hungry. “Seriously?” he coughed, once they were alone again. “Wait....how do you plan to blow up the arena? Like from the inside?”
That was pretty smart. He was surprised no one had attempted it before, but then again, you really had no way of knowing what the terrain would be like - or what you’d get as a sponsor gift, because it’d be hard to devise a bomb of that caliber if you were working with jack shit. “Probably gotta involve the electronics geniuses from Three, right?” he asked rhetorically.
Johanna placed her own order, a beer included then nodded once they were alone again, “Seriously.” She still didn’t know exactly what the plan was, considering they didn’t know what the arena would be like, but they had some ideas to prepare themselves. “Yup, they’re both in on it too.” It had actually been extremely lucky for Katniss and Peeta, the past Victors that were chosen for the Quell, because Haymitch might not have been as close to others as he was to the Quarter Quell Tributes.
Considering what the last Tribute from District 3 had done for the 74th Games, as in, re-wired the bombs underneath the metal plates that everyone was supposed to stand on for one minute after the Games officially started (step off and you’d get blown up, he’d seen it happen), it seemed very likely that they were the best bet for rigging up a bomb in the Quarter Quell arena. Gale was somewhat impressed, and actually, looking forward to whatever unfolded.
“Can’t wait to see how that goes,” he snickered. “Where I’m at now, Katniss and Peeta just left for the Quarter Quell. I helped train them beforehand, showed them everything I knew about snares and stuff.” It had been weird, working with both Peeta and Haymitch in the dreams, but overall he’d been fine with helping. Anything to bring his people back alive - they’d all been through enough, and he didn’t want them to go through more. “It’s probably against some rule to train beforehand, but,” he shrugged. “The Careers do it all the time.”
“Seriously. And everyone just looks the other way.” Johanna had been dreaming about Panem and the Capitol for a couple of months now and she still didn’t quite understand the politics completely, but it seemed like whoever was bound to put on the best show got special treatment and that was usually the Tributes from 1 and 2. “But that’s good that you trained them. I’m sure it’ll come in handy. I mean, if we end up working together in the arena, I’ll need someone to catch my food for me.” She smirked at Gale as their drinks were brought over.
The tops of the bottles were opened, plinking onto the table, and Gale took a long swig of beer. “Snares do come in handy. Traps in general. I kind of miss the thrill of the hunt,” he admitted, because for all the problems back in the Seam, hunting in the bountiful woods really was a way to relax for him. And for Katniss - he’d always said she was happiest in the woods, the only time he ever saw her smile. But a warm day outside, trapping slow-moving fish in a net? Shooting a squirrel or two, or ensnaring a whole belt’s worth of fat rabbits, then just lazing around in the grass? It was nice.
“We’ll see what happens next. Both here and there.” You just never could tell sometimes.
“You could probably go make some snares in the forest. Then again, what would you do with squirrels here?” She doubted he would cook them cause that would just be weird. “Do you mean, we’ll see what happens here as a result of the dreams?” Gale had already been hurt as a result of the dreams. What else could possibly happen?
“Eat them,” Gale laughed, because what? Why not? He wasn’t too proud to enjoy fried squirrel. It was a southern thing, wasn’t it? Just ask those who hailed from Missouri. Add some gravy and it wasn’t too bad at all, actually. Crisp and tasty. “I also make a really good rabbit stew, for future reference.” Once Johanna tried it, she’d eat her words, guaranteed.
The food came, and he gratefully breathed in the scent of spice. His stomach rumbled, reminding him how hungry he was. One benefit of this world? The lack of starvation. He could actually afford to eat here. “Both,” he shrugged. “We’ll see what happens in the dreams, and how it affects our lives here. And we’ll deal with it the best we can.”
That was all they could do, right?
Johanna quirked a brow at Gale, “You might have to make me some rabbit stew to convince me.” Until she’d started dreaming of The Games, Johanna had never thought about eating certain things that she’d had to eat in the arena, but now it was ever so slightly intriguing. “Just assure me that you’re not going to the pet store and buying rabbits to stew up there.” That was something she certainly didn’t want to think about.
“Will do,” Gale promised, because if he could introduce more to the simple culinary delights of his youth (and dream youth) then why not? Soon, Johanna would become a believer. “Buying rabbits is cheating, at least for me. So no. I wouldn’t take away some kid’s pet.” Though it seemed like, for a wild rabbit, putting it out of its misery was better than the animal being trapped in a cage in a kid’s room or whatever.
Spicy beef went into his mouth, while he thought, and he knew it’d only be a matter of time before he began to get back into hunting. Some things, they never changed. Him and his hunting, Johanna and her axes. That was the proof, and for that part, he was actually okay with it.