Peeta Mellark | The Hunger Games (die_as_myself) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2013-12-09 07:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, !open, ~2013 december, ~40 points, ~~peeta mellark (die_as_myself) |
WHO: Peeta Mellark and OPEN
WHAT: Grocery shopping, and thinking
WHEN: Monday, after work (around 2pm)
WHERE: At the grocery store
WARNINGS: Hunger Games warnings
STATUS: Open/Ongoing
Peeta couldn't say he was glad that Gale was here. And it wasn't because he had anything against him, because he didn't. Peeta wasn't a kid anymore, and he wasn't going to fight over girls. And anyway, Katniss had her own mind, and even if they had fought over her like rutting deer, it would ultimately be her decision. So hating Gale wasn't going to do any good, even if he wanted to. Which, again, he didn't. Well. Maybe he couldn't say that exactly. But not for any personal reasons.
He didn't like what Gale had become. He didn't like the anger, the hatred, the violence that had led Gale to approve of the slaughter of children. He didn't like how cold he'd become, how he'd actually referred to Prim as collateral damage. To Peeta, it seemed like when you reached that point, you'd given up all pretense of humanity, and had let the war defeat you. Love, beauty, kidnness - these were the things that changed the world. Hatred and bitterness like Gale seemed to embody just made you hurt, and just made the world a little colder.
Of course, Peeta hadn't grown up in the Seam. His childhood hadn't been perfect by any means, but he'd never had to worry about the things Gale had. He'd never had to take tesserae. He'd never had to worry about starving, although his food hadn't always been much more than stale bread. He'd never had to support his family. And maybe those things made the difference between the bitterness that Gale held inside, and the hope that Peeta was able to cling to.
But most of all, Peeta didn't like what Gale's presence was doing to Katniss. It seemed she'd been having more nightmares lately. About Prim. About the Games. He had no proof, but he guessed she was probably dreaming of things that hadn't happened yet, speculating about how horrible they would be.
And he could hold her, and comfort her, but it didn't seem like enough. He wanted to do more, and felt helpless to do it. What could he say? He wouldn't offer her lies, no matter how much they might soothe her. She deserved better than that.
He got off work at the bakery, and made his way to the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner. He'd found a recipe for venison that looked pretty good, but he needed some spices and vegetables before he could start it. He'd never had venison before - but Katniss and Gale had brought one home yesterday, and now their freezer was full of it. He'd have to start finding more recipes.
Selecting the vegetables and herbs he needed, he picked up some hot cocoa - a favorite of both his and Katniss's - and then to the candy aisle, where he stared at the strange sweets for a long time. They'd not been able to really afford sugar in District 12, and it had always been a very special treat. Maybe Katniss could use a treat right now. Only problem was, he had no idea what he was looking at, or how to select something nice.
Turning to the person next to him, he offered a sheepish smile.
"Sorry, but what's the best here? It's for someone special."