markofthewise | Sokka the 79th

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Sokka the 79th - [Action]

Over two months ago, Sokka died. His penalty was something incredibly intangible. It took from him his empathy, his ability to love, and so many other things. He didn't have a way of describing it, but he was empty. In truth, he wasn't sure he felt anything. There was nothing that truly touched him on the inside.

More than a week ago, Sokka left for a mission. A week and a half with the Depot where they instituted the kind of justice he could appreciate. He certainly felt no remorse when he shot a man for stealing water. When bandits attacked the depot, they rounded up most of them and then strung them up for their trouble. It was a simple morality and for a short while, things actually made sense. Not like the gray morality in Luceti, where people were stupid enough to think that sparing the lives of murderers and thieves meant anything.

And then he got his reward. Cashing in the bulk of mission points he'd accumulated for over a year, he was given what he really coveted the most. Power. And now he had it. As he walked into Luceti, he imagined that he could feel the difference. It was not quite so dramatic as what he had been given by the Rogue Malnosso, but he was content with the knowledge that he'd be keeping what he'd earned. There'd be no scientists taking it away from him this time.

It's mid-day when Sokka returns to town and he's still wearing the cowboy hat he took to the Depot with him. Maybe it doesn't exactly mesh with the Water Tribe clothes he's accustomed to, but he likes it. The hat makes him feel gritty and intimidating. He'll eventually get tired of hat hair, though. Just not today.

So today for his time spent back in Luceti, he heads home to greet whoever might be there. He checks in Foo Foo, the saber toothed moose lion he received from Christmas. It's getting quite big now, having reached the size of medium-sized dog. The tips of his antlers are even starting to become a bit more visible. Although the animal does seem quieter around Sokka, its at least obedient and follows him as he goes about Luceti. For today that includes the Smithy until evening, the Library for an hour, back at House 56 for dinner, and then out in the forest to try and teach Foo Foo to hunt.

The next morning, he makes sure that Okita Souji will meet him for their training session. Sokka is looking forward to seeing the results.

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[She frowned just a little. Though the response was what it should be - the smile, too - it wasn't with Sokka's normal enthusiasm. Hadn't they talked before, swapped stories of what it was like being the elder sibling? She didn't necessarily expect him to remember Prim's name, but...

But he was normally more excited about these sorts of things. Wasn't he? She knew just how important his sister was to him. Of everyone she knew here, he had seemed most likely to understand.

Still, she refused to let anything ruin this. Ruin her week. She could sing again. She had her sister. So what if it made her a bad friend? She couldn't bring herself to care.]

It is. It's... unbelievable. Having her here.

[He wondered if she suspected anything. He'd have to try harder. Or distract her. He'd hate to lose a good thing just because she discovered he actually didn't care much about her situation or problems at all.]

I know. When Katara showed up, that was big for me. I mean, it had only been a few months and she wasn't... well. [Dead.] How's she doing?

[She couldn't help but grimace a little when Sokka trailed off. But there was no good way to say it, was there? Prim had died. She had been lit aflame like a human torch when the parachutes exploded for a second time. And Katniss had been unable to save her. More than that - she had been the reason why Prim had been allowed to go to the Capitol in that first place.

She increased her pace at that, as if walking faster could allow her to escape the memories. But her voice was low, little more than a whisper.]

You'd never know. [She cleared her voice and tried to talk louder.] She's happy. I think she likes it here.

It's a good place to start over. It's not perfect, there's a future here.

[Sure, the odds are against Prim. But some people get a long time here. Sokka, at this point, figures he's going to live out his whole life on this world. And he's alright with that, just as long as he eventually gets under the thumb of the Malnosso.]

[She had slowly been learning that. It has been over a year now for her and she knows that there were others who have been here for much, much longer. It wasn't perfect. There were Gamekeepers to contend with, Gamekeepers who liked to make their presence known through drafts and shifts. But in the past few months, she was starting to see how other people made this work.]

She'll like it when school starts. And there are doctors and healers here she can learn from. It's a chance for her.

[For however long she's here.]

Yeah. That sounds pretty good for her.

[And he hopes that this is enough. He acted happy. Offered some encouraging words. Now maybe they can forget whatshername and get back to Katniss slipping into a dress.]

Yeah.

[The word was echoed softly before she fell silent for the last couple of paces of their walk. The kind of companionable silence she often loved. Katniss never understood why others had to fill the time with senseless chatter. Besides, they weren't that far away now, the benefit of having a home on the northern outskirts of the town.

When they reached the house, she fished out her from her bag and turned the lock.] Effie? Prim? Richard?

[No answer. She turned to smile at Sokka.] Looks like no one's home.

[He's grateful that she doesn't press it, at least. He has to call Foo Foo to follow them here and there as the beast wanders off the path, but otherwise it makes for a peaceful little trek in the woods.

Once they're inside and nobody answers, he shoots her a grin as he realizes there could be implications there.]

Looks like we have it all to ourselves then.

[She glanced briefly around the living room for Buttercup, almost curious to see how the ugly cat would react to Foo Foo's presence. But there was no sign of the cat. Maybe he was upstairs, or outside chasing rats -- the only task he was any good for.]

It's better that way. [Said as she returned the grin before turning the corner to the bathroom, dropping her archery equipment and bag on the couch along her way. If she's going to show him the dress, she might as well go all out. For once, Effie's makeup would come in useful.] Effie probably wouldn't be too happy with Foo Foo.

Edited 2013-05-09 02:39 (UTC)

[Sokka gave a look over at Foo Foo who was cautiously and curiously smelling the furniture for whatever reason. At least he'd be no trouble.]

You make it sound like she's never seen a Saber Toothed Moose Lion before.

Probably not!

[She shouted her response from the bathroom, rummaging messily through Effie's belongings as she looked for cosmetics and brushes similar to the light makeup Cinna had taught her to apply. Messes could be cleaned up later. Much later.

Satisfied with her choices, she walked back into the other room and shrugged.] I wouldn't put it past the Gamemakers to eventually come up with a mutt like him to use in the Hunger Games.

Hey, hey! Don't call him a mutt! You'll hurt his feelings!

[Foo Foo looked unconcerned. In the meantime, Sokka was watching with some curiosity as Katniss gathered makeup. He'd mostly been interested in the dress, but a little makeup wouldn't be bad, right?]

[She rolled her eyes at him as she passed by on the way back to her room. She hadn't exactly been calling Foo Foo a mutt. Mostly just referring to the sort of monsters that the Capitol scientists had been known to create. The lizard mutts that had tried to kill her, the dog-like ones with the eyes of dead children.]

Muttation. We don't have animals like yours in my world, remember? What you have are more like what our scientists would create.

[Besides, Foo Foo seemed utterly uninterested in their discussion. That said, she closed the door behind her. For once, it wasn't so much a matter of modesty. She wanted to surprise Sokka with the way she looked in one of Cinna's dresses.]

I knew that!

[Sort of. He had been joking mostly. But now he waited outside, feeling a bit disappointed he didn't get to watch. So he dug his hands into his pockets and looked over at Foo Foo who watched him with judgmental eyes. Sokka ignored him and stared at the wall instead.]

[She couldn't match the makeup and hair stylings of her prep team. Didn't have Peeta's skill with a brush or the patience necessary to do any kind of work like that. And there was only so long she was willing to test Sokka's patience, too. The door had been closed to build anticipation, not to drive him away.

Some minutes later, her hair is coiled around her head in simple braid that forms a coronet of sorts. Her makeup is simple compared to Effie's - enough to highlight her best features. And when she opens the door to step out of her room in a dress that fits her like a glove, there's a smile on her face. The surface was entirely covered in sparkling precious gems. Mostly a mixture of red and yellow, with some white and blue to accent the tips of the flames she's supposed to be covered in. And each movement gives that effect, the appearance of Katniss once again being a girl on fire.]

Well?

Edited 2013-05-12 03:52 (UTC)

[He had, honestly, got a little bored waiting and partially regretted asking her. But just as he was about to ask her how much longer it was going to be, she suddenly came out. And, well, he was floored. He'd seen her many times and he had, in fact, seen all of her. But he'd never seen her like this. His mouth gaped for a moment before he pulled himself together and replaced it with a grin.

It was like she'd become an entirely different person.]

Wow. You look amazing.

[It was the reaction she had hoped for. Even if a part of her knew that this was the reaction she'd get, there had still been some slight fear that he might find it as garish as anything Effie might wear. But it wasn't. How could it be, when Cinna had created it?

She took a step out of the door frame and closer to Sokka, then another. About halfway there, she stopped to spin around slowly. To let him get the full effect the dress could have. The illusion of fire illuminating her body. She loved this, loved the attention Sokka was paying her. The way she felt in this dress - in any of the costumes Cinna had made. Magnificent, radiant. Anyone but plain Katniss Everdeen of District 12.]

You should have seen what Cinna could do with a piece of silk. It was like magic.

That sounds pretty good. But I'd rather see you in the silk than the guy making it.

[He had been standing back to watch appreciatively as she displayed it, but now that she was standing still, he advanced to plant a quick kiss.]

[She smiled bashfully at that, rather liking the compliment veiled in his words. Unfortunately, this had been the only one of Cinna's dresses to make it here yet. Or perhaps almost thankfully considering that some costumes, like that Mockingjay one, she'd be happy never to see again.

When he kissed her, all thoughts of Cinna fled her mind. Since Prim's arrival a few days prior, she had been doing her best to live in the moment. Not to think of her sister's death or what might happen if she left.

And kissing was a wonderful way to live in the moment. She placed a hand against his chest as she kissed him back, making the quick kiss last a little longer than he might have intended.]

[Well that was nice. There was a certain appeal to kissing her when she looked like this. The Katniss he had been with before was tough and down to earth. Now it was like kissing the lips of a princess. He sure hadn't done that in a while.]

You know, maybe I should dress up sometime myself. I don't have anything like that, but I might have a suit that still fits.

[She preferred the tough and down to earth look. Preferred the simpleness to it, the ease in which it let her move through the forest. Let her track and hunt. But there was something nice about dressing up once in a while. Before meeting Cinna, she had never even considered it a possibility.

But wearing these clothes gave her a confidence her normal wardrobe didn't. A confidence only further enhanced by the reactions of those around her.

She grinned in response to his comment, looking him up and down in a flirtatious manner, picturing a suit in place of his normal tunic.] Maybe you should.

I have to warn you, though. I have no idea how ties work. They are a mystery to me.

[The entire fashion was sort of a mystery to him. There wasn't the sort of universal appeal with the three piece suit like there was with a dress. But he always got positive responses from it, so it had to mean something.

Either way, he was being jovial and he ended up backing away a bit just to sit on the arm of one of her chairs.]

[They had had their prep team. Katniss never had to help Peeta with a tie during their time as Tributes and Victors. Come to think of it, she didn't even know if Peeta knew how to tie one. She didn't. Working in the mine, her father hadn't ever needed one. It never seemed an important skill to learn.

She shrugged and followed him over towards the living room seating, carefully straightening her dress as she sat on the couch near his chair. The precious gems sparked in the light, rippled with their fiery glow. Maybe she should change into her normal clothing. But she wasn't quite ready yet.]

I don't know how, either. I only learned how to apply makeup a couple of years ago. There wasn't any need for this - for any of this - where I grew up.

You're telling me. I mean, I lived in the South Pole. I didn't realize how great it could be to go around sleeveless until I was fifteen.

[But as Sokka took a moment to admire his own exposed biceps, he certainly felt good about that discovery. Because even four years later from Katara accusing him of making muscles at himself in his reflection, he stilled liked to do it. Besides, he actually had muscle to admire now. He tried to resist the urge to pat them.

So he just subtly rubbed his hand over one arm.[

[She couldn't help but notice the way Sokka suddenly seemed to be paying attention to his biceps. It drew her eye to his arms too, and she licked her lips just a little as she remembered just how nice those muscles had been to touch. And how helpful they've been in supporting his weight and, on occasion, her own. Especially on the more experimental days.

Yeah. They were something worth admiring even is his vanity was also amusing.]

You look good sleeveless. [She nodded in the direction of the hand on his arm.] It shows off your biceps.

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