bewaretheniceboy: (the ruse is through)
Peeta Mellark, The Baker's Boy ([personal profile] bewaretheniceboy) wrote in [community profile] sixthiterationlogs2017-06-10 09:25 pm

All Your Actin', Your Thin Disguise, All Your Perfectly Delivered Lines

WHO: Peeta Mellark
WHERE: Village in general, bakery, riverbank
WHEN: June 8, 9, and 10
OPEN TO: Anyone
WARNINGS: It's Peeta, so there's always possibilities of the Games coming up, especially now
STATUS: Open




( June 8, Village )

When he'd woken up that morning, it had been with his heart hammering in his chest and a barely contained panic. The symptoms weren't at all unfamiliar to him after a year: a nightmare, a bad one, the kind that made it impossible to ever think things could be good again, and he turned to look at Katniss like he always did to reassure himself that they were okay, that they were safe (relatively, at least), and-

She wasn't there.

He hadn't panicked at first; sometimes she woke up before him and went out to do different things. Sometimes the hunting or tracking was better in the early day for reasons he didn't understand. But she'd always show up for lunch, at least long enough to grab something she could eat as she moved if she didn't stay for an actual meal, and this time she didn't... He'd left Jacob in the bakery to go check the house and see if she was there, and that was when he'd found that almost all traces of her had vanished. There was only one set of the clothing and supplies that people carried with them up from the fountain, only one scrubs top. The bow and arrows she'd been shaping were still there but nothing that had been supplied to them. As much as Katniss liked the woods, she wouldn't have packed up everything and run away to them, not without giving something away.

All of that means that Peeta goes into a mild frenzy and immediately into search and rescue mode, crutches be damned. Katniss is far from the most social person in the village, but she's been there long enough to still be familiar to most people, and anyone he runs into is likely going to be a target for that question of Where is she? whether he knows them or not. His first target is, of course, the inn and anyone there, but he spirals out around the village as well as he can while still being limited in mobility, getting more panicked as the day drags on.


( June 9, Bakery )

He can't search the woods in his condition and he's angry about that on a level no one in the village has seen from him, but he's not stealthy to begin with and a broken leg, even one that's mostly healed, makes him even worse. There's still two weeks, give or take, before the rigid brace can come off his leg and he can drop the crutches, and while he's gotten pretty good at dealing with them in the village, that's still somewhere with places for him to stop and sit and rest and convenient water and loads of other things. There is literally just nothing he can do right now that other people can't do better than him, so Peeta is pouring that anger and energy he has into doing something that's at least productive, mixing up, rolling out, and cutting down batches of pasta which he hangs to dry on a series of branches he'd carefully washed before using. It's very basic, just flour, water, and a little salt, but it's more food for people to eat and something to say "thank you" to everyone who wanted to help him or even commiserate with him. Even worried and angry he wasn't about to make things worse for the rest of the village residents, not when they all needed each other to get through this.


( June 10, River )

Two solid nights of terror have taken a toll on Peeta and he knows it's not really going to get any easier, though he also knows he'll reluctantly get used to it the longer it goes, and he just needs a day away from the normal haunts he'd established within the village. In case something happens, though, he's not gone all that far: just down to the river, not near the waterfall since that's the most popular area, but downstream from it a little to enjoy the cooler air around the moving water. The way it's drained reminds Peeta a little too much of when the Gamemakers had drained the stream in the 74th Games to herd them towards Cato and the finale, but it has uncovered a small cluster of rocks that make good seating for someone who can't swim. He's brought his pencils and one of the books he's working on to continue his project, the one that's a record of all the residents. The pages are opened to a certain entry and as the water swirls by he carefully begins embellishing it, adding more words and details to the sketch there, slowly and lovingly. Katniss' entry, of course; she almost looks as if she's staring at him from the page. He's entirely wrapped up in his work and oblivious to anyone coming up on him.
71st_victor: (grey)

[personal profile] 71st_victor 2017-06-15 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Johanna rolls her eyes because of course there's only ever one she as far as Peeta is concerned, which means that the she in question is somehow missing. Wonderful. "I don't know, I'm not her keeper," she complains sharply, keeping her hand on her weapon. She might not be her keeper, but she's still willing to go look for her. After all, they might not be close friends, but they're still allies.

"You're the one who obsessively watches her every move, when's the last time you saw her? Or did you piss her off enough to send her running?" Johanna deadpans, giving him a pointed look.
71st_victor: (queen of seven)

[personal profile] 71st_victor 2017-06-21 02:31 pm (UTC)(link)
There are plenty of traps and snares in the woods, but that's not what Peeta wants to hear. Besides, Katniss may be a special kind of dim, but she's not stupid, so if there were traps or snares in the woods, she would know better than to trigger one. Johanna may know the woods, but Katniss is a better hunter. She breathes in slowly and gives him a jerky nod.

"Come on," she says. "Since you probably won't shut up, we're going to the best vantage point so you don't run around on a damaged leg," she points out. "Saw what?" she prompts, as she tries to get him to move instead of just standing there, whining ineffectively.