Intricate Strokes, Delicate Precision

Option D

By: KaKaVegeGurl

Author's Note:

See, see what going to werk does? I get away from my family and BAM! I wrote. Gosh I need to werk more... What does this say about me?

Want to buy a solo shack out in the middle of nowhere where my family CAN'T find me. And TristAn can just cook me delicious things. I would write this all fucking day, all fucking week. Even on the holidays.

So, from you guys...

Basically, what I got from my readers... Is that ALL of you, not one excluded... Like dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and either tan or average colored skin on a person.

Is this like–Is this odd that all of you like PEETA? O.o Who's a blond, with blue eyes?

Heh.

So when you all read (REED, REID) my Trilogy, Only Skin, yer gonna like Ben Rowley a LOT, or at least KNOW him. Because he has dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and tanned skin. And he just FIT IN HERE. So I threw him into the mix.

I took a while to make this chapter as... Believable? As possible. And as beautiful as possible.

I'm sorry it took forever coming out, that seems to be life at the moment. But I hope I do all of your characters some justice (I think the only one here is Little Asian's, so far). And I hope you enjoy seeing them come to life in my writing.

Every single one of you should be able to pinpoint yer own characters in here, without their names being added. (Granted they'll have their names mentioned ANYWAYS)

AND, fer you ALL specifically, feel special. Because I'm going to take Ben Rowley... FROM MY BOOK, and throw him in here with yer characters, to join the onslaught of brunette/brown eyes love going on in my fans.

Mmm... William Shatner... I mean...

Yeah, the brown eyes, brown hair, tan skin... That is an ingenious set of colors there. I'm not even being sarcastic. I think it's fucking hot.

OH, and... Bold time: If you haven't submitted a character yet, feel free to do so, YOU STILL CAN. If you want ANOTHER, that's cool too. You can also submit people from the other Districts, runaways.

I'll take them ALL.

And welcome a new reader/reviewer to the mix! FeetofFire, looking forward to having you along fer the rest of ISDP. ^^

OH, AND... XP Uh, Dexter this week? Yeah? Yeah? Travis, wtfffff.

So, ehem, anyways.

Without further ado, please enjoy this chapter, I hope you do, and read on! Have a nice steaming cup of yaoi!

~KaKaVegeGurl (A)

Side Notes:

None.

Chapter 8 - Right Thing To Do

I set down our bags in the corner of the room after Oeric leaves us to prepare the people here for company. There's an awkward silence between Katniss and I as we look around our quarters, as we inspect the walls and cabinets.

You'd think it was a real home.

It could be as convincing as our homes in the Victor's Village. Like we've just walked from an outside hall... Into a home.

There's a living room, with a tv, couch, counter, even a small table. There's a kitchen, where I quickly set into putting away our food supplies, and it's complete with a stove, a microwave, a refrigerator and various other things that I have yet to explore.

It's a two bedroom home, fit for a couple, or a family of three.

Katniss starts to pull off her shoes after checking the bathroom out, she sits down on the bed and begins to undress.

"I feel like someone should be living here already," She says softly, "The place looks well prepared."

I move forward, help her shoes from her feet and set them beside the bed. "They've been here for years, I can imagine how they've probably assigned people to clean the rooms. But how are they eating? Where are they growing the food?"

Katniss shrugs and stands up, "Well, the shelves are stocked–"

"There's fresh vegetables out on the counter by the sink," I mention, "Maybe they prepared some of the rooms for people running from the districts."

Katniss nods, helping herself out of her clothes. Her swelling stomach is more than obvious when she raises her arms to pull off her shirt.

I reach forward, help to free her braid and allow my hands to graze her shoulders, thumbs pulling the straps of her bra down and then reaching around to snap the clasp.

"I don't know what to think right now," Katniss says, resting her head on my chest, hands reaching up to take away her bra.

"I know," I agree, "It's a lot to take in."

I feel her breath against my right peck before she begins helping me from my button-up.

Together, we strip clean of our clothes and move into the bathroom, locking the door behind us. She's already turned on the shower to heat up and I guide her under the steady stream of warm water, her freed hair soaking down.

"I love you," I tell her, holding her body close to mine, feeling her large stomach pressing to my waist, "That's all I need to know."

Katniss smiles weakly, leaning up to accept my kiss.

We've showered and dressed, and I take Katniss's hand before we leave the bedroom part of the place.

Once we enter the living room, however, we're surprised to see Oeric sitting on the couch, waiting for us. His arms are crossed over his chest and he smiles wide.

"You two hungry?"

I nod and Katniss responds with a soft: "Yes."

Oeric stands up, "We don't all normally eat together, but when we get new people, it's hard not to. Otherwise, though, for lunch and breakfast, dinner and snacks, you just eat in here. You two both eat meat, right?"

Katniss raises a brow, "Yeah, is that not normal?"

Oeric grins ear to ear, "It's normal to eat meat, but some of the people that have come in... don't."

It's an odd thought, the second he says it, and it never occurred to me that anyone wouldn't eat meat, but I shrug and go along with it.

"Where is your food grown?" I ask suspiciously.

Oeric leads us from our room, locking it behind us, "They'll explain it later, but it's like these labs underground where they have soil and stuff, it's all very scientific, I'm sure that you'll learn most of everything when you meet the board, that's how it normally goes. Until then, just enjoy yourselves."

Everything I see after he says this makes what I imagined inside of my mind pale in comparison. The sight we get when we reach the end of the hall, and he opens the entrance doors to let us out, literally takes my breath away.

Katniss gasps before going completely silent, and I probably don't do any better than her, honestly.

The first thing I take note of is that the floor beneath us has changed, and it's unlike any sort of stone or metal, rock, or cement. It feels soft under the soles of my shoes, almost like clay. Whatever it is, has been carved down into. Wide circles, lines connecting, making the floor itself look like a large canvas.

Large rounded pillars reach up to the ceiling, dark and black, and unknown, also having the carving in them done artistically, carefully placed down to match the floor below them.

I don't know what I was expecting, I can't even imagine it now. Maybe something less... Advanced. Maybe something almost prehistoric. But this could make Panem sweat in comparison. This would buckle Snow's knees.

The vast levels of walkway, not ladders, or steps, or something trivial. There are large bridges that stretch above us to reach other floors, elevators that are see through and land with a soft cushion of air, sounding like someone's taken a breath.

Another thing that surprises me is the amount of greenery and water on display. Plants I've never seen before, lining the short walls, trees planted in the center of the ground with a circle of grass and flowers to keep them company amongst the vast stretch of this soft cemented floor. Both seem to compliment one another.

And just in front of me, after the walk ends, and the ground dips down into... What I can only guess are levels below me, there pours a gentle stream of water from another floor above us. Just a line of water falling, ending out below.

The people that walk around are wearing blue sort of soft suits that I can only guess are comfortable. Uniform, sort of, with long tight arms and form fitting before the pants, which are loose and end with log boots.

One thing stands out most about them though. All with a soft shade of browned hair, skin tanned just slightly, eyes that watch us are also brown. They could all be twins if you went by just that. And even the women seem to have short cut hair. None of them pass without looking at us, smiling, and greeting.

There are others around that don't wear the uniform though, which makes me think that the ones that are, are some sort of group, society of people, or militia.

Katniss's hand in mine grips tight once to catch my attention and I look down to her.

"Yes?"

She stares up at me, wide eyes amazed, soft smile playing with her lips.

"What do you think?" Oeric asks finally.

"It's beautiful," I answer, as honest as possible, "They're gonna be disappointed when they see the world above, though, this is a spoil."

"Maybe," Oeric laughs, "You say that, of course, but imagine having never seen the sky."

The thought terrifies me.

When sunset is my favorite color. And, though this underworld is captivating, lush, healthy even, it's missing the sun and the sky.

Once I've thought it inside my head though, something startles me to realize–

"What keeps everything illuminated, if we're underground?" I ask nervously, interrupting my own train of thought.

Oeric moves forward and motions for us to follow him. He turns to face us and then points above.

I join him, turning around and looking up.

Against the wall, bright enough to glow, soft around the edges, buried against the sidewall of the floor above us, is a long band of light. Almost sunlight, bright, and warm.

"It's what tans the people," Oeric mentions offhandedly, "If you haven't wondered how everyone has relatively darker skin, and been underground for years, it's not genetic. They made it a while back, took them a while, but when they turned it into a goal, they achieved it," He explains, "The board will say all of this, of course. But I figured it'd be a treat, for now. And it's kind of hard to hide. It's also startling if someone doesn't warn you first."

"It's amazing," Katniss says in surprise, "It's just like the sun."

"That's exactly what it is," A voice from behind us says.

We turn back, taking our eyes from the light and it's a moment of waiting for the adjustment to normal after staring into the bright white and yellow.

"Kurgan," Oeric says, grinning wide and stretching out his hand in greeting.

The two shake and 'Kurgan', an average looking man with the same dark eyes, dark hair, and tanned skin as others, smiles wide; his eyes nearly closing as he does so, "Two new people?"

"Not just any people," Oeric begins to explain, "Both of these, I think you've heard about."

The man before us raises a hand and holds it out to me, "No need for introductions, of course. Long brown braid, traditional, Katniss Everdeen and her famous Mockingjay pin; the girl on fire. And sandy blond hair, tall, strong. Peeta Mellark, artist and baker. I believe you were 'lucky' to have been drawn into the first games, right?" He says, glancing at us both.

His sharp knowledge, and vast array of it cause my stomach to flip nervously. And I'm unsure if I should take it as sarcasm, warning, or just curiosity on his part.

I receive his grip and the shake is gentle, patient, almost as welcoming as his eyes. The intelligence in them nearly startles me, and gone is the feeling of someone trying to attack, to harm, like Snow or Coin. This is a feeling I should've had when I first landed in District 13. Hope, potential, possibilities.

His smile nearly doubles while he stares back at me, his thin frame straight as a board and he bows his head, "It's nice to finally meet you both." Our hands part and he takes Katniss's, "I've heard so much about the two of you. So much."

Oeric is beaming at us, nearly as blinding as the band of light, hands on his waist as he watches the interaction.

Katniss stares up at Kurgan and finally asks: "How do you know so much about Peeta? Me, that wouldn't be so much of a surprise, but Peeta?"

"I've probably heard more about your... Husband?" He asks and I nod, "Than most would expect, honestly. A friend of yours, Madge, has told me things, and there's a good few others we've taken in that have talked about the trips into the games, where Peeta Mellark professed his love, put his life on the line to prove it, lost his leg, and nearly died countless times just to save you."

Oeric looks surprised suddenly, "Lost his leg?"

Kurgan nods, "I'd like to see that."

Katniss raises a brow, and I agree with her suspicion. Though he's kind, I decide to question, just in case, "From what I've heard, not many of you would know about me," I say, looking at Oeric beside us, "Why do you know so much, and your people don't? And Katniss's father? He didn't seem to know much either."

Kurgan's smile does drop, but he puts a hand on my shoulder and motions us to walk with him, and as we do, he begins to explain things.

"I remember the first time I heard your name," He says, calm voice as he brings us around the left side of the bridge and opening before us, "Peeta Mellark. That's what I'd heard a woman say, she'd come from District 5, if you believe it. You were the only name she would mention besides Katniss, of course," And he looks back at my wife, "I already knew her. But when she mentioned you were in the games with Katniss Everdeen... Well, that caught my attention."

Attention?

"The girl in question," He continues, "Had arrived to us nearly two months after your first games. And I make it my main priority to know everything I can about the outside, as much as I feel I should learn, as much as anyone else that comes from there. And the first thing that really got to me about you, was how kind they would say you were. Charming, gentle, but strong and smart. You fought for your love, and you succeeded, twice. I knew games only left one alive, of course, but the thought that you had made it through with her, for her, that caught me." Kurgan motions to himself, "You're a person of movement, and that's more powerful than you can even begin to imagine, Peeta. But it's dangerous, too."

"So you want to use me as a weapon?" I guess, just like everyone else. That's disappointing.

"Oh," Kurgan looks at me with surprise, "No. No, I don't touch weapons. I don't manipulate or speculate about anything. I don't leave that to chance. But I have an idea I've been crafting around; hobby-like. And, if I could suggest it to you, I think you'll agree. If I know you so well, that is."

"You've never met me."

He smiles, "No, I haven't, unfortunate, I know. But I also know how much your wife matters to you, and that child, judging on your actions and past experience. And I want to help the world above. We just need you, that's all."

I stop walking, startling him a little, and then I stare into his eyes, directly in, to get as much of the truth from them as possible, "What exactly are you after here, Kurgan?"

To his credit, his face, expression, eyes, and smile don't even falter, not for a moment. He just blushes a bit instead, "It's nothing bad, Peeta. We're not the enemy. Not at all. We just want your voice to help convince the rest of the board–"

"You couldn't do that already on your own?" I challenge, "Who's in charge here?"

"I am."

Another voice, yet another voice to startle everyone, but we should've seen him coming because he's just walking from in front of us, not bothering to hide. A similar man joins the group standing here out on the walkway.

He's tall, broad shouldered with a pronounced jaw and sharp teeth, intimidating. The scars littering his body, pale against the rest of his skin, don't help to make ease of his presence, one in particular below his right temple must've been a mortal wound when it happened. But he's just my height, so I don't have to look up to him. His dark brown eyes are as equally gentle and harmless as Kurgan's. They could be brothers, easily.

"Kurgan," He says, putting his hand on the other man's shoulder, "This wasn't necessary, not at all. You should've just taken them to breakfast."

"I didn't want the board to approach him all at once," Kurgan begins to excuse himself, "That's too much for him to take on alone. Twenty-five people asking him to do this, I wanted to give him some sort of heads up, at least. Who knows if I'd have gotten a second chance."

The other man nods slowly, not looking stern in the least, "Neither of us have been properly introduced," He says, eyes wondering to Katniss's stomach, "Kurgan Naisa, here, is my second in command. And I'm Ben Rowley. None of us are entirely in charge of Adler, but I would be the person you came to if you had a serious problem; like talking to my board, scheduling a meeting of sorts, trying to convince us to go upland, that kind of thing."

Second in command. Ben, Kurgan, Adler.

"Adler?" I ask.

"Surely the underground has a name," Ben says, joking and inviting, "Adler was the company, people couldn't seem to get past their history. So we named it that. I guess it fit at the time, though times have changed."

I watch Kurgan, the expression of reverence and respect he's giving Ben. It's not a look of malice, or has any sign of flaw to it from what I can detect. He actually is fine with being second.

"So the board leads together?" I ask, turning to Ben finally.

This is a man of weight. He's not stone cold or dark, not even threatening. But I can tell, just by the way he carries himself, that the spot he's gotten wasn't because of politics or deceit. He's like me. Just like me, maybe.

"Yes," He says, motioning for us to take seats outside, and I expect him to stand over us, but he sits right down beside Katniss and I, and smiles out to the waterfall.

This is when I notice that there are no people wondering around anymore.

Not a single one.

Ben starts on before I can ask though, "Our board is brought together to represent as many different mind sets as we can. Kurgan is the sort of military training, hands on of our group. I'm public relations, communication. We have others that are either more technical, habitual, ritual, physical, creative, they have their own fields, and they're the best. We've added on Oeric Everdeen to represent the outside as much as we can, and one other, Madge, for 12 specifically."

This is the second mentioning of her, and it comforts me to know that Madge is still alive.

"We also have three of our board of different ages, an older, more wizened of our... Less practiced. A young woman, and a child of fifteen years old," Ben says softly, staring at the waterfall still and then finally looking at me directly, "They're exchanged every year, the civilians. And their predecessors are gotten back to as much as possible. It's a well-established community of people keeping their eyes out for the betterment of each other."

"It sounds like you've got it figured out," I supply, almost sarcastically.

"People aren't machines," Ben defends himself, seeing where I'm coming from, and he stands up, "They're messy, they get sick, they get sad, they fall in love. The community changes, everyone goes through hard and easy times, both on their own and together. The ones put in charge need to be just as human as they are. We try to keep it that way, keep it personal. People are very personal, Peeta. And so are we."

Kurgan almost looks willing to disagree, shaking his head, but Ben knowingly reaches back to him and rests his hand on the other man's shoulder, "It's not like that."

"Then what's it like?" I question, "I'm sorry to ask, but I'm–"

"Looking for a flaw?" Ben smiles and shakes his head, "Every human has flaws, many, many, many flaws. An overwhelmingly, unimaginable, varied amount of flaws, trust me when I tell you that I know that. We have flaws, our board does, our choices do. We're human, what do you expect?"

And I honestly couldn't give an answer to that. He's right. The guy's thought of everything.

Kurgan shrugs Ben's hand from his shoulder, "I disagree, but we both agree to that," He supplies to me finally, allowing out his own opinion, "To me, things are form, things should be structured. But that's why I am where I am, that's why I stand for military, not public relations. I don't communicate properly."

"And surprisingly, you're in a relationship, and I'm not," Ben jokes, and I see the brotherhood between them, the comfort they take each other with, humor, friendship, belonging.

They're open with us, but I'm curious if that extends to the public I've seen already.

I'm curious to find out if they announce things, if they treat the people like 'people'. Do they allow opinion from more than just their board?

"Are you two brothers?" Katniss finally asks, smiling sheepishly.

Ben and Kurgan look at each other before they both shake their heads.

"Alright," I give in, "You've got me curious. I'll meet the board, I'll see them, but I'm not making any promises, is that understood?"

Ben smiles wide again and takes my hand, "It's your choice, Peeta. You can stay here as a civilian, you can leave if you want, you can join the board, if offered. We're not binding you. We're not a jail."

Unlike District 13.

Ending Notes:

Sorry it took a little longer, but I plan to make it up. Of course, everyone's original characters WILL be making an appearance. And soon. I've got it all planned out pretty much from here on out.

Just wait fer it, and until then... You can tell me what you think. I'm not kidding, I love reviews. And I'd love to hear from you... And you, and you too. I love you guys. It's been quiet.

~KaKaVegeGurl