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[alsohawkeye]

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KATE BISHOP

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[axeyou]

[Not like Kate's. Nothing like Kate's. Johanna shows her teeth in another grin, and her face is turned up toward the ceiling, and Kate's face is turned away, so she'll never see it; it doesn't matter that it's all teeth and no amusement. She makes herself think of before: District 7]

Mica Comfrey. When I was fourteen, they took half the boys out of our troop and made them work in the sawmill in Creek Village. They were doing some huge project at the Capitol and needed the logs cut faster. Double work for everyone. Mica went with them, and when he came back, two years later, he was twice as tall and twice as good looking and twice as stupid. He told me he was in love with me the day he got back. We hooked up for a week, and then I pushed him in the river when he got too annoying.

[She sighs.]

He pretty much got it then. But I'd still catch him giving me these pathetic little looks.

[alsohawkeye]

It's a shame the pretty ones are so often the stupid ones.

[ Not really fair to any of Kate's actual boyfriends but whatever. They had their moments of stupid even if they weren't Mica Comfrey level, whatever that is. Johanna's threshold for stupid is a moving target anyway. ]

How about that first boy, the one who was terrible, did you push him in the river?

[axeyou]

Vitus.

[Her eyeroll makes it into her tone of voice.]

No, I pushed him out of a tree. God. He didn't leave for the sawmills. His dad was team captain when they picked the boys, so of course he didn't get picked--and we were the oldest ones in the camp for a few years, so we kept having to work together...

[She sighs.]

It sucks, being surrounded by the same hundred people all the time.

[alsohawkeye]

Out of a tree? [ Kate's laugh is a little horrified but mostly just a laugh. He's probably fine. ] Ouch.

What'd he do?

[ Surrounded by the same hundred people gets a softer huff of a chuckle and she nods. ] That's a good thing about New York. With millions of people there's always variety if you want it.

[axeyou]

I don't always want variety. It's just nice to have people that don't know you, and don't want to know you.

[She's not completely convinced of that statement, in retrospect. But it's too late now. And it really had been suffocating, at the time, comfortable but frustrating, and that part's no lie. So: whatever.]

He didn't do anything. Except annoy me. We weren't even that high in the tree, he didn't break a bone. And he didn't cry, either. Thank god. But he still didn't shut up half the time, so maybe I should have broken his arm.

[Another sigh. Good times.]

Now I told you two. It's your turn again.