I never meant to start a war

[peeta_bread]

Date & Time: 12/12
Location: Michigan State University, USA
Characters: Katniss Everdeen (resolve)and Peeta Mellark (peeta_bread)
Summary: MISSION. poor Herbert Schnippleschneizer.
Warnings: maybe ptsd, nightmares, talk of gore and violence. idk we'll see how the nightmares part goes.

[Starters will be in the comments. I didn't use wrecking ball lyrics shhh]

Comments

MISSION

[peeta_bread]

Peeta and Katniss walk down the street of the campus, silent. It's starting to get chilly. Peeta shrugs off his jacket, offering it to Katniss. "Here. I'm not that cold."

I CAME IN LIKE A WRECKING BALL

[resolve]

Really, she's never seen anything like this before in her life.

In some ways, it's vaguely reminiscent of the Capitol. The throngs of people, bustling from place to place. Buildings that tower over everything, that are new and clean and sterile, and hardly in a state of disrepair.

But there's a certain sense of extravagance that's missing. All the buildings they pass appear functional. The people, for the most part, don't dye their hair or their skin unnatural colors, or adorn themselves with flashy tattoos.

It takes a second for her to come out of her thoughts enough to register that she's being addressed. She glances over, looks between him and the jacket. Truthfully, she is a little cold; since this weather had been so warm compared to the subzero temperatures that are now their reality, she might've overestimated just how much good this thin jacket of her own could do. But she can't accept it.

"Keep it." She shakes her head. "I'm fine."

LEFT ME CRASHING IN A BLAZING FALL

[peeta_bread]

Of course she is. He sighs, putting it back on. Katniss was going to make this hard for him to do anything for her.

But he wasn't going to force anything on her. He was determined. His entire attention is focused on her, though. He doesn't realize that must be intimidating.

"I guess we should find that guy. Herbert Schnip... Schnipper... Herbert. Or I guess we should come up with a plan before we find him, right?"

and weeeeee can't stoooopppppp

[resolve]

It's a little uncomfortable, maybe, and certainly something she's more than conscious of, but that isn't why she stops moving. She stops because he's right; they have no idea what they're doing, and walking around aimlessly isn't going to accomplish anything. They need a plan.

But what?

She folds her arms across her chest for warmth, and is silent for a time.

"There are thousands of people here," she says, finally. "How are we going to find just one?"

NIGHT

[peeta_bread]

Thank goodness one kid transferred and another was visiting his parents. That meant Peeta and Katniss were able to find a dorm room to stay in. No one looked at them twice. The bad part of sharing a room was that they were in close quarters, and there would be no way to hide a nightmare. In fact, Peeta's having a nightmare right now, whimpering and calling out "Katniss!"

YEAH I JUST CLOSED MY EYES AND SWUNG

[resolve]

She'd predicted that this would be a sleepless night. Reality, thus far, has lived up to the prediction.

Her eyes haven't even closed for a second, but she hasn't wanted to climb down from her bunk and walk out into the hall in fear of disturbing Peeta across the (tiny) room. (She can hardly ask him to come sleep with her, like he did those nights on the train and before the Quell; maybe some weight has been lifted from her shoulders, and with it some of the difficulty between them, but she's still far from being in a position that merits something that selfish.) Instead, her eyes have been left to memorize every detail she can make out in the ceiling above her. There are a couple of small cracks, some -

She tenses when she hears him call her name in his sleep.

He's been able to talk her down from a nightmare, to comfort her, so many times, but right now, she has no idea what to do. Shame burns hot, and twists something in her stomach. Her muscles, though, only remain as frozen as ever, and for the moment, she's paralyzed.

ALL YOU EVER DID WAS WRECK ME

[peeta_bread]

Peeta's starting to thrash and get louder, kicking the wall beside his bed.

"Katniss! Help, please! Don't leave me with them, please!"

don't you ever say i just walked awaaaay okay my lyrics are officially all over the place

[resolve]

It's agony, listening to this. Helpless to do anything about it. She doesn't have to stretch to imagine things he could possibly be dreaming about; the images that readily come to mind are some of the same ones that have haunted her ceaselessly, both in her nightmares and waking hours. Horrors, new forms of torture, all because of her. With every second that ticks by (tick, tock, tick, tock), the agony only grows, until she's unable to stand it anymore. Just like that, her muscles unfreeze, and she's scrambling to peel the covers away from her and make it to the ladder.

Is it a selfless act, to try, in whatever way she can, to pull him out of this nightmare? Or is it selfish, an effort only meant to assuage her own distress? She doesn't know, and the uncertainty only causes her to, once again, become disgusted with herself. But either way, once her feet hit the floor, she's by his side in an instant.

"Peeta." After a struggle (a thrashing target isn't exactly easy to hone in on), she grabs onto his shoulder and gives it a good shake. Like the sweet, delicate person she is, she's completely gentle about this. Her voice becomes more insistent, more urgent. "Peeta. Wake up."