stillplaying | 15th Game [action/video]

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15th Game [action/video]

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[She awoke that morning to find them gone. Those beautiful, amazing iridescent wings were gone. And in their place, the damn mockingjay wings had returned. Small, useless. Reminders of a life she would have happily left behind. She fit easily on the couch again, her bed of the last two months. But at the cost of her flight. At the cost of being grounded once more.

If it was not for the overwhelming guilt she felt shortly after - guilt for cancelling her sister's party under paranoia of too many people in their living quarters - she probably would have spent the day sulking. And it was tempting, so tempting to just disappear into the woods all day. But she couldn't afford that luxury. Not anymore. If her wings were gone, that meant that there was a good chance the spirit possession had ended. Life had returned to what passed for normal around here.

And she had a party to plan.

But first, she had a sister to seek out. And surprise with breakfast in bed: pancakes and maple syrup, with a mug of hot chocolate and glass of orange juice.

Later that day, Katniss could be found going about her regular daily schedule. Spending time hunting in the woods, guitar lessons at Cloud Nine, browsing the various shops. The recent event reminded her that Prim was relatively undefended here, a situation that needed to be corrected. Even a small knife, anything to give her sister the advantage if Katniss wasn't around to protect her. Food for the party was also a necessity. As well as any remaining decorations.

It wasn't until later that night that she finally opened up her journal. But rather than being at home, she's made herself comfortable in one of the newfeather watch towers, where she had been stashing most of the party supplies prior to the possessions. She opened the journal and made certain to key in a quick filter before recording:]

[Video - filtered away from Primrose Everdeen]

I wasn't exactly myself when I cancelled Prim's birthday last week. But I want to make it up to her. She deserves this party. More than anyone I know. She's fourteen now and... [She had to pause for a moment, force a smile on her face and block all memories of her sister burning to death from her mind.] She's never had a real party before.

So, this Saturday. At House 43. 5 P.M. You don't have to bring any kind of gift. It's not necessary. It's enough to have people there. To have the sort of celebration she never had back in District 12. If you know me, or you know Prim, I'd like you to come.

[She realized that she was taking a big risk saying that. And it did make her uncomfortable, the thought of so many people in her living space. But a party was supposed to have people in it, isn't it? A lot of people. And the more there, the more that want to celebrate the life Prim should have had, the better. Prim deserved the world.]

Rapunzel? Would you still be willing to make that cake? Teddy, will you still help with music? [Katniss paused, tilting her head thoughtfully and biting her lip. Was there anything else that she was missing? What else was necessary for planning a party? She already felt as if she owed so many people so much. She hated accumulating more debt. But for Prim, it was worth it/] And Aang, would you mind helping to decor-

I need someone to distract Prim that day, too.

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Does she like knives?

[Because that's pretty much his standard birthday present. A knife.]

[She had been meaning to talk to him. Even walked by the blacksmith shop earlier today, both in search of a knife and the boy. That he suggested such a gift caused her to smile, even as she remembered a conversation in the journal that had been pointed out to her during the previous event.

She had paid it no mind then, once reassured that Prim hadn't found out about her death. But earlier in the day, she had flipped back to the plotting and saw who the death penalty had been about. Sokka. And while it had made her wonder, made her concerned, she didn't know how to bring it up.

Especially over the journal. Ultimately, it was his business, not hers. Even if it had made her very curious.]

Not really. But I want her to have one anyway. [She pauses for a moment, frowning as she thinks back to that death penalty discussion.] Are you busy right now?

Busy? Well, I'm at the smithy. I don't know if I'd say busy. I wouldn't be trying to find a job if I was.

[If anything, all there is to do is just tidy up and get reacquainted with a smithy he hadn't touched in a week due to his affiliation with Sona.]

[It figured that he was there now while she was out in the middle of the woods. She could, she supposed, make the trek back into town sooner than she had planned. But the smithy wasn't exactly private. Neither was this damned journal.

She nodded.]

Think you'd be ready for a break soon? [She smiled, a somewhat decent attempt at looking suggestive.] I'm in our usual place.

It just so happens, I was just thinking of a break. Like right now.

I'll be there soon.

[Well. Not soon. That's something of a hike, especially without wings. But he'll get there.]

[He had been a lot easier to convince than she had expected. It made her smile, an unexpected delight and confidence building up within her. She laughed a little and nodded.]

I'll be here.

[And in the meantime, she could finish figuring out Prim's birthday. All the tiny details. They day couldn't be anything less than perfect.]

He grabbed a few things, including some of his knives he had made before, and headed out. About a half hour later, he had arrived at the New Feather station the two had made their own for their secret getaways, their place to divide up the spoils of the hunt, and of course for their romantic tryst. Sokka seemed to be in good spirits as he made his way inside.

"Knock knock."

She had been replying to other responses on the journal when she heard someone make their way up the tower. It was instinct that caused her to tense, reaching for the nearby knife she had lying with the rest of her hunting supplies.

But as soon as she heard his voice, she relaxed. Fingers loosened around the knife. It might have been silly, but she couldn't help but reply with, "Who's there?"

Oh, Sokka knew this joke routine. It involved puns and while it wasn't his favorite, he did like the fact it required some participation.

"Sokka."

He answered, not yet formulating a joke to go with his own name.

The response caught her off guard. It hadn't been a joke she really experienced until she had arrived here. But it had seemed simple enough. The answer to "who's there" was supposed to be something witty.

Not his name.

Her brow wrinkled and she shook her head. "Did I do that wrong?"

He paused and tilted his head with an awkward expression.

"... I think I did. I didn't come with a pun prepared." He realized he had something and quickly followed with: "So much for coming punprepared, eh?"

It took a moment for her to catch the pun. When she realized the joke, she grinned despite herself. She had always been better at the practical sort of joke than anything that required wit.

A second or two later, she stood and walked over. "I might have to refrain from giving you that kiss then. For coming unprepared and the bad pun."

Puns always got a smile, followed by some berating. It was a tough life, but Sokka lived with it.

"Hey, it was spur of the moment. I think I deserve a little credit."

She chuckled and pursed her lips, pretending to think on it for a moment. Maybe a little credit.

If at the very least, keep the mood light before she figured out how to bring up the journal discussion. And allow herself the kiss she wanted, too.

"I guess," she murmured before wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning in for that kiss.

He was all too happy to return a kiss. Really, they had lost time to make up for. Their stint with large wings had put something of a dampener on their romantic pursuits.

"Much better." He pulled away. "So, did you call me out for party decorations? Because this is kind of a remote place to hold a party."

Also small. And awkward, given what he and Katniss got up to in this small tower.

Even if that stint had only lasted for a week or so, it had seemed like forever since she had last done this with him. And she had, in the past few months, grown to really enjoy the kisses. And more.

When he pulled away to mention the party decorations, she gave him a sheepish smile. "I'm just storing them here. Aang's going to help me bring them to the house on Saturday."

Whether the boy knew it or not.

"Lucky him." The mention of Aang managed to surprise him, though. Sure, it was a small town, but he hadn't had any experience of Katniss interacting with his own housemates. It was concerning.

"I didn't know you two were friends."

She had, for some reason or another, always just thought Sokka knew that Aang had befriended her. She never attempted to hide either friendship from the other. And Aang knew, didn't he, that she was friends with Sokka?

"Yeah." Katniss responded with a shrug, still looking thoughtful. And not really seeing what the big deal was. "We met months ago. In the restaurant, I think."

"Huh." Sokka mulled on that a bit. For now, it wasn't important. Just something to keep in mind.

"So, if it's not for party stuff, I'm assuming I'm here for other things, right?"

He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Other things. That could mean a lot, couldn't it? Sex and talk and anything not related to Prim and her party. A break from a day's worth of planning that she sorely needed. She wanted to skip straight to the other things his eyebrow waggle implied.

"Mm-hmm."

But, she found as she went to steal another kiss, she couldn't get her mind off of other things. That he had died. It kind of made kissing him harder than she had anticipated.

Well, booty call it was. Sokka could live with that.

"That's a yes, then."

He eagerly returned her kiss, already moving his hands to start undressing her. After so long doing nothing together, he was more than eager to make good on the invitation.

She already found herself responding to his touch, leaning in to his hands and wanting more. But her mind was still elsewhere. Not on the potential of sex, of making her body feel so very good. Forgetting for a while that she was alone here when it came to having a romantic partner.

But for all she wanted this, Sokka was her friend. Someone she cared for. And, surprisingly, wanted to protect.

She broke away from the kiss suddenly and placed her hands on top of his. It took a few deep breaths for her to slow her racing heartbeat, to resist the urge to kiss him again.

"You died. It's in the journal. Someone announced that you died three months ago," she said quietly before pausing. And shrugging a little awkwardly. It wasn't her business. But she would have wanted someone to tell her if her personal life was shared without permission. "I thought you should know. In case you didn't already."

Edited 2013-06-07 03:48 (UTC)

When she stopped, he wanted to ask her what's wrong. Before he could, he already had his answer. It was one he didn't want to hear. It was soothed by the lack of accusation or confrontation. After getting chided by Winry, Sheena, Edward, Suki, and others, he was having his fill of people berating him. It was a comfort that this wasn't another incident like that.

"I know. Shikamaru is an ass." Sokka pulled away with a frustrated huff. "I don't know how he found out. I didn't want anyone to know."

She readjusted her clothing when he pulled away, not quite re-buttoning the shirt all the way but enough so that she'd be decent. For a moment, she took a step forward to comfort him. And then she hesitated, frozen in the spot. Prim had been the only person she was ever even remotely good at comforting. And even then, she doubted that she was all that effective at times.

Wrapping her arms around her body, she nodded. Though she had been open about her death - to a degree - it was mostly to help cover the truth. That she had used Clove to commit suicide. It was better everyone thought that she had been killed by a pack of wild dogs instead.

"Do you want to talk about it at all?"

In truth, Sokka felt nothing about his own death. No sadness, no fear. It happened and he reasonably knew it had bad, but managed to work out well for him in the end. Still, he saw that she was concerned, so he put an arm around her, instead guiding them to sit on the bed.

"It was a mission. We were on one of the space ships, like back on the Moon Base draft? There wasn't an attack, but. There was a malfunction."

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