#well. commonlaw but you get the idea

[murderballadeer]

tbh i don't think revealing my dad's name is so bad for doxing just bc i don't have the same last name as him and there's no like wikipedia page with consolidated information abt who he's married to

[everlarkficexchange]

Everlark Fic Exchange. PROMPTS

Springtime Edition 2020.

These are the prompts we’ve received so far.

Crossed out prompts have already been selected and are being turned into fics!

A huge ‘Thank you’ to everyone who’s taken the time to come up with an idea and send it our way. Your prompts are the heart of the Exchange. Without them, our authors wouldn’t get to write all those beautiful fics. So, please, keep them coming!

You haven’t sent anything yet? Don’t worry, there’s still time. We’ll be receiving prompts until March 8.  Don’t be afraid to inspire us!

Prompts:

Prompt 1: Middle Mellark brother never wanted a baby bro. Spends half his life defending or admiring or manipulating Peeta, but the other half hating him for being so perfect (the favorite sweet talker and best baker wrestler). Whether to help or torment him, Rye asks reserved Katniss on a date to get a reaction. Maybe told as a wedding toast? [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 2: Katniss is a high end house painter who works with expensive decorators, hired to paint an up and coming artists home. Turns out it’s Peeta, the boy her mother saved from an abusive home, who then disappeared. [submitted by @niceworksherlock]

Prompt 3: Imaginative only child Prim loves acting out all sorts of adventures with her favorite action figures Katniss and Peeta. (Toy Story-ish talking toys?) [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 4: Gale attempts to shoot Peeta during a hijacking episode on the Star Squad. Leaving Peeta wounded but not fatally. Katniss thinks Gale killed him. [submitted by Anonymous]

Prompt 5: Prompt has been removed.

Prompt 6: Medieval Au: Queen Katniss is in love. Too bad the person, Peeta is a renounced rebellion leader now turned into the personal sexslave of King Cato Snow, the son of Coriolanus Snow. With each passing day its becoming more and more dangerous for this star-crossed lovers to survive. Will she risk her family (sister Prim and mom) for love or will she be able to utilise the secrets of the castle Capitol in her favour to usurp the evil King and his father? [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 7: Katniss Everdeen the daughter of a billionaire tries to antagonise her father. So she decides to date poor, uneducated simple boy Peeta. Her whole family (even Prim) hates him. Too bad his father has already arranged her marriage with his business partner's son Gale, a smart, handsome and successful man. Will she really fall for Peeta or will she bow to her father's will? Does Peeta feel himself worthy of Katniss? [submitted by @white-dandelion-seeds]

Prompt 8: Peeta is a rich ceo and in love with another who disappeared before their marriage. So he withdraw within himself. But then he meets katniss( her background is up to you ) and falls in love for the second time. [submitted by @mysteriouslycraftyreview]

Prompt 9: Katniss is a commoner and peeta is a cruel king. He wants katniss to be his mistress. How will they fall in love is up to you. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 10: katniss and peeta are best friends who were in a friends w benefits arrangement in the past. now the hunger for each other is coming back. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 11: in panem au where everlark isn't reaped and peeta knocks up katniss. [submitted by @sunflowerslyf]

Prompt 12: katniss walks out of the fitting room wearing only a bikini to ask her friend if it suits her but it isnt her friend at the other side of the door but peeta. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 13: Katniss and Peeta work things out after the first Games and become closer and closer, and their love grows deeper. One day though, they are caught by Mrs. Everdeen and a fight ensues...(outcome is up to you, as long as it is Everlark!) [submitted by @albinokittens300]

Prompt 14: THG The Witcher AU with Katniss = Geralt, Peeta = Yenn, Prim = Ciri [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 15: A Below Deck inspired Everlark. Bonus points for including Odesta. [submitted by @historywriter2007]

Prompt 16: Hades!Katniss/Persephone!Peeta Katniss has stolen herself a husband. As Peeta becomes acclimated to being co ruler of the underworld Katniss finds herself bewitched by him beyond any measure she believed possible. But someone is not too happy with Katniss and has vowed vengeance. Vengeance in the form of the husband Katniss has come to revere. [submitted by @lovely-tothe-bone]

Prompt 17: Everlark enemies to lovers, a long standing grudge (could be anything, even simple) but somehow it is discovered that Katniss is a bone marrow match for Peeta. If she doesn't donate he will die. [submitted by @lovely-tothe-bone​]

Prompt 18: A Wrinkle in Time AU - Meg!Katniss, Charles Wallace!Prim, Calvin!Peeta. [submitted by @lovely-tothe-bone​]

Prompt 19: Everlark inspired by Netflix show Love is blind. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 20: Peeta is the CEO and katniss is his secretary. They have an affair and katniss gets pregnant but when she tells peeta he doesn't believe her and accuse her of trying to trap him. What will he do when he realize his mistake and how will he win katniss back. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 21: High school romance based on the movie Wild Child. [submitted by @mysteriouslycraftyreview]

Prompt 22: Set in early 20th century. Katniss and Peeta are from two rival families who have been enemies since forever. They have a chance meeting which led to them falling in love. They are completely unaware of their identity. Will their love survive or will their relationship crumble. [submitted by @mysteriouslycraftyreview]

Prompt 23: Rumor: MrEverdeen crossed fence dividing Town and Seam, kidnapped Mrs Everdeen making her his commonlaw wife. Years later, Mellark sons plan to avenge their father by raiding Seam and kidnapping one of Everdeens daughters for one of them to take as a wife! Does Katniss “volunteer,” does she escape, how do the 3 brothers decide what to do with her since they didn’t plan it all out well? [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 24: After Prim survives her first reaping, Katniss realizes she must have better plan for Prim’s future; fights to reclaim rights to the apothecary; wins it back after drawn out legal battle; installs her mom and Prim as owners. But Katniss not welcome in town for her Seam looks and distasteful takeover of a town business, and she’s not welcome in Seam as she refuses to marry Gale. So now 18 and past reaping, what will she do, where will she go, does anyone need her, can she let herself need anyone? [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 25: Panem’s Mellark bakers are practically royalty, but with power comes responsibility. Peeta struck deal long ago to someday take reigns of Corp and settle down once dad retires if he can sow wild oats until then fucking everything that moves. Time’s up! Must propose! Publicity stunt for Mardi Gras - will bake engagement ring into cupcakes, makes sure his choice of wife will get that one, but mixup! Some girl in D12 gets it by mistake! Can’t admit his error! Katniss feels miracle, $ woes over! [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 26: the night before the Quarter Quell, in the sleepless dark, Katniss and Peeta allow themselves to indulge in the bittersweet dream of a future they’ll never have together (“if it wasn’t us, what would you do?” “I’d want to marry you” “tell me”) [submitted by @rosegardeninwinter]

Prompt 27: Pick a “what if” - what if Katniss was at Peeta’s bedside when he woke after losing his leg? - what if Katniss hadn’t been locked inside her room after wandering at night when she decides to seek out Peeta? - what if Haymitch hadn’t left the train when it stopped and upset Peeta with his comment? [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 28: The truth finally comes out years later: Lily broke off the engagement only after the baker had knocked up her best friend, and for the baby’s sake she had left to run a free clinic in the seam where she does find true love. Her family invites her back to the apothecary now that they know and they forgive her for marrying a mine worker now that he’s deceased anyway. How does young Katniss adjust to life in town; Peeta, Delly, Madge as neighbors; not needing to go over the fence but wanting to? [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 29: Post-MJ, Growing Together. Peeta is finally showing his affection and love for Katniss as they heal and reconnect. Katniss, being Katniss, seems to act like she doesn't appreciate this, and is less than enthused. Peeta, taking this like an adult, stops showing her with the affection and tries to show her his love in other ways. Katniss, however, does not appreciate him stopping those things and set out to try and get him to continue it again because she misses it. [submitted by @albinokittens300]

Prompt 30: When Prim needs a bone marrow reconstitution that can only be accomplished via genetic matched umbilical stem cell transplantation, Mrs E confesses that the baker is Prim’s father. Prim’s best chance of survival depends on Katniss having a Mellark’s child for the donor cells. How does she get one of the Mellarks to agree? And what are negotiations like regarding conception and what to do with the baby once it’s born? What if it’s more than one baby because of the medication Katniss is given? [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 31: “We never see you two so much as kiss in public but last night we all heard you have sex.” Who says it (Johanna, Haymitch, Finnick or ?) and under what circumstances (vacation rental, baby monitor mishap or ?) is up to you. From BBA [submitted by Buttercupbadass]

Prompt 32: Pre-books fic about a young Peeta crushing on Katniss. His friends tease him about his crush constantly, and it irritates him because everyone seems to know except Katniss herself. But he just rolls his eyes good-naturedly whenever his friends say something about it. [submitted by @madetofly]

Prompt 33: Roommates+Friends-with-Benefits: It’s finally March and Katniss is hankering for a Shamrock Shake because “Damned it, Peeta! I can taste the mint!” So he drives her to every McDonald's in a 40 mile radius without luck. She cries, surprising both of them ‘cause she never cries… Peeta takes matters into his hands, buys ingredients for a homemade 🍀 shake plus a pregnancy test just in case. You decide what’s the result and what Everlark does with the knowledge/scare. Extra points for humor. [submitted by @alliswell21]

Prompt 34: Peeta Mellark is the owner of a popular bakery chain and has no time for romance. Katniss Everdeen is struggling, about to be evicted, in deep debt and desperate, she jokingly tells her friend Madge over a cheese bun, she needs a Sugar Daddy to put her trough college and Peeta happens to overhear it. She’s a regular at his main shop, and is cute if a few years his junior. He offers her a deal she can’t refuse. Age gap. Extra cookies for accidental toastbaby and falling in love. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 35: No reaping AU. At 19, Katniss considers marrying Gale for practical reasons; the fact she just heard the baker’s son toasted and was assigned a house at the edge of town has nothing to do with it... maybe. What happens next? (was Peeta really married or was it his brother? Does she marry Gale? Does Everlark ever talk? Will Peeta cheat if he’s actually married? Can Katniss admit she loves the Boy with the Bread? Is this forbidden love?) is up to you. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 36: Frustrated and stressed out Single dad!Peeta needs a fuck desperately. His best friend, Katniss, unwittingly offers to help him out. Things get murky with repressed feelings, but one thing’s certain, Peeta can’t keep his hands to himself anymore and Katniss is all too willing to oblige at the drop of a hat, regardless of place, time and her own emotions, as long as he keeps whispering all his sexy, filthy thoughts into her ear. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 37: Not-Reaped, In-Panem AU where Peeta and Katniss have begun quietly seeing one another. It is very early on and they are really only just getting a bearing on how deep their feelings are when one day Katniss sees Peeta beat by his mother and no amount of will power will stop her from going and confronting the witch. She goes in there on a war path but stops when she sees just how hurt Peeta is this time, with open gash on his leg from when he had fallen to the ground... [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 38: Everlark inspired by Netflix's Spinning Out (But honestly I believe it was the other way around!) [submitted by @justhereforthefanfiction]

Prompt 39: Taylor Swift - Mary’s Song (aka childhood best friends to lovers to husband and wife) [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 40: No choice - friends Katniss and Gale must wed to become legal guardians of siblings. Still not enough to avoid financial ruin. Convinced only way to get desperately needed fast cash is for Katniss to first offer virginity to highest bidder. But how to find him or her, how to negotiate terms, does she confide in anyone, how should she prepare, will it all be quick and forgotten as she hopes, what could go wrong, can she keep this secret, can she use a fake name, can she hire a service? [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 41: Inspired by the dancing kid meme. A video clip of either Katniss/Peeta as a child becomes a huge meme. How do they handle it? Maybe it gets them together? Maybe it’s creation tears them apart? [submitted by Buttercupbadass]

Prompt 42: Every time there’s a really bad storm, a bolt of lightning precedes Katniss getting transported to another life. She’s always Katniss with all her memories, but everything around her is different. Peeta is always there, she just needs to figure out if he’s friend, foe, stranger. And, damn it, the storms this spring with global warming sometimes has her in and out of situations before she can figure anything out. Gale complicate things further. It’s enough to drive her crazy... [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 43: Katniss post-war becomes crazy cat lady, dedicates herself to caring for every stray, calls them all Buttercup, don’t get along with Haymitch’s geese. Now does Dr Aurelius make a house call? [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 44: Believing that taking a new young bride every 5 years will keep him youthful, Snow arranges to marry wife #12 from D12. In the hours between the ceremony and the wedding night, he drops dead. 16-yr-old Katniss returns to 12 but now she’s “Widow Snow.” Can she ever be Katniss, district huntress again? With all that $, wedding gifts, etc that were sent on the train with her? [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 45: Prompt has been removed.

Prompt 46: Pacific Rim inspired AU with drift compatible Everlark (or not if you’re inspired by angst). I really just want to see more of that aspect of Pacific Rim explored than what they did in the movie and what better way to do it than with Everlark! [submitted by @katnissdoesnotfollowback]

Prompt 47: katniss and peeta have a one night stand after meeting at a bar. when katniss visits her gyno turns out peeta is her new doctor. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 48: best friends!everlark who take each other's virginity. [submitted by @sunflowerslyf]

Prompt 49: "I'm your boss, give me your pants. Now." [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 50: everlark discovering on their date that they've missed each other their whole lives (living in the same city, went to the same high school, going to the same halloween and nye parties, were set up before by different friends but stood each other up, shopping at the same store, etc.) [submitted by @sunflowerslyf]

Prompt 51: Katniss E, the Valedictorian of Panem High school, is perfect in all fields of life. And that is the crush of awkward, average in studies, not so popular, never had a girlfriend, often bullied Peeta M. Not only does she have a very popular friend circle but also a handsome, popular boyfriend Gale H. Will she even want to be his friend? Is his crush doomed to fail? Eventual Everlark. [submitted by @white-dandelion-seeds]

Prompt 52: “The Tao of Peeta” - maybe setting is as (small, remote, surrounded by wild creatures) D12 is being used as a penal colony for dangerous (political?) prisoners? Bring in other victors? [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 53: Katniss’s parents finally convinces her to attend the military ball because they are honoring her dad after some time of trying to distance herself from the military world. At the ball, she meets a handsome, charming man that might bring her back into the world she was trying to leave. [submitted by @animekpopxx]

Prompt 54: Heart wrenching angst Everlark based on the song “Me Dedique A Perderte” by Alejandro Fernandez. [submitted by @animekpopxx​]

Prompt 55: The Prophecy states: “A powerful witch that’s born from the two worlds,will reunite them and will bring peace. “ Everyone thought that the prophecy was talking about her. And she did bring change and hope to everyone but who ultimately brought the peace was her unborn child. [submitted by @animekpopxx​]

Prompt 56: Who dun it? Shortly after Katniss goes to one of those paint and kiln your own porcelain places, (owner artist Peeta), people start disappearing. The only connection seems to be that they were people she bitched about while sipping too much wine and painting her piece. She becomes prime suspect. No bodies can be found, how are they vanishing? Can she offer an alibi for each disappearance? That guy Peeta keeps popping up, is he following her? She’s sure she caught him looking at her... [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 57: In a place where the world prospers with a female dominated world, Coriolanus Snow successfully does a coup over the reigning Everdeen family with ruthless bunches of man to create a world where men dominate.But the people’s hope is in the form of a Katniss Everdeen and Snow did not know that she was right under his nose the whole time before it was too late. [submitted by @animekpopxx]

Prompt 58: Historical au where princess katniss and duke peeta are secretly sleeping together, are caught, and now have to marry each other. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 59: Growing up Peeta started loving her. It was a gradual thing that happened throughout his childhood and into his teens. But something changes when he hits puberty. Her scent has heightened, he can spot her from miles away. He gets a bit possessive. But the biggest thing is when his body starts to heat up and even just the thought of you gets him hard for days. He finds out the family secret of his werewolf genes, something his parents thought passed him. How can he go by with his day and be with her without scaring her away by humping her because of his heat. [submitted by @animekpopxx]

Prompt 60: After severe flooding(?) community urged to open homes to disaster victims. Mrs. E offers to take in children only. Peeta and bro assigned there temporarily. Peeta quiet, polite? Bro constant source of embarrassment? Prim doesn’t want them to ever leave? Does Gale have anything to say about this? How does Katniss deal with it? [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 61: Peeta knew better, but he did stupid things when he got drunk. Now he’s caged at the animal shelter in his wolf form. And, omg, Katniss Everdeen let her little sister drag her in to see the dogs?! He knows he shouldn’t, but teen hormones. He just wants to lick her hand. Get a tummy rub. Hump her leg. Sleep on her bed. Omg, they take him home!!!! He needs to let his dad know where he is. Omg. He needs to figure out his bakery shift. “God, don’t let Katniss catch me licking my balls.” [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 62: one night stand!everlark sleeping together the same night a terrible snowstorm hits the city and everything gets shut down with no way to get home. perhaps a two night stand? [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 63: katniss and peeta who are exes wake up together naked, hungover, and married. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 64: She’s a good girl, goes to confession weekly. He’s a bad boy, on the run, slips into the confessional booth just in time. Now he’s stuck hiding in here for a bit hearing the some dull some crazy confessions of the elderly - and of one young girl with the sexiest voice. May go to hell for this, but he’s a guy and can’t help himself with what he says/does next. One of them ends up saying, “Oh, God! Yes!” [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 65: Everlark fluff based on the song Sugar by Maren Morris. [submitted by @lovely-tothe-bone]

Prompt 66: Everlark post apocalypse, katniss and peeta are neighbors and the only two that make it to katniss's father's bunker in time. Over the course of several years the two have grown quite close having no one else, but now provisions are running low. Do they face the unknown outside or stay put, knowing they only have food to last another week? [sent by anonymous]

Prompt 67: Her parents said that it was just a childhood crush and that she will outgrow it. But why does her heart flutters. When she’s finally old enough to get a job, she immediately gets a part time job to be close to him. Will is pursue her love against people’s negative views because he’s so much older than her. Or go for it and make him fall in love with her. Age Gap Older!Peeta. [submitted by @animekpopxx]

Prompt 68: Dark Coffee Shop AU - Capitol Peeta runs a Coffee/Pastry shop in the poshest part of the Capitol. Near by President Snow’s Mansion. Capitol!Katniss is a frequent customer. Things in the Capitol begin to deteriorate as the rebellion drags on. Are they sympathetic to the rebel cause? [submitted by @oakfarmer12]

Prompt 69: College boy Peeta helps incoming students move into the dorms. Katniss is his next assignment. Age Gap? Maybe Katniss is an older student going to college later? Grad student? Maybe Peeta is a senior, Katniss a Freshman? The possibilities are endless! [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 70: Peeta picks up a hitchhiker in the mountains one night, only to find it's his childhood best friend and now escaped convict Katniss Everdeen. In a panic he calls police but after hearing her side of the story comes to believe she didn't actually murder anyone. Everlark on the run. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 71: King Snow forces the daughter of dead rebel leader Katniss to marry is adpoted son Peeta M and kills her father. P coming to know the truth on their wedding night vows to avenge Mr E's death. K hates him and carries on her own rebellion supplying her next clan leader Gale information from the Castle. When Snow is killed and rebels overtake Capitol chaos ensures. Ally of rebel, a neighbouring kingdom's queen Coin tries to use the situation in her favour. Whose side will K take? Eventual Everlark. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 72: Peeta is off a very abusive, poor home. His school friend Katniss has the exact opposite home: well loved and well off family. What happens when opposite worlds clash? [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 73: I am a simple woman: I just want Katniss Everdeen content and loved and washed in moonlight I don’t care how you do it. [submitted by @rosegardeninwinter]

Prompt 74: Katniss Everdeen is horny. It has been three months since she left asshole Gale to enjoy her life. She just needs a good fuck. She goes man-hunting to a local bar with Jo. The even ends up with her being naked on her bed, with the head of a very handsome blonde, stocky stranger between her thighs. But after her first orgasm of the night when he says: I’ve never done this before, will it be the last? [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 75: An in-Panem arranged marriage a/u where Katniss is slightly older than Peeta. [submitted by @endlessnightlock]

Prompt 76: Modern a/u Katniss is getting over the loss of her sister (you decide how) when she meets Peeta. She’s closed off but he finds a way in. Maybe she works for him? Him for her? Maybe she cries herself to sleep on his bread scented shoulder? (Please yes I need that) [submitted by @endlessnightlock]

Prompt 77: Katniss Everdeen has a handsome neighbour. It dosen't help that she just came out of a shitty relationship with her ex Gale Hawthorne. Too bad he is a 19 years old virgin boy and she is a woman of the world at 31. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 78: Post MJ, the new government of Panem has finally decided to lift the exile to Twelve order off of Katniss. Where are Katniss and Peeta in their lives? What is the first thing they do? Do they just have a quiet celebration or do they go somewhere? [submitted by @katnissdoesnotfollowback]

Prompt 79: Peeta has been planning this marriage proposal for months. It goes horribly wrong. Tell me all about it and what happens next?[submitted by @katnissdoesnotfollowback]

Prompt 80: Katniss helps undo the lies Peeta’s mother (and the Capitol) told him about himself (namely that awful “stupid creature” comment) and reminds him that he is worthy and precious to her and really, that’s all that matters [submitted by @rosegardeninwinter]

Prompt 81: Katniss finds her soulmate at her bachelorette party (aka Peeta)(Happy ending please) [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 82: Post MJ, when Peeta touches Katniss’ neck wrong, she has a flashback of him almost strangling her and has to be heavily consoled. This leads to a conversation about his attacking her when he came back from the capitol. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 83: Katniss is whipped instead of Gale in Catching Fire, Peeta’s the one who’s there to take care of her after. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 84: [Historical AU: 1930s Hollywood] Silver screen star Peeta Mellark has captured millions of hearts, and housekeeper Katniss isn't immune. She's stunned when Peeta comes to court her eccentric heiress employer, Madge. Katniss' shock only grows when Peeta offers to pay for her help in winning him Madge's hand in marriage - and access to her fortune, with which he intends to fund his directorial debut. [submitted by @gamesmakers]

Prompt 85: During an episode of Peetas, he locks Katniss outside in the snow for an entire night. Haymitch is passed out drunk and doesn’t let her in, she can’t find anywhere else to go all night so she ends up catching a really bad cold. When Peeta comes to his senses he feels horrible and nurses her back to health. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 86: After MJ Peeta has a hijack relapse for a few minutes where he insults Katniss’ appearance and body (more extreme version of when he said she wasn’t very pretty in Mockingjay) which hits a nerve, especially since her body was damaged in the explosion that killed Prim. After he’s back to himself, he feels terrible, but Katniss brushes it off. It’s only when she refuses to have sex with him now that he realizes how insecure she might be. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 87: On the train a few days before the Quarter Quell, in another effort to break her before the second games, Snow orders Katniss to have sex with someone in the capitol who paid for her company. When she tries to refuse, Snow threatens her family. She agrees but partway through panics and tries to stop it, only to have the buyer turn on her and get physically violent. She comes to Peeta afterwards and he comforts her, holds her, takes care of her and promises he’ll never let someone hurt her again. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 88: Not reaped. Peeta and Katniss fake date. [submitted by @anxiouslyintroverted]

Prompt 89: Amish!world. Katniss and Peeta are courting each other and are just waiting for Katniss to be of age to get married cause Peeta’s 2 years older. But things gets tough when a Snow comes to their county and spots Katniss. He ask her father if she can be his wife. [submitted by @animekpopxx]

Prompt 90: anyone for an Everlark Alcott or Austen-esque period drama? because I sure am so just gonna speak that into existence. [submitted by @rosegardeninwinter]

Prompt 91: ​High school. Peeta is the perfect golden boy. Katniss is a rebellious, infamous girl who always skips class and who everyone fears. She is every boys wet dream and every girls nightmare. How will they both fall in love? [submitted by @mysteriouslycraftyreview]

Prompt 92: High school musical au: katniss and peeta as troy and Gabriella. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 93: Katniss is preparing for first Toastbaby and going through some hardcore nesting urges. Peeta, of course, thinks this is perfect and willing to help her anyway he can even if that means repainting the nursery for a third time. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 94: Toastbaby gets into a bit of a scrape, nothing too serious, and Everlark struggles with finding the balance between being there for toastbaby but not being too overly protective. [submitted by @katnissdoesnotfollowback]

Prompt 95: Everlark meet cute, “Oh wait... you’re NOT my blind date?” We’re they set up with each other or with someone else? How do they figure out the mix up? What happens after? Disgustingly fluffy welcome. [submitted by @katnissdoesnotfollowback]

Prompt 96: Everlark in the verge of breaking up. Why? Are they married or dating? Do they fix it or go their separate ways? [submitted by @katnissdoesnotfollowback]

Prompt 97: Katniss makes three game changing shots, one in each of the books. What if... she missed? Pick one for her to miss and how does it change the story? Cato’s hand in THG, the forcefield in CF, or Coin in MJ. [submitted by @katnissdoesnotfollowback]

Prompt 98: I would love some good rated E Everlark smut. Post mockingjay, Everlark growing back together and when I say smut I don't mean porn. I mean they need each other. Can't live without each other. Pour their hearts out and heal each other with their love from all the trauma they went through and make up time that they wasted holding their feelings back and pining after each other. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 99: Peeta has been spending too much time around his brothers (lol), Katniss makes a remark about wanting a snack, he replys “I have something you can snack on” Peeta is instantly mortified by his stupid comment because he is a gentleman. What happens next? It’s up to you. Could be sexy, could be a different kind of tongue lashing? [submitted by @endlessnightlock]

Prompt 100: Peeta's thoughts/what really happened to him at the end of the war and his thoughts regarding Prim's death. [submitted by @acpoe82]

Prompt 101: The night of the interviews in Catching Fire, Snow delays the games by a few days after Peetas announcement that Katniss is pregnant and demands Katniss gets a forced abortion in the capitol. Peeta and Katniss try to tell the truth, that she’s not pregnant but Snow isn’t listening and she’s forced into the procedure. Peeta is allowed to stay with her during and after, lots of hurt/comfort, etc. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 102: Katniss is uncomfortable with relying on Peeta even post MJ(pre epilogue). She only accepts his affection after nightmares, she doesn’t think she deserves it otherwise. She feels like he’s still too good for her & that she’ll never deserve him, on top of how she lacks trust in anyone bc of her childhood & having to be strong for Prim and her mom. One night after a severely bad nightmare she blacks out and come to, to Peeta bathing her in the tub, being gentle & loving & affectionate & soothing. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 103: best friends!everlark where katniss sets peeta up on a date with her friend, when peeta and date hit it off she realizes that she's actually in love with him but does nothing about it, few years later, peeta and girl are engaged and after a night of drinking, peeta and katniss accidentally hook up. how they get together is up to you (hea pls) [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 104: Katniss is captured instead of Peeta but instead of being injected with tracker jacker serum she’s beaten, starved, lashed and throttled. When her spirit is weak enough the capitol returns her to D13 where Peeta (and Haymitch/Effie) help her recover. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 105: what if one of them was a librarian and the other a (struggling? or drawing away patrons and stealing employees) bookstore owner (maybe who was more interested in things other than books) - Enemies to lovers? [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 106: Everlark based on the movie Groundhog Day, where one (or both?) relive the same day over and over until they get it right. [submitted by @xerxia31]

Prompt 107: Katniss gets jealous of Peeta paying attention to other girls during their “growing back together” period. Super jealous. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 108: A story based on the lyrics to Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" [submitted by @xerxia31]

Prompt 109: Dialogue prompt: "I deserve better than this!" [submitted by @xerxia31]

Prompt 110: AU. Everlark live across from each other in fancy New York (or the like) penthouses. With all those large windows, they see each other daily and know the other's routine and all he/she does, but they've never met. A chance meeting occurs. What will happen? The circumstances of their living arrangements/any backstory and what happens between them is up to you. [submitted by @acpoe82]

Prompt 111: Hand Porn - looking, breathlessly touching, reading the story told by the calluses, the scars, the strength, while admiring all they’ve done, appreciating all they do, anticipating everything they will do for love - sensitive, expressive, powerful, creative, protective, sensuous hand porn. [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 112: 40-year-old virgin Peeta. Based as loosely as you want on the movie. Everlark, of course. [submitted by @acpoe82]

Prompt 113: Katniss saw Peeta naked in the arena after he got hurt but he hadn’t seen her. During CF while Peeta is training Katniss and Haymitch hard, Katniss falls out of exhaustion and being overworked and hurts her back slightly. Feeling guilty, Peeta gives strips her naked, gives her a bath and rubs healing lotions from her mom all over her. How does he react to the first time seeing her naked?[submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 114: Katniss trips and falls in the quarter quell and breaks her ankle, resulting in Peeta carrying her everywhere. She doesn’t like looking weak in front of the other victors but since she doesn’t plan on living through the games this time it’s good to be taken care of one last time. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 115: During the victory tour, for whatever reason, author can decide, Peeta has to help Katniss undress at the end of the day, only to discover/for her to remember too late, that she didn’t put any underwear on underneath her clothes. His shock/her humiliation ensues. (But he tries to make her feel better ofc) [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 116: Peeta braids Katniss’ hair to soothe her. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 117: AU where Peeta wasn’t hijacked when he returned from the capitol, just shaken up, during Star Squad, Katniss has a bad flashback and Gale witnesses Peeta be the only person who could comfort her. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 118: the nutcracker au! katniss as clara and peeta as the nutcracker. and if there could be a scene with snow, that would be really nice! [submitted by @omercilessmoon]

Prompt 119: “If you were taken by the capitol and hijacked, and then tried to kill Peeta, is this how he would be treating you” a fic where it’s Katniss the capitol hijacked and the second part of mockingjay from their reunion on is reversed. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 120: “I know that everyone on the planet is born with heterochromia, but I’m blind, so literally anyone could lie to me and say that they’re my soulmate. Why should I believe you?” Blind!peeta soulmate AU. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 121: Peeta has returned to D13 along with Katniss. But she is being forced to be the Mockingjay and portray a new angle, that Gale is her actual lover, Peeta was being forced on her by Capitol and Snow. How does Katniss manage the peer pressure? [submitted by @white-dandelion-seeds]

Prompt 122: The soldiers bring back to district 13 Peeta but he is not hijacked. He has been beaten badly, starved and sexually abused. All this led him to become an emotional avox. Will Katniss be able to help him recover from the trauma? [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 123: Katniss never volunteers instead she is picked. While peeta volunteers for his brother(what’s wrong with his brother is up to you) and promises him that he will try to win. Peeta turns into the mockingjay ( or whatever variation he will have). [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 124: In MJ I noticed Peeta became more of himself when Katniss was affectionate to him and it helped him fight the venom. So my prompt is when Peeta comes back from being hijacked Katniss realizes this sooner and it starts off slow at first but then they get to the point of having sex and it pretty much heals him completely. HEA for Everlark please. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 125: EFE Prompt: Everlark + Faith. Be it in people, spiritual, or otherwise. Explore the loss of it, regaining of it, or finding it for the first time. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 126: Anything AU based on the song “Talk” by Hozier. Simple enough I think. [submitted by @theliferuiner]

Prompt 127: The earth is in perilous danger from a great evil and only Katniss can stop it. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 128: Peeta saves Katniss from being raped by someone in the capitol. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 129: Katniss & Peeta had a baby. But then miscommunication caused them to split. Peeta is still heavily involved in his baby's life. Katniss is seeing someone else & quickly rising in socioeconomic status with her talent as singer. Peeta on the other hand is facing more & more troubles with his family life. He isn’t being able to spare time their child. Its also becoming difficult for him to keep up with Katniss. Will their rift grow? Or will Katniss finally acknowledge her true feelings for him? [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 130: What if Haymitch hadn’t said thise words to Katniss when Peeta joined Star-squad in Mockingjay? Would Katniss have come to her senses or would she be still angry at Peeta. A Mockingjay AU. [submitted by @white-dandelion-seeds]

Prompt 131: “Do you love me? Do you really? Because I go through every day of my life, thinking that nobody loves me.” [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 132: Both Mellark brothers, eldest and youngest love Katniss Everdeen. She is engaged to the eldest but her heart belongs to the youngest. Jealous!Peeta. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 133: Birth of their first child. Peeta helping and supporting Katniss. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 134: Visual Prompt. To see it go HERE [submitted by @javistg]

Prompt 135: Non specific prompt. Peeta called Katniss baby as a pet name. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 136: Katniss gets stung pretty bad by tracker jackers post mockingjay. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 137: Friends to lovers road trip au! Katniss wants to take a summer off to explore the country, Peeta volunteers to go with her. Bonus points if one of them is an absolutely oblivious idiot. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 138: Everlark loosely based off 90 day fiance. Could be AgeGap, one could have ulterior motives(until they end up catching real feelings), or it's a genuine connection. Author decides. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 139: There are fics where Peeta's mom tries to set him up with town girls. What if Peeta's mom tries to set him up with Katniss for once. Maybe both moms team up together? [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 140: In Panem AU where Peeta is a Mail Order Husband. As the youngest son of a merchant class Capitol family, he has accepted he will never inherit the family bakery. But when his family contract him to an arranged marriage to further the business he will never own, he escapes by signing up to a programme to relocate and marry a district woman. Why Katniss needs a husband, is up to the author. Everlark endgame :) [submitted by @louezem]

Prompt 141: Katniss is the lone victor of 74th Annual Hunger Games. Peeta is a Capitaloit. Snow forces Katniss to be like other victor. How will they meet? How will they fall in love? What will happen when the revolution starts? [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 142: Gale comes to district 12 again years after mockingjay and runs into a little girl shooting an arrow, only to find out it’s Katniss and Peetas daughter. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 143: The girl of my dreams asked me if I needed a ride home from campus so I obviously let her drive me home then walked back to campus a couple of hours later to get my car. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 144: Peeta's perspective. A more in-depth look at how he joined and tricked the Careers and led them away from Katniss in the Hunger Games. [submitted by @acpoe82]

Prompt 145: Not reaped; Snow overthrown; D12 unscathed; miners unionize; postwar prosperity; Seam transformation; Hob center of commerce. Teens Katniss and Peeta have new options and new pressures. How do they navigate this new reality? How do they handle graduating? How do they find their way to each other without reaping and with seam now middle class and restrictions lifted? [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 146: Powerful Matchmaker arranges marriage between Everdeen girl (to whom she owes a big favor) and the young cinnamon scented baker boy the girl has loved ever since he first slipped her a sugar cookie with her namesake flower beautifully decorated in frosting, the yellow primrose. What will Katniss do when she only learns of it in church as the first of the 3 Sunday banns are read? Has she ever spoken to Peeta? Will she search her feelings for him? Will he object to the match? Does he have any say? [submitted by @567inpanem]

Prompt 147: The movie "Me Before You" Everlark style. [submitted by @acpoe82]

Prompt 148: Gale dosen't design the bomb but someone else does. Prim lives, but Katniss still kills snow. Gale cones back to district 12 along with Katniss. But problems arise when Peeta cones back too. Eventual Everlark. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 149: Peeta is whipped in catching fire instead of gale. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 150: Everlark based on the movie Blast from the Past starring Brendan Frasier and Alicia Silverstone. Peeta’s family lives in a bomb shelter for an extended period of time and he has to leave and venture out by himself with no knowledge of the current world. He hires Katniss to help him out and they fall in love. (Rough summary!) Rated M/E would be spectacular! [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 151: Everlark based on the song ocean avenue. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 152: King Peeta Mellark of Panem is looking for a wife, and he isn't getting any younger. None of the potential suitors does it for him - until he runs across local dragon slayer Katniss Everdeen after his kingdom comes under attack. She's exactly what he wants. The only problem? She absolutely hates him and it's up to him to convince her to marry him. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 153: Katniss opens up to Peeta about her insecurities about herself and about how he’s too good for her. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 154: One where Katniss is humiliated and Peeta makes her feel better. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 155: Post Mockingjay but before epilogue, Katniss has a good dream about her dad still being alive and how much he’d like Peeta and how wonderful everything would be. When she wakes up at first she doesn’t realize it was a dream, but when she does she’s absolutely inconsolable. Peeta comforts her the best he can. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 156: Just any or maybe multiple times Katniss got her period around Peeta. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 157: Unfocused while hunting from a nightmare the night before an animal sneaks up on Katniss and injured her, not deathly but enough that she can’t make it home on her own. Peeta gets worried when she’s not back after dark and goes after to find her freezing cold and bleeding and shivering. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 158: Toastbabies make breakfast in bed for their parents anniversary, only to walk in on them doing the do. [submitted by anonymous]

Prompt 159: Katniss tries to make herself up to look pretty for Peeta but doesn’t know how to do it well and it’s a disaster but he thought she was beautiful just as she was. [submitted by anonymous]

[withswords]

i wish you would write a scifi au!

okay this isn’t a “fic” but let me hit you with a massive concept premise idea:

a prophecy: ye worlde shall be alle descent into dark but for the starres; and ye shall be there too, anathema, and so shall i.

something goes wrong in the last few days of adam young’s life. anathema is kept at a distance from tadfield- the world as she knows it ends very shortly, so even if she had any clues from agnes about where to go there wouldn’t be a point in fighting a sure thing. crowley and aziraphale don’t fare much better; no anathema means no prophecies. without the book and without the boy they slowly resign themselves to hiding away somewhere secure and drinking through armageddon. (crowley takes it harder than aziraphale, after his first couple of drinks. he’s so fond of the stupid bastards. it’s not fair. it’s never any of it been fair. aziraphale is much more at peace with the nature of divine justice, even if he doesn’t like it.)

what goes wrong with adam is what under more favorable circumstances should have gone right. he’s a very ordinary 11 year old. a superordinary boy. ordinary people don’t much care for burning the whole world down. it doesn’t make for a very good story. when the four horsemen and heaven and hell come knocking, adam decides he can tell a much better story than all of this stupid nonsense about rains of fire and the seas boiling and angels and demons and blah blah blah. what is he, in church? kids hate church.

you know what 11 year old boys like?

fuckin star wars.

anathema device wakes on a far flung desert planet to find that her earth has never existed. and a postman who has just been similarly transported across the universe, bringing a 500 year old package (relatively young by the standards he’s been working under the last few days), leaves anathema with a new set of prophecies, concerning the Worlde that is To Com.

it is now anathema’s mission to round up the only people who can rescue the universe as she knows it, including: a savant who can’t get off planet without destroying his ride; a surly old gunslinger and his commonlaw wife, now apparently an actual psychic; three highly ordinary 11 year olds in a tiff about being left behind by their friend; one surprisingly well adjusted if goth 11 year old; and a couple of stranded godparents taking a crash course in their own very corporeal bodies. there’s aliens and blasters and spaceships and space magic and, naturally, the very pissed off armies of heaven and hell still rioting to go to war with something.

there’s a new king of the universe, and it’s very well past his bedtime.

[primatechnosynthpop]

A Rose Shall Bloom (And Then Shall Fade)- part 2

The first few months after Claire and Gretchen got married were one of the brightest times in Claire’s life. The job at the restaurant Claire had taken to afford their wedding was better-paying and less demanding than retail, so she started working as a waitress full-time. With her increased salary, and after holding a yard sale to get rid of old stuff they didn’t need anymore, she and Gretchen were finally able to afford their own house by the end of the year. It was nothing fancy–only one story, with a tiny yard and no garage–but it was theirs nonetheless. For the first time in her life, Claire felt like a real adult. She had a house, a wife, a job, a car… Despite her youthful appearance, nobody could mistake her for a teenager now.

They invited a bunch of their friends over for a combination housewarming and anniversary party, during which Claire was still so happy about buying a house that she didn’t pay attention to how much everyone was aging. Still, to say she did a double take would be an understatement when she saw Micah and Molly, now a pair of fully grown adults, talking in the corner of the room about Micah’s job as an electrician. That… that couldn’t be right, could it? But when Claire ran some mental math, she realized that the numbers worked out. Micah must have been in his mid twenties now, since Claire, as much as she didn’t look it, was in her early thirties.

At that same housewarming party, Peter approached her with a huge grin on his face. In recent years, he had retired his signature bangs for a more sophisticated look, and he’d grown a beard which gave him quite a handsome look. He wore a sharply-pressed suit and carried himself in a way that almost reminded Claire of Nathan. It occurred to her with a twinge of discomfort that he was now the age his brother had been when he died.

“Hey, Claire, guess what?” Peter asked, excitement glittering in his eyes. “You’re going to have a cousin!”

“What?” As she realized what he was saying, Claire broke into a grin. “You and Emma are going to have a kid? Peter, that’s great!”

“Yeah,” he said, his face looking like it just might break from how wide he was smiling. “I’m going to be a dad–can you believe it?”

Letting out an enthusiastic squeal, Claire pulled her uncle into a congratulatory hug. He laughed and patted her on the back. When they pulled apart, Claire bounced on her heels, buzzing with questions–how many months? How long had they known? Did they know whether it would be male or female? And did this mean that Peter and Emma would finally be getting married?

“Unfortunately, no,” he said of the last question. “If she gets married, she’ll stop getting disability benefits, so until the laws on that are changed we’ll just have to remain in a commonlaw arrangement.”

“Well, that sucks,” Claire muttered.

Peter shrugged. “Yeah, it kind of does,” he admitted. “But there’s nothing wrong with an unmarried partnership, right?”

Claire nodded. Her gaze strayed across the room, to where Gretchen was talking to Noah. He appeared to be congratulating her. As she watched, Gretchen looked over at Claire and blew her a kiss, winking. Claire blushed and giggled. She wondered whether they would have kids of their own someday. She certainly wasn’t opposed to the idea of adopting, although she didn’t feel ready for something like that quite yet. Besides, she didn’t really feel like she could ever be a parent. She still looked like hardly more than a kid herself.

“Damn it,” she muttered aloud to herself. “I told myself I wasn’t going to think about this tonight.”

“What is it?” asked Peter.

“Oh, nothing,” Claire said, maybe a bit too quickly, with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Anyway, congrats again on being a future dad. You and Emma are going to be amazing parents.”

Peter grinned. “Thanks, Claire.”

Claire had it all right then. She was happy, and so were the people around her. Sandra had just adopted another dog, Mohinder was doing quite well for himself now that his theories were more widely accented, and Matt’s son was going to be starting high school in a couple of years. Sure, everybody was getting older, but nobody was old yet. Claire still had plenty of time left to spend with everyone at that party. She needed to stop worrying about things to come and just live in the present.

It was a good–no, it was a great day.

-

After Peter and Emma had their kid–a girl, which they named Natalie–Gretchen started acting kind of strangely. Whenever Natalie was mentioned, she would raise her eyebrows in an exaggerated way, and she would always talk about her with an odd inflection. It seemed like she was hinting at something, and Claire was fairly certain she knew what it was.

“So, big news from Peter,” Claire said once after reading a text from her uncle. “Natalie has officially entered elementary school!”

“Ohh, has she?” Gretchen asked, bending over to read the text over Claire’s shoulder. She was carrying a laundry basket upstairs, balancing it on her hip like some kind of old-fashioned servant girl, as Claire lounged on the couch after having finished cleaning the windows. “That’s awesome! I guess having kids can really be rewarding, hmm?”

“Yeah, I guess it can,” Claire agreed. “Why do you bring it up?”

“Oh, no reason,” Gretchen said with a shrug. Gesturing to the laundry basket with her free hand, she added, “Hey, can you held me fold this? I know you just got done cleaning the windows, but…”

“Nah, it’s no problem,” Claire said. She put her phone down and got up to follow her wife up to their bedroom to fold the clothes.

As they walked up the stairs to their room, Claire noticed a slight strain of effort on Gretchen’s face. That very face was now decorated with stress lines, and she had heavy bags around her eyes. Swallowing back the now all-too-familiar pang of dread at her wife displaying signs of the natural passage of time, Claire stood up on her tiptoes to give Gretchen a kiss on the side of the head. Then she took the laundry basket into her own hands and carried it the rest of the way.

While they were folding the laundry and putting it away, Gretchen kept shooting Claire these brief, soft of hopeful looks. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t really have to. Claire could tell from the way she acted whenever Natalie was mentioned that Gretchen wanted them to have kids of their own. However, Claire still didn’t feel ready for that kind of commitment, and she wasn’t sure if she ever would be. Taking care of a child was such a big responsibility, and neither of them had the time to commit to that. If either Claire or Gretchen quit their jobs to stay home and looks after a baby, they’d no longer make enough money to afford their house, and then the cost of looking after the kid would pile on top of that… it just wasn’t realistic for them.

Claire explained all of this to Gretchen, and Gretchen nodded along and said “oh, yeah, I totally get it,” and promised to drop the point. However, the point wasn’t dropped, at least not for long. She kept having the same reactions whenever anybody mentioned children. Claire didn’t hold it against Gretchen, really; it was clear as day to her that her wife’s desire for kids wasn’t going to be quelled that easily. She just wished Gretchen would understand why Claire didn’t want kids. The financial reasons were a big part of it, but it went beyond that. See, if Claire ever had a kid–either through giving birth or adoption–that kid would grow up, and become an adult, and eventually it would get to the point where her own child would appear older than her. And then, one day, that child would grow old, like her parents were growing old now. One day, Claire would outlive her own child, if she ever had one. She couldn’t bear to think of that, and so she was determined never to have a child in the first place.

Once, when Claire was out for coffee with Tracy–something they still did from time to time even now that they no longer worked together–Tracy offhandedly mentioned that Micah had gotten a girlfriend and that they were pretty serious together. Claire asked if Tracy was ever going to settle down with anyone, but Tracy laughed and said that, as happy as she was for her nephew, she didn’t particularly care for romantic relationships. She went on to say that she especially didn’t want to ever be a mother.

“I mean, I love Micah, but the Dawsons did so much better a job raising him after his mom died than I ever could have,” she said. “Everybody says that my biological clock is ticking, but I say let it tick away. I don’t need a spouse or children to have a fulfilling life.”

Claire did her best not to flinch at the mention of a “biological clock”. Although it was hard to tell with the hair already being almost a platinum blonde, there were a few streaks of gray in Tracy’s hair now, and she was far from alone in this regard. She had a few wrinkles here and there which she covered up with concealer, and while she was still poised and elegant even as she reached middle age, Claire wondered right then if it would be a good idea for them to stop going for coffee together. She didn’t like having to look at people on a regular basis and watch the painstakingly slow transition of them getting older.

However, she quickly dismissed that thought. She regretted having deliberately slowed herself down when Angela was dying so she didn’t have to watch it happen. She wished now that she’d been there to spend a final moment with Angela. Fear of watching people age and, eventually, die… it would plague Claire all her life, however long that life proved to be, but running away wasn’t a solution. Only Hiro could control time, and even he was reluctant to meddle with the space-time continuum. Even so, that didn’t mean that Claire was going to enjoy watching her friends get progressively older. She didn’t enjoy it at all.

-

As the years went by, Claire talked to her parents less and less often. She and Gretchen had settled comfortably in at their house, and even a man as protective as Noah could clearly see that she didn’t need him watching over her like a hawk any longer. Still, he and Sandra called Claire from time to time to check up on her and make sure she was holding up all right.

One time, Claire was halfway through a phone call with Sandra when the sound of barking came through over the phone. The barking was met with an “oh, quiet, you!” which brought Claire an unexpected pang of nostalgia. She said it with the exact same inflection she had used to tell off Mr. Muggles when he’d chew on someone’s shoelaces.

“What’s the name of the dog you’ve got now, again?” Claire asked. She felt a but guilty about having forgotten, but it was hard to keep track sometimes. “Was it Lord Dufferton or something?”

There was an unexpected pause. Claire listened to the faint sound of her mother’s breath crackle over the phone. Sandra’s voice had grown frail and shaky over the years, but it still held plenty of personality. Claire had no idea why her mother wasn’t answering her. Surely she hadn’t forgotten the name of her own dog.

“Your dog,” Claire prompted her after a moment. “What’s it called again?”

“What are you talking about, sweetie?” Sandra asked, concern edging her voice. “You know what our dog’s name is.”

“Mom, I don’t…” Claire quirked her mouth into a frown. “Mom, I’m talking about the dog you have now. The, ah, the dachshund?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sandra insisted. Now she sounded confused, almost scared. “Mr. Muggles is the only dog we’ve got. We don’t have any other dogs.”

A knot tightened at the back of Claire’s throat as she realized what was happening. Still, she put up a wall of denial and pressed on. If she just said the right thing, surely she’d trigger her mother’s memory.

“Look at the dog in front of you,” she said. “It’s not Mr. Muggles, Mom. It’s a different dog.”

There was another pause. Sandra drew in a sharp breath. Then:

“I… I’m sorry, Claire,” she mumbled. “I don’t know what came over me there. Wh-what were we talking about again?”

“Oh, you know,” Claire said with a forced laugh. “I’m sure it was nothing important.”

Once her conversation with Sandra was over, Claire hung up with trembling hands. She laid her phone facedown on the kitchen counter and took a few deep breaths. Then she picked the phone back up and called Noah.

As soon as her father picked up, she blurted, “Something’s wrong with Mom.”

“Claire?” Noah asked; he sounded alert, but his voice was less sharp than Claire expected. “What’s the matter?”

“You haven’t had René take any of her memories, have you?” she asked. Deep down she knew this wasn’t the reason for Sandra’s confusion, but she could hope–at least until Noah’s answer came.

“No, of course not,” he said. “Why would you think that? What happened?”

“I just got off the phone with her,” Claire sighed. “She forgot that she has a new dog. She thought it was Mr. Muggles.”

“Well, shit,” Noah muttered. He hesitated for a moment before saying in a quiet voice, “something happened like that earlier when I was talking to her. She thought that we were still married.”

Claire swallowed hard. Sandra didn’t seem like she was old enough to start losing her memory yet. Nothing like this was happening to Noah yet–at least not with his long-term memory. He did have trouble remembering newer names and faces, but that didn’t mean anything. Everyone got stuff like that mixed up sometimes. Sandra forgetting that she and Noah were divorced, though, even momentarily… that was a problem.

“I don’t like what’s going on, Dad,” Claire said quietly, as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. “You and Mom are aging so fast, and look at me–I look just like I did fifteen years ago!”

“I know, Claire-bear,” Noah murmured. “But growing older is just a part of life. It’ll happen to you too eventually.:

"No, it won’t!” Claire lamented. “That’s the whole problem! Everybody else is getting older, and I’m not!”

“Claire–” Noah began, but Claire cut him off, getting increasingly worked up as she finally expressed the feelings of desperation and anxiety that had been building up inside her for so long.

“I don’t want to outlive everyone, Dad! I want to look like an adult! I-I’m thirty-five, almost thirty-six, and… and I’d still fit in my old cheerleading uniform! I want to get older like everyone else does. I want…” She sucked in a breath, wiping away tears that she hadn’t even realized were streaming down her cheeks. “I want to be able to grow old with my wife.”

Noah was silent for a long moment. She heard him sigh, and when he finally spoke up again, there was no forced reassurance in his voice. More than anything, he sounded tired. Tired and old.

“I’ll see what I can do about Sandra,” he said. “In the meantime… just take care of yourself, okay?”

-

It wasn’t long after Sandra’s memory started to go that Noah followed suit. He retired from work and, soon after, got his driver’s license revoked. Sandra’s physical and mental condition deteriorated faster, and before long, she was deemed unfit to look after herself. A nurse had to come in to assist her with certain things. Claire was wracked with concern for her mother. One night she called up Lyle, who she hadn’t talked to in years, to discuss the issue of their parents. Lyle didn’t have much to say; he didn’t even really seem to care. His voice was so deep now that it was unnerving, and she wondered if he still had the horrible goatee he’d had the last time they’d seen each other. Claire started to ask him about work, but then she realized she didn’t even know what her brother’s job was.

“We should talk more,” she said. “I feel like I don’t even know you anymore.”

“Yeah, well, it’s kind of hard to find time,” Lyle muttered. In the background, Claire could hear the muffled sounds of drums and yelling. “Travelling around with the band and all–I get busy, y'know?”

So he was in a band. There wasn’t much to talk about in Claire’s life, and judging by the awkward pause on the other end of the line, Lyle wasn’t too enthusiastic about telling her about his. Clearing her throat, Claire decided to try to keep the conversation going.

“So, Natalie got an award from the spelling bee,” she said. “She came in third place overall. Peter and Emma are super proud.”

“Uh, who’s Natalie?”

“That’s their kid,” she reminded him. She’d texted him pictures of her cousin before; he should have known who she was. Maybe he just didn’t care. “She’s in fifth grade now, if you can believe it.”

“Huh,” was all Lyle had to say, followed a moment later by “wow.”

“Wow is right,” Claire muttered.

Part of her resented her brother for being so distant. Part of her resented herself for having let them grow so far apart. But most of her just sighed in resignation, told Lyle it had been nice talking to him, and ended the call.

-

From time to time, Claire tried to turn her situation on its head and use it to have a little fun. Whenever a new customer came to the restaurant she worked at, she would ask them to guess her age. Guesses ranged from “uhh… sixteen?” to “I dunno, twenty-something?” She always loved the looks the customers got when she told them she was forty.

One day, the bell on the restaurant’s door chimed and a man in a dark hoodie walked in, glancing around furtively. He had his hands stuffed deep in his pockets. Rather than finding a seat, he just stood there in the doorway for a while, scoping the place out. Claire felt a twinge of nervousness at the sight of this man, but she put on a cheery customer service smile and approached him with a menu in hand.

“Hi, can I help you?” she asked, offering him the menu. Looking at him up close, he just looked like a normal guy, but she knew from experience that looks couldn’t always be trusted.

Without saying a word, the man smirked and took his hands out of his pockets. Claire realized with a jolt of horror that one of those hands held a gun. She took a step back, breath hitching in her throat, and slowly raised her hands in the air. The restaurant fell into a hush as all the eyes in the building turned to the man with the gun. Glancing behind her, Claire saw her manager coming out from the kitchen, his eyes wide in fear.

“Give me all the money you’ve got in your register,” the man snarled to the manager, pointing his gun at Claire. “Or this girl gets it.”

Claire gulped. When she’d been hired, she hadn’t told anybody about her power. She had assumed they would know, since she’d been all over the news as the first person to reveal their powers to the outside world. However, looking behind her, her manager looked genuinely terrified for her–he must not have known she could heal. He started reaching for the cash register.

“No, don’t,” Claire blurted. “Don’t give him the money. It’s not worth it.”

“Give me the money!” the man with the gun barked. He cocked his gun and placed the barrel right up against Claire’s chest while she stood her ground, unafraid for her own safety but terrified that he might hurt a customer or one of her coworkers. “Give it to me now or I’ll kill her!”

“O-okay, you can have the money,” the manager said, panic edging his voice as he rifled through the register and pulled out wads of cash. “Just don’t hurt Ms. Bennet, please. She hasn’t done anything to you!”

“No, don’t give him anything,” Claire protested. “Put the money back on the register; don’t give it to him!”

The manager hesitated.

“Ten seconds,” the robber snarled. “Ten, nine, eight…”

“Don’t give him the money!”

“Seven, six, five, four…’

"I’ll be fine,” she said. Around her, customers scooted their chairs back; parents covered their children’s eyes and told them to look away, and young couples clenched each other’s hands with white knuckles. “Don’t–”

“…Three, two one,” the robber finished with a snarl. He pulled the trigger.

Claire was propelled back by the force as four consecutive shots rang out, echoing through the restaurant with a bang. She couldn’t feel pain, but looking down at her chest cavity riddled with holes wasn’t exactly a pleasant sight. She fell to the floor as horrified gasps sprang up around the restaurant. These gasps then turned to murmurs of disbelief as Claire’s decimated chest continued to rise and fall. Even the man who had shot her let out a startled grunt when she returned his gaze from her splayed-out position on the floor.

Groaning, Claire dug around inside her chest until she found the bullets and pulled them out. Then, sitting up, she did her best to slide everything back into place as her breastbone knitted itself back into one piece. Debris from her heart and lungs littered the floor around her along with blood and a few fragments of bone. It made for an all-around gruesome sight, and she seriously pitied the janitor who would have to clean it all up. In the back, her manager watched with eyes wide in amazement as she stood up and smoothed out her now-tattered uniform.

“Hey, here’s a fun tip for you next time you want to take a hostage,” she said. “Try picking someone who doesn’t have healing powers.”

With that, she grabbed the robber by the wrist and wrenched the gun out if his grip. He let go of it surprisingly easily, and he stared blankly ahead in shock, much like many of the other people in the restaurant, as her manager grabbed the nearest phone and dialed the police.

While they stood outside watching the cops take the robber away, Claire turned to her manager with an attempt at a playful smile. “So, some afternoon, huh?”

“Y-you could say that, yes,” her manager agreed. He kept looking Claire up and down, like he couldn’t quite wrap his head around the fact that she was still alive. “So… you’re immortal, huh? Can’t be killed?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” she said. She decided not to tell him that her head was her achilles’ heel. It wasn’t like she thought her manager was ever going to turn on her or anything, but she didn’t want to give out such personal information to anyone who didn’t need to know it.

“So you aren’t lying about being forty?”

Claire shook her head. Sometimes she wished she was lying, and it was just a funny joke she was playing on the customers, but she truly had been born four decades ago. It was easy to forget this when she looked at herself in the mirror, but not so much when she looked at Gretchen and saw streaks of gray in her wife’s hair and age spots forming on her face.

For her act of bravery, Claire was promoted from a waitress to assistant manager. She was beyond flattered, and she promised to do her best in her new position. Now that she had a higher salary, she considered buying some kind of pet. Sandra was on her fourth or fifth dog now–it was hard to keep track–and whenever Claire visited her she always talked about how nice it was to have a pet. She often got her pets mixed up, and sometimes she forgot who she was talking to or what she was saying mid-sentence, but her older memories from her days as professional dog breeder stayed mostly intact, and she shared them with Claire often.

Having a pet sounded fun, and she thought it might serve as sort of a compromise with Gretchen vis-á-vis children. Gretchen liked the idea, so over the weekend they went to the local pound to look for a potential dog or cat to adopt. While they were looking, a woman at the poind came up to them and asked Gretchen something. It was a simple phrase, just a brief string of words, but they sent a chill down Claire’s spine.

“So,” the worker said with a nod towards Claire, “how old is your daughter?”