The day is here, gray and overcast, and it feels like a whirlwind. After the Reaping, Katniss is taken to the Justice Building and Gale follows with Prim and Mrs. Everdeen, nothing but grim determination in his eyes. She can do it, and he tells her as much - if anyone in the Seam can come back from the Games, it's her. Before he knows it, he's being ushered out again, and she's gone.
The first thing he does is make sure that the Everdeens get home okay. It takes a while, with the oh-so-important interviews right after Katniss leaves, but Gale waits it out in silence, reminding himself of his promise to take care of them over and over again. They're slow walking home, and Prim clings to her mother's hand and his, but they get there and settle in. Gale's mother, Hazel, leaves them a pot of stew for dinner so they won't have to worry about it, but it goes untouched while he's there. No one can blame them, really; they just lost the one person who's kept them afloat for so long after that accident in the mines years ago. They deserve their time to mourn.
Gale, for his part, can't do it. He simply cannot believe that Katniss will die out there. She's strong, and he tells himself as much even as the rain begins to fall when he leaves the Everdeens'. Appropriate, he thinks bitterly, for a day like today. It doesn't stop him from heading toward the meadow, however; he can't afford to let the weather hold him back now. If he's going to be supporting two families instead of the usual one, he's going to need more snares. Might as well take care of it now. It'll give him a better chance at catching something, even if it's something as small as a squirrel, and every little bit counts.
Madge never expected Katniss to volunteer -- for some reason, she always assumed that Katniss would be safe. After all, the girl spent much of her time hunting and trading and keeping so many of the hopes up in District 12. Madge knows the quiet, solemn girl did a lot of things for many people. The merchants all gasped with horror when they heard her volunteer, watched as not only another young person marched to their death, but also someone who was very nearly at the pulse of District 12.
She ran to the Justice Building as fast as she could after she ran home, gathering gifts for Katniss. Maybe she and Katniss weren't close friends, maybe the girl didn't consider them friends at all, but they had a quiet sort of acceptance from their school days, didn't they? She likes to think that maybe they had been friends, after all, but that almost makes it hurt more.
She's walking home herself, having had to stay behind with her father for the interviews, listening to the speech he had to give and watching the train depart. It's not a happy time -- this never is -- but she feels it more on this reaping than ever before. When it starts to rain, she picks up her pace, ducking her head out of the rain, and very nearly runs straight into Gale, her eyes wide, red rimmed, her fingers clutching at the fabric of her now-ruined white dress.
"Sorry." But she has a feeling she knows where he is going. "It's getting dark -- and a storm -- you really shouldn't go out there, should you?"
Gale looks down at her in surprise, so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't seen her coming. He has a lot to think about now - from how he'll have to adjust his hunting tactics to how he's going to keep supporting his family once he goes to work and can't hunt as often - and the last person he's expected to talk to, especially out in the rain, is Madge Undersee. But his jaw is set, stubborn and determined as he's ever been.
"I'll be fine," he tells her neutrally, taking in the sight of her with mild bemusement. Katniss is a friend of hers, but he didn't think she'd be this upset about it. They must be closer than he knew. "It's just rain. You should go home, Undersee, before you ruin your dress."
And he makes to move past her, back on his personal mission.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
no subject
The first thing he does is make sure that the Everdeens get home okay. It takes a while, with the oh-so-important interviews right after Katniss leaves, but Gale waits it out in silence, reminding himself of his promise to take care of them over and over again. They're slow walking home, and Prim clings to her mother's hand and his, but they get there and settle in. Gale's mother, Hazel, leaves them a pot of stew for dinner so they won't have to worry about it, but it goes untouched while he's there. No one can blame them, really; they just lost the one person who's kept them afloat for so long after that accident in the mines years ago. They deserve their time to mourn.
Gale, for his part, can't do it. He simply cannot believe that Katniss will die out there. She's strong, and he tells himself as much even as the rain begins to fall when he leaves the Everdeens'. Appropriate, he thinks bitterly, for a day like today. It doesn't stop him from heading toward the meadow, however; he can't afford to let the weather hold him back now. If he's going to be supporting two families instead of the usual one, he's going to need more snares. Might as well take care of it now. It'll give him a better chance at catching something, even if it's something as small as a squirrel, and every little bit counts.
no subject
She ran to the Justice Building as fast as she could after she ran home, gathering gifts for Katniss. Maybe she and Katniss weren't close friends, maybe the girl didn't consider them friends at all, but they had a quiet sort of acceptance from their school days, didn't they? She likes to think that maybe they had been friends, after all, but that almost makes it hurt more.
She's walking home herself, having had to stay behind with her father for the interviews, listening to the speech he had to give and watching the train depart. It's not a happy time -- this never is -- but she feels it more on this reaping than ever before. When it starts to rain, she picks up her pace, ducking her head out of the rain, and very nearly runs straight into Gale, her eyes wide, red rimmed, her fingers clutching at the fabric of her now-ruined white dress.
"Sorry." But she has a feeling she knows where he is going. "It's getting dark -- and a storm -- you really shouldn't go out there, should you?"
no subject
"I'll be fine," he tells her neutrally, taking in the sight of her with mild bemusement. Katniss is a friend of hers, but he didn't think she'd be this upset about it. They must be closer than he knew. "It's just rain. You should go home, Undersee, before you ruin your dress."
And he makes to move past her, back on his personal mission.