Room 403 | Friday Afternoon

[district12baker]

School week over with, Peeta headed back to his room to read the few bits of mail he had managed to get from home. Mail between the districts was strictly forbidden but messages were passed directly through 12 often enough. Michetta had sent letters on a whim and they somehow reached Fandom through some sort of magic or system that Peeta didn't

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[yinandyango]

Fawn came back to the room after her classes, with red stuff all over her hands and arms from Art and a full stomach from Court, and when she opened the door with the constant trepidation that went along with never wanting to disturb your roommate and saw that Peeta was reading, she tried to be particularly unobtrusive and quiet. She did a poor imitation of a shadow shuffling over to her desk, pulling out the chair, and sitting down after setting her stuff on it. And then she pulled out her notebook as if to write something, realizing that it was super weird trying to write with someone else in the room, pushed back her chair, got up again, and started gathering her things again, and wondering if, honestly, she could be any more awkward.

Sorry, Peeta.

[district12baker]

Peeta was actually grateful for the distraction, but he didn't give that away aside from the slight smile that got a little bigger the more awkward things got. But he kept on pretending to read.

This was far more entertaining than Big Brother.

[yinandyango]

Fawn had all her stuff to go find a better, less awkward place to write, though she seemed to hesitate and opened her mouth to say something, then seemed to change her mind, then went to get something else from her desk as she wondered if it was actually more impolite not to say hello to her roommate than it was not to interrupt his reading. Since he hadn't said anything so far, she figured it must have been a pretty engrossing read, and she shifted a little bit with uncertainty, then turned to head toward the door. But she only got part of the way before she stopped, hesitating again, and decided to just thunk down on her bed as if she had just planned to make a stilted relocation this whole time.

Then she asked, "How's the book?"

[district12baker]

"I'm not sure I like it," Peeta said, trying to hide his amusement. He wasn't sure if she was going to say anything or not. "It's very depressing. I'm not sure why it's a classic."

[yinandyango]

"What is it?' Fawn asked, craning her neck a little to see, and, once she saw the cover, she made a distinctive face. "Oh. Going in for the light beach reading, I see."

There was both a tone of agreement and approval in her whispered tone, and she brushed her hair back behind her ears. "It's a classic because it warns us of the dangers of extremes and serves as a reminder that our personal liberties are things that should never be taken away from us. It was published right after a war that put so many of our perspectives into question, touching on a lot of fears that were burning on the conscious minds and bleeding, exposed wounds of the world that it's basically been cemented into our language to the point where it's almost ironically lost it's true impact and meaning..."

Of course that book was required reading the Farrell household. It was practically Caitlin's favorite bedtime story. But realizing that she had started to ramble, Fawn blushed a little, curled her hands in her lap, and looked down, biting her lip.

[district12baker]

"Ah. Well that makes a bit more sense," Peeta said, grateful for the explanation. "Though I guess the message of the book falls by the wayside at some point in the future. Or it did where I'm from, anyway. The similarities are sort of eerie."

[yinandyango]

Realizing that Peeta wasn't about to make fun or her or think she was weird for the little burst of nerdiness there, she peeked over at him through her hair. "Like what?" she asked, head tilting with curiosity.

[district12baker]

"Our government is run an awful lot like the one in the book," Peeta explained. "And we really don't have many personal liberties. It's for our own good, apparently. To keep us from rebelling again."

Peeta felt like he had explained this to enough people around here that he could gauge their reactions by now. "It's not a great place to be, but I'm used to it."

[yinandyango]

Fawn snorted. "Complacency," she said, with a note of warning, but she wasn't Britta Caitlin, so she shook her head and found herself interested in something else she never really thought to ask Peeta, but figured it was a good chance to venture into it without having to worry about potential reciprocity. "If where you're from is like that, how did you wind up coming here?"

[district12baker]

"School sent me an invite and I took a chance," Peeta said with a shrug. He realized that being complacent wasn't the best answer, but it was the one that kept his family alive. "I'm putting my entire family in danger by being here, but I figure as long as I show up during certain government events the Capitol won't notice I'm gone. District 12 is the least important of all the districts in Panem."

[yinandyango]

Fawn frowned, taking a moment in noticing the types of things Peeta said and relating them to how he must feel reading a book like that, and it was something she realized would take some time to wrap her brain around. It was the sort of thing that she liked to wrap her brain around, though. "Why is it unimportant?" she asked. "How are you putting your family in danger? What's the event?"

Could you ask any more questions, Fawn? But she found it intriguing. One benefit of Freak School was that there was no end to intriguing conversations, while, back home, she was practically starving for them.

[district12baker]

Peeta lifted his eyebrows at the sudden line of questioning. He knew Fawn was a curious sort of person but he still wasn't used to people being curious about him"Well, um, I mentioned the rebellion, right? That happened almost 75 years ago, all the districts rose up against the Capitol and the Capitol beat them down, completely destroying District 13 in the process," Peeta said, having been through enough Reapings to know the story quite well by now. "After the war the Capitol forced all of the districts to participate in the Hunger Games, which is their way of showing us they have all the power and we have nothing. It's where a boy and a girl is chosen from each district and all 24 get put into an arena where they are expected to fight to the death

[yinandyango]

There was a good, long moment of wide-eyed staring at Peeta, and then Fawn's gaze shifted toward the book in his hand.

"No wonder you're unimpressed," she murmured. "I'd accuse you of lying, but I was a pony last weekend. That's only slightly less believable than that."

[district12baker]

"Only slightly?" Peeta asked, cracking a smile. "I had a hard time believing people had no idea what I was talking about when I got here."

[yinandyango]

"That's probably a good thing that people don't know what you're talking about," Fawn pointed out. She knew she was using the humor as a little bit of a defense mechanism of avoiding what Peeta was really telling her, and she drew in a shaky breath, forcing herself to confront it instead. "They really have to fight to the death? And why children? Children didn't start the rebellion...I assume. Adults should have to do it, if anyone."

[district12baker]

"They're not really young kids, the Reaping is only for people between the ages of 12 and 18. Any younger and I think that the people in the Capitol would be disgusted," Peeta said. "But I think they use young people because they represent hope and change. And no parent wants to have their child chosen so they keep in line to prevent any tampering with the Reaping."

He paused and thought a little bit more on the question. "There's also the fact that young people put on a better show. It's all a show. The people that live in the Capitol don't have to play so they think it's great fun."