i'll light the fire ;; [ CLOSED ]

[empowers]

WHO ;; the star-crossed lovers from district twelve.
WHAT ;; house hunting for the panem folks. because they're clearly the bosses.
WHEN ;; day 134, afternoon.
WHERE ;; around the city.
RATING ;; pg, possibly pg-13 based on language.

[ She's been thinking about it for awhile, and she and Peeta have talked about it a few times, but they need to get down to business. Having to end Rue's life to save her from being some sort of sick monster has accelerated Katniss' desire to have everyone they're friends with living in very close proximity to one another. She wants to be able to protect Rue at a moment's notice, and having her sleeping just down the hall would be a good way to do that. They would only need about three bedrooms, maybe four in case someone else they know shows up, since Annie and Finnick could share, and so could she and Peeta. But she's not sure how one goes about moving from their appointed God's house here, either.

HOUSEHUNTERS : ASGARD EDITION. ]

Do you think they have places close to the park? [ TREES AND WATER 8( ]

Comments

[unfalteringly]

[ Peeta'd been thinking about the same thing for similar reasons. Ever since Katniss had come to stay with him when he couldn't sleep, when it was first brought up that they should all find a house together, he'd been considering just what it could mean for them. Having Katniss close, being able to watch over her, keep her safe ( even though he knows she's fully capable of caring for herself. It's for his own peace of mind ), keep Rue safe. The five of them should live together, look out for each other. It's essentially them against Asgard, after all ]

They might. Do you want to go by there first and see if there's anything there?

[empowers]

I think Finnick would like being close to the water, and Annie too. I know I'd love being able to see trees from my window. Rue could go play and be close by and safe... [ She gives him a light smile as she tentatively and innocently reaches for his hand. ] You could have beautiful scenery to paint.

[unfalteringly]

[ Peeta looks down at Katniss' hand when she reaches for his, then back to her as if to be sure that this is what she wants before he threads his fingers with hers ] We'll see if there's anything there that we can get. It might be a little more peaceful, too, than living right in one of the districts.

It's weird, isn't it? Us looking for a house together. [ 'Looking for a house' isn't exactly much of a thing in District 12 after all ._. ]

[empowers]

I think so, too. We'll take what we can get, but if we can choose... [ Choosing. Something she never thought she'd really get to do. ]

... I don't think it's that weird. It is, a little, just because I don't think we would've -- [ Lived long enough to? ] -- They just give them to us, at home.

[unfalteringly]

[ Choice. It's not something he ever thought he'd have a chance at again. Not since the end of the Quell. But then, death was his choice and he didn't get that. Even just going with Katniss to see Beetee's plan through was his choice and he was denied. He and Katniss had wanted to do things themselves but instead Haymitch decided that an alliance was the way to- Maybe he never had any choice to begin with.

Well, for as long as he's in Asgard - for as long as they're in Asgard, there will be choices. Choices that are theirs and theirs alone ]

I think you're wrong about that. [ 'I don't think we would've'. She would've. He'd wanted to make sure that she would've.

Oh look. A different subject ] What's your second choice, if we can't get something by the park? [ Then he looks down and smiles ] Rue thinks this is a date.

[empowers]

Peeta, there's no way we would've survived. [ Her tone is a little clipped, despite the warm nature of their outing and the way they're having a semi-normal conversation about semi-normal things that people in better places than Panem get to do. ] Not both of us. [ There's an unspoken implication that he would have survived and she would have died. If it came down to it, that's what would transpire. Protect Peeta. ]

I'm not sure. Somewhere else open, if there's any place like that. I just want it to be comfortable for everyone. [ Oh. Her cheeks immediately burn hot with blush, and she looks to the side, despite the small smile that creeps across her own lips. ]

Is it?

[unfalteringly]

[ Funny how semi-normal conversations about semi-normal things still tend to gravitate toward their less than ideal situation back in Panem. He stops walking and gently tugs on her hand to get her to stop as well ] I know. I just meant that you were wrong about the 'we'. Because you're right about that. Only one of us was likely to survive. Just you, Katniss. You have people to live on for. I only have you. [ When he says it, there's a sort of finality to it, like he's outright refusing to hear any arguments from her on this ]

I think as long as we're all somewhere together, it'll be more comfortable than where we are now. But somewhere open would be nice. [ Peeta looks at Katniss out of the corner of his eye and gives her hand a light squeeze ]

It's definitely a date.

[empowers]

No, Peeta. You're the one who needs to survive. You're so good with words, and I know you wouldn't let Prim or my mother down, either. They would be alright, if you were the one who survived. But if you didn't, and just I did, I don't know if I could - [ She stops, the grip on his hand becoming almost crushing for a moment. Only one person will be damaged beyond repair if Peeta dies.

Me. ] We don't have to think about that here, though. We don't. We're okay.

[ She swallows down a well-up of emotion, because this is a date. They're supposed to be looking for something together that winds up with everyone being happy. ] I think so, too.

[ In a moment of raw tenderness brought on partially by the fact that she's thought of heavier things in the last few minutes, partially by the squeeze of his hand, she walks a little closer to his side and leans her head over to rest on his shoulder. ]

It's our first one, isn't it? Our first real date?

[unfalteringly]

[ Peeta just shakes his head as she speaks. He doesn't agree with much of what she's saying. He can't agree with what she's saying ] With what's going on at home now, words probably aren't going to mean too much anymore. Actions are. Your actions. [ What could he possibly do? Back home he was doing little more than sitting in a cell in the Capitol, waiting for them to cart him out on stage whenever it was convenient for them.

No thinking about any of that though. Because this is nice. This is a date ( even if Rue had to tell him that it's a date ). Does this mean that they're more than whatever they were? Does this make whatever they are real? ]

This is our first real date. Our first one that's just for us.

[empowers]

You're wrong. [ I leave it there. The argument is clearly finished, and neither of us seems to want to dampen the day. But in the back of my mind, a memory nags - She has no idea, the effect she can have.

But he doesn't know, either. He has no idea what his words do. Or maybe he knows exactly what they do, and he doesn't think it's enough. But I think it's enough. He could move the country to rise up. Even the richer districts. But I push those thoughts aside. We don't have to worry about that anymore. Not unless one of us leaves, and I can't bear the thought of it. I just won't. I won't think about it.

I am on a date with Peeta Mellark.

A real date. It isn't conventional and it isn't the sort of date that I ever would have picked for myself. But it fits, somehow. It feels almost perfect. I know better than to actually call it that. The second I do, something will go wrong. But it's close. As close as either of us will get.

Somehow the confirmation makes words harder to form. ]

Peeta - [ What do I want to say? That I'm happy? I am, I think. It's kind of hard to decipher that happiness. It's not like the moment when I woke up on the beach during the Quell, where it stirred from inside of me. It's warmer than that. More direct. And it's more intense. Do I love him?

Sometimes I think so. But I don't even know where to start, because I've never had time for that sort of thing. I couldn't afford to think like that, and even if I did love someone, I still wouldn't ever want to have children. But maybe here...

I'm not good at saying something.

So I stop walking and abruptly loose my hand from his, turning to block his walking path. I look up at those bright blue eyes, the eyes that were my salvation, and I put my hands on his face. I lean forward a little too awkwardly and press my lips against his forcefully. I hope he'll forgive me because of my inexperience. ]

[unfalteringly]

[ Peeta wants to continue arguing, not because it's something he enjoys doing with Katniss, but because there are things that Katniss doesn't know that makes her wrong. He's sure he's never leaving the Capitol, after all. He's sure of it. It's where he'll spend the last of his days. Two chances to die in the Games, to give his life for someone he cared about and believed in, and he was likely to die rotting away in a cell. Slowly. At least death in the Games would be much quicker. Probably more painful, but at least there would eventually be an end once the viewers got bored with his suffering.

He's not going to bring those things up though. Not right now, and maybe not ever. At least not during their time together in Asgard. There are other things to deal with here, other issues to worry about. Panem, the Capitol, their chance of survival there and who should be the one to survive just aren't the topics for here.

Because he's on a date with Katniss Everdeen and death probably isn't something that most people discuss on dates. People who are on a normal date, who probably wouldn't get to go on anything resembling a normal date otherwise should actually allow it to be as normal as possible, right?

Peeta looks to Katniss when she says his name, a name he never thought that she would say. Funny how it was the Games that brought them together, isn't it? Brought together by murder, death and despair ] What is it?

[ He barely has time to say those three short words before her lips are against his. The kiss is rough, a little forceful, but it feels like it speaks volumes of who Katniss is, what kind of person she truly is. It takes him a moment to react properly. He wraps his his arms loosely around her waist and kisses her back. It's a little forceful to match her kiss and it perhaps shows that he's not exactly the most experienced of boys, but he's not sure any of that even matters right now. At least it doesn't to him ]

[empowers]

[ And there are just as many things that she knows that he doesn't. The fact of the matter is that neither of them will ever agree on this, because their interests conflict directly. All Katniss wants is to keep Peeta safe and alive. All Peeta wants is the same for her. Their interests are never going to mesh here. She would keep arguing if there were a point. There might not be. Maybe not ever.

She just knows that this place is a haven for them both. There isn't any reason for her not to be less cautious about their relationship. After all, something in her nearly shattered to pieces when he died for the short time in the arena. The night together on the beach... She remembers them often. And here, with Rue, and Finnick and Annie, they have a chance at a life. A life she hadn't ever thought of back home, because it was too dangerous and too frivolous. The furthest they'd gotten was a fake engagement and saving face for the sake of Snow, and even that hadn't been enough.

But what she felt in the Arena, and what she feels here, it's genuine. It's unfamiliar and confusing, but genuine. She sleeps better when he's with her, and she feels happier when he's around. The smell of cheese buns, or bread baking of any kind, so long as she knows it's from him... It's comforting to her. It reminds her of the dandelion. Of a hope she never would have thought to cling to, after everything in the Arenas.

So they kiss, and it's a real kiss. No cameras, no Capitol - just theirs. Even knowing they were on camera, the kiss they shared on the beach was theirs, too. But this is completely theirs. No one is around to see it. It's private. Something about that reminds her that she can allow herself to be less protected here. She isn't kissing him to keep Prim or Gale or her mother alive. She isn't kissing him in the hopes of saving Cinna. She's just kissing him because kissing him makes the unfamiliar warmth bubble in her stomach - and she likes it.

When she pulls back after several moments, she looks up at him and offers the smallest of smiles. ]

Sorry. [ Why she's apologizing, she's not sure. Clearly it didn't bother him. But it was a little abrupt. ]