Peeta Mellark (dailybread) wrote in expresslogs, @ 2012-09-17 15:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | {peeta mellark |
Characters: Peeta Mellark
When: Monday afternoon
Location: Just outside his room
Warnings/Rating: None
Summary: Peeta's reaction to this
Status: Narrative / Complete
While most passengers were choosing to take their meals in Shanghai, Peeta was still making his daily stops by the kitchen car. Instead of preparing full meals for the train and risk throwing out a lot of uneaten food, he decided to work on batches of his famous cheesy buns. That way, if someone happened to be hungry for a snack, there'd still be something good to eat on-board. He was heading back to his room later in the day when he spotted the bowl and note by his doorstep. Peeta bent down to pick up the slip of paper and, out of the corner of his eye, saw something roll off the top, snatching it just in time before it fell onto the floor. For you. Remember? He read the words before opening his hand, already knowing exactly what round, smooth object he felt against his palm. A pearl. If you put enough pressure on coal it turns to pearls, he remembered, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. But it was more than that. Peeta recalled finding this pearl and giving it to Katniss during the Quarter Quell. He remembered the look she gave him when she took it. It told him everything he needed to know and didn't want to be true. The locket he gave her didn't work the way he wanted it to. She wasn't going to let him have his way and sacrifice his own life for hers. The memory was crisp and clear in his mind, unblemished by that creeping instinct to harm her. This was real. He knew it. Despite everything he believed she'd done - destroy District 12, murder his family - all those other violent thoughts that often took over whenever he was around her... This was the first one that felt real to him. And it had nothing to do with Katniss the mutt, the traitor, the enemy. Who was she then? Ally? Friend? Lover? Neighbor? Tribute? Hunter? Peeta grasped the pearl tightly in one hand, then picked up the soup and entered his room. He sat at his desk with the note by his side and leaned over the bowl, breathing in the steam that still rose steadily up. If he wanted to meet with Katniss, he needed something to keep him grounded. And he knew exactly what could do the trick. Right now, though, he felt like he hadn't eaten in months. |