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

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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.

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After Pruna's tantrum she had spent a long time sleeping, curled up in her room, though her body didn't feel tired her mind did and so she slept for a long time.

When she finally woke up she began tidying the mess of her room, she felt a little bit silly for wrecking it now, because it was a nice room and the things probably cost a lot of money. She had never been angry like that before and though she still wanted to go home and see her sister she was sort of glad she wasn't properly dead.

Even if she didn't understand how.

When she walked into the lounge she saw someone she had never seen before and stopped still, a wary look in her eyes. There were a lot of people she didn't know though and Cinna had said that only people who were number twelves could come here.

He wasn't alone in there.

There was a hunched figure over at the knot station, a guy with awful posture and reeking of one of the most popular perfumes from District 4 - Peeta could probably smell it all the way from the entrance, a trail of Tide's Sigh cologne that's strong enough to make anyone's eyes water. Yeah, it's that bad.

It's either that or the smell of decomposition.

R's trying to practice his knot-work Eva showed him before the Arena, nooses that she says you can kill someone with. He has a major case of zombie fingers, his hands working out knots so loose they fall apart if you so much as look at them wrong. It's keeping busy, basically. Even something like this makes it hard to think since he sucks at multi-tasking. The sound of footsteps, even, more sure than another zombie, makes R look up and for a second he's convinced his Escort is coming at him with another safety spritz of perfume. R blows out a wheezy sigh of relief when he sees it's someone else: a Living guy, neat blond hair, a square jaw that would've made his Escort dizzy with all the possibilities.

"Any...tips?" R groans out. Relief he can practice in peace makes the zombie chatty.

That was right. Only people from District Twelve could come into the Twelve lounge. Capitol people, too, but they could go almost anywhere, couldn't they? Really, it had been awhile since he'd seen this place, seen these rooms. Last time he had been here, though, he hadn't seen anyone this young there.

"Hello," Peeta had been checking out the table (because it was right there and he wanted to check everything out again), and he straightened up with a smile. "I'm Peeta. What's your name?"

Peeta would have to admit, if put under duress, that this guy did indeed smell pretty bad. He may have been kidding with Caesar about the smelling like roses deal, but this guy smelled like he had been drenched in perfume. Whatever happened to just smelling like soap and clean water?

It's okay. He's smelled worse in the arena. He walks a little closer so that when he gets down on his knees, he's right next to him.

"I'm not the best with knots," Peeta said with a smile. "You're trying to make a noose, right? When I tried to do it the first time, I held the rope in my hands, and I couldn't figure it out. But if you lay it out on the ground? You can see the loops you need to make."

It took her a moment of seeing the blond boy across the room, something so familiar and yet so strange in this setting, for her brain to register that he was here, that he was alright.

"Excuse me..." She muttered, pushing past a pair of Tributes chatting, not caring that Effie would be rating her a 0 on the manners scale. Her heart was pounding, and she wanted to get close, to be sure he was real.

The sinking sick feeling when Prim had arrived was gone. Seeing him, there was just relief, that he was ok, that's they'd be in this together again.

"Peeta!"

R's head raises, the muzzle swapped out for something a lot less flashy to what it was before (his Escort realized fast she had to get these cleaned and it's not exactly easy cleaning the "fashionable" ones). The zombie stares at the other Tribute as if he's almost surprised to see him, even though R was the one who asked him over. R's eyes have a habit of focusing past.

The zombie liked the smile, though. Most people back home didn't smile because they were corpses or they were trying to shoot him. R rated this guy's smile up there with Aunamee's: flashy, open, a lot of clean teeth that probably hadn't ever bitten into a jugular. He looks friendly. Actually, he looks so clean-cut between the teeth and perfect hair that R gapes at him behind the muzzle. He snaps his mouth shut and looks back down at the rope in his hands.

R's impressed all over again when the guy sits down next to him instead of trying to lean away. "I could...try. Like...this?"

He plops it on the ground, fumbling with the rope. It might look like a noose if a five year-old was tying it with their feet. It's that bad.

He may have been looking elsewhere, but as soon as she called his name, he knew. He knew she was okay, and he turned to the sound of her voice, pushing past another group as well. Was this for show? No, not on his part. He hadn't known what was going on, where she was, where anyone was, and he needed to be sure she was okay.

"Katniss?" Peeta had started in a sort of run, and then slowed down as he finally saw her. Alive. Healthy. A Katniss sort of happy. He sped up again so he could get to her, and while he didn't slam into her or anything, he stopped right before, hands on her shoulders.

Yes. She was here.

"Hello." She blinked at him, before she came here it was rare that she was in any position with people to be asked her name, she was either being chased from their stalls, or killing them, or they knew her already.

But here it was the first thing anyone asked and she had had so many lectures about being polite she figured she would get into trouble if she snapped at them like she did any time it came up at home.

"I do no be having one." She got a little bit closer, though no where near grabbing distance. "Do you be being a tribute too, Peeta?"

It wasn't just random strangers looking at Peeta - there was also at least one face he might recognize right back... The last person to have surprised Katniss with her appearance, in fact. She'd been quite worried about him.

"Peeta?" she asked, skidding to a stop a little bit away from him. After Darius, she was a bit worried about seeing people from home - and she was studying his face with obvious worry.

Calico felt much the same way as Peeta did. Months and months, cooped up in that white room. White bed. White chair. White table. White television fitted into the wall. Under artificial lights that flickered on and off at set times. Eating when she was given food.

She'd caught a glimpse of Peeta when they took her in - but it was only a glimpse. She recognised him, of course, as the surprising Victor from the last Games. He and Katniss, of course, had sparked the trouble. And Calico had to applaud the pair of them - had they even planned it? Either way, try as she might, they were two names she couldn't forget.

Still, now, walking along the street, Peeta looked unharmed. She smiled a little, and lifted her hand to him in greeting.

"Hey there, you."

"God, I'm so glad you're ok."

They were still in public, and she knew she could blame any emotions on playing it up, but her relief was a little too real, and she didn't want to show that to anyone else.

"I'm so glad you're all right." She said, softly, so only he could hear.

Well. That was different. How could someone not have a name? Maybe her parents were dead, and they had never had a chance to name her, but wouldn't they name her at whatever home she was placed in? That was assuming that she had been placed somewhere. One thing he was finding out, unfortunately quickly, was that while people were counted down to the last child in the districts, that didn't mean it happened in the places these people were from.

What sort of world did she come from?

"You'll have to tell me what to call you, then, I don't want to start talking and have someone else think it's for them," Jokes usually lightened the mood, and he could do that easily. "No, I'm not a tribute. I was, once, but now I'm a Victor." Wait.

"A Victor and a Mentor. I'm from District Twelve."

He'd never heard of people wearing muzzles before, but who knew what new fashion was taking place on the streets? Or, and this was not a nice or to think about, this guy might be like that other tribute in a past game. The one who started to eat his victims. The one that may have been taken out by the gamemakers because eating your fellow tributes, even dead ones? Big no-no.

But Peeta wasn't afraid of this guy. He seemed... not quite gentle, but not like he needed to be muzzled because he was going to attack him right then and now. The smell might kill someone quicker, but if Peeta breathed through his mouth, it might not be as noticeable, and then he wouldn't offend him. He didn't want that.

"Yeah, like that. Here..." He reached over, straightening it out as best he could, tilting his head just a little. "Maybe not like that. It's supposed to be a series of loops, but I'll be honest, I'm better with setting snares then making nooses."

"I'm so happy to see you," Peeta said, aware of the public, but he didn't really care right now about them. Maybe in a minute or two, but not right now, and he pulled her into an actual hug.

"I missed you so much," Said softly into her ear. "I didn't know if you were okay or not. Where were you?"

If Peeta had to pick someone who would be the one person from home that he last expected to see in the Capitol, it would have had to be Prim. She was Katniss' sister, the one she volunteered for, but that didn't mean they would bring her here. They had to have someone to hold over Katniss' head, just like they held Peeta's friends and family over his.

"Prim?" He couldn't help but ask as he walked the rest of the way to her. "How long have you been here? Are you okay?"

He was so happy to be out of there. He didn't want to be in one room for the rest of his life, and he especially didn't want it to be white. The relief was amplified when he would learn of his loved ones being safe, but for right now, he'd just have to take it one step at a time.

Literally. It was a beautiful day today, and he stopped at the greeting, giving a small smile in return as he raised his hand.

"Hey," He paused. "I'm sorry, you look so familiar, but your name is escaping me. I'm not always the best at names."

"'S alright, honey." Calico came over now, her careful, trademark smile on her face.

"I'm Calico. I won the Games about thirteen years ago... I'm guessing you've seen my name in the papers or whatnot; you must've been a kid when I was fighting. Just as I've read all about you."

She wonders how much of what she's read is true, though. Perhaps her saw her, perhaps not. Either way, the poor lad is stuck in the same boat as she is now - and he'll definitely be the one the sharks target first. Calico can't help feeling sorry for him. She tries to change the subject a little, keep it light.

"You enjoying the sunshine? I can't get enough, it's been so long!"

He got a grin from her and she shrugged. "You can be calling me whatever you do be wanting." She wrinkled her nose, "Just do no be calling me brat."

She tilted her head, "You did be winning?" She quickly altered her first impression of him.

That's where he remembers her from. He was only, what, four years old at the time? But he's seen in before. There were plenty of past Victors that came to the Games every year, so he might have seen her on TV. But he did know her from the papers; knew her struggles and the gossip about her, so maybe it wasn't safe to say he actually knew her.

"That's right! I have seen your name in the papers, but we've never met in person," Peeta smiled. "Until now, anyway." His tone was light, joking. It'd be downright rude to bring what he'd read up.

"I am," He replied truthfully. "It's been awhile for me, too. Is it too hard to ask for some time outside? Maybe a walk in a garden? I'd have taken a walk near a trash heap if they let me!"

R was relieved to take a break and let a pro - AKA anyone breathing - handle this. The zombie slumped forward to watch the guy. He had sure movements. Nice hands. Maybe he worked with them.

"Maybe...I could...learn snares? Is it...easier?"

He didn't care about the road less traveled, the whole taking the easy route being for chumps. Right now it felt like that was too much work after hours trying to learn how to tie a noose (he'd been working under the assumption if he could tie a noose, shoelaces should be a step down. In theory. Obviously it didn't work). The guy seemed like he had a handle on things.

...R seriously needed to stop calling him "The Guy".

As he watched, R worked up a moan and built that into a groan, his head flopping up so he was staring right at The Gu - whatshisface. Him.

"My name's...uhgggh..." R gulped behind the muzzle, a dry rasp. "R. Thank...you."

That got him to laugh. "I promise I won't call you a brat. But you'll have to give me something else to call you. I can't just call you 'that girl'," He paused. "I mean, I could, but it doesn't seem right somehow." And he had no experience in naming anyone, or anything for that matter.

Peeta gave a small nod. "Yes I did. I won the 74th games, me and my..." What was he supposed to call Katniss? Lover didn't seem right, and there was so much lying already. "Me and my partner, Katniss. Maybe you've met her?"

She wrinkled her nose, "That girl do be being alright." She shrugged, she wasn't good at naming things either, and since her guardians had never given her a name she figured she didn't need one, she'd got along so far without one.

She knew enough to know that the games with big numbers were ones that happened before people were brought from other worlds, so Peeta was born here. "I have no been meeting her, but people have been telling me that she do be being nice."

"No... I've been a bit preoccupied, lately. As, I'm guessing, have you."

She smiles a careful, measured smile, before snapping back to a more neutral expression.

"I don't think that's... here. Let me fix -"

She reaches forward, gesturing at his collar. It's an excuse. There's nothing wrong with Peeta's collar, but she can lean a little closer now. "Keep it in check, love."

She hisses her warning, so that it's only just audible. That done, she leans back.

"Don't think that's the Capitol style now, is it? Have you not noticed? We don't do 'trash heaps' round here. This ain't a district, is it? You'll have plenty of time to explore now, honey. Have you had a wander round yet?"

Prim worried they just found it easier to keep an eye on her up in the capitol - and maybe it was a good reminder to Katniss, too....

She had no illusions that the capitol was safe for her, after all. Cut off from everyone who might support or protect her back home. Plus, Katniss was suddenly so busy watching out for her Prim was certain any other duties must be suffering...

"It's only been a a little while,' she promised Peeta, keeping her face calm.

"I'm fine."

"Snares are easier. I think so, anyway. It takes awhile to set them up, but you're supposed to take your time with them," Peeta said, giving a thoughtful look. The way this guy moved around, and how he didn't seem to be able to use his body a lot... not going to think about that too much... snares might be easier for him.

All you do is attach them to trees and such, right? That's what he remembered from them. Setting some that could have a person dangling by their foot in the air, but his had never actually caught anything. Katniss always had better luck with that.

"Nice to meet you, R," Automatically his hand came out to shake his, but he faltered with that for a moment. Maybe he wasn't able to shake hands? Should he shake hands? With some determination on his face that gave way to a smile, he kept his hand out. "I'm Peeta."

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

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I love R so much every tag makes me grin and I love him