#meat packing district | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

moreespressoformydepresso · 4 months

Text

I’m working on a thing where all the tributes of the 10th Hunger Games won separate games, ultimately leading to president Snow getting his shit rocked because he sucked from the beginning and TBOSAS proved that, and I was thinking about how all the tributes would have won their games. The way you play the game and what led to your victory will probably have impact on how you cope and what exactly triggers PTSD. I’ve been mostly focused on Lamina and Treech because I love the district 7 tributes they’re built different, but I’ll try to come up with as many as possible for this list:

Velvereen was a career, and scored multiple kills while working with them, but ultimately the alliance broke apart as their members died off in their attempts to hunt down others. Velvereen, being less murder-happy, didn’t get revenge killed, nor did she get overwhelmed by a tribute she attacked, which left her as the last of the pack standing. She won because her last opponent used a melee weapon and she used throwing knives. Thanks to the advantage she had by not only having a long range weapon, but also a lifetime of training to hone her accuracy, she ended their would-be-battle swiftly and took the win.

Facet was also a part of the career pack, not necessarily hunting people down but going out of his way to kill whoever he came across that wasn’t a career. His weapon of choice was a spear, and he won by leaving the career pack when the water got a bit too hot under the team’s feet, and spearing the last tribute like a cannibal-style meat skewer.

Sabyn made full use of her superior health and knowledge of building structures in an urban arena. Aside from using her skill with the mace to bludgeon people to death, she also used it to hit all the weak points in the structures and collapsed walls on top of people. She took out the last remaining tributes by collapsing a building on top of them and killing off the survivors with her mace.

Marcus spent most of his games using his vastly superior physical strength and more well-fed state to his advantage, knowing most of his allies were waiting for the moment they thought they no longer needed him to get rid of him. His solution was to run awa- just kidding he killed them all in their sleep and used the intellect everyone thought he lacked for the rest of the games until the final fight, where he bashed the other tribute’s head into the rocks and then choked them to death.

Teslee wins her games by using her knowledge of electronics to reactivate the mines around the starting platforms and hiding in the cornucopia when there’s only four people left. When the mutts drive everyone to the middle of the arena, they’re subsequently blown up.

Circ wins his games in similar fashion to Teslee, except he gets forced to help the careers with his intellect and knowledge of technology. In response, Circ uses his intellect and knowledge of technology to trick the careers into protecting him and handing him weapons until he no longer needs them, then having the plan they made him execute literally blow up in their face and electrocuting several of them in the process. The last career is killed when Circ evades their attacks until they hit an electrical line with their fully metal weapon.

Coral probably won the same way she almost did in the movie. She was part of the career pack and made sure to be the one to backstab their allies first. There is no little brother figure for her to be worried about, nor are there snakes designed to kill every last person in the arena, so she has all the room and time she needs to handily shish kebab the last tribute and claim victory.

Mizzen doesn’t have as much brutal efficiency, nor the physique that Coral did even though I’m aging him up. He instead wins by mixing her strategy with the tried and true method of staying away from the things that could turn you into a pincushion. It’s like Marcus’ approach in reverse, starting with intellect and finishing with brute strength. He joins the careers, but as soon as things go slightly south he takes out the biggest threat when they aren’t paying attention and runs for the hills (or ocean, because district 4). He lures the last tribute to a body of water by pretending to run away and using the dark so they don’t see the cliff coming, and once they’re in his territory he uses his net to catch them and his trident or knife to finish them off.

Lamina cries so much in the lead up to the games that everyone, including her mentors, have given up on her. Once the games actually begin she surprises everyone with her strategy and skill with an ax, climbing a mountain high enough that people can’t kill her without going up themself and only coming down when she has to. When she does, she stockpiles water and food so she can stay up as long as possible while waiting for the others to whittle down the numbers. On one of her runs she finds a tribute who had a run in with the careers and was tortured almost to death. At their request, she puts them out of their misery. At the end of the games she’s barely got a scratch on her and is still at peak health for the circumstances. She’s forced to come down by the gamemakers, and all but one tribute is killed by the mutts. However, they’re so badly hurt that they beg her to just finish it and end their torment, at which point she hands out a second mercy kill.

Treech won his games by focusing on survival during training and pretending to be very bad at wielding an ax, only showing enough skill to avoid suspicion since he’s from the lumber district. He used good looks and charm during the interview to gain sponsors and talked about home to set up a proper sob story to get sympathy. He used the confusion of the cornucopia to snatch some of the supplies further away from the cornucopia and stays hidden from other tributes for the entirety of his games. Thanks to his stealing from everyone, including the careers, without getting caught, he has enough screen time to maintain his sponsors without putting himself in too much danger, especially before he gets his hands on an ax. His only kills occur during the final minutes of the games, where he jumps the last three careers once he realizes they won’t fight each other until he’s dead and waiting for the capitol to send mutts is more dangerous. He uses the element of surprise to jump the careers, cleaving one in the head and throwing his ax at the career with a long range weapon, before using his knife to injure the last tribute while stopping them from fatally wounding him until he manages to pull the ax from the body of the second career, turning to avoid a swing and gain momentum before swinging down and planting his ax in the last kid’s neck, killing them instantly.

Bobbin lost his arm in the games (I cannot see him as someone that isn’t Knox Gibson), and killed someone with a needle since he knows five ways to do exactly that. After losing his arm, he stayed alive by sewing it and several dangerous gashes closed so he wouldn’t bleed to death. He tripped the second to last other tribute using thread from his clothing and they got ripped to shreds by mutts that had been released into the arena. The last person was killed with that same thread, a brick, and yet again a needle.

Wovey used her perceived disadvantage (again, I cannot see a Wovey that isn’t Sofia Sanchez) by making everyone believe she’s weak. The arena was an industrial terrain not unlike district eight, which meant hiding was a piece of cake for her. Also, she used her knowledge of these kinds of buildings to lead whatever tribute was chasing her around until they were in a prime place for her to strike or ran into another tribute to strike for her. The last tribute was pushed into a machine, which crunched them to death.

Sheaf used her agility to her advantage, and luckily there was a sickle in the arena for her so her strategy became to rush at people with melee weapons, who would then predictably prepare to block a head-on attack, only to duck past them and cleave them in the back. She won her games by tiring her opponent out and decapitating them.

Panlo picks up on skills easily, and in the three days he had at the training centre he learned to shoot pretty decently with a bow and arrow. He’s best with a sickle, but they didn’t have those in his arena and he’d rather stay long range so bow and arrow it was. Nobody expected him to become so proficient so quickly, and since none of the careers used bows Panlo waited until after the bloodbath to run to the cornucopia and grab the set, as well as some supplies. He spent his games scoping out good sniper posts and shooting anyone who got too close for comfort, winning the games by waiting for the last two to finish duking it out and shooting the winner in the stomach, then finishing it with a shot through the chest.

Tanner won his games by joining an alliance (not the careers) and relying on their numbers to keep others from attacking him for as long as possible. During the final fight he uses his strength to wrestle the other person to the ground and uses his knife and experience from working in the slaughterhouses to gut them.

Brandy wins her games by using everything she knows from the slaughterhouses to kill the other tributes. During her last battle, she wrestles the other tribute to the ground and snaps their neck.

Dill is also aged up, and used her fragile state to play innocent before dropping all sorts of deadly things on people’s heads from the trees and poisoning them with her knowledge of agriculture.

Reaper is basically Thresh if Thresh hadn’t died so the capitol could have their star-crossed lovers death battle (you cannot tell me the storm didn’t have that exact purpose, the mutts are more ambiguous). Physically intimidating and strong, but deciding to lay low for most of the games rather than going on a rampant murder spree. He refuses to play the game and doesn’t kill anyone until he and one of the careers are the last two standing. The skirmish ends with Reaper scoring a revenge kill for his district partner, who was killed by this tribute.

Jessup used his strength to to intimidate the other tributes into steering clear of him. He joins the careers right until they’ve got one more dangerous tribute to get rid of, at which point he knows it’s time to cut his losses and run away. He keeps the careers alive, because he needs them to get rid of the other tribute and he’s lower on the priority list, but he knows that once that kid’s gone he’s the next to go. So he subtly stalls them until a night where it’s his turn to watch and grabs as many supplies as he can quietly get his hands on and leaves them behind. Another tribute stumbles across them and gets rid of half the pack, but that’s not Jessup’s concern. He wins the games by smashing a bottle over another tribute’s head and stabbing them to death with the shards.

Lucy Gray Baird wins by becoming the capitol favorite for her games. Her “performance” leads to her getting more sponsors than even some of the careers, which allows her to stay alive without having to put herself into much danger to get supplies. She wins by singing to snake mutts until they recognize her scent and stop attacking her, at which point she has venomous sentient weapons in her arsenal which she makes full use of, taking out two tributes with snake bites and ultimately distracting the last other tribute with them, using the opening it gives her to kill them.

I genuinely cannot think of anything for Hy, Sol, Ginnee or Otto for now, sorry 😅.

85 notes · View notes

leviathansshadycorner · 5 months

Text

Rope Him In ( Cato x District 10! Reader x slight! Marvel) Pt. 1

Summary: In which Cato falls for a tribute from 10.

____________________________________

Chapter 1 : The Reaping

“And no matter what happens, just know that you’ll be alright. You’re going nowhere.” Amaranto, your older brother tries to sooth you. His man hands on your shoulder, making you look him in the eyes as he attempts to stop your sobbing. Teary eyed you just nodded your head. That was easy for him to say. He had reached the cut-off age only three months ago.

“I swear it’ll be alright.” He pulls you into a hug, his tan arms squeezing you to the point where you let out a small laugh.

“Alright…” You reply, wiping away your tears.

“Come on, maybe work will distract you.” He says, picking up his tin foil container which held the rice and eggs you had packed him and yourself.

It’s a little past 6 in the morning. The sun barely pushed the dark blue sky away to take its place. The reaping wouldn’t take place for about another 7 hours or so. Giving people enough time to cry over their loved ones, or finish their final trades before more peacekeepers flooded the area. The two of you decide to go into work today, even though they give off reaping days to the younger workers. You nervously headed out, eyes fixated on the pale yellow of your house, hoping it wouldn’t be the last time you saw it.

District 10, your home, never seemed more somber than on reaping day. The only other time you saw people’s moods this down was when the Capitol decided to take the horses away from the district as a punishment to those who tried to escape on them. Noises of chickens, cows, and pigs echoed throughout the empty space as you and Amaranto walked through the desolate farming sections. You had assumed the farmers were either at the markets trying to buy feed for their livestock, or out in the bar trying to get over the fact that their best farm hands could get taken from them.

The smell of fresh manure filled your nostrils as you neared some of the dairy cows. You hesitantly stopped, trying to keep in line with your routine, your hand reached up and rubbed the snout of a large spotted cow. Its markings were peculiar, since they all looked like rounded shapes rather than blotches of ink. “What I’d do to trade places with you.” You told the cow. Dairy cows were prized in this district, they were the only cows that weren’t sent off to be packaged into meat. They were the ones who got to live a long peaceful life, while their counterparts were met with a bloody fate.

“Come on (Y/n), the faster we get there, the faster we can eat lunch before the reaping.” Your brother said, already miles ahead of you.

District 10 was divided in its work. There were jobs in the production of dairy and eggs, the slaughterhouses, butchery , farming, breeding, and then there were the people who actually raised the livestock. Before making leather was moved to district 8, it belonged to 10. The breeders and farmers were people with a little bit more money than the rest. The breeders being where the smartest of 10 would use their knowledge of science and splicing to breed superior meats to send off to the capitol. Most kids in 10 spend their first few years working as farm hands and helping around in the creameries. The older ones take jobs in the killing and cutting of the meat. It was a shame that so much work went into something that its citizens couldn’t even have. The only good thing about 10 was that they got the capitol’s scraps. Small eggs the size of a cotton ball, cuts they deemed too disgusting to eat, cheese on the brink of its expiration, the list went on and on.

Amaranto and you worked at the slaughterhouse. Ever since your dad broke his leg, you both had to quit your jobs at Farmer Alfie’s and trade in your coveralls for white rubbery aprons. The slaughterhouse always smelled metallic. The smell of iron was one that would stay with you for as long as you live. The ceilings held fans, but they only helped so much to drive the smell away. Metal decorated walls and tables greeted you as you walked in. Your job was to drain the poor animal of its life. Walking past the pen of the to-be-killed animals felt hypocritical of you. You related a bit too much to the poor bovine creatures. Afterall, just like them, you were born to die.

“Dad’s in the building next to ours cutting up some lambs.” Amaranto said as he placed his lunch box in his locker. “And you know where to find me.” He finished, closing up the locker and turning to look at you. “If you feel like you can’t handle work today just go look for him or me ok?” He spoke, his kind voice reassuring you. Amaranto worked out with the men killing them. They were under the close eyes of peacekeepers, since their job was the only one requiring guns.

“Alright…” Was all you could muster up.

“Damn (Y/n), you’re quiet today.” Clarabell, the girl who was sweet on your brother, spoke from behind you. She was your coworker, and quite literally your only friend. “My my, and why is it that you are wearing that gorgeous top to work?” She asked with a fake scolding voice.

“She’s nervous about the reaping.” Amaranto told her as they both exchanged a flash of worry about you.

“I thought I’d get dressed before coming in today, since I don’t think I’d get out in time to change.” You had gotten up early in the morning to go out of your way to put on your reaping clothes. It’s not like you anticipated the event, rather you felt that getting ready earlier would be better than struggling to change an hour before the reaping.

“Oh come on (Y/n)-ie, you know nothing’s going to happen right? The chances of you getting picked are like the chances of your brother deciding I’m finally lady-like enough to marry.” The girl said, trying to throw some humor at you.

“C-can we just work?” Came your reply, dry and hasty. You didn’t want to talk about the reaping anymore. You just wanted to distract yourself from your possible death sentence.

Clarabell gave you a sympathetic hug, draping her dark red hair on your face as she nuzzled into your shoulder. “Sweet girl, you’ll be fine.” She said, then going to grab her apron. You followed, grabbing your own and shakily putting it on over your baby blue gingham dress shirt.

“No- no, here.” Clarabell said as she took off the shirt she was wearing. “You are not getting your pretty little self all bloodied before the reaping.” She said, tossing the shirt at you.

“I can’t.”

“Oh I think you will.” And like that her shirt was now on top of yours. It was stupid of you to wear your best shirt to work, now making people sacrifice theirs for you. Saying goodbye to your brother as he turned and left for work, you finally tied your apron on, and the two of you joined the others for work.

Time passed and the sun arose. Its heat raining down on 10. The only perk about working here was that they were always blasting cold air into the building. The clock seemed like it was against you, time moving both quickly and at a skin crawling pace. Clarabell tried to distract you, but the deep feeling in your stomach only sunk further. Eventually you couldn’t handle it anymore, and went to go speak with your father.

You hung up your apron. You hadn’t noticed how bloody your clothes had gotten until you took it off. “Damn.” You cursed looking over at the redhead. “I’m sorry Clara- I’ll wash it and bring it back to you I swear.”

The older girl just laughed, “It’s alright, now go on- enjoy yourself, go frolic with the sheep, or kiss some boys-” She teased as she waved to you.

You walked alongside the dirt path that connected the slaughterhouse and the butcher’s corners. Many of the men recognized you as your fathers daughter, greeting you as you sped through the halls and into the area where your father was sitting. Your heart stopped when you saw him, on his wheelchair working on slicing some skin off of a cut of meat. This was probably the last time you’d see him like this.

You didn’t know why, but a feeling of impending doom told you that you’d be chosen as one of the kids to die in the arena.

“Hey Papa.” You greeted. His dark head of hair shifted up to look at you. He smiled for a brief second, his serious expression returning. “What are you doing here (N/n). Didn’t they give you the day off?” He asked, his voice deep and old.

“They did, but Amar thought working today would distract me.” Your eyes shifted from the meat he was cutting to his face.

“I see.” He spoke.

“Just wanted to check up on you.” You tugged at the sleeves of your shirt, failing to realize that you hadn’t washed the blood on your hands thoroughly enough and staining the light material.

“Thank you dear.” You knew why your Father wasn’t saying much. In fact he was just like you, not speaking much because he was scared. He was scared to lose you like how he had lost your mother.

“I love you Papa.” You said, reaching out to hug him.

“Look, you’re going to be fine. If you get picked or not, you’re from 10. Remember that. The district of hard-ass cowboys alright? Now you’re a badass (Y/n), so don’t let fear get to ya.” He said, turning around to hug you tight.

Tears fell down your cheeks at his words. Nodding your head you agreed with his words. You couldn’t let fear get to you. Everyone had been saying that your chances of getting picked were slim, so they must be right.

…

The cries of children and mothers alike took the place of the bleating animals. Peacekeepers were now circling the district, lining up people with their guns as they ushered them to the square. The commotion made for some of the animals to go loose, but no one cared about them anymore. All that mattered to the peacekeepers was getting everyone to go witness the death of two children from home.

You were already in line waiting to get your finger pricked. You watched as some of the older kids looked more relaxed. Your heart sank when you met the eyes of a teary eyed 12 year old. She looked at you with a scrunched up red and puffy face. All you could offer her was a somber smile.

“God I know how them cows must be feeling.” A blonde girl spoke to her friend behind you. Flashes of the meat cows came into your brian. You had watched Amar do his job a while back, shocked at how he was able to go through with it.

All you remember is the cow’s poor innocent eyes as it awaited its fate. The gun was raised and aimed smack dab in the middle of its head.

Boom

You jumped at the feeling of a needle puncturing your skin. You went to lick it, once again failing to notice the blood on your hands. Of course. You had forgotten to wash this off after helping your dad out with a few of his work. Sighing with no other choice, you wiped your hands on the sides of your shirt. Making your way to stand with your age group, you looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of anyone familiar.

Met with Clarabell ’s green eyes you felt more relaxed, soon catching a view of Amaranto’s face. He looked stern, serious, almost like your father. In fact he was the exact clone of your Father when he was younger. Speaking of which you couldn’t find. Your Father must have been further back. A part of you was glad you couldn’t see him. You knew you’d burst out in tears if you did.

“Welcome, Welcome!” A sultry voice came from the stage. Everyone turned their attention to the announcer. It was a tall asian man, wearing a tan outfit consisting of pants longer than his legs, and a dress shirt littered with feathers that made it seem as if his whole upper body was a chicken. Along with the outfit he wore a hen on top of his slicked dark indigo hair. Pradain Alcomore, District 10’s announcer. Nobody could stop staring. Had he dressed like this in honor or in ridicule of the district?

“Boy is it hot.” The announcer then said, wiping the sweat of his brow with a handkerchief. He placed it back in his pants pocket, returning to holding the microphone.

“Welcome All to the annual reaping.” He said scanning the crowd for a reaction. “As you all know, a male and female tribute are to be selected to participate in the 74th hunger games.” He said with a toothy grin as he made jazz hands to the crowd. “Right then, roll the tape!” He commanded.

As he ordered the tape you had all memorized begins to play, its music the only thing making sound aside from the sniffles of children.

“Wonderful, that never gets old.” He giggles to the crowd as he gets their attention back.

“Alright then, let's begin shall we.” He dipped his hands into the fish bowl, swirling it around a couple more times than was necessary.

Being one of the poorer districts meant your name was in there more than you would’ve liked it to be. Amar scolded you when he found out what you did, but he figured since he managed to survive the reaping you would too. You only hoped he was right.

You watched as people held hands in nervousness, awaiting to hear the first name drawn. There was a deadly silence.

Pradain opened the slip, a smile on his face as he announced to the world the female tribute from district 10.

“(Y/n) Cuernos.”

You wanted to scream. You wanted to scream but not a drop of voice came out. The ringing in your ears began as people around you began to back away, allowing a path to be made in front of you. The path that would lead you to death.

Clarabell’s soft sobs were what lured you back into reality. She mouthed the words sorry as you passed by, turning around to see if your brother was crying too. When you did find him he was on his knees, a friend of his trying to console him. You could only imagine what your father was thinking. As you looked around you spotted him, his face as serious as ever. You knew if he made eye contact with you he’d burst out yelling, so you continued to walk the path up to the stage.

“Come Come dear, time is ticking.” Pradair says as you step up. The cameras follow you, focused on your back as you walk. “My what a fashion choice.” He speaks as he notices the blotches of red staining your shirt.

You can’t cry. You can’t. And as you feel your face get warm, look up at the gigantic screen displaying your fear filled eyes. Your hair is braided into two braids, it makes your face look gigantic. The baby blue gingham shirt stained with cows blood looks exhausted, making you look like filth in the eyes of the people watching, or so you assume. The overalls you thought to wear covered the cowboy boots on your feet. You never noticed how long the pant legs were. You hadn’t noticed how much you looked like your mother.

“Onto the boy!” Pradain then says as he shuffles to the other end of the stage to pull out the male tribute’s name.

“Buckley Wheaton!” He calls out and you watch a mother scream for her boy. He’s around your age, though muscular and older looking. No doubt he’d be the winner out of the two of you. He went to school with you, only speaking to you when asking for answers to questions. Other than that the two of you were total strangers. The brunette looked unfazed, but deep inside you knew he was as scared as you.

“Let’s give them a hand!” Pradair says, and the people only place their hands to their hearts.

#fanfic #xreader #cato #cato hadley #marvel #hunger games #74th hunger games #romance #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #district 10 #the hunger games fanfiction #reader insert #x reader

78 notes · View notes

march2nd · 5 months

Text

BEFORE THE STORM

FORGET ME (not) m.list next

prologue - BEFORE THE STORM

please note that I do not follow canon in this one , basically i have read the hunger games series a long time ago, and i can't read it again bc reading finnick's death scene pains me (that's why I am writing this ff, to give him a deserved happy ending). also english is not my first language!

tw: canon typical violence, mentions of psychological distress, allusions to using someone for their body , reader is still a minor in this chapter!

word count: 1313

When a tribute from your district gets chosen, they are basically considered to be dead meat already. Sure, they have been some exceptions from this rule, but your District is nothing like 1, 2 or even 4; you consider the games stupid, preparation for them a waste of time that can be spend on being useful in the society. Honestly you cannot count how many times you have calculated the probability of being chosen and the outcome is the same every time - extremely low but unfortunately never reaching zero as you had to sign up a few times for extra food rations after your father's death.

Up until last year you have considered yourself to be lucky - born into a moderately wealthy family renewed for inventing long distance communication system prone to any hacker attacks from the rats living in the underground as your parents would often say. However, now your father was six feet under after a successful assassination attempt that your family never came to terms with. Maybe he knew too much or did not want to work in the Capital anymore, wanting to spend more time with his beloved wife and four daughters here in District 3, you learned that in this cruel system people never were free no matter how much were they valued. After your father has not came home that day as it was scheduled your mother screams became engraved into your head, as she was the first to realize that he was never coming back. This event was shortly followed by confiscation of property and your wealth came next and suddenly the explanation presented by the peacekeepers stopped making any sense.

"He died in an accident in the lab," they said. "Nothing could have been done to save him, the burns were too severe" or "he was overworking himself and did not notice that something was wrong until it was too late." For you it was just a pack of lies that no matter how many times were repeated could never be believed. After his unexpected death you had to move houses - from your comfortable middle class house you were transferred to the one of the crappiest regions in your District, to live in the overpopulated and cramped blocks that looked like they could collapse at any moment. You couldn't blame your mom for this, as she couldn't afford anything else given that you were evicted from the old home by force. It was now given to the new peacekeepers commander as more and more of them were transferred to your District. For that you could only blame the society that was in dismay and social uneasiness. Before you blamed them for rioting or going on strikes - your indoctrinated brain could not support them as you have been sheltered for the hardship they endured most of your life.

With time, gone were your beautiful baby blue dresses, cute ribbons you used to tie in your hair and perfectly manicured nails. Fortunately, what stayed with you were your eyes full of wonder and hunger for knowledge. After few years you simply realized that this kind of life was not worth of living, that's why you wanted to change your family's fate once again, that's why you began trying your best at school. Little did you realize your plans were to be cut short as your father's life.

Since last year and your father's passing you had to sign up for the extra rations every time you could, but you knew that other children have been doing it all their life. Having discussed it with your family you knew next year would be better - your mother has found a job at a factory and knowing her intelligence she could be counting on getting a promotion any time soon. Back then she only left her job to rise you and your sisters up. Your oldest sister Stella, having turned 21 this year could be considered as the sunshine of your family. You think of her to be the most beautiful woman you have ever seen and so do many peacekeepers as she often disappeared with them for the night. This has never stopped her from laughing and dancing every time she had occasion to. Your second sister, Diana can be described to be Stella's moon, with her habit of keeping everything to herself and you deem her to be mysterious and dark. Truely you can never understand her. She was spending an awful amount of time near the outskirts of the city recently and had a head full of dangerous ideas. She has already turned 18 thus safe from the upcoming reaping.

Then there was you, sharing some of both of your older sister's characteristics. You have been dreaming of being selected to train and work for the Capitol. You want to project useful devices just as your father did. While you don't trust them you like the money you could get out of it. If your family were ever to be happy again, this is the path you must follow. You imagine Stella being finally free and doing whatever she pleases instead of worrying about all of your wellbeing, Diana could find her happiness and live in her own house with three cats or more, dedicating all her time to writing and reading, mom and little Elena could go with you to the Capitol as you imagine yourself as an esteemed engineer. To be honest, you cannot accept another future ahead of you. It has to come true, there was no other way to save you all from drowning in this mess. At least you think so.

It was agreed some time ago that your sister Elena would never take part in the reaping. She was very different and it was painful obvious. She was a genius, her intelligence was indescribable, she has already skipped some classes at school. The problem was she could turn off at any moment and trap herself in her own world. You had to accompany her to school every time as she would more often than not lose her way when she was alone. She was lonely, you could tell that but had a heart of gold. If she were to go to the Games it would be like sending a lamb to a slaughter. You and your family could have not live with the thought that you have willingly signed her up for the reaping and could allow the evil of this world to take her.

You dreamed of working for the Capital, you could call yourself selfish but there was no other option. No chance to change your family's fate for the better, no opportunity to get Elena proper therapy. You believed that you had to accept the reality you were in and take the most out of it for you and your family. That's why when at the day before the reaping, deep in the night Diana asked you whether you would like to organize an escape for your family and you lashed out on her.

"Do you even think about the others?!" you asked, trembling "and then what? Die in the woods out of hunger, dehydration or of a wild animal attack? You want all of us to die one by one?" After that she looked at you with disbelief and said: "and you want to work for our father's killers?'"

You swallowed and was fighting the urge not to slap her.

"Yes that's what I want. I want to guarantee a stable income and therapy for Elena and not to die of a glorified suicidal death." You look at her with hatred in your eyes. "But you Diana, you do what you want."

She leaves and then you cry yourself to sleep.

NOTES:

i'm still figuring what my writing style is, maybe i will edit this chapter in the future or change forms of narration but as for now i want to go further with the story! see you soon <3

#finnick x reader #finnick odair #the hunger games

20 notes · View notes

whumpy-daydreams · 2 months

Text

An Unexpected Reunion

Masterlist

Previous Next

CW: ref to past abuse, ref to torture, swearing

Rowena spent a month in temporary accommodation. It wasn't that she didn't like living with the others, but it was a constant reminder of what had happened. Emma and Shaan were moving out anyway - together, which wasn't a surprise.

The staff had been helpful in setting her up in an apartment in her birth city. Perhaps it was a stupid move, a sentimental move, but it was the only place she truly knew and liked.

The flat was small and the landlord was a dick, but it was in a good location, high up overlooking a small district of cafes and charity shops.

She'd got a job in one of the coffee shops a couple of streets away. The other employees were friendly enough, even if they did look at her weirdly when they thought she couldn't see. But they never asked what happened.

Rowena spent the rest of her time drinking or rebuilding her strength, turning half of her apartment into a makeshift gym. Bur doing push-ups wasn't enough to reassure herself that she would be able to win in a fight.

...

Paz took a deep breath as he paid the entry fee to the fighting pit. It had been two years since Rowena had left. A whole year after she should have returned.

He'd pieced together some of the pieces. Some of it he'd suspected years ago, though he'd never told her his theories. But trying to find a hitman (hitwoman?) was not easy. There were only whispers, the odd post on some dark-web forum, brief news stories about businessmen who ended up dead.

It was a whisper that had brought him here. A tale about a girl who was raking in money at some grimy underworld fighting pit. Paz just hoped he was wrong.

The stadium was packed, sweat and blood filling the air, mingling with screams and loud bets. Paz pushed through the tightly packed bodies, the spectators too engrossed in the fight at hand to give him a second glance.

It was obvious the fight had been going on for a while. Both people in the ring were panting, covered in bruises and dried blood as they circled each other, fists half raised. Paz's heart sank.

Her hair was shorter and there was a gauntness to her face that hadn't been there the last time he'd seen her - but it was her.

...

Rowena was tired. And sore. This was her third opponent of the night, and the fight had gone on for almost ten minutes. Time to finish this up.

She dodged as the man lunged forward with a sloppy jab, bringing her shin up into his stomach. He grunted, stumbling back. From there it was easy: cross, hook, uppercut, and he was down.

Cheers and groans erupted from the crowd as money exchanged hands. The ringmaster stepped forward, holding Rowena's arm up as he paraded her around the grimy ring.

"Anyone else want to try their luck against tonight's champion?" he shouted over the din, when someone in the crowd caught Rowena's eye.

"Shit," she muttered. "I'm done. Get some fresh meat in here, I'll take my money in a minute." The ringmaster didn't bother hiding his scowl but let her go, quickly beckoning two more men into the ring.

...

Rowena was in the corner taking the bloody tape off her knuckles when Paz found her.

"Rowena?"

"Hello Paz." She didn't look at him. He exhaled heavily.

"What- Jesus, Ro. What the hell? Hello? That's it? It's been two years." Paz hadn't expected this. He hadn't expected to feel angry.

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know - 'oh my god, Paz, I've been looking for you', or 'sorry I left you with no information', or 'I missed you'. What happened?"

"Is that it?" Finally Rowena looked at him, eyes hard. "Hi Paz, I missed you, sorry I was forced to leave. Are we done? Good." She turned away again, pulling on a plaid shirt.

"No, that's-" he took a deep breath, his voice softer. "That's not what I meant. What happened to you? Where have you been?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes!"

"Why? Why does it matter so much to you? Why do I-" Rowena's voice hitched in her throat.

"Because you're my friend, Rowena. Because you're funny and strong and brave. I've spent months looking for you. When you didn't come back I was so scared you were dead. And then I find you in an illegal fucking fighting pit and it's like you don't even want to know me..."

Rowena's fingers twitched though she stayed still. "I thought it would be easier." Paz struggled to hear her over the din, but he could still make out the strain in her voice.

"That what would be easier?" he pushed.

"Everything. I only ever put you in danger."

"I can look after myself, Ro." She laughed; a cold, dry chuckle. "Just because you're some assassin that I'm completely helpless? I'm not a child." Rowena tensed as he mentioned being an assassin and spun to face him. Now it was Paz's turn to laugh. "Yeah, I worked it out. Not so fucking stupid after all."

"You know jack shit about me. About what I had to do to protect you." Her words were like venom in her mouth. "And now you have the nerve to tell me I'm cruel?"

"For the record I never said you were being cruel - but even if I had, you've killed people-"

"It's not like I had a choice, Paz."

"Bullshit! Everyone can choose to do the right thing."

"I tried." Paz rolled his eyes and Rowena stepped towards him, hands balled into fists. "No. Don't roll your fucking eyes. Because when I said no Marcus threatened you. Told me how he'd make me watch as he cut bits off of you."

Paz almost stopped breathing, but Rowena wasn't done. She turned around, pulling her shirt down to reveal the scars that ran down her back.

"I got these because I was friends with you. Because I dared to have a single friend." She turned back to face him and he noticed her tears were wet with tears. "So don't tell me I had a choice or that you can take care of yourself or that I'm the cruel one."

She stared at him for a second before grabbing her things and storming off, grabbing the stack of notes the ringmaster had left for her.

Paz just felt numb. She was right. He didn't know anything about her. His best friend of nine years and he had no idea who she was. You know she's funny. That she's strong and brave and that she got hurt to protect you.

The smell of blood and sweat drifted after him out of the fighting pit as Paz ran after Rowena.

tag list - @i-eat-worlds

#mortiawrites #whump #angst #land of liars #this got kinda long and dialogue is my kryptonite but oh well

10 notes · View notes

redhoodinternaldialectical · 9 days

Text

Chapter 21 of Chained: To Wield The Blade We Have Forged

A/N: This chapter is stephcass focused enough that I think people might enjoy this as a standalone thing, so I'll be posting the chapter both on AO3 as usual, and right here in this post! This also connects to the reblog I wrote up the other night gushing about Batgirl (2000) #19 and the potential in a Cass vs Jason confrontation!

For this chapter only, NOT the whole fic: Rated T for Teen Ships are Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain and vaguely hinted at Jason Todd/Tim Drake There's gonna be a LOT of plot points that don't seem to go anywhere, cause they're parts of much bigger arcs, but there's some really sweet talk about deep stuff towards the end and the start is Steph handling a deescalation scenario Hope you enjoy ^w^ !

Dear War Diary,

You know, some days I don't even think Ivy should be in Arkham. Logging, pollution, hair spray tearing a hole in the ozone layer, pesticides - if I could feel plants' pain as they were broken apart, I'd want to feed people to ambulatory venus fly traps too. Heck, back in high school I was sure tempted to let her have at some of my more obnoxious classmates.

Unfortunately, today was not one of those days.

We knew something was weird this time around when the docs at Arkham called warning us that she woke up screaming and her powers went out of control. Usually when this sort of thing happens she goes towards a clear goal. Like, there'll be a construction site or a factory or something damaging the land and drawing her out.

Thing is though, the more we chased her, the clearer it became that she wasn't running towards anything.

She was fleeing, and seemingly had no clear place to bolt to. First she fled to the meat packing district. Then she ran down to the water, and like, we expected her to follow the coast? But she just swam right in! Left huge algal blooms in her wake too; like the lacy train of a queen's dress. She even left Gotham altogether for a hot minute only to turn back again for no reason. She was very obviously out of her mind frightened of something, but we had no idea what it was, and frankly, we still don't.

Tonight had real big 'predator running from the wildfire' energy, is what I'm saying.

It took several days, but eventually she gave up on running and bunkered down in one of the parks. The concrete storage shed she picked as her new home was so overgrown by the time we got to it that it was impossible to see a single square inch of the structure. The hardwood and thorn vines covering it had to have been at least a meter thick.

And that little backstory finally brings us to tonight's patrol.

I tapped my earpiece, "We getting anything on the seismic, O?"

"Nope. If she's digging she's doing it slow enough we're not gonna get any warning. Good news though, I finally got an answer back from Waller. Harley Quinn can be on the line within ten minutes notice."

"Awesome. Speedy, you good to cover me?"

"Yup! Got a whole quiver full of tranquilizers and frog crotch arrows ready for her."

I snort-laughed, "God, what a name!"

"I know right?! But yeah, you're good to go. I'll be aiming from the East, so gimmie a sign if you think you'll need me at a different angle."

"Got it. Alright O, give that ten minute notice and I'll start the approach."

Step one: Get the cops to back up the perimeter by at least ten feet all around. Frankly they were gonna be useless in a fight if it came to that, and the whole goal here was to get this done without bloodshed.

This part was pretty damn easy. I knew one of the cops there by name and she was more than happy to back her fellow officers out of the negotiation zone.

Step two: Establish a desire for peaceful communication.

I spoke through a megaphone into the general direction of the tree-bunker, "Doctor Isley? Would you be willing to come out and talk?"

The woods creaked and groaned, shifting minutely. My heart pounded in my chest, waiting, watching, every leaf bud an acid spitting behemoth in the making.

Nothing came out.

I called out to her again, "Okay. Doctor Isley, you seem really upset, and we don't understand why, but you haven't hurt anyone yet so we're not going to hurt you."

I glanced around surreptitiously at the cops. Lucky for me they all seem to be on their best behavior tonight. No one was grumbling about wanting to hurt her loud enough for me to hear, and I just had to trust that meant the grass couldn't hear them either.

"If you don't want to talk to me, that's okay. We want to get you some help, so we're going to try and get Harley on the phone so you can talk to her."

Against my ear, the phone crackled to life.

Time for step three: Get negotiation partner on board.

"Which bat-brat do I have the displeasure of speakin to today!?"

"It's Batgirl; we need your help getting through to Ivy."

"HAH! Well fat fuckin chance, asshole! I ain't talkin her inta anythin she don't wanna do!"

"And we're not asking you to! She hasn't even hurt anybody, and she's not making any threats, but she is clearly terrified. We think there's something or someone after her, and it's not us."

I gave her a moment to think it over. She's got to know we wouldn't let Ivy die, but there's always the chance we're just lying.

"Fine. Alright, what's the plan here?"

"Thank you! I'm gonna hold the speaker up to the megaphone, and you let her know you want to talk, then I'll slowly approach and once in speaking range I'll take the megaphone off of the phone to give the two of you some privacy."

"An you'll still be listinen the whole damn time of course."

"Yeah, sorry about that, but at least the cops won't be."

Harley sighs, "Turn the lights down in the house and start the music then. Lets get this show rollin an' over with."

Step four: Negotiate and deescalate.

Through the phone megaphone combo she said, "Hey Sweetpea, mind lettin me hear yer pretty voice again?"

The protective wall started growing again, getting thicker. I chance a few slow steps forwards anyway, since nothing offensive starts growing either. Or at least I hoped there wasn't something offensive in there.

"I've missed ya. Not the same kickin ass with these bozos in here, ya'know?"

As I got closer, the smell of ozone got stronger, breathing started to feel weird, and every drop of sweat evaporated off of me, leaving me parched. Her hypergrowth vegetation was stripping the carbon dioxide and water out of the air so fast that the atmosphere around it was going haywire.

Just as I thought she was waiting for me to get close enough for her tree's roots to just use me as a nutrient bag, an opening formed over the doorway to the storage unit, and she shakily poked her head out, calling for Harleen.

She was messed up. She clearly hadn't been able to take care of herself and

I'm not writing the next part down verbatim. Just seems too... invasive. They said a lot of sweet an

I don't feel great about this, but just in case I need it, I am going to record what I remember of how Harley talked her down.

Harley said, "Pumpkin, I'm so sorr

Okay. Third time's the charm?

This was not a criminal wrecking havok for profit. This was not a terrorist making demands. This was someone having a breakdown due to forces outside her control and her girlfriend comforting her as best she could. I shouldn't even have been hearing it, really, so yeah I think I'd feel too skeezy to keep dinner down if I wrote it all out 'just in case'.

Informationally speaking, hopefully the only part of their conversation I'll ever need to know again is that Ivy said "The green is dying" and "She's made the world barren; the flowers will never bloom again" and basically made it really clear that the damage was already done and no one was after her.

If you're reading this Future Me and you desperately need to know exactly what happened, sorry not sorry, get a time machine or something.

Anyways, after it became clear that there was nothing we could do for her other than get her back to mental help, I gave Speedy the signal to take the shot. The tranqs hit her before she realized anything was up, and there were only a few seconds of scuffle, then she was down for the count.

I picked up the phone again to cut the line and Harley said, "So that's it, huh? I talk her into openin' the treeline, you drug her up, and that's curtains?"

"There clearly wasn't anything else we could do for-"

"Fuck off you insufferable, controlling, shitty, furry knock off cops! I shoulda told her ta mulch ya!"

There were the muffled sounds of the phone being taken out of her hand, and then a voice I didn't recognize, "Well, I hope that clown to plant heart to heart was worth the favor."

"Zero injuries, zero deaths, zero horrifying poison scares: I'd say it was."

She, whoever she was (I assume it was Waller) chuckled, "Well you aren't the one picking up the tab. Tell Oracle it was a pleasure doing business again."

The line went dead.

"You get that O?"

"Loud and clear. And hey, don't let what Quinn said get to you. You did great."

"Thanks," I kinda didn't feel it, but the sentiment was nice.

The rest of patrol was a long and boring ride on the top of a police van, making sure that no one ambushed her on her way back to Arkham, and then a short conversation about what they're going to do to keep her there this time.

They've had a couple different ways to cut her off from whatever The Green is for a while now. Every method has nasty side effects, and half her breakout attempts were in direct opposition to using them. At this point their policy is to just help her manage being connected. Considering what I saw that connection putting her through tonight? The docs rubber stamped cutting her off from The Green again, at least temporarily, and I'm pretty okay that.

So yeah. We won. Yippee. And all it took was arm twisting a woman held prisoner by a shadowy government agency in order to trick the love of her life into making herself vulnerable to us...

God this job sucks sometimes.

And the suck was not over yet, not by a long shot! And the suck was not only reserved for me either. Uh, okay obviously since Harley and Ivy, but also!

Oracle called to tell me this: "I need to give you a heads up before you return to base, and Speedy needs some time to handle a private phone call so I'm telling you this now. Black Bat got into a fight that upset her pretty bad. She's been on the training sims and dummies for over three hours, and I'm kinda worried she's not gonna sleep unless someone helps her untangle her head."

"I thought everything went smooth on her end, what the heck happened?"

"Easier if I just show you," Oracle said and fed a video taken by one of the Bat-House's internal cameras into my HUD.

It showed Ca (gah trying not to write anyone's names is a mess) Black Bat in civilian clothes, standing in a doorway. She's staring at the Red Hood from across the room with an expression of frustrated determination.

He ignores her for a while, continuing to read, curled up on the couch in a posture so terrible I have to wonder if he's trying to give himself back problems.

She just... kept staring. And staring.

Finally he asked, sounding very snarky and annoyed, "Can I help you?"

"Why did you pull the trigger again? You were better. You did better for so long. Why?"

"I don't owe you that shit," He narrowed his eyes at her, "And you don't get to decide I was better just cause you liked it more when I was docile."

She marches over to him, "I know how it hurts. I see it hurt you! I want to help. I want to know why."

"No," He said, standing up to loom over her, as though she couldn't kick his ass five ways from Sunday with a hand tied behind her back, "You want me to get on my knees and sob and beg for forgiveness. As though any of you shitheads ever even deserved my forgiveness!"

"No! I want to see you get better! I wanted another little brother!"

"Well congratu-fucking-lations, you got one! Don't worry, Dickie hates it just as much. I'm sure he can give you some pointers on how to go fuck yourself about it."

My jaw started hurting from how tight I had my teeth clenched as I watched her face twist in open rage-hurt-sorrow, "Why won't you stop burning our house down!? You're in it!"

"I. Don't. Owe. You. That."

She glared up at him defiantly, "You owe someone."

"No. I don't."

"Sheezus!" Black Canary said as she entered the room, "I leave you alone for five minutes and you're already picking a fight with her? Seriously?"

Black Bat's anger simmered below the boiling point again, "Not a fight."

"That sure looked like-"

"Not a fight." She declared bitterly, storming out of the room.

BC raised an eyebrow at Hood.

He smiled all teeth and irritation, "Not a fight!"

She rolled her eyes and took her post back up as the video ended.

I sighed, "Well. That'd do it. Thanks for the warning, I'll see if I can talk to her, take her mind off it."

"Appreciated. I tried but... I dunno. You'll probably have more luck."

"We'll see I guess! So, am I good to check in with Speedy, or is she still on her phone call?"

"You're good."

When I grappled up to the roof she was on, Speedy looked pretty damn unhappy. So, like, clearly tonight was sucking complete ass for everyone. Mercury in retrograde or some shit, idk.

"You got news I take it?" I asked.

"Mhm, great news! By which I mean totally shit news. Apparently the lab I get my bloodwork done at broke, as in everything is giving false negatives. So yeah, all my bloodwork for the past who knows how long might have been wrong!"

"Oh shit. You want us to test you in the Batcave? Guarantee the lab down there could handle whatever you need!"

"I appreciate the offer, but I'll need to fast for twelve hours beforehand no matter what, so it wouldn't really be any quicker. Also my civilian GP would be pretty leery of a Bat-Diagnostic, especially since they already got me an appointment with the closest available people."

O cut in over comms, "That is suspiciously fast..."

Speedy shrugged, "I've got a feeling Green Arrow might have pushed me up the list somehow. He might not be (secret identity stuff I can't write down here :P ) anymore, but he's still got some pull."

"Hmm, well, both of you get back to base and we can figure out the logistics once you're here."

"Roger."

"Aye Aye Captain."

Once she cut off I offered, "Grapple line tag on the way there to take your mind off it?"

"You know what? I could use something to stretch my legs out after all that sniper crouching. Fuck it, let's do this."

Swingy swingy swingy over the buildings, across the bridge, to grandmother's imposing, minefield-surrounded cave we went!

We got into the cave, changed out of our gear, and sure enough, Black Bat was still in the training section, running herself ragged. Speedy went up to get some sleep since she couldn't eat dinner now anyways (do NOT envy that). So I went straight into an attempt to pry Black Bat off the training mats.

"Heads up!" I called out and tossed a bottle of water at her head.

She caught it without even looking, swapping to kicks and using her other hand to demolish her sandbag opponents, "Been drinking enough just fine."

"Sure. What'll it take to convince you to take a break and drink it with me anyways?"

She paused, leg still raised to kick, perfectly poised like gravity wasn't even a factor. It always makes my legs hurt looking her like that. Makes the rest of me swoon too.

"Would um..." She frowned, like she expected me to think less of her for making the request, "You bring dinner down here? For us both?"

I gave her a smile, "Yeah, of course. Mind saying how come?"

"Because Hood's up there and I want to fight him more. If I fight him, have to look at him. Have to watch him feeling and thinking and..." She finally put her leg down, and fidgeted with the cap of her water, "And I just don't want to."

"Didn't realize you hated him that bad."

"Not sure I do? Messy."

"Yeah, messy for me too."

Translation: I still don't know how to feel about him taking grisly revenge against Black Mask 'in my honor'. Still also super don't know how to feel about his welcome home gifts of a gun and an offer to come murder criminals with him.

Then I add, "But I'll have you know I'm a first class mess messer with-er! So if you want to talk about it, I'd be happy to."

She very briefly smiled, then her face feel again and somber moment passed before she said quietly, "Yeah, okay. Bring food down and... we can talk."

"On it."

"Um, wait!"

"Huh?"

She caught my arm and reeled me in for a kiss on the cheek, "There."

I laughed and gave her a proper kiss, "There! Love you."

Diary, have I ever told you about how she looks when she blushes? Because I seriously think I'll need to pull out the old poetry textbooks in order to do it justice.

Upstairs took me passed the dining room, where Red Hood and Red Robin were talking.

"The fuck is that?" Hood asked, leaning over his shoulder.

"Blueprints. I'm having a section of my house renovated while I'm stuck here."

"Wwwwhy?"

"I am swiftly being driven mad by boredom and saw a really neat indoor garden set-up on pinterest."

"An indoor garden? In Gotham? Do you fuckin want to get strangled to death in your sleep by vines?"

RR does the little 'tch' thing he picked up from Robin, "Whatever, it'll be fine, these are tiny little arboreals and I'll have reinforced airlocks leading in and out."

"That does fucking nothing for attacks in your sleep."

"Which is why I'll have the whole lockdown system automated. I was already going to do automation for the plant care stuff anyways, cause lets be honest here, there was no way I was ever going to keep them alive on my own."

"...The speed and ease with which you oscillate between self depreciating paranoia and megalomaniacal hubris is fascinating."

And even as pissed off as I am with both of them, that still almost made me friggin lose it laughing, RR seemed so offended too, it was great!

And speaking of pissed off? Yeah, seeing RR acting so chummy with Hood was kinda making my blood boil! Like, maybe he didn't even know they fought. But he's supposed to be her friend too, and it's still sticking in my craw, and I'm busy with the whole damn city needing patroled, and so bottom line: I didn't talk to him tonight, and I'm probably not gonna talk to him tomorrow night either!!

Agent A had several plates set to the side already when I got into the kitchen. I think he assumed at least a few of us were gonna go off in our separate corners after the argument. Made it nice and easy to snag two and bring it down.

She had clearly been pacing, waiting for me, back down in the cave.

We sat together and she held my hand while we ate - pretty awkward, but super worth it. We stayed quiet, me cause I wanted to give her the space to start talking, and her probably because she wasn't sure where to start.

Once all the peas and mash were gone and she was pushing her drumstick around the plate she asked, "Ready?"

"Go for it. All ears."

"It's a guilt thing I think? Least a little?"

"Kinda always figured you were uh, how to put it, I guess invested in him, cause of that sort of parallel between you two?"

She nodded, "Not all of it's that, though. Different guilt," She gives me a rueful smile, "I'm layered in it, huh?"

"Like a lasagna of angst," I told her solemnly.

She huffed a quiet laugh, fidgeting with my hand, "Am I um. A tasty lasagna?"

"Oh yeah, you're delicious," I said with a cheesy wink.

"Terrible," She laughed a bit more, running her thumb over the back of my hand, and the nervous sad crept right back in, "You know about um... One day, I rescued a man? Murderer. From the gas chamber?"

"Yeah. Not well, you've never said much, but I've read a bit about it. Was kind of a big news thing."

"On the way out I met the mother of his victim. She demanded justice. She demanded his death. I didn't know how to- to reconcile her grief. Still don't. But back then... I put him back in the gas chamber. I look at Hood. Wonder if he's the murderer or the mother or the executioner. Wonder what the mother was. Wonder what I was. Wonder if the distinction matters at all."

"Hood's trying to cut all the bad people out, trying to bleed the world better. You're trying to keep it all alive, trying to keep everyone growing. Maybe the other distinctions don't matter, but I think this one has to."

She squeezed my hand tight and kissed every one of my knuckles delicately, "I hope so. Trying to believe so."

"I kinda think you already do. You may be an angst lasagna, but you don't do what you do just out of guilt, yeah?"

"Guess so... I wanted so bad to find out that they'd been replaced by aliens or something. Find out that wasn't him. Not now and um. Not on TV all those months ago. At the very least I was hoping to find regret."

"I really wish I had something better to say than, you know, his determination to be an asshole isn't something we can fix. Just gotta keep growing our garden and hope he decides to join us for real sometime."

"Yeah..." Another round of knuckle kisses, "Yeah, you're right," She wrinkles her nose, "Sucks you're right."

"Yup."

She pressed her forehead against our intertwined hands for a while.

Then she asked, "Tell me about one of your shows?"

"Sure."

So I chattered about some light stuff she nodded along to until we were both ready for bed. It was honestly really nice, and I think I needed it too, a lot more than I realized.

So yeah, here's hoping tomorrow is less of a complete shit show from start to finish.

- Batgirl IV

#jaytim #stephcass #cassandra cain #stephanie brown #damian's tomfoolery #chained fanfic #chained: to wield the blade we have forged #jason todd #tim drake

8 notes · View notes

joelkinnamanfansilvia · 8 months

Text

Joel and Kelly Gale at the Smart Tox kickoff event by Vogue in Meat Packing District, New York City on September 7, 2023.

#joel kinnaman #joelkinnamanedit #kelly gale #new york #vogue #stylish

25 notes · View notes

mega-aulover · 1 year

Text

the newest mellark's

This is for my friend @lemonluvgirl87 who has a Birthday today and for @shewakessupwiththesun and @notanislander. This is a story about Katniss and Peeta adopting kids. It came to be because of this conversation and other conversations I've had over the years with Notanislander. All three of you are too wonderful for words. So I hope you enjoy it. It's rated T for some language. But it's mainly fluff. PS it's not beta'd so all mistakes are sadly mine.

The town hall was packed with the District residents. Everyone was called to make a choice about the alarming amount of orphans in Panem. They were being held in District 13 and no one wanted them to stay there. They would be made soldiers. All of the districts were being asked to take the orphans in, and the government of Panem would be responsible for providing housing and adequate food.

District 12 was still rebuilding as were many of the districts. After the war there were so many issues with infrastructure, basic things like transportation, roads, running water and electricity had to be established in the entire nation.

"Why did this happen?" Leevy asked.

Delly sighed and carefully said, "After the war, all of the districts were in a bad state. The only place to put the kids was District 13."

"But after, how did this happen?" Greasy asked.

"Unfortunately it was a loophole. Anytime a child was orphaned and had no kin who wanted them they were sent to District 13. It's been happening for years," Delly said truthfully.

"So all of these children have no one to care for them," Thom said from his seat at the table.

There was a murmur in the crowd.

Katniss walked into the room and nodded at Thom. Her youngest was wrapped around her chest. Her son, Milo, loved to be cradled against her chest. Peeta walked beside her grasping Melody's hand.

Everyone's eyes turned to them.

Even though Peeta ran the bakery in town, they kept to themselves and were rarely spotted together in town, not since they renovated the house in the woods. They sold both of their homes in the Victors Village, and combined with a portion of their winnings, they purchased acres of the woods directly from the government. They moved out of the Victors Village and were enjoying the serenity of living deep in the woods.

Haymich came in behind them.

Immediately three men jumped out of their seats and offered it to them. Katniss felt her cheeks heat up as she loathed the attention.

Thom cleared his throat. "Okay everyone, let's get back to the problem at hand. The kids are coming and we know that no matter what the government promises we'll have to take care of them."

"How many kids are coming?" Hazzelle Hawthorne asked. She'd come back to District Twelve after living in District Four for a few years.

"We're not sure, the government is going to divide them up equally, we can expect anywhere from 60 up to 250 children."

The number of children displaced was shocking. Everyone was talking all at once. Thom tried to take control of the meeting.

Katniss glanced at Peeta who had their little girl cradled in his arms.

Katniss raised her hand. She kept it up until everyone noticed and settled down. They were curious as to what she would say. "I can bring game meat to the orphanage and Peeta is willing to donate the bread that he doesn't sell to the kids."

"That's wonderful," Delly said, grinning at them.

"I've got extra clothes," another said.

"We can knit them blankets," a group of elderly women said.

"Why should we help?" One of the men asked. Katniss turned her head and looked directly at him, he sat down immediately.

Haymitch stood up. "These kids are going to be scared. From what Thom said, most of them have been uprooted from the only homes they've ever known and bussed like cattle to D13. Now everyone here recalls what it was like to live there, how strict they were. Who knows what they've faced? We pride ourselves on being a family, Let's be a family to these kids."

"We've got a few months to plan, but if we all put in our share these kids will be taken care of," Thom said. "Just like we did when we came back."

From there the meeting broke up.

Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch didn't stay too long. They had to put the kids to bed. Melody was fast asleep. After Peeta did his nightly roundup, he walked into the room and silently got undressed. Peeta turned to her while they were tucked in bed. "You did good tonight."

"I just kept on thinking about Cecilia and her children. What happened to them?"

Peeta gently placed a tender kiss on her forehead. "You're a nurturer, it's in you to take care of people."

Katniss sighed.

"It's true, even when you were sick with morning sickness with Milo you were worried about me having a small cold."

Katniss shrugged. Peeta was downplaying the situation. He had the flu and couldn't get out of bed. They had to be separated because she didn't have a spleen and she had to sleep in another room. Thankfully, Effie was here at the time, and she took control of the situation. "Good night," Katniss whispered to him, lifting her face to place a chase kiss on his lips, and she smiled when she tasted his favorite wintermint mouthwash.

In the next few months the building was erected. The government sent a hundred and twenty cots, chairs, tables, and crates of supplies. Each child was provided a kit, a mattress, a pillow, and an itchy blanket.

The rooms were painted in warm, welcoming, soothing colors, not the austere white the walls were left in by the Capitol builders. The Residents took it upon themselves and built them a playground and library so that they could have a place to study or read. Gale sent hundreds of books for the library.

The grannies were knitting soft blankets for the kids. Katniss often joined them, quietly knitting away, thankful she learned the skill from her mother. When the children arrived the entire district came out to meet them. Katniss had been with the group of people who helped cook them a hearty stew and fresh bread.

Delly proudly smiled as the kids shyly walked to their new homes. Peeta painted and drew many of them, placing their pictures over their beds. Milo sat by him clutching a crayon. His chubby little legs and arms were an explosion of color as Peeta had painted him. Katniss was glad Milo hadn't tried walking like Melody at nine months. Milo crawled fast when he was motivated.

There was a boy who called her attention. As she went around serving them stew from the pot on the trolly. He held the hand of a small little girl he wouldn't let go of as they sat at the table. He carried two trash bags with him. He was skinny and lanky and he had that hard look she'd seen on Gale's face growing up. The little girl was small with a riot of curly hair, and she was tiny and delicate. The little girl reminded Katniss of Rue and her sister when they stood on tiptoe.

Katniss weaved her way through the tables, serving bread or soup. Some of the older kids scowled. Katniss scowled right back, and their eyes opened up when they realized who was staring back at them.

Hazelle was handing out cookies. There was a line of kids surrounding her. Katniss chuckled because they wanted more than one.

His eyes opened wide when he saw her, "You're Katniss."

"Yup," she said.

"You can't be giving us food," he spat.

"Why not?" Katniss was curious.

"Because you're famous, and famous people don't do stuff like this…"

Katniss chuckled, at his response. He definitely sounded like Gale when he was fourteen. "Well, there's a lot of things I do that may amaze you. So what are your names and how old are you?"

"I'm Koa. I'm seven and this is my sister Koda and she's four."

"I have a little girl who's five, her name is Melody," Katniss said, as she filled up the bowls of the other kids at the table.

Koda pulled Koa's sleeve and he leaned over. She whispered something in his ear. Koa nodded then turned to Katniss who sat down by them. She poured a bow for herself.

"She wants to know where Peeta is?"

"Over there," Katniss pointed with her ladle, "Drawing pictures."

Koda's dark brown eyes became rounded when she spotted his ash blond hair, amongst the other kids. Katniss grinned at the little girl's natural exuberance at spotting Peeta.

"Yeah I felt the same way when I first met him," Katniss said.

"So it's true, all of it?" The boy asked.

"Most of it," Katniss winked.

"Mom!" Melody excitedly came running. "Aunt Effie is on her way, she said she's bringing glamor for the kids."

The little boy blinked when he saw Melody.

"Melody, I'd like you to meet two new friends," Katniss said, "Koa and his sister Koda."

Melody was like her father, she was a happy free spirit and friendly. "Hi, can I sit with you?"

"Ah," Koa said. "Sure."

"Thank you," Melody said. "So what district were you originally from?"

"District 7," Koda said.

"My Aunt Jojo used to live there. She lives in District 4 now with my Auntie Annie and her son Finn."

Katniss gave Melody her plate and stood knowing Koa and Koda were in good hands.

A few weeks later she walked to the Orphanage. For the first time, she heard laughter coming from the kids as they played outside. Katniss loved watching the kids open up. It was happening slowly. There wasn't one person in the nearly one thousand adults who lived in the district who hadn't taken to the kids.

However, there were kids who had been taken quickly to the district. There were others who were having a harder time. There was a small girl named Gadget from District 3. She was only six, but she was withdrawn. She never interacted with the other kids and always had her black trash bag with her. The bag contained all of her possessions.

Katniss spotted her sitting by herself on one of the seesaws. She wished there was something she could do to draw out the little girl. She was the toughest one, Koa and Koda however had opened up to her. Katniss learned both his parents were war veterans. Koa's father had a heart attack when his mom was pregnant with Koda. His mother died in childbirth. He was transported to District 13 but he made sure to keep an eye out for his baby sister.

Katniss couldn't even imagine a three-year-old having the wherewithal to protect his baby sister. She genuinely felt for the kid. A fall leaf fell to the earth, and Katniss was reminded why she was there. She doubled her pace to the orphanage.

Every Sunday while Peeta was with the kids, she went out and hunted for the orphanage.

The fall weather was beautiful and she had a good haul. She had fish, turkeys, ducks, squirrels, and other game meat. Today Delly was holding a reading program in the library, and many of the kids were woefully behind in their education. Many had never read a book or had a book read to them.

There were rumors there were a few couples who wanted to take a child or two home. Greasy got along with one of the older boys named helped her cook in the kitchen and often walked her home. Katniss had overheard him say Greasy reminded him of his grandmother. They got on well and she wanted to give him a home even though he was sixteen and going to be phasing out in two years.

Katniss watched Koa and Koda approach.

"You're a really good hunter," Koa said.

"Thanks," Katniss grinned.

"Do you think you could teach me how to hunt?"

"Well before you can hunt you have to know how to clean the catch," Katniss said.

"Like removing the feathers and stuff?"

"Yeah," Katniss said.

"Can I help you?" Koa asked, his eyes were bright and open. And Katniss couldn't help but like the kid even more.

"Sure," Katniss said. Before long even Koda was helping out. Katniss took a feather and tickled her and the peal of laughter caused her heart to clench. Her pureness once more caused her to think of Prim and Rue.

As she left she saw Gadget watching them from the door. Katniss kneeled in front of the little girl with the two long braids. "So I noticed you like green. That's my favorite color. Last week the sewing ladies were making hats for you guys, and I thought that I would make you a special cap just like the one I'm wearing. Katniss pulled out a green cap and held it out to Gadget.

Her light blue eyes lit up at the hat. Her hand quickly reached up and snatched the hat and ran away.

"She's super shy," Koda whispered. She'd snuck up on Katniss Koda, had a soft tread, and tended to sneak up on people.

"Would you and your brother keep an eye out for her?" Katniss asked.

Koda nodded. Then she leaned in and gave a kiss on the cheek and Katniss felt her heart squeeze once more. These kids were special.

"Thank you," Katniss whispered. She stood, needing to get home. "I'll see you in a few days."

A few weeks later Katniss was at home with the kids. It was one of those rare weekends where Peeta had Saturday and Sunday off.

"Mommy, tell daddy about how high Koa climbed," Melody said.

"Why don't you tell him, sweetie," Katniss said.

"Koa can climb a tree like mommy and he's super quick," Melody said.

Peeta raised an eyebrow.

"You guys have been spending a lot of time with Koy and Kheeva?"

"No daddy," Melody laughed. "It's Koa and Koda. They go to school with me and we eat lunch together. He's fun and last week he got my ball that fell in a tree."

"Oh really," Peeta said. "So does mommy like Koa?"

"Mommy," Melody turned to Katniss, her trademark Mellark blue eyes filled with childlike curiosity. "Do you like Koa and Koda?"

"Yes I do," Katniss answered easily, it dawned on Katniss just how much she cared for the siblings.

Katniss watched Peeta. He looked like he wanted to say something more but he refrained. Peeta just listened to Melody talk about Koa and Koda. Katniss didn't say anything to her husband.

That night as she sat in their bed she waited for him to come back into their room. Every night he walked around the cabin making sure the house sure doors were locked, unplugging things, turning off lights, and checking that the stoves and the oven were off. Peeta said it was something his dad did with them when they were old enough. The number one threat to a bakery was fire, and with the amount of equipment, they used Peeta's father always stressed safety first.

Peeta became more vigilant after they had Melody. He also checked on the kids making sure they were in their beds. Peeta sometimes found Melody in Milo's room. Melody often read books to Milo, and Peeta caught her doing a puppet show for Milo in the middle of the night.

Before the kids were born, Katniss found his making the rounds sweet but she found it unnecessary. When they decided to remodel her father's cabin in the woods, they decided to use all of the technology available to make their home safe. When they drew up the plans for the renovation, they decided to purchase reinforced doors and windows. The materials were fireproof, and the windows could withstand getting hit with debris from gale-force winds. The cabin was nearly impenetrable like the NUT in District Two.

Katniss never contradicted Peeta when he made his rounds. Peeta needed to make sure they were safe. Peeta was a family man. He cherished all of their time together before having kids. He never put the bakery before her needs. And when they decided to have a baby Peeta became such a dad. Showing pictures of images of his little girl from the time she was in the womb. He was such a good father. Snow failed spectacularly in highjacking Peeta.

Snow wanted to not only destroy Katniss but, in the process, destroy the kind-hearted boy, who was smart enough to outfox the careers. Yes, Peeta tried to strangle her, but that wasn't Peeta. His reaction was due to the chemicals, fear conditioning, and torture they put Peeta through in the highjacking.

Through therapy and careful medication, Peeta was able to find himself. Naturally, he was different from the sixteen-year-old boy who was reaped in the 74th Hunger Games. She too was different from the hardheaded scared sixteen-year-old girl who volunteered for the games. That girl was naive and thought that the world she knew would never change.

Little did she understand how love could inspire such profound change.

Katniss turned the page of her book, then rolled her eyes and put the book down. Tonight, she was in a reflective mood. Katniss recalled all of the moments she Peeta had as they grew back together. The small little gifts that Peeta left on her doorstep before they moved in together. The primroses he planted in honor of her sister. The moonlit dancing, they did when they couldn't sleep.

The way he loved to watch her sleep. The cup of hot cocoa Peeta had ready when she came in from the woods on a cold or rainy day. All of the things that caused her to love him just a little more every day. Katniss heard the creak in the hall floor. Peeta was nearly done with his round.

She chuckled when she heard the uneven gate of his walk as he opened one of the kid's doors. Katniss yawned as she waited for Peeta. The door to their room opened, and the joy of seeing Peeta caused Katniss to smile.

"I just don't get how Milo can get naked in his sleep," Peeta said, scratching his head as he sat on the bed. "I check on him before making my rounds and he's half out of his onesie. I dress him up when I get back he's out of it.

"He's like his father," Katniss said, giving Peeta a sly smile. "He doesn't mind being naked."

"Hardy, har, har," Peeta said, catching her joke when they were in the arena. "One-time Everdeen. I say it one time, while delirious and I'm the automatic nudist."

Katniss grinned but she could see her flushed cheeks in the vanity mirror as she prepared to speak, "Well I for one do not mind."

Peeta grabbed the throw blanket and covered himself, looking outraged but his blue eyes were filled with mischief. "I married a sex maniac. What would Effie say?"

"She'd say," Katniss changed her tone to sound like Effie's Capitol accent, "May the odds be ever in your favor." She then leaned over and placed a suggestive kiss on his lips. She leaned back and watched his eyes darken with lust.

"I think my odds are very high tonight," Peeta leaned in to kiss her but Katniss withdrew and bit her lips.

"Katniss?"

"Earlier when Melody was talking about the kids in the orphanage, you looked like you wanted to say something?"

Peeta raised an eyebrow, "Darn that huntress eye of yours."

"It's actually my mommy's eye," Katniss said. "Before I became a mom, I never noticed things like that."

Peeta chuckled. "True."

"So, what was it?"

"Well you've been spending a lot of time at the orphanage, and the kids as well. I know they're in the same school."

Katniss waited as she watched Peeta remove his slippers and removed his shirt. She sighed at the sight of his broad chest.

"But do you think it's okay that the kids so get close?"

Katniss blinked; she hadn't been listening to Peeta. She'd been busily watching him. "I'm sorry what?"

"Is it wise to get attached?"

Katniss sat up straight. "Peeta these kids are so lost they feel as if they're not wanted. It's up to us to show them that they're wanted for the sake of being wanted. Can you imagine being shipped off from their homes to District Thirteen and then stripped of everything familiar? Cause that's what they do in that horrid district. Imprinting a schedule on your skin with everything assigned…"

"Katniss, I remember," Peeta said with laughter in his voice.

"Well then why are you questioning this," Katniss said, narrowing her eyes.

"Because for the past few weeks, you've been talking about the things Koda, Koa, and Gadget…you know I worry about Mel and Milo."

"They're great kids Peeta. Koda and Koa get along with Melody and Milo. Koa watches out for Melody in school during play time." Katniss watched Peeta slip out of his shorts and she nearly lost her train of thought. "And Gadget is smart, she's a bit shy. But she's coming along. Just yesterday I saw her playing with Koda. She's wearing the green cap I made for her." Katniss watched him slip underneath the covers. "I was hoping you'd spend time with them. Get to know them a little, if you're worried about them."

"Okay fine, I'll see what I can do," Peeta said.

Katniss got closer to him, a small smile playing on her lips. "So you're really not naked Mellark."

Peeta started laughing, ending all communication except for one.

Weeks later it was snowing and Katniss was handing the mitten, gloves, and scarves she and the ladies had knitted for the children. She had knit an orange and green set for her three favorite kids. Peeta had come with her.

Peeta had begun to come on his own and often had the kids in the bakery with him.

She watched him interact with Koda and Gadget. They were quietly painting along with Melody. Katniss had Milo strapped to her chest. Currently, her little guy was sleepy and was drooling on her shoulder.

She found Koa on his bed, "Hey."

"Oh hi Katniss," Koa said.

"You don't want to paint with Peeta?"

"Nah, I want to finish this book, can you imagine flying in the sky without the need for a hovercraft?"

Koa told her that his mom used to read a book about a boy who flew. Katniss called Johanna and she confirmed that they used to read the adventures of Paul Bunyan. It took speaking to Effie that she was able to track down the book. Koa's eyes watered at the sight of the book. She often found him reading it, over and over.

"I don't know but I can tell you flying in a hovercraft doesn't feel like flying at all. There aren't any windows."

"Woah," Koa said.

"Can you read me the story?" Katniss said, sitting in the chair.

Koa nodded and began reading it from the beginning. By the time he was done Peeta and the girls had joined him. Peeta's face had a soft smile as he held all three girls on his lap. Gadget was fast asleep.

Katniss smiled but said nothing. It was nearly Christmas time and Katniss noticed Peeta began coming to the orphanage. One day they were putting the kids to bed when he said. "Did you know Gadget stared down a boy twice her age yesterday when he tried to take Koda's toy?"

"No," Katniss said. She was thinking about what Melody asked her. Melody wanted to know if they could bring Koa, Koda, and Gadget home to be her brother and sister. She made a very good argument that they could all fit. Katniss had no idea Melody felt like this.

"Yeah, she's tough with a heart of gold," Peeta said as they walked downstairs to clean up.

Katniss smiled.

"Do you know Melody asked me if we could bring the kids home," Peeta said interrupting her thoughts.

"She did?"

"Yeah, and it started me thinking," Peeta said.

"Thinking…thinking about what?" Katniss asked. The hair on her arms was prickly. Peeta was building up for some news.

"I wanted to know if it was alright if the kids could come here on Christmas. Spend the holiday with us."

Katniss stopped picking up Koda's doll and stood up. Peeta stood just a few feet from her, his eyes were wide.

"Okay, you were right. Koda is sweet, she reminds me of Prim and Rue. Gadget is well, I've already told you and Koa is a great kid. He looks up to you and he's kind of like Gale."

"Yeah," Katniss said. "So you want them to…"

"Katniss, I think we should talk about more…"

"More?"

"Yeah, I've already brought them to the bakery. Koda and Gadget's eyes were bigger than the moon when they saw the equipment. Mel and the girls started a food fight and for the life of me, I couldn't get angry. It reminded me of when my brother's and I started a fight in the bakery. I could see them there. All of them coming home from school studying, and gossiping. And it's just not with the girls. The other day while speaking with Koa about hunting, he said he'd like to go into the woods with you. And I could see myself shouting at you both about trekking mud in the mudroom."

Katniss laughed and it sounded weird to her. Her vision blurred and she touched her cheeks and they were wet. "Oh, Peeta."

"I can see them as part of us, you know. Part of our family…" Peeta said and pointed around. "We've got room Katniss. I mean the cabin is huge. Haymitch has his room that he shares with Effie when they visit. But we can make that den into a room for Koa and Koda. That spare room can be for Gadget…"

Katniss ran and leaped into Peeta's arms. "Peeta, I've been in love with those kids since they said hello. But I think you're right…"

"We need to see if they would like to be with us, to see if we can do this…can we do this?"

"I don't know but it feels right," Katniss said.

"Okay so let's broach the subject with Delly," Peeta said. "She's the one in charge and she'd know what to do…"

The next day Katniss and Peeta left Melody and Milo with Haymitch. He didn't seem surprised that they would feel that way. Many people in the district had made connections with the kids and a lot were like Katniss and Peeta wanting to possibly adopt. They hadn't made the jump.

"So how can I help you?" Delly said.

"Dell's," Peeta started but looked at Katniss. Katniss gently nodded. "We'd like to know how to adopt."

"Oh," Delly said. "OH! Who?"

"Not who but which ones-" Katniss said.

"Wait, you want to adopt more than one?" Delly sounded flabbergasted.

"Is that alright?" Peeta asked.

"Ah," Delly stuttered then said. "Yes of course. Who are you thinking of?"

"Koa, Koda, and Gadget," Peeta said.

"Well," Delly said, sitting up straight. "There are some documents to fill out, a visit to your home to make sure you have adequate space, but I don't see a problem, as long as the kids want to…"

"We're thinking of turning the den into a room for Koa and Koda until they get bigger. And the extra bedroom can be for Gadget. We can turn the loft space into a bedroom for Koa when he gets bigger."

"Have you spoken to Melody?" Delly asked.

"Who do you think gave us the idea," Peeta said.

"She would like you Peeta," Delly said.

"Though we didn't want to say anything to her until we talked to you."

"Good okay then let's talk to the kids," Delly smiled. Delly stood and left the room and shortly after all three kids walked in. Their eyes filled with trepidation.

"Koa, Koda, Gadget Katniss, and Peeta asked me to talk to you," Delly said.

"Please don't make us leave," Gadget said.

Peeta got up from his chair and hunched down to her. "No, we're not asking you to leave. We want to know if you want to come home with us."

"With you?" Koa asked.

"Yeah," Katniss nodded, getting choked up. "To live with us."

"You want us?" Koa asked. "But we're nothing."

"No, you're not. Neither is your sister or you Gadget," Peeta said passionately. "We wanted to ask you, before starting the paperwork. If you don't want to, we will understand."

Koa nodded then he said. "We're like the lost boys and you're like Wendy and you're like Peter Pan. You'd be willing to take us lost boys in."

"Yeah," Katniss said, nodding.

"Can we talk about this by ourselves," Koa said.

"I think that's wise," Delly said.

Katniss watched them huddled together. They whispered. Peeta grasped her hand and squeezed reassuringly. They turned around and the smiles on their faces caused her trepidation to settle.

"We would love to…"

ONE YEAR LATER

Katniss waited for Peeta to finish making the rounds.

This past year was filled with growing pains and yet they were blessed. They'd included the children in their therapy sessions. Having that extra help caused them to blend further as a family. It wasn't perfect but it felt right.

Koa took to the woods like a fish to water. He loved going hunting with her. They were making a bow for him, just like her paw had done. Peeta had little aprons made for the girls. They hung in the bakery and were often used. Melody and Koa loved helping out the customers. Gadget preferred standing by Peeta, her hands deep inside the dough.

Peeta was right Gadget was a natural in the bakery.

Milo loved his brothers and sisters. Christmas was tomorrow and Katniss was wrapping up presents to put under the tree. Effie was in town and she and Haymitch were in their room.

Their lives were busier but fuller and it was chaos but Katniss wouldn't change a day out of it. Half of the kids that were brought to the district were adopted. Another group was in the process. A few had grown out of the system. But they were welcomed into the community. Other districts seeing the example also began adopting kids.

Peeta came into the room. "They're all piled up inside of the fort you made them. Koa hadn't fallen asleep yet, he was waiting for me. He had a dozen questions about Christmas."

When this began they couldn't bring them home for Christmas, though they did come home after the new year. All of the children were hyper and aware that tomorrow was Christmas. Katniss was hyper-aware of what tomorrow brought.

"He's going to love his new boots," Katniss said, putting the last of the two presents aside. "Do you know how hard it is to hide presents amongst five children?"

Peeta laughed. "I know, you don't have to tell me." Katniss watched him go to their bathroom.

"The question I have though is how are we going to tell them that they are going to add to this bunch," Katniss said quietly.

"Pardon me?" Peeta said.

Katniss had a picture in her hand. A grainy picture with two blobs. With the word TWIN underneath.

"Twins," Peeta whispered. "We're having twins…"

Katniss grinned. "Well, you're the nudist."

"One time Everdeen. It was one time…."

"It's more like a few times Mellark," Katniss laughed as he picked her up. "We're outnumbered, you know."

"I know."

"Jo is never going to let us live this down."

"I know."

"Is that all you got to say?"

"Merry Christmas Mr. Mellark."

"Merry Christmas Everdeen."

The next morning chaos reigned as the children learned of the newest Mellarks.

#this is a story not a drabble #Mega writes #mega-aulover #happy birthday

85 notes · View notes

thesweetnessofspring · 9 months

Text

Sing You Back Home by thesweetnessofspring

[read from beginning / read chapter two]

Rating: M

Pairing: Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark

Summary: After the war, Katniss returns to Twelve with her family and Gale following close behind. When Haymitch tells her that Peeta plans to move to District Four after his therapy is complete in the Capitol, Katniss has to figure out how to rebuild her life without her dandelion in the spring.

Chapter Two:

Gale and I come back from the woods along the main road down Victors Village when I see Haymitch’s door ajar. I notch an arrow in my bow and raise it up, ready to protect ourselves from the intruder when I make out Hazelle’s outline in the doorway.

“What’s your mother doing in Haymitch’s house?” I ask, lowering my bow and freeing the arrow from its string. I’m still more alert than usual, my arms still tingling with the adrenaline.

“She said she was cleaning it out,” Gale says. “Getting a couple things to send to him, scrubbing it down for whatever poor people have to take over that place.”

I frown toward Haymitch’s open door as I put the arrow back in my quiver. Gale gazes at me, taking in my response. An audience of one, measuring how I react to this change. My thoughts don’t stay on Haymitch for long, though. I say good-bye to Gale, then take the game we caught to my house.

I call out, but no one’s home. After I pack away the meat my family will use for the week, I set aside the rest to give to Greasy Sae, who has taken it upon herself to cook lunch for everyone working on the rebuild. After washing my hands and changing into clothes without flecks of blood on them, I head down the road, three houses to the south.

continue reading on ao3

#everlark #everlark fanfiction #thg fanfiction #hunger games fanfiction

37 notes · View notes

theflytrap · 1 month

Text

#nyc #standard hotel #meat packing district

19 notes · View notes

cevansbrat0007 · 2 years

Text

Your Little Monsters

Summary: After an exhausting day, all Reader wants is some intimate, alone time with her husband. But her children have other plans. Andy Barber x Black!Reader, BiBi Barber, KitCat Barber, RoRo Barber, A.J. Barber

Warnings: Smut, Fluff, Bubble Baths, Exasperated/Horny Reader, Exasperated/Horny Andy, Adorably Scarred Barber Kids, Cursing, Minors DNI

A/N: Part of the Growing Pains Series. Please enjoy and let me know what you think. Semi-proofriend. All mistakes are my own.

___

Your whole Friday had been chaotic from the start, and you were over it.

It begins with Andy sleeping through his alarm, which meant (by default) so had you. After helping him get ready, you’re off to go wake up the kids. The only one who willingly complies is your sweet little RoRo. She immediately gets out of bed when you ask, right before sleepily walking into a wall.

And then she apologizes to the damned thing before turning around and going to the bathroom.

You have to physically pull KitCat out of from under the covers and threaten to take away her Kindle privileges to get her to act right.

“I’m gonna write about dis’.” She threatens. “You no look good.”

“Do your worst, kiddo.” You tell her, unfazed by your potentially unflattering portrayal in your six-year-old’s journal. “Now go brush your teeth.”

And A.J. had an accident, his first in months. He’d leaked right through his pull-up. You call Andy to take care of him as you strip his sheets from the bed and throw them in the corner. Your District Attorney was already late. What would an extra twenty minutes hurt? You tell Andy to just give him a quick sponge-off in your bathroom and then you move on to your oldest daughter’s room.

You find BiBi sitting up in her bed.

“I would like to make it known that I do not wish to attend school today.” She tells you.

“Aww.” You respond, almost out of patience. “Well, do it anyway.”

She huffs out a breath. “If I do, it will be under duress.” You suddenly regret buying her that “Word of the Day” calendar.

“I’ve got a couple good words for you, sweetheart. It’s called truancy laws. Now get dressed and get in the bathroom. We’re running late.”

She crosses her arms and glares at you. “I’m serious. If you’re not dressed in five minutes, I’m sending Daddy in here to pick out your clothes and you know he’s horrible at matching outfits.”

BiBi huffs again before propelling herself out of bed.

“Thank you.”

When it was all said and done, of course you’d missed the bus. Once again, with the help of Andy, you get your kids loaded into your car before handing each of them a strawberry poptart.

And you make it to their school five minutes before the first bell is supposed to ring. Only to realize that you’d left all of their packed lunches in the fridge.

Damn it!

___

After bringing the kids their lunches, you spend the rest of the day doing laundry and running errands.

You knew via quick text from Andy that he’d had a rough day in court. They were just in preliminary proceedings as far as you knew, but he had been a little off his game today.

Preaching to the choir, Big Man.

But still, you felt bad for your husband. He prided himself on his ability to do his job, so he took setbacks personally.

You’ll make him feel better tonight. You vow.

You look down at your phone, realizing you only had an hour before you had to pick the kids up from school.

Time to focus on dinner. Tonight’s meal was barbecue pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, and french fries.

With a sigh, you jog into the kitchen to check on your crockpot pork roast. Grabbing a fork, you test its tenderness. You bring a piece of the shredded meat to your mouth and let out a groan. Between the onion and garlic, along with the dash of cinnamon and liquid smoke, the flavor was wonderful.

Reaching for another fork, you begin to shred the roast, which falls apart with ease. Once that part is done, you reach for your homemade barbeque sauce. This particular recipe belonged to your late grandmother, so you made sure to hold it close to the vest. Just like you did with your great grandmother’s macaroni and cheese recipe.

Not that you were making that tonight.

You check your phone.

Forty minutes until pick-up.

It only takes you a few minutes to whip up a quick slaw to go with the sandwiches. You’d cheated this time and bought pre-packaged shredded cabbage instead of slicing your own, which sped things along. But you still made your own dressing.

Once it’s finished, you put it in the fridge to chill. And then you turn off your crockpot. After that, you reach into the cupboard to grab the extra cheesy Goldfish Crackers. You and your kiddos loved these suckers. They were addicting! You also loved that the first ingredient in every bag of crackers was *smiles*. Anyway, you quickly pour some into four different snack bags.

17 minutes until pick-up.

Snagging your keys, you jump in the car and make the trip to your kids’ school for the third time that day. You earn your spot in the pick-up line with seven minutes to spare.

Your kids come rushing out, excited to see you. After hugs and snapping little people into car seats, you take off for home. Before you pull away, you hand out the snacks so that you can hopefully enjoy a little silence.

It works for a while, which is great because you eventually end up stuck in traffic. Fucking construction.

And that’s when the arguing starts.

Someone’s bag had more crackers than everyone else (Bianca). Somebody was touching someone who didn’t want to be touched (A.J.). Someone was being a meanie and kept sticking their tongue out at everyone (Katrina). And now someone was crying (Rory).

You try to break it up and calm things down. You do! But then you feel a headache forming behind your left eye. And when it gets to a point when you feel like losing your cool and screaming at your children, you decide to be quiet.

You remember how much your parents used to scream and hit to get you and your siblings to behave, and that never solved a damned thing. So, you grit your teeth and work on getting your temper in check.

Thank you goodness you were almost back at the house.

___

Things calm down once you get home and your babies can retreat to their own spaces and activities. RoRo goes for her coloring book. KitCat grabs A.J. and begins to read him a book about Spot the Dog. And BiBi curls up on the couch for a little nap.

Fine. With. You.

You’re frying the french fries when Andy walks through the door. You know he’s home because all of your kiddos begin to shriek with excitement.

Good. You think. Exhaust yourselves with Daddy. Mama needs her space.

Feeling like a bad mom, you grab a bottle of Advil and pop three pills before chasing them with a glass of ice water. Keeping an eye on the first batch of fries as they cook in the oil, you turn the crockpot on “warm”.

Your mind stays focused on dinner until you feel two strong arms wrap themselves around your waist, followed by the whisper of a kiss before a face buries itself in the curve of your neck.

“Hi, my love. I missed you today.” Andy murmurs against your heated skin as he inhales your scent.

“I missed you too.” You tell him, allowing yourself to relax against his muscular frame. “Baby, is it bad that I want to feed our little monsters and put them to bed like now? I love them dearly, I do. And I swear I’d kill for them, but I’m ready for the day to be done.”

“Nope. Not at all. I love ‘em too, but I want my wife tonight. So, I say we feed ‘em, bathe ‘em, and put ‘em to bed as soon as we can. It doesn’t make us bad parents. It makes us human and -”

“Shit, the fries! Hold that thought, honey.” Grabbing your strainer, you begin to dump them onto a paper towel covered plate before lightly salting them. Once you’re done and you’ve scraped out the brown bits from the pot, you add more fries to the oil and start the process again. The first batch was for the kids. The second would be for you and Andy.

“What’s for dinner, Y/N?” Your husband asks.

“Barbecue pulled pork sandwiches.” You say as you grab the buns. “With homemade sauce and slaw, along with french fries.”

Andy groans in excitement.

“Yes! I fucking love your pulled pork!” Your man does a little jig before picking you up and setting you on the counter. “You and all your delicious fucking food are the reasons I workout all the time.” He growls as he places soft, warm kisses along your jawline. “Always trying to fatten me up. Always taking such good care of me and the kids.”

Wrapping your arms around his neck, you nibble on his lower lip before sucking it into your mouth. Andy growls, prompting you to release him with a slight pop.

You flash him an impish grin.

“I figure if I fatten you up, then you’ll have a hard time running away from me.” You tell him with a giggle. “To be continued, Andy Bear. I gotta get the fries again.”

He reluctantly lets you hop down so you can repeat your earlier process. And then you pull the slaw out of the fridge.

“You want me to make yours or do you want to change your clothes first?” You ask as you grab your tongs and begin to mix up the meat.

“I’ll eat that now. And then I’ll eat you later.” Your man doesn’t miss how his words make your thighs clench together in anticipation. “Oh yeah, I’m definitely saving room for dessert, baby girl.” He purrs as he watches you prepare his food. “I love making you blush. It’s so fucking adorable.”

“Well, stop it so I can concentrate, you menace. Slaw on the sandwich or on the side?”

“Never. And on the sandwich, please.”

You pile his sandwich high with the pork and then top it with the slaw. And then you load his plate with fries before handing it to him, along with a bottle of ketchup. He immediately takes a bite and lets out a satisfied moan.

“Taste alright?” You ask him.

“Fucking better than alright. Goddamned delicious.”

“Glad you like it. And watch your language, buddy. The kids are nearby. Now, you’re gonna have to get your own drink, sweetheart. I’ve got to make the kids plates.” You quickly put their meals together and set them on the table alongside Andy.

“Babies! Time for dinner!”

Grabbing two sippy cups as well as two plastic cups, you pour everyone some freshly squeezed lemonade and place them around the table as well, just in time for your kids to run into the room and take their seats.

You’re grateful when Andy pauses his meal to put ketchup on everyone’s plates as you make your own sandwich. Once you’re done, you join them at the table.

“Pass the ketchup please!”

___

Two hours later…

Teamwork makes the dream work.

Between you and Andy, you had your kids fed, bathed, and tucked in by 7:45pm. It was a little on the early side for a Friday, but they needed sleep and so did you. Besides, they’d all most likely end up in Bianca’s bed anyway. You guys had been smart to get her a full-sized bed instead of a twin.

Walking into your bedroom, you shut the door behind you and stretch.

All you wanted to do was fuck your husband, snuggle up, and go to sleep.

“Andy?” You call out.

“Bathroom, baby girl.” Padding your way towards the sound of his voice, you smile when you see that he’s run you both a bubble bath. He’s even lit a couple of candles, making the entire room smell like lavender and vanilla.

You watch as he takes off his shirt, leaving his deliciously toned upper body bare to your gaze.

“C’mere, Y/N.” Your man purrs, his normally clear cerulean blue eyes darkening with lust. Doing as he asks, you keep moving until you’re standing in front of him, where he hands you a glass of chilled champagne.

Taking advantage of your closeness, you rub your small hand up and down his chest, allowing your fingers to trace your name where it’s tattooed on his skin.

“I love you.” You whisper to him. “Sometimes I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“And I’d be lost without you, my sweet girl. Every damn day.” He pulls away to dim the lights and crack the door (to manage the steam), which you take as your cue to strip.

You find yourself blushing as he watches you remove your clothes. Biting your lip, you resist the urge to hide your body from him, which is ridiculous since he’s seen it all before. You worked out when you could, and you tried to eat well, but you weren’t a fan of the stretch marks that adorned your hips and thighs. They weren’t bad, necessarily, but they did make you feel self-conscious.

Your husband did not care. Not one bit. The last time you’d brought it up, he’d called them the marks of a warrior, and your wonderfully ridiculous man had meant it.

“These marks are a reminder of your fight to bring our four babies into the world, so please don’t hide them from me, baby girl.” He’d murmured as you’d cuddled together in bed one night. “Don’t ever think you have to hide your body from me.” His fingers had begun tracing several of the marks on your outer thigh. “It hurts when you don’t trust me with all of you.”

“I swear you grow more gorgeous with each passing day,” he tells you as his gaze leisurely peruses your hips and ass, his skilled fingers itching to touch.

“I don’t know about all that.” You murmur, feeling shy.

“Well, I do.” Andy grunts as he removes his pants. “And it’s the truth.”

He goes to reach into one of the bathroom drawers of your his and hers sink, specifically one of your drawers. You watch as your husband takes out some of the jojoba oil you like to use on your hair and scalp. Pouring some into his hands, he proceeds to apply it to your wild curls before piling them on top of your head and securing your mane with a hair tie.

Wiping himself off, he goes to refresh the bath. Andy rewarms the water and adds more bubbles. And then, with a slight shrug, he lights one more candle. Once he’s satisfied with the temperature, he holds out his hand.

“Let’s get in, baby.”

Smiling, you bounce over to him and let him help you into the spacious tub. And then he joins you, pulling your small body against his own.

“Oh, god this feels good.” You moan as the hot water soothes your tight muscles.

“I’m glad. I’d hate to sit here feeling like I was being boiled alive for nothing.”

“It’s not that hot.” You giggle before turning to face him, your breasts pressing against his firm chest. “Andy Bear?”

“Yes, little love?”

“I want kisses.”

Without a word he captures your lips with his own. It’s a slow, sensual kiss. Your tongues mingling and exploring each other’s mouths as if you had all the time in the world. Eventually, your man pulls away to nip at your lips, your chin, your jaw…anywhere he can reach.

You let out a little whine, prompting him to return his mouth to yours. He smiles into the kiss, loving the fact that you wanted him as much as he wanted you. Andy’s hands go to tenderly grip your ass under the water, gently rubbing and kneading your flesh.

Moaning, you two deepen the kiss.

And then you hear a scream.

Jerking apart, you notice that all four of your children have joined you in your bathroom.

Bianca picks up a distraught Rory while desperately squeezing her eyes shut and muttering something about everything burning. “Gross!” Katrina shouts before throwing an arm over her face while using her free hand to pull A.J. backwards. He doesn’t mind. Your little boy is too busy wondering why Mama and Dada are “takin’ a baf’ togever”.

“Oh my god!” You yell, as you cover yourself by curling into Andy’s body and sinking deeper into the bubbles. “How come none of my four incredibly smart children know how to freaking knock?!” You bellow. “Go to bed and stay there!”

You watch as a little hand reaches out to grab your bathroom door and shut it. And then you hear a knock.

Andy laughs softly as you roll your eyes.

Sometimes your babies were so freaking literal.

“What?” You snap.

“We have a question!” KitCat yells through the door.

“Ask it tomorrow!” Your husband calls out.

“But, but is impotan’ Dada!” RoRo says.

“Are any of you sick?” He growls.

“No.” They all call out at the same time.

“Are any of you on fire?”

“No.”

“Do you have any broken bones?”

“No.”

“Then you’re all fine.” Andy grunts, trying to hold back even more laughter. “Go back to bed.”

When you don’t hear anything, you assume your monsters have finally accepted defeat. You let out a sigh before grabbing your loofah. Without saying it, you both know that the mood is ruined.

“We should’ve locked the door.” You tell him as you both wash up.

“Yep. Oh well. I was planning on having my way with you in bed anyway. Our little bubble bath was just a warm-up.”

“And what a lovely warm-up it was.” You lean over to peck his lips before rinsing off your body. Andy steps out first. He dries off and wraps the towel around his waist, before holding one open for you. You step into it and snuggle against him once more.

“Make love to me, Andy.” You whisper as you look into his eyes.

“Your wish is my command, Y/N.”

You open your bedroom door, only to see that your bed is occupied by four little bodies, who are all fast asleep in your bed.

“Are you serious?” You grumble. “Whaa - why?”

“Well,” Andy mumbles, “we did tell them to go to bed. We just never said where.”

With twin sighs, you both wander over to your respective dressers to grab some pajamas. You pull on some sleep shorts before Andy tosses you one of his shirts to wear. Once you’re dressed, you walk into your closet and pull out a pile of blankets. You proceed to make a pallet on the floor. And then you go back to grab pillows.

“Baby girl.” Andy whispers as you prep your makeshift bed. You look at him and then find yourself having to hold back a squeal as he lifts you in his arms. Your man quietly carries you out of the room, down the stairs, and into his office where he locks the door.

Yes! While you might've wanted soft and sweet not too long ago, you'd settle for hard and rough. All you knew was that you needed your man, and you needed him now.

Taking off his shirt and kicking off your shorts, you bend over the edge of his desk. Feeling horny and frustrated, you arch your hips and push your ass up in the air, before turning to look at him over your shoulder.

“Come take your cunt, Daddy. Need you to split me in two with that big cock. Want you to wear me the fuck out so I feel you for days.” You growl.

That’s all the invitation that your husband needs to fuck the shit out of your wet ass pussy.

___

Twenty minutes later, feeling sated and satisfied, the two of you make your way up the stairs. You climb onto your little bed on the floor and snuggle with your husband, enjoying the sweet ache between your thighs.

“Good night, my sweet girl.”

“Good night, my Big Man. Sweet dreams.”

___

You wake up the next morning, still on the floor, but this time you’re surrounded by children. RoRo is asleep on Andy’s chest, while BiBi is tucked in the crook of his right arm.

A.J. is snuggled between the both of you, while KitCat’s little body is half sprawled atop your own. You shake your head and smile, This was your life now, and if you were being honest, it was pretty great.

KitCat stirs for a moment. Opening her eyes, she whispers “Mama, we still have a question. Can I ask it now?”

“Yes, sweet baby.” You press a kiss to her curls. “What is it?”

“Well, we jus’ wanted tah know if we could sleep wif’ you. Das’ why we fell asleep in dah big bed. But you when you no get in, we come down here.”

Ahh. It all made sense now.

“Yes, you can sleep with us, my love. In fact, how about we get a little more sleep before we decide what to make for breakfast, alright?”

She nods and snuggles deeper into your side, as does A.J. With a sigh, you drift off, feeling thankful for your little monsters.

END

338 notes · View notes