#look at this Katniss wannabe

[anomal-studios]

Sooooo…I was listening to “THE HANGING TREE”….

Help me-

[waratah-vroom]

Eavesdropper (ln4)

This was written as a sequel to Silly Season but can be read as a standalone! warnings: sexist comments, everyone being chaotic, lando being an idiot. Pls grab a big handful of suspension of disbelief 🍿

Tagged: yourcoach, yourfriend, georgerussell63, alex_albon Liked by landonorris, lilymhe and 901,371 others yourusername: My week off between races

yourfriend: I need a pay rise if we're going to keep getting 4am flights ↳ yourusername: you said you wanted to travel the world!

williamsracing: Drivers get together and we weren't invited? ↳ yourusername: It was a union meeting, no management xx ↳ alex_albon: williamsracing that was a joke. We love the team especially you, admin.

ynstylefiles: When are we getting a Y/n skin care routine? Come on vogue...

Tagged: carlossainz55, yourusername, maxverstappen1 Liked by wtf1official, charles_leclerc and 948,294 others landonorris: Silly season is here

mclaren: Carlando 4 eva ❤️ ↳ williamsracing: counterpoint... ynando supremacy.

yourusername: terrible pic pls delete xx ↳ landonorris: no xx

f1driversdaily: random Max pic is sending me 😂

Liked by daniel3.jpg, maxfewtrell and 642,284 others lando.jpg: Little bit of everything

alex_albon: Nice buildings mate ↳ lando.jpg: Thanks mate

yourusername: So aesthetically pleasing

daniel3.jpg: Lovely use of lighting. ↳ lando.jpg: Have to teach you sometime 👍

softboynorris: We're all just collectively ignoring the last slide? Cool. ↳ laaaando: Not me, I'm about to head to the train tracks. ↳ carlando4eva: I'll join

Liked by yukitsunoda0511, charles_leclerc and 729,407 others pierregasly: Night out with the family

charles_leclerc: I missed karaoke? ↳ pierregasly: we didn't sing our song don't worry mate

danielricciardo: Gasly in his jpg era

f1driversdaily: uh Lando and Y/n?

ynsource: Lando and Y/n look very close

ynlovebot: LANDO AND Y/N CONFIRMED

francisca.cgomes: yourusername 👀 ↳ pierregasly: 😭 ↳ yourusername: francisca.cgomes ❤️ ↳ pierregasly: yourusername 😇 ↳ yourusername: pierregasly 🙄

Liked by alex_albon, williamsracing and 1,389,503 others yourusername: Day in the life of a wannabe grid girl xx

landonorris: first pic got me 🥵🥵🥵 ↳ landonorris: side note - seeing that YOU look bad in your race suit suddenly makes me feel a lot better about myself. ↳ yourusername: was that a neg, Norris? ↳ landonorris: I'm just saying that everyone looks bad in their race suit and you look good in everything ↳ yourusername: obvs I don't look good in everything... ↳ oscarpiastri: landonorris I see you typing and I'm begging you to stop

lilymhe: Confirmed girl boss ↳ yourusername: says you 😍

lissiemackintosh: She is the moment. Liked by yourusername

carmentmmundt: And that's what I call Woman 💪 Liked by yourusername

ynstylefiles: but the purple... I need more!

Liked by lissiemackintosh, carlossainz55 and 4,592,193 others f1: A statement from the FIA.

mclaren: Our fave couple 🧡💙

williamsracing: Come for the racing, stay for the romance 💙🧡

ynsource: Seeing williams and mclaren scrambling to come up with comments that make it look like they're completely fine their two best drivers are dating each other is hilarious

ynlovebot: Ok, but like I need a relationship timeline ↳ laaaando: babe, no. I need a 4 hour long youtube analysis of their relationship ↳ softboynorris: what are you even talking about I need a true crime style podcast series

carlando4eva: They're literally textbook friends to lovers ↳ f1newbie: wdym ↳ carlando4eva: They grew up karting together and now they're dating

yourusername and landonorris

Liked by estebanocon, lewishamilton and 6,580,201 others yourusername: In the words of the FIA, we'd like to formally announce our (intimate) relationship ❤️

landonorris: Can we be the first joint world champions??? ↳ yourusername: like how Katniss and Peeta won the hunger games? ↳ landonorris: exactly ↳ yourusername: nah I'm good winning by myself thanks baby ↳ landonorris: 🥺

alex_albon: How many captions did you go through? ↳ yourusername: At least 30. ↳ landonorris: alex_albon all of mine got vetoed 😒

carlossainz55: Congratulations! (also finally) Liked by yourusername and landonorris

danielricciardo: Love that the FIA hard launched before you guys did 😂 ↳ yourusername: yeah I'm not thrilled about that ↳ yourusername: also who taught you the term hard launch? ↳ heidiberger_: yourusername that'd be me. Congrats babe ❤️

pierregasly: You are welcome ❤️ ↳ yourusername: francisca.cgomes I will push him into the ocean you know I'll do it

charles_leclerc: Happy for you two ! Liked by yourusername and landonorris

georgerussell63: Out of everyone we grew up karting with I really thought it'd be Charles and Pierre who ended up together. Not dating, just platonic soulmates. ↳ yourusername: Me too. ↳ alex_albon: Me three. ↳ pierregasly: Me four. ↳ charles_leclerc: quoi ?

read more of my writing here.

Made to order for a sweet anon for my perfume collection xx

ﾟ｡ ⋆ mags' radio: Ok guys I am obsessed with driver!reader x lando... they're kind of just as chaotic as horner!reader x lando, but I think they're a little more lowkey with their chaos and prefer to keep it professional in public, horner!reader is pure idgaf.⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡

taglist: @fulla02reads @lazybot @flowerchild-96 @camillalarke @cool-ultra-nerd @azxulaa @hrlzy @ghosttwit @inejghafawife @booksobsess @formulakay @1655-1485 @chonkybonky @peachiicherries @toalltheboyswhowastedmytime @lilacsimps @diaa-20 @imsorare @lunnnix @ctrlyomomma @leclercdream @aces-tattooartist

(if you're not highlighted I couldn't tag you. If you'd like to be removed from the tag list please send me a message.)

[shefollowedthestars]

okay after this post i have to do this

owning a bakery with your girlfriend, kate bishop 𐙚 ˚🍰 ⋆｡˚ ᡣ𐭩

warnings: none except a mention of a threat? if there's anything else that should be put here pls lmk

notes: I LOOOOVE THIS IDEA. bc i love baked goods and kate bishop. this is also mostly unedited so i apologize if it is horrible lmao 😭 also i mentioned the bakery is in east harlem bc that's the vibe it gives me but i also have never been to nyc so i could be completely off

it's called bishop-y/l/n's bakehouse. small and brick, located in east harlem, it's a homey and welcoming bakery that thrives and centers around community

you two are friends with your regulars and constantly help said regulars out in their personal lives (kate and her friends may have saved them a couple of times). but you always know things abt your customers lives and have daily chats. "ms. carter! did your son get accepted into columbia?"

the art on the walls consist of custom art you two had made of your golden retriever, archery memorabilia, souvenirs and things you got gifted - all very friendly and cozy vibes

all the recipes are either family recipes you got from your side or recipes that kate discovered from messing around in the kitchen for hours

additionally, the bakehouse is the number one spot for the young avengers (mcu's version). after a hard mission or when they're stuck on something, they'll come to the bakery and talk to you as you serve what you know is there favourite dish. you know each superhero's one by heart and ofc you know kate's better than anyone else's. you know her favorite is the strawberry shortcake cupcakes you make (your great aunt taught you the recipe) and she likes them with one strawberry slice cut in half on the top. she gives you a kiss on the cheek whenever you bring it over, which earns a "ew" from kamala lol and a "ohhhh my god you two are adorable" from billy

kate likes to refer to owning a bakery as her first job as it is her favorite thing in the entire world. she loves serving customers, preparing food with you and looking at the community and home that you've built

i think there's definitely been times the bakery has been threatened by certain enemies with kate being hawkeye and she immediately gets protective and tells her co-heroes that they have to do something about it

she didn't really need to tell them that though because they were all on the same page. there's no way america is losing the place that sells the best flan in all of new york city!!

and you know those cliche play fights couples have in movies? where they throw flour at each other and now ingredients are all over each of their faces but they're just both so in love with each other? yup that happens way too often with the two of you. you'll say something like "hey aren't you like a wannabe katniss everdeen?" and she'll immediately throw the flour she has at your face teasingly lmao

also clint and his family visit all the time and the kids are so excited!! they will try literally everything in the bakery and get a sugar rush lol. it tires you out low-key, but it makes kate want kids soooo bad. and can you blame her? i mean imagine a cute little kid running around looking cute and taste testing your new recipes 🥺 "mommmm, it needs to be sweeter!!"

and whether you end up having kids in the future or not, this bakehouse will be passed down to someone part of the warm and loving family you two have created with your delicious food <3

i'm literally obsessed with this idea so if you have anything to add PLEASE let me know in the comments or send me an ask abt your thoughts bc i could talk about this for hours on end genuinely. anyways i hope you enjoyed and have a wonderful wonderful day!!

[shadowqueenjude]

My relationship with SJM characters

TOG:

Sjm: Hey look there’s a hot teen assassin and look! Sexy dark-haired prince? Isn’t he hot? Me: *falls for the captain of the guard* Sjm: wait what? lemme fix that. *writes crown of midnight* Me: Nope, still love Chaol and WHAT?!!! YOU RUINED MY SHIP????! Sjm: Not to worry! Big fat hot Fae males will make you forget all about Chaol! Me: Ew who is this stupid Rowan. Bring back Chaol. Sjm: … *writes Queen of Shadows* Come on you HAVE to hate Chaol now, choose a big Fae male! Rowan, Fenrys, or Aedion. Not Lorcan though, he’s a big ass amirite? Me: NO! CHAOL WAS COMPLETELY VALID. Sjm: *takes Chaol’s mobility* Me: NOOOOOOO *cries* Sjm: Ha, he won’t even be in the next book. So you HAVE to choose somebody else to like. So who will it be? Rowan, Fenrys, or Aedion? Me: Fine, I’ll pick someone else *chooses Lorcan* Sjm: NO. YOU WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT. *writes ending of EOS* Me: NOOOOOOO ELIDE HE DID IT FOR YOU *sobs* Sjm: Aelin is in a coffin and you’re worried about Lorcan? Anyway here’s a Chaol book for you. Me: YESSSS CHAOL IS FINALLY HAPPY Sjm: Nice nice ok. Now here’s some pain. Me: FLY FARASHA FLY FLY FLY *sobs* Sjm: FINE! I’ll convince you next time! ACOTAR: Sjm: Look hot Katniss wannabe! Hey look, hot male High Lord! He’s sooo hot amirite? Me: *falls for courtier and emissary* Sjm: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU. YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO FALL FOR THE PRINCE NOT THE LOYAL FRIEND. Me: What can i say, I have a type. I’ll still ship Feylin tho, it’s pretty good. Sjm: Oh you’re gonna forget all about Tamlin and Lucien. Look! Hot bat boys! Me: BITCH! YOU RUINED MY SHIP AGAIN?!!! AND WHERE IS LUCIEN?!!! Sjm: *retcons Tamlin* you must hate him now?! Me: DUDE EVEN WITH RETCONS HE CAN’T BE WORSE THAN THESE SLEAZEBALLS. WHERE IS LUCIEN???!!! Sjm: You’re gonna hate him now! *writes Lucien scene at night court in ACOMAF* Me: YES. SAVE HER LUCIEN. YOU GO HONEY!! Sjm: ???? *writes end of ACOMAF* Me: YES POSSESSIVE FERAL LUCIEN STEP ON ME. Sjm: …FINE. if you can’t beat em, join em. *writes ACOWAR* Me: *sighs* Feyre and Lucien would’ve been so good together. Sjm: yeah but rhysand is better amirite Me: NOOOO IANTHE YOU BITCH Sjm: *writes Ianthe’s arm breaking scene* Me: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS Sjm: so you like Feyre again right? Me: What? No! Lucien was the better friend! Sjm: … *brings Lucien to night court* Me: NOOOOOO LULU IS DEVASTATED HIS MATE IS HOLLOW Sjm: But look, elriel! Three brothers three sisters amirite? Me: FLOWERS NEED SUNSHINE. ELUCIEN FOREVER. Sjm: Yes yes i was just joking. Anyway, sending off Lucien to find Vassa. Me: We’ll get his POV tho right? Sjm: … Me: right????? Sjm: *writes ACOSF* THERE. He’s barely in this book. So you HAVE to pick somebody else to love. So, Cassian is hot too if you don’t like Rhysand. Me: FINE. I’ll CHOOSE SOMEONE ELSE. *picks Eris* Sjm: …I have learned my lesson. CC: Sjm: Look! Hot sorority girl who’s also an illegitimate princess! And her loyal knight! Hunt is sooooo hot amirite? Me: I’m too smart for you. He’s the first love interest so he’s NOT endgame. Don’t get attached. Sjm: wait he’s endgame this time I swear! Me: NOPEEEE NOT BUYING IT. Sjm: I’m fr this time. Isn’t he so hot? Me: *falls for the tattooed warrior prince* Sjm: … Sjm: I give up

[peach-thekid]

[fandom literate rp ad] i'm back in my hunger games phase, don't @ me

just when i thought it couldn't get any worse from rewatching the trilogy, i have now fallen back into the pits of panem after watching songbirds and snakes tonight… sorry in advance friends 🤡

heyo! my name is talia! i'm a 24yo female in EST timezone! former theatre kid, wannabe author, just a silly lil guy tbh. i'm looking for, you guessed it, hunger games fandom rp! this is a specific craving and i'll admit fandom rp is not my forte so i may not follow the "norm" oops. i just want to find a collaborative partner who really vibes and can be a friend to build an amazing story with in this universe! 🧡

does that sound like you so far? cool, cool, lets proceed

🏹 rp style and looking for: 🏹

daily/weekly replies, i have a lot of availability as of right now

18+ writers, character ages will have to be discussed due to the fandom canon, but just dont be creepy gdi

third person, past tense

literate to novella replies. i can go anywhere from 2 paragraphs to exceeding nitro count, depending on scene needs and inspo. quality > quantity tho!

romance is a must. m/m and m/f couples are my preference!

OCs only! canon charas can be discussed but not as mains. i also don't double and i don't do canon/oc couples, i'm sorry ya'll i know this is a deal breaker for some

obsessed with faceclaims, pinterest boards, spotify playlists, an organized and fun server, literally give me all the aesthetics and let me fangirl i am in desparate need

no SFW limits, i'm an open book and probably too desensitized

NSFW-wise, i am like 20/80 in terms of smut/plot. i am totally fine fading to black, i am fine to write it as long as it fits and serves a purpose, but i dont do erp and i don't focus on it as a necessity to a story

ghost friendly, if it isnt a vibe it isnt a vibe. if we are an amazing fit then you will be stuck with me forever but i'm just a stranger on the internet as of right now so no hard feelings

not a canon nut, so open to changing or expanding as we want. someone open to not be a stickler for every canon detail would be cool, obvi we will follow it but i'm ok to add or adjust as we decide!

OOC chatter is a requirement, i am someone who wants to be your friend. idk how some of ya'll just be writing and not being annoying OOC i cannot do it

due to preference and previous experience, i am currently only looking for femme/afab writers, i hope you understand :)

🏹 HEAR ME OUT HEAR ME OUT: 🏹

OCs before katniss era, childhood friends then one moves districts and they get reaped and reconnect

mentor/OC relationship (a younger mentor who won when they were far too young and are now mentoring their best friend from childhood after abandoning them?)

our own spin on canon with OCs implanted into the original trilogy story, like a spinoff of sorts?

capitol x district or peacemaker x district

ensemble casts are ok too im vv open!

tbh i would love to write our own hunger games and include some canon cameos and make our own arena and have a beautifully tragic story and cast, gimme all the darkness and angst and violence and tragedy and moral dilemmas and deep character bonds and impossible happy endings and fights and spectacle just - we can do it, that's all i'm sayin' 👀

i've attached my writing sample below! despite the casual OOC, i promise that if we're a good fit, our stories will be full of nothing but effort and a mild obsession/hyperfixation ✨

contact stuff 📱

if you are srs please reach out over discord. i do not check tumblr enough i'm the worst so i would love to get notifs bahaha my username is: muppetmania

i'm a lil picky (and full of anxiety) so please tell me youre from tumblr, a bit about yourself, your rp style, what interests you about this, and a writing sample ofc, that would be so gucci of you i will give you a big hug 🥰

may the odds be ever in your favor or whateva whistling sounds

[fatefought]

'cause she's a cruel mistress, and a bargain must be made. but oh, my love, don't forget me, when i let the water take me.

hey everyone ! it’s me, blue, here to tell you all about a wannabe mermaid. her bio can be found here ! below is just some additional information. 

mental health mentions & death mentions tw

annie cresta was born to teenage parents who weren’t able to take care of her, nor did either of them ever envision a life as parents. because of this, annie was placed in the care of her paternal grandparents: marcin & agatha cresta. 

ironically enough both of her grandparents did train as careers when they were younger. while neither became tributes of the games, they did everything in their power to ensure annie wouldn’t have to train the way they did. ( maybe they done goofed there. ) once they worked as fisherpeople, now the pair ran one of the local markets. and if young annie wasn’t running around there, she was down by the water. 

though she was the spitting image of her grandmother, she picked up her demeanor from her grandfather. old age made him much softer and rather easy-going. agatha cresta on the other hand was a matriarch. she was fiery, assertive, and always finished what needed to be done. her grandfather passed away when she was ten. additionally, both her grandparents would have been young children during the first rebellion. 

while she wasn’t a career, the boy from district four was. caspian leatworth looked like the ideal victor. he had a charismatic glint in his eyes and one could tell how strong cas was by merely gazing at him. as imposing a presence he could be, he was also kind. being only a year younger than him, they grew up together. she genuinely thought he had a chance at winning. 

annie was sincere in her goodbyes before entering the arena. she didn’t think she’d be coming home. the brutality of caspian’s death rattled her immensely. she only won her games because she could swim well. there have been many times where she wished she would have just let valora drown her. more details of her games can be found here ! 

her reputation of the mad girl came during her tour. night terrors and ptsd plagued her the months between her winning and the tour, but it was different. seeing the families of the fallen tributes led to panic attacks between districts. it culminated in the capitol, one massive panic attack was enough to catch attention. snow had no qualms with her returning to district four. in his words, she was wasted potential. 

annie had her grandmother move into her victor’s village home when she returned. she likes keeping agatha close. her parents, fletcher and sable, come around whenever they want financial support. the relationship there is very surface level. 

she spends her days in district four, except for quick, mandatory visits to the capitol. in the last four years, she’d only spend up to thirty-six hours at a time there. the cost of the government leaving her alone was her image       and sometimes her mind. 

in the rpg, finnick and annie have a 13 month old named cas. while he's not exactly hidden in four, nobody outside of the district would know about him currently.

unlike the series, i plan on focusing on her ptsd rather than the blanketed unstable label. annie has a grasp on reality. she’s traumatized and became anxious as a result. there are things that can trigger her such as sudden loud noises and screams. when her trauma gets the better of her, she can dissociate or do what’s mentioned in the books like random laughter, closing her eyes, and covering her ears. 

after feeling like she was reliving the hunger games watching johanna’s games, she avoided watching the following two hunger games. after watching the last games, she does wonder if the love between katniss and peeta is real. not because it’s not believable, she just knows something like that could be an amazing strategy. 

she used to wonder if something was wrong with her after becoming a victor. she’d wonder how people could move on from winning their games. eventually, she realized that nobody moves past the game, just some are better at fanning at the façade. annie’s never been very good at faking it ‘til you make it without appearing very disingenuous. to this day she feels deep shame that she let anyone see her break down in the capitol, and over the reputation she gained due to it. 

survivor’s guilt vibes !

in another life, maybe she would’ve made for a good career. she’s very physically fit.

as confirmed by the test i took earlier today, she’s very much a hufflepuff.

still would play mermaids as an adult. just kidding ... unless ... 👀 

she obnoxiously loves district four. 

she’s definitely more of a team player than leader type. 

annie is not a part of the underground rebellion, but she’s aware of the growing tension in district four. something is lingering in the air, especially after district twelve’s star-crossed lovers visited. that being said, she’ll be on the side of the rebels when the time comes. she’s angry at the treatment of the people of panem. she’s angry about what so many of her loved ones had to endure at the hands of the capitol. she’s angry at what she was forced into participating in. she’s angry. 

[maria021015]

SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 28 AHEAD!

“There’s no way! How can you be a Gale girl? Peeta is infinitely better!” Zaida exclaimed, outraged at the redhead’s revelation.

“He’s a Hemsworth.” Lydia defended.

“He committed literal war crimes.” The brunette cried out, picking up a pillow and shoving her face into it as she screamed. “You have the worst taste in guys ever.”

“What can I say? I root for the underdog.” She shrugged with a half-smirk.

“No, you root the underdog.” Zaida snorted and Lydia whacked her with her pillow.

Their argument was broken up by the sound of ‘Wannabe’ blurring through Zaida’s phone, and she plucked up the remote to pause ‘The Hunger Games’ and answered. “Hey, Sti,” She cringed at her own attempt at a nickname.

“Sti?” Lydia repeated with a wrinkled nose. “Like the eye infection, ‘stye’?”

“Yeah, I know. I’m trying out nicknames, and I hate them all. How do you come up with a decent nickname for ‘Stiles Stilinski’? It’s impossible.” Zaida pulled away from the phone to answer the redhead.

“‘Stiles’ is already a nickname.” Lydia pointed out, crunching down on a stick of cucumber. “For what, no one knows, but it must be pretty bad.”

“Hey, I’ve actually grown to like his name.” Zaida shrugged and then returned to the boy on the other side of the line. “What’s up?”

“Where are you right now?” He asked, sounding to be in a rush.

“I’m at Lydia’s, why? What’s wrong?” Her spine straightened, mind immediately going to the worst. “Are you okay?”

“Nothing's wrong. I just finished from the library and I found a lot of research about water spirits. There’s something I wanna show you.” He explained and Zaida calmed.

“Oh, okay. Well, did you want to come past Lydia’s?” The brunette offered and the redhead shot her a glare. “Yeah, I’ll see you soon.”

“Why did you invite him? It’s supposed to be girls' night, and he’s already always hanging around you at school.” Lydia complained.

“Well someone has to while you’re off with Allison.” Zaida defended, pressing play on the movie.

“You could come with us too, you just don’t want to.” Lydia pointed out. “Which, again, is totally valid.”

“Relax, he was researching water spirits at the library and he thinks he found something.” The brunette brushed it off. “After Xander’s library was a bust, I’m desperate for answers. How’s the Bestiary translation going, by the way?”

After their quest at the Argents’ the other day, Lydia and Zaida had snuck into the apartment to snoop through Xander’s things, only to find no new information in his mythology books. The redhead had been tasked with translating the full Bestiary, searching for anything on water spirits as she went. “Nothing yet.” Lydia shook her head.

They were just at the part of the movie where Katniss and Peeta were conducting the final interview after winning the games when the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” Zaida offered and hopped off the couch to answer the front door.

“Hey,” Stiles’ chest heaved as he stood before her, clutching a stack of papers to his chest that threatened to slip from his hands. He must have rushed straight there from the library. Zaida ushered him in and shut the door behind him.

“Woah,” Lydia commented with wide green eyes as the brunette returned to the living room with Stiles and the boy dumped his printed research down on the coffee table. “How did Mrs Lawson let you print that much?”

“She didn’t, I had to pay a few ninth graders to print parts of it for me.” He shrugged and spread the papers over the table in messy clumps, dropping to his knees.

“Okay, wait, let me categorise it while you explain.” Zaida shook her head and started sorting it all into piles, separating them by different culture’s mythology, taking a seat on the fluffy carpet beside him.

“Well I was looking up nymphs throughout Greek mythology, and I found one called-” Stiles began.

“Callisto?” Lydia interrupted. “Yeah, we already figured that out.”

“Yes, but did you see this?” The boy pulled a paper out of Zaida’s hands and ignored her protest. He pointed at the passage as he read it aloud. “The story of Callisto is one which was told and retold over many hundreds of years, and as a result, there are various versions of the myth, but commonly, Callisto was said to be the daughter of the impious King Lycaon and the Naiad Nonacris.”

“So not just a nymph, but a water nymph.” Zaida nodded.

“That can’t be a coincidence,” Lydia added. “We were right, it runs in your mom’s family.”

“If she was like me, she had to have learned to control it somehow.” Zaida’s mind whirred as she wondered aloud. “Her research might still be in her things.”

“Could you ask your mom’s parents? You lived with them back in San Francisco, right?” The redhead suggested but Zaida shook her head.

“I lived with my dad’s parents. My maternal grandparents stopped talking to my mom before I was born. I never met them.” She explained. “Xander packed up all of Mom and Dad’s things, but he hasn’t touched the beach house. He didn’t have the heart to. With all of the moving around, it was the one place that was constant. We’d go every year. Neither of us has stepped foot there since…it happened.”

“You still want to go?” Stiles asked, his kind eyes resting on her.

“I think this only proves that we need to go.” Zaida nodded, taking in a deep breath. “The only question that matters now is ‘when’ .”

“I know it’s still a couple of months away, but we could go on Summer break?” Stiles offered. “We could tell our parents we’re going on a group trip away for a few days?”

“And you think they’d let a few sixteen-and-seventeen-year-olds go on a trip alone?” Zaida snorted. “That’s likely. Plus, I don’t know if I want anyone else to know just yet. I’m still figuring it out.”

“We could go, just you and me. A girl’s trip. My mom wouldn’t care, and it’s not like my dad would ever find out.” Lydia shrugged, and Zaida noticed the disappointment in Stiles’ eyes, causing her stomach to twist again in that uncomfortable way. “I seem to be the only one of your friends that Xander actually likes, so he should be okay with it, especially if it means you getting away from Beacon Hills and the supernatural for a bit.”

“That might actually work,” Zaida agreed, feeling a twinge of guilt. Stiles had clearly wanted to come. Whether to help her or to spend time with Lydia, Zaida wasn’t sure, but Xander certainly would grow suspicious if Stiles were coming. Pretty much everyone now knew that Zaida and Stiles were the detective duo of the group, including him.

“Okay, it’s a plan.” Lydia nodded. “In the meantime, you just need to keep practising what you already know.”

“That reminds me,” Zaida’s hazel eyes lit up and she crossed her legs excitedly, shutting her eyes and lifting her hand, palm facing up. After a few moments of concentration she connected to that stream of energy, feeling the now familiar buzz against her skin, and she pulled.

Stiles and Lydia waited with bated breath, watching as the air seemed to shimmer, only for them to realise it was light reflecting off tiny particles of solidifying vapour. It turned to a haze of mist, and then further still into a solid sphere of water hovering in the air above Zaida’s hand. A small smile danced on Zaida’s lips as she felt it working, and she poured power through the connection, pulling and pushing at certain particles until the sphere shifted and shaped, the mass turned into a milky white that spread as she brought the temperature down. When she was done, a solid ice lotus blossom was left, slowly descending until it landed in her palm. When Zaida opened her eyes, Stiles and Lydia’s dropped jaws greeted her.

“It’s beautiful!” The redhead cooed.

“Just wait until you see my next trick,” Zaida smirked and placed the ice sculpture on the table, training her eyes on it with laser-like focus. This time she brought both of her hands up, her palms facing the sky to gather the vapour into another sphere. This time, she snapped her palms inward, facing parallel to each other, and the water obeyed her will, spreading into a paper-thin vertical wall. She sent it flying at the lotus and the pressure of the substance sliced straight through it and dispersed. The two halves dropped apart with a thud.

“That was freaking awesome .” The boy gaped at her.

“Like a water jet cutter.” Lydia realised, recalling the high-pressure gurney that was powerful enough to cut through metals.

“Exactly,” Zaida beamed excitedly. As it turned out, she could do a lot more with her powers than she initially thought.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Stiles pursed his lips as she watched Zaida lift her duffel bag over her shoulder and step out of the Jeep and onto the pavement in front of the apartment block.

“No, but I know I can’t avoid him forever. I knew I needed to go back eventually.” She answered with a heavy gulp. “It’s the best time to, now that everything has settled down.”

“If you change your mind, give me a call and I can be right here to pick you up.” He promised her and she smiled at him gratefully, turning towards the front door with one last wave goodbye.

Her nervousness bubbled within her stomach as she climbed the stairs up to the apartment, and slid her key into the lock, swinging the door open. Her footsteps seemed to echo as she crept through the short entryway corridor and stepped into the open living area to find Xander standing on the other side of the kitchen bench, staring at her in shock. He was half frozen, his hand paused in mid-air as he raised his coffee mug to his lips.

“Well, this is unexpected.” He drawled, placing his mug back on the bench.

“Don’t think just because I’m coming home that it means things are okay. I’m still not talking to you.” She snapped at him, her anger boiling once more at the sight of him. She was unable to see anything other than his lies when she looked at him.

“You just did.” He pointed out and gritted her teeth.

“I’m not in the mood. I don’t want anything to do with you. You saw how angry I got about you lying to me when I found out about Mom and Dad. You had the chance to tell me the truth about everything, but you didn’t. Did you really expect this to go any other way?” She scoffed.

“If you want the truth, then sit down and listen.” He nodded towards the bench stools across from him and she shot him a sceptical expression. “I won’t hold back. You’ve made it clear you’ve made your choice, no matter what I say, and I can’t force you to do anything. Maybe telling you the full truth will make you realise things from my perspective.”

“I sincerely doubt that,” Zaida narrowed her eyes at him, but slipped onto a stool regardless, unable to resist the allure of new information.

“We’re a lot more alike than you think, Zay.” He sighed and leaned against the bench, taking a long swig of his coffee. “Everything that you did to investigate? I already did it. I worked hard to become an officer and as soon as I made it, I checked the documents and noticed exactly what you did. I knew it was a murder, and I knew it was a werewolf. I had a list of suspects, too. ”

“You knew about the supernatural from back then?” Zaida’s brows furrowed and she leaned further in her chair, listening intently.

“Yeah, I knew. I knew since I was a kid. You were too young to remember, but Mom and Dad were part of a pack since college and they were always around. They all thought that I might be…special. That maybe I was just like our mother. Just like you. But I wasn’t. In our family, it’s never the men. We just carry the gene. It’s the women it presents in - and even then, not in all of them. It’s rare. The fact that you and Mom both had it without it having to skip generations is almost unheard of, even in supernatural circles.” Xander revealed as he continued with his story. “When you started to get older, Mom sensed that you were like her, and she didn’t want to be involved anymore, because she didn’t want you getting involved. So they decided to keep your powers a secret and leave the pack. For all I knew at the time, that was it. And for a while it was. The pack respected their wishes. Until they didn’t.”

“All the moving around…” Zaida realised with wide eyes. They were being hunted and she’d never even known.

“They tracked us for years until they finally found out about the beach house. I thought all of them did it together until I started hunting them down only to realise they were already dead. All of them, but one. I knew him as Duke. I tried looking for him, but it was as if he didn’t exist. I tried tracking him down through other wolves and in doing so, I met Chris Argent. He saved my life and took me under his wing, and I’ve been a Hunter since. He taught me everything I know.”

“If Mom and Dad were so careful about moving, why would we keep going back there?” She interjected, not seeing the sense in it.

“Because she was connected to that beach. Naiads’ sources of power are the bodies of water they originate in. She needed to go back every now and then to keep her powers strong - to defend herself and us should the need for it arise. Once a year was already stretching it thin. It’s probably why she wasn’t powerful enough when Duke did come for her.” Xander answered sombrely.

“Is that why we haven’t been back?” Zaida’s muscles stiffened as the connection was drawn in her mind. “You think it’s there for me as well, right? You didn’t want my powers to manifest at all, did you? You were never going to tell me what I was, and you were hoping I’d never find out.”

“I knew what you are would put you in danger…paint a target on your back. Mom didn’t want this life for you because she knew it too. If Mom couldn’t protect herself and she had all that power, there was no way I would be able to protect you. So I trained and became a hunter so that if anything came for you, I’d be ready. I did it all to keep you safe. You’re all I have left. I couldn’t lose you too.”

“You were going to hide it all from me because someday I might be put in danger?” She stared at him in disbelief.

“Duke came for her because that’s what they do, Zaida. They aren’t like us. They are driven by their animalistic instincts and their need for power. Having a Naiad in their pack would give them that power and so much more.” Xander exclaimed, his frustrations with her rising.

“They aren’t all like that, you know.” She defended. “They’re still human. Some of them are good. Scott is good. He hasn’t hurt anybody.”

“Yet. But he will. They all do, eventually. That’s why we do what we do. We hunt those who hunt us.” He recited the hunter’s code. “He’ll end up like the rest of them one day. All we have to do is wait.”

“You’re wrong.” She insisted. She may not know Scott very well, but she didn’t need to know him well to know that the boy had a pure heart. Even when the situation called for it, he’d never caused harm that he could avoid. Even if it meant he’d be hurt.

“Are you willing to bet your life on that, Zaida?” Her brother challenged, expecting her to say no, or go silent.

“Yes,” She didn’t hesitate. “I have trusted all of them with my life and they haven’t let me down so far. Actually, funnily enough, the only person who has, was Allison - a Hunter .”

“I truly hope for your sake that you’re right, but I’m going to be there when you’re wrong.” He promised. “I might not be who you want me to be, but I will be what you need. One day, you’ll realise I was right.”

“Or maybe, you’ll realise you were wrong.” She shot back, getting up from her stool. “I’m involved in this, and I know you don’t like it, but you don’t have to. You just need to respect my decision.”

[thealtoduck]

Finnick falling for a Capitol citizen…

Finnick Odair x Male Reader

Warnings: Implied smut

Summary: You meet Finnick at a Capitol party and you have a Cinderella moment and then your life flips upside down…

Requested by Anon

y/p = your profession

——

The party was terrible, it was boring, the people there were either sleezy snobs, high society wannabes or just general assholes.

But why were you there then one might ask. Well first off your dad is a part of the high society in the Capitol and second you were a famous y/p and you had gotten a personal invitation from President Snow which isn’t something one just ignores (or atleast if they wanna stay alive).

So you put on the nicest clothes in your closet and sucked it up and went to the party. When you entered it was like watching a sea of rainbow colored wigs as you descended the staircase down to the ballroom.

What you didn’t know was that you had caught a pair of sea green eyes at your arrival. Finnick (to his annoyance) was also there on the ”request” of President Snow and he was just as unhappy as you were to be there. But seeing you had gave him some hope for the night.

You tried to stay in a corner away from the crowd but people somehow still managed to find you, you wouldn’t have minded if the people were actually interesting but instead you were forced to listen to a bunch of blabber about what clothes people were planning on buying, what parties they were currently invited and of course what famous people were there.

From what they told you there was everything from designers, victors and even the beloved Caesar Flickeman present at the party.

You were close to leaving until someone walked towards you with a smirk spread on his tanned face. ”Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” said Finnick Odair.

Before you had the time to say anything Finnick had grabbed your hand and planted a light kiss and said ”It’s a pleasure to finally meet you Y/n, i’ve heard a lot about you”. You noticed he was doing his flirty voice, the kind he always used in interviews to try to appeal to the capitol but you decided to play along as had nothing better to do.

”Only good things i hope” you answered in the same kind of flirty voice. ”Some good things and some things that could make even President Snow blush”.

After those words one of the best nights of your began.

You and Finnick started by going to the bar to get drinks where you small talked and got to know each other, he continued with his flirting which happily returned.

Then when a slow song came on he brought you out on dance floor where the two of you held each other close as some people looked at you jealously for getting the the attention of THE Finnick Odair and some people looked at you as if you were royalty and they were about to bow down.

So basically you were the belle of the ball on this occasion.

After the slow dance Finnick whispered quietly ”Wanna get out of here and go back to my place”. ”Absolutely” you answered and followed Finnick outside.

Let’s just say things got wild that night between the two of you, in a way that could only be described by these Ariana Grande lyrics ”Can’t you stay up all night fuck me ’til the daylight”.

The day after you father confronted you and told you that you couldn’t see Finnick anymore because you shoudn’t be associated with someone who isn’t a Capitol citizen.

So of course you didn’t listen and saw Finnick anyway in secret.

You were saddend though after he returned to district 4 leaving you all alone in the Capitol.

But he came back… sooner than expected because he had been reaped to compete in the quarter quell. In which the tributes were comprised by existing victors.

You were part of the group of Capitol citizens who wanted to stop games mostly so that Finnick wouldn’t die + so that Katniss girl wouldn’t die either since she had kinda started a revolution which was good.

So imagine how pleased you were when Plutarch and Haymitch approached you and gave you the opputunity to help get Katniss (and Finnick if possible) out of the arena.

You immediately helped with whatever you could to get everything ready.

And when Katniss finally destroyed the arena you were right there to help pick her up as well as Finnick.

As the Hovercraft flew away from the burning arena that was falling apart you thought to yourself ”Time for a revolution”.

[musingsbetweenthepages]

Books I keep DNF-ing

I decided I’d make a post of the top 5 books I keep struggling to get through and keep setting down. There have been a lot of books, one of which is from a series so I’ll mention the series as several of the books made me put them down repeatedly before forcing myself to make it through them. I really hate dnf-ing books but sometimes it can’t be helped. I’ve learned to embrace when it happens and to roll with the punches.

1.) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Okay I know sooooo many people love this book, my mom and sister included. However, every single time I read it, I quit at the same point because it was moving too slow and plodding along with nothing interesting going on. I know it’s almost sacreligious to dislike this book so much. But after the 9th attempt over a spread of 5 years, I just had to hand it to myself that I don’t like Jane Austen’s writing, nor her most famous novel that everyone seems to love. Maybe some time in the future I can attempt again and maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to finish it!

2.) The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas

Yep. I can already hear your pitch forks being sharpened as the hoard starts running to gut me. But hey, I got to book five before calling it quits officially. The first book took me about two tries to make it through because some of the stupidest things kept going on for “tension,” the main character was completely unlikable and the focus kept shifting off of the tension of the competition to stupid shit (like Callie throwing a fit and tearing her room apart because she’s not perfect at playing billiards when there’s a killer on the loose). This series has potential as shown in book two. But book three and the introduction of the new love interest after so many switches that I got whiplash, I couldn’t careless. Book four got skimmed and the introduction of manon from book three had kept me going. Shit was getting good, I’ll admit. However, the complete obliteration of the characters we once were introduced with were completely changed and Callie was completely unbearable for me. I stopped frankly because of her. There was never any challenges for the characters, especially her that would break her or make her change her attitude even a little. And her arrogance grew ten fold that I called it quits once I opened book five and saw exactly how heartless and arrogant she was. I’ve debated retrying this series but I’m not sure I’m up to the challenge.

3.) Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

This was a series that I was curious about with people having x-men like superpowers and only the most powerful having them. However, right upon the introduction, I didn’t care for the main character and the wannabe Katniss Everdeen costume she was wearing. As soon as all of the women were made out to be evil and the MC was tearing them down and apart for their looks, forcing the reader to dislike them, I grew to dislike this book. I stopped around the 30% point when the plot became obvious. I don’t mind things being obvious if they’re well-written, and this was not. It was clunky and awful and I decided to skip it and instead read someone’s snark of it so at least I could see how bad it got and to confirm my suspicions.

4.) The Young Elites by Marie Lu

I’ve tried this book several times. And what killed it every time was the heavy handed writing with trying to claim the main character was an antihero and evil. I couldn’t buy it because it was never really shown. It was just told over and over and over again. Adding in the obvious ripping of the Assassins Creed game series, and I was annoyed as there was a lack of originality that actually made sense and stepped away from the source material it was derived from. Every time I tried to read it, all I kept thinking was how the book needed to be worked on more and that the finished product felt like a cheap imitation of what it could have eventually become. Either way, this was a book that kept getting set aside.

5.) Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Okay I’ll admit that I didn’t really like the first book when it came out, but I devoured it because it was entertaining fluff. I liked how the MC was learning to be strong, to be brave and trust herself. And then this book came out and I was ready to shove it down my garbage disposal regardless that it was a library book! The complete 360 of the MCs personality threw me completely and after about 50% of the book of her making reckless decisions that were getting people killed, I threw in the towel. I tried again a few months later and the same thing happened. This book infuriated me to no end that I gave up ever finishing this series.

If you like this kind of post, give me a thumbs up. I’m working on creating more posts tied to books, to get more into writing on this blog since I’m still new at this whole ordeal. I’m a little tired of Nanowrimo already as my story hit a block that I can’t get over, so instead I’ll be working on creating more posts and content on here! Might as well put the writing motivation to some good use besides all of my college papers lol 😄

[everlarkbirthdaygifts]

Happy Birthday, greetingsfromthenorthernsea!

Today, we wish a belated Happy Birthday to @greetingsfromthenorthernsea! We apologise for the delay on your gift, and hope your birthday back on December 9 was a lovely one full of cake and presents! To bring the party back, the lovely @wildlyglittering has written a story for you!

Title: Christmas Countdown

Gift For: greetingsfromthenorthsea

Rating: T

Note: Some innuendo and mild swearing

Katniss pressed the heel of her palms into her eyes and took a deep breath in. Little lights fuzzed behind her eyelids and she took a moment to observe the patterns they made.

Doing this was still preferable to watching Frozen for the third time that day. She had a thirty second respite before she heard her name being called from down the hall. Well, not her actual name but the one that she went by most commonly these days.

“Mama!”

Katniss let out a wavering sigh. “Mama’s in the bathroom,” she called out.

A thump hit the back of the closed door. “Mama,” the voice called again. “Mama...” and Katniss could hear an edge of desperation sink into their tone and could just picture the look of utmost injury on their face at the bathroom door being shut.

With another sigh, Katniss opened the door. It was Ellis, just as she thought. Her son looked up at her and smiled. Katniss couldn’t help but beam back. How could she not? Not when her youngest son looked up at her like she hung the moon.

She bent down and planted a kiss on top of his little golden head. “You get that look from your father,” she told him but he just kept grinning, no clue what she was talking about.

“Mama needs the bathroom,” she said standing up and turning around to the toilet but she knew trying to explain privacy to an eighteen-month-old, and the world’s most needy eighteen-month-old at that, was a completely redundant exercise. Instead she just abandoned all sense of dignity and sat down to pee in front of him. Again.

    Ellis wandered over to her as she sat and pressed a chubby hand against her naked knee. His grin was a million dollars, like watching his mother peeing in the downstairs toilet was his most favourite thing to do. Katniss was beginning to wonder if it was. “You know,” she said, reaching out to touch one of his waves, enjoying the soft feeling between her fingertips, “it’s going to be really weird if you’re still into this when you’re eighteen.”

The sounds of ‘Let It Go’ travelled down the hallway and through the open door. The powerful vocals of Idina Menzel were joined by the equally powerful vocals of Daisy Mellark who obviously felt that her love of Elsa could not be known by the entire household unless she was projecting it at her highest volume.

“Mama...” Ellis whinged around his dummy.

“I know baby, but she’ll grow out of it in around ten years or so.”

Ellis tried to clamber up onto her lap but she had to hold him back, “No, no. Not while Mama’s peeing.”

“Mama....” the whinge got louder.

There was a shuffling down the hallway and a new body appeared in the doorframe. “Alright sweetheart.”

Katniss refrained from rolling her eyes. She was going to kill Haymitch. For reasons unknown to mankind, her other eighteen-month-old son had emulated their next-door neighbour out of some misplaced adoration and that involved parroting back ninety percent of what he said. Hearing Ellis say ‘Mama’ a thousand times a day was nothing compared to the quantity of that phrase coming out of the eldest twin’s mouth.

At least Jesse wasn’t helping himself to their liquor cabinet. Katniss looked over at where her eldest son was standing and raised an eyebrow. Why was that boy always naked?

Jesse sauntered in, clearly wanting to join in on the commotion. “Baby,” Katniss began, “where are your clothes?” Ellis took her moment of distraction as an opportunity to climb on her lap and did so with heft, grabbing at her top. Katniss manoeuvred him so that he was on one leg.

Jesse just shrugged, “Dunno,” and Katniss felt the urge to murder Haymitch rise up in her again. Her eldest boy looked at her with his wide grey eyes, eyes that he shared with his twin and his mother and Katniss could see the question whirring in them.

“Come on,” she sighed but before she had even spoken Jesse was already climbing up onto the other leg. She sat there, tying to pee, with the bathroom door wide open and with a toddler on each leg. One naked and mildly fidgety and the other one clothed but extremely fidgety.

“What’s happening?” All three heads turned to the door where a three-year-old Elsa wannabe was standing with her hands on her hips, clearly disgruntled as though she was being left out of a magnificent party.

Katniss hadn’t heard the singing stop or any footsteps walk down the hall. The eldest Mellark child had inherited Katniss’ light tread which had already resulted in some very embarrassing situations, especially when she would just randomly turn up in Katniss and Peeta’s bedroom.

“Mama’s trying to pee, Dais,” Katniss told her but was met with a petulant frown. Daisy stomped into the room, red wellies under her princess dress.

“I want to go outside.”

“Not right now,” Katniss said, “let Mama finish using the bathroom.”

The Elsa crown that slumped down over a head of black hair made for a pitiful sight but the bright blue eyes that stared up at Katniss’ face started filling with tears which only made it more pitiful.

Oh shit, Katniss thought. They were about to be the lucky guests to a proper royal tantrum.

“Off,” yelled Daisy and she grabbed at Ellis’ foot and tried to yank him from Katniss’ leg. This resulted in Ellis grabbing onto his mothers’ t-shirt with extra force, stretching the fabric. He began to wail.

“Daisy!” Katniss admonished her. “Don’t do that to your brother!”

Daisy’s eyes filled even harder and then she opened her mouth, a matching wail echoing around the bathroom.

“Horsey!” Jesse was filled with sudden, exuberant delight and began to bounce on Katniss’ leg as though he had just realised he should be making maximum use of this opportunity.

Katniss groaned and threw her head back.

Four days to go.

****

“I’ll be back home earlier tomorrow,” she heard Peeta say, “I’ve managed to get cover at the bakery for the afternoon.”

A large hand palmed the back of her head and smoothed down her hair. As his hand travelled past her neck she could feel his fingers gently massage some of the knots he found there. She sighed into the pillow where she had been laying, face down, since putting the children to bed.

Katniss turned her head and looked up at her husband and they made eye contact, offering each other tired smiles. “Are you sure?” she asked him. “Won’t they need you there?”

Peeta shrugged, his fingers threading through her un-braided hair, the soft tugging motions relaxing her scalp. She could feel her eyes grow heavy.

“I think you need me here,” he said with a grin but Katniss could see the dark circles under his eyes. The weeks leading up to Christmas at the bakeries were the worst. They owned three now, which was wonderful, but exhausting. Peeta managed one of the bakeries on a daily basis whilst the other two stores had managers. Unfortunately, one of those had unexpectedly quit a week ago so Peeta was dividing up his time between the Seam and Merchant branches whilst trying to check in on the third in the Hob.  

“Come here,” she said and reached out her hand to touch his face. The rough stubble on his jaw scratched against her hand and she had a sudden desire to feel it scratching somewhere else. Peeta turned his face into her hand and kissed her palm and she tugged him down so he lay beside her.

They faced each other on the bed, his blue eyes, so like their daughters, looking into her grey ones. She smiled to herself, she was right about what she thought earlier, Peeta looked at her like she hung the moon.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she replied. “That one of our sons has slightly voyeuristic bathroom tendencies, that the other is a miniature Haymitch in the making with a dash of nudism thrown in and that our daughter won’t be happy until she has full run of the house.”

Peeta grinned, “Is Jesse still ‘alright sweet-hearting’ you?”

“Twenty times today. I counted. Which was probably thirty times less than Ellis yelling ‘Mama.’”

Peeta yawned and rolled over onto his back, tugging Katniss with him so that she was pulled against his chest. “Its because you’re Ellis’ most favourite person.” He smoothed a hand down Katniss spine. “I don’t blame him, because you’re my most favourite person.”

“You don’t follow me into the bathroom every opportunity you get.”

“Oh, but if I only could!”

“Pervert,” she tapped his chest with her hand but giggled.

“In fact, I feel like engaging in some slightly voyeuristic bathroom tendencies myself. Fancy taking a shower?” His eyebrows rose suggestively.

“So that you can watch or join?”

“Hmmm,” he trailed off, eyes looking thoughtful. “We’ll start with the first so I can judge you on your lathering technique and then we’ll move on to the latter so I can show you how it’s properly done.”

Katniss sat up on her elbow to look at him, her black hair falling down like a curtain. They were both tired; she felt it and he looked it. They should probably both just get some much-needed sleep.

She grinned at him, “Fine. But I’m not very good at lathering. I’m going to need lots of training.”

Peeta grinned back and pulled her mouth down to his.

****

“Oh god.” Katniss was face down on the bed again but this time she was trying to pull the pillow up over her ears. She had been woken up by Peeta’s four am alarm and the sound of wailing, both occurring simultaneously. Neither were welcome.

“I’ll get him,” Peeta’s voice, thick and muffled with sleep, spoke out beside her.

“No,” she grunted. “You’ve got to get ready for work. It’ll be me he wants anyway.”

Peeta managed a comforting pat on her head, the best he could do at the ungodly hour, and Katniss felt the bed shift and the floorboard creak as he shuffled off to the bathroom.

“Ugh,” she groaned, the volume muffled by the pillow before she flipped onto her back and swung her legs over the side. Zombie Mama was all she could manage.

Out of all her children it was Ellis that was the clingiest and it was Ellis that would only be soothed by his mother. Both Katniss and Peeta knew it was a short phase he would grow out of but that didn’t mean that Katniss wasn’t counting down the days until he did.

He was standing in his crib, fat tears dripping down his round face when she entered. “Hey, baby,” she murmured softly to him, mindful of the other sleeping person in the room. Ellis’ loud sobs begun to quiet immediately but the tears still fell as he blinked.

“Oh, look at that lip,” she whispered. His bottom lip trembled as she tiptoed across the carpet and picked him up from his crib. He was soft and warm, his sleep shirt riding up to reveal a chubby little tummy and a popped-out bellybutton.  Ellis buried his face in her neck and she planted a kiss on his head.

Despite his grizzling, he was so fricking adorable. “Ssshh,” she soothed and stroked down his hair, its waves sticking up in random directions. “Let’s go downstairs.”

Katniss glanced at where Jesse was sleeping in the other crib. He could sleep through any journey, his sisters’ singing and his brothers’ screaming and for that she would be eternally grateful. Somehow, he had managed to wiggle his way out of his sleeping clothes and night time Huggies and was completely nude and sleeping like a starfish, legs and arms spread as wide as possible. Katniss shook her head and grinned.

As she walked past she reached through the bars and gently touched his foot, rubbing the pad of her thumb against the arch. Jesse didn’t move at all, just smacked his lips a few times and grunted.

She grinned again, making her way into the hallway. Katniss poked her head into Daisy’s room to find her in the same state as Jesse, fast asleep with dark hair splayed over her lemon pillow and drool dribbling from the corner of her mouth.

In the kitchen she put Ellis in his highchair and turned on the Christmas tree they had at the side. The lights danced across the countertops and ceiling and as he watched, transfixed, Katniss took the moment to brew her and Peeta a coffee.  

Heavy steps thudded down the stairs and Katniss thanked the stars that it was another thing two out of three of her children could sleep through.

“Morning,” Peeta said, his voice sounding less thick and much chirpier. He planted a kiss on the top of Ellis’ head, his blonde hair falling over his son’s identical locks, and Ellis grinned up at him, momentarily broken from the Christmas lights spell. “And morning to Mama,” he said, standing next to her at the counter and gave her a deep kiss.

“Mmm,” she replied, “I have morning breath.”

“Ah, I don’t care.” Peeta left hand reached for the coffee as his right traced down her back and curved over her ass, giving it a rub.

“You are far too awake,” she told him but smiled anyway.

“And you are far too irresistible,” he winked and gave her ass cheek a squeeze.

She looked back at the highchair but Ellis had already gone back to being mildly hypnotised. Now, if only he would continue that through the day.

****

Three days to go.

Katniss wondered if daytime drinking was always a bad thing. Haymitch managed it on a daily basis so she figured it couldn’t be that bad but then again, Haymitch wasn’t trying to manage three under-threes.

“No, no, no!” She reached forward and managed to grab Ellis with one arm and hold the tree upright with the other. He’d gone running towards it with a gleeful squeal and yanked at one of the lower branches. It teetered towards him and Katniss managed to dash in before he got a face full of tree. Not that he cared. Ellis let out a wail and dropped through her arm like a stone, his arms outstretched in outrage.

“Oh, Ellis,” Katniss uttered as he rolled on the floor. “Mama couldn’t let you pull the tree down.” He continued to lay face down on the floor and sobbed into the rug. Katniss wondered how it would look if she joined him.

There was an irritated sigh from behind her and she turned around to see Daisy sat on the couch like a queen holding court. Jesse sat next to her, his finger up his nose as he swung his legs off the side. “Mama move,” she said. “I’m trying to watch Elsa.”

“Dais,” Katniss’ voice was stern, “you don’t tell people to move. It’s rude.”

“But Mama...”

“No buts Daisy, we’ve spoken about being rude before.” Her and Peeta had been told by Daisy’s preschool teacher that their daughter was a confident, outspoken child who enjoyed singing, talking, drawing and domineering. Both her and Peeta had winced, especially as they were told that the last talent often resulted in a level of curtness that wasn’t always endearing.    

“I don’t want you to tell Santa,” Daisy said and a lip begun to quiver.

Katniss sighed and knelt in front of her daughter, putting her hand on her knee. “Mama needed to stop Ellis pulling down the tree.”

The lip still quivered. “You just needed to wait until Mama was done.”    

The lip still quivered. Katniss sighed. Normally there would be more conversation about rudeness and manners but she had been up since four and it was hours from nap time and that was even if she could even get them to nap. “We’ll watch some more Frozen and then have some lunch, ok?”

“Ok,” Daisy’s lip instantly stopped trembling pathetically and Katniss couldn’t help but think she just got played.

“Ok,” she repeated with a sigh and stood up, careful not to tread on her still wailing son. She bent down and picked him up, balancing him on her lip before wiping away his tears. The doorbell rang and Katniss took a quick look around. One child in her arms and two on the couch. Fine.

The delivery man just needed a signature for the parcel but all it took was a minute out of sight. A crash resounded from the lounge and Katniss muttered, ‘shit,’ before she could think. Running back in she saw the tree upturned on its side, baubles and ornaments strewn all over the floor.

Jesse stood beside the tree, a strand of glittery tinsel in his hand. He looked up at her with a guilty expression, “Uh-oh Mama. Uh-oh.”

****

“This is the cutest thing I’ve ever come home to.”

“Shut up,” Katniss murmured but there was no bite in her tone. She opened an eyelid to see Peeta standing at the end of their bed, grinning. “You have no idea what I’ve done in order to achieve this.”

“Nyquil?” Peeta offered up with a smile and Katniss rolled her eyes.

“I wish it had even been that easy.”

Earlier Katniss had stood in the doorway staring at the downed tree, with a sobbing toddler on one hip, a shamefaced toddler who looked like he was about to start crying plus another toddler who huffed, again, at her movie being interrupted and felt her eye begin to twitch.

“Ok,” she had said. “We’re all going to have lunch. And then we’re going to put the tree back up and then we’re going to play a game.” And then, she had thought, I’m going to make sure you take a nap because dear god, Mama needs one.

Somehow, by a Christmas miracle, they had eaten with minimal fuss, messily slapped the decorations back on the branches and ran around outside for an hour until their faces were pink with the cold. A warm, milky drink later and they were all piled on Katniss and Peeta’s bed with Katniss squished in between Daisy and Jesse as Ellis lay on her torso.

Peeta yawned and ran a flour covered hand through his hair. “Do you think?” he asked. “That there’s room for Daddy?”

Katniss smiled at him, “There’s always room.”

Peeta sighed and slid onto the bed, carefully making sure not to jostle the small, sleeping bodies. He leaned forward and gave Katniss a soft kiss before resting back. A large hand stretched out and stroked the nearest child’s hair.

“A parcel arrived for you today,” she told him. “Looked like your mother’s handwriting.”

Peeta grunted and closed his eyes. “Awesome.”

“I wonder if she’s included one of her ‘infamous’ letters.”

“Probably.”

“Maybe she’ll suggest a vasectomy again.”

Peeta groaned, “The last thing I have ever wanted in life is my mother putting that much thought into what happens to my penis.”

Katniss shifted slightly, the weight of Ellis beginning to press down on her. He stirred and she smoothed a hand over his warm back. “She does seem unnaturally concerned.”

“She needs to mind her own business.”

“Well she thinks we are her business. She thinks we can barely cope with three children.”

Peeta cracked an eye open and frowned. “Just because she couldn’t, doesn’t mean we can’t.”

“They all happened in rather quick succession...” Katniss whispered, trailing off.

“Hey,” Peeta said, his voice low and warm. “We’re doing great. This is just Christmas madness. And besides,” he stretched and his jumper rode up revealing a slither of skin and a dark blonde happy trail, “it’s not my fault you can’t keep your hands off of me.”

“That’s not true,” she said with a blush and tore her eyes away.

“Sure,” he said with a low chuckle and leant forward again to place another soft kiss on her lips.

There was a little giggle and they both looked down to see Daisy’s wide-open eyes looking at them from where she was curled into Katniss’ side. “Ew,” she giggled again, “kissing.”

Peeta raised an eyebrow. “You think this is gross, do you? Well then...” and with a practiced move he sat up and lifted his daughter from the bed, swung her over to his chest, dangled her backwards and began planting kisses onto her face. Daisy shrieked with delight, her legs kicking in the air. “Noooo,” she laughed, her small hands fisting clumps of Peeta’s hair.

That did it. The two boys were awake, their grey eyes wide and looking momentarily confused before they realised the source of the noise was coming from their sister.

“Yeahhhh!” yelled out Jesse and Katniss watched as he stood and launched himself at Peeta. Ellis sat up on Katniss’ belly and just stared at the rumble. Peeta fell back onto the bed with Daisy on his chest as Jesse continued the attack on his neck.

“What do you say?” Katniss said to her youngest, over the sound of the shrieks and yells. “If we can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” And with that Katniss lifted Ellis into her arms and threw herself into the mix.

****

There had been more snowfall overnight and it had settled onto the ground, blanketing everything with a soft, white powder. Katniss loved how it looked; the way it glittered and sparkled in the winter sun.

She’d managed to sleep in a bit later than usual although she still woke to say goodbye to Peeta. He wasn’t able to be home early today but that was ok, she was planning on taking the kids to him. All three had managed to sleep a bit later as well before she was eventually woken by a completely nude Jesse who somehow had managed to get naked and get out of his crib.

He had stood in front of her, with his blonde, unruly waves of hair sticking out in all directions and his chubby little tummy with his little popped out belly button on show, demanding breakfast.

Katniss had grabbed him and covered his face with kisses, just as Peeta had done with Daisy the day before. I want to keep you all with me for always, she had thought and then proceeded to try and convince them to eat their eggs before they could play outdoors.

“Alright sweetheart,” the gravelly voice called out over the fence. “How’s mama hen doing with all her chicks?”

Katniss turned from where she stood watching Ellis scoop snow into his mouth and from where Daisy was frowning with snowman building concentration to look at their neighbour. There was an exuberant cry from her right. “Haymitch!” Jesse called and begun to stomp on over.

“We’re clucking along,” she told him. “I’ll be taking them to see Peeta later.”

“The boy still working?” Haymitch asked and Katniss nodded.

“Yeah, it’s a busy time.”

“Well if you need some ‘quality time’ together, I’ll reluctantly take the rugrats from you.”

Katniss looked over at Haymitch but he was grinning down at Jesse who in turn, was grinning back. Reluctantly? Not a chance. When they first moved in with a new-born Daisy they introduced themselves to Haymitch who made some comment about children and noise but Katniss had seen the way his face softened when he looked at the baby.

Peeta had a way of making people open up, a charm that Katniss didn’t possess and he had told her that he’d discovered Haymitch had once been married. Something had gone wrong when she was giving birth to their first baby and Haymitch had lost both. That’s why he drinks a lot, Peeta had said. That, and I think he’s lonely.

“Last time you took the ‘rugrat’s,’” Katniss replied, “Jesse came back with a whole new phrase and Daisy believed it was fine to draw on walls.”

Haymitch shrugged, “Not my fault if I encourage creative expression.”

“Hmm,” she muttered. “You still coming over Christmas Day?”

There was a groan from Haymitch and she watched as he lifted a glass filled with deep amber liquid to his mouth and took a long sip. “If I must sweetheart. Though I can think of better ways to spend my day than playing dress up.”

“You looked adorable last time you were Anna.”

Haymitch shot her a look and she winked at him. He would come over on Christmas Day this year like he had last year, and the year before and the year before that. He would moan about it but would be there before nine in the morning with arms filled with presents, just like last year, and the year before and the year before that.

And besides, he looked rather fetching wearing a dress around his neck.

****

Just two more days. That was what she repeated in her head as she bundled the children into the car. Get through today and tomorrow and then it’s Christmas Day. It will all be normal then.

Getting them back inside had been a monumental task. Jesse had uncharacteristically started to cry when Haymitch had gone back indoors. “But baby,” she had told him, “it’s getting cold and we’re going indoors too.”

That had been met with an open-mouthed wail as tears splashed down his face. “HAYMIIIIIIITCH!”

Ellis had been so shocked that he paused his snow eating to stare. Then, rather characteristically, joined in.

Daisy just carried on patting snow onto her snowman, used to both brothers by now. Katniss took a deep breath. Soothing wasn’t working. Bribery wasn’t working. Nothing was working until she mentioned that they were going to go see Daddy.

It worked for Jesse who immediately stopped the waterworks at the thought of going to the bakery. He just gets bored, Katniss thought. He sees me and Ellis and Daisy all day, he just wants new faces. The bakery was one of the best places to take him, not just because he got to see Daddy or eat the treats but because the bakery girls gushed over the children and cooed over their blonde waves and said how pretty they all were. Jesse would grin and blow bubbles at them in his way of flirting.

After the twenty-minute drive Katniss finally pulled into a space outside the bakery. Peeta was at the Merchant site today and though it wasn’t her favourite site (the Hob premises held that place in her heart) she had to admit it was the prettiest.

Merchant Square was the ‘posh’ side of town, the place where the original Mellark bakery resided back in the 1800’s and it still held the charm of red bricked buildings, candy striped awnings and large shop windows with colourful displays.

None were more colourful than the current Mellark bakery display with piles of macarons, both in pastel and vibrant shades, the Christmas cakes with reindeer and Santa’s and cake-pops designed to look like baubles and Christmas puddings.

Katniss piled the twins into their double buggy and steered it with one hand whilst holding Daisy’s hand with the other. All three of them were wide eyed at what they could see and Katniss felt a little of her Christmas madness desperation melt away.

When they stepped into the bakery it was Rue that greeted them with a cheery smile and a wave and Katniss looked into the buggy to see Ellis stare and Jesse wave back with his trademark cheeky grin. Any minute now the bubbles would start. Daisy gave a bashful wave and crept closer to Katniss, pressing her face into Katniss’ leg.

“Hi guys!” Rue exclaimed. “Peeta’s out back, let me go get him.”

Katniss said her thanks and then started to get the kids settled into the seating booth at the front of the store. It didn’t take long before she heard the heavy tread of footsteps and a joyful, “Well if it isn’t my favourite people!”

There were at least two squeals and Katniss glanced up from settling Ellis to see Daisy run over to Peeta with Jesse hot on her heels. They both grabbed at him and buried their faces in his legs. With a pretend groan Peeta managed to swing them both up into his arms, one on each side, and he walked over. “Hey bud,” he said affectionately to Ellis and bent down to kiss his head. Then he turned to her and his voice dropped a slight notch, “Hey Mama.”

He placed a kiss on her lips and she heard Daisy giggle again. Both Peeta and the bakery smelt deliciously like cinnamon and ginger and a hint a spice. If they weren’t in public and surrounded by their offspring she probably would have stuck her nose in his neck and taken a deep breath.

Instead she offered him a demure, ‘hey’ but felt a rush of heat flood to her face as he winked at her. Maybe he was right, maybe she just couldn’t keep her hands off him. That would explain their family situation. Katniss snapped out of her small reverie to hear Peeta speaking. “...and if you sit down then you can have one.”

Rue brought over some drinks to the table and what looked like some cake-pops. Before she left to go back to the counter she squeezed Jesse’s hand and gushed about how cute he was. She received a shit eating grin from the toddler in question.  

“What is it that they can have?” Katniss asked as Peeta placed Jesse and Daisy into the seats opposite. They both reached over and grabbed at what Rue had put on the table while Ellis just scrunched a napkin in his fists.

“Only my finest bake for my finest customers,” and he winked at her again but this time Katniss was more worried about the excessive levels of sugar their children were about to consume.

“I don’t think they need more sweets...” she began but a gasp from Daisy cut her off.

“Look Mama,” she said, “It’s like Elsa!” A sparkly ice blue cake ball with tiny snowflakes sprinkled over the surface was being waved around on a stick. “It’s so pretty,” and her large blue eyes shone with awe.

Jesse’s was already in his mouth and half chewed, dribble coating his chin as he tried to make eyes at Rue behind the counter. Ellis now held one in his hand mushing it into paste but didn’t seemed inclined to eat it. At least one of her children wasn’t a crazed sugar monster.

“This one is for Mama,” Peeta said and handed one that was wrapped and sticking out of his pocket. It was a pair of Santa legs sticking out of a chimney. Peeta leant in and whispered in her ear, “If you want, I’ll slip down your chimney later.”

Katniss laughed and rolled her eyes good naturedly. That morning before he left for work he told her he was looking forward to stuffing her stocking. Sometimes her husband acted more like a horny teenager than a thirty something father of three. It was the sugar. He always got like this in the days before Christmas.

Peeta’s cheeky smile stretched across his face and highlighted his dimples. It was plain to see where their eldest son got it from. Katniss glanced down at the table and the three preoccupied children before leaning in to whisper in his ear. “Play your cards right and I’ll be licking your candy cane.”

****

“No,” she muttered to herself as she scrubbed the mix that had splattered onto the kitchen floor, “I do not want to build a sodding snowman.”

Frozen was on again. Which was fine because it gave Katniss a brief respite from an over tired, over excited three-year-old who – in a moment of hyperactivity – tore around the kitchen and knocked over the bowl of cake mix. Katniss had watched in horror as it spun into the air and crashed down onto the floor, milk, flour and eggs slopping onto the tiles.

“Uh-oh,” Jesse had said and helpfully came over to stand in the goop in order to point it out whilst Ellis, startled by the crash, began to cry.

At that point Katniss just released a long groan and closed her eyes. Santa was coming tonight and they were all too excited to sleep which made them increasingly more irritable. Their lack of sleep was making her increasingly more irritable as well and so, after the bowl hit the ground, she shunted them into the den just to get them away from her.

It was just one more day, she thought, and then it was Christmas and soon all would be right with the world once again.

The cloth she was dragging against the tiles was now completely saturated so she reached for another one. Her tiredness wasn’t just due to the children though, she knew that, but had been compounded by other factors. One of those factors was answering the phone early this morning to Peeta’s mother who demanded that she speak to her son at once. Whilst Katniss waited for Peeta to come downstairs in what was the longest thirty seconds of her life, she was admonished by her mother in law for ‘keeping her baby boy away from her.’

After three children, five years of marriage and three years of dating the matriarch of the Mellark family had never warmed to Katniss. In truth, Katniss had never warmed to her either but it still stung that after eight years and three grandchildren that she couldn’t view Katniss as anything other than a gold digging opportunist.

Mother Mellark was at least all sweetness and light for those grandchildren though - even though she thought that Katniss and Peeta shouldn’t have actually had any – and for that Katniss was grateful. Katniss and her own mother’s relationship struggled after Katniss’ dad died and then when Prim died a deep gulf appeared between the two that they could never bridge. What made it sadder was that neither wanted to.

That meant that Katniss and Peeta’s children grew up with limited grandparents and the ones that they did have either hated Katniss or were indifferent to her. That included Peeta’s father who was kind but too hen pecked to do anything about anything. At least they have Haymitch, she thought and wondered how needy it meant she was that she had actively encouraged their older, alcoholic neighbour to bond with her children.

At least, she thought again, he loves them. And then as it often happened this time of year another thought crept in. Prim would have loved them too. It was that thought that was the most sobering. It was that thought that had Katniss kneeling on the tiles and staring at the mess on the floor. Her chin started to wobble and she wondered if this was where Ellis had gotten it from.

She was so focused on her thoughts that Katniss didn’t hear the footsteps until two little bare feet appeared in her eyeline. Not that she would have heard them anyway, that child was a ninja.

“Mama?”

Katniss shook away her memories and looked at Daisy’s worried face directly in front of her. Her black hair spilled over her shoulders where the Elsa dress, which had managed to get hit by the mix, was sliding off. Daisy buried her fingers into the blue material and twisted whilst looking at Katniss with large, concerned blue eyes.

“Mama?” she asked again.

“Hey Dais,” Katniss said with a gentle smile. “Mama’s just cleaning up.”

“I’m sorry,” Daisy replied. “I didn’t mean to.”

“I know you didn’t, it’s ok.” And then because her daughter was obsessed with making sure that she was still on the ‘nice list’ Katniss added, “Santa’s still going to come tonight, don’t worry.”

For some reason that made Daisy frown. “I know Mama,” she said, with confidence that only a small child could have. “I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

“Oh Daisy,” Katniss felt something inside her chest twist, “you didn’t make me sad. I was just thinking about Aunty Prim that’s all.”

Daisy nodded. She’d heard about Aunty Prim often, Katniss had explained how she was Mama’s little sister that she loved very much that Mama missed her terribly and got sad thinking about her sometimes.

“You love Aunty Prim,” Daisy said, in a matter of fact manner.

“I do.”

“Do you love me?”

Katniss put the cloth down and stretched out her arms to her daughter, who eagerly walked into them. Daisy rested her head on Katniss’ shoulder and Katniss wrapped her arms around her, leaning her head onto her daughters, their black hair mingling. “I love you very much,” she told her. “Very very much.”

“Do you love Jesse?”

“Very much.”

“And Ellis?”

“Very much.”

There was a pause and Daisy continued, “Even though he cries all the time?”

A little giggle escaped from Katniss’ mouth. “Yes,” she said, “even though he cries all the time.”

“And do you love Daddy?”

“Very much.”

“Ok,” Daisy said and Katniss could feel her nodding. It was as though she had a check list of questions that she needed to make sure she had asked.

“Mama?”

“Yes?”

“I love you very very much too.”

****

“This is it,” Peeta excitedly said to her. “Children in bed, the milk and cookies are prepared and presents ready for distributing!”

“Don’t forget to take a bite from the cookies,” Katniss told him. “Or from the carrot, you know how they like to think the reindeer have eaten too.”

Peeta saluted her, “Gotcha!”

Katniss sat on their bed, her back resting against the headboard as she watched Peeta put the final touches on his outfit. The Santa hat had just gone on and he was just about to place the beard.

“Hey,” she asked him, “could you come here a sec?”

“Sure,” and he shuffled over in oversized red pants.

“I love you,” she told him and grabbed the red tunic yanking him towards her so that their mouths met.

“I love you too,” he said, his eyes all soft.

“I love our family,” she continued, “all of them. I love watching how they grow and develop their personalities and seeing what they like and don’t like. I love it. I even think I love how Haymitch loves us. I think I love Haymitch. He’s family too.”

Peeta looked perplexed, “Have you been on the eggnog? I mean confessing your love for our family sure, but I think this is the first time you have ever said Haymitch is family.”

“Well he is,” she shrugged. “Sometimes I think it can all be too much but then I think it will never be enough. If that makes sense?”

“Yeah,” Peeta reached out and tangled a lock of her hair in between his fingers, the dark strand wrapping around his pale skin. “I get you.”

They had a moment of quiet, Katniss sat on the bed in her nightclothes looking up at her husband while he glanced down at her in his Santa outfit. Her heart felt full in her chest.

“You know,” she said coyly, “maybe later I could sit in Santa’s lap?”

A sly grin spread over Peeta’s face, his dimples appearing in his cheeks. “That could be arranged but I think Santa will want to know if you’ve been naughty.”

“Oh definitely,” she said, “definitely naughty.”

“I’ll put a word in at the North Pole.”

Katniss giggled and grabbed his tunic again to bring him down for one more kiss before he went on Santa duty. There was something she wanted to do and even though it wasn’t Christmas morning it seemed right to do it now.

“I have a slightly early Christmas present for you,” she said to him and stood up to meet him face to face, hooking her arms around his neck. He looked at her with open, happy eyes that were just as blue as Daisy’s.

“I’m pregnant.”

[savvylark]

We Protect Each other: chapter 1

Katniss wins the 72nd Hunger Games at 14 years old with heavy sponsor support from a wealthy Capital family and slowly realizes that a path has been set before her. She is a piece in someone’s game and she needs to protect her new friends just as much as they need to protect her. Maybe even the good of the country?

My world was spinning around me. My deep purple dress flutters around me as I continue to act the part of a Victor. It was absolutely absurd to be standing in heels, who puts a 14 year in heels? This elaborate dress that probably costs more than it would to have fed an entire family from the Seam for a year is all anyone can see. Disgusting. Every single vapid person in this room seems to gush over how I look and ask me to twirl, like a performer that I apparently have become. I am Katniss Everdeen, 14 year old Victor of the 72nd Hunger Games. Here I am at the Capital surrounded by wealth and power, and I am supposed to play the part of the grateful victor at the most overdone party anyone has ever seen.

I’m not stupid, I know that I was only able to get myself so far in the games until my sponsors chose my fate. I owe them so much and it fills me with dread. My father taught me everything I know about survival, archery became means to support my family. How great of a debt it is to owe another person was also an important lesson I learn from my late father. Haymitch, my mentor, only touched on how big if a deal this is that I was so well sponsored. As a Victor I have certain expectations of me and essentially we have to wait for how those will be decided as I grow into adulthood. I dread to even imagine what that cryptic explanation meant. Whispers and gossip is rampant, wondering who sent me the bow in the arena, what the burn cream costed to heal this “Girl on Fire” and how I was able to poison the final tributes food, making me the lucky Victor. Effie is on a mission to find out the identity of greater benefactors.

“Katnissss, Darling!”

My escort greets me with a capital double cheek kiss. I force down a scowl and play along. She’s so fake it’s predictable.

“I can’t believe it but there’s a great deal of speciation and it seems your benefactors just may be…” She paused and looked around, then continues whispering.

“Just may be RELATIVES of President Snow, himself.”

Now my head is spinning. Effie looks at me with concern. This can not be good. Effie is over the top jovial at all times. If she is concerned this is a nightmare. I have no idea what to expect but I don’t want anything to do with anything and anyone related to President Snow. This is so,much worse than I thought

“I need… I-I-I need something to eat.” I blurt out as I hastily bolt to the dinning room the size of our town square in district 12 with tables filled with delicacies. Of course I am inundated with capital men and women of all every kind. Bightly colored. Dyed. Aesthetically modified. Grotesque. Manicured.

My mind is racing. Is this who I OWE my victory to? Is this who saved my life?

For the first time since the arena I a see someone my age. A beautiful blonde with an elaborate side braide and kind blue eyes grabs my arm and rescues me from an especially talkative couple.

“There you are! Katness Everdeen, I’m so glad I found you!”

She greats me as if I am an old friend.

“Let’s get some food!” She read my mind.

I find it so easy to talk to her, she asks me about my sister Prim. Actually she’s the first one all night who mentioned Prim. She adds things she thinks I would like to my plate, babbles about what I might want to avoid. As we continue on she links our arms together.

“Peeta! I found her!” My new friend squeals as we walk over to a table with a blonde and VERY handsome boy who could easily pass for her brother.

This Peeta boy runs up to me, holding a dinner roll and envelopes me into a hug. Seam boy are very reluctant huggers so I am very caught off guard and stiffen. If he was put off by my reaction he doesn’t let it show. Handing me the roll as we all sit down. He starts

“Hi Katnisss! I’m so happy to finally meet you. Madge and I feel like we already know you so well, you were our favorite from the beginning!”

So Madge is her name and they are brother and sister. I can tell they’re very close.

It’s so easy to make conversation with Madge and Peeta. We laugh about some outrageous capital fashion. Talk about my games.

“When you volunteered for your sister I CRIED!!”

Madge pipes up.

Peeta continues

“I could not believe you did that! You were braver than anyone in the games before you stepped in the arena. How old is your sister?”

“Um, 12. It was her first Reaping.”

I frown. It shouldn’t be this way. No one should be reaped so young.

“That’s why you looked out for the little one?”

I just nod. I don’t want to talk about Twill. She should have lived.

I learn that Peeta and Madge have lived in the capital all their lives. They are twins and seem to come from a very prominent family. I get the idea that it’s just as exhausting is it was tonight for them also. My new friends even get me to dance, which I was trying to avoid initially. This night would have gone very differently if I hadn’t met them.

They also point out who I should avoid, who is a “wannabe” and I learn that there are people here who are truly dangerous.

Someone with dark hair and a strange beard heads toward us and I watch Madge and Peeta give each other a look.

Madge grabs my arm tightly and we make a quick exit up the stairs. Before I realized what’s going on in continuing to be tugged and rushed through the mansion. I’m starting to get nervous.

I trust Peeta and Madge but I have no idea how to get back. Effie is going to be furious. I also haven’t made any discoveries about my sponsors, although it may be this guy that we left in the dust.

“We’re going to keep you safe Katniss. We can’t let anything bad happen to you.”

Madge says with a serious tone and a look I can’t quite read. Oh boy, what does THAT mean?

I hadn’t realized how late it is as I yawn. Madge and Peeta notice. Of course they do, they have been so aware of my every move since we met.

“Let’s just crash here Madge?”

Peeta points to an enormous bedroom. Dripping with capital wealth. I have no idea what made me believe I should fall asleep nesseled between a brooding but every bit 14yr old Peeta and a sweet Madge clutching my hand.

Something about keeping me safe. Protecting me.

I was always protecting Primrose. It had been 3 long years of survival since I had anyone protecting ME.

Something about Peeta’s brilliant blue eyes, honest, kind, protective, made me feel a little bit of my walls come down. My hunting partner, Gale has hard, angry eyes. All I really knew.

And Madge, she was clearly a girl who was used to privilege, yet she had such a refreshing grasp on reality. Her humour broke down my walls as much as her smile and ernist protective nature. One I have only felt with my own sister.

How deep this ran I would soon find out that I indeed needed protecting. I was in a different kind of an arena now.