A/N - Okay so splitting what was originally one chapter into two didn't make this one a shorter one, hopefully you'll enjoy it.
Chapter 8 – I want to belong to the living
"I want to be strong I want to laugh along
I want to belong to the living
Alive, alive, I want to get up and jive
I want to wreck my stockings in some juke box dive"
All I Want - Joni Mitchell
Katniss' POV
Rory points me in the right direction and I easily find the sign for Dan's Den. I open the door and am affronted by a wall of humidity and sweat. It's suffocating, but when I can finally pull a breath, I wish I hadn't. It stinks in here!
I glance around, looking to find Gale. There are a few people lifting weights in one area and others warming up nearby. In another section there's a roped off raised platform where two fighters covered in some padded armor are sparring each other. I see Gale there on the sidelines, or rather he sees me, and waves me over. He's clad in the same type of padded armor. There's a few others around there cheering for those fighting. Gale explains that everyone in the squad comes here for training - weight lifting, martial arts training, endurance etc. He'll have to spar next, but afterwards he'll clean up and we can go into town with some of his squadmates.
A timer goes off and it's Gale's turn. He puts his helmet on, put on a teeth protector and pulls down his face shield and climbs through the divider and onto the platform. He heads to the corner to an energetic wiry guy rattling off some tips and instruction. Reading off of a board on the side I see his opponent is Dan, who just beat Roscoe. Roscoe steps off of the platform, he's built like a tank. Once he relieves his short red hair of his helmet, he introduces himself.
"Katniss? Hey, I'm Roscoe." He extends his hand, "Sorry that I'm so sweaty," he says apologetically. "It's really great to meet you live and in person! Gale and I are apartment-mates."
"Now it's my turn to be sorry." I quip with a grin.
He smiles puckishly in return. "How long are you visiting for?" He asks as he fumbles with the closures of his chest padding.
"I was thinking week or so, I'm not sure, I haven't booked my return ticket yet. Uh, How about you? How long have you been in 2, or are you from here?" I stumble through the small talk, trying to remember Effie's advice to ask innocuous questions.
"Nah, I'm from District 7. During the rebellion, our squad ended up helping out in 10. It was so different than 7. Afterwards, I wanted to see another part of the country to see what it was like and wound up here."
After the requisite 3 minute rest for Dan, a buzzer sounds and Gale's match begins. Gale's fairly quick, but Dan's nimble and even quicker. Weren't Gale's reflexes faster before? I feel like he's holding back, or maybe he's tired, or maybe I just think he should be faster. After a bit it's clear Dan knows more techniques. In the end it's a close match, but Dan edges him out. They're both breathing hard and dripping with sweat. As they make it out of the ropes they each tug off their helmets and face shields. Out of Dan's helmet tumbles a luxurious long blonde pony tail...Huh? Dan's a female?
"Good match!" Gale heaves out between breaths.
"We've done better, you need to work on your combinations still. Always at least 3 in an attack." Dan answers, not quite so out of breath.
Gale gestures with his head for me to come over, meanwhile his eyes are saying 'sorry, just bear with me', like he would when he'd embellish a story at my expense to negotiate a better deal.
He keeps his eyes on me, as if coaching me through this interaction, "Dan, this is my cousin Katniss." 'Oh that again, fine, you're forgiven' I think to myself.
"Katniss, this is Danicy better known as Dan." Despite being drenched in sweat, Danicy is downright beautiful. She's got refined porcelain features and almost look delicate, belying her killer fighting skills.
"Wow, impressive fight!" I say.
"Well, Gale's a quick study!" She says to me, then looks to Gale and adds flirtily, "Or maybe it's the extra lessons."
"Heh, maybe it's a little bit of both." Gale acknowledges with a smirk.
After she gets the reaction from Gale that she was looking for she turns back to me and says "How are you guys related again?"
Gale and I answer clumsily over each other "Fathers' side" and "Through our Dads".
Danicey nods dismissively and says, "Oh yeah. Well, if you're in town for a little while you should come by to train or spar sometime. Then we can see how tough you really are!"
My eyes widen, "I'm not sure I'm up to anything like that."
"Well, you don't know until you try! Any way some of them might take it easy on ya." She snorts underscoring the challenge.
Roscoe interjects, "Let's recruit her another time. I. Am. Starvin'!"
"Well, I don't know about me, but YOU definitely need to shower!" Gale jokes as he sniffs in Roscoe's direction.
"I'm cool to take the first shower," Roscoe says, "you figure out what we're doing." As he hustles off through a door behind us.
"Dan, you in for dinner?" Gale asks, wiping yet more sweat from his neck.
"Oh thanks, but no. I gotta take care of some stuff now. But let me know if you decide to head out later."
She gives Gale a playful smack on the butt, then scoots out of his reach on her way to the other set of doors behind us.
As she's leaving a guy and a girl come over from the weight lifting area. They're both incredibly fit. He's even bigger and wider than Roscoe! His skin is dark as midnight and hers a warm cocoa brown. Like a sibling, he makes a beeline for Gale who is attempting to free himself from his padding and he gives Gale a hefty shove on the shoulder knocking him off the bench with a snicker. She, more maturely, makes her way over to me.
"Hi, I'm Electra! Nice to meet you!" She says cheerfully as she extends her hand, rolling her eyes at the guy's behavior. He pays her gesture no mind, I suspect he's seen it before.
"Hello, Radix Tilling, it's truly a pleasure to meet you." his baritone voice reverberates in my chest as he offers his hand in turn.
"Hi, I'm Katniss."
"Yeah, we figured as much" Radix says with an easy-going smile.
Gale explains to me, "These guys are the best!" And I bet they are, his eyes are shining with admiration. He adds, "Radix is in my squad," then asks them, "You guys joining us for dinner?"
Radix looks to Electra who says "You can go, I promised Dan I'd help her take care of the books. But I know she's hoping we can all meet up later."
"Sounds good to me, where we headed for dinner?" Radix asks Gale.
"I gotta shower, so you think of the best place to bring a visitor." He gives me a glance to make sure I'll be okay, I nod in return.
Electra watches our interaction and smiles, then asks about the train ride and how the recovery is going in District 12. After a few minutes she excuses herself to shower leaving me with Radix.
"So, what kind of food do you like?" He asks, not forgetting his task.
"Most things I guess. I'm willing to try anything once, though I've been burned by that philosophy." I scrunch my nose as I think of the few times I sampled some delicacies in the Capitol didn't seem exactly edible.
"Maybe we should get you some BBQ ribs. Hmmm, but that's not really a District 2 specialty. How about Rick's for some bison burger?"
"Sounds tasty!"
"It's a plan!" He seems pleased with himself.
I try my best to keep the conversation going, "Have you scoped out all of the good places to eat in this town?"
"Probably. We haven't been here long, but the options are kinda limited."
"How long have you been here?"
"Mmm. Maybe six months or so. I followed Electra here."
"Why'd she come here?"
"There were plans back then to make some smaller power generation stations - decentralized power, they call it. They recruited her here, because they needed energy expertise, but the plans morphed. Now they're stuck with us, cause it's beautiful and we love it!" He chuckles.
Roscoe emerges from the locker room, looking clean and refreshed. "You clean up real well Roscoe!" Radix jokes. "You're making me look bad, I think I gotta shower now."
Gale's POV
Once everyone is cleaned up Roscoe, Radix and I escort Katniss to dinner at Rick's as promised. As per usual, the bison burgers hit the spot, filling and just gamey enough. Thankfully Roscoe does his normal schtick and is teasing or joking practically the whole duration of the meal. Otherwise the smirk that I can't get off my face would seem out of place. After all those months, I honestly never thought it was even possible that Katniss would willingly be in my company, much less think to salvage our friendship.
I'm content enough to let Radix and Roscoe run the conversation, asking questions and good naturally trying to pry information about me out of Katniss. Once our bellies are full, and there's a pause in Roscoe's antics, I ask Radix, "What do you think? The Palms?"
He nods in approval.
I let Katniss know, "There's some live music at our local watering hole, think you're up for it?"
She looks a little surprised, but open to it, so we pay up and head out.
Katniss' POV
A mandolin player with a beard and long wavy dark hair leads a band with a few other ragtag members with tambourines and a huge instrument that looks like a fiddle on steroids. Their upbeat strumming gives an energetic current to what might otherwise be just another indescript dive bar with aroma of stale beer and a sticky floor. Roscoe squeezes in at the bar and orders a round of beers plus a hard cider (whatever that is) for me at Gale's suggestion. I notice a blond at the bar gives him a quick once over from under her heavy lashes and draws her girlfriends' attention with a sly smile. Roscoe gives her a polite smile in return, but starts in a friendly exchange with the bartender. In a minute, he's grinning victoriously as he pushes his way back to us, four brown bottles in hand.
The lead singer bobs his head at Gale when he spots us making our way from the bar to some stools at a high table to the side. Gale nods back in response. The band segues into the next tune as the lead singer switches from the mandolin to the guitar poised on the stand next to him. He announces "Here's a theme song for one of my buddies from home," as he raises his beer in Gale's direction. The regulars already know the song and are singing and foot stomping along 'Hey!' And 'Ho!'. Gale shakes his head with a snort and fires a middle finger salute back, good naturedly he shouts back over the crowd "Aw, you shouldn't have, Fletch!"
I look to Roscoe who just shrugs his shoulders to let me know he's not privy to the backstory. So I get Gale's attention and try to coax the story from him with a quirked eyebrow. He concedes with a sigh, "Fletch is 'Seam'. You remember Judd Cohosh? The guy that was known for making the good twine? He's Fletch's cousin and they had a pretty decent little family band. We'd end up out together sometimes back home, they're always up for playing and getting folks dancing."
In the background I make out the lyrics "I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart... (Ho!) I don't think you're right for him, (Hey!) Look at what might have been..."
Now he's mostly talking to his beer bottle, rather than at me, he continues as his thumb works to pry the label off "Anyway, when you left for the the first Arena, pretty much everyone knew my deal. Then when Peeta dropped the bomb about having a crush on you they decided this was my theme song. When we'd be out they'd play it - just for me. I guess at least it's a catchy tune. It's better than just being depressed about it, which I got pretty good at on my own. I ran into Fletch here doing a beer run a few months back. He's the one introduced me to this high end joint, heh." He lazily motions around the bar with his head.
I swallow and look at him, unsure what to say. So I just stammer out "Sorry about all that." He exhales and gives me a half smile "Well, that's all old news anyway." He raises his beer bottles to clink mine in a toast before he tips his back. I'm not really sure of the meaning behind his comment so I follow suit, glad to evade another awkward response. But I am left wondering, if 'old news' means everyone knows he loves me or if he's moved on and he doesn't any more.
Out of the corner of my eye I see Gale check his watch and shoot a glance at Roscoe first then Radix, they each acknowledge him with a small nod in response. The band mixes it up between peppy tunes and a few slower ballads. Roscoe, who has been checking the door gives Gale's elbow a nudge. I see Gale put on what I call his 'Guy Guise'. It's been years since I've seen this, I guess there wasn't much need for it during the rebellion. There was this woman at the Hob that sold tallow, candles and lanterns. Whenever one of us needed something from her stall we would send Gale in to negotiate because we both knew he could get a better deal with her. He'd put on his most disarming smile and start talking with her like she was the most attractive woman in Panem. It was pretty entertaining to watch her hard set features melt as Gale flirtation broke her down. I don't think I ever even mentioned this act of Gale's to him, I just watched this from a distance. I'm wondering what's going on when Danicey and Electra stride up to our bar table. Gale's suddenly more animated. He's all smiles welcoming them, "Hey ladies, about time you showed up! We were starting to lose hope!" He ushers them closer to the table, with his hand in the small of Danicey's back.
Radix chimes in "Now we can get this party started for real! What can I get you two from the bar?" Once he has their orders he checks in with the rest of us, in case we need a refill before making his way to the bar. Roscoe has stepped in behind my barstool, almost in a protective manner. He leans down so I can hear better and asks "Do you go out to hear bands like this much?
I shake my head admitting "No, I don't get out much... now or before. But I do like the live music! You guys see bands much?"
"Nah, we don't get the chance to see many bands, but Gale likes these guys well enough, and we all know their music now."
Radix has returned with the round of drinks and we're all enjoying the music. After a little while Radix has Electra up and dancing with him in front of our table. But then the band takes a break.
I realize that without the music my face has reverted to my default scowl. I channel my inner Effie and plaster a subtle smile on my faces as she encouraged me to do at so many functions.
It only takes Gale a few minutes before he leans over and asks "That bad, huh?"
"What do mean?"
His raised eyebrow says 'What's with the fake smile?'
"Oh that. Effie said that when I'm not paying attention I frown. So put on that smile." He thinks about my comment before responding.
"Soooo... are you enjoying yourself more when you've got that smile plastered on - or less?" he teases.
"Ha! You got me there!" I reason, "I guess I enjoy it less, but it used to make Effie happy, which made my life more enjoyable overall."
Radix steps over to us and nudges Gale saying "Gale, you know you can't hog Katniss all night!"
Gale smiles and acquiesces, stepping back from the table, letting Radix have his spot. I see the band members setting back up as my eyes trail Gale as he joins Roscoe and Danicey in conversation.
The music starts again, making conversation tougher. It's fine by me, I admit, I'd rather listen to the music than work at chit chat. I notice Gale and Danicey slip away for a little bit. Radix tries to get me to dance, even going so far as to teach me a few dance steps. When Gale and Danicey finally return she's giggling pulling him by the hand through the crowd.
Roscoe tries his hand at entertaining Electra and I with some of his best jokes, claiming he's ready to do stand up comedy on the side. We're straining to listen over a commotion from a few drunk guys behind us. Suddenly it's turned into a scuffle and it comes to a pitch. One of them shoves another who careens our way. Amazingly, Gale's reflexes spring into action and he's miraculously able to insert himself between me and this 200 lb dead weight, effectively catching him and rolling him to side. Gale makes a humorous comment to diffuse the situation, and the guys' drinking companions haul him off.
Once the band wraps up our group loiters a bit longer at the bar, then meanders out in the street, not wanting to break up for the night quite yet. Both Electra and Danicey titter when Gale asks Radix, "Are you man enough to walk these two beautiful ladies home?" Radix is puffing up his chest like a rooster when he claims "I'm more than man enough!" Gale rolls his eyes and turns his attention to Danicey. He gives her a full kiss on the lips, and then tugs her back for a second one when she pulls away.
I can't help but stare a little. When did Gale get so comfortable with public displays of affection? Maybe he was always like this with girls back in 12, but I had never really seen him with a girlfriend or a girl for that matter, in the months before I left for the games.
Radix escorts Electra and Danicey around the corner while Gale joins up with Roscoe and me. We swing by their apartment since it's on the way to Hazelle's. Roscoe explains that the former residences for peacekeepers during training now serve as housing for the Army. They're pretty basic he says, but they do the job.
After we hoof our way up to the second floor, Roscoe opens the door to their apartment with dramatic flair. "This is our lovely abode." He says as we step into a common living area. "We spend most of our time right here." He motions around a cluttered room. "Any mess here is Gale's." Gale and I both snort at this, since Gale was pretty rigid about everything being in its place, even before being in the army. Besides, I suspect Gale's not one for many belongings, even now that he can afford a few. The opposite end of the room has a hallway with a small bedroom on each side. Roscoe finishes the verbal tour "Out there is a two foot extension of the living room they call a balcony, the bedrooms are down the hall, and so is the world's smallest bathroom, and to cap it all off, at the end is the kitchen, as you can see from right here."
I take a look around their place as Gale heads for the bathroom. Generally, the place is pretty sparse, aside from Roscoe's clutter. The main piece of furniture is an old couch with a couple of matching chairs surrounding a low table. Behind it is a small table that looks equally adept as a card table as it does for a place for meals. There's a bookcase on the left half full of books and binders, organized into sections. On another wall is Gale's bow, the one my father made. It's beautifully mounted on the wall with the quiver above and a few arrows arranged in arched pattern. It's a piece of artwork, not just hung up off of the floor.
Roscoe notices me admiring Gale's handiwork, "Pretty primitive bow, eh? Gale told me you guys got some pretty sweet upgraded technology from Coin's team during the rebellion, huh? Laser sights, spring loaded, flames the works! Once in a while Tela let's us to play with some of the weapons they designed for you guys."
When Gale returns, I'm still a little taken aback, "Your bow...it looks good like that," as I glance back at it. But part of me feels some regret that it looks like it doesn't get regular use. He states matter-of-factly "Well, it is one of my most prized possessions."
Roscoe retorts, "That old thing?"
"Yeah, this one's handcrafted, like it was made for me. Besides helping to feed my family for years, it's got some sentimental value." He's focused on Roscoe the whole time he's talking.
"Whatever you say, Boss. I still think newer toys are more fun."
Gale rolls his eyes as he drops himself onto the couch and props his feet on the table, "Whatcha got going on tomorrow?" he asks me.
"Nothing much, I think Rory's going to take me around town a bit."
"Well, that'll take all of 5 minutes" Roscoe jests.
Gale ignores Roscoe's comment and asks me "Perfect - can you do me a favor?"
"Yeah, Of course."
"Can you pick up some leather laces from the cobbler? Would you believe that the last of my Dad's laces finally snapped?" I nod in the affirmative as he continues. "I guess since I haven't been wearing my boots much, I haven't been putting oil on the laces, so now they're breaking."
"Sure thing, as long as Rory knows where to go, I can pick some up. Actually, do you still have the old ones? I can take them so I know what length I need to get."
"Yeah, sure do," he picks himself off of the couch and hauls himself to the bedroom on the right. He's back almost immediately with the last stretched whole lace and the bundle of the two or three pieces that made up the other one.
He hands them to me, then glances at the time and says "Ah, I'd better get you home, trust me I know from personal experience, you don't want to stay out past curfew with Hazelle Hawthorne on watch."
It's brisk enough outside to wake us up a bit. Gale leads us out of the compound and we turn on the road to town. A few quick turns and we're on the same road from the the train station back to the Hawthornes'. There are a few street lights from town, but generally it's dark, offering a great display of the night sky.
"That band was good!" I say.
"Yeah, I thought you'd like them. I must have been drunk, I thought I saw Radix got you up and dancing!"
"Would you call it that? I don't know what he was trying teaching me. Call me old fashioned, but the only real dances to me are the ones from 12."
He surprises me by saying, "Well, okay 'Old Fashioned', show me you stuff!" As he grabs my hand and pivots me, effectively leading me into the beginning steps of one of the traditional district 12 dances. He fluidly guides me through a round of the dance down the centerline of this empty mountain road, but he's hamming it up at every turn, jiggling his head and making funny faces. We're both cracking up by the end, which was a foreign, but now welcome feeling.
We take a few deep breaths and shush each other to be quiet before he opens Hazelle's door for me, now grey in the moonlight. I see from his stance he has no intention of coming in, so I say "Thanks, that was different, but fun."
"It's the least I can do since you made the effort to come out here. See you tomorrow, I'm doing something with the boys late afternoon. Plus I think my mom has dinner planned."
"Okay, G'night"
I guess it's the cider or maybe there really is something to this mountain air that makes me feel giddy and alive.
