<a href='https://wesleynotponcy.dreamwidth.org'>Wesley Wyndam-Pryce

Katniss, for her part, had gotten her bow and her quiver of arrows, which she'd given to Rue to haul along. She wished she'd had her little bow from when she was a child, as her own was much too large for Rue to use herself.

"There's Father!" Rue said excitedly when she spotted Wesley, though she took care to run quietly over to him. It was important when you were hunting. Even if they weren't really hunting yet.

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Awww, Rue was adorable, with her quiet-but-excitable running and quiver of arrows over her shoulder. "Hello," Wesley said, stooping down (noisily!) to greet her. "You certainly look excited."

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"Hunting is very exciting, but it is also important to be very careful," she added, nodding. "And quiet." Not that she was looking pointedly anywhere.

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Well. She had Katniss' sense of perspective, at least.

"All right," he said, straightening up with a hint of a smile on his face. "Well. Show me how to do it, then."

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"Walk on your tiptoes!" she encouraged. "And don't step on sticks."

Sticks were very loud, Rue decided.

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Humoring her, Wesley made an effort to do just that, and modified his posture so he was in fact standing on his tiptoes. The avoiding sticks part was harder, though, as he discovered when one step yielded a particularly loud crunch beneath his feet.

"Bugger."

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"SHHHHHHHH!"

"Rue, it defeats the purpose if you yell 'shh,'" Katniss said mildly.

"...sorry."

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Wesley snickered at Katniss' display of parental authority. "Noted," he said dryly.

Then, lamely -- "But sometimes you can't see the sticks."

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"You need to look," Rue replied. "Mother and I can see them!"

...yes, but Katniss had been doing it for years. And she had been humoring Rue, so far.

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"But what about when the sticks are under the dirt and soil and such?" he persisted. "How can you tell?"

This seemed like a perfectly valid question. Not at all something to be mocked.

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"You have to look careful," Rue explained with a nod.

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"Walk on rocks if possible," Katniss offered, since that was more helpful. "Or soft grass. Or don't listen to her," she added in a whisper. "She's not very good, either."

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Wesley chuckled. "All right," he said, and made a big show of scrutinizing the ground when actually he was just doing as Katniss said and walking on rocks. "What else should I be aware of?"

[[aagh, sorry, italics fail.]]

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"Animals," Rue said solemnly. "Or else we can't hunt them!"

[psh, I had notification fail. no worries.]

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"Oh really?" Wes asked, amused. "And what might we be hunting today?"

Please, not squirrel.

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"Rabbits," Rue said happily. "Mother says they're probably the easiest, which is why they're perfect for today!"

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Okay, that decided it. Rue was officially the sassiest six-year-old ever.

And yay, rabbits. Those were at least somewhat edible, by Wes' standards -- not, of course, that they were going to eat them. And not that he was picky. He was British, after all.

"Then rabbits we shall hunt," he said decisively, as if he had any choice in the matter.

With one bow among the three of them and only one person who could probably do a decent job. Should be successful.

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"Would you like to carry an arrow?" Rue offered very generously. She'd still be carrying the whole quiver, thank you, but she would let her father carry one.

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"How generous," Wes deadpanned. "Yes, please."

Once again: Sassy, sassy kid. He glanced at Katniss, amused.

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Rue carefully handed over an arrow, as Katniss raised an eyebrow at him. "Careful, Wesley," she teased, deadpan. "That's a very important responsibility there."

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"Clearly," Wesley replied, humoring Rue. He held it gingerly in his hands, certainly not wanting to do anything to make Rue rescind the offer.

Quietly, he asked Katniss under his breath, "I'm not going to get much use out of this, am I?" Because apart from stabbing a rabbit with it, he didn't see what good it was without the bow.

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"You get to carry it until I need it, I think," Katniss replied, just as softly. "Or until Rue tries to shoot. Unless you want to."

Meanwhile, Rue studied how he was holding the arrow, approved, and started to scamper off carefully. "We're not going to hunt anything without going into the woods!"

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Wes smirked. "Noted." He cast a furtive glance over to Rue, who was doing that careful scampering thing, then looked back at Katniss. Before he could talk himself out of it, he moved in for a very quick, furtive kiss.

And then came away blushing. Wow. Um, that was new.

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That...was new. And unexpected. And not at all, at all unpleasant. Katniss found herself blushing as she pulled back, as well, glancing after Rue to make sure they weren't going to get a lecture on proper hunting procedures before looking up at Wesley. "...what was that for?" she asked, in such a way that might suggest that she was not at all unhappy that he'd done it.

The smile helped, too.

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The smile was helpful, because without it he would probably be wondering frantically if that was okay. As it stood, though, Katniss made it all too easy for him to just grin like an idiot. "Not sure," he admitted, a little dazed. "It's Valentine's Day, and you're showing me how to hunt, and it's such a big part of your life. It just seemed like the thing to do."

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Katniss's smile turned a little shy for a moment as she considered something, then went onto her toes to kiss him, because it had been fun the first time.

But it was just as quick, and just as furtive. She was still learning her way around this, after all. "So this is what Valentine's Day is for, then?" she asked softly, as she pulled away. "I assume the random child and the hunting part are optional."

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It had been fun the first time! Thank you for noticing, Katniss. And also the second time. Just fun all around, really.

Wes smiled. "Yes, kissing is a staple of Valentine's Day," he informed her. "The child I assume has to do with Fandom oddness." Hopefully. "And the hunting, well, a lot of people have idiosyncratic traditions of some sort that they partake in on the holiday, so... this could be ours."

He was so, so awkward.

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She smiled softly, considering that. "One of ours," she decided, reaching for his hand. "By the way, it's important to stay together when hunting. Possibly more important than walking quietly."

Really, Katniss was pretty set on this being more of a 'walk' than a 'hunt.'

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