Room 504, Thursday Evening

[wesleynotponcy]

So Wesley had books. Lots of books. And they were... interesting.

By interesting, he meant that they made him blush pretty much constantly. They were that kind of books.

"She'd like that?" he wondered at one point, copying over a particularly surprising passage into his notebook. "How would I even -- " He turned the page, revealing a diagram. "Oh. Oh."

Yeah. Totally blushing.

[[Open door and post, expecting one. I'm a jerk.]]

Comments

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"L-likewise," he murmured back, sliding his hands up to the back of her neck. He leaned in for a kiss, but before their lips could touch, he made a point of noting, "And -- you're beautiful. Just, ah. Just so that you know."

Maybe not the most romantic phrasing ever. BUT HE TRIED.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

She wanted to argue, because she never knew what to say to that.

She settled for kissing him softly before murmuring, "So're you."

Because to her, he was. Simple as that.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"Not the way you are," he countered, touching his forehead to hers. "It's almost hard to believe you're mi-- with me."

He wasn't quite as secure in his possessiveness as she was.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"Shh," she said, blushing. "I'm...not. No. I'm...too small, and scarred, and wrong, and my head still isn't totally right, and -- no. You're perfect. That's all. And you love me, for some reason. That means I win."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley drew back just far enough to tilt up her chin with one finger, not taking his eyes off of her.

"You aren't," he corrected her softly. "You're storng and beautiful and, well, I rather wish I could emulate you in quite a few respects. That you truly want -- well, this, with me -- it's almost hard to believe."

This he said, not with the self-pity that the words might call to mind, but with simple, genuine honesty. Privately, he thought of how there was a reason that he was the one to be fired and tortured and cited at the Council as an example of perfect failure. Whereas she -- well. She was a hero.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"How could I not?" she asked, quietly. "You're amazing and powerful and strong and -- god, Wesley, do you really not know how good-looking you are? And you want to be with me. And you think that about me. You're crazy. I never wanted to be any of that. I'm a coward."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"That's not true," Wesley said, more firmly this time but still in that same soft, almost entranced tone of voice. "Whatever my -- er, questionable, er, assets might be," he began, cheeks tinging pink, "you -- Katniss, I was raised to study women who aren't half as strong as you."

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"I'm only just holding it together, Wesley," she murmured. "I'm still scared every day that I'm going to go completely insane. That's the only reason I ever did anything. If I hadn't reached for the berries -- if I had killed Peeta in the arena, and none of this had happened -- I would have lost my mind."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley took that as a cue to wriggle out from underneath her and sit up straight, backing up against the headboard. "But you didn't," he said softly. His voice was filled with admiration as he went on, "Because you made a choice that would protect him in that moment. And you kept making choices, and -- and they weren't perfect, not always, because one could hardly expect that from anyone, but -- but you handled it, you dealt with these impossibly horrible things and -- and now you're here and you're still so strong. Even though it's difficult."

He was blushing now, hoping it wasn't completely obvious how much he idolized her but knowing almost for certain that it was.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

Katniss studied him for a moment, quiet, before asking, "You really believe all of that, don't you?"

Him and Peeta. Her biggest supporters.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"Well." He looked down -- oh, right, she was topless -- and then kept looking down to glance at his hands. "Yes. Yes, I'm certain of it."

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"Then," she said carefully, shifting to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth, "trust that I'm just as certain about what I said about you, no matter how wrong we think the other is."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"I suppose," Wesley conceded, leaning in to offer a kiss in return, "that might be amenable." Punctuating every other word with a quick kiss somewhere on her face, he added, "Although--" kiss, "there would--" kiss, "have to be--" kiss, "terms of the, ah--" kiss, "arrangement."

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"And what," Katniss asked, with similar punctuation, "might these terms be?"

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"Well," Wesley murmured, "I suppose in order to make a, ah, a fully researched decision, I should like to give more attention to the matter."

Which meant a kiss on her neck, then a few more making their way across her collarbone.

"Just in the interest of certainty," he added in between kisses.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"You do like to be certain," she replied softly, tipping her head back so he had full access to her throat. She was guessing that might sort of be a thing, too. "And to do research. So please, research away."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

That was a very good guess, Katniss. Yes. It was a thing.

"I will," he decided firmly, and resumed his explorations.

This might take a while.