your sweet moonbeam {open}

[marzipan berry stark]

Marzipan Stark made her way to the sweet shop from school. Her schoolbag bounced on her hip as she walked, serving as a method of keeping track of time and pace. She was smiling, not an uncommon sight, and fussing with her ponytail.

It was only a few days until the Reaping, and she was trying to go about life as if nothing was going to happen. Except for the lack of two faces she knew at school the day after. And within a month they'd probably be dead. The whole say she just couldn't help thinking if they'd be the one to go…if she would be the one to go. Marzie wouldn't last a day in the arena. She couldn't even hold a hunting knife right! How could she manage to handle a bow or a sword or set traps?

That's why she'd given away seventeen pieces of candy that day. One–because it was just her nature to try and brighten people's day. Two–because she was scared for them or their sibling. There wasn't really a way to tell who'd be taken to the Capitol though. It was all based on odds.

And considerably? The odds were in Marzipan's favor. She'd never needed to take tesserae for her family, because their goods were expensive and kept them fed with only a couple of sales a week. Other families, like ones in the Seam or ones whose stores didn't turn as great a profit, did need tesserae. And those were the families who had to watch their children die. Either in the arena, or at home in District 12. The whole concept saddened her, made her want to just take her food or things from the shop and give it to the families who couldn't afford it.

But she doubted that people would accept it, especially someone from Merchant stock. Someone who didn't understand what if felt like to be hungry…

Marzipan sighed and sat in front of the Bakery, sucking absently on a piece of chocolate and thinking about what awaited their district in the days and weeks to come. If she could get away with it, she would volunteer or rebel against the Games. Something to show others that they didn't have to subject…But that would be crazy. Which was why she'd never do it. Because, despite her thoughts and inward wishes of freedom for others, she was too comfy in her well-fed lifestyle to give it up for a rebellion.

She could really only imagine and ponder.

[peeta mellark]

Peeta was leaving after a long day of school, hands tucked away in his pockets, his head slightly lowered, but his blue eyes slightly roaming, watching his classmates as they all headed home in their different directions, just like they did every day. The day wasn't even close to being done, in fact, with work and chores and tasks to be done it almost felt like the day was only beginning. Peeta felt linked to them in that way, but almost disconnected in other ways. Most of the children's fathers were miners, and the others would grow up to work in the mines, once they were old enough. Not Peeta. He didn't have to worry about his father going off to work and dying. No, he had it slightly better than the children in his district, slightly. Better than most.

He felt himself searching subconsciously for the girl with the brown braid. He saw her almost every day, in school, watched her walking after most days, but he never said a word. They never really made eye contact, never spoke, she probably barely knew he existed. They just shared one single memory. The day years ago, when he had seen her digging through the garbage cans near the bakery, looking for something to eat and share with her family, starving. He had dropped a loaf of bread in the fire, had taken a beating for it too. But he waited until his Mother had left him to throw the burnt bread to her. That was the only time they had ever exchanged anything. Maybe she didn't even remember. But he did. He didn't know why he watched her most days, or wondered where she was headed off to. She just perked his interest. Made him curious.

Sighing softly, he turned away, starting to walk for the bakery his family owned and lived in, lowering his head completely. He knew he shouldn't dawdle. He was needed. There were plenty of loaves of bread to make, bags of flour to lift, cakes to decorate and pastries to fill with frosting. The same thing as every day, except one. Reaping day was different, a day when the district was excused from work and school. But not a day anyone looked forward to. No one was excited about their children being the ones sent off to die. The day was coming fast, knocking at their back door. There really was no point in preparing for it. Nobody ever knew what was to be expected. You just had to take a deep breath and brace yourself. If you could just make it past that one day without your name being called, you'd be fine, everything would go back to normal. Peeta was counting on that, telling himself everything would be fine.

He reached the small bakery, pausing at the door, noticing a familiar face. Marzipan, a girl he knew from school and from sharing a lot in common with her since both their parents owned a shop in town, was sitting outside of the bakery. She seemed distracted, maybe even a little saddened. Peeta didn't really have to question her to know that reaping day had her down. Her family wasn't affected by it, but she was the sort of person to take notice of other people's hurt and bear it as well. He debated with himself for a moment before walking over, supposing he would receive a lecture from his Mother for being late either way. He slowly took a seat beside her, and gave her a nod of greeting and a tiny smile of understanding, before dropping his eyes and playing with a button on his shirt.

[marzipan berry stark]

Marzipan looked up, half-expecting to see the baker's wife, when she heard footsteps getting closer. She was lucky enough to discover that it was the baker's son, Peeta, instead. She had seen him at school, and he was in practically the same situation as her. Almost completely safe from the horror that would soon befall their district with the Reaping.

Her fingers popped the rest of the small piece of chocolate into her mouth after she looked at Peeta. Her hand then fell and rested on her knee. Chocolate didn't really make everything better, but it helped a little when she was worried or anxious, that was for sure. After swallowing, Marzie sighed a little, but caught herself in the middle as he slowly sat next to her. His greeting nod was met with one of her own, followed by a half-hearted smile.

She wanted to come up with some excuse behind sitting there. There was really no intent behind sitting in front of the bakery except for the fact that it was convenient. She could say that she was going to buy some bread for her family, but she had no money on her, just her schoolbag and two other pieces of candy. On the other hand, it'd probably be best to just tell the truth and say she wanted to sit there and think for a little bit. Silence could be a viable option, but who would want to prolong a silence? Not Marzipan.

The girl tightened her ponytail again before clearing her throat and speaking, "Sorry if I'm blocking anything. It's just that I needed to mull things over…and home isn't exactly the best environment to do that." she then put on a small smile, "That…and I like the smell of the bakery."

Marzie chuckled softly and held her chin up a little higher, trying to inhale the smell that she'd mentioned. She reached a hand into her bag and pulled out a small, green piece of candy, wrapped in a waxy-feeling paper, then offered it to Peeta. "I had some left over. Would you like it?"

[peeta mellark]

He looked up when Marzipan cleared her throat and started to speak, listening patiently and shaking his head. "No, you're not, it's fine." He understood what she meant about sorting out thoughts. He did that most days on the walk home from school. The walk to school and then home were really the only times he really had to think, maybe when he fell into his bed at night before he drifted off to sleep. It was important to have at least some time to just think everything over and clear your head. That way the thoughts didn't interfere with school, work, or sleep. At least that's how it was for Peeta.

He smiled slightly when the girl said she liked how the bakery smelled. You would think being around the bakery so much, one would tire of the smell. He didn't all that much though. There was something about walking in and taking in a breath of the air. It said "work", but there was also something about it that said "you're home, safe and sound". He closed his eyes for a moment, joining her in trying to breathe in the pleasant aroma. When he opened them again, Marzipan was holding out a piece of candy, offering it to him. He gave her a small grateful smile and took it, sitting for a moment and starting to undo the wrapping, feeling a little guilty that she was giving him candy and asking for nothing in return.

He remembered he had a left over slice of bread from lunch, not as good as what the customers got of course, it being a little stale. It was something to give though. He reached into his own bag, pulling it out and unwrapping it from the paper, holding it out to her slowly. "Bread for candy?" He asked quietly, smiling a little at the notion of their trade.

[marzipan berry stark]

Marzipan was slightly shocked to have Peeta offer a slice of bread in return for the piece of candy. By comparison, it was an unfair trade, something useless for something vital. But then again, it was a fair trade in that it wasn't very often that Marz had just plain bread–something she savored more than peppermints during the winter.

It wasn't very often that someone offered anything in return when she offered sweets at school. It had never happened before, actually, she had just handed the person the candy and then let them go about the way. Sometimes she even just ignored any offers of anything in exchange. She tried to rationalize taking the bread. Peeta was just as well off as her, probably better, since more people needed bread than sweets.

A smile flickered across her lips as she nodded and took the bread, accepting the exchange. She ripped off a small piece from the slice and put it in her mouth. Letting the taste and feel of it sink in, Marzipan sunk backwards to lean against the wall. Her gaze drifted up to look at the sky overhead, then back at Peeta.

There was little to no possibility that he would be the boy leaving the district this year. She couldn't picture the Baker's son going into the Games, strangely. Well, she couldn't picture a lot of people going into the Games, but the sentiment behind the thought remained. She would still be shocked no matter who was reaped that year. Her thoughts ran for a moment while she chewed the bread and swallowed it, then spoke.

"Thank you," she said softly, then spoke cautiously, "are you worried about who we're going to loose this year?"

She didn't ask 'who was going to be reaped' for a reason. Marzipan knew that whoever was reaped from District Twelve had been given a death sentence. There hadn't been a winner from their district since Haymitch Abernathy, and that was twenty-two years ago. And the odds of that streak being broken this year were slim to none.

[peeta mellark]

Peeta waited until she took the bread from him to lower his hand, glad she decided to accept it. He'd had his share of the bread at lunch, he didn't have any use for it. As long as the bakery was open, he would never have to fear of running out of bread. He supposed that's how it was for Marzipan, she was probably swimming in candy up to her ears. He didn't get them too often, although the cakes and pastries sort of made up for that. Still, it was a good trade.

He watched her eat the bread, wishing he'd had something more fresh to give her, although he knew she wouldn't complain. Bread was bread to most people. Most people in the districts, anyways. He put the piece of candy in his mouth and sucked on it, letting it melt slowly on his tongue, savoring it like the girl beside him was savoring the bread. The young baker nodded his head when she thanked him, brushing her off. He listened quietly to her question and looked away, thinking about it.

He was worried for his district and he worried for the families. It was always a damaging thing for everyone to hear the names called and watch two children be sent to their inevitable deaths, never to return again, and knowing that there was nothing to be done. There wasn't much hope in district 12. It had been years since they had a victor and it would probably be many more years before they had another one. There was really no telling who would be reaped. Peeta wasn't too worried for himself though. Even if he did end up in the reaping, it wouldn't affect his family the same way it might for others. He was needed at the bakery, yes, but his parents would certainly survive without him. He didn't have younger siblings to support and look after like many of the children of his district did.

Sighing softly, he finally nodded his head. "I am worried," he admitted quietly. "It's hard to see them leave and know you won't see them again. That's the way it is every year though." It bothered him a little inside that he was sitting here swapping bread for candy with Marzipan while so many in the district had nothing and were usually the ones who landed up in the reaping, while he sat here and knew that his name was safe. Something about it didn't seem fair, although there wasn't much he could do to change that. He finally swallowed, nothing left in his mouth but the remaining sweet taste that was starting to feel a little more bitter to him, almost like a victory he'd done nothing to achieve.