#fyeah-everlark

Finnick gave a knowing look to Annie and stood up.  “Peeta!” he said.  “Accompany me to getting our lovely ladies refreshments”  

He grabbed Peeta’s arm before he could protest and with a wink to Annie, they were off.  As soon as they disappeared from sight, Annie and Johanna turned towards Katniss.

“What?” Katniss asked, her scowl ever present.

“So what are you going to do for Peeta for Valentine’s Day?” Annie asked, eyes gleaming.

Katniss’ eyes widened.  “Wha-what? Peeta?” she sputtered.  “What kind of question is that?!  We’re not even together!”

She once climbed the Great Pyramid of Giza to watch the sun rise over the desert. When she was in college she auditioned for Cirque du Soleil. And the first time she had sex was when she was fifteen, in a meadow at dusk with the first boy she ever loved. As she voices these things, they become real, settling in and creating a foundation between them.

Layer by layer, they build.  

Peeta tells her he’s lived all of his thirty five years in Manhattan. He’s known he wanted to be a doctor for thirty. He hasn’t left the city in three, not even crossing the Hudson or East Rivers.

When he tells her this, she laughs. “I think that makes you a monk?”

“A homebody,” he confesses, “not a monk.” His knee knocks against hers under the table, a slow, deliberate movement that nudges her legs apart. The proximity of his body to the delicate skin of her thigh sends a jolt directly to her core.  

She wants him.

And he wants her, too.

“All solid suggestions.” Peeta said, nodding sagely.

“Failing that, we could just stare lovingly into one another’s eyes.” Katniss said with a grin.

“Well I don’t really know any poetry.” Peeta said.

“Me either.” Katniss said. “Well, I’ve picked up a few rude limericks from Gale and his brothers, but I don’t think those count.”

Peeta laughed and shook his head. “Your hair.” He said, blushing slightly. “One of my favorite things. It was the first thing I noticed about you.” He explained.

“Your hands,” Katniss said with a blush of her own. “They look strong…capable.” She reached for one of the hands in question and toyed with Peeta’s fingers.

“You put red food dye in the cheese buns?” She laughed as she looked in the box. They were arranged in a heart. “You’re ridiculous.”

“I am. But you still love me.” He sat the box on the table beside the door where they placed their mail and wrapped his other arm around her. “And I love you. Very much.”

“You’re not about to ask me to marry you, are you?” She asked with an uncertain smile.

He chuckled. “Well, yeah. I’m cheesy, remember?”

“How did you know?”  My monthly is only a couple of weeks late, I haven’t even taken a test yet; the white box is hidden in my drawer but I’ve been too afraid to use it.  She laughs.

“Seen a lot of women with child in my life, Katniss.  You’ve got that glow.”  She looks over my shoulder, at where Peeta now seems to be playing goalie in some sort of kickball game.  “Only reason he hasn’t picked up on it is ‘cause he’s so busy with the season.”  She’s right about that, in the years since the end of the war, in what we now call the new Panem age, a lot of celebrations from before the Dark Days have come back into vogue. Tomorrow is ‘Valentine’s Day’, which is a day to celebrate love. Not surprising, it’s one of Peeta’s favorites.

Thank you so much for the compliment! And you’re very welcome.

The prompts weren’t easy, but they were challenging, and I enjoyed that immensely. I had planned to write the Ever After prompt for you, but it wasn’t working the way I wanted. I’m sorry about that, but I hope to revisit it someday and finish it.