It's been one year since I revived my main Hunger Games fic, The Sweetest Mockery! As a little celebration, I'll be posting these writing snippets that I've been working on in a bid to alleviate my writer's block for TSM. Please see the ending AN for more information about how readers can suggest prompts for these AU Ember-and-Cato-meet-for-the-first-time scenes. :)


No Hunger Games

It's a perfect June afternoon, and the children of District 12 have no cares in the world. School's out for the summer, so everyone is either working a part-time job, lazing around at home, or, if they're particularly ambitious, interning in other districts or even the Capitol. Ember Abernathy should be among the last group. Her father is a senator, an unbelievable accomplishment for someone from the Districts. Her mother, now a well-known writer, once interned in the president's office (although that, according to Maysilee Donner, was a nightmare of an experience). Her brother and Finnick God's-Gift-to-Humans Odair are running a talk show that's rivaling Caesar Flickerman's, and her sister is some kind of a big deal in the Capitol's art world.

Ember, on the other hand, is content to spend her summers with her friends, picking wild strawberries, swimming in the lake, and occasionally manning the register at the family candy shop.

On this particular day, Ember is behind the counter in the store. It's the usual cashier's day off, and Mom is busy running errands. The Abernathys really don't need the candy shop as a source of income, considering how much Mom gets for her books and Dad from his posh government job, but the place has been in Mom's family for so long that no one has the heart to sell it.

Ember has her nose stuck in a book. The bell above the door chimes, and she calls out a greeting, absorbed in her novel. From her periphery, she barely notes that the patron is very tall—clearly not one of the sticky-fingered children in the neighborhood, so she can probably trust him not to steal their merchandise.

"Good book?"

"It's heart-breaking. I love it." Ember lowers the novel. "Is that every…" She forgets to finish her question.

District 12 is plenty small enough that everyone knows everyone in her age group. And that means there is a general consensus among the girls which boys are the best-looking (Gale Hawthorne, the Mellark boy, and apparently Ember's older brother, although she disagrees). This guy, in her opinion, blows them all out of the park.

The blond is waiting for her to finish. Ember quickly clears her throat. "Is that everything?" Only then does she look down at his selection. Geeze. He's plunked down about half their inventory on the counter. "You sure you don't want the other half of the store as well?"

"Nah, I need to leave something for tomorrow."

Considering how much muscle that boy has, it's probably safe to say that his metabolism will work it all off if he just stands there. Ember begins to ring up his purchases. "I haven't seen you around before."

"Just arrived here today from Two."

"And you came straight to the candy shop? On behalf of my family, I'm flattered."

He shrugs as he plays with a lollipop in the nearby display. "What can I say? I have a sweet tooth, and I don't usually get a chance to indulge it."

"So now you're going all in. Nice. I approve." I raise my eyebrows at the final tally on the register. "Want me to toss in some free fudge?"

"By all means." He points out the flavor he wants, and I cut out a piece.

"So what are you doing here in Twelve? It's not a very touristy place."

"Eh...combination of learning experience and punishment."

"Ooh. Sounds intriguing. Punishment for what?"

Depositing his change into the tip jar and grabbing his bag of purchases, he winks as he turns to go. "Ask me tomorrow." He nods at my nametag. "Ember."

Against my will, my heart flutters. "Do I at least get your name?"

"Cato. I'll see you tomorrow, Ember." A quick flash of a mischievous smile, and then he's gone.


Effie Trinket on Careers: But they don't receive any special treatment. In fact, they stay in the exact same apartment you do, and I don't think they let them have dessert, and you can.


As stated above, I would LOVE to have readers suggest ideas for other ways in which Ember and Cato could have met in different universes. The chapters for this fic are going to be short and sweet, probably ranging from this chapter's length to no more than 2K words. The ideas can take place in practically every universe, ex. I have some Harry Potter and Roman Empire-inspired ones in the queue. I only have about a half dozen of these meet-cute scenes written, so I'm going to need some help from you wonderful readers if we're going to keep this fic going. Since the chapters for this story are so short, I'm planning on writing each chapter as I'm inspired (by my own ideas or by readers') and posting them soon after completion.

So if you have an idea for a meeting scene, send it to me in a review! I'll be sure to write anything that makes me feel inspired, and as long as someone is interested in this fic/keeps sending me ideas, I'll keep working on this. I'm hoping this story will tide people over as I struggle with TSM chapters.

Thanks for reading, send ideas, and I always reply to reviews!