She stepped out the door to the blazing winter air. The strong wind forces the snow to waft upward into the sky, colliding with the newly fallen snow. A snowflake lands itself onto her nose, giving her a slight sense of cold. She trudged through the snow, kicking blocks of frozen snow before her.
The sun was nowhere in sight, and the sky was draped with thick winter clouds. Her dark hair glistened with the snow as she proceeded through it. Her jacket was moistened with the snow that had melted. She catches a glimpse of a fully lighted home, with a warm glisten of light shining from all windows. This sight makes her smile widely. She opens the door to find a boy, no, a man even, making bread on the countertop. "Hey Peeta," She beams at him, making him look up from his work. "Hey, Mrs Mellark," He smiles at her, wiping his hands on his apron.
She looks at the two beautiful rings on her hand. One for the engagement; a gold band engraved with K.E. and P.M., and a small pearl perched in the centre. And also, for their wedding; a shining gold piece decorated with emeralds, her favourite colour, or at least close. "Hey, do you think I could help you with anything?" She asks him, trying to be some sort of a help. It was a bakery, the newly rebuilt one, since the old one was wiped out. "Oh, nothing really, no costumers, no orders, just making your favourite type of bread." He tells her, poking some pieces of cheese into the dough. He slides the pan into the warm oven, and shuts the door completely. "Cheese bread?" She clarifies. All he does is a nod of his head. "Of course." She nudges him. He laughs, and nudges her back. "Hey, why don't we bake a cake?" A suggestion runs out of her mouth. He laughs, as if this is very funny. She pouts at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "What? It's not like you always request this." He counters at her, still a huge smile plastered on his face. But, it is true. Katniss Mellark nee Everdeen is not the person who keeps on requesting to "bake a cake". "Oh, come on." She whines at him. "And it's also a try to teach me how to bake." She tells him, sounding like a beggar.
"Oh, alright." He smiles. "Let's get to work." He picks out a bag of flour, some cocoa powder, sugar, water and everything else. He lays it flat on the table, and she exchanges a look of un surety at him. "What, never seen this before?" He gestures at the ingredients. "What do you expect? I've been living in the Seam all my life and you expect me to know what this is." She scoffs and puts her hands on her hips. "Okay, let's get to work."
He ends it, pulling out an apron and a hat. "Is this necessary?" She glares at the things. "Yes." He tells her as he slips on the clothes on her. A few minutes in the process, they finish mixing the batter. "So this is cake?" her finger finds its way into the batter. "No, we still need to bake it." He swats her hand away ever so slightly, she wouldn't even feel it. Her hand draws back to her side. He equally distributes the thick chocolate batter into each pan. "There's too much." He comments at the leftovers in the bowl. "
Hey, why don't we make a cake for Haymitch and your mom?" He suggests. "My mom, nut, Haymitch?" She laughs, as if it were a joke. "Hey, we owe him thanks, though." He smiles. She nods and thinks back of the favours he has done for them. "Fine." She sighs. They finish baking it after a few minutes. They pull out the cakes and the bread. She snatches the bread pan from his hands. "Mine." She says at him. He puts his hands over head as If a caught criminal. "Just let me frost these and decorate, and we'll be heading out the door." He leaves then comes back with tubs of frosting and icing. "That's a lot." She gawks at the beautifully coloured creams. "Well, we'll need them." He says without looking up. He pipes brightly coloured flowers and intricate designs on the white layer of frosting. Without a word, she just follows his hands creating the designs. "Isn't that a little too bright for Haymitch?" A comment finally slipped out. He just gives a shrug as his blond hair bounces around. "Don't you want that? A better brighter Haymitch." This just makes her laugh, as to viewing her old mentor in bright coloured shirts, clothes and a house. "Sure, thanks for adding more to my nightmares." She jokes. He finally finishes the first cake, and now he's on the move with the second one, for Katniss' mother. He decorates it with subtler, gentler colours, like pink and lilac. He happily frosts on the beautiful designs, and as per usual, her watchful grey eyes are fixated on his hands, moving fast but carefully. He finishes faster, and he boxes each cake.
"Let's go?" He invites, pulling on some snow gear. "It looks like you're going sledding." She comments, looking at his heavily worn winter wear. "Better safe than sorry," He shrugs, wrapping his neck in a scarf. "And look at you, your jacket is all wet." He pinched a piece of the girl's jacket, looking down at her jacket. "Oh, the snow just melted." She shrugs him off. "No big deal." She smiles.
"No big deal?" His blue eyes are fixated on the shaking figure beside him. He's got two boxes of the cakes in his arms, and she's got her bread. "Curse you," She pushes him over, nearly knocking him down, but he kept balance. "What?" He smiles wryly, patting off the snow. "Here you go," a kitten soft scarf winds around her petit body. The warmth is comforting, but the wind is still blowing through her. He notices, and he stuffs the boxes underneath one of his arms, and comfortingly wraps and arm around her. "We're almost there," He coaxes, looking at the snow caked house up ahead. They're walking towards the Victor's Village, going to the most convenient house there is as of the moment, Haymitch's.
"I'll knock." He volunteers, heading over to the door, just to find the same old Haymitch they knew; but not sure they loved.
"Hey sweetheart," He picks up, opening his door slightly wider. "What do you have here?" He examines the box in Peeta's arms. "Oh, just a cake to cheer you up." She smiles. "A cake?" he questions. She nods, causing her dark braid to fly around. "Well, aren't you going to ask us to come in?" Peeta asks him. He gestures to the open door, and they examine the house. "Much more cleaner." They both say together. They laugh, as if this was an impossible dream. It is very cleaner. "Off to the road of sobriety?" She jokes, taking off her wet jacket to hang on a chair. "Nope." He answers plainly, grabbing the half-filled bottle from the table. "Well, why don't we see?" He says, flipping open the box. Inside resides a pretty cake decorated with flowers. Snickers from the both of them in the back are loudly heard, and Haymitch just ignores it. The expression on his face looks like he's seen a ghost.
"What's this?" He asks, as he prods the frosting, tasting it. "Mm. But still, what is this?" He asks. They both shrug, and start laughing at his expression again. "It was his fault." She turns to the blond, pointing at him with a finger. He shrugs and looks as if he's been caught, and they burst out laughing once more.
"I don't know what you guys are doing." Haymitch says, closing up the box. "Besides, aren't both of you supposed to be on your honeymoon or something?" He says dryly. They both look at him. "Haymitch." Katniss shoots him a serious look. "What? Isn't that what you guys are supposed to do?" He innocently smiles at them.
"Ugh, we're leaving." She says, slipping on her gear. "Bye, sweetheart." He shoos them off. They exit the house and proceed to the next, the one who is well lit, yet there's some sort of a soothing feeling. "Now let me knock." She volunteers, knocking on the hard wood door. A lady answer, with blonde hair and blue eyes, slightly wrinkled. "Why hello, Katniss." She greets them with a warm smile. "Hello, Peeta." She gives him a smile. "Hi." Peeta smiles back, in his usual happy tone. "Come on in." She guides them inside.
"Here you go," She places the box on the dining table. She pops open the lid and smiles. "Oh this is beautiful." She comments, astonished. "It's nothing really." Peeta says. "Oh, give yourself a pat on the back." She un- expectedly hugs him. She lets go.
"Well we better go," She says, tucking her braid into her cap.
"Bye now." With that, the door shuts and they leave it.
They start for home, which is just around the corner. They enter the warm house and take off their gear. "So, we better eat this." She opens the wrapped bread, the warmth still enclosed within it. "Mm." is all she could say. "Mm indeed." He replies, setting down some cups and tea.
"A slice of life?" She offers as the cuts a piece.
"A slice of life." He replies.
"With that, they stare into the fireplace, eating there,
Slice of Life.
"