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Peeta has gotten his hands on some painting supplies. It was a beautiful day and Peeta hadn't spent many of those outside because he'd been busy baking and exploring the hotel. However, today he was wearing a tee shirt and a pair of ratty jeans; the shirt as well as his arms and hands were smudged with paint. The scene slowly emerging on the canvas was one of a meadow with mountains, the sun just setting beyond them. His brow was furrowed as he focused on getting just the right shade and light in the sunset.

Peeta was adjusting here. He was beginning to live a life. He enjoyed his job baking for the hotel. He was beginning to branch out and open some of the doors, no longer terrified that every one would bring an army of peacekeepers from the Capitol down on them. He was still wary about the Capitol finding them, and he probably always will be, but it no longer paralyzed him in his daily life here.

After several moments, he took a step back, lips pressed together as he contemplated the scene. He was missing something, but he wasn't quite sure what yet. After several moments of studying the canvas, he put his brushes aside and toe-heeled his shoes off to wiggle his toes in the grass. Maybe taking a break would help.

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Katniss didn't tell her everything, but then again, what with having run into so many people here, Effie couldn't really keep track of who she was supposed to be seeing and who she wasn't. She just knew she was glad to see Peeta, especially doing something he liked so much.

"You have such a gift, Peeta," she said, glowing a little. It was a strange maternal fondness and egotism that meant that when her Victors did well, Effie couldn't help but feel good, as if they were her own accomplishments. "I'm sure she'll love it."

She paused to brush imaginary grass off his shoulders, in a manner that was clearly her fidgeting, because, though she was pleased to see Peeta, he was also clearly a mess and she was trying to restrain herself. "Well, I'm glad you're here, as well," she said. "And not - not back home."

Edited 2014-05-09 06:57 (UTC)

It's one of the nicest things about this place, he generally gets to spend his days doing the things that he wants like baking and painting.

He ducks her head a little at her compliment. "Thank you." In a way, he understands how and why Effie would be proud of their accomplishments. For better or worse, they are hers in some sense, just as she is theirs. It's a somewhat awkward relationship and probably will be for a little while, but it's still a relationship.

Her brushing the imaginary grass of his shoulders actually helps him relax a little. It's such an Effie thing to do. He smiles broadly at her words and nods. "Me too. I'm glad you're here as well."

Because apparently things back home go south very quickly and while Peeta doesn't know what becomes of Effie, he can't imagine that it's very good.

Effie finished brushing his shoulders, paused to straighten his collar, not that it needed it. He wasn't wearing shoes and she was inwardly balking at it, but that was just one of the many strange things Peeta and Katniss did. Walk on the ground. Horrifying. Effie herself was in a pair of shoes that she nonetheless managed to balance on even with the spiky heels sinking into the grass. She felt that if she couldn't walk in any civilized terrain in heels, she didn't deserve to wear them.

"Oh, yes, but I'm having a dreadful time trying to occupy myself," she exclaimed. "I'm not used to such idleness, Peeta." How disturbing, to consider the fact that without the Games - well, she wasn't sure what else she could be doing, or could have done. The Games had always been her dream, and now they had soured, and she had nothing.

It was odd seeing Effie out of her natural environment. Peeta supposed that eventually he'd get used to seeing her here, in a place that really wasn't Capitol even if it was fairly plush and posh here. As for walking on the ground, there was something nice about having your bare feet in the grass. Effie really should try it sometime.

Peeta nodded a little. Despite the fact that he didn't want to ponder how Effie had filled her time in the Capitol, he understood how difficult it could be to be idle. He'd had a difficult time coping with it once he'd become a victor and hadn't been expected to work anymore.

"We need to find a hobby for you. Have you gotten job here in the hotel yet?"

"A job, here?" Effie asked. Not that she thought she was too good for the hotel - nothing like that. Simply that it was so different from the Capitol, it had the wrong flow, so to speak, that she hadn't really considered the fact that she could join in and be a part of its workings. "I hadn't thought about it. I'm not sure I'd be able to find anything here I would be good at. Or... even exists in this place, really."

Peeta nodded. "It might not be exactly in your skill set, but you're bright enough to pick up something new. Maybe they need someone at the front desk or in one of the restaurants." He thinks Effie would be an excellent hostess of some sort.