a/n; heh. y'all have given me 69 reviews. HEH. ...i'm immature. ._.
are you guys trying to tell me something?
;)
chapter ten - a little off balance
The rest of the day passes much like it did before lunch – quiet and long, with many papers being passed from one side of the desk to the other, sometimes sent to Miranda, and sometimes put into the filing cabinet.
Sometimes he would talk to her about things – like her thoughts on Anton, or whether she was absolutely positive she didn't want to read over some of the papers, though she was almost certain he was joking.
Before they leave, Gale receives a phone call from Jack – just like Anton said he would – telling him to go to Eddie's.
Katniss isn't exactly sure that she wants to go, but the thought of being stuck alone in Gale's apartment isn't very tempting. It doesn't take much persuasion from Gale to get her to go. And, surprisingly, the thought of meeting the rest of the squad makes her curious, and if she's daring to admit it…a little excited.
They take a taxi again, driving on the road over to downtown. Things look a little different in the dusky nighttime. There are more oranges and pinks that decorate the place, all over the streets and the buildings, making it look soft and light and somehow, very vulnerable.
Eddie's is on the corner of one of the cobblestone streets. There aren't any windows, and the outside is a dark green color – it reminds her of Gale's office door. The words are bold and bright red, fluorescent lights curling the words with a cursive font. There are small lamps on the outside, with flames inside them instead of bulbs, making the entrance hazy and warm as people walk through, tricking people into already feeling intoxicated as they walk through the doors.
Katniss feels the breath of alcohol on her tongue as she follows Gale into the bar. The stench fills her lungs and stomach with fabricated warmth and she finds herself liking it. She hasn't drank in a while – Peeta doesn't like drinking, and even though she doesn't think she has a problem with it, she never had the chance to drink anything besides what Haymitch would smuggle into his house.
But she's always had a mild curiosity about what it would feel like to get drunk. She always thought it might be nice, to sometimes become just like Haymitch for a while. To forget, for a while.
She looks around as she follows him toward a table in the back. The walls are all black, with TVs hanging up on the walls around the room on different stations. There aren't many people in the place yet, and she guesses that's because it's only almost about six o'clock. There's a pool table on the other side, and space for musicians, with instruments set up and amps pushed up against the wall. The bartender behind the counter is wiping down the table while talking to a couple of the patrons sitting on the benches in front of him.
As they reach the table, Katniss sees the familiar face of Anton, and another man with a bandana wrapped around his forehead and tattoos spanning the length of his arm from his shoulders to the middle of his forearms. They seem to be arguing about something as they take their seats, Katniss sandwiched sitting in between Gale and Anton.
Anton immediately breaks off conversation with the man beside him, grinning widely to Katniss. "I told you we'd see each other soon, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you did," she says, smiling back.
"Who's this?" says the man beside him.
"This here," Anton speaks. "Is Katniss Everdeen. Katniss, this is the ever-crazy Jack."
Jack grins crookedly at the statement, reaching over to Katniss with a gloved hand. They're worn and rough, and his eyes crinkle in time with them as Katniss shakes his hand.
"Well, well," he says in greeting. "You're the one we've heard so incredibly little about this past year."
Katniss raises a brow. "What?"
"I knew there was a reason I didn't want to come tonight," Gale says, sarcastically, waving for a waiter to come to the table.
Anton rests his arm on the back of Katniss's chair, leaning toward her ear conspiratorially.
"You see, we've had this wager going ever since we learned Gale was part of your team in the war…"
Katniss leans away slightly, giving him a skeptical glare.
"What kind of wager?"
"A stupid one," Gale says, whacking Anton's hand away from Katniss's seat and still looking around agitatedly for a waiter.
Anton ignores him, continuing to talk to Katniss. "Some of us thought that maybe you and Gale had – "
"I'm getting a drink," Gale announces, standing up abruptly.
"Sex," Jack shouts happily, laughing at Gale's reaction.
Katniss chokes.
"Before your lover boy. And maybe even after. No offense to your fidelity, or anything, Katniss, but I preferred you going after both at the same time," says Jack, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms, his smile large and toothy.
Anton places his forearm onto the table, still invading Katniss's space. "I know I told you I had a thing for forbidden love earlier today, but I've known Gale for a while, and I wouldn't like you any less if you told me you had forbidden love with him, too."
"A lot of it," Jack adds.
Katniss feels her face flush with humiliation at the thought of doing something like that and a terrible rage hurriedly burns up her spine.
"Why would you think – " she says in one, squeaky breath.
"Well, Gale's never told us otherwise," Jack shrugs. "Actually, he doesn't tell us anything about you, which really sucks because – "
"We don't know anything about you, anyway," Anton finishes. "And no matter what we say, he won't budge at all."
"Unhealthy, if you ask me," Jack says, taking a swig of a beer that Katniss hadn't noticed. "Clams up about you as if you died."
"An emotional little bastard, if you ask me."
All three of them look up at the new voice, hovering right above them. It takes Katniss a few seconds to realize who she is.
"Mason!" Anton shouts, dislodging himself from Katniss's space and standing up with infinite theatrics. "'Bout time you got here." He makes his way to her, throwing an arm around her shoulder much like he did to Katniss's chair. "I was starting to worry."
Johanna snorts, slugging him in the side and effectively shoving him off her. "Shut up, Telon. I don't need your obnoxious noise today."
"Please," he scoffs. "You love it."
"It's a shame I love seeing you bleed, more," she says, going to punch him again, before he takes his cue to back off.
"Whatever," Anton mumbles, though he switches seats from beside Katniss to beside Johanna. "What's wrong with you, today? Usually your panties aren't in such a twist."
Johanna gives him a dirty look. "Nothing that concerns you." Then she flicks her eyes over to Katniss.
"Never thought I'd see you again, though. How are you?" Johanna asks Katniss, surprisingly nicer than Katniss remembers.
"Fine," Katniss answers. "You're part of the squad, too? Gale didn't mention it."
Johanna barks a laugh. "That guy doesn't mention anything that isn't straightforward or important. But yeah," she says, crossing her arms on the table. "Paylor contacted me about a year ago. Asked me if I wanted to be part of a squad." She shrugs. "I wasn't doing anything very worth my while at the time, so I said yes. And I've been stuck with these morons ever since," she says sardonically, looking at Anton and Jack.
"I've got a feeling Paylor didn't want to be the only woman around, putting us in place," Jack grins. "Not that I have a problem with that."
"Just fantasize about your ever illusive Calypso, Jackie," Johanna bites out, rolling her eyes.
She looks different, Katniss thinks, watching the three of them banter back and forth. She remembers a lonely, mean girl that loved nobody back then, giving bravado of being tougher than the world when she was very far from it. The girl that didn't care about what anyone thought of her. In that, she still remained the same. Her aura is confident and sure. She acts tough – but now she is tough. It isn't an act. Katniss can see the wires of muscle in her arms, her baggy, gray tank top hiding her slim figure from view. There's a tattoo that stems from somewhere near her left shoulder, hinting at its existence with black, inky tendrils poking around the fabric of her clothes. Her hair's a little longer than she remembers, though it's still almost boyishly short. Her eyes are stretched and a little wiser, and there's a white line of a scar from her forehead to the middle of her cheek in a crescent shape. Katniss guesses it could be from a knife, or something from close combat.
"I didn't think Gale would ever bring you here," Johanna says a while later, once there's a pause between the three squad mates. "Or that you'd come here."
Katniss stares down at her fingers on the table. "Me either."
"You likin' your stay so far?" Jack asks.
Katniss hesitates before saying, "It's alright."
Anton sighs. "She hates it, everyone."
"I'll make a wild guess and say it's the company," says Johanna.
"No, it's not yo – " Katniss quickly says to them, though she notices Johanna's eyes pointing toward the bar and to Gale. She follows her gaze and stops talking, biting the inside of her cheek.
"Thought so," Johanna smirks.
"Wait, so, you don't like Gale?" Anton inquiries, looking from Katniss to Johanna. "How'd you know that?" he asks Johanna.
"And why didn't you tell us what you knew before, Mason?" Jack asks accusingly. "Could have saved me a few bucks."
"Then there wouldn't have been any fun in watching you lose," she smiles sharply. "Besides, it's not like I spent my time during the war wondering about her love triangle."
"So there was a love triangle?" asks Jack, leaning forward hopefully.
"No," Katniss says, punctuating the air. "Nothing happened and nothing will. Okay? You all lose whatever stupid wager you had, alright?"
Anton and Jack look at her then look away, eyes raising up at her tone. Johanna watches her curiously, and her eyes glint with the knowing look. Katniss forgets that Johanna could have seen things she didn't. She could know she's lying, but really – nothing had happened. Well, maybe not nothing, but...
"Bolts!" Jack breaks the silence once he looks up, holding up his beer in greeting. "Was wondering if you were gonna get your old ass up here."
Katniss looks up, along with Anton and Johanna, watching as the older man takes his seat next to Jack and Johanna. He doesn't look very old – more like early to late forties – with a few strands of gray hair decorating his temples, mixing with his dark hair. His hazel eyes are tired, but he smiles as he melts into his chair, the soft wrinkles around his eyes fading into his skin.
"Anybody else have a long day?"
"Yes," answers Johanna immediately. Anton shakes his head, and Jack says, "Days are always long."
"This hasn't been the brightest season, that's for sure," says the newcomer, Bolts, rolling his shoulder in a lazy stretch. "Staring at blueprints and screws all day can really wear a guy out."
"You ain't as young as you used to be," says Jack, amused. "You're even more peppered today than you were yesterday."
"You'll get there soon enough, Jack," Bolts says, waving off his comment. He glances up and locks eyes with Katniss, a questioning look running through his eyes a second before acknowledgement.
"Well, hello," he says genially, tipping his head to her. "Sorry I didn't see you earlier. The name's Dirk Turner, but everyone else seems to have forgotten it."
"We call him Bolts because he's one of the best engineers we know," Anton winks.
"I'm the only one you know, Ant."
"Like I said, the best one."
"I'm Katniss," she says. "I'm visiting for a little while."
"Ah, Katniss," Dirk nods, giving her an appraising look. "Gale taking care of you?"
The grimace she gives is automatic. "For now."
"Good," he says. "Paylor made a good choice. If I had to leave one of my daughters with someone to babysit, it'd be him."
Glad he thinks so, Katniss thinks, annoyed. Too bad I'm not a little girl.
Johanna speaks for her. "It's okay, Bolts. Katniss really doesn't like him."
Bolts looks up at this. "Oh?"
"Apparently not," Jack says, forlornly. "Isn't that a shame?"
"He's an okay kid," Bolts says. "Rough around the edges, but he's a good man."
Katniss doesn't think her words can argue with this man's, with his matured years making his verbal remarks irrefutable. She just closes her mouth and doesn't comment. Wisely, she tells herself.
Jack whistles a second later, eyes glued to the bar.
"Mm! Was hoping she'd show up soon. Damn."
All the rest look up, with Dirk looking uninterested, Anton looking her body up and down with semi-curiousness, and Johanna looking with solid disdain.
Katniss sees the red, auburn hair, red dress and red heels, and isn't sure what she feels, compared to everyone else's blatant emotions.
She's got her hands tangled with Gale's, talking closely to him while he drains a drink and orders another. He doesn't look very enthused at her presence, and he looks like he's having a hard time deciding what he wants to do, balancing from foot to foot. Katniss isn't sure that she's ever seen him so uncertain before.
"You invited her, didn't you?" Johanna asks Jack, iciness chilling her tone.
"Of course I did."
Johanna grimaces. "Am I the only one that sees past her ass? She's a first class bitch."
Jack rolls his eyes sky high. "Just because she's pretty..."
"Exactly. You all just want to fuck her." She leans back. "Well, maybe not you, Bolts..."
"My wife's much prettier than she is," Bolts smiles, agreeing.
"I think you know who I'd like to fuck," Anton says, leaning closer to Johanna's ear.
"In your wildest dreams, Telon," she sneers, pushing him forcefully off her. "The rest of you can't see how much of a brown-noser she is," she continues. "She's been forcing herself on Gale for the better part of this year. Maybe last year, too. I don't know. How long have they been together again?"
"According to Gale, they're not technically...'together'," Jack says, using quotations.
"Is that what he says now?" Johanna drawls.
"Mason...is that jealousy I hear?" Anton asks, his eyes that had been staring at her become more pronounced in their curiosity. Then his voice holds a tone of an awed epiphany. "Oh, I get it. You don't like Reeva because you think she's a bitchier, prettier version of you."
Johanna's eyes slit dangerously, and she gets in Anton's face. He doesn't back away, and Katniss admires how he can hold his ground against her. It definitely isn't an easy thing to do.
"Listen here, Anton," she hisses. "I don't get jealous. Gale is my friend and he's been in this situation longer than I've ever seen him in one before. This woman has claws. She won't let him go. If you'd pay attention to more than what she looks like, you'd realize how much of a clingy dictator she is." She sneers, eyes flashing. "To think that I'd be jealous over someone so vile is one of the worst kinds of insults anyone could ever give me."
Anton keeps her stare, never flinching, though his mouth evolves into a frown.
Jack whistles at them in the background, and Bolts takes a drink of something he had ordered only a minute before. Both of them don't look particularly worried about it.
Katniss leans forward a little, toward Jack. He glances at her, giving her a friendly smile.
"Do they usually do this?" Katniss asks, whispering.
Jack leans forward and meets her halfway, following her lead in whispering. "Um…yeah." Then he shrugs. "But Bolts and I, we've learned to leave 'em be, since they love each other and all."
Katniss's eyebrow quirks. "What?"
Jack flicks his finger toward her, gesturing to get closer. She reluctantly brings her head nearer to him.
"See that?" he remarks, tilting his head toward Anton and Johanna. Katniss watches as Johanna's glare intensifies and Anton's frown increases, and they continue talking about something Katniss can't make out. They both seem uncaring or unaware about the others watching them.
"I don't think I see your point," she says eventually.
"You stand around long enough, it gets easier to see," Jack says. "Anton's kind of an asshole. You might not see that at first, but I've seen the guy kill men and rip girls to shreds. But when he really likes somethin', or someone, he just don't know how to go about it. He's a little too used to breaking than building, but if you squint," he says, stopping for a second and demonstrating a heavy squint, bringing up his hands to form a square of a picture around Anton's head. "Then you can see he's got it bad. Check out his eyes."
Katniss, though feeling a little silly, copies his squint. Anton's eyes kind of blur together from the effort, and all she can really notice is the tension between the two of them.
"Anton hides his concern in flirting. Johanna shows her affection through rough handling and meanness. Seriously? I don't think I've ever seen her give anyone a hug or a wink or even a true smile besides Gale."
At this, Katniss raises a brow. "Gale?"
"Yeah," Jack says, missing the suspicious inflection in Katniss's voice. "They've known each other since the war. I figured that they had that companionship already, that old-timey friendship, ya know?" he looks at her. "But I guess you already knew that since you were with them."
The strange thing is, she didn't know. Had they been friends back then? She had been wrapped up with her life and Peeta's life and everything went by so fast...she didn't take the time out to be around Gale or know what Johanna did when she wasn't in their shared rooms back in District 13.
Katniss glances up to Johanna, who's now broken contact from Anton and grabbing at Bolt's drink. Bolt grunts at her, pushing it just out of her reach.
Had they been friends? It makes her disconcerted that she doesn't know, though it shouldn't. What does she care what Gale had been doing during the war besides being inside the bomb fortifications room? Making weapons of mass destruction without even thinking of the consequences…
But she can't quite keep the surprise down. She knows that he always liked having a girl whenever he wanted. It just didn't seem like he'd court Johanna during a war while they laid siege on the Capitol. Did he honestly have the time? Besides, he had still been jealous over Peeta and her friendship with Finnick and just about anything and everything else.
"I didn't," she answers tersely.
"Oh," Jack says. "Well, that was a long time ago. Anyway, that's why Anton keeps jabbing her about Gale all the time. She doesn't help herself, though, always standing up for him or trying to protect him."
"Why does she?" Katniss can't help but ask.
"Like I said," Jack says. "I thought it was because they were good friends a long time ago. But Johanna works weird, too. Never know what that chick's thinkin'." He glances back toward the couple across from them. "I think more like Anton, so I guess that's why I got him better under the gun. Johanna acts the same toward everyone, except sometimes Gale, but she's meaner toward Anton. Guess that's why I think she loves him." Then he rubs his chin in thought. "S'pose she might prefer Gale, but I've never seen it. Gale's kinda flighty."
"That's surprisingly wise, Jack," Bolts says, beside him. He's smiling at him, eyes a little wide, as if he's mildly shocked.
"Yeah, yeah. Just because you're the oldest doesn't mean you're the wisest."
Bolts only gives a gruff laugh before sealing it with a drink.
"You've been studying this for a while, I'm guessing?" Katniss asks.
Jack looks at her and goofily grins. "When these people can decide whether you live or die in the blink of a second," he says. "You learn trust them. Then you learn how you can mess with their personal lives. There's always a weakness somewhere."
"Or you respect them enough to let them make their own decisions," Bolts says. "Jack," he emphasizes when Jack ignores him.
Katniss looks back and forth between all of them, then to Gale and Reeva up at the bar. They soon start making their way over to the table, and the tone immediately shifts around Katniss. Jack leans away from her, snugly fitting his back against his chair. Johanna pointedly purses her lips, not putting an ounce of energy to hide her distaste. Anton exhales deeply, placing a loose arm back around the back of Johanna's chair, and tries not to look agitated when she shifts forward in her chair, away from him even further. Bolts is the one who changes the least, looking for all the world unfazed by the presence of Reeva, sipping easily from his rum glass, and Katniss is positive that Reeva doesn't bother him at all like she effects everyone else.
Gale takes his seat besides her, and Reeva sits beside him and Anton, filling up the circle of the table.
"Hi, everyone," Reeva greets nicely, glancing toward each person. Bolts nods politely to her, asking her how she's been. Jack greets her with a giant smile. Anton smiles at her, too. Johanna first gives a lingering glance at Gale that he returns, shakes her head, then snorts, mutters that she's getting a drink, and leaves.
Anton's eyes follow her as she takes a seat at the bar. Katniss thinks that he's going to follow her, but he shows a type of regret in his face for a second before he looks back at the people surrounding the table.
"It's good to see you again, Katniss," Reeva says, smiling at her and ignoring Johanna's departure.
Katniss is a little caught off guard at the attention. "Oh," she ends up saying. "You, too."
Bolts quickly takes up the conversation, breezing into short topics, like work and time and weather. Jack takes up the conversation with him, and Katniss is glad they're so good at it. She sits and listens, learning about Jack and his job, which ends up being a pilot. He's usually the test runner for prototypes, checking for mistakes in the make, or the test dummy in case the whole thing falls apart in mid-air.
He mentions that it sounds scarier than it really is, but Katniss isn't too sure about that. It seems the scariness of it is the same no matter how one looks at it.
Bolts talks some about his job, but he talks more about his wife, Joy, and how her name matches all of who she is. He talks about his two daughters and son, and how they're his life. He twirls his wedding ring a lot, she notices, and sometimes she notices how Gale watches it, too.
Anton doesn't talk as much as Jack and Bolts – he seems a little distracted while Johanna's gone. He does talk about District 6 a little, though, and hints about how he hates traveling –
"Which is a good thing you do all the dirty work, Gale," he says, laughing. Gale shrugs and agrees.
"It's funny that you don't like traveling when you're from District 6," Reeva says. "Since it's all about transportation."
Anton laughs a little, scratching the back of his head. "I guess it's because the only reason anyone would travel would be because they were going to the Games or selling drugs. I know it's been over for a long time, but it's been instilled in me ever since I was born. Trains terrify me. People that would get on, whether to take drugs or vehicles or go to the Games, never came back." He smiles hollowly. "It's a shame though – I've heard some of the Districts are gorgeous."
"I've seen a few. But they weren't anything to brag about," Reeva says, and Katniss thinks she says it to make Anton feel better.
"You ever go to District 6?" he asks her.
"Not yet."
"Don't. It's a shithole place, and you're too pretty to have to see it," he says. "Trust me. There isn't anything there besides drug addicts or drug addicts that invent new, shiny cars."
Reeva looks at him a while, searching for words to say. It seems that everyone else around, Gale and Jack and Bolts, have already heard this from him, or already knew about 6. Katniss can't believe she's never figured it out before. Connecting the morphling tributes back in the Quarter Quell to excessive drugs that must have been cycling around in their District, their title of transportation, and while it may be true, it'd be easy to create a massive drug bartering system. She just never took the time out before to think much about the other Districts, besides when she went on the Winner's Tour, but even then, they all looked like her District – barely scraping by and poor and torn down. She wonders absently if Anton was in the crowd that was watching her and Peeta speak, if he felt the resentment that she saw in most of the faces.
"It's better now," Reeva says. "If you ever want to attempt to take over your fear, I'd recommend you to visit it. The drug rings are all but nonexistent, and the – "
"Thanks," Anton stops her. "But no thanks. There's nothing to see from that place anymore. I left it, rode one plane to get away, and there's nothing that'll change my mind." He shifts, his frown turning into an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Reeva. I'm just not up to that kind of…mission, yet."
She nods. "I understand. But maybe someday," she speaks, a knowing tone stretching out her words. "You can take Miss Mason…show her where you come from."
Anton snorts at her, much like Johanna had right before she left the table. "I'd rather not show her any of that."
"If you asked her, she'd go with you, Anton," Jack says, waggling his eyebrows.
"C'mon, Jack. I need advice from you least of all."
"Just sayin', man," Jack says, raising his hands passively. "But she did say she had a rough day. Maybe you could go up there and give her a couple kisses…"
"That's suicide," Anton deadpans.
"But you'd die happy, right?" Jack grins.
"Jack's got a point, you know," Gale says, speaking for the first time since he's sat down.
Anton glares at Gale for a while. "Wouldn't that make you mad?"
Gale looks confused. "What would make me mad?"
Then Anton laughs and turns away from him. "Nothing."
"Jealous," Jack says in high-pitched voice. Everyone glances at him, with Bolt looking a little annoyed. It's a strange emotion to see on him, besides the contented tiredness and the laidback indifference. Reeva's eyes glint at the word, but Gale only raises his brows in a questioning glance.
Katniss bites the inside of her bottom lip as she watches everyone.
"Who's jealous?" Gale asks Jack. "Anton?"
"Please," Reeva says under her breath, rolling her eyes.
Bolt clears his throat, taking a drink to keep him from speaking.
"Kidding," Jack amends, drawing out the word. "I was just messing with y'all. Geez."
Katniss tries to hide her smile, but Gale notices it out of the corner of his eye, giving her a dubious and slightly incredulous look.
"What is it?"
She shrugs hurriedly, shaking her head. "Nothing. I didn't say anything."
"Yeah, and you haven't said anything this whole time, Katniss," Jack says, pouncing on the opportunity to get the suspicion off his back. Katniss's eyes widen slightly in horror, and she looks around the table for a savior, only to see Bolt grinning and Anton distractedly scratching at the table, hiding a smirk.
"Um…"
"How long are you staying in the city?" Bolts asks, slipping easily into a new topic.
And the first question, I can't even answer, Katniss thinks darkly. Great.
She grasps for a number in her head, blurting out, "A week or two, I guess."
"We'll get to see you more often, then, yeah?" Anton asks.
The thought, surprisingly, isn't a tiring one. Katniss actually feels herself looking forward to it, and their time tonight isn't even over yet. It makes her a little hopeful.
"As long as you'll have me," she says, honestly. They all assure her that they will, and she smiles at them.
They go on to ask her other questions, like what she does back in 12, what the retired revolution starter does in her pastime. She laughs a little, assuring them that she's a very boring person – and she truthfully explains what she does with Peeta, like helping him in the bakery, spending time with him, that she still goes hunting, and she even admits to knitting.
She's surprised when Gale doesn't make a snide comment about it.
But Reeva does.
"Knitting?" she asks, surprise counteracting her hidden disgust.
"…yes," Katniss says.
"That's a little old fashioned," Reeva says.
Katniss hesitates. "It's soothing. And it helps pass the time."
"I always had the feeling that it was a little tedious," she says lightly. "But maybe that's because I can't stand sitting still."
Katniss feels a slow build of anger in her sternum, but it's dull and trembles - an embarrassed anger. It's one that she hasn't felt in a long time.
She thinks it's because she's intimidated by Reeva, and how she glows, and how she's certain that anyone will go along with whatever she says just because she's her.
Maybe Johanna had been right.
So Katniss gives a shrug. "I guess I can handle it better than you."
The she's a shadow flicker over Reeva's face, but it disappears as if it was never there. Then she laughs, as if Katniss had said something outrageously clever.
"Oh, I can handle a lot of things."
It's a hard, challenging statement. Katniss isn't sure if she can say anything decent back to it, but it turns out she doesn't have to.
"Reeva, cut it out," Gale says, giving her a look, and Katniss is so shocked at his sudden defense over her that she doesn't have the chance to be mad about it.
Reeva puffs out her chest, but backs down, keeping her posture straight and dignified while she keeps her mouth silent. She makes it seem like it was her decision first, somehow, and that Gale has nothing to do with it. She then crosses her legs while flipping her thick mane of hair behind her shoulder, acting as if nothing happened.
"You hunt with a bow, right?" Jack smoothly cuts in, after he stops looking at Reeva, sounding exaggeratedly interested. "You know, you should come train some while you're here." He leans forward. "I bet you could teach us a few new things that Gale can't."
"Hey," Gale calls over to them, but his tone is joking.
"I probably could," Katniss says, confidence in her tone. Jack grins widely.
"The only bad thing is that we start at 0530," Bolts says. "And I don't know about you, but my wife likes her beauty sleep in the mornings."
Katniss thinks about sleep, and is pretty sure she can live without it. She never feels like she gets any when the morning comes.
"I think I can manage," she answers.
"Great!" Jack whoops. "Your bowing skills are just about the only thing Gale's ever told us about you. It's made me want to see you in action, shooting things right through the eye no matter how fast the critter is movin'."
The statement pulls a light blush on her face. She tries and wills it away, instead focusing on the fact that that's what Gale told them about her. And that maybe she feels a little flattered, but she shouldn't.
"I miss sometimes," she says modestly.
"Whatever," Anton says. "From what we've heard, you're a goddess with a bow. Don't try to deny it."
At this, Katniss really can't contain her flush.
"Thank you," she says, looking down at the table.
Reeva clears her throat, and the attention of the men is diverted toward her impulsively. She gives a demure smile, placing her elbows on the table and leaning forward just enough to keep the men's stare right where she wants it – completely on her.
Katniss is pretty sure she's doing every tiny thing on purpose.
"So, Katniss," she says, acting like she doesn't notice the sudden attention she's getting. "Has Gale shown you the sights of the city?"
"Some," she says, already feeling uncomfortable under Reeva's burning stare. "Mostly downtown. I've only seen a little of the actual Capitol."
"Oh, downtown is my favorite!" she says in a delectable squeal. "Besides the bars, of course," she winks at Jack, who grins back in record time, "I love the atmosphere. Just walking down the streets gives me this rush."
Katniss looks on at her with exasperated eyes. All the energy she uses to speak makes Katniss feel poignantly tired.
"What's your favorite part?" Katniss isn't sure why she asks. But she thinks it's probably just to see if she'll continue to captivate her audience. She swears Jack's eyes are glued to every word, his face held up by his palm and his elbow probably leaving a dent in the wood.
"That's a hard question..." she says, tapping her lips with a fake nail. "Gale's showed me a lot of the sights that the place has to offer, and I enjoyed all of them."
"I bet he showed you some sights," Anton mumbles, though Katniss still hears it, and she's pretty sure that Reeva hears it too. Katniss bites her tongue to keep back her amusement.
"But there's this one place," Reeva continues steadfastly. "It was on the roof of that sweet shop down a few blocks from here," she says, looking at Gale. "It was almost sunset, and we were overlooking the Rocky Mountains with our ice cream cones, and we watched everything turn into beautiful oranges and purples. It was in the summer, I think, with the trees all bright and blooming with flowers." She shakes her head, and she nudges Gale's shoulder with hers. "I think that's my favorite place."
Katniss glances at Gale, who looks to be remembering too, whilst he drinks from his bottle of beer.
She wonders how...happy the memory was, and how long ago it was, because now Katniss is starting to see the cracks between them - ever since listening to Johanna, and believing her, they look a lot more distinct, now.
Reeva tries to find a hand hold on any part of him, while he acts standoffish and unaware of what she wants. There's a small space between them, but it seems as if Reeva's doing her best to close it, and Gale's doing his best to keep the space.
Katniss is slowly becoming aware of how much closer Gale is getting to her than he had been before.
"That sounds very nice," Katniss decides to say, looking over to Jack, who's eyes are glazed obliviously. "Don't you think so, Jack?" she asks deliberately.
At his name, he starts. "Wha- oh...oh, yeah, sure. Sounds like some sappy thing Gale might pull on a girl," he ends up getting out, clearing his throat and giving Katniss a challenging look, as if to say he's gonna get her back soon for trying to embarrass him. She smiles triumphantly.
"What can I say," Gale laughs. "I'm a romantic."
Katniss makes a face. "No you aren't."
Gale looks at her. "I'm not?"
"No..." she trails, and by the look he gives her, she feels like she said something wrong. "At least, you didn't use to be."
Gale seems to take this to heart, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest. "I guess I wasn't a very romantic teenager, was I?"
Katniss's mind takes a rapid, unwilling stroll down to the forest, and hunting, and laughing, and messing around in District 12, with him.
"Not with me," she answers, looking at the table.
"Now, that's a Gale I'd like to see," Bolts laughs heartily, as if something like that is completely unheard of. Gale smirks half-heartedly.
"Ha-Ha Bolts."
"I agree," Anton says, raising a hand.
Jack laughs. "Me too!"
Katniss smiles at all of them, and at Gale's defensive face as he tries to reestablish that he's not that flirtatious of a person; but when Katniss's eyes land on Reeva, her small smile vanishes in an instant. Reeva's pinning her with this terrible stare, one that's two parts deadly and one part murderous, and Katniss can almost feel shockwaves ripping through the air and into her face. She automatically feels like she's been slapped.
She blinks and looks away for a second, looking at the others only to find them too distracted to have noticed anything, then dares to look back at her, only to see Reeva smiling with Gale and the others, as if she hadn't been looking at Katniss at all. Katniss breathes in a couple times, reaching a hand up to her cheek, and thinking that she made it all up in her head. But the heat under her hand tells her otherwise, and she looks on at Reeva warily, for the rest of the time she's at the table, until she drags Gale away to go dance with her to the newly arrived band.
When Reeva leaves, Katniss immediately feels lighter.
A few minutes later, Anton goes to the bar to fetch Johanna, though she doesn't budge to his proposal to dance, instead opting to stay at the bar. Anton decides to stay there with her.
Bolts leaves soon after, as does Jack, and Katniss watches them go regrettably, wishing she could leave too. But she keeps her seat, and her new drink - a coke and rum, Bolts had bought her, which isn't that bad and not nearly as bitter as the stuff Haymitch buys - and watches and waits for Gale to finish dancing and for them to go back to the world of his apartment and eat dinner.
It's nearing 7:45 when she's able to hear them arguing. She glances away from people watching to the area Gale and Reeva went to, near the wall of the bar by the bathrooms. Reeva looks livid and...dangerous, while Gale tries to pacify her, eyes hard and determined. The sounds of their voices are distinct above the soft playing band, but their words are hazy, and she can only make out a few 'but's and 'I can't believe's.
Her interest peaks when Reeva stalks off, not even bothering to give Katniss one more lingering, spiteful glare, which Katniss, if she's honest, is forever thankful for.
She almost asks Gale what happened when he comes to escort her from the table, but he looks beaten and tired and grouchy, so she just finishes her coke-rum instead. If it's important, he'll tell her. If it's not, then she doesn't much care about it anyway.
Or, tells herself she doesn't. It's easier to be less interested when your thoughts lie to you.
a/n; anonymous review replies:
Mrs obsession: you might have, but that's always a compliment i'll gladly take. :) hahaha i hope you like this update.
anon: yeah, Gale and Reeva. i'll have them pan out more in later chapters, but i tried to show them more in this one. a strange pair, huh? ;) squad mates are a nice comic relief for them, too, i think. they need more happy. thanks, as always!~ (: