never in our favor *

I clasp a hand around my fisted flowers behind my back as my foot digs into the dirt, lightly swaying to avoid how awkward this really is. My voice muffles, "I'm sorry I scared ya." Madge nods and returns to the playground.

We try to forget.

That meant everything, apparently. Something he hadn't initially anticipated on. Perhaps it hadn't fully landed yet that they had been on different wavelengths. His efforts had shown that much. Peeta tried to balance it off by also including Haymitch. Whenever bread was made in his new kitchen, both his neighbours would receive a loaf. When he tidied his garden in the front, he didn't mind pulling some weeds left and right. That was if Mrs. Everdeen didn't already catch him to that. She was friendly in passing. Peeta could appreciate that, since his family hadn't come with him like Katniss's had.

He found that any company was better than nothing. And since Katniss seemed.. otherwise occupied, Peeta focussed his attention more to their mentor, whilst trying to reconnect with the girl he'd thought loved him back in a subtle sort of way. He was silently hopeful, still. Perhaps she just needed some space. But it did slowly start to gnaw at him that after all that had happened he was now feeling disregarded and overlooked.

Blues caught her frame almost immediately. He had watched her so often, and would recognized her posture, her walk, the tilt of her head and the curve of her shoulder in any crowd. He went inside, finding there was enough time to grab the plant he had dug from behind the mill. There was a slight skip in his step as he tried to somewhat hurry to meet her at the steps --- trying to not seem overly eager.

Then, out of nowhere, my mind wanders if Peeta has found his outlet. I don't make the effort to see him and ask, so I shake the feeble thought out. Maybe, he has. Just like me, always doing something to keep the hands and mind busy or else the nightmares will come back haunting. Tenfold. It seems worse now that I'm not in the arena.

I work through the Seams and to the Village. It's so lonely going from a lively neighborhood to a non-existent. I'm grateful for Haymitch and Peeta. I walk through the gates and pull off the sweater, keeping me from freezing over. When the fabric releases my head, I see Peeta at the steps of my home. I've caused this rift and he's only trying to mend it. I indulge to keep the conversation from ending badly, "Isn't is dangerous to be around the mill? I heard it could collapse at any point.."

He had found himself a warm corner in the schoolyard. One where the sun reflected nicely off the brick walls; radiating its warmth to where he was seated. By himself, this time. It wasn't necessarily a common thing, though, for him to be alone. He didn't stand out in such a way. In fact, Peeta didn't stand out in any way. Perhaps just the shade of his hair where most of the residence of twelve had a darker look about them. But other than that, he was the type of guy you mistakingly recognized to be someone you vaguely knew from the market. He preferred it that way.

I adjust the basket to rest against my torso and brace for the cool morning air that pollutes twelve in a misty fog. It usually lifts once the afternoon sun shines down on the gritty dirt, so I like to take advantage before the blazing sun becomes unforgiving. Tossing the light grey scarf over my head, it fashions as a vest too. My chin tucks into the lip of it as I check Peeta and his wear. He's going to be freezing if I don't supply him with something since it was my idea to invite him spontaneously. Going to his house will only delay my plans, so I move to the foyer and open the closet next to the front door.

It's full of random boxes piled on the top shelf with thick jackets hanging from a wooden pole barely holding. Dust coats the creases, untouched during their move from the Seams to Victor Village. Istand on my tippy toes and pull a heavy coat from a hanger then toss the weight at Peeta, "You'll probably freeze before I lose ya if ya got out like that."

❝ no one told me that viewing is mandatory. ❞ annie’s brows are frowning, her lips pressed together. holding finnick’s rope, tying and untying it to steady her hands.

❝ who’s it this time? ❞ she asks, her tired tone clearly indicating that she has no intention to move. she lost track of who’s in charge and who shows up on tv — there’s too many events going on at once for her to even process them.

Maysilee had recognized Katniss the moment she'd stepped up and volunteered for her sister. This was Asterid's girl, through and through - which meant she might've had something of a shot at winning. Intimate knowledge of plants could've been a lifesaver in the arena, and she offered a small smile at the mockingjay pin fastened to Katniss' dress. Perhaps Maysilee had once resented it, but between Lenore Dove and Haymitch, she'd learned to re-examine it.

"Listen up," she said, cutting through the silent tension on the train. Maysilee didn't know where Effie and Peeta had gone off to - something about training him in manners, a task Maysilee could've easily done herself - but the one-on-one time was valuable. The more they could talk now, the better off Katniss would be in the arena. "I don't know what Asterid's told you about me, but I promise you, you don't have to like me. As long as you know how to take good advice when you hear it, we'll get along just fine. I do need to know where your skillset lies. That's the only way you'll maybe have a shot at getting out."

She takes her place next to me, but I don’t pay attention to her. She reminds me on ma before losing pa, and I don’t like that. Her blonde hair flows over her shoulders and her colored eyes beams at me like ma did when she had some sort of concoction to show me she’d made from flowers and herbs. It’s her demanding demeanor that grabs my attention and I shallow the bite in my mouth. My left brow lifts lightly with her proximity. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, “Ma doesn’t talk much any anything anymore…but, I’m good at making traps and shooting a bow.” I take another bite of my delicious soup. No need to let the food grow cold and go to waste.