thecapitol | At long last someone comes... not quite home.

Who| Peeta Mellark and OPEN
What| Peeta's been held in questioning for a few months, and now he gets to be around people again.
Where| Around the training center/tribute tower
When| After his release
Warnings/Notes| Nothing from Peeta, but who knows who he'll run into!

Sunlight. It was such a beautiful thing, something you didn't think you would miss until it was gone. Peeta may be a baker's son, but he did enjoy being outdoors. Not as much as Katniss, of course, but no one wanted to sit in a room with the only entertainment being a deck of cards. Countless card houses, countless card castles had been made, and he thought about starting up a tally when someone came in and said he was free to go.

Whatever it was, he passed, and he didn't question it. Not right then. It was something to be questioned privately, and not in full view of everyone else. Things had changed around here. And Peeta, too. He'd changed. He was supposed to be a mentor now. It made him cringe a little to think that he had left all of these new District Twelve tributes with Haymitch and Katniss... Katniss. He missed her. Did she miss him as much as he had her? A silly little hope. Maybe the whole "star crossed lovers" thing had died down? It would be nice to not have to pretend so much.

That's what he was thinking when he walked into the training center. He could already tell people were recognizing him; they'd started to recognize him on the street as well. He'd given them all a wave and a smile, and continued on his way. He was expecting cameras and news crews and whatever else they did here, and hoping that they never showed up. He wanted time to walk around, perhaps see the new people here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was a good thing that it wasn't just children anymore. Peeta was glad for that, but the thought was immediately followed by a punch in the gut of guilt. There were people being pulled from their homes and now had to fight in something they'd never heard of before. He really wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel right now.

"Cassandra? So we have one adult, one kid so far. Do you know..." He waved a hand. "Never mind. So who else do we have?"

"There's one other little girl, Pruna..." Katniss hesitated, thinking of the young girl.

"I don't actually...she is...off." She dropped her voice, glancing around to be sure no one obviously was ease dropping. If the Capitol was listening...let them listen.

"I can't quite get a feel for her. Sometimes she is sweet, and sometimes she's...I don't trust her."

Peeta frowned. A little off? That could mean anything. Maybe she was a little dim? It wasn't like they'd never seen anyone who wasn't, shall they say, up to the usual mental standards. Or maybe she was mad? They'd seen plenty of mad people, too. Hell, most of the Capitol citizens were what Peeta would consider mad, and some of the other Victors that he'd seen on TV before, too.

"You don't... trust her? Is she just playing at being sweet?" Peeta's voice lowered as well. Maybe she was being smart and making a play like Johanna Mason had done. They weren't really prepared for this mentoring thing, were they.

"I think? Although she isn't always even that sweet. I mean...she's a little girl, but..." Katniss made a face, before shrugging. "I wouldn't want to run into her in the arena, at least."

And she didn't really want Prim around her, either. But that wasn't really relevant to their job of mentoring.

"Julie...she's got a good head on her shoulder. She's around our age."

Okay. He'll put that one down in his mental notes as 'girl is creepy as hell'. But technically shouldn't Katniss be the one dealing with the girl tributes, or did that not matter anymore? They probably needed to mentor everyone together... he'll keep his distance from the little girl till he figured her out more.

"That's something a little more usual then the others at least," Peeta commented in an off-hand sort of way. "Is she good at anything in terms of fighting?"

"Yeah. I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to her one on one, but she knows how to handle a weapon, how to move..." Although the District 12 selection really was't bad at all, Julia was high on Katniss' list of possible victors. The girl felt closer to being, well...one of them, then many of the others.

"Philip Coulson is from the same would Tony Stark. He's very level headed, incredibly smart...also a good contender. Really, Sandy is the weakest link, and she's even got her strengths."

Like Rue. But Katniss set that thought aside for now.

"Any others?" Okay. Okay. One girl who they didn't know much about. A younger one who might kill them in their sleep. Another young girl who had her strengths, which meant she was workable with. Then a girl their age, who knew how to handle herself. And on the boy side, they had two guys, both of who already knew each other back home. Six people in all, so far.

He suddenly leaned forward, taking her hands in his and smiling brightly. "We really should see about doing something, just the two of us." You know, besides work as mentors. This was a little bit of a sign that they couldn't be all about work. They needed to show everyone how happy they still were.

"I'm sure the tributes will understand, sometimes. Maybe in between mentor sessions. Go out and see the Capitol more, just the two of us."

"The last one is Signless. He's...well, he's not human, for starters. And he's a pacifist." She hadn't gotten much past that, although what she had seen of him, he seemed a decent enough person. Though perhaps not well suited for the Games.

She blinked at the suddenly change of tone, feeling her cheeks go warm in surprise. A quick glance around didn't show anyone watching, so she leaned in too.

"I guess? Is there something you want to see?"

A not human pacifist. And a boy, to boot, so that meant he was going to be one of Peeta's. That was going to be fun. He stored that information away for later, just like the others, and focused on the here and now. He hadn't seen her in a long time, and he gave a small nod.

"I heard there's a park nearby? I'd like to see it." Pausing, Peeta leaned in even closer, but to the side, so that when he spoke next, it was right against her ear.

"You know, we're madly in love, so you can kiss me whenever you want." His grin could be heard, and even felt.

Oh. Oh.

Chuckling, she let her cheek lean against his, feeling his warmth absorb in. That's right, starcrossed lovers.

And more real, friends. Either way, people who could go do things. Together. For enjoyment. Finally she pulled back enough to let her forehead touch his, letting her body relax.

"I would love that." She said, before pressing a warm, linger kiss to his lips. It was nice, familiar, giving her a safe feeling she didn't realize how much she'd been missing.

Peeta sighed, closing his eyes for a moment with a smile. It may have been a simple gesture, and something that was probably needed for the rest of the people who may have been watching, but for the first time in awhile, he could relax. Whatever it was they needed to do, they could do it, together.

"Good," He breathed out, opening his eyes and giving her a grin. "I mean, I could go with Effie, if you really didn't want to go anywhere, but I'd much rather go with you." Even as he joked, he reached out and took her hand in his. Warm, solid.

"...But maybe we could go back to the suites, first?" It was as close to home as he could get right now.

"Peeta, really, there's no reason for torture."

She gave him a little grin of her own, feeling the same sense of relief starting to settle into her. Having a partner, even when the situation was dire, made a huge difference in things.

"I'm looking forward to it. Wherever you wanna go." She stood, offering up her hand. "Let's head up."

He laughed, taking her hand and pulling himself up. His gait was still a little unsteady, and it could be seen how he was still getting used to the artificial leg whenever he stood up and stood in one place. It took a little bit of shifting.

"Thank you. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone... people... again." He smiled, keeping a loose but friendly grip on her hand.

"I'm looking forward to you being back."

And it wasn't a lie, not in the slightest. She squeezed his hand, before heading for the elevator. It was a little bit of home, like Prim. But unlike Prim, she wouldn't have to be constantly watching out for Peeta. He could help her watch out.

((Good end?))

At long last someone comes... not quite home.

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