ɢᴀʟᴇ (traps) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-05-17 11:45:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, gale hawthorne, katniss everdeen |
Who: Gale Hawthorne & Katniss Everdeen
What: Visiting Gale at his humble abode, meeting Bella Nutella
When: Last week sometime?
Where: The blue house with the yellow door
Rating/Warnings: Pretty low
Status: Complete
Katniss made her way up to the address Gale had given her, clutching the piece of paper in her hand. She still felt anxious about meeting with him. Months of being on edge and waiting for the next person from her Dreams to show up did that to a girl. Especially when you dreaded that person was going to be President Snow, chief architect of all of their pain, torture and murder. But this was Gale. The Gale in her Dreams meant safety and reliability. He was a constant in her life and from what little interaction they’d had here, she felt they could have the same kind of relationship. He’d been kind and understanding. He hadn’t blamed her for not being in contact sooner or that she was running from the Dreams. He’d been glad to see her and when he’d hugged her it had felt right. Taking a breath, she knocked on the door and waited for him to respond. The house Gale was residing in (temporarily - he hadn’t actually bought anything yet, since that was a big step) was small, two bedrooms and one bathroom, and it also was pretty distinct-looking from the outside. Blue house, yellow door - that was how he’d described it to Katniss in addition to giving her the actual address in Newport Beach. Bonus was that it was within walking distance to the ocean, and the backyard was big enough for Bella Nutella to run around in. That dog who, when she heard the knock, came bounding ahead of Gale to see who had come to visit her. The sound of a rough, low chuckle could be heard as Gale opened the door, greeting Katniss with a smile. “Hey Catnip, come on in.” Already Tella was set to slobber on her new friend. “She’s friendly, I promise.” Katniss could hear the ruckus before the door opened but still wasn't prepared for the bounding dog to be quite so friendly. Not being used to dogs, she recoiled slightly but caught the dog's front feet in her hands as she all but launched over the threshold. Shooting Gale a quick, slightly alarmed look, before she realised the dog was only being friendly. Letting the dog drop back down on all fours, she stroked her head and moved into the hallway. "Well Gale, aren't you going to introduce us?" She grinned, still scratching between the ears of the dog at her side who was looking up at them both with bright, excited eyes. “She’s kind of a ham, she eats up attention,” Gale said about his support dog, who was often prone to bouts of excitement which meant twirling, chasing her tail in glee, like a helicopter blade. But now she was sniffing and watching Katniss, tongue lolling out, fully expecting to receive pets and cuddles and basically large amounts of adoration over her cuteness. “But this is Bella Nutella. Tella for short. Tella, meet Katniss.” The chocolate lab jumped, bouncing like she was on Gummi Juice, but Gale reminded her of her manners. “Tella, no,” he had to laugh a little, and then gave her butt scratches, ushering her out of the way. “Go find your ball.” Excitedly, the pup ran off, which actually meant that Katniss could walk further into the house. It was simple, functional - mostly dark colors, some black and white, nothing overly fancy. Clean, though - since Gale didn’t really want to live like a slob. Or in a mess of shedding dog fur. “Have a seat anywhere. You want anything to drink? Or eat?” “That’s ok, I’m just not all that used to dogs is all,” Katniss told him, the smile still on her face as she watched Tella bound off for her ball. “She’s gorgeous! How long have you had her?” she asked as she moved into the house. “Um, you got any orange juice?” she asked, feeling quite relaxed now Tella had seemingly accepted her. “I got her when I was in Orange County last time, for a little while - “ Not that long at all, really, a month or so at most, before he was called away again and now only recently returned, “...so maybe a little over a year? I’m not sure how old she was when I got her from the shelter. Maybe two or three.” As far as Gale was concerned, Tella would always think she was a puppy. She definitely acted like one. He went into the kitchen, calling back, “Orange juice, coming right up.” There was a carton in the fridge, he was pretty certain of it. “The thing with Haymitch still okay? Have you had any bad dreams or anything, since we last talked?” Katniss followed him through to the kitchen, feeling a bit weird sitting in a room where he wasn’t for her first visit. “I Dreamed of you,” she sighed heavily, fidgeting with her fingers as she walked, head down. “The whipping post every night, but then I also Dream of other stuff, hunting with you, the black market, coming back from the tour and meeting up with you in the woods after…” she trailed off, her cheeks warming slightly as she thought about his confession in the woods. Shaking her head, she carried on, swallowing thickly. “Getting Reaped for the Quarter Quell, that was...that was particularly awful,” she told him in a slightly amused tone as she came to lean against the kitchen counter near him. Well, she didn’t have to follow him, Gale would gladly treat Katniss like the sterling guest of honor she was, but he also wasn’t surprised that she did follow. He probably would have too, in that situation. “The hunting ones are my favorite,” he grinned reassuringly, as if to silently say that she also didn’t have to feel guilty about the whipping. It wasn’t her fault at all. “We hunted okay on our own, but always better in a pair.” Pouring Katniss’s juice into a glass, and grabbing a beer for himself, he handed her drink to her. “Sounds like you’re where I am though. I dreamed up to when you and Peeta left for the Quarter Quell, after I helped train you guys with the snares.” That had been interesting. And weird, at the time, considering his feelings for Katniss. “Or are you past that? I talked to Johanna a little about the Quell too.” “Always better as a pair,” Katniss repeated as she took the glass, a wry smile spreading over her face as she remembered the Dreams of them moving silently through the woods together, setting snares and hunting game. “They’re my favourite too. We found a lot of peace out there,” she mused as she grinned up at him, turning the glass around in her hand. “I’ve Dreamed further,” she admitted reluctantly, her grin fading. “I Dreamt up until the end of the Quarter Quell, my last new one was when I shot the arrow at the shield and got myself paralysed. It’s crazy how these Dreams can manifest in real life,” she shook her head and shuddered. “How is Johanna? Here I mean. Is she...terrifyingly confident?” she asked quietly, the anxiety about knowing other people from her Dreams were out there still bubbled in the pit of her stomach, threatening to boil over at the idea she might meet them. She could only hope they would be as welcoming as Gale, but he was always the balm that soothed any hurt. He was the first person she had felt almost instantly comfortable around since being in the OC. Gale led the way back into the living room, once they both had drinks, so they could actually sit and talk and be more comfortable that way. Tella had also gotten her ball as instructed and was waiting, tail wagging, for someone to entertain her - mostly to play tug of war with said ball in an old sock, which was one of her favorite toys. “Actually, Johanna’s sort of mellow?” he replied, indulging his dog and gripping one end of the sock while Tella had the other in her mouth - she grrrrrrr’ed and growled, like she was so vicious. Right. “Probably still confident but she’s not ripping off her clothes in elevators or whatever it is she did before, I don’t know, we haven’t met in the dreams yet. But blowing up the arena, huh?” Jokingly, he whistled. “Nice.” Katniss huffed a laugh at that as she followed him. "Can't say it was an invention of my own design," she smiled as she sat and watched Gale and Tella playing. "I probably would have appreciated it more had I not been partially deaf, concussed and electrocuted, but I like to imagine it was pretty cool," she joked. A first really, she didn't like talking about the Dreams, much less make jokes about them. Maybe Gale's influence was rubbing off. “You always find a way to survive it,” Gale said, and he was confident about that, personally. “We both do.” The ability to survive and endure was a trait they both shared, because everything they had, they’d fought for. Even keeping alive was a task in District 12, especially in the Seam. Gale was used to surviving, not really living. But maybe the rebellion that was stirring would change all that, with Katniss at the forefront. He took a sip of his beer, opposite hand still holding the sock for Tella while she tugged on it, very serious about the game. “Have you talked to Peeta much?” he asked. “Peeta?” Katniss repeated, her voice trembling as she did. “No, he...he replied to my post on the Net but I got the feeling he blamed me for a lot of things. I had a bit of a meltdown after that, Haymitch had to calm me down and get me to reply in the first place,” she sighed angrily and ran her hand through her hair as she stood up and started to pace. “I can’t help it, Snow terrifies me and I can’t shake the feeling that the more people I meet here the more likely it is that he’ll be next and I...I don’t know how I’d handle that,” she rambled. Sighing again, she turned to look at Gale, tears in her eyes. “I just want to sleep through the night,” she looked to him desperately. To not hear Prim’s screams at the Reaping, Gale’s cries after the whipping, Rue’s tiny voice as she died in her lap. Gale scrubbed a hand over his face, setting down his beer. Then he stood up and went to where Katniss was pacing, dropping the sock used for Tella’s entertainment - the chocolate lab declared victory for herself and then got distracted with chewing on her ball some more in order to revel in her brilliance. “I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it. And I don’t hold anything against you, it’s fine,” he insisted, and stepped closer to pull Katniss into a hug, as reassurance - he was a warm body, alive, and here for her however she needed. He also wasn’t going to hurt her. They were a team, right? “And if Snow ever shows up here - “ Because it wasn’t completely insane to assume he existed, and was out there somewhere. Most from the dreams were, Gale assumed. “...if he ever does, then the second he tries anything, we’ll handle it.” Katniss wrapped herself around him when he came to her, tucking her head under his chin and against his chest. A heartbeat she already knew beat under her ear. A heartbeat she had heard in the Dreams; the good ones, filled with hunting, quietness and honesty in the woods. She breathed deeply against him and found her eyes closing in relief. Gale accepted her and that knowledge gave her strength. "We'll handle it," she repeated against his chest. "Good hunting partners are hard to find after all," she smiled to herself, something good she remembered from the Dreams. “Yeah, they are,” Gale let out a rumble of a laugh, which Katniss could probably feel. He gave her a gentle squeeze, cupping the back of her head. “Luckily you don’t have to find a new one though, since I’m here.” Even if they wanted to go out one day and shoot squirrels, or just take a trek through nature, or hell, even if Snow did show up - then Gale would be there. He pulled back slightly then, and Tella looked like she had energy to burn, so excited about a visitor. It was why Gale offered, “I can show you the rest of the house, and then we can take Tella for a walk on the beach? It’s close by.” The word walk was also nearly enough to send the dog into thrilled conniptions. Katniss was surprised at the disappointment she felt when he pulled away, even just slightly. Looking up into his face, she gave him a little smile and nodded. "That sounds great," she sighed, feeling happier just for being around Gale. They'd only just met, how could he have become such a rock for her already? She rubbed her hand over her face and smiled at him. "Lead the way," she told him, happy to follow his lead. |