Fire Born of Flames
Chapter Four
For the first time in a while, Katniss had to admit that she didn't exactly know what to do.
While standing next to her fellow District 12 tribute, Katniss glanced several times from him to their unconscious mentor on the floor. It was only a few moments after they had finished their dinner when Haymitch decided that was the best time to pass out. Since it had been so sudden, it took a few seconds before any of them really reacted.
It happened while they were leaving the table, heading for their rooms. To be honest it was almost comical. Haymitch had been just fine, albeit staggering a little bit but he was still walking. Then without warning he simply fell over, face first onto the carpet. It would have been comical had Katniss not found it a mix between alarming and disturbing.
So now the two tributes were standing around the man awkwardly looking at each other.
Effie on the other hand held an expression that looked like a mix between annoyance and knowing, almost like she had expected it to happen. Then with an irritated growl and pursed lips, their chaperone bent over at her slightly before she yelled condescendingly and placed her hands on her hips.
"It's reasons like this that there hasn't been a victor from District 12 since you!" she snapped. Katniss thought that the way Effie's nose wrinkled when she was angry was a little amusing, but she restrained the urge to smile.
Because this was not in the least funny.
Only out of the corner of her eye, she saw the corner of Peeta's mouth upturn ever so slightly. Katniss glanced over to him, but the small tweak all but vanished like it had never been there. But she knew that she hadn't been seeing things. Well at least she wasn't the only one that found this a little funny.
But then Peeta met her gaze, looking almost as concerned as Katniss felt. The concerned look in his eyes told her everything, and it was exactly what Katniss had been thinking – how were they supposed to win with this?
Despite Effie's yelling, Haymitch didn't budge. He let out a large snore that was half muffled by the carpet, but that was about it.
The chaperone then looked up, her expression softening slightly once her gaze was directed towards them. "Well, it seems that I'll be the one apologizing about this," she told the two tributes. "Because someone can't!" Her last statement, paired with a glare, was directed towards the motionless heap on the floor. To place emphasis on her words, she stomped her foot next to Haymitch's ear. His only reaction was another snore.
Deciding to give up on their mentor, Effie approached the pair with care not to step on Haymitch. Something about her tone made Katniss wonder if she was considering it anyway. Once directly in front of them, her perky smile returned with the same enthusiasm as normal, like she hadn't even been irritated moments before.
The pink-haired woman then clasped her gloved hands together, the large glittering bangles around her wrists clanking together. "So ... I'm going to find someone to take him to his room. Meanwhile, you two should head to bed." It was amazing how quickly Effie could fluctuate her moods. "After all, we have a big big big day tomorrow! You'll need all the rest you can get."
Effie left in the opposite direction in which the rooms were, leaving the pair to stand awkwardly in silence. The only thing that interrupted the quiet was the faint sounds of Haymitch's heavy breathing. For a few seconds Katniss just stared after Effie, trying to think about what to do next before she saw Peeta move beside her. The blond-haired boy knelt down aside of their mentor and looked like he was checking the pulse on his neck.
"What are you doing?" The words escaped from Katniss's throat again without warning. She'd been doing that a lot lately. Although she was confused, her tone had been completely curious.
"Our mentor is our lifeline, right?" Peeta asked absently, not looking at her. As usual, he kept his regularly pleasant tone. "Least we can do is be on his good side."
Peeta was right. While the two of them were in the arena, Haymitch was in charge of giving them things from their sponsors – if they even got any. Haymitch was also given the task of when to give these things, hopefully in attempt to take advantage of certain situations. Kissing up to him was probably a good idea. Then again, this wasn't too bad. It wasn't like he'd vomited everywhere, like he had all over the stage back at the reaping.
Her fellow tribute then looked up at her for the first time. "You gonna help?" His tone was neither expectant nor critical, just curious like her own had been.
Katniss didn't give him an answer. She simply knelt down on Haymitch's side, the one Peeta was not on. It took a few attempts to lift the older man to his feet. He wasn't heavy, nor a lightweight, but that didn't mean he didn't weigh more than Katniss could lift. Thankfully she had Peeta there. She had known him to be strong, but never thought he was that strong. But at that moment she was only thankful for the help.
Throwing his arms over their shoulders, the two managed to act like crutches for him as they bumbled their way to Haymitch's chambers. It wasn't exactly a swift or clear path. He wasn't even really walking, so they basically had to drag him while his feet lingered on the ground. Katniss contemplated giving up half way through; he was much too heavy and it was becoming harder to hold onto him. But she didn't think it was fair to leave Peeta with all the work, despite the fact that she didn't think she was doing all that much.
Despite lots of banging and bumping around, their mentor never roused. Somehow they managed to haul him into his rooms before they practically dropping him into the large tub in the bathroom. Katniss was relieved once she didn't have to hold him anymore, seeing as all the liquor he ingested seemed to be seeping from his skin. It smelled horrible. She wondered how Haymitch could stomach all that he drank. Maybe he grew an immunity to it after so many years.
The smell was so bad that Katniss was almost relieved when Peeta said that she could go, assuring her that he would take it from there. But that didn't sit right with her. She didn't want Peeta to do everything. Although she knew it was in her best interest to get on Haymitch's good side, that wasn't the whole reason. Katniss highly doubted that Haymitch would remember anything from that evening, seeing as he was so drunk that he stayed unconscious throughout their entire bumbling trip down the hallway. So this really wasn't entirely about recognition from their mentor.
Katniss knew why Peeta wanted to do this alone. He was just being his normal self. Being nice. It was for that reason that she wanted to stay and help. Being around Peeta didn't necessarily make Katniss want to improve herself, but it was just that she didn't want to have him stuck with doing everything. Peeta had to get up tomorrow just like she did. He had to go through everything, just like Katniss would. Would it be fair to go to bed and leave him to clean up Haymitch by himself?
So that was why despite Peeta's insistence that she leave, Katniss held her ground. She wasn't going anywhere, and she made it clear that she truly and honestly wanted to help as much as possible. Amidst their small argument, there were some awkward pauses and silence. Sometimes Katniss would look at him, other times she just stared at the wall or anything else she could find. Why was it so difficult to talk to him?
Katniss admitted that she had never been very social. She knew that, she embraced it. She never really made an attempt to change it or do something about it because it wasn't something that had been a problem before. Hunting didn't require social skills. And since that was the most productive thing she ever did, her social skills remained the same; unpolished.
Still, she could usually speak to people just fine. Maybe it was because this was really the first time they'd ever really had a conversation. When she thought about it, she realized that it was indeed the first time they actually spoke directly to each other. And they were arguing. It made her wonder if all of her first conversations with people were arguments.
After several more tries at getting her to leave, Peeta finally caved into letting her stay. Katniss let it up easier on him, agreeing to leave just before Haymitch was completely nude – she really didn't think she'd be able to look him in the eye afterward if she saw him like that. It was really better for all of them that way.
The process of stripping their mentor down was a little harder than Katniss first imagined. Simply pulling his clothes off didn't work because he was lying on them. After experimenting with a few things, the two of them worked out a system where Peeta lifted Haymitch up partially as Katniss pulled things out from underneath him. It was a little difficult to get his arms out of his sleeves, but other than that things went smoothly.
Each time Peeta lifted him up, Katniss couldn't help but silently commend him for his strength. It was hard not to notice the flexing of his arms after he'd rolled up the sleeves on his shirt. But at the same time, the feeling of envy came over her when she realized one of the reasons he was so strong. He always had access to food to keep up his muscle strength. Then again, whose fault was it that Peeta had been born as the son of a baker?
Katniss thought she was doing fine until it came to the point where she was pulling off Haymitch's slacks. She was pulling them from the legs, as she had been doing her best to avoid all physical contact with his skin. Something in her was afraid she'd smell of liquor if she did. But just as she managed to loosen the cloth from beneath him did she get part of her sandal caught on the leg of the claw-footed tub.
She heard a ripping sound from her foot, drawing her attention to it instead of to her balance where it should have been. The next thing Katniss knew was that she was falling backwards, but wasn't quick enough to catch herself. The pair of pants she was holding came with her.
Katniss knew that her face probably contorted with a wince at the pain coming from her tailbone after landing on it. Upon inspecting her foot, she noted that it was just fine. The shoe took the damage, the sandal's strap ripped. Only she didn't have time to dwell over it because no sooner did she fall did she hear the numerous clanging sounds of metal against porcelain.
The entire contents of Haymitch's pockets fell out onto the floor. In particular of the things that fell was his wallet that flew open, and the coins from inside scattered all over the floor around her. While some landed right next to her, others rolled away. Katniss felt the urge to kick herself. Why had she done something so stupid? She was never that ungraceful. Damn shoes.
Sucking in a sharp breath, she pushed the angered look away from her face before she before she immediately turned onto her hands and knees. She didn't bother standing up as she reached over to grab the first coin. Why bother? As soon as she gathered the one, she padded over to the other one. Although Katniss knew it probably looked a little silly, she really didn't mind. Who was there to judge her? Haymitch was asleep, and Peeta, well … did he ever say anything negative?
But she did find it a little ironic how this was the nicest dress she'd ever been in, and there she was crawling all over the floor in it. Her only real concern was whether or not her dress rode up in the back. More embarrassment was the last thing she needed.
Katniss had been so preoccupied with picking up every last coin, pushing aside that it was the most money she'd seen together ever, that she didn't even notice something important. Peeta knelt down on the other side of the room, helping her to gather the coins as well. But that wasn't the really important thing that she was missing.
This was why when her head collided with an equally hard surface, she let out a yelp of pain and surprise.
Instantly thrown back after her collision, her hand immediately went to the injured area. Holding up her weight with her other hand, sitting back on her feet as she looked up to see what she'd hit her head on. Surely it was the sink since it was so hard. It was then that she spotted her fellow tribute sitting only a few feet in front of her. He was holding his temple instead of the top of his head, but she could see the wrinkle of pain on his forehead.
Great, she'd succeeded in injuring him before the games even started. As if she didn't feel guilty enough.
"Sorry," she muttered quietly, not looking at him. She decided that looking at the pile of once scattered items from Haymitch's pockets was much more interesting.
"It's okay," he replied. There was no annoyance or aggravation whatsoever. It had been an accident after all. Either Peeta was the best actor in Panem, or the most genuinely good person in existence. For her sake, Katniss really hoped it was the first option.
Why did he have to be so nice? Why couldn't she find a reason to hate him? Then again, with her luck, Katniss had never had things easy. That had been evident enough that morning when her sister's name had been called. Why would this be a good time to start having luck?
Katniss could sense that Peeta wanted to say something more, but when she suddenly held up something in front of her eyes to inspect it, those words died. After staring at the pile of items from Haymitch's pockets for a few moments, she finally noticed something out of place. In her hands was a sheath for a knife. A sheath, but no knife. As she examined it a little closer, Katniss couldn't help but recall a certain one that Haymitch had been fiddling with during dinner. It was the perfect size for the holder in her hands. But as she looked around again, she reached a conclusion. No knife in sight.
Peeta decided that this was the perfect opportunity to say something. "Did he leave it on the table?" he wondered aloud. He had obviously drawn the same conclusion as Katniss.
That was when it hit her.
This was perfect!
Before Peeta could say or do anything more, Katniss practically jumped to her feet. "I'll get it," she announced quietly. She said it so quickly she didn't know if it came out sounding like words or not, but she didn't stop to repeat herself. Without another look in her fellow tribute's direction, she turned and headed out the door. Completely disregarding the ripped lace on her sandal, she made an effort to move as swiftly as possible.
She wasn't about to miss an opportunity to leave the room.
After making a complete fool of herself, the last thing she needed was to stay there as they sat in awkward silence. It was too uncomfortable even to think let alone do anything else. Not to mention she didn't exactly wish to help Peeta bathe their mentor. Besides, hadn't she already agreed to leave the room at that point? Retrieving Haymitch's knife was just a very good excuse to leave.
Just before reaching the dining room, Katniss found a pair of attendants from the capitol looking confused. The ones that Effie sent. Katniss didn't really think it fair to leave them standing there not knowing what to do, and found herself explaining what she and Peeta did. Their reactions were shocked, and Katniss thought this was strange but didn't question it. Then when she realized she felt guilty that they had been called for nothing, she asked that they bring her some medicine for pain, as well as two servings warm milk.
The first she would drink on her own, and the other she would offer it to Peeta as a peace offering. Or in the very least an apology. After all, Katniss was the one that knocked him in the head.
By the time Katniss got back to the table in the dining room, it had already been cleared of almost everything. Several attendants there were still there cleaning. She saw the object she came for the second she came into the room.
Although Katniss attempted to slip by unnoticed and grab the knife, the attendants just froze and stared at her. They did not expect her back, and probably didn't know protocol for dealing with her. Katniss remained silent, meekly grabbing her mentor's weapon before sheathing it and leaving the room as quickly as she had entered.
The attendants' stares made her feel like she'd grown a second head or something.
Katniss had almost gotten back to Haymitch's room when she found Effie. The chaperone beamed at seeing her (Katniss was under the impression that Effie was rather fond of her. Katniss really couldn't think of a reason why,) before she snagged Katniss up to speak to her.
Effie didn't say much, but informed Katniss that she had taken the liberty of picking out her clothes for the night and next morning. Although Katniss was a little afraid of what she might find, she felt a little better after remembering what Effie picked out for that evening's meal. It wasn't exactly Katniss's style, but she could tolerate it.
When Katniss finally got back to Haymitch's rooms, she heard the sound of running water. Water. Peeta was probably already bathing him. It was probably not a good idea for Katniss to go into the bathroom.
She didn't want Peeta to notice her presence either. If he didn't know Katniss was there, he couldn't ask her for help.
Katniss had never seen a naked man before, and she wasn't looking forward to her first one being Haymitch. Not that Haymitch was that bad, seeing as when she'd helped Peeta undress him she'd noticed he maintained a somewhat healthy physique. He'd done well for all the alcohol he ingested on a daily basis. But that wasn't the reason.
It was just wrong. The thought made her skin crawl.
But she couldn't very well take the knife with her either. She had said she would go and get it. Looking around for a solution, her eyes finally landed on the empty bedside table. She could leave it there, and Haymitch would find it in the morning. It wasn't a great or guaranteed plan, but it was the best Katniss could do at that moment.
Trying to remain as quiet as possible, Katniss stayed standing but reached down to untie her sandals. After ripping the one lace, it flapped up and down against her foot as she walked, creating a small sound. Small, but enough to give her away. She wasn't about to risk it.
Finally feeling better now that she was bare-footed, she carried her shoes by the long laces as she maneuvered over to the side of the bed. The door to the bathroom was almost entirely closed, but it had been left ajar. There was a larger possibility of being heard. So Katniss used her hunter's stealth, she practically stood on her toes as she walked. Admittedly the soft carpet felt very nice against the bottoms of her feet. Not to mention the padding from the floor also made her job a little easier. Once she deposited the weapon, she felt a little relief and then quickly turned to leave.
She had to pass the bathroom door on her way out, and at that moment she heard something besides running water.
Voices.
To be more specific, conversation.
Normally Katniss would have just ignored this. What did she care what Peeta and Haymitch were talking about? But what if Haymitch was already talking to Peeta about the games? That left her to a disadvantage already. She wasn't about to pass that up.
Tiptoeing back to the bathroom door, she heard only mumbling at first since. Well, Haymitch's closet was another room dividing the bathroom from the bedroom. It was narrow enough to be a hallway, but that was only because it was lined with closets.
It wasn't good enough. She still couldn't hear properly.
She pushed the door open, padding through the closet until she reached the next door. This one was ajar too. Well, Katniss really wasn't too concerned with closing doors when she had left. The only reason the door to the entire chamber closed because it was automatic. For some odd reason there were normal doors inside the chambers.
Although the room was completely darkened, a column of light shown from the crack in the door. She lightly stepped towards it and got as close as she possibly could without actually putting any part of herself in front of the opening. Her shadow would be seen, and her cover would be blown.
Katniss could hear much better there. Not only that, but a second later, the water shut off with a loud thud. Now it was even clearer.
"You can't lie your way out of this one kid, I have eyes you know," Haymitch grumble with a curt laugh. There was sloshing of water and a few footsteps, but no noise other than that.
She caught them in the middle of the conversation. She had missed the first part. But did Haymitch just catch Peeta in a lie? How was that possible?
"What does it matter anyway?" she heard Peeta ask. His tone surprised her. Peeta almost sounded almost depressed, far from his normally cheerful and charming tone. There was also a bit of confusion in his voice too. "If it was true, I mean."
Haymitch produced another curt laugh. "Gee, I don't know," he uttered sarcastically. "It would prevent you from winning if it's that bad."
There was a pause and Katniss heard movement as well as the splashing of water.
"Ah ha!" she heard her mentor exclaim suddenly.
Katniss heard nothing from Peeta, but information had obviously been exchanged by another means. He did something she couldn't see.
"I was right," Haymitch confirmed. He wasn't being cocky, but Katniss could sense a knowing in his voice. After that, she heard the swishing of liquid in glass, and Katniss guessed that Haymitch had taken a swig of something from a bottle.
Probably alcohol, no definitely alcohol.
Katniss didn't have time to dwell as Haymitch continued. "So how long?" Breaking from his usual sarcasm, his tone was lowered and curious, but serious at the same time.
"How long what?" Peeta's tone was annoyed this time. He didn't want to reply to Haymitch's question, and asked one that he already knew the answer to.
Haymitch made a noise that sounded like a mix between a laugh and a grunt. Annoyance and a little admiration this time. "Don't get smart. You know what I mean – how long have you been in love with her?"
As soon as she'd heard this, Katniss couldn't help but be confused. In love? Peeta was in love with someone? Okay, that sounded reasonable enough. He was very popular at school, always with a group of friends around him. Katniss had remembered the girls at school talked about him numerous times, but she really didn't pay attention to the contents of those conversations that much. She just remembered hearing his name a lot.
But why was he talking about this with Haymitch?
There was a long pause before Katniss heard Peeta reply, "Eleven years – since we were five."
Katniss felt her brow wrinkle. Eleven years? Wow, that was an awful long time to be in love with someone. Since they were five? Was it possible to fall in love with someone at that age? The thought made Katniss recall that she had seen Peeta talking with several of those chatty girls over the years, but that was it. And he never spoke to them alone either. That may have been because he was never alone, at least during school.
But Katniss almost smiled. Well, having an affection for someone that long would explain why, despite his popularity, those girls never seemed to have much luck capturing his attention. She remembered a few bits of overheard conversation, during some lunches when there had been nothing better to do.
Those girls that mostly cared only about their appearance, clothing, and of course boys. Many had attempted to speak to Peeta or drop hints that they were interested. Not one of them actually asked him directly, which Katniss thought was just stupid. If they liked him so much they should have just told him. It seemed silly to wait for the boy to do something. Maybe Katniss didn't understand because she really never thought about it herself. The subject never really crossed her mind. She really didn't have the time, energy or patience to deal with that.
Besides, she wasn't ever getting married, so what was the point?
Katniss's attention was drawn back to her current situation when she heard Haymitch break out into laughter almost immediately after Peeta's confession. She was confused at this. Katniss realized that eleven years was a long time for someone their age, but was it really that funny?
"Oh damn kid, you are screwed," Haymitch said once he finally stopped laughing enough to say something. And even when he did, he was gasping for air at that.
A loud thunk, like something had fallen to the floor. Did something break? Footsteps, heavyset and growing louder.
Peeta was walking towards the door!
Katniss tensed up and froze as she could see Peeta's shadow on the other side of the door. The handle moved slightly.
He was going to find her standing there.
… damn.
Katniss told herself to move, but her body wouldn't budge. How would she explain this? She just got there, and didn't hear a thing. That was it! Now only if she could make it sound believable. She's always been a terrible liar.
She was saved by the most unlikely person. Well, there was a first for everything. "Wait, wait, come back here," Haymitch commanded, almost sounding apologetic. That was new.
Katniss let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as she saw Peeta moving away from the door. She restrained herself from letting out an audible sound of relief. That was way too close for comfort.
Maybe this eavesdropping wasn't such a good idea. As Peeta moved away, Katniss was thought about it. Was she really going to learn something valuable by listening to the rest of this conversation? So far, she had learned nothing about improving in terms of the Games. All she knew was something personal about Peeta that was really none of her business.
But what good was it going to do for her?
She decided that this was as good of time as any to leave. Remembering to use caution in her steps, as she made her retreat she could still hear the conversation clearly now that the water had stopped running.
But before she could get to the bedroom she was stopped dead in her tracks by what she heard from Haymitch next. "I just meant that it'll really suck if it comes down to just the two of you in the arena. You'll definitely lose then."
Katniss's hand paused before it reached the door handle.
What?
What had Haymitch just said?
Katniss knew what she heard. She'd always had good hearing. She didn't doubt the words that her brain was processing. She understood them entirely. But that wasn't the problem. The problem stood when she combined them together with the ones from earlier in that conversation. And if they meant what she thought, it could only mean one thing.
Trouble.
The huntress went over the data in her brain once more, to be absolutely positive of what was going on.
Peeta was in love with someone.
He had loved that person since he and that person were both five years old.
This meant that the object of his affection had to be from District 12.
Katniss felt a chill run down her spine as she processed the last and final detail; this person, the one that Peeta loved, was also going into the arena with him that very year.
Someone from District 12, someone going into the arena.
From District 12 … Going into arena.
Those two facts alone made it very clear. There was no one else, no other possibility. There was only one other person from District 12 going into the arena that year. And that person was her.
Her – Katniss Everdeen.
The person that Peeta was in love with … was Katniss?
(A/N: Sorry it took longer to update this chapter ... took a while to revise until I got it where I liked it. I sure hope you guys like it. So, once again please review! Thanks again for reading.)