munebox | A New Life

When she began constructing her sentences, badly, Arthur was compelled to turn and watch. He'd been tripping over his words moment before, but now she was talking in a manner that had him entirely confused. His expression went from a wrinkled brow and bewildered staring to a tad condescending.

"... Katniss, what on earth are you babbling about?"

Even as she heard him rustle beside her, most likely turning his head to look at her, she continued to stare straight up at the sky. What was she saying? Why couldn't she just keep her mouth shut? She was normally so good at that. At being the silent friend while all those around her opted to talk instead. Why wasn't she doing that now?

Her cheeks felt horribly aflame. Did he notice that? Did he notice the way she was blushing right this very moment? He certainly seemed to notice the babbling.

Damn it. Damn, damn, damn.

"Just... Just forget it, Arthur."

It hadn't gone without notice. He could see the way her cheeks reddened, the way she wouldn't look him in the eye, and how she didn't want to outright say anything. They were all signs of one clear thing and he wasn't too stupid to see what it was.

She was embarrassed because she'd just realized she'd tackled a king and didn't quite know how to make amends. It was a good thing he was gracious. Smiling, he stood back up, then, without offering a hand, he crouched down to grab her hands to pull her up, willing or not.

"Well if you're done rolling about in the mud, I'd actually like to eat today."

He really was a stupid boy, wasn't he? When she finally turned to finally look at him, it quickly became clear what that smile meant. They'd been stuck together for over a month now, with no other person they could remotely communicate with. She had learned how to anticipate his responses, how to read some of his behaviors. It had been crucial for their shared survival.

And right now? He didn't have even a clue, did he? A clue as to just what she had been implying, that maybe... Oh, stupid, stupid self important king.

When he attempted to pull her up, she quickly pulled her hands away after sitting and used them instead to shove him hard.

"You're a real idiot, you know that, right?"

She was full of surprises this morning. He stumbled back and very nearly fell over again. If he'd been in his armor, he probably would have. Virtue of never going to war was being a bit more steady on his feet. Once his footing was sure, he stood up straight, arms crossed, and a mild agitated.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said before. You're a very capable girl- woman. Easily among the best I've seen in a fight. I'll even admit you managed to get the better of me just now."

Are you happy now?

She felt a slight surge of pleasure as Arthur lost his balance and nearly tipped back again. Served him right, she thought as she stood without his help. For being so dumb. For making her even consider these things.

Her own arms crossed over her chest as she glared up at him despite his apology. Given his normal apologies, it wasn't so bad. It was actually sort of, well, good. But that implied giving him the benefit of the doubt. Not blaming him for the war of feelings currently going on inside of her. All because he had to stick his head where it didn't belong and remind her of things that she had become good at denying.

She hadn't been free with her kisses in a very, very long time. But in that moment, she gave into impulse. If her cheeks were to remain heated, well, damn them. She'd at least give her body a reason to betray her. She placed hands on his upper arms to hold him still and the quickly stood on her toes and pressed a fast kiss to his lips.

"Idiot," she repeated under her breath as she walked away, starting the trek to the woods without him. "Let's go catch dinner."

Generously, he was going to allow her to shove him again. He figured that's what she wanted. A chance to prove herself to be tough and useful and he'd been an awful prat up until this moment, so the least he could do was accept it like a man. Even when she grabbed his arms, he was bracing himself for whatever she had in mind.

Or so he thought. His eyes widened as he felt her lips on his and he looked helplessly out of place as he was on the receiving end. Had he any sense, he would have done something to reciprocate, but instead he was left standing there, mouth agape, watching her walk away. As far as he could tell, this had come absolutely out of nowhere. Well. Maybe not nowhere. His mind was racing as he made sense of it.

She was already quite a bit a way when he suddenly made a single step forward.

"Hold on. Wait a moment." He began following her, picking up the pace. "Just now, with you and I. What was that?"

She didn't hear footsteps behind her. Not till minutes seemed to pass. Katniss pretended not to care. He'd either catch up eventually or decide that it would be easier to obtain a meal at the town tavern, having had enough of ruckus-causing girls. Still feeling conflicted inside, she tried her best not to think about which would be the better decision. It didn't work.

It was easiest to just continue to walk the familiar path towards the woods' edge, muttering not so nice things about Arthur under her breath. Even when she heard him start to move, that familiar sound of boots crunching grass, she kept walking. Didn't stop. Not even when he called out.

She didn't answer, either. Let him figure matters out for a change.

Oh, wonderful. Now she wasn't talking to him. Apparently, he was starting to realize, she liked him. A bit more than he'd ever suspected. Which left him wondering to himself how he felt about her. Certainly he liked her. She was a close friend, among the closest he'd ever had. But he hadn't thought of her like that. He wasn't supposed to think of her like that. He had Gwen to think about. His kingdom. Camelot. A sister to defeat.

Of course, none of that mattered here. He quickened his pace until he was running, so he could grab her by the shoulder. Spin her around. Try and make sense of all this.

"Katniss."

She kept walking until she had absolutely no choice but to stop. His arm on her shoulder effectively did that and she scowled almost the moment she felt his hand on her shoulder. What did he want? Clearly, she had butchered the whole moment. Took her frustrations out on him and then made a complete and utter fool of herself.

Clearly, the placement of his head against her chest had been by utter accident. The way he had lingered a moment too necessary, frozen in the same shock that she had felt.

When he turned her around, she crossed her arms back over her chest and just stared at him, eyes asking everything she couldn't say aloud.

Arthur stared at her, trying to think of what he ought to say. Her eyes seemed to be telling him to hurry it up, which made it difficult to choose the appropriate words. So he took a moment to consider the rest of her. Katniss Everdeen. That girl from Luceti who gave him guff for wanting his servant back. Who'd been crushed when her boyfriend had left. Who he'd tried to cheer up, but more or less fumbled completely in his attempts to cheer up. The girl who made him carve up his own animals to put them on the dinner plate.

She was prettier than he realized, now that he was able to stop and think about her outside the context of just being this person that he knew. No words were coming to him.

So he leaned forward, placed his hands on either side of her face, and planted a kiss before she could protest.

Edited 2013-03-27 01:15 (UTC)

She continued to stare up at him as he stared back, stubborn and unflinching. If Arthur expected her to say the first word, well then. He'd have another thing coming. She wasn't going to give in. She had already done more than enough damage, hadn't she?

When hands are placed on her face, her breath catches in her throat. She barely has enough time to question his intentions before she finds lips on her own again. Lips that aren't Peeta's. Aren't even Gale's. But lips she finds herself relaxing into all the same.

Her hands unfold from her chest and she hesitantly places them on his hips as she returns the kiss. A second later, she moves her hands to his rib cage before moving them back to his hips. Awkward and unsure as how he might want her to hold him - if he even wants her to hold him. But her kiss belays nothing but excitement.

In truth, he'd kissed her for a lack of a better response and because he was, selfishly, wanting to gauge how he felt about her. For a moment his eyes widened as she took to the kiss with an unexpected passion. Perhaps he shouldn't have been surprised.

But then, he didn't mind. This was good. He moved his hands from her cheeks and lowered them to her waist so he could keep her close and embrace the moment, for however long they could make the moment last. Hesitant as he was at first, he's bold in his intentions by the time their lips part.

When he broke the kiss, she laughed shakily. Her whole body felt shaky and she gripped his waist a little tighter for reassurance. It has been a long, long time since she's kissed a boy like that. A long time. And only really one boy.

But as nice of a diversion as it is, it still was not an answer. What if he wass only kissing her to make her feel better? To make her feel like less of an idiot for kissing him in the first place? What if he was just like Zevran, willing to take sex where he can find it?

She shakes her head, licking her lips and trying her best not to think any further thoughts that might make her blush. "That was... that was nice."

For him, it had been over a year, not counting the trouble that came with Valentine's shenanigans. It had only been one woman. A woman he had exiled, despite being in love with. A woman he hadn't stopped thinking about it all his time in Luceti.

A part of him felt like he was betraying her, even though he knew he would never see her again. But there was a part of him that needed this. A realization that maybe he liked Katniss as more than just a friend and that he'd been too bullheaded to let himself see it.

He looked a little lost as he stared back at her, mouth still open. He wasn't sure what to say, but he became aware that she was saying something. He quickly nodded. "Yes, of course. It was... very nice." He stopped himself from being even stupider. "You have very nice lips." He failed.

His words hadn't sounded stupid to her. If anything, they made her smile and blush. She decided then that she didn't seem to mind the way her body reddened in response to the compliment. To the memory of that kiss they had just shared. Maybe he'd like that, too. Maybe he'd think it nice like Peeta once had. And it sort of surprised her, just how much she wanted to please Arthur in that respect.

"So do you," she murmured in reply, taking the moment to glance up at those lips. Her heart felt as if it was beating far too rapidly within her chest. Those were lips she had just kissed. Her smile broadened and she began to babble without fully realizing what she was saying. "You're... good with them. With kissing. ...have you kissed many other lips?"

It was a good job that they were alone, as the pair of them would look rather ridiculous to an outside observer. Arthur felt like quite the fool to just give into the moment like that. It wasn't that he hadn't done this sort of thing before, it was just that it had managed to come after not being tackled to the ground. Remembering that, he moved his hands behind him to dust off his back and bottom.

"Well, I have had a lot of practice. Gwen and I used to all over one another." It occurred to him immediately after that talking about his former fiancee was not quite the most tactful approach.

Gwen. Right. How could she have forgotten about her? Hadn't Arthur shared stories of his former love, much like she had shared stories of Peeta? How could she be so stupid as to forget that?

Feeling rather embarassed and obtuse, she immediately took a sudden interest in her boots. They were a little more scuffed than normal from the prior tussle on the ground. But she didn't care. She didn't think Arthur would care much either. At least, she hoped not.

"Of course," she finally muttered, still not daring to look up. "Of course. That makes a lot of sense."

A New Life

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