[Oh, good. He settles in next to her and then his arms find her and it's more than she was expecting, especially given the distance he's been keeping between them since she showed up. She takes full advantage, nestling in close just for the feel of a body against hers.
And then she listens, her fingers idly tracing through his free hand. It's more details that sound so foreign to her, so teetering on the edge of unbelievable, but this time, there's a running theme that she can relate to. She's never really had someone like who he's describing, but she's had her fair share of complicated relationships. It's a human thing more than a who-comes-from-where thing, and there's grounding in that.]
She sounds like a friend. Maybe not a capital-F Friend, but you don't go through all that with a person and not stick a special note in their file.
[As off-base as the comparison is, she's reminded of Stewart. She wouldn't call Stewart her friend, not by a long shot, but she did start a scrap with Tanis and her boys over him. She'd do it again. She'd put money that Haymitch would do the same for this woman.]
[Beautiful and soft and idiotic and nattering, clever about all the wrong things, surviving despite the odds, as grimly and determinedly as any tribute she'd sent to the chopping block.]
She gave me this.
[He lifts his hand, flexing his wrist to show the bracelet.]
[She smiles to herself as he reveals the bracelet. Oh, they're totally friends, if not more from the way he's digging his heels in at the label despite talking about her so fondly. Good for him. She's glad he's got someone waiting for him back home.]
Sounds to me like she's chipping in like she knows how. And she's got good taste.
[Both in him and in the bracelet. She runs her fingers along the gold. It's nice, getting a glimpse of where he's from—
Wait. Her eyebrows knit together.]
I thought you came here with a knife.
[Aren't they only supposed to get one thing from home?]
Yeah. Came at the start of the week anyway, dunno what that's about.
[So what the fuck is that about, he just doesn't know. But he's grateful for it, honestly, and he lets her touch, examining it. It's real gold, knowing Effie.]
[Hey, she's sitting up now. She's not suspicious of him, of course, but this warrants further thought. Why is Haymitch getting freebies from home when she literally had to suck a dick for a lighter?]
[OH my god, oh my god? It's not that stupid a thing to think, all things considered, but also, she wasn't done riding the high of him catching Monika. She'd just assumed he would think of these things before her, or at least at the same time.]
I got a token for fucking you. Used it to buy a lighter.
[Priorities. But, also, her point is: Imbalance!]
You get something personal from home, and I get the Chuck E. Cheese economy? Something's up. That, or the pay-off for sucking cock is wildly skewed.
[Not that there's much she'd want from home, but still.]
[She's quiet for a moment, but then she untangles herself from his arms and sits up to face him.]
I'll be careful, and so will you, and likewise, we'll keep each other informed as to what we're getting up to. And most importantly: If anything happens to either of us, it's not the other's fault. Those are the new terms of our alliance. Got it?
[It's not a negotiation.]
I mean it, Haymitch. No matter what happens, I'm not forty-seven.
[She gives him a nod. It's settled. Trying is good enough for now.]
My brother would like you. That's saying something.
[She's maybe the first man he's slept with that Wayne might actually get along with. She's not sure what that says about this bizarre situation she's found herself in.]
[He hadn't even known she'd had a brother. He doesn't know a lot about her, he realizes, and that seems grossly unfair right now. His hand drifts up, slipping beneath her shirt-- not for a grope, but just to brush his fingers against bare skin.]
My big brother is the best man you'll ever meet, is what he's like. He's the toughest guy in Letterkenny, and he pert near runs the town, though he'd never admit to that sort of self-importance.
[Her smile drops for just a second as she licks her lips. She's been trying not to think about Wayne much. He's likely broken more than a few bones trying to track her down.]
Some worm pickers were giving us trouble some years back. Kept coming through the farm at night, trampling on the beans, causing a fuss. He dug a crop of holes, six foot deep, and dropped a skunk in each one. Didn't have any trouble with worm pickers after that.
[...]
That's what we get up to back home. We've got a farm... Though I'd gone off to try modeling in the city before ending up here.
I do. It's boring as shit, though. A monkey could do it. Plus, I'm like to miss sledding season at this rate.
[Again, priorities, but there's not much money in it either, truth be told. She whumps a fist against his chest at the tease.]
I do my share. I'm no slouch.
[But it's not as if she wants to work on the farm forever, hence the attempt at modeling. It was worth a shot, even if it isn't bound to stick.]
Geese, huh? Couldn't've picked a finer animal to raise, if you want my opinion. You know, the mutants down at the golf club wanted to oil up the Canadian goose eggs so they wouldn't hatch and shit all over the course. We rose such a fuss we got 'em to scrap that stupid fucking plan, though.
[skips ahead in her timeline a little but if they can't bond over their mutual love of geese then what's the fucking point]
Course they did. Can't have their pretty courses all dirtied up, right?
[Turns out the golf club and Capitolites have a few things in common.]
They're pretty okay, though.
[It's nice to have something to care for, truthfully, and they're a hell of a lot better than a guard dog when it comes to telling him if anyone's nearby.]
So what animals do you keep, Miss Katy? Cuz, see-- right now I know about three things about, which isn't nearly even enough, given how much you know about me.
Chickens and cows, mostly. Barn cats if you count 'em. Wayne's got a pit mix named Gus and I've got a German shepherd called Stormy. We breed her when we're able, but she's got a nasty habit of trying to kill her studs.
[She shrugs as if that's just one of those problems everyone understands.]
But all that's nothing to get too excited over. Not much goes on in Letterkenny. I've got my brother, we've got our friends, and that's that.
[She's boring, all things considered. She's lucky in that respect.]
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And then she listens, her fingers idly tracing through his free hand. It's more details that sound so foreign to her, so teetering on the edge of unbelievable, but this time, there's a running theme that she can relate to. She's never really had someone like who he's describing, but she's had her fair share of complicated relationships. It's a human thing more than a who-comes-from-where thing, and there's grounding in that.]
She sounds like a friend. Maybe not a capital-F Friend, but you don't go through all that with a person and not stick a special note in their file.
[As off-base as the comparison is, she's reminded of Stewart. She wouldn't call Stewart her friend, not by a long shot, but she did start a scrap with Tanis and her boys over him. She'd do it again. She'd put money that Haymitch would do the same for this woman.]
What's her name?
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[Beautiful and soft and idiotic and nattering, clever about all the wrong things, surviving despite the odds, as grimly and determinedly as any tribute she'd sent to the chopping block.]
She gave me this.
[He lifts his hand, flexing his wrist to show the bracelet.]
Me, and our two tributes. Said it made us a team.
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Sounds to me like she's chipping in like she knows how. And she's got good taste.
[Both in him and in the bracelet. She runs her fingers along the gold. It's nice, getting a glimpse of where he's from—
Wait. Her eyebrows knit together.]
I thought you came here with a knife.
[Aren't they only supposed to get one thing from home?]
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[So what the fuck is that about, he just doesn't know. But he's grateful for it, honestly, and he lets her touch, examining it. It's real gold, knowing Effie.]
Pretty nice, though.
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And you don't find that suspicious?
[Hey, she's sitting up now. She's not suspicious of him, of course, but this warrants further thought. Why is Haymitch getting freebies from home when she literally had to suck a dick for a lighter?]
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[he stares up at her. Honestly, he hadn't given it much of a thought beyond mild surprise, but now that she brings it up . . .]
What, you think it's not?
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[OH my god, oh my god? It's not that stupid a thing to think, all things considered, but also, she wasn't done riding the high of him catching Monika. She'd just assumed he would think of these things before her, or at least at the same time.]
I got a token for fucking you. Used it to buy a lighter.
[Priorities. But, also, her point is: Imbalance!]
You get something personal from home, and I get the Chuck E. Cheese economy? Something's up. That, or the pay-off for sucking cock is wildly skewed.
[Not that there's much she'd want from home, but still.]
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[Said vaguely.]
I got a token too. Still haven't spent it. This was just . . . extra, I guess.
[Now he's worried. But it's the same gold bangle he remembers, the intricate vine pattern, the metal digging into his skin.]
Listen, worry less about this shit and more about the other people. It's all just gimmicks.
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It can't be just gimmicks. This whole place functions on rules. Maybe what it means isn't that important, but it still means something.
[But, in any case, she's willing to let it go for the night. She settles back in next to him, tugging at his arm to return it to where it was before.]
Nathan might know. He can talk to the people that were here before us.
[...]
You have to send nudes to get him to talk to you, though. It's a shit system. I punched him for it.
[Not that he designed the system, but.]
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Of course you did.
[And speaking of punching--]
Where the hell did that kick come from?
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What do you mean?
[But then she shrugs.]
It's not like you could slug her. I was lookin' out.
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[A few seconds pass, and he makes an odd sort of expression before finally settling on:]
Thanks.
And nice shot.
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Where I come from, you always back up your pals. No questions asked.
[...]
If I'm honest, I'm disappointed she didn't retaliate. It's not often I get a chance at a good scrap.
[Maybe don't immediately drop people with box shots and you'd get the fight you're looking for, Katy???]
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[It's mocking, but it brings to mind an uneasy truth: sooner or later, somebody's gonna go after Katy. Or him. Or both.]
Listen. You stick close, all right? Do what you want, but tell me before you go off somewhere.
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I'm not talking about the life or death shit. I'm talking about a good, clean fight. It's different.
[And then she sighs. She wants to go back to talking about how impressed he was.]
The only night that matters is Thursday, and if anything's gonna happen to me over curfew, you won't be able to do much about it.
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I'll be careful, and so will you, and likewise, we'll keep each other informed as to what we're getting up to. And most importantly: If anything happens to either of us, it's not the other's fault. Those are the new terms of our alliance. Got it?
[It's not a negotiation.]
I mean it, Haymitch. No matter what happens, I'm not forty-seven.
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You ask for a lot, Katy. More than you realize.
But I can try.
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My brother would like you. That's saying something.
[She's maybe the first man he's slept with that Wayne might actually get along with. She's not sure what that says about this bizarre situation she's found herself in.]
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[He hadn't even known she'd had a brother. He doesn't know a lot about her, he realizes, and that seems grossly unfair right now. His hand drifts up, slipping beneath her shirt-- not for a grope, but just to brush his fingers against bare skin.]
What's he like?
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My big brother is the best man you'll ever meet, is what he's like. He's the toughest guy in Letterkenny, and he pert near runs the town, though he'd never admit to that sort of self-importance.
[Her smile drops for just a second as she licks her lips. She's been trying not to think about Wayne much. He's likely broken more than a few bones trying to track her down.]
Some worm pickers were giving us trouble some years back. Kept coming through the farm at night, trampling on the beans, causing a fuss. He dug a crop of holes, six foot deep, and dropped a skunk in each one. Didn't have any trouble with worm pickers after that.
[...]
That's what we get up to back home. We've got a farm... Though I'd gone off to try modeling in the city before ending up here.
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[He says it as he strokes a thumb against the curve of her stomach.]
I keep geese. Not a farm-- I told you, we were a mining family-- but I at least know what it is to go around an do chores.
Unless you left all that to your brother.
[He's teasing.]
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[Again, priorities, but there's not much money in it either, truth be told. She whumps a fist against his chest at the tease.]
I do my share. I'm no slouch.
[But it's not as if she wants to work on the farm forever, hence the attempt at modeling. It was worth a shot, even if it isn't bound to stick.]
Geese, huh? Couldn't've picked a finer animal to raise, if you want my opinion. You know, the mutants down at the golf club wanted to oil up the Canadian goose eggs so they wouldn't hatch and shit all over the course. We rose such a fuss we got 'em to scrap that stupid fucking plan, though.
[skips ahead in her timeline a little but if they can't bond over their mutual love of geese then what's the fucking point]
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[Turns out the golf club and Capitolites have a few things in common.]
They're pretty okay, though.
[It's nice to have something to care for, truthfully, and they're a hell of a lot better than a guard dog when it comes to telling him if anyone's nearby.]
So what animals do you keep, Miss Katy? Cuz, see-- right now I know about three things about, which isn't nearly even enough, given how much you know about me.
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Chickens and cows, mostly. Barn cats if you count 'em. Wayne's got a pit mix named Gus and I've got a German shepherd called Stormy. We breed her when we're able, but she's got a nasty habit of trying to kill her studs.
[She shrugs as if that's just one of those problems everyone understands.]
But all that's nothing to get too excited over. Not much goes on in Letterkenny. I've got my brother, we've got our friends, and that's that.
[She's boring, all things considered. She's lucky in that respect.]
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