After the Games: The Careers
A collaboration by EMPG22HoPe and TheOceanspray99
Heater
"I'm sticking my head in the fridge."
Winter time in the Capitol was always such a lovely time. Of course, it was as cold as hell with snow piling up to almost 2-feet on the ground, but there were enjoyable parts of it.
One of those parts was the fact that coffee shops started making their winter-themed drinks again, the stuff with peppermint and shit.
Another part was the snow, of course! It was Glimmer's favorite winter activity, because if there were trophies given to people who totally dominated at snowball fights, she would have a thousand of them. (Clove would probably get a participation prize considering the fact that snowballs were not like knives at all.)
However, the absolute best part of winter time for the victors of the 74th annual Hunger Games would be all the time that they spent inside of their house. The fire place was lit with a nice crackling fire, Clove was baking a large batch of her famous cookies that she only made during the winter time, Glimmer had bought the perfect winter sweaters for everyone, and the high-tech heater of the Career house was set to the perfect level to heat up every corner of the house.
At about 11:00 AM, Marvel came down the stairs, dressed in an outfit perfectly made to take on the winter terrain, AKA, a thick coat with a sweater underneath adorned with a knitted toque and a scarf. His words were: "All right, I'm ready."
The boy and girl from 2 and girl from 1 looked at him. "Are you sure you want to do this, Marvel?" Glimmer spoke.
He nodded, "I am NOT missing that sale on plaid shirts! I did when I was 14 and I regret that decision!"
Clove stood up straight after she put another tray of un-baked cookies in the oven, "But the snow's 2 feet thick by now! All the buses are closed down and the car... well, it's gone missing for the time being."
"I can do this," Marvel said as he zipped up his coat and put on a pair of thick gloves. "The store's just on the other side of the city, I walk at an above average pace, the snow's gonna slow me down a bit, so to sum up... I will be out for 10 hours."
Clove frowned, "What if you die?"
Cato chuckled, "Well, that escalated quickly." A knife was then thrown at the couch cushion that lay beside him.
Marvel put on his boots, "I won't die. A little snow never killed anyone."
"Actually, it's totally possible to die from being out in the snow for too long," Cato informed as he pulled the knife out of the cushion. Another knife soon landed in the same cushion.
"That couch wasn't cheap, you know," Glimmer said, rather annoyed that the couch kept getting knives thrown at it.
Clove continued her previous statement, "What am I gonna do if you die?"
Marvel chose the statement that he hoped would not get him stabbed, "Cry at my funeral and move on after a year of grieving?"
He didn't get stabbed, but Clove did however grab a newspaper and clonk his head with it. "I'm being serious, derp! You shouldn't be doing this alone, I'll come with you!" she offered.
He rubbed the spot she'd just hit, "You'd slow me down, darling. I'm sorry, but I have to do this alone." He opened the door, exposing the cold winter hell into the warm Career house. "Clove, how many batches on cookies do you plan on making?"
Clove shrugged, "I got enough supplies to make 8."
Marvel nodded as he put on what looked like ski goggles and a ski hood, "Good. Don't wash the bowl and spoon, I can handle those when I get back." He stepped out into the cold street. "Wish me luck."
"May the odds be ever in your favour," everyone said in union. It was liked they rehearsed the entire thing. Marvel felt creeped out, "Please don't say it like that." Without another word, the door was closed.
"You chose a brave man to love, Clove," Glimmer said as she entered the kitchen area. "No one in the world would be brave enough to trek Capitol winters for a clothing sale. I don't think I could even do that." Considering how much Glimmer loved to shop, her statement proved how badass Marvel was.
Clove smiled and nodded, "He's the bravest man I know."
Glimmer nodded, "I gotta agree with you."
At this statement, Cato turned his head from the couch, "Well, anyone can walk through snow, but can Marvel kill the shit outta kids with a sword?"
Feeling Cato's jealousy, Glimmer smiled and walked over to him. "Marvel's the second bravest man I know," she told to Cato before hopping right into his arms and meeting her smile with his.
Clove looked disgusted at their actions. Even though her 16th birthday was months behind her, she couldn't help but scowl at the sight in front of her. She was never a fan of too much PDA.
She picked up another trusty throwing knife, "Get a room you two." She threw the knife at them.
As if expecting it, Glimmer quickly grabbed the metal food tray that lay on the coffee table and held it up, thus deflecting the knife from her and her lover. The knife ricocheted through the house and flew through the hallway, hitting something that made it stop.
Cato looked up, "Shit, what'd you hit?"
Clove quickly made her way to the said hallway in an attempt to find out what her bloody knife damaged. "It hit the thermostat," Clove announced as she pulled the knife from broken device. It had sunk right into the plastic surface, damaging the wires and circuits inside. "Shit, I think you broke it."
Glimmer got off of Cato, "What? How do you break a thermostat?"
Clove fidgeted with the broken thing, "You throw a knife into it." She looked at the small LCD screen on it, originally, they had set it to a nice warm 24 degrees. But now, it was set to 65 degrees. "That doesn't look too good."
Glimmer's eyes widened at the sight, "50 degrees? That's a little... much."
Clove rolled her eyes, "You tell me. You think you can fix this?"
Glimmer shook her head and turned to the living room, "Cato! Do you mind coming over here?" She motioned with her finger.
The boy with swords nodded and ran to her, "What's up?"
"Clove broke the thermostat and now it's set to 50 degrees," Glimmer told as Clove scowled at her best friend in a 'fuck you' matter. "Can you fix it?"
Cato smirked, "Of course I can, Baby-doll." He looked at the thermostat and scratched his chin in thought. "Have you tried this?" He fiddled with a few buttons and wires in hopes of lowering the temperature.
He failed, he raised it from 50 to 70.
"Shit..." Clove cursed. "What now?"
"We could get a professional to fix this, we got the money to pay for it," Glimmer suggested.
Cato nodded, "Coming up." Quickly, he grabbed the phone and dialled the number.
After a 5 minute call, Cato hung up with a frown on his face, "I got bad news and good news."
By then, the whole house was noticeably warmer than before. Glimmer and Clove were both sprawled on the couch, having both taken off their sweaters. "What is it?" they asked in union.
"The good news is that the guys down at the repair shop are open today," Cato started. "That bad news is that since the snow's so piled up, they won't be able to get here."
"And that means?" Clove wondered.
Cato plopped on one of the two reclining chairs that sat in the living room, "We gotta wait until the snow melts a bit, and that could be a while."
Glimmer nodded and grabbed her phone.
"What are you doing?" Cato asked her.
"I'm posting this as an FML online," she explained.
Cato looked puzzled, "What does FML mean?"
"Fuck my life."
As time went on, their clothing came off slowly. At about noon, Glimmer had taken off her yoga pants in favour of some track shorts.
At 2, Cato's t-shirt was gone with the wind, much to the approval of Glimmer.
And by 3, Clove started to not care about anyone else's opinion and laid on the couch in a sports bra and shorts.
They were pretty much in their underwear by 3:50.
"I feel like getting a soda, but it's too hot to move," Glimmer whined as she laid her head on Cato's bare chest.
He nodded and put his arm around her, "Baby-doll, you survived the arena, I'm sure you can survive a little heat."
"I only survived because you carried me away from the tracker jackers," she smiled. "Thank you for that by the way." She placed a sweet kiss on his lips.
Clove groaned, "Show some more PDA and I will knife you in a very bad place." She stood up, "I'll get the soda, I could use one any ways."
"Thank you, Clove," Glimmer said as she watched her friend walk away from the living room.
Out of nowhere, Cato then pushed Glimmer off of him, "Okay, I can't do this anymore."
Glimmer was completely surprised as she was forced off the recliner, hitting the carpeted floor, "Cato, what the hell?"
Cato looked like he had just ran a marathon, "Glimmer, you know I love you to death, but it's too damn hot to cuddle anymore! I can't do it! You're sweaty, I'm sweaty, it's gross! We were literally sticking to each other! Please don't make me sleep on the couch for this."
To his own surprise, Glimmer let out a sigh of relief, "Thank god! I couldn't do it either!"
He lit up a bit, "Really? Why didn't you say anything then?"
"You love to cuddle, and I didn't want to see you upset," Glimmer admitted. "I'm sorry."
Cato chuckled, "It's all right, baby-doll." He got off the recliner and kissed her lips lightly.
She smiled and kissed him back without hesitation.
Clove, who was currently sticking her small body as much as she could into the cold fridge, was again, disgusted, "Glimmer, I have a knife in my grabbing range right now!"
Glimmer pulled away from Cato and scoffed, "Clove my darling, you'd act like this if you were with Marvel." She then noticed what Clove was doing, "What the hell?" She walked over to the kitchen area with Cato behind her, "Clove, what are you doing?"
"I'm sticking my head in the fridge. How did I not think about this before?! It's pretty cold in here," she replied, not taking her head out.
"Why are you not sharing?!" Cato wondered aloud before pushing Clove out of the way and enjoying the cold of the fridge. "Oh dear god, that is good," he sighs.
"Hey! Outta the way, Swordy! I was there first!" Clove yelped as she grabbed onto Cato's arm and attempted to pry him away. She failed miserably for obvious reasons.
Cato freed himself from Clove's grip, "Calm down, knives, you'll get your turn eventually."
"I want my turn now!" the small girl whined.
Cato chuckled, "Damn, I bet Marvel gets a quarter every time he hears that."
Clove glared at him, "Don't make me re-enact the Hunger Games right here, right now."
"Bring it on, bitch!" Cato said with dangerous confidence. He'd definitely hit Clove's angry button as she picked up a random kitchen knife and prepared to strike.
"You asked for it, motherfu-"
"STOP!" Glimmer's voice shouted as her hand grabbed the knife from Clove. "Stop it you two! Do you have any idea on how stupid we all look? If we had a reality show, people would believe that it's scripted because we act so fucking weird 24/7!"
Clove nodded and managed to quickly calm herself. Her temper had become more controllable ever since she'd been with Marvel.
Glimmer continued to speak, "Okay, obviously, the heat is getting to all of our heads. We need to find away to cool us down."
"Well, no shit, Sherlock!" Clove's sarcastic tone said.
"Does that way happen to involve all piling up in the fridge? Because I doubt that's an option," Cato said about his current position in the fridge.
Glimmer chuckled, "I have an idea. Everyone, get your coats."
The 3 Careers sat on the porch on their house as the thick heavy snow surrounded them. They were all clad in their coats, sweaters, mittens, scarves, and other warm shit like that. Basically, they were all dressed in the same attire that Marvel wore for his plaid shirt adventure.
Clove sat against the doors and took a breath on her un-gloved hands to warm them. Today just HAD to be the day when she couldn't find any gloves.
As usual, Glimmer's head lay on Cato's shoulder as the pair sat on the steps with Cato's muscular arm around her. Their breath was visible in the air, making the illusion that they were smoking.
Glimmer made it look like her hands were holding a cigarette and let out some air after taking a fake drag. She blew right into Cato's face, causing him to chuckle.
"Ms. Gaze, don't you know that cigarettes are bad for you?"
She blew some more 'smoke' into his face, "I'm a rebel."
Usually, Clove would give the happy couple a threat about all their PDA, but it was too damn cold for her to even consider it.
Finally, a tall figure walked into the snowy yard of the Careers. That figure was covered in snow while it's face remained covered in a ski hood and goggles. It also had a huge bag in its hands, the bag could've contained anything.
Clove instantly stood up and grabbed the knife she always kept in her pocket, "Who are you? What do you want?" She walked into the snowy yard and attempted to trudge through the extremely heavy snow. "I may be held back by the snow, but hand me a knife, and I can give you a free trip to the hospital!"
The figure chuckled, "Oh, Clovers, you never fail to be the sadistic girl I fell for."
Glimmer stopped 'smoking' and looked at the scene, "Marvel? Is that you?"
The figure nodded and took off the goggles, revealing a pair of beautiful green eyes that belonged to the boy with spears. "Hey, everybody. Was I missed so much to the point where you guys are waiting for me? Damn! I'm popular!"
Clove laughed and hugged her tall boyfriend, "Well, I missed you. Glad you didn't die."
"I told you I wouldn't," he smiled, if she could see his smile through the ski hood. "How long have you guys been out here?"
"A couple of hours," Cato answered.
Glimmer noticed his huge bag, "How many shirts did you buy?"
"20, and I only paid 23 dollars for all of them," Marvel answered.
"Nice that you're back, dude," Cato smiled. "I know you want to go inside to warm up and shit, but I don't think you wanna go in there."
Marvel's ski hood crinkled a bit, showing that he was raising an eyebrow, "And why not?"
"Because Clove broke the heater and now it's a freaking sauna in there," Glimmer explained, causing Clove to make a face at her.
Marvel took off his hood completely to reveal his face that was luckily, frostbite-free. "No problem, I could fix that."
Clove scoffed, "Good luck with that, derp."
Marvel wasn't fazed and walked to the door. After opening it, he stepped into the hot house. "Whew! This is hotter than a summer in 1!" he stated as he walked through the place. His 3 fellow Careers all watched him through the door way.
After taking off all of his winter gear and hanging it up, Marvel approached the hallway that the broken thermostat was in. He looked at the broken device for a few seconds before nodding and grabbing his phone.
"What's he doing?" Glimmer wondered aloud, knowing that everyone else felt the same.
Marvel opened an app on his phone, after pressing a few buttons, the screen on the thermostat went down from 70 to 20.
"Problem solved," he smiled once his work was done.
The 3 Careers all walked inside the house. When the thermostat was seen, 3 jaws dropped to the floor.
Cato's eyes were wide open, "How the fuck did he do that?"
Marvel went to the kitchen and picked up one of Clove's cookies, "I have an app on my phone that works with the heater and air conditioning. I impulsively downloaded it, but I guess it finally came in handy." He took a bite out of the treat and smiled at the taste.
The trio only stared at him in shock as they instantly felt like the stupidest people in the world.
Marvel raised an eyebrow at them, "What?"
Glimmer turned to Clove, "Clove, marry that man."
Clove only nodded.
A/N: I'd like all my flawless reviewers and readers to take notice of my new amazing co-writer, TheOceanspray99. She will help me in continuing this fantastic story. To those who have messaged me or reviewed me for the co-writer position, I still thank you all and I appreciate your love and support for this story. This story will go on and I'd like to say that this chapter was written by my beloved new co-writer. Give her a two thumbs up! We still don't know when we'll post the next chapter up, but it'll surely be within this month, so no worries!
LONG LIVE THE UNCONDITIONAL LOVE OF CATO AND GLIMMER AND CLOVE AND MARVEL.
- EMPG22HoPe and TheOceanspray99