Can I Speak To The Architect

between scylla and charybdis

Part 1/? of the Sea of Monsters Greek Vase Collection

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I want to ask them more, but lunch is announced. I look for Peeta, but he's hanging with a group of about ten other victors, so I decide just to eat with District 3. Maybe I can get Seeder to join us.

(Katniss being like “my fiancé is too popular for me, I guess I’ll just sit with the weirdos”)

When we make our way into the dining area, I see some of Peeta's gang have other ideas. They're dragging all the smaller tables to form one large table so that we all have to eat together. Now I don't know what to do. Even at school I used to avoid eating at a crowded table. Frankly, I'd probably have sat alone if Madge hadn't made a habit of joining me. I guess I'd have eaten with Gale except, being two grades apart, our lunch never fell at the same time.

(I love how Katniss just casually accepts and is content with the fact that they’ll be eating separate but Peeta’s group is like “nope” and she’s like “great 🙄 I’d rather have eaten without you at all than in a crowd, Peeta”. Also it’s my headcanon Peeta suggested dragging the tables together 😂 idk why)

I take a tray and start making my way around the food-laden carts that ring the room. Peeta catches up with me at the stew. “How's it going?”

“Good. Fine. I like the District Three victors,” I say. “Wiress and Beetee.”

“Really?” he asks. “They're something of a joke to the others.”

(Peeta : “babe, can you not bond with the weirdos please? Bad for my rep”)

“Why does that not surprise me?” I say. I think of how Peeta was always surrounded at school by a crowd of friends. It's amazing, really, that he ever took any notice of me except to think I was odd.

(Lolololol Katniss suddenly remembering she’s engaged to the prom king jock.)

“Johanna's nicknamed them Nuts and Volts,” he says. “I think she's Nuts and he's Volts.”

(Peep Peeta’s already budding friendship with Jojo)

“And so I'm stupid for thinking they might be useful. Because of something Johanna Mason said while she was oiling up her breasts for wrestling,” I retort.

(The last part is so unnecessary??? Like Katniss are you jealous??? Girlllll)

“Actually I think the nickname's been around for years. And I didn't mean that as an insult. I'm just sharing information,” he says.

“Well, Wiress and Beetee are smart. They invent things. They could tell by sight that a force field had been put up between us and the Gamemakers. And if we have to have allies, I want them.” I toss the ladle back in a pot of stew, splattering us both with the gravy.

(Katniss : “stop picking on my little weird old blorbo people!”)

“What are you so angry about?” Peeta asks, wiping the gravy from his shirtfront. “Because I teased you on the elevator? I'm sorry. I thought you would just laugh about it.”

(Peeta finally snapping lololol “what’s your problem, bro/babe” but for real, Katniss’ still being butthurt over the elevator scene is super relatable)

“Forget it,” I say with a shake of my head. “It's a lot of things.”

“Darius,” he says.

“Darius. The Games. Haymitch making us team up with the others,” I say.

(Not mentioned here but this part reminds me, I find it interesting that Katniss said the night before that “Darius and all the sadness towards him being made into an avox belongs to her and Gale and maybe Haymitch but not Peeta. Peeta doesn’t get to be upset because he didn’t know Darius that well because Peeta was a merchant kid.” Because after Mockjngjay, after Peeta is held captive with Darius and witnesses his and Lavinia’s brutal murders, I’d say Peeta is more connected to Darius than Katniss or Gale or Haymitch ever could be.)

“It can just be you and me, you know,” he says.

(Peeta : always can be counted on to charm her attitude away)

“I know. But maybe Haymitch is right,” I say. “Don't tell him I said so, but he usually is, where the Games are concerned.”

(“Let’s listen to Haymitch. Let’s not tell him we’re listening to him though.”)

“Well, you can have final say about our allies. But right now, I'm leaning toward Chaff and Seeder,” says Peeta.

(A little sidebar but I love how Katniss and Peeta both somehow separately grew a fondness for Seeder. They’re both attracted to good people. 🥹🤧 I mean, obviously. That’s how they found each other.)

“I'm okay with Seeder, not Chaff,” I say. “Not yet, anyway.”

“Come on and eat with him. I promise, I won't let him kiss you again,” says Peeta.