Who: Katniss & Prim What: Awkward conversations Where: Their house When: Monday afternoon, after this Warnings: discussions of sex Status: started in gdocs; will continue in comments
After Bellamy left, Katniss decided that she should probably take a shower and change her clothes. She certainly hadn’t expected any of this to happen when she got up this morning, but she had no regrets. Dating him would certainly be different than dating Ash or than her relationship with Peeta and she was kind of looking forward to that now that she was a little older, more confident, and had some experience.
Her body still felt all tingly from his touch and, when she got out of the shower, she quickly pulled her hair back in a loose braid after putting on a pair of comfortable pants and a t-shirt. She would tell Prim and Mitsuko this evening that she was dating him now and make plans for all of them to have dinner so he could meet her sister and ward.
She was already looking forward to messaging him later this evening when she heard the door open and one of the girls came in. “I’m in the kitchen,” she called. “Making hot cocoa.”
***
Mondays were always long at school even if Prim was a rarity in a teen and actually enjoyed school the majority of the time. When she first arrived, it had been difficult and she didn’t think she would ever catch on to everything, but having been here for over a year, she had more experience and even a bit more confidence in herself. However, Primrose had experienced something a bit different today at school that even a year could not have prepared her for. Apparently, this year, they were implementing a sex education course and the teens were charged with bringing home permission slips for their guardians or parents to sign giving them permission to take it.
Now, Prim knew next to nothing about sex. She hadn’t even kissed a boy yet. She was aware that she was in the minority with this, but she didn’t think it was a bad thing. Back home, there was no time for that sort of thing; you had to put everything into just surviving. In Madison Valley it was obviously much different, but Prim was yet to actually have any kind of intimate experience with the opposite sex. For the most part, it didn’t bother her too much, but with the announcement of this class, it was embarrassing. Everyone else seemed to know all about this kind of stuff even if they shouldn’t, but Prim was absolutely in the dark about the entire concept of relations with the opposite sex in that way.
Sighing, Prim entered the house she shared with her sister and Mitsuko. Kicking off her snow boots, Katniss’s voice reached her ears from the kitchen. Honestly, Prim was unsure of how her sister was going to react; it was something she probably was not expecting to have to do, especially with Prim. Prim didn’t show an interest in boys so why would she think it was even a possibility? Wandering into the kitchen, Prim offered a hug to her sister before finding a seat at the table. “I’ll take some, Katniss,” the blond said quickly with a small smile.
***
Even distracted by thoughts of her new boyfriend, Katniss immediately noticed that something was off about her sister. She poured two mugs of cocoa, leaving the pot to simmer on the stove in case Mitsuko wanted some when she got home, and sat down at the table with Prim.
“What’s wrong, Little Duck?” she asked. “Did something happen at school today?”
She knew that occasionally the town kids would bully the refugee kids, but she thought that they tended to stick together to prevent that sort of thing.
***
Primrose should have known her sister was way too perceptive to not notice a change in her. Having gone through all she had, she knew Katniss had perfected such a skill. Still, when Katniss asked her what was wrong with obvious concern in her voice, the blonde almost choked on her cocoa. She wasn’t sure how to explain exactly what had happened at school to her sister yet. She guessed it would be awkward, but well, she wasn’t sure there was anyway around that part of the entire thing. As it was, Prim was going to feel awkward and embarrassed simply sitting in the course.
“Well, it’s-um-” Prim broke off because she was unsure about how to even navigate to the conversation starter let alone the conversation itself. “There is this new course we have to take and um there is a form for it…”
***
“A form for a class?” Katniss repeated. That was odd. She didn’t think she’d ever heard of anything like that before. And whatever it was clearly had her sister upset which didn’t make sense. Prim loved school and learning new things. Short of a class that taught them how to slaughter animals, she couldn’t imagine what would make her react this way.
She set aside her mug and held out her hand. “Well, let me see.”
***
Oh boy. Primrose visibly cringed at the statement, but the blonde nodded and went for backpack. She knew as soon as Katniss laid eyes on it, she was not going to be happy. Oh well, it was something that could not be avoided even if Prim would give anything if she could. Pulling it out, she made her way back to the table and sat down, holding the form out to her sister.
“Here,” she said softly and reach for her cocoa mug again.
***
Katniss took a minute to read through the form and, as soon as she realized exactly what it meant, her cheeks got very hot and she knew that she was blushing furiously. What timing for her sister to bring this home not long after she got up to the kind of thing they were likely going to learn about.
“Okay, well, this is definitely something important for you to learn,” she said. “But it says that if you want to opt out, you don’t have to take it. So it’s up to you.”
It would actually be easier for her if Prim took the class and learned all this at school rather than asking her sister.
***
Primrose’s eyes widened at the sudden rush of emotion shown by her sister. She knew it took a lot to get her sister flustered and apparently this whole sex ed course fell into the category. She knew it was an embarrassing subject and honestly, if she didn’t take the course she was unsure if she would have the courage to ask her sister about any of this at any point in her life.
“Well, I mean, would you take it?” Prim asked, genuinely curious to hear her sister’s response because she honestly had no idea what it might be.
***
When she was Prim’s age, Katniss probably wouldn’t have, but she managed not to blurt out the first thought that crossed her mind. “I think you should,” she said. “I mean, I know that you’re not interested in boys right now. Or girls. But you might be soon and you should know about this.”
It was something that Katniss wished she had known more about before trying to figure it out with Ash.
***
Prim was more interested in animals and well pretty much anything else besides members of either gender. She simply just found relationships like those kind of unimportant at the moment. This was not say that if someone came along that struck her interest she might be inclined to change her mind, but she hadn’t experienced anything like that yet. Then again, she wasn’t really looking to either and if someone had attempted to flirt with her, it just might end up going right over the blonde’s head.
“Well, no, not really, but I mean I guess I will eventually,” Primrose replied quietly, looking down into her mug of hot cocoa for a moment before continuing. “Well, if you think it’s a good idea, I’ll take it. You have good judgement, Katniss,” she finished with a small smile ***
Katniss felt her cheeks get warm again. Did she have good judgement? Making out with Bellamy earlier this afternoon probably was not an example of that.
“If you don’t, that’s okay too,” she said. “But I want you to be prepared. Just in case.” She picked up her mug and took a sip of the hot chocolate. It was going to be even more awkward now to tell her sister that she was dating Bellamy. At least he wasn’t coming back for dinner. Katniss was pretty sure she would spontaneously combust if he was in the same room as Prim right now.
After a few moments of hesitation, she spoke again. “By the way, Bellamy and I are dating now,” she said. She knew that her cheeks were bright red and hoped that her sister wouldn’t ask questions. “I’m going to invite him over for dinner later this week so you can meet him.”
***
“No, uh, being prepared is always a good thing,” Primrose replied quickly. She had no idea how awkward that statement actually was in context of what they were talking about. “I mean I’ll just be learning about something…” It was definitely an awkward sort of something, but Prim would be learning about it nevertheless.
At the brief change of subject, Primrose smiled brightly. “I kinda felt it might go that way,” she replied with a sheepish grin. “And I can’t wait to meet him…” Prim trailed off because something suddenly dawned on her. Had her sister actually ever...done that? It was possible, she’d had boyfriends in Madison Valley.
“Have you ever um...done anything like that?” Prim blurted, blushing brightly. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t ask…”
***
If Mitsuko came home to find the house burning down around them, it would be because of sheer embarrassment. Katniss wasn’t surprised when Prim asked the question, but she wasn’t exactly sure how to answer. She wanted to be honest, of course, but she didn’t want her sister to think badly of her.
“No, it’s okay,” she said. If Prim was going to learn about it in school, then Katniss needed to be open with her. “Yes. Ash and I were… intimate,” she said.