paradisalogs | [Fantasy Suites] [Katniss and Joshua]

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[Fantasy Suites] [Katniss and Joshua]

Who: Katniss and Joshua
What: Waking up abruptly on Valentine's Day
When: 02/14
Where: Joshua's ...ah, room.
Rating: PG-13

It wasn't that it was hard to get her out of bed - in fact it was all too easy. She slept lightly, and badly. Nightmares plagued her - from the Games, from the wars - melding into nightmares from her childhood and now, from some situations here.

The only time she had ever slept well after the Games was when she had slept with Peeta, her head buried into his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.

So she should have realized something was wrong when she started to wake peacefully, one arm wrapped around someone's waist. There was warmth, and a heartbeat, and she whispered, "Peeta..." before she remembered.

Before she woke up screaming, pushing herself away, and then screaming again as she looked around because where the hell was she and who was this and why was he blonde?!

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This is not the first time Joshua's awoken in a bed to a girl screaming. ...Not even the second. It might be questioned after as to why this keeps happening, especially when the instances can't always be blamed on the castle. Sometimes he just gets confused, but then he knows there are no girls that scream living in the mansion right now. The maids go home, Lucrezia would expect it, and Cassandra would probably go back to sleep or just wake him up.

When he cracks open his eyes to stare at the wall, an unfamiliar wall that only confuses him more, he lets out a little sigh that's easily drowned out by...somebody's reaction. The question is, does he care enough to sit up and look, or will he try to sleep through it?

No, he doesn't like a lot of noise, even if this isn't the sort that drives him over the edge. It is very alarming, and should she get upset for long enough, that other noise may begin to dig into his mind. So he sits up, slowly like there's hardly anything to worry about, rubbing at one eye while he glances to see who this supposed offender is.

Not anyone he recognizes or cares about. This room is not his, at least not that he can tell. Lucrezia spontaneously decorating his room is not outside the realm of possibility, but the layout is completely different. The walls are different. If this is a castle prank, which he's become so accustomed to now, then he assumes they're locked in. That's how it's always been.

This girl might at least be relieved to see he's in pajama pants, which is a lot better than nothing.

"Quiet," he mutters, shaking his head a bit as if there's water in his ears. "Can you make breakfast?"

Edited 2014-02-15 00:54 (UTC)

Katniss stared at the blonde man, who wore no shirt, curling up on his side in his pajama pants, then around the room again. It took a long moment for her to really understand that he really was asking her to cook breakfast, and then her grey eyes narrowed. When Katniss switched off from scared, she usually just went to angry instead.

So she crawled back across the bed, then turned around to give him a good solid kick in the rear end. "NO! I am not going to make you breakfast! Where the hell are we? Who are you?"

Well he's certainly not shirtless to show off, not with the rather vicious scars that are still only a few years old covering near the whole of his abdomen shown clear and true when he abruptly turns and reacts to her own exaggerated response. His is most likely no less excessive, showing no qualms in the least about grabbing her affronting leg by the calf and using it to shove her roughly off the other side of the bed. The strength he uses isn't normal, but he shows no other signs of violence. If anything, the poor abused teen cries self-defense.

"No need to be rude, Miss, everybody needs to eat." He speaks calmly, and looks just as placid, despite having been ready to throw her into a wall had she tried a serious attack. "Why don't you look out the window and answer the first question yourself? Then maybe I'll answer the second one."

Edited 2014-02-15 04:15 (UTC)

Honestly, she's so surprised by the counter attack that she doesn't even bother to try to kick again, just lets herself be shoved, head over foot, to the other side of the bed. She keeps rolling, until she's off the bed completely, and can use it for cover as she watches this new enemy for any other signs of attack.

Her teeth and fingers clench. "I'm not your damned servant, whoever you are." She eyes the window, then him, before she starts to walk backwards to keep her gaze on him while she moves to a vulnerable position.

He merely sits there, going back to rubbing at his eyes and yawning as if nothing has just occurred. And nothing really had, as far as he was concerned. She attacked, he retaliated, and now they're best friends!

Well, maybe not quite there.

"Why is it women say that whenever I ask them to cook?" It has nothing to do with being a servant...and more to do with being female, perhaps. Not that he believes men can't cook. Restaurants have chefs and everything, after all, but the best cooking he's had is usually by a woman's hand.

It just seems like women everywhere here want to find things to be offended over. He can't quite understand, but he doesn't care enough to expect or even really want an answer to a question that's mostly rhetorical at this point in time.

With a stretch, Joshua flops back down onto the mattress, attempting to recall the night before and what day today is supposed to be. Isn't there something he's supposed to do...?

"Is it still Paradisa?"

Good grief, it was like being with Finnick again. Finnick before the Games, not after. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she flicked back the curtain ... and sighed with relief.

"Because women weren't put on this earth to cook for you." She said, letting her shoulders relax finally. "And yes, we're still in Paradisa."

She folded her arms over her chest, arching an eyebrow at him. "And now, you are....?"

And Joshua, likewise, resists the urge to roll his eyes. Truth be told, while he used to expect all women to know how to cook, he might have asked the same question of a man. He just wants someone else to cook, that's all his stomach cares about in the end. But again, he has noticed women here like to yell about this and that and assume everything is about gender, and he cares not a lick about it. Their issues, not his.

"Joshua."

He makes himself look around while still lying back, hoping to find some sort of kitchenette. The room is rather...unique; some kind of eastern theme, he can tell that at least. Highly overblown, which is at least different.

"I guess I could cook an omelet."

It's really the only thing he knows how to cook, next to pancakes.

Katniss folded her arms over her chest as she looked around, shivering a little. Whatever this room was, it was was drafty, with its high ceilings. She nodded her head almost absently. Good, a name. Now she felt less like she was trapped in here with a murderer.

Well, he still might be a murderer, but at least they would be courteous about it.

"Katniss."

She herself looked around, and found a basket of fruit. As apology, sort of, she brought the basket over to the bed, and sat herself down on the edge so they could share. "I'm not sure if there's anywhere to cook an omelet."

He might still be, indeed.

"What?" Is that a name, or had she just uttered some other language? "Like Kathy?" He likes Kathy better.

Oh, well, that's highly disappointing. He could wish, if he hadn't become reluctant to ask anything of the castle he acts neutral towards, but harbors a hatred that forever simmers beneath his surface.

Unsteady blue eyes fall down to the basket, and he looks nonplussed at the idea of just having to eat plain fruit. Apples seem the least offensive, so he'll reach for one. Then he pauses and laughs, though he says nothing about what he considers so funny. Never accept an apple from a woman, Joshua.

He'll trade it for a pear.

"I'm sure there's at least a closet. Probably with a robe." If she's cold. He doesn't notice those things so easily.

Edited 2014-02-15 06:05 (UTC)

Marvelous. So at least it was like every other castle event. She might die.

She arched an eyebrow at him. "No ... Kat-niss. Like the flower. Gale used to call me Cat, though." She wasn't sure she wanted Joshua calling her that, but god, it had to be better than 'Kathy'.

She herself plucked off a few grapes and popped them in her mouth, before she looked around for the closet. "That's not such a bad idea."

Getting up, leaving him the fruit, she went to find the closet and see what there was to wear around this ... whatever it was.

The flower... Girls with flower names always seem to drift into his life, it seems. Or maybe he only has a habit of noticing once he realizes. He's not a stranger to the language of flowers, but that's one he actually hasn't heard of, which intrigues him enough to keep him from completely ignoring her now that he has food.

"You certainly slink around like a cat," is his jovial response before biting into the pear. For now he'll just watch her wander about, since once she finds clothes for her, he should hope there might be something for him.

...But looking at their surroundings, he doubts it will be a suit and duster.

She glanced over her shoulder at him, before answering tartly, as she scouted out of the closet. "You have no idea. But if we're going to call people out on physical attributes, should I just call you 'Surprisingly Wiry'?"

There, wraps and the like. Of course there reminded her of all of her clothes in the Capital. Slinky and silky. She plucked out one in light grey, wrapping it around her shoulders.

She paused, before she half turned. "Are you some kind of ... warrior?"

Surprisingly wiry, that's a new one... He only chuckles in response to it. Well, he's most definitely fit, but she's right that he's no Brock Samson; his muscle build is more lean. But they don't want to get into pointing out builds; it would probably end with him getting slapped by her.

"That depends on what you consider a warrior."

"Someone who can aptly defend themselves when mostly asleep in bed with a complete stranger to the point where he can throw her across the room?" She answered dryly, as she flopped back down on the bed and grabbed an apple to munch on.

"Then I think you just answered your own question," is his cheery, if snarky response while he finally musters the energy to drag himself off the bed. Silk sheets are pretty nice, he should consider getting them for his own bed. ...His real bed. "At least you admit I was defending myself."

He looks into the closet beside her, clearly having no qualms regarding personal space, though at least he's not rude enough to shove her over to get what he wants. Joshua doesn't care enough about what clothes look like to really complain about what's offered, so he grabs what he thinks is a shirt, although it seems longer like a tunic, and a robe more like hers.

And cue Katniss rolling her eyes again. Oh, wasn't he just funny. Ugh. "I'll admit that if you admit I had a reason to be hostile in the first place. It's not nice waking up with someone you don't know, now is it?"

She took another bite of her apple, inching herself back slightly when he enters her space. It's not even a conscious movement - just something she does without realization. Always creating a little space between herself and strangers.

He only shrugs at first in response, seeming like he might not add anything else, at least until he's fully dressed. If one would call this an outfit. He still can't quite place what country this is supposed to be like, but he's glad they weren't put in here to starve.

She'll probably flip out if he asks her to draw a bath, too. What an inconvenience.

"It's happened to me so many times, I don't think much of it." That's somewhat of a lie, but he's good at it. He dislikes being toyed with, not having his input included in events, but he is very much used to it. "One week I woke up in a different room every day with a different person."

She would flip out if he asked her to draw a bath. She isn't a Vox, and she never would be, thank all the powers that were out there. She wrapped the wrap around her as she started to explore the room itself, frowning at the paintings on the wall. They all seemed have large animals with long trunks ... elephants. She remembered that, from school.

"That must have been horrible. I hate being pushed amongst strangers."

Horrible indeed, although surely everyone would complain that it was much more horrible for them, even if it lasted longer for himself. It's difficult to be cooped up with someone like him, or at least it can be. In a good mood he's happy to mind his own business, but sometimes his curiosity does rule him.

"We shouldn't stay strangers, then, so you don't hate it."

Katniss glanced over at him at that statement, before she took another bite of food and tilted her head thoughtfully. Well, there was sense in that. If she was going to need an ally in whatever the castle was going to throw at them next, there would be no better time. Besides, there was little of her life story that she didn't care was public.

"What would you like to know?"

Joshua wanders away from her and the closet after that, fingertips trailing along the ornate designs along the wall, stopping at a large tapestry to observe. Maybe he can figure out the origin from the art.

"I don't need to know anything about your past. The present and future is good enough."

She pressed her lips together, twisting a piece of hair around her finger. Thinking about what her present looked like. As her future ... "Well ... I'm eighteen. I am thinking of becoming a writer - telling the story of my people and our history. Right now, I am a hunter and the owner of the shooting range, right outside of the castle. I'm also known as the Mockingjay - but that is more past present then present future."

He wonders if he should be taking notes, both on what she's saying and what he's observing. So far he's figured that they're supposed to be in India, or something close. As for what she's talking about, he retains perhaps only half of what she's saying.

"Hmmm, writing about your past might make it more interesting. You should write that while here."

Joshua turns to look at her again, his smile half-cocked like he's still thinking about something else. Or dreaming about something, even while still awake.

"Paradisa could always use more records of people's worlds in the library, and I could always use something new to read. ...What's a mockingjay?"

"What, in this room? Or here, as in Paradisa?" She snorted softly, before she pressed his lips together. It wasn't a bad idea, truth be told. She had all the time in the world to write about it and perhaps ... perhaps it was time. To let go of the ghosts of the past.

She blinked at him, concentrating back on the conversation. "It's a genetic mutation - between a mockingbird and a bluejay. They can perfectly remember anything being said to them, and sing it back. I got the name because ... I had the pin. A long time ago."

Edited 2014-03-02 15:09 (UTC)

He doesn't really mean in this presumably locked room, but if that's something to pass the time...why not. He's certainly not her caretaker, though he's not opposed to polite conversation. It's better than fighting.

Sometimes.

"Science. It has it's miracles, I suppose. Nothing like that could be done in my time."

She looked over at him, her eyes going from wary to faintly curious. She took another bite of her apple, chewed, then asked frankly. "What about you? What's your story? I don't mind history."

In fact, sometimes she preferred it. Something bleak to be compared to.

"Then read a history book."

It's a short answer, though not offered with much or any real venom. He could be serious, he could be joking, but it's rarely easy to know which, even if he wasn't turned away.

Joshua continues, though, before one can wonder for too long. "I'm not a story. I've been here a long time, that's all."

Well, that finished that conversation. Katniss eyed Joshua, then shrugged as she simply switched to total apathy. She was going to feel the edge of being unbalanced now - and wondered if he was going to use it against her.

Probably, and she took another bite of her apple. "All right. So you're here. Been here." In other words, consider it dropped.

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[Fantasy Suites] [Katniss and Joshua]

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