#while being like ok but what if he starves. or spontaneously combusts :(

[synthient]

just adopted a cat (!). knew going in that he was very shy & took several weeks to warm up to his foster family & would probably spend most of his time hiding at first. but I do gotta say I was a little unprepared for how bad he wants to explode me with his mind

[libahunt-conspiracies]

Chapter 19 Theories

Ok, there’s a lot to talk about with this chapter. A LOT happened and a lot is about to happen! That cliffhanger was killer, but leaves it open for a bunch of theories!

So Smiity got caught by a bunch of gnomes. That’ll be funny! I wonder what they’re gonna have to do in order to get Smiity’s body back. Creatures like that are super valuable to gnomes, so are they gonna have to pay the gnomes? What would gnomes accept as currency? Maybe they’ll have to trade something to get it back? I don’t think they’re gonna have to fight any gnomes for it, but I can see some of the guys getting impatient and threatening the gnomes. Maybe Smiity will be able to reconnect/merge with his body and the gnomes won’t want him anymore. Hopefully they won’t decide to kill Smiity once his body has a soul again and is, most likely, worthless. I imagine Smiity will shut down for a little bit as he processes all of his memories. I wonder what he’s gonna remember? I can’t wait to have Smiity be able to tell everyone about the secret evil meeting he got caught eavesdropping on. What if Smiity gets trapped in whatever case his body’s in and develops claustrophobia as a result? He wouldn’t be used to being confined by anything. Plus, we’d get some cute Krii7y as a result!

Delirious is a special bitten-werewolf case. Most turned werewolves go insane or die between two months and a year of being turned. Brock said that every turned werewolf has to make a choice between starving to death or losing themselves their instincts. Delirious is special because he hasn’t gone insane yet. I think that Delirious did make his choice. He chose to starve to death; Cartoonz just happened to find him before he could die. Cartoonz mentioned that Delirious refused to really hunt and cried when he killed a rabbit. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t easily lost it yet. Maybe because he’s gotten help and now almost has a pack of his own he won’t fall down the same path as other bitten-werewolves. Maybe he’s just on the edge of going insane. Cartoonz mentioned that Delirious has power like he’s never seen before, and that Del could be devastating if he lost control of it. Maybe that’s what would happen if Delirious went insane? Maybe that destructive power and lack of control is what gave him the name “Delirious”. So far, it only seems like that power comes out when Del has to protect the people he cares about.

Grigori knows who the Phoenix is. The three vampires knew who they were targeting. The group still doesn’t know that Mini’s the Phoenix, but Grigori knows, and that’s even more dangerous. Mini’s gonna have the biggest target on his back now, and he has no idea why. This encounter has probably proven Brock’s theory correct, and he’s not happy about it.

Mini is able to give Tyler a power boost. Is that something that can only happen for the Phoenix Knight or can Mini boost anyone? It seems like Mini is getting weaker after each time he uses his powers. Is that because of the ward hiding him, or is that just a Phoenix thing in general? If he keeps using his powers like this will Mini end up killing himself? I’m thinking Mini’s powers are based on his emotions. It seems like whenever he gets worked up about something or someone he’s able to use his powers.

After Tyler beat all three vamps (which was really fucking badass!) he was attacked by a black smoke thing. Mini’s power boost also went away after the vampires went down. What is this black smoke thing? Maybe it’s some kind of combination/hybrid monster that was controlled by the vampires? Since the vampires are now dead, maybe it’s able to go crazy and do whatever it wants. Or maybe the smoke thing is a gnome trap to keep people out (insert Shrek “Get outta my swamp!” joke here). Maybe the smoke thing is controlled by Grigori. Maybe Grigori himself is coming down to get the Phoenix. Or this smoke thing is just what Grigori’s using as a vessel on earth and he’s still up with the Celestial Council.

How is Tyler going to get out of this? He can’t get out himself, though he’s really trying. The other team is off who knows where,  and there’s no way they’ll be able to get to Tyler’s group fast enough to help. Maybe Delirious will be able to make it back to them? But we don’t know how far he had to run away for their plan. Brock might be able to help, but he doesn’t have many offensive powers because he’s a Defense Hunter. And Evan’s human; he won’t be able to help in this situation. So maybe this is when we get to see the Phoenix’s offensive capabilities! Maybe Mini freaks out and uses his powers without thinking. Mini spontaneously combusts; he is so angry at this turn of events he actually lights himself on fire. He forgets about how tired he is and goes to town on the smoke thing attacking Tyler. If the smoke thing is actually a vessel for Grigori, maybe they hear him laugh because now he knows exactly who the Phoenix and Phoenix Knight are, and where to find them. He vanishes, promising to be back and stronger than before. Maybe Craig doesn’t know how to turn off his powers and Tyler has to help cut them off. After using his powers twice in a row, Mini is completely drained and passes out. Everyone turns to Brock for an explanation. Brock promises to explain his theory once they’ve all regrouped (he REALLY doesn’t want to explain this twice).

What if Del comes back to help and gets caught too? And then the same thing happens to Brock when Brock tries protecting Evan and Mini. Maybe it’s when Evan then stands up to protect Craig that Mini’s powers activate again. He’s so done with people sacrificing themselves to protect him, so this time he’ll protect them. He may be a damsel and he may be in distress, but this time, he’s got it. Mini gets up, grabs his bat, and beats the shit out of whatever’s hurting his friends.

Meanwhile, while all of this is going on, Ohm’s group has found the gnomes that have Smiity’s body. They have to go through all the shenanigans to get it back. Eventually they retrieve Smit’s body and head back to their rendezvous point. They grumble and complain about how Tyler and group didn’t show up to help them (mostly Brian and Cartoonz complaining). Tyler’s group shows up and they’re met with, “Where the hell have you guys been? Would’ve been nice to have your help when dealing with the gnomes!” etc. etc. Then they take a closer look at Tyler’s group. “What the hell happened to you guys??” Brock sighs in a, ‘I really don’t want to do this’ way, “Better get comfortable, cause this is a long story.”

You know, someday I’ll actually get these theories done before saturday. Sorry for the really late theories!! I promise I have not read chapter 20 before writing these, so I have no idea what’s gonna actually happen. My new year’s resolution is going to be to get these done by wednesday at the latest! Chapter 19 was amazing, even if the cliffhanger was physically painful lol. I can’t wait to read 20! Thank you Crim for such an amazing story! I can’t wait to see where it goes!

@crimsonbluemoon

[everlarkbirthdaygifts]

Happy Birthday, mathiness!

Apologies to @mathiness for the delay on your gift. We hope you had a wonderful birthday on November 9, and celebrated in style. To bring back the birthday cheer, the lovely @wildlyglittering has written a story just for you!

Title: Tea for Two

Gift for: mathiness

Rating: T

Trigger warnings: some mild swearing and mention of sex

The kid was running around the place and screaming. Not happy childlike yells of delight but actual ‘top of the lungs’ shrieking and Katniss wondered for a minute how much trouble she would be in if she ‘accidentally’ dropped a tray on her head. She quickly shook that thought away, disturbed at how easy it came to her. No one should have harm wished against them, least of all a child, even if they were clearly a demon in human form.

The problem was that she was tired. Working two jobs was slowly beginning to destroy her ability to function as a human being. Especially when one was as physically demanding as the nature hikes at the national park and the other was the emotionally draining experience of waitressing at Trinket’s Tea House. There were the other factors of course. One was the fact that she hadn’t managed to eat properly since yesterday afternoon and then there was the other reason she was exhausted...

Katniss figured if she managed to make it to her break she could grab a quick sandwich and that would cure one of the two problems. Getting rid of her tiredness would be resolved after work when she could pass out in bed. Gale once stated that ‘hangry’ was a term invented for her and at the time she had told him he didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. Now, reflecting on whether it was appropriate to drop-kick a child out of their own birthday party, she conceded that he may have had a point.

Effie believed that they should ‘let the children express themselves and leave the parents to parenting,’ which was as bad an idea that Katniss had ever heard. Children running amok in a place that served hot beverages was tantamount to a disaster and the people that usually brought their children to this place normally let ‘the help’ do the parenting.

Despite some of the issues, the last thing that Katniss wanted was to mess anything up here. Sure, the clientele were spoiled children, the owner a tower of powderpuff pretention and the uniforms were sickeningly sunshine yellow sundresses but the pay was good and the tips were great.

With that last thought in mind, Katniss plastered a smile onto her face and carried the tray of cakes over to the long table. Trinket’s, with its bunting and princess chairs and overall pinkness was a very popular spot for baby showers and baby parties and today they were hosting a party for a ‘very special six-year-old.’ Or so Katniss had been told.

“Mommy! I’m hungry!” The screaming birthday girl had stopped running but was now clambering onto one of the chairs and was gripping the back with fists clenched so tight they were turning white.

A woman wearing a bubble-gum pink cashmere sweater, and whose honeyed blonde hair was effortlessly swept into a 1950’s ponytail stepped into view. “Yes, my darling, we’re all hungry. Let me see where the waitress is... oh look, here she is now.”

‘Cashmere’ mother glared at Katniss as she approached and Katniss used all her willpower to not visibly cringe at the other woman’s expression. Well, she wasn’t too sure as to how well this particular patron would be tipping. When Katniss got nearer, the woman stepped closer. “About time,” she hissed in her ear, “I’m not paying you to let my child starve.”

Biting her tongue, Katniss refrained from telling the woman that she wasn’t exactly paying her anything and that a slight delay on getting choux buns and chocolate eclairs to the table weren’t grounds for starvation. In fact, Katniss thought that the kid looked positively too well-fed.

She plastered a smile on her face, so fake it hurt. “I’m very sorry madam, there was a minor issue in the kitchen. I’ve included some extra buns for the birthday girl though. Free of charge,” she quickly added.

‘Cashmere’ sniffed, “It’s a start.” She then turned to her daughter, who was still shrieking. “Darling, try and sit down now. Have one of the cakes.”

“Noooooo! I want Daddy to have the first cake!”

Katniss placed the goodies on the table and watched as the group of little girls, all dressed in ruffles and so much pink, grabbed at the treats while the birthday girl continued to swing from the chair. Enough was enough.

“Hey there birthday girl!” Katniss exclaimed with false excitement. The sound of screaming stopped and the girl glared at her for the interruption. “I hear it’s a very special birthday for you. How old are you today?”

There was a moment when all she got was the continued death glare and some silence before some latent social politeness kicked in. “I’m six.”

“Six? Wow! That’s a big girl birthday!” Katniss smiled so hard she thought her face would fall off. “Our big girls get to sit in the birthday throne chair, would you like that?” The little girl nodded enthusiastically, her eyes glancing around the teahouse.

    “Oh good! But first, before our birthday girls sit in the throne chair they need to practice siting in one of these chairs.” Katniss took a deep breath, “It’s so we know they are big enough for the throne, can you sit in this chair for me?”

“I am big enough!” The girl frowned and stomped her foot and for a horrible moment Katniss thought that her little manoeuvre wasn’t going to pay off.

Then, miracle of all miracles, the girl sat down and Katniss breathed out in relief. She took two little cakes, placed them on a plate and handed them to the girl. “Here’s a cake for you and here’s a cake that you can give to your daddy.”  

The girl took the plate with careful hands, “Ok!” and then looked up at Katniss and smiled, transforming her entire face. Her blue eyes shone with genuine happiness and her cheeks, round and rosy, were stretched across her face as she beamed.

Katniss found herself genuinely beaming back. There was something so pleasant about the girl when she smiled and the look suited her, from the little gap where she was missing a tooth to the way her blonde little waves bounced about her face. In that moment there was nothing of her mother in her face but instead something strangely familiar, something Katniss couldn’t put her finger on.

She shrugged it off. Lots of little girls passed through the teahouse for parties and it could be that Katniss had seen her here before and maybe at a time when she wasn’t so overexcited.

Katniss checked that everyone was happy before she turned back to the kitchen. ‘Cashmere’ was now settled next to her daughter and Katniss heard the little girl ask in a quiet voice, “Is Daddy going to be here soon?”

“He’s on his way darling.”

Back in the kitchen, Katniss grabbed a cucumber and cream cheese sandwich from the side, moaning as she bit into it, “Oh my god, I need this.”

“Tone it down Everdeen, you’re in polite company. Unless you want to add to Thom’s masturbatory fantasies.”

Katniss looked up and flipped Jo the finger. The other waitress was standing next to the chef, as per usual, and they were laughing. “You know, if you two weren’t too busy flirting I might have been able to get my orders out in time.”

“You wound me,” said Thom. “I don’t flirt with anyone but you,” and he winked as Katniss rolled her eyes.

“Flirt with whoever, but please can you just get my orders on time when I’m dealing with the child from The Omen,” she gestured towards the restaurant beyond the kitchen door and turned to Jo. “How did I draw the short straw for them today?”

“Well,” Jo inspected her nails. “If someone wasn’t late this morning then they could have called dibs on the quiet tables. What was it again? Shower broke?”

Katniss could feel a heat rushing to her cheeks. “Yeah, I had trouble with the hot water.”

“Oh, it’s just I’m sure you said it was car trouble, didn’t she Thom?”

Thom piped up, “She sure did. Car trouble.”

Her face was on fire now and she put down her half-eaten sandwich, “It was both,” she said carefully. “My shower wasn’t working and then it was my car.” She looked up at Jo and Thom’s faces and, judging from their expressions, she was fooling no one.

“Uhuh,” Jo said. “It’s a good thing these chintzy uniforms come with neckties otherwise I’d love to see you explain to the mom’s that big fat hickey I saw when you came in.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Katniss ground out, surreptitiously tugging on said necktie to make sure it was in place whilst ignoring Jo’s laughter.

The bell to the entrance rang then and Katniss couldn’t decide if that was the universe helping her or conspiring against her, especially when she heard the enthusiastic shout of ‘Daddy!’ Katniss moaned again, this time in resignation and pressed the flat of her palm against her forehead. “It’s ok,” she reassured herself. “I’ve got this.��

Smoothing down her dress, she grabbed a menu and headed out the kitchen door, prepared to greet the father of the human Chucky.

The man walking through the front door made her heart plummet to the ground. Oh. Oh shit. Oh fuck. His eyes were focused into the contents of a large birthday bag that he was carrying and Katniss wondered if this could buy her some precious time.

She was astutely aware that she was occupying the space directly ahead of him and contemplated if the best approach would be to tuck and roll her way back into the kitchen or just try and smile it out. The other approach would be to spontaneously combust somehow, and the way she was feeling, hot and suddenly pouring with sweat, made her feel as though this was something she could achieve.

What she wasn’t prepared for though was the feeling of her stomach shifting like it was about to upchuck half a cucumber sandwich. Her smile, an overly enthused grin that made her look like a jack lantern, was plastered on her face. There had been many interesting scenarios that she had experienced in her life, Gale doing the Naked Man on her had been the worst one, or so she had thought at the time, but now this moment seemed to top that by far.

Katniss prepared for the moment he looked up from the birthday bag in what was the most awful thirty seconds she had ever lived through. Then, the universe threw her a bone, ‘your second one in two days’ was what she imagined Jo saying, as he moved out the way to make way to another man walking behind him.

“Daddy!” The birthday girl launched herself from the chair and across the restaurant and the second man, slightly shorter and slightly rounder than the first, swung her up into his arms. Katniss watched as the girl clung to her father’s neck like her life depended on it, her shrieks now completely different in tone from before but just as loud.

They had matching faces, Katniss realised. Shining blue eyes and cheeks that were round and rosy when they smiled. The same face as the third member of their standing party whose deep, masculine laughter roared across the space to Katniss’ ears.

“Uncle Peeta!” The girl stretched across her father and wrapped her arms around his neck with just as much enthusiasm as before and Katniss watched as Peeta stretched his free arm up around her, his large hand splayed on her tiny back.

“Watch out Maybug or you’re going to crush me those arms,” she heard him say but his voice was teasing. The girl giggled and planted a wet kiss onto his cheek. It seemed that Uncle Peeta was a firm favourite. Katniss knew of more than one person in this room who would agree.

The girl turned her now incredibly cheery face back to her father, “Daddy,” she said, “I saved you a cake.”

“Did you, my darling?”

“Yes, that waitress gave it to me,” then she turned and pointed straight at Katniss like she was straight out of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Two things went through her mind; first, how the hell did the kid even see her there when she hadn’t been paying attention, second, was Katniss should probably stop referring to Peeta’s niece in conjunction with horror movies.

Both men looked up simultaneously and Katniss offered them both a wavering smile. The man that was clearly Peeta’s brother smiled at her, grateful that someone had made his daughter happy on her birthday. The man whose opinions Katniss was actually concerned with stood opposite her, mouth wide open.

Katniss stepped forward with a fake, peppy introduction. “Welcome,” she chirped, “to Trinket’s Tea House.” Her smile was hurting her face again. “Let me show you to your table,” and with that, she bustled ahead of them, desperate to get out of their presence.

She pointed at two chairs, side by side, on the long table and thrust a drinks menu in front of them before announcing that she would take their order in a minute before darting back into the kitchen. Jo and Thom seemingly hadn’t moved from where she had left them.

    “Seriously? Do you guys even work when you’re here?”

They both grinned but only Jo looked over at her, “I try to do the bare minimum.” She paused and looked closer at Katniss. “You blushing Everdeen?”

“No,” she said, trying to ignore the heat that travelled up her neck to her face.

“You’re back in here like the restaurant is on fire. Or is that just your pants, liar liar?”

Katniss flipped Jo the finger for the second time that morning which she realised was not a good start to the request she was about it make. “I need a favour,” she took a deep breath. “Can you please finish my table? I’ll owe you big.”

Jo straightened up, “Ok, I’m listening. What you offering?”

“I will cover any Saturday shift you want for the next month and I’ll do that baby shower you’re supposed to help Cressida with.”

“The baby shower,” said Jo, “and the Sweet Sixteen.”

Katniss sighed, “Sure.”

“And any Saturday shift for the next two months.”

“Oh c’mon!” Katniss exclaimed but then remembered what was waiting for her on the other side of the side. She ground her teeth together, “Fine. You have a deal.”

“Wow,” Jo said, “you must really not want to go out there.” Her eyes slid to the kitchen door. “Did the kid puke? Did all the kids puke?” Before Katniss could stop her, Jo had made her way to the small observing window.

Jo let out a small whistle, “Right. So, you bursting in here like a blushing virgin who has just seen a dick for the first time has nothing to do with that nervous looking, gorgeous man?”

“He’s not that gorgeous,” Katniss said petulantly and Jo just fixed her with a look that screamed, liar.

“Please,” said Jo, “I would let him ride me like Seabiscuit.” There was a pause and she suddenly looked at Katniss like an epiphany had struck. A wicked grin spread out on her face, “Wait a sec... is that why you’re freaking out? Because he let you ride him like-”

“Jo!” This was mortifying. And truthful. And Katniss just couldn’t lie and Jo knew it. She sighed, “Do you really think he looks nervous?”

The grin grew wider, “Oh yeah. Probably because he’s just walked in to see the woman he spent the evening boning working here.”

Katniss gave up trying to feign innocence at this point. “This is just humiliating.”

“Why?” Jo asked. “Because it was supposed to be one night of hot nasty sex where you did unspeakable things to his body and then you were never supposed to see each other again? Didn’t think that was your style.”

“No, that’s not it at all,” Katniss sounded so dejected, even to her own ears. Then, before Jo could make a crude comment about the type of sex Katniss had, she continued, “I never told him I worked here. I mean, I met him on a hike and so he knows I work at the park but I never told him I had two jobs. I never told him I waitressed at Trinket’s damned Tea House and now, I’m serving his niece.”

Jo made an attempt at a sympathetic pat on the shoulder but she must have seen how forlorn Katniss looked because when she next spoke her voice was softer than usual. “What’s humiliating is the way some of these parents let their kids behave. You’re a hard worker, working two jobs to earn a living and pay for college. If he’s a dick about that then he doesn’t deserve you.”

Katniss shrugged, “Maybe.”

“You like him.”

“Maybe.” Katniss shook her thoughts from her head, “Are you going to take over my table?”

Jo looked up to the ceiling and tapped her fingernail on her chin thoughtfully, “You know what.... no deal.” Then before Katniss could react, Jo was giving her a shove through the doors. “You’ll thank me!”

Katniss highly doubted it. She had been unceremoniously turfed through the doors out into the restaurant and was now back to reconsidering the spontaneous combustion option. Peeta was watching her as she made her way over to the table and she swore she saw him glance up her bare legs to the material of her sun dress as it skimmed past her hips.

Though he had already seen her with significantly less on, she felt self-conscious and began to tug on the hem. Doing so pulled the material a little more snuggly over her breasts and she swore he looked at those too.

By the time Katniss had reached the table, she spoke the words that she’d been smoothly practising in her head. “Good afternoon, gentlemen. Have you decided on what drinks you would like?”

The older looking man, Peeta’s brother, glanced up at her. “I’ll just take a black coffee.” She gave him a smile and nodded before looking over at Peeta.

His face made her knees feel strange. He’d attended one of her park hikes and she’d realised quite quickly into it that she was hopefully attracted to him, him and his obnoxiously attractive face. And his obnoxious personality which was so decidedly non-obnoxious. Peeta had shown a genuine interest in the hike, asking questions about the park and the trees and the berries. And even her. Those questions had continued into more questions after the hike was done which was followed by more questions and then a beer. That one evening turned into a few dates and then finally, last night, she went back to his on the other side of town and had too much of a good time.

Peeta smiled at her, warm and familiar, and all she could think of was, I’ve kissed those lips and well... they’ve done more besides. “And for you?” was all she asked.

“I’ll try the hot chocolate with chili spices. I fancy something delicious with a kick.”

Katniss gave a curt nod, ignoring the movements her stomach made. She made their drinks the quickest she’d ever made any ones before, hoping that if she sped this up it would all be over soon. As she made them behind the counter she couldn’t help but steal glances their way.

The little girls, in their ruffles and bows, were still munching their way through the cakes whilst the birthday girl was proudly displaying the cake she had saved to her father who responded with an enthusiastic and grateful expression. Peeta’s face when he looked at his niece was one of utmost joy. He had mentioned a niece to her but Katniss had never really pressed on details, always uncomfortable when the subject of children came up. ‘Cashmere’ was checking her phone, probably relieved that her daughter’s attentions were elsewhere.

Katniss must have stared a minute too long or too hard into the side of Peeta’s neck because he looked up and over at her and so she quickly looked back down. In truth, she was embarrassed. From their conversations it seemed like he had it pretty much together. He owned a bakery and his own house and, after having mastered painting, he was now moving onto sculpture. As you do. Meanwhile Katniss worked two jobs to pay rent on a shitty one bed apartment and her evening college course in forestry. She hadn’t told him about the shitty apartment or the course. Or the two jobs.

She walked back over with the drinks, stretching her smile out even further. There was no compensation like overcompensation. “Here you go,” she said. “One black coffee and one hot chocolate with chili.”

“Thank you, Katniss,” he said and took the mug from her before she could set it down, his fingers brushing against hers. For some reason, his touch gave her an electric shock and the mug jostled spilling liquid onto the table.

‘Cashmere’ tutted from somewhere over Katniss’ shoulder. “I’m so sorry, let me just-”

“It’s ok,” Peeta said, the fingers of his right hand gently curling round Katniss’ wrist to steady her, his fingertips pressing on her pulse point, whilst he removed the mug with his left. He looked up her, his eyes twinkling.

“I’m so sorry,” she said again, more serious this time, trying to put some meaning behind those words.

His fingers didn’t leave her wrist. “I said it’s ok,” he smiled at her softly. “It really is.” His thumb began to trace the skin on her wrist.

A throat cleared from Peeta’s left. “Er, Peet...” They both looked up at where Peeta’s brother was looking at their joined hands, before his eyes flittered between their faces. “I appreciate that you’re having a moment with our waitress but I don’t know if it’s entirely appropriate...” he jerked his head towards the table of children and more specifically his own blonde-haired child who was gawping at them.

Katniss snatched back her hand, red flaming her face. “Of course, I’m so sorry.” Those were words that she seemed to be saying on repeat. She should just walk around with a giant sign taped to her forehead.

Peeta glanced back at his brother. “Rye,” he said. “This is Katniss. Katniss,” and then he glanced at her, “this is my big brother Rye.”

Katniss nervously smiled. “Yes, I am Katniss your waitress,” she pointed at her name tag. “What can I get you to eat?”

Peeta’s face fell into a slight frown.

Rye spoke up, “What do you recommend?”

Safe, neutral territory was what she needed right now. “The buns are particularly delicious, we can offer both sweet and savoury options and-”

Peeta spoke again, cutting her off. “I own a bakery, buns are my speciality. I don’t know if these will be as good as my buns,” he winked at her. Katniss mouth dropped open before she recovered.

“Well, we also have buttered muffins.” Error. As soon as she said it.

Peeta’s eyes sparkled, it was as though he were deliberately trying to wind her up. “Do you like your muffins buttered, Katniss?”

She narrowed her eyes at him, wondering how fired she would be if she launched into an angry tirade. Katniss needn’t have worried as Rye cleared his throat... again. “Dude, I know the kids don’t understand you but believe me when I say, I do. I kind of want to enjoy May’s birthday party without listening to my kid brother make crude, bakery innuendo’s which are, well, half baked.”

Dear lord. The humour was genetic. “Is he bothering you?” Rye asked. “Because I think this is his awful attempt at flirting and frankly it’s making me want to lock my daughter in a tower if this is what she has to look forward to.”

Katniss gave him a small smile and glanced between Rye’s put-upon face and Peeta’s pink-tinged one. “No, he’s not bothering me and the flirting isn’t too bad.”

“We’ll have two cheese buns,” Rye said, probably to put her out of her misery.

Katniss nodded again and darted off but she’d only gone so far when she heard her name being called. She stopped and turned around to see Peeta following her. “Katniss... please wait.”

They faced each other, surrounded by birthday bunting and pastel polka dots. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” he said.

“You didn’t.”

Peeta ran his hand through his hair, “It’s my niece’s birthday party and I didn’t know you would be here.”

“Why would you?” she replied. “I never told you I worked here.”

“Yeah,” he said, looking at her quizzingly. “Why didn’t you?”

She shrugged, “It’s hardly inspiring stuff, I sell overpriced cakes to customers.”

“Hey,” he grinned, “I sell reasonably priced cakes to customers.”

“You know what I mean.”

“So, you work two jobs? Here and at the park?” He nodded to himself. “That’s pretty commendable. I don’t know how you do it. I mean, when I was paying my way through art school I worked at my dad’s bakery and did nude art modelling.”

“Oh!” Katniss took a quick glance down his body on instinct. She’d seen it all last night in its full nude glory and it was...well, glorious. She cleared her throat and looked back at his face to see him beaming at her. “I didn’t know that.”

“I thought it would come out at a later point, you know fifth date or sixth date or when I got drunk enough and showed you some of the art work I was given...”

“We’re going to have a fifth date?” she asked.

“I certainly hope so,” he said, reaching forward and touching her fingertips with his own. “I saw your face when we walked in, you looked really ashamed and I don’t understand why. You’re so passionate when you talk about your forestry, if you need to wear cute dresses at Trinket’s to help pay for your course then so be it.”

“This is not a cute dress,” but she smiled at him anyway.

“Oh, it’s really cute and you should definitely wear it in bed, no underwear.” Katniss rolled her eyes at him but he knew she didn’t mean it. “And you have to serve people like my sister-in-law, who by the way is a pain in the ass, and my niece who is lovely but can act like a raging spoiled ball of melodrama.”

“I can’t deny those two last points.”

“See me again,” he asked. “Come to my bakery and I’ll serve you and I’ll do it only wearing an apron and a smile.”

Katniss grinned at him and glanced over at the table she was serving only to find Jo had somehow snuck out and was re-taking their order. Jo glanced up and winked at her and Katniss found herself wanting to hug the girl.

“Alright,” she said. “It’s a date.”

[chocolatellamadragons]

Infiniman was his name, and everyone knew his incredible power of being in many places at once. But now he was here, as Clyde. Clyde who was sick to death of publicity and keeping a perfect image of heroism. At first, I couldn't believe it. "Oh my god! I'd be so honored to help! Oh man, wait till my family hears about this..." But he cut me off mid sentence.

"No! Don't you get it?! This is exactly my problem! Nobody can know about this. Especially not the kids. Children look up to me every day. They all want to grow up and be heroes, like I am. If they found out that I was weak..."

It kind of broke me a little. I had two young sons who watch slack jawed in awe at the news as they reported natural disasters, terrorist attacks, bank heists and more as he saved the day. He would send copies of himself all over the globe, super strong, super fast, super ready for action. But looking at the man slumped in the chair next to me, all I could see was Clyde, who was super done with this.

"Nobody would think that. In fact, you'd be being a hero to people worldwide! People don't open up about their problems and it kills them in the end, sometimes literally, and it's my job to male sure to help as many people as possible so that doesn't happen. But it's not like I could tell them any way, now that I think about it. There are laws against such things. Now, what do you want to talk about, Clyde?" He liked being called by his ordinary first name. He came up with Infiniman as a kid, thinking the world would hate some boring guy like Clyde. Now though, he couldn't stand the name.

He opened up more than you'd expect from a superhero. I'd sort of expected him to be dark and brooding like Batman, but he was really happy he had someone to trust.

As a child, he'd been raised in an orphanage, and bullied throughout. 'Typical hero tragic backstory stuff' I thought, but now that I think about it I'm glad I never said that aloud. He'd discovered his self-cloning abilities as a result of that. He kept wishing that someone could take the beatings for him. And one day, they did; a perfect copy of himself. He'd practiced by doing the typical childish things: having a clone sit in class and learn while the original copy did literally anything else. Until one day he decided to become a superhero!

And things went downhill from there. Most people would wait until they became an adult to do anything heroic. Clyde just said 'screw it' and began at just 14. And no matter how many enhancement you have to your physical body, nothing can prepare you for the horrors that he saw. "I guess that's why I didn't just quit. I was a one man army, a full size team of builders and farmers and carers and aid workers. I could be everywhere, do everything right. It's just... so many people for one mind. I see the darkest parts of the world everyday. I have done for so long it's hard to believe there are any light parts left."

I thought about that. And it made a lot of sense. When those clones recede back into his mind, where else would the memories go? "Have you thought of maybe, taking a break? There's only so much one man can do." I said as gently as I could. He needed a vacation more than anyone I'd ever seen. "Are you joking? The world would just go back to the way it was! Families starving, crimes going unsolved, villains unapprehended... I couldn't bear to think about what would happen!"

"Try to relax. The world won't spontaneously combust if you stopped working for just one day. Tell you what, right now, I want you to just be you. No extra copies of yourself. None at all." He looked shocked, but complied. It gave me a good idea of how much pressure he was under. There must have been thousands of spectral versions of him, all fading into one. Finally, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes. They seemed brighter than before. "Ok, there you go. Now can we speed this bit up? Theres a civil war going on and I need to protect civilians. And build new houses for the people left homeless after yesterday's earthquake." But I shook my head. "Can I at least go see to my lunch?"

"How long has it been since you ate your own lunch? When was it last eaten by you, not a copy?" I took from his sullen expression that he couldn't remember. "Then that's what your going to do. On this day, every month, you're putting the doubles away and being Clyde again. All day, all night. And your going to talk to me about everything. The good and bad." I smiled. Nobody would believe this if I told them, so in a way I was glad that I was kept from mentioning it. "But what if you're busy? Surely you have other appointments each month." I looked at my watch.

"I have an hour for lunch everyday, if you don't mind the company."

We did that for a whole year. On the 12th of every month, we met at the same cafe. We sat at a back table, far from spying eyes and ears and talked. At first, it was all the same. How horrible everything was. But slowly, little by little, he'd say how the school he attended threw him a party on his birthday, and talked endlessly about how excited the kids were, or about how one day, he'd decided to take a break for himself, and saw a hawk while bike riding near the woods. Slowly but surely, he was taking more days off and talking more about all the good things in his life.

"I think maybe I should tell everyone." He said. It was February, and it was quiet, since the weather had been nasty. "Tell everyone what? Who is everyone?" I asked. He took another bite from his sandwich. "About what I've been doing. Why I keep not showing up to... everything." He said.

"You don't have to you know." Though secretly I'd hoped he would because keeping this superhero business secret was harder than I thought. "People notice. Especially when things grind to a halt when I'm not around. World can't fend for itself if it doesn't know it has to." He summised. "Anyway, it'd be good to tell people to learn from my mistakes. You don't have to carry the whole world. You matter most."

That's how he opened his speech, telling the world where he'd been. At first, there was a lot of backlash. The media did it's best to tear his reputation apart. But he just said the truth. He doesn't owe the world anything. It's not his problem. He'd finally balanced his responsibility as a hero with his own life and we both felt good about it. I'd introduced him to some more friends of mine and he found a place for himself.

My job got a little busier after that. People began to tell others how they were feeling. I still haven't told anyone that Infiniman is a guy named Clyde with a lot of troubles, but that's how it should be. Private and confidential.

As a psychologist, you are required by law to respect your patients secrets, and keep them secret. Your newest patient however reveals to you that they are the secret identity of a famous superhero. You get to know a superheroes secrets, problems and personality, and you can’t tell anyone.