Thread: A Mockingjay Fettered (HeavenSundered & Randomname)

Trying to keep herself busy while Troy took his bath, mostly to avoid thinking about Troy taking that bath , Katniss used the time to tidy up her mother's clinic, cleaning and putting everything back in its place. It wasn't until she reached up to place the bottle of alcohol back into a raised cabinet that she was reminded about her bruise, feeling a searing pain spread through the right side of her body over her ribs. Wincing and groaning heavily, Katniss leaned against the counter for a moment before moving over a few feet where there was a large square mirror on the counter, propped up against the wall. Turning so that her right side was facing the reflective surface, Katniss gingerly lifted her shirt up high enough so that she could see the bruise and assess the damage. The dark reddish-purple patch roughly the size of a boot contrasted quite vividly against her creamy pale flesh. She would have to be careful not to let her mother catch a glimpse of it, no reason to give the woman even more ammunition for the inevitable conversation where she tried to talk Katniss out of continuing her hunting trips. She jumped and gasped when Troy's voice startled her. She whipped her head around to face him, her eyes widening slightly in surprise as she hastily pulled her shirt back down. The bruise hadn't yet formed when she'd removed her shirt in the woods, and Katniss had kept it hidden beneath her jacket after that, so he wouldn't have seen it. She didn't know why it felt so embarrassing for him to see it now. It didn't really make sense...nothing about the way that she felt around Troy made any sense. The fact that he looked stunningly handsome wearing her father's shirt which just barely fit him while tightly hugging all of his sinewy muscles did not help matters one bit. Oh...okay, then, I'm gonna go... Katniss said stiffly as she brushed by him to leave the room in a hurry, not even bothering to complete her sentence. Running upstairs, she drew another bath for herself, this time a cold one. At least she was used to it already, since there was often only enough hot water for her little sister, and even when there was more she left it for her mother rather than herself. Still, that didn't mean that Katniss enjoyed the freezing cold baths, so she cleaned herself quickly and efficiently and got out of there as fast as possible. After drying herself off, she put on a fresh set of pink panties as well as a matching bra and finally a short jade green dress. She wished that she didn't have to wear a dress right now, but she only had a single set of hunting clothes, and both of her pairs of jeans were already in the laundry hamper. After checking herself in the mirror to ensure that she at least looked presentable, Katniss went back downstairs to find Troy in the clinic with new bandages over his cut. Are you staying for dinner? she asked, already certain that her mother had asked him to while she was upstairs bathing. I'm sure it won't be anything as...fancy as you're used to, but she's going to be really disappointed if you don't stay. It would also be the last of their reserves, so they would have to go pawn some of their few belongings of any value to buy food if they wanted to have supper. Katniss wasn't exactly in any shape to go out hunting again that afternoon, even her mother allowed it, which she certainly would not. We can go wait in my room, if you want, she added before making her way back upstairs, expecting him to follow. Katniss would have suggested the living room, but she didn't want her mother or sister overhearing anything in case they went back to discussing the events from the forest. She shared the room with Prim, so there were two beds, and other than that just a few pieces of mismatched furniture and some clothes randomly scattered about. The only thing out of the ordinary was Katniss' small work table in a corner of the room where she crafted her arrows. She sat down on one of the beds, expecting Troy to sit on the other one across from her, and hoping that this whole situation wouldn't get too awkward.