Broken Wings

Chapter 25

That meal marked the start of a new routine that we follow diligently. In the morning Sae always shakes her head at me due to my increasing pale complexion from lack of sleep and my hair because she knows I hate it down but with one hand in a cast I can't really braid it. When she is done her daily disapproval, she makes Johanna and I breakfast which is usually pleasant because I like the company of both women, and as it turns out, Johanna and Greasy Sae had met before this in district 13 and they get along swimmingly, in fact Sae keeps Johanna in line a little. When breakfast is done, we move to the lounge where Peeta joins us soon after and we work on the book until dinner time. Peeta and I still don't really make eye contact most of the time, but we do talk. He is the one that started our talking again, unlike last time. on the third day of our arrangement Peeta waited until Johanna went to the bathroom, which is one of the most awkward parts of the day since we are alone together, and he asked me if he could have more of that ointment I put on his arm. I obviously gave it to him, but I aired our conversations with caution. Not that Peeta wasn't being pleasant or trying, but I have fallen for his kindness a few to many times to risk being sucked back in. I know I love Peeta, I can't deny that, however that secret will probably stay with me to the grave because I know that after Johanna goes home, I will be on my own once again. I know this because even though he is polite and does strike up the odd conversation, he still sits far from me and doesn't hesitate to leave straight after dinner.

Bedtime remain my most loathed part of the day. On the first night Johanna was here, I tried to sleep but when someone woke me up and I thought it was Peeta... well let's just say I wasn't crying because of the nightmare anymore. I appreciate Johanna trying to help me, but only three things help with my dreams. Prim, Peeta and not sleeping at all. This leaves me with one option. I finished my books the next night at about three AM, which men tui had another three hours to kill. After wondering around I found and unfinished scarf my mother was knitting and with a lot of trial and error I managed to remember how my mother showed me how to do it. It isn't easy to knit with a broken arm, but I see it as a blessing rather than a curse, the challenge just makes it easier to stay awake. So, when everyone else tries their luck with the nightmares that infect every victors' nights, I sit on my bed and knit, because I know the odds will never be in my favour. I have Peeta's scarf next to me as a template, at least that's what I tell myself, the real reason is because it smells of him and that quality is comforting for when and if I start crying. That's not to say I don't sleep, it's just not intentional and it always ends in screams from my vivid dreams.

The only one struggling under the new routine is Buttercup. He spent the first few days glaring at Peeta and I from the entrance to the lounge. I laughed at it, Peeta didn't see. Now he sleeps on my lap while we work or plays outside before returning to sleep on my lap. At dinner he goes out one last time before returning to my room to rest for the night. That's where he is now as I make my way down the stairs to start the day. Getting up and down the stairs is getting easier now that my foot is healing and I'm officially out of bed rest but it still takes five minutes down and up. Johanna just thought it was funny, going so far as to sit on the top step and watch me attempt to climb up. When I confronted her about helping me, she told me it was my own fault I was in this position anyway so she may as well enjoy herself.

When I finally reach the bottom step Buttercup has joined me for his breakfast, and by the sounds coming from my front door, so has Haymitch. When he appears in the kitchen, he grunts a greeting before plonking himself down at the counter. I can tell that he isn't fully coherent yet, which makes me chuckle a little at his drowsy self as I pour him some orange juice, probably the freshest thing he's had in a while. He cringes a little as I put the glass down in front of him, no doubt due to his permanent hangover. "Are you always this noisy?"

"Nope, it's just for you" I laugh, as Johanna comes into the kitchen. She puts her finger on her lips, indicating her want for silence and starts creeping up on the recovering drunk. When she is about a meter away, she pounces, slapping her hands on his shoulders and screaming out. Haymitch's reaction is priceless, screaming as if someone stabbed him and falling to the ground from his perch on my kitchen stool. Johanna and I laugh so hard my sides hurt and the tears mark the first in a long time that are of pure joy. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. All I did to you was try and tell you Sae isn't coming today, says you've healed enough to fend for yourself self." he says with a wave of his hand, but Johanna and I can't stop or maybe we refuse to because the scowl on Haymitch's face is about as funny as his reaction. "Will you quit it!? It wasn't that funny."

"What wasn't that funny?" his presence is enough for us to control ourselves some and while Johanna tries to tell Peeta what happened I sit down next to an eyerolling Haymitch, making me chuckle under my breath. He leans over and whispers in my ear "You want to see something really funny?" when he pulls away, I ignore the flammable fumes to faintly leak from his clothes and nod. He smiles at my response and interrupts and chuckling coming from both Peeta and Johanna. "So, who's making breakfast?" Haymitch winks at me and I play along when he says the 'one armed wonder' couldn't cook even with one arm. I squint my eyes playfully at Peeta and say "Yeah, I've never had a good teacher."

"Well, I pity anyone tried. You'd never listen anyway." He teases and my offended 'hey!' just makes him, and everyone else laugh. But that was just the start of the mornings antics as Haymitch pulls his joke back on course. "Great, now we know who isn't so who is?" all eyes automatically fall to Peeta. "I already cooked my own breakfast."

"Great, you have practice" Johanna calls, arms folded in what she thinks is her victory, however Haymitch and I Both know that while Peeta is kind he isn't a push over. "Johanna, lets see you do it, you probably need the practice, and I don't think I've seen you lift a finger to help around her." At this both participants of the debate stare at each other, and Haymitch swivels our chairs for front row seats to the bicker of the century. I don't know how, but the bicker soon turned into a brawl. At one-point Peeta slowed a little, the same way I remember him doing at a tournament to trap his opponent, I knew then that no matter the smug look on Johanna's face, she was about to lose. And loose she did. In one fowl swoop Johanna was on the ground with Peeta's knee on her back and her hands held behind her. Peeta would never hurt Johanna, but he most certainly planned on making her beg before he'd let her go. "Give up girly?" The patronising tone drivers makes Johanna turn red, driving forceful struggles that merely make Peeta laugh as he pulls her arms a little harder and leans a bit more on her back. "Say it." He commands, taunting her into submission. After a little while Peeta nods to me "Are you just going to sit there, or help me get you breakfast?" I give an evil laugh as I crouch down and jimmy my fingers into her ribs, causing a squeal to escape from her lips. "Not so high and mighty now, are we?" Peeta laughs.

"That's no fair, you had help." Johanna whines, giving me a deadly glare.

"I don't think you've ever thought a fight you don't win is fair." He turns to me without letting her go and calls "Let her have it!" and I let loose.

Tickling Johanna's sides while Peeta, Haymitch and I laugh at her squeals has got to be the most relaxed in days. I know if I'm not careful I could get sucked back into the one I loves grasp, but in the torcher that has been the awkward moments, the dreadful nightmares, or even the constant reminder that I have lost almost everything, I treasure these moments of pure bliss while Johanna finally screams "Stop, stop! You win! I'll make breakfast."

After a surprising breakfast of something called 'pancakes', all four of us joined in the lounge with full stomachs and smiles on our faces, even Johanna no matter how much she tried to scowl. I didn't want to try my luck with Peeta as we were entering the lounge I chose a single seater, you'd think Peeta would be happy, but his face turned from happy to blank as soon as he entered. If that has anything to do with me, I don't know. Today wasn't about Johanna, her tributes or even victors I never got to meet. Today was the day the Haymitch decided he'd join in the honouring of the fallen with a complete list of the tributes from twelve, all the years her was a mentor. The tails are heart wrenching, however, Haymitch doesn't quit for a drink or even a break until the 74th hunger games. The only year he succeeded to save someone.