Katniss's voice is low, tentative, and Gale lifts his head from where he'd had it bowed to his chest. From the sound of her voice, she's somewhere across the room, most likely lingering in the doorway. He doesn't have to ask what she's talking about, considering his dirtied shirt is in his hands and his back is faced toward the door.
"Sometimes."
It's the easiest answer Gale can give, without considering his body's particularities or the countless other aches and pains he's collected over the years. Thread's whip had carved deeply enough into his skin that the nerves never truly recovered, and now his back is a mess of jumbled wires and misfiring signals, fluctuating between oversensitivity to every touch or being entirely numb. He doesn't know if any answer could satisfy Katniss's curiosity, but he tries again anyway. "It depends. They tend to ache in the winter, so I can always tell when it's about to snow."
Gale's attempt at a joke goes unacknowledged, Katniss remaining silent even as he picks up the brush of her feet against the carpet. She's always moved so quietly, but he has years of experience in listening for her, to the point that he's fairly sure he could wake up from the sound of her footsteps in a dead sleep.
He can feel her getting closer, yet there's not any warning before her icy fingers smooth over his back, a hiss escaping his mouth in startled surprise. "Hey! Your hands are freezing!"
"Don't be so dramatic," Katniss murmurs, ignoring his complaint in favor of continuing to trace the latticework of scars. Any further protest dies on Gale's lips when he feels hers meet the curve of his spine, her breath ghosting over the mass of scar tissue. Her voice is so soft when she speaks again that he has to hold his breath to hear her, the only other sound the thump of his heart. "Sometimes I still think about what would have happened, if I hadn't told you I wanted to run away that day."
There's a muffled thump of his shirt hitting the ground, then his body shifts under her touch as he turns around to face her. Large hands come up to hold her shoulders before Gale bends down to meet Katniss's eye, his expression unexpectedly stern.
"Don't do that."
"Don't do what?"
"That," Gale insists, exasperated. "Blaming yourself for everything. Especially when I don't blame you for any of it, and it's long since been done and over with. I'm still here, ain't I?"
Katniss doesn't answer, but her silence is enough of a reply; her eyes flick up in surprise as Gale gives a heavy sigh before leaning in closer to her, collecting her in his arms. Soon they're near enough that he can feel each of her breaths fanning out across his face, their noses bumping into each other.
Much to her annoyance, though, he doesn't continue down but instead shifts to the side, away from her mouth and instead to her cheekbone. Her eyes flutter closed at the feeling of his lips on the curve of her cheek, right where a faint white line rests.
"I'm still here," he murmurs, his lips brushing against her skin as he speaks. "And you're here with me. Far as I'm concerned, that's all that matters. We've already got enough regrets between us as it is, Catnip."
He doesn't jump this time when Katniss's hands find their way back to his spine, though it's a near thing, making him grumble in annoyance. It's hard to stay annoyed, though, when he can feel her face move beneath his lips as she grins. Letting out a sigh, Gale admits defeat, moving to rest his head atop her own as she starts to trace patterns over the ridges of his scarred back. He can always find another shirt later.
Why do Gale/Everthorne antis leave resentful and illogical comments on my post? So sweet of you to type two full screens just to prove shipping Everthorne is some unforgivable.
I fully understand ppl can have different or even opposite opinions about ships in this fandom, but I’m honestly astonished that someone feels the need to defend others just to prove their fantastic taste in shipping.
All I have for you is pity, because you seem so fragile that you have to seek external validation by attacking other ppl's opinions and provoking them just to feel validated.
You Peeta/Everlark stans are so crazy. Are you freaking out? That’s why I hate Peeta, because of you stupid ppl.
So l've seen people associate Hawks with Gale and I can see why due to his surname and how strong he can be. And while bird symbolism is an integral part of THG's characterizations, it is my belief that if any bird were to represent Gale it would be Nightingales. Not just from the name, but their meaning.
Nightingales symbolize the night and mourning, this is in contrast to what I think Peeta's is, being the Lark which symbolizes daybreak and hope. Both are used for romantic imagery, most notably in Romeo and Juliet as these birds were used to signify dusk and dawn in scene changes since it takes place in just 5 days, and in one scene Juliet mistakes a Lark for a Nightingale, telling Romeo they still have time together, but Romeo corrects her saying he has to leave her bedroom because it's no longer night and if he doesn't he will surely die, (this is to foreshadow how he will later die on purpose because he thinks Juliet has died), and Romeo leaving when the Lark (hope, daybreak) comes eludes to how he will only bring mourning to Juliet and himself. (THG is inspired by Romeo and Juliet while TBOSAS is inspired by Hamlet where Snow is Hamlet and Lucy Gray is Ophelia.)
If you feel Romeo and Juliet is a warning story about hormonal teenagers you are correct. But there is love, it's just the two lovers are very much doomed from the start and their story is mainly about not having enough time. Which rings very true for Everthorne if you ask me.
Another thing, Nightingales are not found in America, unlike the Lark, and birds that appear in stories that are non regional are often used to signify entering a new era of one's life, and I lowkey feel this mirrors how Gale is the love interest who comes into Katniss's life not from the Seam itself or at school, but appearing out of nowhere (his talent despite his size) in the woods, outside the borders of 12.
Side note, Mockingbirds are in fact native to North America and are compared to Nightingales as both sing at night. (Male Nightingales only sing at night hence the name.) Mockingbirds symbolize innocence and purity, killing one is regarded as a loss of innocence such as in To Kill A Mockingbird. I believe this, along with Steller Jay's, is what Mockingjays and by extension Katniss is all about. I think Jabberjays are based on Steller Jays which are from Western North America (The Capitol is in the Rockies) and symbolize adaptability and fearlessness and resilience. I think Katniss comes to really represent a balance of these two natures in THG.
Anyway, Nightingales are birds of longing, sometimes symbolizing unrequited love. But they are not just about sadness, but also transformation, specifically transforming sorrow into beauty. Creating good from a bad situation. Sparking inspiration even in darkness. Representing the desire for creation/artistic expression or to speak the truth, transforming pain into love.
Speaking of which, there is a poetic term for Nightingale, Philomela, masculine version being Philomel, based on the Greek myth where the character Philomela is transformed into a Nightingale. The name translates to "lover of melody/song." Philomela's life was tragic, having lost her tongue as a human, but as a bird was still able to sing. Her voice as a Nightingale symbolizes both loss, but of course, transforming that into beauty and resilience. I see a bit of Katniss's Dad in this honestly. And how I imagine how Asterid felt falling for him from his singing. If Gale is the Nightingale, Burdock is the Philomel, one longing, one singing, both defined by not enough time with the Mockingbird they love.
So yeah, if you're wondering which love interest is associated with Katniss's dad it was Gale all along.:) Thank you for reading.
Hearts: How did they realize this is actually love?
I think some of this is in the canon material, but I'm going to put my spin on it. It's pretty well established that Gale realized he was in love first. Lots of people talk about him maybe getting extra defensive when Darius or someone at the Hob gets a bit too flirty with Katniss, but I think he'd explain that away at first as just wanting her to get the respect she deserves (is there anything sexier than a man that thinks that way??). I think the moment he realizes he's in love is when he noticed that a) Katniss only seems to smile when they're in the woods together and b) he'd do anything to make her smile.
Katniss takes longer to realize it. I think by the time Gale is whipped in Catching Fire, she knows she feels more strongly for him than she would for just a friend. I think in those moments when she feels like she doesn't know what she would do without him, she gets scared because she subconsciously is reminded of how close her parents were and how devastated her mother was when her dad died. In my headcanon in which they get back together post-Mockingjay, Katniss realizes she's in love because in her darkest moments, she feels safe with Gale and she doesn't feel the pressure to seem "okay." Gale knows her inside and out and accepts her, flaws and all. He doesn't try to hide things from her, including his feelings, but he doesn't push her to perform. And once she finally starts feeling more like herself, she realizes Gale is part of herself.
Cake: How do they celebrate birthdays?
I think they are relatively low-key about birthdays but do always go out of their way to make something a little bit special. In the early, friendship days, that might be a nice strawberry one of them found or a visit to the lake for a change of pace. As they get more serious and romantic, gifts stay practical but get a bit bigger: a new piece of clothing, some new hunting supply, etc. But I think they are both more "acts of service" folks, so the bigger element is planning and doing things together, like planning a weekend at the cabin or packing up the kids to have a sleepover with Hazelle.
I think they relish their private celebrations in the woods, but I also think they like to celebrate with family and friends. They save homemade cards from Gale's siblings, indulge in favorite foods made by Hazelle and Greasy Sae, and even laugh at some of Haymitch's terrible jokes.
Door: Who's more likely to say "We're not leaving this room today"?
Oh, absolutely Gale. He's the more brazen one of the pair for sure, and he loves a good plan. I think he's also a little more likely to throw caution/society/expectations to the wind. Katniss puts up a token argument but deep down...she's looking forward to it just as much.
Can you think of a realistic post-Mockingjay pre-Epilogue scenario (outside of Katharsis, I guess, lol) where Katniss and Gale reunite? I hate their ending so much, and I hate how their people in the fandom blame Gale for Prim's death. Even Katniss doesn't! She just says she can't separate that moment from him - which, honestly, is a pretty fair trauma response, imo. And I think Gale would take a long time to forgive himself for it, sadly. But I like to believe they get to become friends again. I can't imagine Katniss ever visiting Two just for Reasons, but I also can't imagine Gale NEVER coming back to Twelve at all?
I know I'm preaching to the choir when I say this to you, but I fully think they'd definitely become close again at some point, years later. A big misconception from a lot of Gale antis is, they like to act as if their friendship was already crumbling and in decline. Which idk, I never got that vibe? I mean it was, maybe, but it wasn't because Gale was some manipulative incel who kept kissing her and declaring his love for her when she wasn't interested, as much people claim (but that's a rant for another time). Their friendship was declining just cuz they didnt get to hang out and BE FRIENDS - like their love for each other (yes i said love!) wasn't declining but the actual dynamic of "let's hang out and be silly and flirt" like they did in the first book and much of Catching Fire wasn't going on cuz you know they were kinda in the middle of a war after their home was destroyed and after Katniss went into the Games a second time? Yeah, I wouldn't exactly want to kick back and relax with my best friend in that scenario either lol I'd want us to train together to take down the brutalist regime. (That's not to say they don't have their sweet moments in Mockingjay, of course - it's just that it's a bit more heavy than the previous two.) They went through SO MUCH together and had so many both serious AND sweet moments throughout the whole series. I can't imagine either of them just abandoning the other like that forever. Wouldn't happen. But I don't know what an actual reunion would look like - maybe Katniss would gradually start hanging out with the rest of the Hawthornes again? And then realize how much she misses him? idk.
Wow sorry for turning your INbox into a SOAPbox. Shoulda made my own text post probably ha. But yeah tl;dr do you think it's realistic for Katniss and Gale to reunite? Because I think that's the only thing that could actually give them both a bit of peace about the calamity.
Ahoy! What an ask. My inbox can be your soapbox any day.
I love the sentence in your TL;DR, that it's "the only thing that could actually give them both a bit of peace." Idk what epilogue some people read, but Katniss does not sound peaceful or happy or hopeful to me there at all. She sounds sad and scared, and it just adds to the tragedy. Despite the atrocious conclusion where she says Gale's fire was full of hatred and rage (self-hatred and shame for her own fire), I think working past that and finding peace in regaining their friendship would benefit her a lot and contribute to any healing she has managed. Prim's death was probably the biggest trauma she endured in the series. Even going through the Games twice, losing her District, and the earlier events of the war, she survived mentally because she had Prim. Until she didn't. So, I agree that them spending some time apart made sense, with her not being able to separate him from it and him not feeling like he deserves forgiveness for his proximity to the event. Time apart can do wonders for a relationship because it lets people heal independently without basing their healing on the other. Without working through that, I don't get how she could be happy.
In Katharsis, I bring them back together as friends only a year later, but I think it would still make sense if it happened a little longer after the war. I have Gale visit his family in Twelve annually during the Harvest Festival. (Where was he the first year, around Ch. 1? Too busy to travel yet, couldn't afford it, not ready to see her or the ruins, some other reason idk.) This holiday trip home makes sense for him, especially if you look at how people who move away from their families often operate in our time. I agree that a post-canon pre-epilogue scenario where he never comes back to Twelve would be very unrealistic. One problem for them (if we're talking romantic connection) in Katharsis is that Katniss has already involved herself with Peeta, and Gale's kissing that other pair of lips in Two. After that, she does start spending more time with the Hawthornes, and they become the support system she could have had since the beginning if she hadn't been so conflicted about Gale. In Katharsis, they reunite at the Freedom Day celebration, but I would also be interested to see one where they have that conversation in Twelve when he is there for his family or where she reconnects with the other Hawthornes before him and then starts missing him, as you suggest. That sounds really sweet. I actually think it was a little weird of her to not mention them in the epilogue, considering they were like family to her.
To your long paragraph's first point about the critiques of him and their friendship in Mockingjay not making sense, I fully agree. There was a post around here recently that discussed how Katniss's network expands while his stays the same or narrows. She has more going on and more people demanding her time, also more people to lean on. He is also busier in the mines throughout Catching Fire. It makes perfect sense for him to feel isolated and for his mental health to take a hit. I don't think the haters understand how isolating that time was for him. He didn't just watch his crush pretend to be in love with someone else, he felt like he was losing his best friend. His mining work would have put a strain on their friendship regardless, as it took up long hours 6 days a week. His schedule means he also has less time with his family, and Katniss recognizes that in how he chooses to spend his one free day with her. They also do not have the time or the context in which to "be silly and flirt," as you say, because the nation is going crazy around them. There is talk of revolution, and the moment in the shack is a hard point for them. I don't think he's wrong when he accuses Katniss of becoming too close to the Capitol. He could've been nicer about it, but it's hard to watch his best friend choose running when the tides are turning toward staying and fighting being the better option for the revolution.
Some of those critiques of him, calling him a "manipulative incel" or even "misogynist" don't make sense to me at all. Let's first note that he'd never be an incel, since it's already been established that the girls of Twelve want him. He also never says anything remotely sexist in the series. Where tf is this idea coming from? When he kisses her outside the fence, yes, it was a surprise. He could have asked. But she didn't dislike it, and it's not like it was particularly forceful. People harp on the use of the word "entrap" to describe his hands, but it doesn't sound negative in the text. It sounds alluring, tbh. She also, I think, goes back for more? There are other kisses further out in the woods, just mentioned in passing, right? I'll hate on the movies any day, but the CF movie definitely had more in the woods. When she kisses him in Mockingjay, he behaves like the opposite of an incel. In her old mansion, he has very understandably expressed to his best friend that he feels some kind of way about the time she kissed him on the table (when he was passed out) and that he's sad they couldn't have a relationship. That's just communication. That's a young person--who was present for the bombing, the aftermath of which she is disturbed by--expressing his feelings in a very upfront way to his friend in a very emotionally painful setting. It's hard for both of them, but at that point in their lives, I don't think there is a moment that isn't hard in that way. She also laments that the possibility of anything more than friendship between them was tarnished by the events around the Games. She kisses him, and he rejects it, saying he doesn't trust her motivations. People hate on him for crying there but then turn around and say they like sensitive guys. Nonsensical. Later, whereas incel behavior might include getting someone drunk in order to lower their inhibitions or ability to resist and forcibly kiss them, Gale rejects Katniss's kisses because, if she doesn't understand her motivations, then it is "like kissing someone who's drunk. It doesn't count." He's the opposite of manipulative every step of the way. What book did the haters read?
Another point haters like to bring up is their exchange of bread and cheese before the 74th Reaping, calling it evidence that their friendship is transactional. On the contrary, I see it as Katniss's expression of the balance and equality of their relationship. They don't owe each other. They take care of each other, and none of that is one-sided. She taught him to shoot, he taught her snares, they watch each other's backs, and they carry deer home together. No other relationship in Katniss's life is like that. She is responsible for her family. She owes Peeta for the bread and later for holding off Cato. She owes Haymitch for being her Mentor and favoring her with Sponsor gifts. She owes Cinna for making her the Girl on Fire and sacrificing himself to make her the Mockingjay. She does seem to feel more equal with people like Finnick and Johanna, but she still owes them for protecting her and Peeta in the Quell. Everyone else is either looking to her as a leader, needing her to play a role, or antagonizing her. There is no one that Katniss stands on truly even ground with in her mind aside from Gale. In Mockingjay, after she accepts the position, she says she can tell from Gale's reaction that he wanted her to do it, just like Cinna did, and says he was "holding out on [her]" because he hadn't expressed that before. Prior to that meeting in Command, he only asked her "What are you going to do?" He's the one who asks her what she wants to do while everyone else is trying to tell her what to do or less explicitly influence her choices. In Catching Fire, it seems like Gale is in a similar boat of having some neurosis around debt. He was fully prepared to take care of her family if she died in the Games. And yet, when she returns, and he becomes too busy to hunt as much as they used to, Katniss tries to deliver food and goods to Hazelle when he isn't home. It is painful for him to now owe her and let their relationship tilt in that way.
Holding onto or rekindling such a strong, equal-footed, respectful friendship would have major benefits to Katniss's mental health after they were able to reconnect. It's part of why I believe that their reunion, whatever form or context it comes in, would be primarily initiated by Katniss. In Katharsis, he approaches her at the party, but it's initially casual, and she is the one who starts the harder conversation. If she hadn't, he probably would've just asked how she'd been doing or kept it a bit more distanced, allowing her to make any more emotionally heavy moves on her own. He would not ask for forgiveness in any scenario.
The act of jumping between Gale and the whip was love and defiance intertwined, a lot like lifting the nightlock berries to her lips, but without a moment of hesitation, a moment of calculation. There was only the visceral need to prevent the unthinkable.
Alternative post-whipping scenario - chapter 2 is up!
