stillplaying | 7th Game [action/voice]

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7th Game [action/voice]

[Action]

[The bakery is a mess. She never meant for it to end up that way. It just sort of happened. Flour covering hair and body, the smell of something burning from the kitchen, flecks of pink frosting teasing her cheeks. Peeta's normally presentable window displays are less than ideal; a poor attempt at recreating the alluring cakes that always caught her attention back in District Twelve. The frosting's melted from the summer heat on one that's sat out since Friday. Another is poorly covered with a grey color -- an attempt at mixing food dyes gone horribly wrong.

Ingredients for various baked goods have somehow escaped the kitchen, piled up on the counters, half covering the note cards Peeta had left for her. Cookbooks borrowed from the library lie open elsewhere, pages now far from pristine. Half baked pretzels stock the shelves along with burnt chocolate chip cookies. Deformed cheese breads and crumbled brownie bites still in their trays sit nearby. Even Buttercup, easily pleased by any free food, ignores the easy pickings.

She tried. She had tried so hard. Peeta had left her recipes. Had tried to teach her how to bake on lazy days when she was more content to spend time with him in the bakery than go about her own thing. It seems that every lesson has been forgotten. Any skill she might have had in the kitchen, utterly gone.

The rain pours outside as she plucks at the rock hard shortbread cookies she's recently retrieved from the oven, trying her best to peel them from the tray. It's a halfhearted effort as she leans her head against her hand and stares out the window. She'd rather be hunting. But it's been raining ever since Peeta left for his mission, raining so hard, all she's been able to do is check a couple of the traps in the river behind their house. And she had promised, hadn't she? Promised she'd look after the bakery?

Look how miserably she failed, the worry making it hard to breathe, harder to concentrate. Shouldn't he be back by now? Shouldn't he?

Every few minutes, she checks the journal for signs of life. Ignores Buttercup begging for real food. Glances at the door to see if Peeta's finally return. No luck. No luck at all. He's supposed to be back today. Why isn't he back yet?]

[Voice]

Why do you bother? [The words aren't meant to be recorded in the journal, but they are, anyway. It barely processes to Katniss that she's left it laying open, close enough to pick up any mutterings.] Going on these missions? Being a piece in their games?

It's stupid. This is all stupid.

[ooc: timed to after mission is over, when people start arriving home. but if you want to tag during -- feel free to have katniss in the bakery making a mess from friday on!

also, edit for warning of sexual content in the Peeta thread.]

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[That comment really doesn't make the thought any less awkward. But at least she's not alone in the redness of her face.

Funny, she would have thought Peeta Mellark to be more... at ease when it came to something like sex. Like he had been through out their entire pretend relationship.]

Yeah. [She ducks her head as she says it, following him out of the bakery.] You'll just go in and grab them?

[Modest he ain't. But for this moment to happen so unexpectedly when he'd barely hoped for it at all? His eagerness knows no bounds, but forgive him if he feels the pressure.]

Right. It'll take two seconds. [A beat, then a smile.] To get the condoms.

[Maybe he can get her to blush again.]

[It's probably impossible for her grey eyes to go an wider at the mention of that word. Or for her face to turn any redder.

She quickly looks up at him in shock and hisses,]

Don't say that aloud!

[With a sort of cackle, he leans in and gives her a quick smooch.] I was just making sure you knew.

[It's not exactly a far walk from the bakery to the grocery store, but it does involve crossing the middle of the main town square. Where there are a lot of people.

A lot of people who could be listening. Or watching.

Public displays of affection for the Games were one thing. But this? It turns out that it was possible for her cheeks to become further heated.]

I'm not stupid.

Didn't say you were. [Two teenagers walking quickly across town, looking somewhat flustered, headed for the store. What could possibly be going on?

When they reach the store entrance, he gives her hand a squeeze.] I'll be right back, okay?

[It's not like they're making the effort to be inconspicuous. He just got back from a mission. And she had practically ruined his bakery while keeping occupied.

At least the rain gives them an excuse to walk this close together, huddled under one umbrella. When they stop in front of the store, she squeezes his hand back before taking the umbrella in both.

And nods. She'll be right here waiting.]

[For a boy who's never bought condoms before, he does manage to find the right location fairly quickly. So does he get the big pack so he doesn't have to get them more often, or is that too hopeful? Will that come across as presumptive? He agonizes for about five seconds before grabbing a pack of five and swinging toward the door.]

[As fate would have it, someone else was was in the same isle as Peeta when he grabbed the condoms and went to bolt. The look on Cato's face might have been comical had Peeta not been trying to sneak out like that.

For a moment, the silence is heavy...but when was Cato ever known to resist an oppourtunity to jab at someone?]

In a hurry Lover boy?

[Oh god he can't hold a straight face as he says it and half way through the horribly apt nickname a loud bark of laughter escapes him. This is literally the best thing that has happened today.]

[...Right. Of course something like this happens. Today. Peeta's not so much embarrassed as he is irritated by the distraction. He's just going to keep walking and call back.]

Wouldn't you be?

[She catches that last bit of his question when she opens the door to see what was taking Peeta so long. It's just... well, it's just those things. How much of a selection can there be? Not that big, she imagines. Certainly not long enough to warrant the time he's taking.

The umbrella's folded up by her side and she tilts her head a little, confused.] Wouldn't I be what?

Nothing. [He has stuffed the condoms in his pocket by now. He reaches for her hand.] Just something someone said. Ready?

Edited 2012-08-20 21:07 (UTC)

[She takes his hand in her own but not before trying to steal a quick look around the store. But the aisles are too high for her to see over and well, she's too flustered and nervous and even a bit excited to try hard.

Katniss gives him another nod and pushes the door open, cheeks flushing red once again when she thinks of why they just stopped. She shouldn't really, but she can't help it.

The umbrella goes back up as she steps out into the rain.]

[A smile crosses Peeta's lips.]

Hold on to the umbrella.

[With a swift motion, he sweeps her up into his arms to carry her bridal style, while she can still hold the umbrella over them both.]

Wouldn't want to get your feet wet.

[She barely has time to look up at him in question before he picks her up and she nearly drops the umbrella. There's a cross between a startled yelp and a laugh in response to the unexpected action.]

Peeta!

Don't worry, I got you. [He doesn't care who sees, either. With her snug in his strong arms, he sets off for the house.]

[That she doesn't doubt. He's risked everything for her far too many times to ever think otherwise. Suffered too much too, because of her.

Peeta Mellark would never drop her. Never let her go.]

Okay. [Said with relative quietness, yes still loud enough to be heard despite the rain. She wraps an arm around his neck while the umbrella's held steadily above their heads in her other hand.]

[Carrying her like this in the rain is somehow as dreamlike a thing as being whisked off to another world, where the Capitol is far away and even the present danger isn't always pressing. He rests his cheek against her hair as he carries her. Inevitably, the hems of his jeans are getting damp, and her hair is frizzing in the damp air. That's good. Her hair. He spent all day painting beautiful things on womens' faces, and some of them reacted like it made them more beautiful. Katniss, with her hair pulled back from her perfectly unpainted face, brown wisps of it escaping from its braid, is pure beauty.]

[Despite the chill of the damp air, Peeta's body is warm around her. His cheek against her hair comforting. If she knew what he was thinking right now, she'd deny it all. Tell him that he was probably crazy.

(Which he is, isn't he? To love her and want her like this?)

It's probably for the best that she doesn't know. And that she remains quiet, safe and sound in his arms while she fights away any lingering fears.]

[When they arrive at the house, he's left with a bit of a problem. His hands are full, and so are hers. After some deliberation involving the gigantic puddle he's standing in, he makes his decision.]

Well. Here we are.

[Slowly, tenderly, he'll begin to set her down. Without telling her about the puddle.]

[Her rain boots had been left behind at the bakery in their haste. The shoes she currently wears were not designed for the heavy rain. Far from it. So the cold wetness of the puddle is a shock to her system when Peeta sets her down in it.

It's the last thing she expects.

Previous thoughts forgotten, she nearly jumps in reaction and drops the umbrella. Turns around and whirls on him, ignoring the door and warmth only a few seconds away. The scowl is unmistakable.]

You could've warned me!

[And she pushes him. Not for the first time today.]

[He chuckles playfully as she pushes him, but this time, he's expecting it.] If it makes you feel any better, I'm standing under a drip. [He leans in for a kiss anyway, murmuring:] I'll make it up to you. How's that?

[He'll make it up to her. If his kisses are any indication, he'd probably be very good at that.

The thought is enough to warm her whole body and still make her shiver. It makes her smile shy again as she pulls a key from her pocket. Makes her kiss him back so shyly and hesitantly as their first kiss that she can almost hear Haymitch scowl and say, "You call that a kiss, sweetheart?"

Just as quickly as he starts the kiss, she ends it and turns around to open the door.]

[Once inside, Peeta barely waits for the door to be closed before he's peeling off his soaked shoes and socks.]

Um. I just got back from a mission, so you probably want me to take a shower.

[She kicks off her own shoes and socks, not caring if they make a mess in the hallway. No one else lives with them now. It's just her. And him.

Her and him. In a place where no one could interrupt them. No one can overhear them or watch them. They're... alone. And this? This'll be for no one's entertainment but their own.]

No. [The word is firm despite the growing blush on her face and neck.] I've been in the bakery all day. [And most of the night.] I'm just as dirty. I... I don't want to wait anymore, Peeta.

[She wants this. Wants this now, while she's still willing to give in to the hunger. While she's mostly not afraid.]

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