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Peeta Mellark is out of Panem. Real or not real? (peetanotpita) wrote in wariscoming,
@ 2012-07-23 02:42:00

Entry tags:

peeta mellark, rachel berry

WHO: Rachel Berry and Peeta Mellark
WHAT: Bringing Rachel an amulet and keeping her company while she waits for Brittany & Ariel
WHERE: The local library
WHEN: Backdated to Saturday 7/21, evening
RATING: PG probs
STATUS: In progress

While Peeta was fairly confident that the girls would be able to get back to the complex safely on their own, he had noticed that the sun was starting to set already and the new arrival, Rachel, had made it clear that she would feel better with more people. Having never really met Ariel or Brittany, Peeta decided to trek off on his own and just wait with Rachel until they came.

The walk was a fairly short one, but he was still tired from it because the air had been thick with humidity and it, in spite of the sun going down, it was hot out. Peeta found that he preferred to avoid wearing shorts that would show off the prosthetic leg, because it drew attention to him, but it certainly made for a more uncomfortable journey. Wiping the sweat from his forehead with his arm, Peeta kept his head ducked down as he entered the library in an effort to avoid being noticed. Katniss had gone to Zatanna for a spell of some kind to keep her from being recognized as the actress who had played her in their movie, but Peeta still didn't know that he trusted that. Being noticed was never pleasant for him, but it was especially unpleasant when the person doing the noticing was a female.

It took him a few minutes to find the checkout desk, tucked back a little ways from the entrance, but when he did, it only took a second to find the girl herself. "Rachel...?" he asked, just to make sure.

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goldberrystar
2012-07-24 12:42 am UTC (link)

She paused when she heard her name, arching her eyebrows and putting on a smile when she saw the boy that was calling for her. He was definitely cute and she had to learn how to deal with stressful situation so now that she was a little calmer, she was choosing to look at this as an opportunity to see how well she did.

"You must be Peeta," she said pleasantly, "yes, I'm Rachel. Thank you for coming." And it did help he was nice to look at, of course.

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peetanotpita
2012-07-24 01:56 am UTC (link)

When the girl responded to him positively, Peeta nodded and smiled slightly, coming up beside her. She looked to be about his age and she had long dark hair much like Katniss's only Rachel's was straight and loose rather than textured and pulled back into that ever-present braid. She was pretty, in the way he thought perhaps Clove or Glimmer might have been if they hadn't been meant to kill him. That sort of thing tended to make a person far less attractive, by principal.

He held out a hand to shake and nodded once more, acknowledging her statement of gratitude. "I am," he agreed, "it's nice to meet you in person. And, don't mention it. It wasn't a long walk at all and I didn't want you to have to wait around alone or anything," he added.

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goldberrystar
2012-07-24 03:52 am UTC (link)

"I't very nice meeting you too." She said politely as she shook his hand.

"I really didn't feel safe here by myself after everything I read, so I'm glad to hear you were close by and willing to meet me. Did you say you had one of those amulets for me?" She wasn't entirely sure what she believed in still, but at least, she wanted to be as safe as possible. Just in case.

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peetanotpita
2012-07-24 04:04 am UTC (link)

After the formality, Peeta dropped his hands back to his sides only to then stuff them awkwardly in his pockets. This had, perhaps, been a good idea in theory, but now what was he supposed to do? He didn't know her or she, him. Were they just going to...stand there...?

But then, Rachel brought up the amulet that Peeta had nearly forgotten about. "Oh! Yeah, sorry," he said quickly, having the grace to look sheepish as he untucked the extra one from his shirt and pulled it up over his head to hand it to her. Then, because he remembered how skeptical he had been, he untucked his own, letting it hang from his neck exposed over his shirt rather than hiding beneath to show her that he, too, was wearing one.

"And like I said, it's no problem, I'm happy to help," he finished with a small smile. "Where are you from, anyway?" he asked, realizing that he'd mentioned he was from Panem but hadn't ever actually asked her where it was from which she hailed. ...or when. "What year was it...?"

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goldberrystar
2012-07-24 10:02 pm UTC (link)

As she took the amulet, she couldn't help making a face. It was very... hippie-looking. Like something a Wiccan would wear and while she fully supported every religion and every belief, it would clash horribly with her clothes.

"Does it have to look like this?" She asked, making a face then looking at him again. "And if it does, do I have to wear it, or can I keep it in my purse?" Because it was pretty hideous.

"I'm from Lima, Ohio. From 2009." She explained, trying to pull herself together when she remembered it was supposed to be about three years later.

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peetanotpita
2012-07-25 02:40 am UTC (link)

Peeta gave Rachel a wry smile and a gentle shrug of his shoulders. "Yeah, it has to and yeah, you have to wear it. I wear mine under my shirts, though, because it's pretty hideous, I'll give you that much," he agreed.

Lima, Ohio, she said. Peeta tried to remember if he'd learned about all of the different states of the America that was once upon a time, but he was fairly certain they'd been glossed over in favor of the Dark Days war and the history behind it. "Oh, well at least you're only three years off," he said with a hint of hopefulness in his voice; an effort to make her feel better about the loss of time if she was actually missing it, yet.

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goldberrystar
2012-07-25 05:38 am UTC (link)

She smiled when he agreed that it was hideous. He seemed to have good taste, that was going to the plus column. "I will do my best to do that, too. I suppose I will have to find a way to wear it even with dresses, maybe I can find a longer cord." She said as she studied the hideous thing.

"Three years could be the difference between making it or not making it, especially at my age," she said, her expression turning serious, "if I don't have any accomplishments by nineteen, I can kiss my career goodbye. I will only have about ten years or so after that, your voice goes downhill once you hit thirty."

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peetanotpita
2012-07-25 05:53 am UTC (link)

Peeta nodded. "You could try that. Or wrap it around your ankle or your thigh or something so it's hidden but still on you, maybe?" he suggested. Then, he paused. "I don't know, I wouldn't try any of that until you ask one of the hunters like Cindy or Pete or something, though; I'm still learning," he added, because the last thing Peeta wanted was for it to be his fault if something bad happened to the new girl.

For a moment, Peeta just looked at her. She was really serious about this fame thing. It was hard for Peeta to really process how that all worked. In his world, fame came from being in the Hunger Games and with that came a strong likelihood of death. Even though he knew it was different here, it confused him to think of it any other way than the way with which he was familiar. "I heard if we get sent back, we go back to when we came from," he told her with another shrug and a sheepish sort of expression. "So maybe you won't have to worry about that at all? I mean, even though it's 2012, you're still sixteen here," he pointed out. Part of him was curious how she sounded when she sang. Peeta doubted she would be as good at Katniss, but he couldn't help wondering, anyway.

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goldberrystar
2012-07-26 01:34 am UTC (link)

"Hunters?" She asked, frowning a little. "You mean demon hunters?" She really didn't want to hear anymore about this than she already had, but she guessed she had to at least know enough so it wouldn't get in her way. "I guess I will wait to make sure." She said as she pulled it over her head then pulled her hair from it carefully.

"Maybe," she sighed a little, glancing over at him. 'I guess maybe I can learn things here and then when I get back, I will still have the same amount of time to do it again." At that, she brightened a little, "yes, that sounds like a better plan."

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peetanotpita
2012-07-26 03:05 am UTC (link)

"Demon hunters, yeah," Peeta replied. "They're not bad," he insisted, seeing the frown on her face. "They keep us safe. I'm training to be one. So that Prim doesn't ever have to be," he added. Peeta watched as she put the necklace on and relaxed a little once it was safely around her neck. "You can tuck it in," he offered as he did that very thing with his own. "For now, I mean, until you find out."

When Rachel seemed to brighten, Peeta smiled back at her. "Yeah, and I heard that some people even remember their time here, so it could even give you a leg up on the competition back home, right? I mean, maybe..." he offered helpfully.

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goldberrystar
2012-07-31 08:09 pm UTC (link)

"Right," she said, hesitating before sliding it into her shirt. At least it should be hidden right now. She'd just have to pay attention to her clothes until she knew more about where she could hide this thing.

"It definitely would, although my talent is enough of a leg up, but if I do remember what I have to do to get there faster, I could have the spotlight for longer and I do like that plan." She said brightly.

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peetanotpita
2012-08-01 02:16 am UTC (link)

Peeta gave Rachel a small, sheepish sort of smile. He wasn't really sure how to respond to what she'd said, but the idea of it seemed to lift her spirits, so he nodded. "See?" he asked after a long pause. "Not so bad."

Another pregnant pause fell between them and Peeta shifted his weight onto his good leg, reaching a hand up to rub the back of his neck. It wasn't that Peeta didn't know how to talk to girls, because he did. It was just that...he was still learning how to talk to girls from this century. They didn't know about the Hunger Games; they wanted for very little around here, he noticed. True, most of his friends back home were merchants' children and they weren't poor, but they weren't as pampered as the kids from the Seam always seemed to think they were. They worked from a young age. School was a break for he and his friends just as much as he imagined it was for Katniss and her friends, only in a different way. Girls from around here lived entirely different lives. It was, in its own way, intimidating.

Deciding to play it safe, Peeta took a deep breath and let his hand fall away from his neck to stuff it into his pocket again. "So..." he started awkwardly, "how old are you?" Wow, this was easier over the internet...

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