[CLOSED] insert hipster lyrics here

[saisamour]

Who| Marius, R, Peeta, Shion
What| Suddenly everything / various Capitol logs
Where| Places!
When| Various dates after Arena 7
Warnings/Notes| Pontmercying


// SHION
Marius expects to wake up after his death in the Arena and feels utter disappointment when he does.

He lies in his bed for hours, staring blankly at the ceiling. The tears have long since dried, leaving him with a feeling of numbness. He should not be here, breathing. He is supposed to be in the sky, in the wind and in the flowers that his dear Cosette loves so much. His spirit should have been reunited with her.

Eventually he decides to exchange his bed for the gardens in the Tribute Center, the one that Eva had introduced him to in what seems to him like aeons ago. He manages to rise with some difficulty (it is wearisome, almost painful to force himself to move forward when all he wants is to exist in the dilapidated gardens he once knew as well as his Lark), and drags his feet outside the room, to the elevator, to the spot where the tiny garden is, its plants and trees he recognizes as coming from various parts of the world, still as thriving and blooming as he last remembers it, like nothing ever dies.

A white lily catches his eye and he stares at it blankly. He cannot remember the Arena. Oh, not completely, that is certain; there have been stretches of clarity in his memory, faces and voices of people he had met and assisted, and who have assisted him in return. But everything else is a chaotic patchwork of blood and candy-colors and sand and the blinding rays of the scorching sun.

But he does not want to remember. Let his mind be a blurry haze; it is better than to recall the moments of anguish and torture. So he wanders through the garden, fingers ghosting over flowers, him staring at nowhere in particular with a distant look in his eyes.



// PEETA
The message comes unexpectedly, delivered by Marius's escort, who informs him that the Peeta Mellark is reminding him of their earlier discussion regarding the composition of love letters. The escort seems fiercely determined that he must go, and so the meeting is planned accordingly even before his input is ever requested.

Now in all honesty, Marius does not have the faintest idea why his escort had been fretting over the fact that he was to meet with Peeta, but eventually, and after some insistence that he wear presentable clothes, he finds himself confusedly waiting for said acquaintance in the Commons. He is standing by some rounded tables to one side, politely declining any offer of drink from the Avoxes, and sweeps the room with searching eyes.



// R
Marius cannot remember how he managed to end up in the Commons—he had simply been walking aimlessly, thoughts often-times leaving him to wander on its own, and all of a sudden he is in a busy room full of Tributes and Avoxes and Capitol citizens.

His brows knot in mild confusion, and then he decides to leave before anyone approaches him. In his sudden rush to the exit he does not even notice R until he is a mere arm's length away.

He is only supposed to step around the man he has almost collided into in his haste. But then he makes the mistake of glimpsing his face, and when recognition dawns on him his eyes grow large and his breath hitches, and fragmented memories are suddenly ripped out from the depths of his mind that had kept them trapped: of sand curling up in waves, teeth ripping off the skin and muscle off his arms, and the biting cold of the desert night as his blood paints the sand red.

Marius freezes.

Comments

[shinyisfalse]

He didn't really expect them to be so... formal about it. And excited. He would have sent the message himself, or even gone to see him, but everything after the arena was such a whirlwind of activity, and in the end, he'd asked Effie to send it to Marius' escort, and well. Now here they were.

Walking into the commons wearing comfortable clothes (this wasn't a party or anything, it was just something to do), Peeta found Marius easily and came over with a smile.

"Marius? Thanks for coming, I hope I'm not taking you away from anything?"

[saisamour]

When Marius spotted the other man his eyes widened in recognition, and a tiny smile formed on his face.

"Not at all, monsieur." See who forgot to call Peeta by his first name? Marius gave him a slight nod; his stance was a little bit awkward, clearly nervous and with the air of timidity. But at least he was making an attempt to be more social, and Peeta's friendly greeting did serve to make him feel slightly more comfortable that what was usual of him. "I would be a pleasure to assist you."

[shinyisfalse]

"Peeta, please," Peeta said with a wave of his hand. Looking down, he saw plenty of paper and pens to work with. "You're being a real help, you are. I think letter writing... I find it a lot easier to find the right words when I'm speaking them, but not so much when I put them on paper."

And not when it came to Katniss. Sometimes his words weren't enough, or the right ones. Maybe they were the right ones for the audience, but not for her.

[saisamour]

Oh. Well, it was certainly a struggle for Marius, addressing acquaintances so informally, even to this moment. Being far too shy to decline, however, all he could do in the end was simply tug at his sleeve before saying, with a slight tremble of a smile, "Peeta."

And it did appear that Peeta was good with words, didn't it? Something he himself rarely excelled at. Most of the time it seemed as if there was some form of barrier between his mind and his tongue, and he was also fairly certain that he had caused some unfortunate misunderstandings with his word choices.

That thought caused him to avert his eyes. It was then that he noted the pens and paper, and he paused for a second before a question occurred to him. "Where would you prefer we stay?"

[shinyisfalse]

He'd have to learn that, so Peeta was fine with helping it. But people in the Capitol loved it when you knew them so intimately with their first name. It was... kind of weird, but good, too. Peeta liked using first names anyway. His father was Mr. Mellark, not him.

He looked down at the pens and paper as well, and looked back at Marius in confusion. "Where we should stay?"

[saisamour]

Peeta's confusion reflected in Marius's expression, and for a second or so he hadn't the faintest clue what the other man was asking. There was an awkward pause before he actually came to realize the question and said, "To write, monsi—ah, Peeta."

He appeared a little sheepish as he caught himself just then. There was another beat before he thought that perhaps that might have required further explanation, and so he added, with haste, "It is far too crowded, here, to hear one's thoughts."

And Marius had always put pen on paper in quiet places, in his tiny room or a corner of a restaurant or in the beautiful gardens of Paris. Of course, likely half of that time was also spent dreaming of Cosette while he remained wide awake, but it helped as well, to think of her.

[shinyisfalse]

He'd gotten him to do the first name, so that was a good start. His confusion gave way to sheepishness as well, and he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Right, sorry. Have you been to the roof yet? I'm sure someone's told you about it already, but it's pretty secluded, since no one is really up there at this time? I'd suggest somewhere outside of the tower, but I honestly don't know too many places around here."

He paused, shifting uncomfortably for a second. "I also think we won't find any quiet place, because people will crowd us more if we go out." What with his fame, and the fact that Marius was one of the tributes, any place they went to was guaranteed to be packed, wherever they went.

[saisamour]

Marius, meanwhile, had not even considered his status as a tribute. Really, it could almost be considered a vast improvement on his observational skills should he have realized how much of a popular victor Peeta was. (As it was, he simply decided that his escort was being very odd with all the fretting previously.)

But he thought back on his conversation with Eliot, and said, "I have heard that strong winds occasionally plague the rooftop."

A reflective look crossed his face for a second or two, and then he lit up considerably. "I know of place in the corners of the Capitol. They serve tea, and it is quiet enough on most days."

[shinyisfalse]

"Sometimes they do, yeah. It makes it hard to talk," Peeta said, giving a nod. Which was kind of the whole point of going up to the roofs, because you could have any conversation there, and not be heard. Which helped a lot.

"Okay. If you're sure, then I'd love to see this place." He gave a smile, hoping that it would be okay. He just didn't want to ruin what could be something fun by attracting crowds, but maybe if they moved fast enough?

"Here, I can carry this stuff." He picked up the papers and such; not that it was a lot, but still. "Lead on, my good sir!"

[saisamour]

The enthusiastic response managed to elicit another one of Marius's timid smiles, but this time it was also laced with a bit of relief and gladness, and he gave Peeta a short and earnest nod. "Yes."

The offer to carry some of the materials himself did not actually cross his mind until much later, after he had led the way through the room and out the elevator, and by that time he did not know whether it was still considered appropriate to offer assistance or whether it was too late to be a bother, and so a slight blush crept up his cheeks in embarrassment as he led the way out the doors and into the busy streets of the Capitol, his gaze fixed in front of his feet the whole time.

Now Marius was never much of a good conversationalist, but he did know the areas where he could be spotted least, shadows and narrow paths he had darted towards whenever he went out for a walk and tried to avoid the people's judging eyes on him. (Although really, they were mostly stares of admiration; it was simply that Marius never considered himself attractive, so in his mind it must obviously be stares of mockery instead.) It was to these spots that he led Peeta, still too shy and unfamiliar with the other man to strike up a conversation on his own as they weaved their way around the Capitol.

[shinyisfalse]

Peeta had no problem with carrying the stuff. It gave his hands something to do, and that meant that if anyone tried to shake his hand, he had an excuse not to. Something along that nature.

As he followed Marius, though, he could only let the silence go on for so long. He didn't need to talk all the time, but it just felt awkward if he didn't. "So, what do you do back home, Marius?" He asked brightly, as they walked. Peeta had no idea on some of these paths, and he had to admire Marius for being able to find them so well.

[saisamour]

"I have been a student of law, monsieur, although it had been necessary to put it to a halt for the moment." Because he ran away from home and didn't want any of his rich, Royalist grandfather's money and thus plunged himself into self-appointed poverty. "I translated English and German manuscripts into French, for a while."

Unfortunately, it did not occur to him at the moment that Peeta might have not understood what those languages were; nevertheless, there was a faint trace of melancholy in his voice as he spoke. Those events seemed a long time ago, after fighting at the barricades and watching several of his friends die, and then dying twice himself at the arena.

[shinyisfalse]

"So you were going to become a lawyer?" Peeta didn't know what the other things were, though he knew at least that they were languages. He'd heard about them in the Capitol, though. Never back home, everyone just spoke English. That's what they spoke.

But he heard the sadness, and he could understand that a lot more versus the translations. He continued to follow him in silence for a moment, before he reached out and put a hand lightly on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry. This has to be hard for you, and I'm sorry." Because it was his fault they all were here, now.

[saisamour]

"Perhaps." He did not sound particularly certain, however. He would have practiced law, maybe, had he not been to the barricades; it was highly unlikely that he would have lived after the attack.

When he felt Peeta's hand on his shoulder his footsteps came to an abrupt pause and he tensed for a brief moment, then glanced at the other man with slightly widened eyes containing both surprise and a question. It was the first time, as far as he is concerned, that someone apologized to him about his situation, and yet he cannot be certain whether Peeta was sincere.

But it did not matter, maybe. The only thing that Peeta should truly be sorry for was the fact that he could not even die with honor in this world. He averted his eyes and resumed his pace, though he made no move to shrug Peeta's hand off and said, in an almost stiff, formal tone, "We are almost to the shop."

[shinyisfalse]

When he started walking again, Peeta let his hand drop. Not everyone liked to be touched, and he knew that, he really did, so why did he do it? Even he didn't know. No, he knew why he did it. It didn't seem real if he didn't be close to them, to let them know that he really meant it. It was impersonal, and he was worried now that he'd done something to offend him.

A second 'I'm sorry' died quickly before he let his lips form the words, and he looked down at the ground before looking back up. "Great! And it looks like your secret path worked out pretty well, we haven't been mobbed once," Peeta gave him a smile. "I'll have to remember this, if I ever need some peace and quiet myself."

Peeta was one of the best actors here.

[saisamour]

Marius returned the smile with an inquiring and slightly puzzled look, his brows knotted and head tilted almost imperceptibly. He knew—partly thanks to Enjolras verbalizing it for him because otherwise he would have remained oblivious—that tributes were a celebrity of some sorts, and that would mean that the mentors were, as well, but he began to wonder whether Peeta had been one of the more favored ones, somewhat.

It temporarily drew his troubled thoughts away from death and Paris, in any case. There was genuine curiosity in his voice when he asked, "Are you well-known?"