"Just me, Undersee?" Gale echoed, looking over at her again. He was surprised to meet her eyes when he did, but refused to let it show. They may have a better, ah, relationship than they did before, but he still had his pride. "Careful. Someone might think there's something going on between us."
Delivered as dryly as the Seam feels in summer. He stared at her for a moment thoughtfully before continuing.
"I've heard the trick to doing something like that is to pretend they're not there."
But what would he know, really? He wasn't a performer.
Madge didn't break eye contact with him, despite so desperately wanting to. How was it that he could make her entire face turn so red without more than a comment or two? "You know what I mean," she replied defensively.
Though what exactly had it become? With their fingers intertwined and the close proximity. "Can't pretend they're not there after everything's done, though."
And that's what she was primarily concerned with. People's reaction afterwards.
"Isn't that when you're supposed to stand up and accept the applause?" he asked pointedly, eyebrows raised in challenge. If this were a competition of some sort, Gale would count himself the forerunner, with the way she kept blushing.
He gave her hand an encouraging little squeeze. "What if you started smaller? You aren't too shy to play for Posy, are you?"
He probably was the forerunner if this was suddenly a challenge. "Assuming they're applauding. And what about after that?"
Madge glanced down at their hands with that squeeze, smiling despite herself. She squeezed right back and looked up at him when he asked if she would play for Posy. "No... I could play for your whole family, if you want."
“I don’t know, Undersee. What do musicians always do after the applause?”
Take a bow, maybe. Gale had only seen a few musicians, and none for a formal concert. Most of the ones he’d seen had rowdily gone into an encore after a few drinks and uproarious applause. He couldn’t picture Madge doing anything of the sort.
“Well, there you go,” he said, smirking triumphantly. “Your first audience.”
"I meant after the performance- after I'm on everyone's radar and no longer invisible..."
It was easier to be invisible. She preferred it more often than not... She'd taken so much care to remain that way. She puffed out her cheeks at that triumphant smirk, making a face and perhaps nudging him again for it. She deflated her cheeks with a sigh, unconsciously running her thumb lightly over his knuckles.
"Very well. I'll agree to that for now. You win this one."
He snorted. “Quiet is different from invisible. You’ve never been invisible.”
After all, the mayor only had one child. Everyone knew who he was, so they all knew her face by proxy, whether she liked it or not. That was the way Gale had come to resent her and her father so strongly before he’d ever officially met her.
“Good. Posy’s going to be excited, I can tell you that right now.”
Though he had a point. She could only really pretend to be invisible. She knew she wasn't... Licking her lips, she leaned onto him and squeezed his hand again. "I'm glad she will be. Maybe I can teach her a little if she wants."
And maybe, in a way, Madge had succeeded. Despite making the weekly deliveries to her and having a mutual friend, for years Gale hadn’t known the first thing about the real Madge, things other than her station in the district or how she looked or acted at school. Only recently has he gotten to know anything more about her, and finally started to see her as a person instead of someone luckier than he was.
He chuckled, giving Madge an amused look as she leaned against him. “Don’t tell her that. You won’t be able to get rid of her.”
"I wouldn't mind that," she assured him as she smiled up at him.
This... Being so comfortable with someone else, someone who she was certain hated her for a long time. This was nice. She wasn't even this close to Katniss, who she considered her best friend for the longest time. It was strange to let someone so close to her, but also comforting in a sense.
“Well, I guess you already have to deal with two Seam kids on a regular basis,” he said with a shrug. “What’s one more to add to your roster?”
Gale returned the smile, hardly surprised anymore at how easily the gesture comes nowadays. It was an improvement on the animosity from before, the constant barbs and the surprise (and intrigue) that washed over him whenever she responded in kind. They weren’t done with that, not quite, but those comments had taken on a completely different tone - one Gale found he enjoyed much more.
“So this is what you do all day, huh? Play piano all by yourself?”
And then his word choice made her freeze. Madge watched him smile, though her own was slowly turning sad. "I don't have to deal with you guys, you know. I enjoy your company."
She started playing a few notes with her free hand again. "This... I spend a lot of my time reading and stuff too."
“That’s not what I meant,” he said with a sigh. Were they really back to that? Gale deserved it, to be sure - he’d treated Madge terribly for far too long with only that as basis not to have earned it. It still stung that she’d mention it though, after they’d both started to put in the effort for more.
“What do you read?” Gale asked instead, watching her other hand move. It was safer, he supposed, safer and easier for both of them. After a while, he started to join her, moving his hand underneath hers to hit a random note here or there. “Tell me it’s something better than school books.”
Madge did feel bad for interpreting it the way she did, but it was hard to let go... To let go of the thought that maybe he still thought that she was treating it like a charity case.... But she let that drop and instead watched him join in on playing the piano.
When the note didn't quite match, she found herself giggling and nudging him. "I do read some of the school books... But I generally read things from back before Panem existed, classic plays and terrible romance novels..."
Every time she nudged him, Gale made a point to playfully nudge her back with his elbow as he continued to play along.
“From before Panem?” he echoed, impressed. “I didn’t know there were any. I would have thought the Capitol would have destroyed anything like that.” He flashed her a teasing smile. “Romance novels. Should I be surprised?”
"There's only a small collection left- hardly a day of reading really.... And they're hard to come by unless you know who to talk to."
And her father knew who to see about that.
But her cheeks went scarlet when he teased her about the romance novels. "They're horrible, but entertaining enough..." As though that was an excuse to be reading them in the first place.
It made sense. A part of Gale, a dark voice in the back of his mind, still seethed at the thought, but pushing it down came easier nowadays. He focused instead on the way talking about the books made her blush, gray eyes sparkling with mirth.
But when he pressed on, Madge found herself fumbling over a few keys, the sound jarring enough to make her flinch. Clearing her throat, she smiled as innocently as she could, the blush still apparent. "Well, they're rather ridiculous,... Just the scenarios and the... Ah. Intimate moments. That's not how life works. It's amusing."
And enough to fuel silly school girl fantasies sometimes.
Both of his eyebrows raised in amusement. “Your father brings you romance novels, huh?” His eyes sparkle. “Okay, so tell me. How ridiculous are they, exactly?”
"My father doesn't read them- and brushes them off as a silly girl's fancy," Madge murmured.
"They mostly follow the same formula- and always wind up with the rugged love interest making love with the attractive woman. She's either wild and spontaneous or quiet and demure... But always head over heels for him."
“But you find them… entertaining,” Gale repeated, an amused sparkle in his eyes. “I wouldn’t call you demure, but you definitely fall under quiet. So who are you head over heels for, Undersee?”
Madge's face was burning now, not by the insinuation that she enjoyed reading the novels. Nor was it because he was comparing her to any number of the women in the novels. It was more because of what she was about to admit... Quietly, and almost drowned out by the fact that she was suddenly picking at a few notes again. "You."
“How? If they always follow the same formula, you’d think it would get boring.”
Basic logic, if you asked Gale. He certainly couldn’t see himself wasting time by reading the same story over and over, with different names and faces to color the template. That wasn’t what he’d want in a story.
As quietly as Madge spoke, with her fingers on the keys again, he couldn’t quite hear what she had to say. So Gale leaned in, eyebrows raised inquisitively.
“Sorry, Undersee, didn’t catch that. What did you say?”
"I guess there's something comforting about it? That no matter how bad things look... you know it'll get better."
With a lot of sex and ridiculous romance. But, that was beside the point. Madge played a few more notes, not paying attention to how he leaned in until she turned to look at him and realized just how close they were now.
Oh.
"You."
It was no louder this time than it was before, and her cheeks were still burning... But she didn't back out of what she'd already said.
“I guess so,” he said, doubtful. Except it didn’t always get better, or things wouldn’t be so bad in District Twelve. But Gale tried not to think about that when he was with Madge, focusing instead on more positive things to keep his (and her) spirits up.
Then she just had to throw him a curveball.
“Me.” Gale laughed, trying to shake off the sudden knots wringing in the pit of his stomach. “Of course. Why wouldn’t you? I’m the most romantic person you know.”
He rolled his eyes, showing exactly what he thought about that.
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Delivered as dryly as the Seam feels in summer. He stared at her for a moment thoughtfully before continuing.
"I've heard the trick to doing something like that is to pretend they're not there."
But what would he know, really? He wasn't a performer.
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Though what exactly had it become? With their fingers intertwined and the close proximity. "Can't pretend they're not there after everything's done, though."
And that's what she was primarily concerned with. People's reaction afterwards.
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He gave her hand an encouraging little squeeze. "What if you started smaller? You aren't too shy to play for Posy, are you?"
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Madge glanced down at their hands with that squeeze, smiling despite herself. She squeezed right back and looked up at him when he asked if she would play for Posy. "No... I could play for your whole family, if you want."
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Take a bow, maybe. Gale had only seen a few musicians, and none for a formal concert. Most of the ones he’d seen had rowdily gone into an encore after a few drinks and uproarious applause. He couldn’t picture Madge doing anything of the sort.
“Well, there you go,” he said, smirking triumphantly. “Your first audience.”
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It was easier to be invisible. She preferred it more often than not... She'd taken so much care to remain that way. She puffed out her cheeks at that triumphant smirk, making a face and perhaps nudging him again for it. She deflated her cheeks with a sigh, unconsciously running her thumb lightly over his knuckles.
"Very well. I'll agree to that for now. You win this one."
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After all, the mayor only had one child. Everyone knew who he was, so they all knew her face by proxy, whether she liked it or not. That was the way Gale had come to resent her and her father so strongly before he’d ever officially met her.
“Good. Posy’s going to be excited, I can tell you that right now.”
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Though he had a point. She could only really pretend to be invisible. She knew she wasn't... Licking her lips, she leaned onto him and squeezed his hand again. "I'm glad she will be. Maybe I can teach her a little if she wants."
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He chuckled, giving Madge an amused look as she leaned against him. “Don’t tell her that. You won’t be able to get rid of her.”
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This... Being so comfortable with someone else, someone who she was certain hated her for a long time. This was nice. She wasn't even this close to Katniss, who she considered her best friend for the longest time. It was strange to let someone so close to her, but also comforting in a sense.
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Gale returned the smile, hardly surprised anymore at how easily the gesture comes nowadays. It was an improvement on the animosity from before, the constant barbs and the surprise (and intrigue) that washed over him whenever she responded in kind. They weren’t done with that, not quite, but those comments had taken on a completely different tone - one Gale found he enjoyed much more.
“So this is what you do all day, huh? Play piano all by yourself?”
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She started playing a few notes with her free hand again. "This... I spend a lot of my time reading and stuff too."
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“What do you read?” Gale asked instead, watching her other hand move. It was safer, he supposed, safer and easier for both of them. After a while, he started to join her, moving his hand underneath hers to hit a random note here or there. “Tell me it’s something better than school books.”
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When the note didn't quite match, she found herself giggling and nudging him. "I do read some of the school books... But I generally read things from back before Panem existed, classic plays and terrible romance novels..."
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“From before Panem?” he echoed, impressed. “I didn’t know there were any. I would have thought the Capitol would have destroyed anything like that.” He flashed her a teasing smile. “Romance novels. Should I be surprised?”
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And her father knew who to see about that.
But her cheeks went scarlet when he teased her about the romance novels. "They're horrible, but entertaining enough..." As though that was an excuse to be reading them in the first place.
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It made sense. A part of Gale, a dark voice in the back of his mind, still seethed at the thought, but pushing it down came easier nowadays. He focused instead on the way talking about the books made her blush, gray eyes sparkling with mirth.
“Entertaining how, exactly?”
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But when he pressed on, Madge found herself fumbling over a few keys, the sound jarring enough to make her flinch. Clearing her throat, she smiled as innocently as she could, the blush still apparent. "Well, they're rather ridiculous,... Just the scenarios and the... Ah. Intimate moments. That's not how life works. It's amusing."
And enough to fuel silly school girl fantasies sometimes.
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"They mostly follow the same formula- and always wind up with the rugged love interest making love with the attractive woman. She's either wild and spontaneous or quiet and demure... But always head over heels for him."
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Madge's face was burning now, not by the insinuation that she enjoyed reading the novels. Nor was it because he was comparing her to any number of the women in the novels. It was more because of what she was about to admit... Quietly, and almost drowned out by the fact that she was suddenly picking at a few notes again. "You."
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Basic logic, if you asked Gale. He certainly couldn’t see himself wasting time by reading the same story over and over, with different names and faces to color the template. That wasn’t what he’d want in a story.
As quietly as Madge spoke, with her fingers on the keys again, he couldn’t quite hear what she had to say. So Gale leaned in, eyebrows raised inquisitively.
“Sorry, Undersee, didn’t catch that. What did you say?”
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With a lot of sex and ridiculous romance. But, that was beside the point. Madge played a few more notes, not paying attention to how he leaned in until she turned to look at him and realized just how close they were now.
Oh.
"You."
It was no louder this time than it was before, and her cheeks were still burning... But she didn't back out of what she'd already said.
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Then she just had to throw him a curveball.
“Me.” Gale laughed, trying to shake off the sudden knots wringing in the pit of his stomach. “Of course. Why wouldn’t you? I’m the most romantic person you know.”
He rolled his eyes, showing exactly what he thought about that.
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