markofthewise | Sokka the 78th

Entry tags:

[action],
[written]

Sokka the 78th - [Action/Written]

[After ditching Ed in the tunnels, Sokka has had some thinking to do. He's lost Suki and now he's lost Edward. His relationship with other people has seemed strained too. When it comes down to it, he doesn't particularly feel bad about this, but he is worried about ending up alone. Being alone is bad. But then, so is the life he had before. Well, if the journals are good for one thing, it's for sorting out dilemmas without giving yourself away. So he heads to the journal, disguises his handwriting, and asks:]

[Written (Disguised)]

If you were changed in a way that made you happier, but pushed other people away, would it be worth staying that way? I mean, it's not worth it to make yourself miserable just for the sake of other people, right? That'd be ridiculous.

[Yeah. Totally ridiculous. That was stupid of him to even ask. He stares at the page, shakes his head, and pushes it away. Later he'll reply to it, but for now, he decides to do work instead of wallowing in pointless contemplation.

For people who might want Sokka in person, he's up to his usual routine.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She chuckled dryly at his response. It had been fun, hadn't it? Not just kissing Sokka, but heckling Effie like that. In some ways, it reminded her of the lazy summer afternoons she and Gale would spend in the meadow, mocking Effie's Capitol accent without much of a second thought. Those had been simpler times. The old Katniss' favorite sort of days.

But it was good, very good, to know that she could still laugh. Still joke around like this. To be that girl she used to be.]

Oh yeah? [She grinned and tilted her head in curiosity.] Like what?

[Sokka flashed a smile, almost convincingly genuine, before ducking down to rustle about some boxes behind the counter. After finding what he was looking for, he stood up and held a crude looking necklace. A leather strand lined with a collection of silver buttons, pressed back to back against one another, beads separating each pair. It was perhaps not high fashion, but it was clear he'd made it himself. He held it out for her.]

You could wear this. And when she asks, you can say it was a token of my affection. My fake affection, of course. But she doesn't have to know that.

[It wasn't what she was expecting. Not even in the slightest. The memories of those afternoons spent in the meadow outside of District 12 had still been on her mind. She had been thinking much more along the lines of further teasing from the sidelines.

But a necklace? One he made himself?

She hesitated for a second longer before accepting it. The necklace certainly wasn't anything like the height of Capitol couture. Effie would never be caught dead in it. Which made it all the better.

But he had made it. She glanced up from her study of the necklace, eyes suddenly growing serious.] So long as it's your fake affection.

I don't want... [She frowned for a moment, suddenly feeling awkward and unsure. But this was Sokka. He was a friend - a very good friend - and deserved as much as the truth as she could give. She waved one hand absently while the other clutched tightly to the beads and buttons.] ...I don't want anything real. Not like what I had with Peeta. I'm not falling in love again. Ever.

[That look in her eye said this was a moment that was serious. Emotional. Stuff that he couldn't even begin to care about.

He shook his hand and leaned forward on the counter.]

Relax, Katniss. After what happened with Suki, I don't want to bother with that stuff either. It doesn't last. Sure, maybe if we end up like the Malnosso, I'll look for a girlfriend so we can watch our babies grow up to be murderous, crazy cultists. But for now? I just didn't have anything else to use those buttons for. It seemed a waste to melt them down.

[She looked down at the pretty silver buttons and beads in her hand and back towards Sokka. The serious expression started to fade, replaced instead with one of relief. She had no intention of having children back in Panem, let alone here. Though she doubted the odds were in her favor, the chance still did exist that she could be sent home. That any child born here would grow to be a cultists.

Those that were stupid enough to marry and have children here gained no sympathy from her. Not even in the slightest. They were idiots for exposing their children to such a fate.

It was reassuring to know she wasn't alone with that opinion.]

Good. In that case... [She leaned over the counter to place a quick kiss on his cheek.] ...you're the best kind of fake boyfriend I could ask for.

[Yup. His touching words of not giving a damn had gone over perfectly. He grinned when she pulled away. If it wasn't for that damn counter, he might have tried to pull her into something more than just a little kiss on the cheek. Oh well.]

I'm proud to have you as my fake girlfriend. And if you ever want to do any faking around, just let me know.

[She smiled in return, pleased with the kind of reaction her kiss got. Maybe if there hadn't been a counter, she might have given him a real kiss. Maybe. Or not. Did kisses - that sort of kisses that created hunger and want - count as part of a fake relationship?

You would think she would be an export on this topic by now. Know every nuance involved. For the most of Panem, the star-crossed lovers of District 12 had been a real relationship. And while the emotions might have been real for Peeta, Katniss had only done what was necessary to stay alive. At least until they arrived here.

But while what she shared with Peeta had started as survival, this subterfuge was for nothing but fun. What were the rules involved then?] Faking around?

It was sort of a pun. You knock, instead faking, it would be...

[He trailed off because you just don't explain the joke. So he shrugged and stood up straighter, backing up a few steps.]

Anyway, I just mean, anything you want me to do, I'm up for it.

[She shook her head, still not getting the joke. Though at this point, she wasn't even certain she wanted to get the joke. She hated feeling stupid and naive and damn it, wasn't that happening just now? Time spent with Sokka was supposed to be fun. Not awkward.

But until they figured out this whole fake relationship, it would be awkward, wouldn't it? Caught up in thoughts, she kept herself busy by putting on the necklace he had made. It also gave her an excuse to duck her head as thoughts of just what she wouldn't mind doing caused her to blush.]

I wouldn't mind, either. [Necklace fastened, she glanced up again.] It's... nice. That feeling of closeness. And you don't have to be in love to have that, right? Being friends is good enough?

If there's one thing I figured out, it's that love is overrated. Me? I'd be happy to just stick with all the physical stuff, forget the rest. But hey, that's just me. And generally speaking, that kind of talk will get a guy slapped. Speaking of:

[He turned his cheek to her, waiting for the inevitable.]

[Recently, she had come to similar conclusions. About the time she had woken up screaming for Peeta again, drowning in the pain of missing him. She hated love. Hated how weak it made her, how it jeopardized her own survival. Peeta and Gale had been right about that after all. In the end, she'd chose the option that would give her the best chances in life.

And here, love wasn't that option.

She finally steps around the counter and places a hand on the cheek. But there's no sharp sting of a slap that follows. Instead, she closes her eyes and leans in to give him a kiss on the lips.

Like was so much better than love.]

[Oh, well then. He does her the favor of returning the kiss and putting his arms around her waist. When there's a moment for their lips to part, he manages to get our a brief whispered response.]

I like the way you hit.

[She took the opportunity to smile at him, resting her other hand on his hip. Her cheeks remained a little flushed from the kiss, from the courage it took her to make such a gesture.

But even with a house full of roommates now, a part of her still felt alone. This was a very good alternative for being alone.]

Figured it was about time I made up for all the times I have actually hit you lately.

[Kissing. It was nice. Not enough, but it was nice. The only problem was the knowledge that it wasn't filling that hole inside of him. But it seemed like it was scraping the edge of it. Maybe he just hadn't got far enough yet.

He smiled back at her.]

You also kicked me under the table. More than once I might add. You should make up for that too.

[She rolled her eyes at that and muffled a laugh as she remembered exactly why she had kicked Sokka under the table. At least, remembered the first instance. All because he had said that making out with her had been the last thing on his mind.

Strange.

And not something she wanted to think too much on. Because if she did that, she might feel guilty. And the whole point of this was to get over Peeta. To stop feeling so horrible inside.]

I think I can do that.

[With another kiss. A quick peck on the lips, followed by a much longer and lingering kiss.]

[Raven comes out of the back room that second and nearly drops the armload of supplies she's carrying.

That is Sokka and some unknown woman. Kissing. Really kissing.

Thankfully it is in her nature not to say much.]

[Sokka was mid-passionate kiss when he happened to open up his eyes and spot Raven walking by.

Well shit, caught in the act. Nothing for it now, though. But he really didn't want to see what would come of this if Raven talked to Winry and Hiccup who were only just a room away. So Sokka leaned into Katniss and whispered in her ear:]

Let's take this somewhere more private.

[She had been caught up in the sensations, caught up in the way it felt to press herself against a boy's body, the way that arms held her close. That hunger - the hunger that had little to do with food and everything to do with another kind of want - had caught her off guards. He might not have been Peeta, there might not have been any kind of love between them, but there was fondness.

When he broke the kiss, her eyes narrowed and she nearly scowled at him, ready to tell him off without second thought. Or resume the kiss, or--]

Oh. [She turned her head quickly, cheeks flaming when she spotted the new arrival in the shop. They weren't alone. Of course they weren't alone. This was a shop.] Oh... yeah. Yeah. That might be a good idea.

[Sokka watched as Raven headed into the back and he had a feeling he knew where this was going. So he latched his hand around Katniss's to lead her away.]

Come on, I know somewhere we won't be bothered. [The New Feather watch stations. It was the quietest place you could go and still have a roof over your head.]

[How many more people were here? She never paid all that much attention to the coming and goings of the employees, preferring mostly to just browse around the shop than ask questions. But she had shared too many kisses under the watchful eye of the Hunger Games audience. Whatever games the Malnosso might have had planned, she was finally starting to doubt that entertainment was key.

She glanced down at their joined hands and then grinned at him, quirking an eyebrow in curiosity.] The tree house is a while away.

Please, I'm not that patient. There's closer places than that.

[He hadn't meant anything by taking her hand, but now that they were hand in hand, well. It was nice. It reminded him of happier times.]

[It reminded her of much the same. His hands weren't as smooth as Peeta's. Not the hands of a baker and artist. It was much more like being around Gale. But whoever it was - Sokka or Peeta or Gale - it was nice to have a hand clasped around hers again. It was nice to feel wanted again. Maybe even desired.

She rolled her eyes at him even as she followed him regardless.] Like?

Well, I'd hold out on it being a surprise, but it's going to be a decent walk and it's really not that much of a surprise. The watch stations are nice and convenient. Kind of like a home away from home... away from home.

[The last bit comes as he recalls, belatedly, that Luceti isn't home.]

[She wrinkles her nose a little at the mention of home. For a while, shortly after Richard move in to the house, she could almost pretend that it was home again. Her home. But with all of Effie's makeup and wigs, with the strange colors and furniture, it doesn't feel so much like that anymore. Not as much as it did.]

I haven't been to the watch stations.

[And it's a better choice, she thinks, than either of their houses. Not when they both have roommates. Roommates that could just as easily disrupt kissing as co-workers in a smithy.]

[Even without his soul, he is tactful not to choose the station where he and Suki had their first time together. But he does look at her with mild surprise.]

Really? I figured you being the hunter, you'd use them all the time. I know I do.

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