stillplaying | 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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Archery. [If Estelle looked behind the counter, she'd see Katniss' bow and the quiver full of arrows. It's rare for her to go anywhere without them.

Two sugar cookies are placed in the tin with the chocolate chips.] But I've used traps, too.

How interesting!

[Katniss would be the second archer that Estelle's ever really met.]

Bow hunting differs markedly from hunting with firearms, as the distances between the hunter and the game are much shorter in order to ensure a humane kill. The skills and practices of bow hunting therefore emphasize very close approach to the prey, whether by still hunting, stalking, or waiting in a blind or tree stand.

[And now it sounds like she might be reciting something.]

[A lot of the information she's heard before. From her father when he was teaching her how to hunt all those years ago. Not that utilizing a firearm was ever an option. The Peacekeepers would never allow it. Owning the hand-crafted bows had been dangerous enough, even if they were kept in the woods.

But she nods, paying the girl all the attention she thinks Peeta would. Which is to say, a lot more than she would normally.]

You have to be quiet.

[It was one of the first rules her father had taught her.]

[Sorry Katniss, Estelle is just a really friendly person. She grew up in near isolation after all, and is making up for lost time.]

That must take a lot of skill.

[She says this with a thoughtful nod.]

[It's okay. Somehow, she just seems to attract these friendly, nice people. She'll just never seem to understand why. Or how.]

A lot of practice. [She pauses for a moment to put the sugar cookies away and take out the brownies. Glancing up from her work, she adds in:] I've been hunting since I was seven.

[Ooo, brownies, she hadn't thought of those.]

That's very impressive! Did your parents teach you?

[There are only a couple of brownies that aren't completely ruined. But she adds them into the box without hesitation.]

My dad.

That must hold a lot of special memories for you.

[There's almost a wistfully sad note to her voice. She wishes she could have known her father or mother like that.]

[A lot of special memories. A lot of memories that she doesn't really want to discuss. Her time with her father was all too short.

But the girl is right. Those times were special.] Yeah.

[Estelle gets the feeling she might be saying or asking too much. So she goes quiet and just continues to wait with a smile.]

[It quickly becomes silence on both ends, Katniss not being very good at initiating small talk. Instead, she occupies herself with picking out the last of the decent cookies in the shop and placing them in the box.

She reaches for some twine after closing the lid. All that's left is to tie it up.]

[Seeing that she was nearly done, Estelle decides to break the silence.]

It was very nice to meet you, Katniss.

[She gives a slight smile and nods. It was... awkward, but nice. Nice to have company for this short duration.

The string is tied and she holds the box out to the girl.]

I hope Sokka enjoys these.

[Estelle takes the box appreciatively.]

I'm certain he will. Thank you, again!

[She gives Katniss a polite bow and then heads for the door and the rain.