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cosmicpretzelFor kiwikat11, who wanted me to write Katniss/Peeta... and got this.
Katniss knows the signs well enough by now.
His face becomes pale. His teeth start to clench. There’s a cold distance in his blue eyes, one far removed from his usual warmth. Even before his pupils start to change, it’s enough to terrify her.
It happens completely randomly, without warning. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knows she has to always be vigilant for those signs, to utilize her hunter’s instincts for all they’re worth. To be ready to spring into action with a moment’s notice.
Sometimes, all it takes is a change in his breathing. Like now, lying beside him in bed, just as the first rays of morning sunlight are beginning to filter through the window. When she hears his breaths become rapid and shallow, her eyes pop open with the instance of a conditioned reflex, and all thoughts of trying to catch a few more minutes of sleep are effectively abandoned. He barely has time to lift himself to a sitting position before she’s right there with him, taking both of his hands into hers with a death grip and practically straddling him to prevent him from getting away.
He starts to struggle against her, muttering unintelligible things under his breath, but she stays quiet and still, her hands showing no signs of slipping. A faux calmness she’s had time to perfect, even if she knows it’s a temporary solution at best; after all, he’s strong, and if he’s really determined, he can easily overpower her. It takes her a moment to find his eyes, to lock her gaze on his.
“Peeta.” There’s a quiver in her voice that she’s never quite lost, even now. “Stay with me.”
The unspoken “please” is communicated when she presses her lips against his.
When all she wants to do is block her eyes from the sight, to put as much distance as she can between herself and one of the Capitol’s most painful legacies that she’ll forever be forced to periodically endure, she stays. Remains as strong and steady as her grip, even if it drains more energy than she can realistically expend. Because she owes him this much. Because this is what they do.
Protect each other.
kiwikat11, who wanted me to write Katniss/Peeta... and got this.Katniss knows the signs well enough by now.
His face becomes pale. His teeth start to clench. There’s a cold distance in his blue eyes, one far removed from his usual warmth. Even before his pupils start to change, it’s enough to terrify her.
It happens completely randomly, without warning. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knows she has to always be vigilant for those signs, to utilize her hunter’s instincts for all they’re worth. To be ready to spring into action with a moment’s notice.
Sometimes, all it takes is a change in his breathing. Like now, lying beside him in bed, just as the first rays of morning sunlight are beginning to filter through the window. When she hears his breaths become rapid and shallow, her eyes pop open with the instance of a conditioned reflex, and all thoughts of trying to catch a few more minutes of sleep are effectively abandoned. He barely has time to lift himself to a sitting position before she’s right there with him, taking both of his hands into hers with a death grip and practically straddling him to prevent him from getting away.
He starts to struggle against her, muttering unintelligible things under his breath, but she stays quiet and still, her hands showing no signs of slipping. A faux calmness she’s had time to perfect, even if she knows it’s a temporary solution at best; after all, he’s strong, and if he’s really determined, he can easily overpower her. It takes her a moment to find his eyes, to lock her gaze on his.
“Peeta.” There’s a quiver in her voice that she’s never quite lost, even now. “Stay with me.”
The unspoken “please” is communicated when she presses her lips against his.
When all she wants to do is block her eyes from the sight, to put as much distance as she can between herself and one of the Capitol’s most painful legacies that she’ll forever be forced to periodically endure, she stays. Remains as strong and steady as her grip, even if it drains more energy than she can realistically expend. Because she owes him this much. Because this is what they do.
Protect each other.
