⠀⠀⠀･ ﾟ 𑁍 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒗𝒆

lenore dove has the tendency to find herself in trouble more often than haymitch likes. he loves her fire , loves her temper , loves the fact that she isn't content to simply accept the cruel injustices the district is subjected to beneath the capitol's thumb. but he hates when she's taken into custody and he spends every second she's gone worrying about what they might be doing to her , how they might be hurting her. his nails are always bitten down to the nail beds , the insides of his cheeks bitten hard enough that the taste of copper floods his mouth. he hates it. it doesn't help that her uncles already seem to think he's a problem ; they probably blame him for this , too.

while he couldn't account for her whereabouts that entire night , it's not like a little lie ever hurt anyone , right ? and they had been together that night , so it wasn't really a lie ! ! maybe he just . . conveniently misremembered a little bit.

there's a small grunt when she suddenly leaps onto his back , more so from surprise than the weight , though he doesn't miss a beat. hands settle securely at the backs of her knees to ensure her stability , this position having grown as natural as breathing. “ anytime , ” is shot over his shoulder with a charming grin. while he's certainly suspicious that she was truly guilty , he's not in the mood to pester her about it right now. she probably won't admit to it , and he's just grateful she seems to be unharmed.

he can feel the ghost of her lips against his cheek even long after she's pulled away , warmth settling in the skin there. he's already beginning to move , fingers absentmindedly drumming against her skin as he walks. “ a dip in the lake , huh ? ” an amused sort of snort follows suit , though it's not like he's going to say no to her. he'd follow her anywhere if it meant getting to see the way her eyes light up , that ridiculously beautiful smile of hers . . “ i guess that does sound pretty good. i'll have to wash off all the sweat of carrying you the whole way. ” he teases , though he makes it look like light work. hattie has him hauling enough firewood and grain that lenore dove feels like a feather on his back.

another kiss was placed gently to his cheek, a wide grin spread from cheek to cheek with lenore dove unable to contain the happiness she felt around him. ❛ mhmm, it'll be nice to go out IN NATURE after being locked in that cell. i'm starting to think that they just try and make excuses to keep me locked away. scared o' me or somethin'. ❜ lying to haymitch was the worst feeling in the world, hiding her rebellious nature from him was HARD, but she couldn't have him hurt because of her. she'd tell him eventually, but for now, she had to keep a majority of it to herself. ONE DAY he'd figure out that she was the reason for the orange spray paint and figure out her involvement in the sabotaged rope during clay chance's hanging.

❛ you don't have to carry me the whole way, not unless you want to, ❜ lenore dove let out a soft giggle. she knew that he COULD, but it was miles to the lake outside of the woods, so she didn't want him to tire too much. ❛ i love you like all-fire, ❜ it comes in a whisper, something just for them. as she let her words linger, lenore dove decided that she'd try her hardest to keep out of trouble. she didn't want her uncles or haymitch to have to pay the price of her rebellious acts. she wouldn't be able to LIVE WITH HERSELF if she'd been the reason they were hurt, and surely the excuse that she's just a kid is running out. it worked better when she was twelve, but now ? it surely wasn't working anymore. that's why her uncles had to resort to making more money, to use as BRIBES to get her out of trouble.

he lets out a squawk of a laugh. “ha!” and bounds away, out of her reach and turns to face her, walking backwards in front of her. his steps are large, awkward, to try and prevent himself from falling over. “how's that fair?” he rakes his hands through his hair and shakes his head. “package deal,” he grumbles. “that's some hogwash and you know it.”

but it's true. burdie's been attached to lenore dove since they were little ones. his family felt small until the cousins found each other. not that he didn't enjoy his everdeen cousins, but it felt easier with lenore dove. more natural, somehow. he'd been her shadow when they were kids. a real package deal. maybe it wasn't so different now.

“alright, alright. so maybe you're a little faster.” the only one he was outrunning was asterid's dad, chased out for spending too much time in the apothecary shop without spending a single penny. “with good reason,” he added. burdie's own run-in with the peacekeepers had been easier than anything lenore dove had dealt with.

it was amazing that bringing fresh fruit and game could bring him a bit of peace. traversing the woods was illegal in itself. having weapons and hunting could get him whipped-best case scenario. he'd been lucky to avoid the wrath of the head peacekeeper this far, who seemed to get some sick enjoyment from beatings.

he laughs again when she brings up the cousins' distaste for haymitch and it's only then that he loses his balance. his heel snags on a root and he tumbles backwards with a grunt.

it doesn't seem to bug him at all, though. he's got the same smile on his face. “hay's a good guy,” he says, standing and brushing the dirt from his pants. he doesn't get why they don't like him, one more thing he doesn't understand.

hearing her cousin admit that she was A LITTLE faster had her laughing harder. ❛ a lot faster, but don't be jealous, one of us had to get all the good traits, ❜ lenore dove teased him, giving a LIGHT ELBOW to his ribs. she'd had to be fast, not wanting to get caught and dragged off to the peacekeeper's base. even when she was keeping to herself, they found reasons to chase her, like when they chased her and her geese out of the meadow.

reaching a hand to help her cousin up, she gave a soft scoff. ❛ if you didn't want us falling IN LOVE, then maybe you shouldn't have introduced us, huh ? ❜ it had only been natural for lenore dove to fall for haymitch. he never treated her like she was crazy for her interests or the way she wore color in her overalls made from her late aunt's dress. ❛ SPEAKIN' OF, have you talked to that march girl yet ? i saw the way you were lookin' at her. and the way that she looked back at you. ❜ she wasn't blind to see that her cousin had some sort of crush on asterid march. ❛ maybe if you two become sweet on each other, you can tell her to tell her friend maysilee to STOP BEIN' RUDE to me. ❜ she knew there was more to it than that, knew that maysilee knew HER SECRET, but she still didn't like being treated like she was beneath maysilee because she wasn't.

There weren't any Peacekeepers in Twelve now who remembered the entertainment the Covey had once brought them on the regular. Sure, they hadn't respected them, but at least they'd spared a decent bit of coin, enough to help them all get by. But then everything had taken its turn, and there'd been no more concerts, no more entertaining, no more nothing. They'd had to scramble to find other ways to make money, to be able to buy food and firewood. Life had been considerably leaner, but they hadn't had much choice in the matter. They still didn't. They were lucky as it was that the Peacekeepers were so amenable to bribes. But their luck could only last so long.

❛ do you think that things will ever BE DIFFERENT ? ❜ lenore dove asked clerk carmine, brown eyes wide and full of hope. she had this hope that things would change, that the games would stop one day and just NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. it was something that looked like it could happen less and less as the years passed, but she wasn't going to let herself fall into this hopeless state and just give up like others seemed to have done.

"Dumb decisions and love go hand in hand, Dovey, for just about everybody," Clerk Carmine laughed softly, holding her close as she threw herself into his arms. It felt like she'd grown up in the blink of an eye, no longer that tiny little girl that had been practically attached to his or Tam Amber's legs. The little girl he'd tucked into bed, sung to sleep, taught to play her tunebox. It was more than a little bit terrifying, and not something he felt entirely ready for. Like time was slipping away from him, that sooner or later he'd have to say goodbye again, and the thought made his heart ache.

❛ never mind that, though. we should talk about something else. ❜ lenore dove told her uncle, wanting to change the subject before one of them got upset again. family was IMPORTANT to her, but she also knew that some of their rules drove her mad. ❛ think we may need to get me new shoes soon. this boots are starting to come apart. probably because i-- never mind the reason. i just probably need NEW BOOTS. ❜

another day in the mines. it had only been a few weeks since he'd aged out of school and found himself readied up for his next endeavor, little time wasted on making another district citizen useful in their own way. while he'd stay neutral if you asked him, in truth, he hated it with every ounce of his being. which is why he needed to escape, to find a place that was the complete opposite than the stuffy tunnels that were pitch black and ashy, where breathing was harder the deeper you went. but no, out here there was sunshine, he could take in a deep breath without worry, there was room. and he could, if only for an hour or so, free himself from the chains that were to be his future until the day he died.

what he didn't expect to see was someone else out here, and when he spots lenore dove, he can't help but say something to her. it's not like they were cordial by any sense of the word, nor had they spent any time together besides the chance encounter where she'd spit her distaste towards him for what his family did. she wasn't alone in her sentiment, but that didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun with it anyway. that is, until she describes what seems to be territorial geese. and he looks around for any of those rogue birds almost instantly, knowing his odds against one wouldn't be so bad, but if there was a flock of them, he knew he didn't stand a chance.

lenore dove squinted as she looked around. WHERE DID her geese go ? probably scared off by the other, which caused her a bit of irritation. there she was, trying to make sure her geese were comfortable and able to have freedom in the meadow, and now they couldn't because they were most likely afraid of wyatt. ❛ i'm NOT SURE where they took off to, but it's best to get out before they come back. ❜ even though her geese didn't particularly like people, they were lovers not fighters, just like she was. they'd only bit one person in the past month, which truthfully she thought was DESERVED. blair shouldn't have been taunting them without thinking there were repercussions. ❛ i don't think this tree can hold us BOTH, so it really is best to just run now. ❜ as she spoke, there came her geese, honking at wyatt as they made their way over at a quicker pace than one would expect them to move.

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