#shewhodraws

There are some on here I haven’t read yet, so I...

I want to challenge shewhodraws sothereff and sohypothetically with the prompt kindergarten!Everlark.

.....

"Katniss, you have to read this book!"

I can't help but roll my eyes at Peeta. We both like to read, in fact we met when we were both interning at Panem Books, where I still work as an editor. But we have very different taste in books. He reads fantasies while I read facts. I just can't take a story seriously when I know it's just a figment of the author's imagination. I've read exactly one novel since I got out of school, and I only did it to humor Peeta. One book he loved so much that he was sure that even I would enjoy it. I used every trick that had helped me bullshit my way through a literary analysis class in college to tear that book to shreds once I'd finally finished it, and he hasn't made the same mistake again since.

Until now, apparently.

I lower my copy of Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization and glare over it at Peeta. He speaks before I can, responding to the look I must have on my face. "I know you don't like novels, but you should really check this one out. I think you would really connect with the story."

"Why?" I ask.

"Well, the main character is an olive-skinned archer, and her boyfriend is a blond-haired baker. Come on, what are the odds of that?" He grins encouragingly, like he's just waiting for me to snatch the book away from him in my eagerness to devour it. Joke's on him, though, cause I share enough lunches with Johanna from across the hall to know a thing or two about the current state of fiction publishing.

"Is this another YA dystopia?" I ask, my voice dripping with disdain.

"Um, I guess it fits the category..." he says.

I interrupt him. "Let me guess, there's a second guy; someone tall, dark, and brooding. And even as the world is falling apart around them, the hero still manages to spend half her time waffling over which boy she wants to bone."

"It's not really like that..." he says.

"And the dictator of this despotic dystopia is laser-focussed on this one girl instead of on the empire he's losing. And the book never even mentions the implied pedophilic lust in his obsession with this teenager."

"Actually it's three books..." he admits sheepishly.

I scoff loudly and pick my book back up. "You know I don't read fiction."

I make it through an entire page before Peeta speaks up again. "You know history is only like 10% actual facts and 90% the prevalent cultural biases of the time when it was written, right?"

  I challenge sohypothetically, mockingjayflyingfree, and shewhodraws to give us a drabble of their WIP, please?

    Matchmaker everlark

She still couldn’t believe that she was doing this.

She would rather be at home, with her husband who is looking too yummy tonight, doing perfectly sinful things to his body; instead of sitting in this bar waiting on Delly Cartwright. Delly is already ten minutes late. “I’m giving her five more minutes. Then we are leaving,” she growls.

He grabs her hands from where they are shredding another straw paper. “Cato isn’t even here yet either. Get another drink. We usually don’t go out anymore, so let’s have fun.”

She leans to him so he can hear her over the country music that is too loud, “Forgive me, but there are a hundred other things I can think of doing, and 99 of them are to you. Now you tell me, do you want to stay? Or are you ready to go home?”

Before he has a chance to answer, a familiar blond comes into view. Cato comes by the bakery several times a week to get doughnuts for his office. He and Peeta have struck up an easy friendship. So when Katniss was whining at home about Delly begging for them to set her up with someone, Peeta immediately thought of Cato.

Peeta jumps up from the table and shakes his hand. “Hey man! It’s good to see you.” He turns to Katniss and says, “Do you remember my wife, Katniss?”

“Yes! It’s nice to see you again.” Cato says.

They both move to sit down, when the other blonde they have been waiting for comes to their table. “Sorry I’m so late. Traffic was awful!” Delly exclaims.

“You got caught in it, too? That is why I’m late. My name is Cato Honeycutt.” And he offers his hand to Delly.

“It was such a mess on Main Street. My name is Delly Cartwright.” And Katniss swears she even sees a slight blush on her cheeks when he takes her hand.

Katniss says under her breath to Peeta, “it looks like we might get to go on home after all—“ when Prim lands in the extra chair at the table. “Hey! What are you doing here?” Katniss asks.

“I got finished at the hospital early, and since I have worked so much overtime, they told me to go home. What are you two doing here?” that is when Prim notices Delly and Cato. “Oh, am I interrupting something?”

“No, we were just meeting Delly, and Cato for drinks. Cato, this is my sister-in-law, Prim Everdeen,” Peeta introduces them.  They shake hands and everyone finds a chair. Soon the waitress gets everyone a drink and they all fall into an easy conservation.

They are ordering round number two when they are interrupted by a dark head of hair this time and eyes that are the same silver as Katniss’s. Cato says as he introduces himself, “Cato Honeycutt. Are you Katniss and Prim’s cousin?”

“Gale Hawthorne. Yeah our dad’s were fifth or sixth cousins or something like that.” everyone scoots their chairs around the table to make room so he can join them. “What are you two doing out tonight?” he says to Katniss.

“Delly and Cato wanted us to meet them for drinks. Prim ran away from the hospital and she is hiding here.” Katniss jokes. “What are you doing here?”

“Madge wanted the kids tonight. I was just dropping them off. I saw your truck when I was sitting stopped in traffic. I figured it was better to come in here than to sit out there.”

Before anyone can say anything else, the band starts playing, ‘Boot, Scootin’ and Boogie’. Delly squeals one of her trademark squeals and says, “I’ve just got to dance! Who is coming with me?”

Before Katniss has a chance to make an excuse for her and Peeta, the rest of their table is going to the dance floor. Since the music is still too loud, they can’t hear what is being said, but to their surprise, Delly is dancing with Gale and Prim is dancing with Cato.

“What are they doing?” Katniss asks Peeta.

He shrugs, “I don’t know. Maybe Prim and Gale didn’t want to dance with each other.”

“Oh, that has to be it. Ok. I’m hungry.”

Peeta nods. “I could eat, too. Do you want to go somewhere? Or grab something here? You know Haymitch redid the menu.”

“You know, if we cut down and go through the cemetery, I bet we will miss the traffic. Let order take out and go home.” He caresses his arm through his shirt, and purrs into his ear, “I want you naked eating chicken fried rice in our bed.” And then she bites his ear lobe.

She pulls away, but he doesn’t let her go too far and pulls her in for a kiss. “I want to eat sushi off of your naked body.”

She answers him with a moan. “Let’s tell them that we are leaving.”

And soon they are on their way home.

Kpkpkpkp

It’s the next morning when Katniss gets a text from Delly…

Delly: Thank you for last night ;)

Katniss: Oh you’re welcome. How much longer did you stay after we left?

Delly: Thirty minutes? You will never believe what happened!!

Katniss: What?

Delly: I got laid!!

Katniss: How was he?

Delly: Oh Gale was wonderful! Just like I imagined he would be in high school.  He showed me some things I didn’t know I could do…