I don't like walking around this old and empty house.

[the_marshal]

WHO| Wyatt and Semi-OTA (Open physically to anyone with him in District 10, with some preset threads for Howard and Max in the comments.)
WHAT| Bb gets with the times.
WHERE| District 10
WHEN| A day or two after arriving in the Districts.
Warnings/Notes| Some mild swearing perhaps? Edit: Two clueless gents flirting over the skype equivalent below. You are warned. Edit edit: It went a bit beyond flirting. Gird yourself.



Wyatt had made a promise to Howard, and he was determined to keep it. After settling in as best as he could in their temporary housing, he dug out his communicator and set about trying to get the thing to work.

At one of the heavy, thick-cut tables in the dining room, he moved his fingers over the keys just as he remembered watching Howard do -- and somehow set off a bell, a shrill alarm that cut through the quiet of the late morning like a knife through warm butter. Quickly, he clapped his hands over it and stabbed another button, managing to silence it out of sheer luck.

Glancing around, he nodded in apology to those at the nearest tables - trying to ignore the heat threatening to curl around the back of his neck - and tried again.

That time he nearly blinded himself.

Wiping the bright flash from his eyes, cursing lowly to himself, he dropped the device on the table and leaned back in his chair in defeat.

Time to consider a re-approach.

Comments

[the_marshal]

It was awkward at first, Wyatt's hands tense and rough beneath Katurian's. Uncomfortable with how child-like it made him feel, how foolish. But slowly, knowing how badly he wanted to learn, how he wanted to keep his promise to Howard, he relaxed and did his damnedest to absorb.

Before long he was muttering Katurina's little rhyme's under his breath. The man's quick, clever words in his slow, easy drawl as he tapped buttons in time.

[pillowmania]

When it was over, Katurian stepped backwards and offered another smile. It was a strange moment, both familiar and unfamiliar all at once, and Katurian wished he could stay in it forever. Let him be a normal person from District 10. Let him be a friendly face.

Let him live with something other than fear.

"There," he said. "That should do it."

[the_marshal]

Wyatt 'hurrumphed' quietly, the hair of his mustache wriggling slightly, but the sound was directed more at himself than Katurian.

He'd heard that before.

"If it ain't, I'll be sure an' look ya up," he murmured, repeating the man's little poem back to himself inside his head as his fingers moved over the screen.

It was something like magic when it did what he wanted it to.

[pillowmania]

He pictured Wyatt finding his apartment, that cramped and dark space. He pictured Penny's eyes, sharp like knives.

"Please don't," he said, the words escaping his lips before he could stop them. He cringed at his own mistake and began to dig through his pockets. Fear fueled his muscles. Shame curled itself around his spinal cord.

When his hand emerged with an apple, he was trembling again.

"I'm sorry I didn't send you anything last arena," he said, placing the fruit down on the wooden table. An offering. "It isn't -- I lead a very private life, a very private life, and sometimes I don't -- I mean, I can't -- "

He pat the table with his palm, grounding himself.

"You're better off asking another Tribute. Next time."

[the_marshal]

Wyatt stared at him, a long, silent moment, the blue eyes steady and unblinking on Katurian's face. One thing the two versions seemed to share, he decided, just how very odd they were.

Like a rangy mutt, cagey and half-wild. Ready to bite the hand feeding it.

"My apologies," he said finally, leaning back in his chair, putting a small, but decisive space between them. "I'll remember that."

He turned back to the device, moved his fingers over the screen again. "I thank ya for yer help."