the thirsty games!

 

Katniss trailed her fingers over Peeta's bare chest. He traced a pattern on her back. For once, both kids were asleep. And thankfully Reed had finally grown out of waking up to eat every two hours. In the wake of his latest flashback, Peeta appreciated having Katniss tucked into his side in their bed with no chance of her leaving any time soon.

"You love me?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "Real or not real?"

"Real." She said just as quietly.

"Good." He sighed into her hair.

She looked up at him. "How are you feeling?" She asked, her voice gentle.

He gave her a comforting smile. "I'm fine."

"Your flashback." She said softly. "It wasn't as intense."

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. "It was more gradual this time around. And I was holding Reed. Getting him ready for bed." He rolled to his side and rested his head on his hand. "I think it works best when they are around."

She pressed a kiss to his lips. "It may not always be that way."

"I know. But lately it has been. So I'll be okay. We all will be."

She nodded and wrapped her arms around him. "Will you paint on me anyway?"

He smiled and kissed her forehead. "I'll be right back. Take your shirt off."

Katniss sat up and removed her shirt, dropping it off to the side of the bed. She traced her fingers over the scars she knew by heart. A new one had been added five months ago when Reed was born. He had been sideways and refused to turn, so they had to cut her open to bring him into the world. It wasn't nearly as frightening as the first time, but it was still scary.

Peeta walked in with his painting supplies. He sat on the mattress and started mixing colors. Pulling the blanket aside, he sat between her knees and slipped his legs beneath hers. He leaned down over her stomach.

He didn’t say anything as he went to work. The brush strokes were small and precise. Katniss tried to see the image he was creating, but it was difficult with Peeta's blonde head in the way.

Reed started fussing in the other room and Katniss started to sit up.

Peeta shook his head. "Give him a minute. He may go back to sleep." He slowly blew on the paint before he applied the next layer.

Reed slowly soothed himself back to sleep and the house was quiet once again.

Katniss reached up and ran her hand through Peeta's hair. "Can I see?"

"Sure." He sat back and reached for a tube of paint. "But I'm not done yet."

She pushed herself up on her elbows and looked down. There along her stomach was an intricate pattern of all sorts of geometric shapes. She could see there was an image hidden in it, but she couldn't make it out from the angle.

She reclined again as he leaned down to paint again. "Are you going to put that much detail into something that washes off?" She started combing her fingers through his hair.

"Maybe this is just practice." He sat the palette off to the side and slipped his arm under her waist to get a better angle and leaned even closer.

His breath against her skin was warm where there was no paint, but cool where the paint was still wet. Her head fell back against the pillow and a soft sigh escaped her lips. She tightened her grip in his hair. "You need to stop now."

He chuckled. "You'll never know what this was supposed to be."

"I don't care." She sat up, taking away his paintbrush with one hand and cupping his cheek with the other.

The kiss was warm and familiar. There was a hunger behind it that reared its head every once in a while. It was invigorating and frightening. It propelled them forward.

Katniss pushed Peeta's paints off the bed as she rolled him beneath her. He only spared a glance at it. She'd probably be berated for it afterward, for now there were more pressing matters.

 To be continued...