Clove has fun during training, doing everything she loves and watching others fail at it. Peeta and Clove both show off, playing with swords and spears, neither of their strong points but still better than most everyone else. He decapitates a dummy and kicks it like a soccer ball towards her while laughing. The sight scares some the other tributes to shake even if he is just messing around.
Their mentors told them hide their best strengths because even Careers could use the element of surprise at some point. So she practiced her weaker points and watched as the other Careers showed off. District 4 was strong this year both capable of lifting heavy weights and good with a sword. The District 1 boy seemed to immediately show his strength and went for the spears where he hit the targets every time with a resounding thump. The District 1 girl's hair and hips seemed to sway wherever she went and even while she was fighting.
The girl named Glimmer smirks as Clove takes a misstep and is smacked across the butt by the trainer for swords. He seems to realize his mistake of fucking with her and immediately backs away, but the girl with shimmery hair remains smiling at Clove. If no one was watching you would both be dead already. She heads to the throwing knife section and smiles as the smirk leaves Glimmers face as each knife goes right into the hearts of the dummies. She even does a few trick throws, including a roll and jumping off of a wall and throwing it in mid-air.
Peeta watches her, amused; he didn't want to hide anything anyways. He argued that there was no point since everyone knows they are trained with almost every weapon. He heads for the bows as soon as she puts down the knives. His aim is flawless, as always. The trainer starts shooting up targets and each falls down with an arrow perfectly through it.
He loses himself in it. Bows had always been his weapon, they required less confrontation and he always considered it more of a skill than the brute force that so often won in hand to hand and sword fighting. He called it an art and she called it a long-range killing weapon.
He doesn't notice that his actions create shadows around him. Clove watches from the corner of her eye. She has seen him do this many times before but still enjoys watching him. His other shadow is surprisingly the Girl on Fire. Clove watched her carefully; she had put on a show before but it would be pointless if she couldn't fight. Katniss had look almost offended when he initially picked up the bow, but now stares with a confusing looked of wonder and dislike. The other shadow is an extension of her. The small boy from her district follows her every move, which right now means watching Peeta with his bow.
At lunch, she knows that the Careers are supposed to sit together, even if she doesn't like it. She sits at the large table with her food and is joined by Districts 1 and 4 rather quickly. The cocky boy smirks at her and shakes her hand, "I'm Marvel," he says and Clove resists rolling her eyes at the fact that his name manages to be dumber than Glimmer. The boy and girl of Four are quiet and whisper their names like secrets, Catalina and Gendry.
Peeta moves more slowly through the buffet lines. Clove watches as he picks up every piece of bread and places it on his tray. He stays longer at the last plate, staring at the small hard bread. This one he picks up in his hand and holds in front of his face. It looks unappetizing to Clove, the other breads have different flavors or interesting shapes that this bread lacks and she skipped over it without a second glance.
She arches her eyebrow in an unspoken question. What the hell are you doing Peeta? Stop being weird. He gives her a small smile and heads back to the table with his tray, which is just filled with bread. He doesn't explain but takes a bite from each one silently. Listening to the introductions and only speaking to say his name.
The others stare at him strangely and for a moment she worries that he could be jeopardizing the alliance. Even if she wouldn't mind, she doesn't want to risk more enemies early on. She shakes away the thought quickly though; this group of Careers is too weak to lose their best fighters. The fact that Peeta makes it on the list of best fighters proves that.
They whisper strategies and openly and loudly call out the weaknesses of other tributes. Many are too small or weak, some made critical mistake early on, and some were simply ugly. Clove hates the Careers as much as the other competitors, but she puts on a good show. She laughs at their jokes and doesn't threaten to murder them. Peeta doesn't really try.
By the end of the meal, they act like old friends, except him. They walk off as a group bonding over future death and destruction, all of them sure that the last heart beating will be theirs. Peeta lags behind them and when she turns to look, she sees him place the last bread on the table right in front of Katniss. Clove looks back towards the bread trays. Twelve trays. She glances at the second and sees the familiar hard rolls of her home. So that bread is from Katniss's home, District 12. And Peeta figured that out and handed it to her.
She doesn't know why he did it. And you're too afraid to ask. But she convinces herself that she doesn't care instead. Peeta and Clove separate to train. Glimmer ends up with Peeta, twirling her hair and asking how to shoot a bow and Marvel follows Clove back to the knives. They don't speak even when they head upstairs together and share a bed. Talking was never their thing and she didn't know what she was supposed to say.
The next day at lunch the Girl on Fire heads to the bread tray. She stares for a few moments and then picks up our district bread and brings it back to her table where she unceremoniously tears it into pieces and then throws it in the trash without taking a bite.
Clove smiles to herself. If that wasn't a huge fuck you Peeta, I don't know what is. She respected the girl's attitude. That didn't mean she wouldn't cut up the girl's pretty face and find a sick enjoyment in it, though. Her smile is cut short when Peeta chuckles beside her. He liked attitude, too. The girl smiles at him and it's a smile of daring and hate. But something else slips in too, but it goes by too fast for Clove to tell what it is. She was never good with understanding anything else anyways.
They are together that night and she doesn't let him stop until they are both dripping with sweat and so tired that their muscles don't seem to work properly. She holds on tightly to the only form of possession and love she knows, but lets go of him as she drifts asleep.
She wakes up when he shifts and leaves the bed. He grabs his sweats and another t-shirt, she's wearing the one he had, and walks out the door. She knows where he is going, but doesn't understand why. But she wants to understand. He had said the roof was beautiful and maybe she would like it. She wants to like it.
Clove follows his path up through the stairs, moving silently. She slowly opens the door and the cold air hits her bare legs. She curses herself for not getting pants and pulls her shirt further down her thighs. She hides behind a wall of flowers and is temporarily distracted by their colors. Bright yellow like a dandelion and red like blood. Her heart beats faster as she touches the red ones. When she pulls her hands back she expects them to be stained. Turned a dark red like his dried blood but they remain clean and the memories stay back.
She spots him through a frame of yellow flowers and she rips them apart to see better. The petals fall around her as she watches him. He is alone and the sigh of relief that escapes her was the only thing that alerted her to the fact that she was worried he wouldn't be.
He stares off the horizon and she looks around at the view. It is pretty, but she finds it weaker than his words. He described sparking cityscapes and symphony of sound while she just saw buildings and heard the honk of car horns. She picks a flower and pulls off each petal. The pollen from the flowers had stained her hands yellow and she was disappointed to realize she liked the color of red better.
The door opens to the roof and the girl walks out. Clove practically snarls until she sees Peeta looks as surprised as her.
"Hello," Peeta faces Katniss and waves his hand lightly. She looks like he trapped her, and she must be deciding whether to run back down the stairs or stay on the roof with Peeta. She looks around, which causes Clove to duck down. Katniss takes a deep breath, and steps forward.
"Hello," she replies shortly. She strides as far away down the wall as she can from him. She ends up very close to Clove's hiding spot and Clove wills herself to breathe quieter. They all remain completely silent. He leans in her direction and begins to sketch on the paper that Clove hadn't noticed before. She watches him watching her and Katniss just stares off into the lights of the city. If she had turned she probably wouldn't understand what he was doing. But Clove knew and was curious enough to want to see.
He finishes the sketch and walks over to the Girl on Fire. He hands the paper to her and reaches out with his other hand for a handshake. She takes the picture slowly, but doesn't take his hand. He lets it drop back down to his side, "I'm Peeta." She stares at the drawing, which is most certainly of her, probably beautiful and covered in flames. He would sketch Clove sometimes and she was always shrouded in darkness with a spark of light near her heart. Maybe I am on fire, too.
She takes a while to react to his words and it's with hostility, "I know," she snaps. Clove thinks of how she will be a tough kill in the arena and of little else. She is thicker than most tributes and no one gains that much arrogance without having some skill.
Peeta gives a small chuckle and lifts his hands up as if to block the hostility. "You're right. Stupid comment, I just felt like I should introduce myself," he smiles charmingly but she doesn't smile back.
"What is this? Why did you draw me?" she holds out the paper like evidence of an injustice. Her voice burns with distrust and intense dislike. Clove smiles.
"Well, I was drawing the skyline then you kind of walked into it. So I drew you, too." He points to the paper with mock serious, "See, skyline. Not everything is about you, Katniss Everdeen of District 12." He laughs to show his joke but she doesn't get it or isn't in the mood to laugh. Stupid, probably doesn't get it.
She tries to hand the paper back to him, "Well, here," her voice is still hard.
"No, no. It's yours, keep it," she starts to protest and he shakes his head. "Would you rather I kept the slightly creepy drawing of you?" Her angry face flashes to confusion and she pulls the drawing back.
She stands silent for a moment, staring at the paper and back towards Peeta. Both looks are questioning but she begins to crack a small smile, "So, you admit you are creepy."
"What? No, I didn't say that. I said the drawing of you was creepy," he points at the paper which Katniss quickly looks at again.
"I don't look creepy," she says defensively. Clove is sure his drawing is a perfect replication of her and no one wants to look creepy.
Peeta sighs, "I guess you're right. You look beautiful. You should wear flames all the time, they suit you." Clove rolls her eyes and sticks a finger in her throat to mime vomiting at his flirting. He can have his fun but she will be dead in a few days.
"Why are you talking to me?" she stares at him.
"I'm going to die soon. Why not talk to you?" he shrugs and kicks at the floor. He's nervous, Clove thinks and the thought makes her laugh. She means nothing, Peeta.
"You don't think you are going to win?" she says surprised and there is no reason for her not to be. Most Careers think they will win, especially District 2. They show nothing but confidence and violence and a lifetime of training.
"Why would I want to?" Clove barely hears his words they are so soft.
Katniss won't understand it like Clove does. She will think he is lying or not think about what it would mean for him to win. It would mean nothing for him to win except that twenty-three people had died. The girl doesn't answer; he had shocked her into silence. "It was nice meeting you, Katniss," he smiles shyly, backs up, and gives a small wave.
He leaves the roof and leaves Clove to worry about getting caught. She looks at her legs shyly for a moment before realizing that she doesn't care what an idiotic District 12 tribute thinks of her.
She gets up, resisting at pulling down the fabric of her shirt and saunters to where Katniss leans against the wall. The girl doesn't notice her at first, and Clove clears her throat while crossing her arms over her chest. Katniss looks shocked and backs a little further away into the wall. Funny, she didn't seem scared of Peeta. Clove smirks and steps closer.
"Hello," she makes sure all of her teeth show in her smile. She was trained by the likes of Enobaria and a smile can be used as a threat. Katniss swallows but then stands up straighter, she won't be threatened easily.
"Hello," her gaze drops to Clove's undressed state and she resists pulling down her shirt again. She hopes Katniss can figure out it's a man's shirt but she doesn't give her that much credit.
"It won't help, you know," Clove enters in the girl's personal space and even though she is several inches shorter she still has more weight on her and years of training. She doesn't fear the girl she has to look up at. Katniss doesn't show fear either and Clove respects her for it, but hates her a little, too.
"What won't help?" her voice is indifferent and it angers Clove even more. She snatches the drawing that Peeta made her and only glances at it for a moment to see that it is indeed beautiful, before putting it up to the force field where the current causes the paper to catch fire.
"Being the Girl on Fire," she drops the burning paper on the ground at Katniss's feet and walks toward the door that Peeta went through a minute before, proud of her moment. She runs downstairs in attempt to catch Peeta and hopefully think of a lie, or gain the ability to tell the truth. She opens her bedroom door is shocked to not find him. She checks the bathroom and then accepts that he didn't come back to her room at all. She feels relief at not getting caught but something she thinks is sadness at him leaving her for the whole night. He always stays the night. She curls into herself on the bed and pretends that she can sleep just fine.
The last day of training is uneventful. Peeta discovers the joy of painting himself to look like the environment but spends more time mixing colors to make more beautiful colors that Clove can't imagine in nature or being at all useful in the arena. Katniss Everdeen tries her hand at throwing knives and Clove grudgingly admits she isn't as bad as she thought she would be. Clove picks up a bow and snaps herself with the string. She is thankful no one was watching her, except the little District 12 boy who she frightens off with a growl.
He smiles at her from across the room but otherwise doesn't interact with her. He is friendlier to the alliance and chats easily with them. Clove watches them relax under his words and fall under the spell that is cast whenever he speaks. The only person immune to it seems to be Katniss, who avoids his gaze the entire day. It makes Clove smile.
Enobaria and Brutus talk strategy for the private session but Peeta and Clove don't really listen. They are guaranteed a good score because of their district and both are completely capable with weapons and strength. Neither really understands why the pair bothers talking, and instead they make a game of who can horrify their escort the worse. Clove drops a piece of food down her shirt and digs it out and eats it. Peeta lets out a loud burp and then spills his drink all over the table. He finally wins when he picks up his plate and licks it absolutely clean and their escort excuses himself from the table.
She goes to bed excited and almost happy. She falls asleep quickly with him beside her and being so tired from the night before. She's surprised when he wakes her up with his hands around her throat. She digs her nails into his hands and growls, "I didn't know you were into this kind of thing, Peeta," her voice is hoarse with the limited air supply and pressure around her larynx.
"Have you been following me, lover?" He asks, not responding to her quip. She rolls her eyes and takes in a bigger breath. It's like he's not even trying. She throws her knee into his crotch and flings his hands off of her. He doubles over a little at the hit but if he was really fighting her he could have held his position. They both know how empty his threats are. He owes her his life; he would never take hers.
If he was really angry, he would have avoided her. Just like she would avoid him if she were really angry. That's when her vision turns black and all she feels is rage and hatred and she would kill without thought. He settles down onto the edge of the bed, near her feet.
She is confused about his accusation though. She had followed him that night but he hadn't known then and he hadn't figured it out until now. He must have met her again on the roof. Her throat feels scratchy and it has nothing to do with his hands.
"Does it matter?" she spits out.
"No, I just never figured you for the jealous type," he smirks a little and pulls at her big toe until it cracks. She pulls it back, quickly. She hates that.
"I'm not. I was just curious. You talked about the roof a lot. I wanted to see it," it's mostly the truth and she knows he won't see the lie on her face. "Why do you talk to her?" the question slips before she can stop it and she curses herself for lack of self-control. That very rarely happens.
"I want to," his smile is sweet and she knows, full of lies that he is prepared to tell her. This was something he didn't want her touching. This is his life and he is trying to live it in the last couple of days he has. The promise is still there, though. He will make Clove a victor but she doesn't feel the usual thrill at the thought.
She shrugs nonchalantly, "Well, be careful, I wouldn't want you to catch something." He rolls his eyes and lies down next to her.
"She isn't dirty, Clove," he joins her staring at the ceiling. It's easier to pretend that everything isn't completely fucked when there isn't eye contact.
"How unfortunate for you," Clove's voice is biting and sarcastic but he hears the joke behind it. He punches her shoulder lightly and then drops his hand into hers and grips it. She finds it strange and unnerving and not something they do, and she pulls her hand out almost immediately. His sigh is almost inaudible, but she still catches it and feels like she failed some sort of test. Clove wishes she could grab his hand again, but a part of her fights it and clenches her hand into a fist instead.
A/N Sorry updating this has been so slow. I have another story and that having a bigger fanbase it takes over my writing life. Anyways, thank you for all the reviews! This has already past my goal of what I hoped to get for a rare pairing fic but I hope you guys continue and maybe catch some newbies too!
Clove/Peeta/Katniss drama! I'm hoping to keep this very slight love triangle in character. Katniss is not the type to fall for a guy in a few days especially from a rival district so don't expect crazy declarations of love or anything…
Yes, I made a Game of Thrones reference….his name is Gendry Waters. It works for District 4 lol