R couldn't help it - he leaned into the touch and he didn't care how creepy it was. It felt good to have Peeta's arm slung around his shoulders and he could pretend they were just two guys hanging out a party. He almost missed what Peeta said next.

Was this really what he thought? Peeta's voice was hard to catch at times and it occurred to him that was maybe what he wanted. R strained to listen and pay attention, his corpse wanting to wander off and fantasize about the Livings's pulse he could feel this close. Eyes on the prize. He'd always wanted to communciate - that meant listening and paying attention and not just groaning "uh huh" and "uggh" whenever seemed like a good place to toss one in. His head lolled toward Peeta, catching his nose and mouth cast in shadows, flickering with firelight.

"Don't...want you...to hurt. Any...one," R said, alarmed by the turn this conversation was taking. He hadn't thought about that. "Other...way...?"

It sounded nice and all, except he drew a blank whenever he thought about specifics. The fact was he couldn't come up with a master plan here to fix this. With Peeta's arm around his shoulders, R realized he wasn't swaying and wobbling as much; now he could stand more or less upright, his hands hanging limp at his sides as he worked out what he should say that Peeta probably hadn't thought of already.