abugsaunt- Hehee, thanks! Peeta's fighting it, but he's definitely succumbing to Cato fever. I'm pretty sure I've been sick with Cato fever for a long time now so I can't blame him.
SLASHMONSTER eatin yo boys up- Haha, my Spanish is a little rusty but I get where you're coming from. Did you read ch.16 yet?
Pale Is The New Tan- No worries, you're certainly not obligated to always review, but I appreciate every single one of them.
Guest- Yep yep, they are slowly but surely progressing and having plenty of "fun" while they do it.
DrarryFrerard- Glad you like it! And thanks for still sticking with me.
Abysslullaby- I'm gonna say that Peeta has trust issues because of the whole "possessive Career" vibe that he's been getting from Cato since the day they first met. But Cato's working on that. Of course that wasn't the last chapter! No way I could let it end like that :)
MangoMagic- Yay! You seem to enjoy the parts of the story that I enjoy writing the most, which makes them even more fun to write! I write these pretty quickly so I don't forget (I fall asleep plotting out the next chapter after every time I post lol) and that one line of Cato's was a last second add-on when I read it over once before posting. I'm glad you deemed it worthy!
CupcakeSprinkles14- Update is here! Peeta's too hard-hearted (and hard-headed lol) to see what the rest of us easily see between him and Cato.
sundragons- I, too, share your opinion greatly lol. After all, variety is the spice of life! Rough and gentle creates a perfect balance.
Possessed4evr- Welcome! Thanks so much for giving my story a chance. I'm very ecstatic that I managed to exceed expectations. It really means a lot to hear how much you like it. Your review made me so happy :)
Peeta and Cato arrived at dinner several minutes later and split up to join their individual groups. Peeta ate with Boggs and Mitchell again. They just glared at him like disapproving parents with the bruises on his neck already forming. Cato went and sat with his Career pack. As Cato joined Clove and Marvel with his tray of food, Clove had more than just light dinner conversation to discuss with him.
"Finally! You were right behind us when we went to go eat, and somehow you managed to get here more than 15 minutes after us. I wonder what on earth could have gotten you so sidetracked?" Her voice dripped with sweet sarcasm. "So, Cato, did you work up an appetite?"
"Shove it, Clove," Cato retorted with an evil smile. "You're not getting any juicy details from me. Besides, it seems you have your own affairs to deal with." Cato grinned as he pointed his fork back and forth between Marvel and her. "Aren't you and Marvel sitting mighty close? I mean, you're practically sitting in his lap."
Marvel winked as Clove's eyes grew wide and she immediately slid her butt across the bench to distance herself as she glared, embarrassed, at Cato. "Whatever, you ass. Why don't you go and eat dinner with your boyfriend?"
"He's not my boyfriend," Cato mumbled, flustered.
"Ha!" Clove laughed in amusement. Marvel just tilted his head and raised his eyebrows in disbelief at the brute. "How on earth can you manage to sit here and eat when your mouth is so busy spouting all that bullshit out of it?"
"Just drop it, okay?" Cato was getting angry now. "It's none of your business. You two just worry about your own obvious sexual tension with each other before you start sticking your nose into other people's problems."
The awkward tension at the Career table was palpable after that until military officials brought in a projector to show their new propo to the citizens. The packed room hushed as the propo was projected on a blank wall of the dining hall. It was footage of the training center rescue mission, including Peeta and his decoy squad. It showed the explosion of the warehouse and the fight that took place when peacekeepers arrived. It was a very intense cinematic piece, dramatically shot by some artistic cameramen. Bold music with majestic horns played in the background and at the end, as hovercrafts came to collect the triumphant rebels, the screen went black with the words, "The Capitol Can't Stop Us." When the projector shut off, the silence was broken as the whole dining room stood and cheered for all the soldiers and their success. Peeta's face burned with embarrassment from all the attention but deep down, he still liked the propo. It was the first time he saw himself on television and he thought he looked pretty badass strapped with a machine gun. He looked over at Cato to see a beaming smile meant just for him. The same heat returned, coursing through Peeta's body, but he didn't fight it away this time. For just a second, he indulged in all the wonderful sensations of this moment. It was cut short though as Boggs tugged on his sleeve to get him up and follow as they were finished with dinner. Cato watched Peeta and the two other men leave and he smirked with a bit of guilt when he noticed the younger blonde still hobbling a bit. Maybe he was a little too rough back at that alcove.
After dinner, the tributes were informed that they and the other soldiers had the rest of the evening off in celebration of an amazing propo. Cato decided to go check on Peeta's "condition" and discovered that finding the boy was a difficult task. It was like a game of hide-and-go-seek in the endless maze of hallways. The Career enlisted the help of district 13's few children that were running around. They had spotted Peeta earlier and pointed the Career to an elevator that took him to a special floor. The entire floor was an underground greenhouse. The special light sources above provided artificial sunshine to the wide arrange of crops and flowers growing spectacularly well. Cato walked the endless grounds in amazement at such technology and ingenuity until he came upon a small orchard. Sitting on a bench under an orange tree was Peeta with a sketch pad resting on his knees. The boy looked deep in concentration as he scribbled on the pad with a colored pencil. Another pencil was behind his ears and he was chewing lightly on another in his mouth. Cato crept up behind him and peeked over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of the younger boy's art. It was a drawing of a beautiful sunset descending beneath a lush green forest. It looked almost like a photograph.
"Hey! That's really good!" Cato exclaimed with shock and delight. The sudden outburst made Peeta jump and he turned to the intruder, startled, as he took the pencil out of his mouth.
"Shit! Don't sneak up on people like that! We're not in the arena anymore, remember?"
Cato gave him an apologetic expression as he sat down on the bench next to the smaller blonde. Peeta just smiled before continuing. "Anyway, you know I'm a baker who decorates cakes and you've seen my camouflage, so you can't be too surprised that I like to draw."
"Still," Cato spoke, "it's really good." He noticed Peeta went back to absentmindedly chewing on his pencil. "Wow, you really chew that thing up good, don't ya?"
Peeta looked down and removed the pencil again. "Oh, yeah, it's a bad habit of mine. I do that with all my pencils. When Boggs first saw me do it he said I must have some type of 'oral fixation.' I guess it means I love putting things in my mouth."
Cato's eyebrows raised in amused delight.
Peeta gasped as his own words sank in. "What? Ahh! I didn't mean it like that! Oh god!" His blush burned brighter than ever as he slapped himself on the forehead.
Cato busted out laughing at the younger blonde's antics and embarrassment. Can you be any more of a loser? Peeta thought as he replayed the dirty implications of what was supposed to be a genuinely innocent comment. Cato just continued laughing so hard that he fell off the bench. Now on the ground, he rolled around, still laughing while Peeta peered over to stare at him, unamused. "Glad you find my rambling idiocy so entertaining," he said sarcastically. He put down his art supplies and bent over to lend Cato a hand up, but instead was pulled down by the brute, tumbling on top of him. Cato ran his hands up and down the younger blonde's sides, slowly coming down from his fit of laughter.
"You're not a rambling idiot," Cato spoke, "but I do find you entertaining. And I was hoping you did mean it like that."
"Ha ha, NO. I wasn't trying to be entertaining."
"I know you weren't. You don't have to try. You are just being yourself and I wouldn't have it any other way."
Peeta found himself blushing again, resting on top of the older blonde. There it was again. Cato actually being sweet and well, not being a douchebag. Cato saw the blush and immediately pulled Peeta closer to kiss him sensually. The younger blonde found himself lost in a wonderful haze as he melted into the kiss. Cato wrapped his hands on Peeta's hips and pulled on the boy's lower body, grinding against him. Peeta gasped and bit his lip at the action. That drove the Career wild. He instantly wanted to roll over and fuck the boy's brains out. But he remembered Peeta's pained hobble when he left the dining hall and the brute suddenly found himself slowing down. His mind was telling his body to stop and he realized then that he cared more about Peeta's well being than his own pleasure. This was definitely a first. The realization stunned the Career and left him thunderstruck.
Peeta could feel the sudden apprehension in the older boy beneath him and broke their kisses to stare down, puzzled. "What's wrong?" he asked. He was becoming unnerved by the way Cato was just gawking at him, wide-eyed and bewildered, like it was the first time he'd ever seen Peeta before.
Cato snapped out of it and tried to change the subject. "You know, having you here with all these trees and flowers reminds me of that night on the training center rooftop. Except things are going much better between us now than they were then. You're not blatantly blowing me off this time."
Peeta chuckled and gave the Career a devilish grin. "In all honesty, I only blew you off on the rooftop because after I got that first taste of your lips, I knew I had to get out of there before I couldn't stop myself from tasting every inch of you."
Damn. Cato was getting all worked up again. So much for changing the subject. "I certainly wouldn't have minded that. You shouldn't deny yourself of life's pleasures," the Career lectured seductively as his hands slipped under the waistline of Peeta's pants.
Peeta just narrowed his eyes playfully at the boy beneath him. "You seem to have already forgotten that talk we had your first night here. I wanted you, but in my eyes, I couldn't have you. I couldn't get close to someone who was just going to kill me."
"Well, that's all in the past now, Peeta. I say we pretend this is the rooftop and we make amends right now for that wasted evening long ago."
Just then, a messenger arrived looking for Peeta. Cato groaned in frustration while Peeta quickly got up to receive the man and obtain his new orders. Walking back to Cato, he informed him of his upcoming mission.
"They have me leaving here with my team tonight to go to district 7 for a while. There's a wanted Capitol official there and they need a sniper to take him out. I'll probably do a propo while I'm there too. Sorry, but I have to get going so I can prepare."
Cato felt a pang of horror at the prospect of Peeta going back into the warzone. He wanted to grab onto him, keep him from going, and keep him safe. He felt he couldn't possibly admit all this so he just stared intensely at the boy and sternly ordered, "You better make it back here in one piece."
Peeta just smiled before turning to leave. "I will. I promise. And then we'll resume right where we left off."
Peeta came back in less than a week, but more assignments were already piling up. Cato was stuck in 13 completing his firearm training with the rest of the tributes and untrained mentors while Peeta and his team were sent out to the districts to do more propos and aid in special missions that needed a highly trained sniper. Every time the boy came back from a mission, he'd always find himself spending the night with Cato. And he stopped sneaking off the morning after too. He secretly relished the warmth of Cato's strong arms wrapped around him when he awoke and found he liked it even more when Cato would wake up too. The Career would always instinctively pull Peeta closer and nuzzle him sleepily. Cato thought Peeta's sigh of contentment whenever he did that was the best way to wake up. And of course word travels fast in a contained underground district so their reoccurring rendezvous became public knowledge in no time at all.
Over the course of a month, the other tributes and mentors were given clearance to go to their home districts and do propos of their own. They still had to return to the safety of 13 afterwards, but their quick appearances gave their districts an extra morale boost. It wasn't long after that till it was clear the districts were gaining the upper hand. One by one, every district was gaining control and pushing the Capitol out of their home.
It appeared the districts had everything under control, leaving 13 to deal with the Capitol city itself. Victory seemed to be within reach and they could tell the Capitol was getting desperate. And desperate times call for desperate measures. The Capitol was about to hit below the belt.
A propo had just aired across the nation that showed Peeta and Katniss surrounded by their signature flames with the slogan "Blazing a Trail to Freedom" shooting across the sky behind them. All the tributes and mentors were gathered with Coin and other military officials to watch. They were discussing their next line of propos when a soldier busted through the door.
"Madam President, Special Intelligence has just informed us that the Capitol has sent a fleet of hovercrafts strapped with missiles that are headed straight for district 12."