A little Everlark drabble. Enjoy ~ 🌿
Our bed has always been too big, the expanse of sheets covering more space than two former Victors would ever need. Katniss sleeps soundly, unaware of the soft morning light spilling through the curtains. A breeze dances through the window, kissing her cheek, and cooling the sweat on my skin. I brush my fingers against her hair, finding a strand and twirling –
-twirling, like the first time the world saw Katniss the way I do, sparkling and laughing and twirling around onstage, like a beautiful creature made of hope and fire. I’d never seen her so beautiful, with her mysterious smile and elaborate braids. I was determined to see that smile again –
-smiling at Cato even while she’s cornered in a tree, and when she taunts the Careers, I polish my knife and suppress a laugh. But I should’ve known there’s no real laughter for tributes, because at the first sting of the tracker jacker, my head starts spinning -
-spinning, like when we danced together in a room full of Capitolites, holding each other close, as if we could shield each other from prying eyes. That wasn’t the first time we protected each other, and it wouldn’t be the last –
-the last time I was on this stage I was a Victor. Caesar nods at me encouragingly, but he has no idea that I’ve woven a lie larger than any of Finnick’s nets. I lovingly recount my marriage ceremony, and I almost believe it myself; when the crowd starts to shout, I know this one is going to tug on their heartstrings -
-tugging, like when we first kissed (no, not the half-dead kiss in the cave, but the beach, the real kiss) when she tugged on my lower lip, drawing it against her teeth, and I wondered if I was ever going to be this happy again, my whole world shaking -
-shaking, I was always shaking, wrists chafing under metal handcuffs, forehead against the wall in a desperate attempt to hold on to anything to keep from breaking away into nothing, or a dark world of madness –
-madness, it’s madness that our hearts still beat, and madness when she lazily turns and peeks at me under dark lashes, smiling when she sees me.
Maybe there’s something wrong with me. The past chases me like a mutt, biting at my heels, stealing my attention so precious minutes tick away before I regain my footing in reality, and I realize that I’ve been staring at her but not seeing.
I concentrate on the way she reaches for me. She’s warm and relaxed like a sleepy kitten, and I gather her close, her head tucked under my chin. I breathe a sigh.
I hold onto Katniss and this moment with both hands, so that nothing can steal it away.
