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

[Sokka has had a lot to think about since he made the message, but for the most part, he feels good about it. He wasn't going to try and please people anymore than he felt like. He'd keep the ones that were useful and screw the rest. Which is why when Katniss enters, he looks about as content as he could otherwise be. He nods and grins.]

Don't tell me you ran out of arrows already.

[She couldn't help but roll her eyes at him in response. Though she had lost a few during the draft, overall, she had been good about retrieving them. It had been a necessary habit when she lived in District 12. Were she to lose one, the chances of getting another had been slim to none.

But the eye roll quickly led to an amused laugh and grin as she shakes her head.]

I would've brought something to trade if that were the case.

A good point. So what's up?

[other typical archery problems were ones he assumed she could handle on her own. In which case, he assumed she was here for him. Which as far as he was concerned, was entirely okay with him.]

Browsing.

[Because, obviously, she wasn't here to see him. Or, at least, to just see him. Not when memories of their kiss in the restaurant still snuck into her thoughts on occasion - something she would never admit aloud. No matter what, though, he was a friend. And someone she could talk with without fear of judgment.

She turned her back to him, indeed looking through some of the newer made arrows.] I'm not exactly ready to go home yet.

[Not when there's a good chance that Effie would be there waiting.]

I need to put up a sign about loitering. [Which he actually does find to be a nuisance sometimes. But friends are excused from him being picky.]

But fine, avoid going home. It's what I tend to do a lot of.

[She glanced back at him, amusement on her face. It was difficult to tell if he was being serious. He did have a tendency to joke. But at the same time, loitering didn't exactly help make a profit. She might have lived in Luceti for a year now but the idea of receiving services and goods for free still made her uncomfortable.]

Why? [Picking up an arrow to inspect, she walked closer to his work area.] I thought you liked the people you lived with.

Hey, I don't dislike them. But they can be a pain sometimes, you know?

[And they were looking at him with curiosity more and more each day. He didn't like that.]

[It's hard not to laugh a little at that. Because she knows. She knows all too well. Living with Sharpe had involved a few slight adjustments but it had been absolutely nothing like living with Effie. It should be easy. It should be so easy to tell the woman to leave. To find her own apartment, one preferably on the other side of town.

What, really, has Effie Trinket ever done for her that didn't involve the furthering of a career Katniss wanted no part of? She owed her nothing. Absolutely nothing.

And yet, there had been something in Effie's eyes when Katniss had returned from the draft that kept her from saying so. A desperate sort of loneliness she couldn't ignore. Still...]

You're not living with Effie Trinket.

[He raised an eyebrow.]

You invited her to live with you? Why?

[Twirling the arrow between her fingers, she then quickly held her hands up in defense. Her head tilted a little to the right and the look she gave him just challenged Sokka to call her stupid.]

Of course I didn't invite her! She moved in during the draft.

And you didn't unmove her out?

[Because, sure, he can get that part. But it was a little stupid to just live with it.]

[She had been more than ready to. Effie had changed her furniture. Had put makeup in the bathroom with the express purpose of Katniss actually using it. She had even somehow succeeded in placing around Buttercup's neck.

Katniss sighed.] She cleans. And cooks.

[And in the end, she couldn't bring herself to be that mean.]

Well okay then. Sounds justified to me.

[If he didn't have Katara, he'd certainly put up with someone like Effie.]

[It was nicer than Katniss cared to admit. She had been the one primarily responsible for taking care of her family for so long, she had forgotten what it could be like to be taken care of. As much as Richard provided that emotional parental support she had lacked since her father's death, Effie provided something else.

~~And not just julian fries.~~]

I'm not arguing with her. [She paused for a moment and quirked her lips to the side.] Except when she insists that I need to wear makeup more often.

She must want you to look nice for your "boyfriend".

[He made finger quotes to emphasize that, of course, her boyfriend was fake. Though with Effie living with Katniss now, he wondered if there might be more future opportunities to pretend.]

[Her eyebrows raised and there was something akin to a glint of amused mischief in her eyes. Her "boyfriend." Her "boyfriend" who, it turned out, was a really good kisser when not surprising her. Cheeks reddened a little and she quickly took a new interest in the arrow in her hands.

The fletching was really, really well done.

Almost as nice as his lips could be.]

I don't think she liked you very much.

Really? Because I got the impression she loved me.

[He snickers a bit as he recalls that. He didn't even know the woman, but he did get a sense of satisfaction in flustering her.

Of course, he also had other ideas in mind.]

But you know, if you want to keep annoying her with that, I think I have some ideas.

[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.

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