Chapter 25: The 74th Hunger Games: Reaping

[Summer of 74th Hunger Games]

The current school year was about to end, and my little girlfriend finished sixth grade. She told me that she was still one of the best in her class, and I was immensely proud of her. Even if that was maybe kind of weird or at least not common, Prim actually liked going to school in general, although she was not fond of all of the lessons – there were a few, like history for instance, she liked much less than others.

As every year, though, we had to dread the coming of the Reaping Day for the Hunger Games. I had had my last day of work on the day before, and I was getting a little bit antsy, knowing that Prim would be eligible for the first time this year. Of course, her odds were excellent, as she was only going to have one slip in the bowl, compared to many slips of older children, in particular those who had signed up for tesserae and thus gained additional slips. But one never knew if the odds were really in one's favor.

In addition, of course, I had one brother who was still eligible. Wheat had had his last reaping last year, but Peeta was still in danger, at his age of 16. During breakfast he mused:

"What if I am chosen?"

Father tried to rationalize: "Son, your name is only on five slips, while other have dozens of slips with their names. You should be fine."

Peeta still thought: "But what if I am? What chance would I stand, as an untrained baker's son, against the Careers?"

None of us had an answer for him. Peeta was very strong, but of course not trained for combat. While he might live through the first few days, his chances of surviving Career attacks seemed to be quite slim indeed.

The sun coming up on Reaping Day gave the impression of a nice day, although nobody around conceived it like that. Well, maybe except Effie Trinket, who had arrived in the morning with her entourage per train. She always wore so much make up that you could not really see how she looked like, besides she was too far away on the stage, although the huge screen sometimes showed a closeup. However, her pinkish hair color was clearly visible, even from the back of the square, without even looking at the enlarged view of the stage which was shown on the screen.

When I had picked up the Everdeen family in the morning, Katniss had admitted that her name was in the bowl 22 times, and Gale's even 42 times; he probably had signed up for tesserae for all of his younger siblings. Katniss had just returned from her morning hunting, and the girls were now changing into their Reaping outfit. Later on, when we left their home, Katniss had to remind her sister two or three times to 'tuck her tail in' - her blouse seemed to have a tendency to slip out from under her skirt around the back, and thus sometimes Katniss called her little sister 'Little Duck' in an affectionate way. I liked that nickname for her, but did not use it myself, as it somehow felt wrong to be using the special nickname her sister had for her.

Prim giggled and replied with a small "Quack!" when she heard her sister's comment, and to my surprise Katniss responded "Quack yourself", even with a light laugh. With her little sister, Katniss sometime was a different person altogether, more open and relaxed, and replacing her trademark scowl with a friendly smile. Nowadays, after her father had died years ago in that horrible mine accident, her little sister was the only person known to me who could make Katniss behave and feel like this.

We had to register ourselves, and those eligible for reaping were guided into the proper section by peacekeepers. Eventually the mayor stepped out and started his normal speech, talking about all of the difficult times Panem had already survived and about the honor to be selected as tribute for the Hunger Games. We all knew the history of the rebellion and the consequences which had been established following it, but the Capitol used every opportunity to hammer it into our brains again and again. As I worked with the mayor and knew something about his personality, I was aware of the fact that he did not really enjoy those tasks and speeches, but the Capitol compelled him to convey their messages. He'd better behave, or else they might appoint another mayor, a situation the current office holder was understandably trying to avoid.

When the Mayor Undersee had completed his speech, Effie started the actual reaping process with her usual words: "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!" Of course, that was always easy for Effie to say – as a citizen of the Capitol, she'd never have to step a foot in the arena, or live in one of the poor districts, like ours. She looked around and said:

"Now the time has come once again for us to select one courageous young man and woman for the honor of representing this district in the 74th annual Hunger Games. As usual, ladies first!"

She dropped her hand into the bowl for the females. Rather than quickly pulling a slip out and reading it, she made quite a show, pretending to chose carefully, and slowly pulled her hand out again. Eventually, Effie read the name on the slip:

"Primrose Everdeen"

The whole place was silent as a small girl with blond plaited hair started to step forward, and my mind needed a few seconds to process the information. When I had finally grasped the fact that my girlfriend's name had been called out and that it was her slowly walking towards the stage, I almost felt my heart standing still; I found myself almost unable to breath, and I was close to fainting, right here on the town square. Like through a mist, dampening all voices, I could hear Effie encouraging her: "Well, come on up!"

Right away, though, there was another female voice frantically shouting out: "Prim, Prim, no! I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!"

This exclamation partially cleared my shock, and I noticed Katniss moving forward. Of course she would volunteer for her sister she loved so much. Effie's surprise was visible even through the make-up – nobody ever volunteered in District Twelve! Nevertheless, the voice had been clear, and Effie slowly continued to talk, once she had recovered from the surprise:

"Um, normally volunteers are supposed to wait until I ask for them, but this won't change things, so please come forward, my girl."

My heartbeat had slowly returned to almost normal by now, and my breathing worked mostly fine again. The peacekeepers opened a path for Katniss to step forward, and slowly she approached the stage. While Katniss moved, Prim ran towards her and wrapped her arms around her sister's body and did not want to let her go, but Gale was close and dragged the crying and wiggling girl off, just before the peacekeepers were going to intervene. I did not have a chance to join them at this time, as those like me, out of reaping age, were strictly separated from the potential tributes.

When Katniss had stepped on the stage, Effie still looked a little bit confused, but soon talked to her:

"District Twelve's very first volunteer, I believe – what a surprise. Tell me, what's your name, my dear?"

"Katniss Everdeen"

"Well, and I bet that the young girl you volunteered for is your sister, right?"

"Yes"

"Let's have a big hand for our very first volunteer, Katniss Everdeen!"

Effie started to clap, but nobody joined in, and the audience only showed silence. From far behind where I was standing, it appeared that some of the Seam residents further forward symbolized something with their fingers, but I could not see that clearly, and maybe it had just been my imagination.

Effie Trinket seemed not to mind the missing reaction and proceeded:

"And now for the boys."

She stepped towards the other bowl, and same as before, she took a very long time to select a slip and very slowly pulled it out of the bowl. Finally she opened the slip and read the name:

"Peeta Mellark"

Almost like before, I felt my heart almost stopping – my youngest brother? Why was that fair? My father, who stood next to me, reached out for my hand, and I pressed it firmly. Wheat leaned into him from the other side, as I saw. Meanwhile, Peeta stepped forward, looking brave and confident – how did he manage to do that in such a situation? – and soon he was on the stage, too. Effie asked for volunteers, but this time there weren't any, of course. I might have volunteered for him, not sure, but I was far beyond reaping age.

"Here we are," Effie talked on, "our tributes from District Twelve. Well, come on, shake hands, you two!"

A confident looking Peeta and a scowling Katniss did as she suggested, and Effie ended the ceremony with some more phrases and the usual words: "Happy Hunger Games!"

The two tributes were rushed inside the building, and soon there was going to be an hour or so available for visitors. Meanwhile, though, I needed to find Prim. Gale had fortunately taken care of her when I had not been able to get close, and now, as we could move again, he made his way towards me, Prim still in his arms. I nodded to him, conveying my thanks for taking care of my girlfriend, and he dropped her into my arms.

"Ryan," Gale said, "this is a sad day for us all. For myself, I have been lucky, as this was my last reaping. However, I would have never wanted Katniss to have to go. But I guess there is time to mourn later on – some of us may want to say our 'Good Byes'."

I could see in his face that he was sure that this was the final 'Good Bye' - were not going to ever see one of the two again, alive, except for the scenes shown on the screen prior to the games.

"You are right, Gale" I replied. "Thank you very much for taking care of Prim out there, and my congratulations to you for surviving the reaping age. Let's go to the Justice Building."

Close to the entrance I also met my father and Wheat again. My grandfather, Dad's father, who had already died when I was a toddler, had established a tradition a long time ago to visit each tribute and hand over a small bag with cookies, and Dad had taken that over as part of the bakery duties and habits. Although he was practically in tears, we had our obligations and went in as soon as we were allowed to. While Prim wiggled herself out of my arms and ran over to her mother to see Katniss off, my brother, father and I had first access to Peeta.

Between his tears, Dad told him:

"Listen, son, you are a smart boy. You are strong, and you are wise. If possible, try to hide, and pick your own fights."

"Dad," he replied, "you know as well as I do that I will not come back. However, at the very least I will have a short time together with Katniss, and I will do everything I can to help her getting back alive. If I succeed in doing that, I am going to be happy."

Wow, that was quite some dedication, but I could understand his point of view. This also explained why he looked more confident than wary; he had finally managed to get some time with Katniss. We talked a little more, but our five minutes were over quickly and we had to go again. I saw a few of Peeta՚s schoolmates lined up for a visit, and Delly was there, of course; Madge Undersee was waiting to see Katniss off. Father and I also lined up to see Katniss, to deliver the cookies at least. When it was our turn, I looked the girl into the eyes and said:

"I know that you volunteered to save Prim, and I am very thankful for that. Be assured that she will be in good hands with your mother and me, and I will do my best to comfort her." ('once you are dead', I did not add, of course).

Before we had to leave again, she showed us the small mockingjay pin she had received from her friend Madge, the mayor's daughter.

One hour later, the tribute train left the district, and most citizens relaxed, as they and their families had been spared this year. I found Prim again, and we went home to the Everdeen residence. Both Prim and her mother were in tears, and Mabel Everdeen told me when she had calmed down:

"Ryan, I have spoken to my good friend, Hazelle Hawthorne; she offered to take me in for the duration of the Games and comfort me, and I really need her. Can you please be there for Prim? I am afraid that I won't be a good mother for her at this time, and she probably needs you as much as you need her."

I fully understood and nodded, and indeed, she was quite right assuming that Prim and I both needed to be close to each other for comfort.

"With your permission," I said, "I will take her to the bakery. We could stay here in your house, but Dad needs me, too."

Mrs. Everdeen nodded and went into her room to get packed. I helped Prim to pack what she needed, and half an hour later the Everdeen home was empty and would most likely stay empty until the Games ended.

Coming home, I found my father in the living room, with his hands covering the face. I told him that Prim would be staying with me, but he just sobbed. Prim, although devastated herself, had a good idea:

"Jacob, I know how it feels. You have lost a son, and I have lost a sister. Let's stick together and comfort each other when we need it."

She gave him a warm hug, until Dad looked at her and tried to smile a little:

"Primrose, I really like you, and I am glad that you are here. By the way, how does your mother cope?"

"She is going to spend some time with Mrs. Hawthorne, and hopefully this will help."

My girlfriend and I went up to my room – despite me having a job, I still lived here above the bakery and had not bothered yet to find my own place to live – and we found a place for her bag. I had already set aside a drawer in my dresser for her to use for some of the clothes when she was around, but Prim did not bother to unpack; she just dropped her bag on the floor and planted herself on the bed face down.

I had to remind her, though:

"Prim, haven't I told you about not to be in or on the bed with clothes on?"

She looked up and suddenly smirked: "Oh really? Isn't that quite forward of you to say?"

I was confused for a moment and then blushed and replied: "Oh, this did not come over as intended. Let me rephrase that: You are only supposed to be in bed when you wear your nightwear."

My little girlfriend smiled, and obviously I had at least been able to distract her from her thoughts, although this had happened by accident.

Obediently she grabbed her PJ shirt and shorts from the bag and hurried into the bathroom. Apparently, all she needed was resting, and probably supper was not important. As a matter of fact, supper was also not an issue or a need for me on this sad day, and I went down to tell my family about it. I was not alone feeling like that, and both Wheat and Dad decided to also retire early.

Thus I went back upstairs; Prim was already done in the bathroom and under the covers now, so that I did my bathroom chores as well. I lifted the covers, got down next to my girlfriend, wrapped one of my arms around her, and spread the cover over both of us. She rested her head on my chest right away, so that the smell from her hair filled my nostrils, and within minutes we were both asleep, mercifully forgetting the events of the day at least for now.

[WARNING: The following final section of this chapter has some references to private body parts. I hope that it is still good enough to maintain the 'T' rating, but be warned – skip if you do not like that.]

I was happily cleaning myself in the shower, humming a song. While doing so, I thought of Prim, imagining her some years in the future as a young adult, and my body started to react to my thoughts. This did not really bother me, as I was in the shower all alone, and I started to touch myself. Before I could complete my task, though, the shower curtain parted and Prim stepped in, joining me. She looked down, noticed what I was doing, and smiled at me, suggesting: "Oh Rye, let me help with you with getting clean!". When she was just getting started, it suddenly dawned on me that something was wrong, and I started to protest: "Prim, no, what are you doing? You are too young for that!". This did not deter her, though, and I started to wiggle. "Stop wiggling!" I was told, and: "I am helping you to get clean!" I protested again, and suddenly she was gone and a dark skinned adult woman appeared, seemingly out of nowhere; a few moments later I heard something like 'the baker's penis is clean now!'. I was somewhere between enjoying and getting confused, when suddenly Prim was back, grabbed me at the shoulders and shook me – what was that for? The environment started to blur…

and I woke up in my bed. Prim shook me, apparently trying to get me awake, and I asked:

"Prim, what's wrong? Why don't you let me sleep?"

"Rye, you must have had a bad dream. You started to wiggle, and you shouted a few times 'Prim, you are too young!', so that I decided to try to wake you up. What was your dream about? Was I in danger and you tried to rescue me?"

I opened my eyes, noticed her concerned face next to me in the dark room, with some moonlight shining in through the window which was not covered by a curtain, and suddenly I recalled the dream I had just had. Not only that, but my body sported an early morning erection, which was not really surprising after that kind of dream. Prim must be feeling it, as she had one of her legs wrapped half way around my hip. Both reason enough for me to blush, and I was happy that Prim could probably not see that in the semi-darkness.

"Rye," she asked when I failed to respond to her questions, "why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

"Oh Prim, this is really embarrassing, you know, and I do not know how to start."

"Come on Rye, it's only me here; you can tell me."

Although it was really hard to do, she was right; she was my girlfriend, and even more, we had a very trustful relationship. Even if it was indeed very embarrassing for me, I'd better tell her, and so I tried:

"The dream actually started very nice, with me being in the shower and cleaning myself. While doing that, I was thinking about you and how nice it would be if you joined me, and in my dream you actually did."

"That's a nice dream, and that's not a reason to get embarrassed. As soon as we are married, I plan to do that anyway. You know, the way you touch my hair and sometimes massage the skin under it, I imagine that I'd enjoy you working shampoo into my hair, for instance."

Well, this was quite something to look forward to, and I continued:

"But not only that, I had, in the dream, started to touch myself, and then you came in and saw that! I recalled that you are too young, and I shouted that."

"Ah, that's why you shouted about me being too young, I see."

"But, don't you get it? I dreamed about you being in the shower with me, all nude!"

I decided to not mention the dark skinned woman which had briefly appeared in my dreams, too, but I had already forgotten how she had looked like – only Prim was on my mind.

"Yes, I get it, but again, what's wrong about it? I mean, dreaming about it, at least? I have my own dreams as well, you know."

"You think so?" I looked confused; I had not expected that admission.

"Not sure if you have noticed, Rye," Prim continued, "but my body starts to change. Have you recently looked at my chest?"

I cleared my throat a few times before I could reply:

"Well, it looks like something is changing there, indeed."

Prim shook her head, apparently amused about my careful wording, and told me:

"Yes, there is – I am starting to grow boobs, finally. And with that, my feelings also start to develop further, and I get the first vague ideas about how it might feel when we can really be together, and this sometimes does impact my dreams. Rye, silly, I'd be very disappointed if you did not dream of me from time to time at least!"

"Okay, I get it, but dreams like that confuse me. Specifically, if they result in certain parts of my body showing a reaction, and your body getting to feel that, too!"

Prim looked down towards her leg being around me and the bulge in my pants which was clearly visible for both of us. She looked at my face again and asked:

"Rye, are you seriously concerned about me noticing what you've got in your pants?"

I nodded silently while blushing even more, and Prim commented on that:

"Oh Rye, this is so sweet, but totally unnecessary. You do recall that I am a healer's daughter, right? Mum told me about that part of a man's body and what sometimes happens, and from what I have been told and what I understand about that kind of reaction, I'd have a reason to be disappointed if that did not happen at least from time to time when you are close to me!"

Thinking about that, she did have a point, as she usually did. The one thing we found out together was that cuddling with each other and talking about our feelings made us forget our recent troubles very efficiently. Despite Prim՚s statement, though, I made sure to position our bodies in a way so that there was some distance between my morning wood and her body.

Being together and close to each other helped immensely to cope with the situation and our worries about Katniss and Peeta, at least until morning dawned and our stomachs started to growl in harmony. Well, we had skipped dinner…

[Author's Notes: Here we go – two loved ones in the Hunger Games together! I will do my best to describe how the Everdeen and Mellark families deal with that, but I do not know how good this attempt is going to be.

Regarding Rye՚s and Prim՚s behavior together, I hope that I am not taking it too far here, and I sure do not want Rye come over as a pedophile. However, he is a young and healthy male adult, and having certain erotic dreams is probably quite normal. In real life, those topics would not likely be discussed with a twelve year old girl, true, but this is fiction after all, and I do not claim at all that this is a reflection of what real life is or should be. I am also quite sure that Prim, as a healer's daughter, had already been educated about certain aspects of a male body by her well meaning mother before, even at her tender age.

I believe that the language in the last section is on par with movies like 'Coming to America', where I have borrowed a phrase from a very early scene, and this one is rated '12+' in Germany where I live, so that should be all right with my 'T' story rating. Please let me know if I am wrong.]