(Untitled)

[likedtheodds]

The future comes with a great many number of intriguing items. The one that Gwaine hasn't really explored until today is small, yet wildly interesting to him and so colourful. Shots. They're red and blue and purple and one is green and one is called a polar bear and he doesn't even know what a polar bear is, but he knows that it tastes marvelous

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[burnwithus]

All morning, Katniss had been trying to fly.

It wasn't easy, and in truth it had been terrifying, although not nearly so much as when she realized that she could breathe fire. Being so close to those flames, even if they weren't burning her, had brought back a host of bad memories that had taken a good hour out of her morning just curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth.

But she had to stick to the routine, because that familiarity was the only thing keeping her sane right now. So the quiver was slung over her leathery wings, which were now tucked against her back. She had cut holes in her shirt in order to accomodate them. She stopped by the bar only to drop off some of her meat when Gwaine's loud voice caught her eye.

"You can have a dead rabbit. If you want."

[likedtheodds]

Gwaine turns in order to give her a bemused look, slightly wary of a woman who can kill and skin a dead rabbit as well as anyone else. "Is it a special dead rabbit?" he can't help but ask. "Have you carved something into its skin, perhaps? Because rabbits are a common thing around these parts. Why is this one special?" he asks, but he's only teasing.

[burnwithus]

"You don't have to take it if you don't want it," she retorts with all of her usual patience, arms crossed against her chest defensively. Sharing none of Gwaine's good cheer, although that isn't at all out of the ordinary. She knows he's teasing though and that's the only thing keeping her trademark scowl off her face. "You'll probably end up eating some part of it eventually, anyways."

[likedtheodds]

"I will," he concedes, and all the teasing falls away as the true gratitude begins to shine through. He reaches out to clasp onto her fingers lightly, tugging her gently towards him. "Hey," he breathes out the single word, giving her a fond smile. "Thank you. Not everyone would do such a thing for me. In fact, no one would. No one but you and maybe Merlin, back home. Arthur, but only on a good day."

[burnwithus]

Katniss frowns, letting herself be tugged but only to a certain extent. She's hardly used to such gratitude, and it makes her uncomfortable, actually. Oddly sentimental for him. "It's just a rabbit. Like you said, they're everywhere around here," she shrugs, as if it doesn't mean anything, because she'd rather it didn't.

[likedtheodds]

Gwaine rolls his eyes and reaches out to press his palm to hers before relinquishing it. "Why can't you ever accept a compliment? Is it just me or do you do this to everyone?" he wonders aloud. "Katniss, thank you. And now, you say..."

[burnwithus]

"You're welcome," Katniss replies, exasperated, because he's speaking as though he's a school teacher and she's the stubborn child who refused to do anything the proper way. Or maybe he wasn't simply patronizing. Maybe this really was such a big deal to him as he let on.

People weren't nearly as forthcoming with the compliments back in the Seam where everyone fended for themselves and there was hardly a kind word to be found anywhere, and so she's grown up used to the brusque and prickly as a result. "Enjoy it. Really."

[likedtheodds]

Gwaine sighs and raises a brow as he drapes an arm over the nearest surface (which, in this case, happens to be the game). "Katniss," he says, calling to her before she can leave. "Stop it, please?" he requests, as polite as he ever gets. "Will you please just come and have one drink with me and pretend, for one night, that you can stand the sight of me?"

[burnwithus]

She's not a casual drinker. Katniss only drinks when she wants to get drunk, and that in turn is only when she wants to forget something. It's not the greatest of combinations, and she's a lightweight to boot. She shifts the weight of her bow and quiver onto the other shoulder in a show of consideration. She almost feels bad for being so brusque today.

"Fine," putting her things down, she perches on a chair, tucking her legs underneath like a bird might. Pulling a twig out of her hair. "But just water. Being drunk isn't fun."

[likedtheodds]

"Maybe not for you, but I've always had a lark when I drink," he admits as he lifts up his glass. He turns to the bartender in order to get her a glass of water, reaching out a hand in order to coax her closer. "It used to be that I never got so drunk that I couldn't take care of myself. I've slipped in recent times."

[burnwithus]

Katniss bites back the comment she was originally going to say- I can tell, if only because she remembers his comment about being put into an arena after waking up from a night of drinking. Maybe she can't blame him for slipping up these days. Maybe he's more like Haymitch than she thought. She gulps her water down in two seconds; it's hot outside, as usual, and hunting is hard work.

She peers at the weirdly-colored drinks on the counter. They look like something one might find in the Capitol, with their penchant for colors that don't belong on foods. "If you need help getting back to your room," Katniss shrugs, like it isn't a big deal despite it being a relatively friendly gesture for her. She has experience with it. How many times had she dragged Haymitch's heavy carcass into bed and tucked him in? At this point, it'll feel like old times.

[likedtheodds]

Gwaine cocks a brow upwards at the invitation. He's not that drunk, but now that she's gone and said it, he can't very well refuse. He doesn't know when she's going to offer such a thing again in his lifetime. "Lead the way, milady," he offers with a beckoning hand gesturing outwards.

Although, this might be problematic, given that he doesn't actually have a room or a home.

[burnwithus]

She hadn't meant it for now but apparently, that's what Gwaine took it as. Katniss looks at him and knows that he isn't so far gone, which makes this easier because he's very tall, and very heavy and she is neither of those things.

"Can you walk?" standing up from her seat, she puts the now-empty glass back onto the counter and picks up her things.

[likedtheodds]

"I can dance," is his instant reply, beaming away as he waits for her and starts to think, quickly, of where the last vacated location was so that he can pretend as though he's been living there. "First a rabbit, now an escort." He whistles, low and amused. "Now I know you must be bored."

[burnwithus]

Shifting her bow across her shoulder, Katniss leads the way through the exit of the bar and of course, rolls her eyes at his remark. It's habit at this point, a defense mechanism to remind herself that he isn't Gale. Gwaine is ten times more cheeky and carefree than her serious best friend ever could be. "I'm not bored. I just have nothing else to do right now. It's not like I come to you when I need entertaining," she frowns, because it's not true. Of course it isn't. Katniss has even been bored for a while, now. She associated the feeling with idle people who had no real work. Capitol people who needed some new thing to keep their minds occupied.

[likedtheodds]

"Then who do you go to?" Gwaine asks, raising his brow. Maybe he's better at this, too. Maybe he's better at talking to people when he hadn't been before. "Because if I'm not doing the task, then I want pointers so I can. You shouldn't have to walk away when I'm every bit as entertaining as anyone else on this rock."