Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A/N: This was originally a self-para for a role play I'm in, but I thought it could stand on it's own here. AU, obviously. In the RP, Capitol citizens can buy the Victors for a night, set before the Victory Tour of Catching Fire. Peeta was just bought. Reviews are like parachutes!
It wasn't official, at least Snow hadn't made any sort of announcement yet. However, it was as good as done now that they knew. Katniss' purity would be sold to the highest bidder and she was sure to fetch a high price. The only type of person who could afford it would be old money, government official or something like that. Thoughts of surgically altered men, ones where you couldn't even tell their age, their skin stretched further than it was supposed to, who could barely sit up in the morning without taking this pill or that. Not that they would need to sit up for this task.
It was too much to even hope that someone like Cinna would buy her, to let her go and be with whomever she chose. No, this was not only meant to make people very rich, this was also meant to humiliate her, to put her on a public stage and to be made an example of. This is what happens if you do anything to defy the power of the Capitol. It will be celebrated, there will be parties and interviews and she will have to pretend that she is happy about it all. A story will be made up for her as to why she is no longer with Peeta or why this is all okay. Why this rape is okay.
Her hands were as still as frozen water as she folded her hair into a neat little braid, letting it hang in long waves down her back, the way Peeta would like it. He liked her hair any way she wore it, but this made her look more feminine, more like a girl from the Capitol. She only wished that she had some of their supplies and had any talent with doing her own nails and makeup. She never had any use for that stuff before. A fresh scrub was going to have to do.
She slipped her feet into the white silk slippers, wondering how anyone could think that these qualified as adequate footwear. Then again, they were a gift from the Capitol, something that she wore with this soft orange dress during one of the post-Games interviews. They had no use for strong leather boots, at least the women didn't. If you couldn't run in them, then they were perfect. They fit the task at hand for right now.
Silently, she slipped down the stairs and out the door of her house. Prim would know where she went when she didn't come home that night. She had been walking past it every day, hoping to see some sign of life inside but finding none. The sun was just starting to set, his favorite time of day. She was sure that if she walked far enough, her dress would make her blend right in, to burn up with the sun. If it wasn't for him, she probably would try it right now.
The door was unlocked just as she thought. They came and collected him at night and stealing was punishable by death, so no one would even try to take anything. The biggest danger was for a wild animal to wander in, but they were far enough from the woods that none would even make it this far into town. Katniss closed the door behind her and leaned against it, taking a moment to breathe his air. The flour and yeast still hung heavy, it's warmth being hard to seep from this place. She half expected him to pop his head around the corner, to smile at her while he wiped the ingredients from his hands so that he could envelope her in a hug. Not today, though.
Katniss sighed a bit and made her way up the stairs, following the familiar path to his room. The comforter laid in a messy pile, the Peacekeepers not even giving him time to make his bed. This is what the Capitol did to people, to the Victors. They gave them a life of beauty and privilege on the outside, but here in the core, in the most intimate of places, in the heart and soul, they tore it apart and left it in ruins. No one would know that any wrongdoing happened in this house from the outside; it was only when you looked in his eyes did you see how much they ruined him.
But she wouldn't let them. Katniss refused to let them tear Peeta apart. She would protect him the only way she knew how, by being with him. She crossed the room in as few of steps as possible, climbing into the bed and wrapping his warmth, his scent and his pressure around her, clothes and all. She would be here when he got back, she made sure of that.