#burnarrow

[ @burnarrow / prompts.

Burdock went to her bedside every night, desperate to save Katniss from her never ending nightmares. He let her set the pace. On what she wanted to talk about, on their trips into the woods. All of it.

He'd always appreciated the bond he shared with his eldest. He was even more grateful for it when she came back from the Capitol. The enormity of her still choosing to come to him wasn't lost, even as he found himself paranoid, comparing every moment to Haymitch's loss after his own games. He and Asterid had slept in shifts once she'd won.

They were in the woods, beneath a tree, when she spoke. He'd removed the worn prosthetic leg that'd been made after the mine accident all those years ago so he could sit more comfortably. Desperate for relief from the pinching and aches. Her words make Burdie's hands to slow.

He'd been sharpening an old knife with a stone.

For a moment, he doesn't say anything. The footage he'd been shown, the footage he'd been forced to watch day in and day out, certainly would have said otherwise. The madness of doing interviews while his daughter fought for her life was enough to make his head spin. And then the move she pulled with the berries at the end...

Even Burdie felt himself falling for this story the country had been fed of the Star Crossed Lovers. Despite how well he knew his daughter. At the very least she'd been able to put on a good show.

“I know,” he says finally, hoping that it puts her at ease. But now she and Peeta Mellark are tied together. “Not sure we could say the same for him, though.” We. He wants to make it clear.

He'd wanted to protect her from everything. Had sworn he wouldn't let either of his girls go into the mines, had doubled down after his own accident, even if it meant both of them living with him and Asterid forever. Even if it meant being a little poorer than they were used to. But the Games? The aftermath of it all? Did he need to protect her from the baker across the road, too?

He puts a comforting hand on her back, squeezing her shoulder, arms open and ready for her, if she wanted them. “You did what you had to to survive-” and he was so glad for that, even if that gratitude felt wrong. He and Asterid were doing what they could. Batting away the people from the Capitol, saying she was too young for any of that. “We'll figure out the rest.”

swimming starters! / status: accepting.

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.

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.

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."