Short Everlark drabble set in Catching Fire during that period when they’re training for the Quell... I just wanted to write something cozy. It might be considered canon if you squint really hard. Unbeta’d and barely edited. Rated G.
Peeta is baking energy bars. Again.
She watches him work from her perch on the counter as she munches on carrot sticks. When Effie heard of his plans for them to train like Careers for the Quarter Quell and eat accordingly, she immediately sent him a ‘Health and Fitness’ cookbook on the next train, among other things. No matter how many changes Peeta made and what ingredients he tried, replacing nuts for almonds, toasting the oats to make them a little crispy, adding different seeds, she still wasn’t any fonder of the infamous energy bars.
She misses cheesebuns.
She’s spoiled.
Her gaze wanders to the window, looking longingly to his back garden. To the place that has become their official training spot. Her muscles are already sore from the morning exercises but knows that there’s more still to come. She’s already exhausted.
She yearns for the Peeta from a few weeks ago, from before they knew about the Quell and before he had become their trainer. She particularly remembers an afternoon they had spent together in his garden, planting herbs, parsley, coriander, basil, thyme, mint. He was so eager to use them in his recipes. They had spent the entire day together, picking up his order from the train early in the morning and then getting to work on the earth, their knees soiled with dirt. The sun had been warm on their backs, her braid disheveled and his cheek smudged with dirt.
She had made him promise he would use basil for her cheesebuns once the shrub had grown enough. She could already smell them in her imagination, warm and fresh out of the oven. Mouthwatering. He had tugged at her braid, teasing her. But he was grinning when he acquiesced, his eyes full of mirth. She leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheek and his smile froze in surprise. She pretended not to blush.
Later, they had gone hand in hand back into his house and he had picked her up and placed her on his counter, and proceeded to make her basil-less cheesebuns but with extra cheese to make up for it.
But now Peeta was her trainer and only baked her energy bars.
And she wouldn’t be here when the basil shrub had grown enough for her cheesebuns. She’d never taste them. And Peeta would never have a reason to bake them.
Her eyes feel watery and she looks away from the window, blinking. She misses cheesebuns, she tells herself.
But it's more than that.
She misses Peeta. She misses his touch, his gentleness. It seems like such a silly, foolish thing to miss, but she can’t remember the last time they held hands.
───
That night, Katniss sneaks into Peeta’s house to sleep. He welcomes her into his home and leads her upstairs. She opens the window a little to let the nightly breeze in. He diverts his gaze back down to his drawer when he realises he’s been caught staring. He fails to keep a smile from spreading across his lips.
Peeta lends her one of his shirts and she changes in the bathroom. It smells like him. His pillows smell like him. She climbs into his bed, her legs bare, and stretches between the sheets, enjoying the luxurious sensation of the soft fabric against her skin. Already in his pajamas, he sits on the other side of the bed and removes his prosthetic, leaving it beside the nightstand. He turns off the light and settles in beside her.
They look at each other, their eyes meeting in the darkness. She scuttles closer to him, sneaking one of her legs between his. His hand settles on her waist, her shirt bunching up a little, climbing up her thighs.
She hesitates before speaking. “Peeta?” Her voice is quiet, almost a whisper in the dark. She searches his eyes. “I miss my friend,” she confesses.
She’s not sure friend is the right word. It doesn’t seem to be enough, like it’s not complete, too little, too less from what she considers him to be. Too easy to throw out for anybody. Peeta and her aren’t friends. But she doesn’t know what word to use instead.
His fingers tense against her waist like he has to hold himself from physically pulling back, but then relax again.
He lets out a deep breath. “Katniss, I know he’s your friend.” He sounds weird─ strained. His eyes avoid her confused ones. “But maybe you should talk to Gale about this.”
“No, no.” She shakes her head vehemently and pulls on his shirt's neckline to make him look at her. He tilts down his head. “I didn't mean Gale. Peeta,” she pauses, her voice softening, “I was talking about you.”
He looks surprised, confused. “Me? But─ I’m here,” he says.
She shakes her head. “You’re not. Most of the time you’re not. You’re training us, yes. But it’s like you are gone,” she tries to explain. Her fingers play softly with his neckline. “I haven’t seen my Peeta in weeks. Only small glimpses,” she says quietly.
“My Peeta?” he teases, but his eyes are gentle, his thumb rubbing her side softly. He pulls her tighter.
My Peeta. She shouldn’t stake a claim over him. Not when she hasn’t got much left to live. But she won’t take back her words either.
She buries her face in his chest, her cheeks heating up. “You know what I mean,” she mumbles against his shirt.
“No, I don’t,” he laughs lightly. His hand comes up to stroke her hair, his fingers combing through the knots. “But I like the sound of it,” he says, a smile in his voice.
This final edit is for @everlarkedalways. Thank you for everything. This is the the drawing as promised. I'm sorry though if it's not colored. I'd be happy if anyone wants to color it themselves! :) So here it is: Everlark and Cheese buns! It would be an honor if you have any requests after everything you've done for us.
