Gathering Herbs [Artemis]

[Sage]

Autumn post for Artemis

Autumn Summerleaf

"Says"
Thinks
Does

It had been almost two months since Autumn had helped Andrei Ehrenstrom after his accident and she couldn't seem to get him off her mind. His eyes seemed to haunt her thoughts every waking and non-waking moment and she always felt her heart beat a little bit faster whenever he came into the shop for her to check on him. He was hot, she'd admit that much, and he was so sweet. She felt her cheeks flame at the thought of him and shook her head. He was a patient, not a boyfriend. Then why can't I get him off my mind? she asked herself as she got ready to head out to the forest.

"Cedar, I'm heading out to gather herbs before the frost." she called as she left the shop. She knew the youger girl could handle the shop alone and she often did when Autumn was busy with patients. The youger woman had grown up so much since she'd first been apprenticed a few years ago, no longer was she the scatterbrained, mischievous troublemaker but now, she was on her way to becoming one of the best healers in the district.

She had asked Andrei to come along with her but she'd asked him to meet her near the clearing to the west of the woodworking factory. He couldn't work right now while he was mending but he could be useful in other ways, being her bodyguard while out in the forest was one. She blushed at the thought of them being alone together before she shook her head and smiled. She hoped he wouldn't be anything like her ex. Sighing, she listened as the leaves crunched beneath her feet, wondering if he'd show. It would be helpful but she wasn't sure if her heart could take it.

As she approached the place she'd asked him to meet her, she could see someone standing there. She hurried her pace as she made her way towards him. "Hey" she said, her cheeks flaming.

Coding by Anzie, fixed by Ani

[Artemis]

Andrei would be lying if he tried to claim his check-ups with Autumn weren't the best part of his week. The twins, naturally, had been relentless in their teasing ("Off to see Miss Autumn again?" "You gonna ask her out this time?"), but that much was to be expected; his parents, though, had started sending knowing looks at him when they were around upon his return. But it didn't bother him; their family was too tight-knit for them to say nothing when their reclusive oldest son spent any amount of time with a woman his own age. Of course, he had never expected Leif, of all people, to rib at his older brother. Traitor. "Just ask her out already. With the number of times she's probably seen you shirtless it's the least you could do." Andrei wasn't entirely convinced that the bright red flush that had been on his face as he left had gone entirely away. So he found himself here, waiting with his hands in his pockets at the clearing just outside the factory Mama worked at. He'd been out of the full arm cast for a couple of weeks now, thankfully, but even with only the lower half of one he still wasn't cut out to go back to work; the Ehrenström family didn't have much in the way of money, but Andrei had been finding small projects to repay Autumn for her services. He still couldn't help but feel a little obligated to repay her somehow for using up the rest of her stock of morphling on him. Not that he'd accepted Autumn's invitation to accompany her into the forest for purely professional reasons. He was grateful that the morphling hadn't compelled him to say anything embarrassing, because even now without it in his system, Andrei wasn't entirely certain she wasn't an angel. The fact that she was stunning pretty helped, certainly. But in the various times Andrei had been back for her to check on the progress of his healing bones and bruises, she'd shown him nothing but kindness and a great deal of sensitivity for the discomfort his injuries and being half naked were giving him... And just another little hint of that no-nonsense attitude she'd given him when he'd first come in. Two months later, his broken rib was still tender and his arm was still in a cast, but at least now he didn't look (or feel) like he'd gone ten rounds with a bear. Andrei heard her coming before he saw her, crunching through the thick layer of fallen leaves on the ground; the world around them was getting colder, but had been painted in shades of red and orange and gold that made it feel much warmer. (The significance of Autumn's name, in that regard, wasn't lost on him.) He turned around from his spot standing under an alder tree (the one his family was named for), the handle of his hatchet tapping against his leg with the movement. "Hey," She greeted him, cheeks rosy and eyes bright. If not an angel, she might have been a valkyrie. "Hey," Andrei greeted her back, unable to help the smile creeping onto his face, "So, where all are we going?"

Word Count: 490//Theme by Ali

000000 - Andrei
d88a00 - Autumn
00e0ff - Aniike and Freja
223244 - Leif

[Sage]

Post for Artemis.

She smiled before her eyes landed on the hatchet he held loosly. She knew it was probably best if they had some sort of protection against anything that might consider either of them a snack. She looked up at the sky, clouds covering the bright yellow ball that they probably wouldn't see again till April.

"Well, there are a few places I need to check to see if they're still alive. With the drought and floods that happened, I'm not sure if they survived" she replied, beginning to walk towards where she knew a patch was still blooming. She'd taken special care of many of the herb stashes, making sure they had enough water and keeping them from drowning when the flood happened near the end of summer.

It had been sheer genious what she'd done to keep them from drowning. When the rains had started, she'd simply found a plastic bag and covered the plants from root to leaf, allowing some but not all moisture in.

She smiled at Andrei before worry creased her brow. If it started raining, his cast could very well be ruined if it was drenched in the rainstorms district seven was often invaded by. She looked at her hands for a moment, deciding that she could always replace the cast if it was ruined. She sighed before finding the silence between them awkward.

"So, how are you feeling? It's been two months now and from what I have seen, you're healing incredibly well" she was babbling, she knew, but she couldn't help it.

Words: 264

[Artemis]

Andrei's heart jumped up into his throat when she smiled; he couldn't help it. It didn't hurt either that when Autumn smiled, it lit her face up to her eyes the fact that he had a weakness for blue eyes was irrelevant. She glanced up at the sky, which had been a particularly foreboding gray all morning; fall and winter in District 7, especially, rarely went long without rain. A month into the season, they were overdue for another one of their occasional torrential downpours; they'd have to be quick about their work. Andrei wasn't terribly worried; his work jacket was designed with such weather in mind, since construction work didn't necessarily stop because of a little rain. Autumn, though, didn't appear to be quite as well-equipped. "Well, there are a few places I need to check to see if they're still alive. With the drought and floods that happened, I'm not sure if they survived" Herbs, probably. District 7 didn't have the luxury of formally-educated doctors or Capitol-brewed medicine, so they had to make do with what the land provided; once winter arrived, the frost would send the entire landscape into a pallid, quiet slumber save for the tall, dark fir and evergreen trees. It was beautiful, certainly; but being unprepared had oftentimes disastrous consequences. Autumn's line of thought didn't seem to be too far behind as she considered the sky, then the cast still on his right arm; she'd told him no less than every time he'd come back not to get it wet, don't get it wet, remember not to get it wet. Andrei wasn't terribly eager to find out why, though he had a good inkling. He was due to get the damned thing off soon, but that didn't mean he'd be back to work anytime soon; the healed spots were still tender, and though he'd tried to find small things to do with his right arm to keep up his strength, the muscle had ever so slightly vanished. He idly wondered if he could really take on any wild animals wielding a hatchet in his left hand. "So, how are you feeling?" She asked suddenly, snapping him out of his thoughts, "It's been two months now and from what I have seen, you're healing incredibly well." Andrei couldn't help but smile and duck his head; he never got tired of how concerned she was for his injuries. "Better," He replied, "I had a good doctor." Smooth. God, he was rusty. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and he looked up. "We should get moving, try and get this done before the rains come."

Word Count: 490//Theme by Ali

000000 - Andrei
d88a00 - Autumn

[Sage]

Post for Artemis

"Better" he replied and she smiled before his next words reached her ears. "I had a good doctor" her cheeks flamed and she felt her heart quicken. Be cool Autumn. She told herself.

She lead him into the forest towards the place where her first batch of herbs was, keeping a steady eye on the sky. If Andreis cast got soaked, she'd have to replace it to keep it from healing weird. "I hope they've all survived. If the recent weather is any indication, this winter will be bad." she said quietly, talking more to herself as her boots crunched on the fallen leaves.

Two months ago, Andrei had fallen, pretty much literally, into her life when a workplace accident had sent her running to him to look after his wounds. He'd looked quite beaten up but now, two months later, she could see how handsome he was. She hadn't had a boyfriend or a friend who was a male since Drew, her ass hole ex who'd been Verbally abusive and had hit her twice. (She'd left him after the second time). From what she'd seen, Andrei was nothing like Drew but she was wary, unsure of if he was simply acting or if this was the true Andrei she was seeing.

In the past two months, Andreis family had visited occasionally along with one of his friends, Seth, she believed his name was, and she had become fond of his mischievous twin sisters who often helped whenever they came with Andrei for his weekly checks. She felt her cheeks heat up as she turned to look at her companion.

"It's not such a terrible day, is it. I can smell rain on the wind but I think we should be able to collect the herbs before it arrives." she said, a smile forming on her face as her eyes scanned him briefly. He was taller than her but not by a big amount and he had more muscle on him that she thought for sure, he must already be spoken for, although she hadn't seen this other girl yet. A small part of her hurt at the thought of those arms on anyone else before she shook her head, she was just a healer, who could ever love her?

"I bet you have some interesting stories as a carpenter." she said, saying the first thing that came to mind before shutting her mouth, feeling like a total idiot. What was that, Leafy? she chastised silently before blushing bright red.

[Artemis]

So he wasn't as rusty as he thought, if the blush on Autumn's cheeks was any indication... Though he was still painfully aware of how long it had been since he spent any amount of time with a woman his own age. The twins teased him mercilessly about being a recluse, and his parents were... well, themselves. Of course they'd henpeck their oldest son about finding a girl and giving them grandchildren. But more often than not he let it roll off his back without dwelling too much on the matter. It was much harder to ignore when it was staring him in the face. He didn't quite catch what Autumn had said, simply tromping along after her through the deep layer of fallen leaves at their feet and generally making an unholy racket as they walked through the forest towards what he supposed were her hidden pockets of herbs growing around the area. If there were any animals in the area whose presence justified his following her around with a hatchet at his belt and a knife at his back, they sure as hell would hear them coming now (and hopefully, make themselves scarce). Andrei wasn't eager for a replay of the incident that had allowed him to meet Seth... Who, once he got his cast off, he had promised to resume work on making him a new prosthetic leg. "It's not such a terrible day, is it. I can smell rain on the wind but I think we should be able to collect the herbs before it arrives." Andrei tilted his head towards her slightly, eyes scanning the trees while Autumn went to work on her carefully-preserved patch of medicinal herbs, and he couldn't help but be reminded of some of one of the fairy tales he'd used to read to the twins when they were younger. Fair Snow White, picking flowers in a field, while the huntsman stood watch (the similarities ended there, for obvious reasons). "I bet you have some interesting stories as a carpenter." He couldn't help but smirk at the idea; story-wise, his profession appeared boring as all get-out, and there was no way in hell he was going to recount to a lady some of the crude (borderline obscene) humor that flew between his coworkers. (Thank whatever deity was up there that Andrei's father didn't take part, he was pretty sure he'd be scarred for life otherwise.) "Not so much," He admitted, still watching the trees but glancing back at her over his shoulder, "Most of my good stories involve shenanigans with my siblings." The overwhelming majority of them involving the twins, conniving little evil geniuses that they were. He could talk at length solely about their attempts to catch Andrei off-guard when telling them apart (12 years and they were so far unsuccessful, he could tell them apart flawlessly). Then, of course, there was the wolf story that had gotten around town... Most people didn't believe it, save for the parents of the kids he'd saved and the butcher who had promised to keep it on the down-low when Andrei had dragged the three wolf carcasses to her back door (the pelts were neatly rolled up and stowed under his bed for a metaphorical rainy day; they'd fetch a pretty penny if ever the Ehrenström family found themselves down on their luck). It wasn't his style to go around bragging about the fact, especially considering that the fact that he'd 'won' that fight had been equal parts luck and timing. "But then, you might've guessed that already having met the twins." Andrei laughed a little, "It's practically a hobby of theirs to try and catch me in the wrong when telling them apart; they seem to keep forgetting I know them, I've told them apart every time and they keep trying anyway."

Word Count: 490//Theme by Ali

000000 - Andrei
d88a00 - Autumn

[Sage]

Post for Artemis

She frowned when he said he didn't really have any carpentry stories but the frown vanished at the mention of his twin sisters. The two troublemakers he seemed so fond of, Autumn found it adorable. She had noticed that he always seemed able to tell them apart though, so far, Autumn had been unable to do so.

"It's practically a hobby of theirs to try and catch me in the wrong when telling them apart; they seem to keep forgetting I know them, I've told them apart every time and they keep trying anyway." he said and she laughed. It reminded her of the shenanigans her and Brayden used to pull as kids, she wasn't the troublemaker per say but she definitely had loved mischief. He had been the mastermind usually with Autumn following.

"Alright, then what about one that maybe wasn't funny at the time but looking back, you find funny. I remember my older brother Brayden and I were quite the troublemakers when we were little" she said, the laugh in her voice. It was nice to have someone other than Cedar to talk to, someone who maybe had a different perspective of things.

They arrived at the first clearing with the herbs in them and Autumn checked on the plants, praying to whoever was listening that they had managed to survive the districts weather. They had survived, the smile lighting up her face one of relief as she set to work carefully harvesting them. She had to treat these plants with care as they could very well save a life over the course of the winter and she'd take any help she could get.

[Artemis]

Andrei paused thoughtfully, both trying to recall an incident meeting such a description and also the slightest bit taken aback in surprise that Autumn apparently had a brother. Past tense. Had something happened to him? He didn't remember hearing the name Summerleaf at any of the Reapings, so he couldn't have been an unfortunate tribute...? "It's not really a sibling story, per se..." He started, his shoulders sagging with a little embarrassment at the recollection, "But something that's funny in retrospect... About a year ago, give or take, Mama got it into her head that I might fancy men and tried to get me to come out to her." He ducked his head and smiled a little, somewhat embarrassed by the topic but unable to help but be amused as he recounted to her how, in light of how long it had been since he'd had a girlfriend, his mother had come to the conclusion that her oldest son might be gay. So after who-knew how much time she spent pondering over how to approach him about it, eventually she'd cornered him in the workshop armed with well-meant but horribly-phrased words of encouragement and comfort. '... Mom, I don't know what you're getting at.' 'Oh, Andrei, you don't have to deny it. I'm your mother, I'll love you no matter what.' (Andrei's impression of his mother's voice was, at best, an affectionate parody.) 'No, really, I'm confused. What's this about?' 'I think there's something you want to tell me.' 'Such as...?' And it had gone back and forth for many minutes (why she hadn't just said it straight was beyond him) until finally Deanna had had enough beating around the bush... By which time Andrei was convinced his mother had thought he'd committed some crime, and was trying to get him to confess to it. 'Andrei. You haven't brought home a girl in ages, I'm not going to judge you if you decide you want to bring home a man instead.' '... what??' Andrei recounted how Konstantin had opted to walk in at about that point in the conversation, blissfully unaware of the goings-on before his presence. He'd tried to plead for some solidarity from his father, which had of course turned out to be a bad idea since his mother had always been the more serious parent. 'Dad. Tell Mama I'm not gay, she doesn't believe me.' His father, in all his infinite helpfulness, had simply replied with an innocent expression, 'Aren't you?' That conversation had swiftly ended with Andrei throwing up his hands and leaving. Though he hadn't moved from his vantage point since they'd arrived, Andrei turned to look at Autumn, tentatively curious at her silence; she was knee-deep in plants he barely recognized, nearly alight with joy that they seemed to still be alive. "What about you?" He asked, hoping his curiosity wasn't about to bite him in the ass, "I didn't know you even had a brother."

Word Count//Theme by Ali

000000 - Andrei
d88a00 - Autumn
c5c5c5 - Deanna
00234c - Konstantin

[Sage]

She couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips as he told her the story of his mom interrogating him about being gay and she felt a thought flutter through her mind. At least I now know he's eligible. she smiled as she carefully harvested the rest of the plants before standing and dusting the dirt from her clothes.

" What about you?" he asked as she looked up. "I didn't even know you had an older brother" the memories of Brayden were happy but sad at the same time. He'd finally gotten sick of the way the district was run and had left the district in the night. It had almost killed her and it had literally killed her mother.

"I do but he left when I was younger. Him and I used to get into a lot of mischief when we were younger. I remember once he had the idea that it was smart to climb this apple tree we found and I guess there was a bees nest in it so the next thing I know, he's on the ground with at least a dozen stingers in him and I am sitting there picking the things out of him for the next ten minutes. So glad he wasn't allergic." she laughed at the memory before her cheeks flushed. As she'd talked, she'd lead him to her next patch of herbs and was beginning to collect them when she felt the first raindrop against her nose.

"We were close, Brayden and I. It worries me sometimes that what if he was caught or what if he's hurt? " she didn't know why she was telling Andrei this but it felt right. She was always worried that Brayden had been caught or even killed and it infuriated her that she had no idea.

As she finished gathering the herbs, she felt the rain begin to steadily fall, they should hurry if they didn't want to have a torrential downpour on their hands. "I only have one more that I think we can get to before it starts pouring out, follow me." she said, looking at her companion. She was getting cold but she had to get these herbs before the frost killed them.

[Artemis]

Andrei's expression softened as Autumn spoke about her brother, already positive he'd put his foot in his mouth asking about a sensitive topic. But she didn't seem sad to talk about him, though the fondness in her voice betrayed nostalgia as she recounted the story of her brother climbing an apple tree and coming away with only bee stings for his trouble. He tried his best to ignore the flutter in his stomach when she laughed; the way the smile reached her eyes did something to Andrei that took his breath away, in the most pleasant of ways. "We were close, Brayden and I. It worries me sometimes that what if he was caught or what if he's hurt?" Andrei frowned softly; he couldn't imagine ever leaving his siblings behind, for any reason. The older brother in him couldn't help but be angry with this Brayden guy; what kind of brother left his younger siblings to fend for themselves? He didn't know what Autumn's parents were like or where they were, but as attentive as parents often wanted to be, it was nearly impossible for them to be as attentive as a sibling much closer in age to them. Konstantin and Deanna loved all four of their children, but Andrei had practically raised the twins and Leif himself. Not for lack of trying or love; it was simply easier for him to have time for them. "I'm sorry..." He said lamely, "I didn't realize..." What, that you asked about her missing, possibly-dead brother? Smooth, man. He thought it best to shut his mouth and stop before he put his foot in his mouth any more. But Autumn didn't linger on the topic, leading him to the next spot as the morning drizzle gave way to a few drops of rain. Andrei wasn't terribly bothered by it; the Ehrenström family seemed to have fire in their veins, it would need to get much colder before he really started to notice its effects. "I only have one more that I think we can get to before it starts pouring out, follow me." Autumn, however, didn't seem to be so lucky. As the rain picked up, he caught the nearly imperceptible shiver as they walked. It was almost a reflex; Andrei shrugged off his jacket, not minding the drops of water that soaked into the fabric of his shirt, draping it over her shoulders. Konstantin had raised both of his sons to be gentlemen, and Andrei couldn't have fought his upbringing even if he wanted to. "You're freezing. Lets finish up here and come back when the rains pass."

Word Count//Theme by Ali

000000 - Andrei
d88a00 - Autumn
c5c5c5 - Deanna
00234c - Konstantin

[Sage]

Post for Artemis

She shivered slightly as rain quickly soaked her dark hair, making it cling to her back and she blushed as Andrei draped his jacket over her shoulders, the warmth of it surrounding her as she turned away, her cheeks pink. It smelled like him. Get it together Leafy. she chastised silently.

"You're freezing. Lets finish up here and come back when the rains pass." he said and she looked back at him. She wasn't the only one getting soaked by the rain as she tried to keep her eyes from betraying the path which her thoughts followed. He was pretty good looking, that much she'd admit, but she had to focus. They weren't far from her home, perhaps they could warm up by the fire?

"If you want, my place isn't far. We can shelter there" I say, feeling the icy water that has soaked my clothes drip down the back of my neck. "Jeebus that's cold" Smoothe Leafy, he probably thinks you're all sorts of weird she looked at him, seeing that while they were standing there, they were both getting soaked.

Instinctively, she took his hand, leading him through the rain towards the small cottage that was nestled in the woods, her sanctuary from the stress of being one of the very few healers in the district and she unlocked the door, the hinges creaking as she pushed the door open. Her father must have visited recently as there was fresh wood for the fireplace in the corner.

Shedding Andreis jacket, she looked at him, wondering what to say. She had invited him into her home, somewhere few were permitted to enter, and now, she was alone with him.

"I'll put on the fire and make us some tea, you must be freezing" In all honesty, she was freezing, her normally competant hands shaking as she gathered up some wood and began arranging it for a fire. She tried to light a match but her hands were shaking so badly, she couldn't even hold them properly. She blew on her hands, hoping to put some feeling back into them as she tried again, this time managing to actually start a fire. She smiled, holding her hands against the fire for a moment before shedding her own jacket and hanging it near the fireplace. "Thank you, for coming with me out to collect the herbs. I managed to gather enough to keep the shop supplied for about a month or so. Sorry it ended kind of abruptly and... You're soaked, come sit by the fire and dry off." she said, noticing that he was still dripping wet. She flushed beat red at the nervous fluttering in her chest when she looked at him. Stop it Leafy she chastised herself. She would not entertain such thoughts. Andrei was a friend and she'd helped him recover from an accident so why, then, did he make her feel like she couldn't speak when he was around?

[Artemis]

Andrei didn't have the time to dwell on the fact as Autumn grabbed his hand (and god, hers was so much smaller than his), leading him determinedly through the woods as the rains continued to pick up. The trees only offered so much in the way of shelter from the downpour, and with droplets running off the pine boughs they had only been trekking a few moments before he was soaked nearly to the bone. Autumn's home was small, in a quaint sort of way, nestled out of the way of the rest of the district among the fir trees; the inside was cool and dry, the rain pattering heavily against the roof as they finally took shelter under the overhang of the porch. "I'll put on the fire and make us some tea, you must be freezing." Truth be told, Andrei had made do with worse, though it was apparent that the walk through the rain had softened the plaster cast around his arm to near-uselessness. While Autumn shrugged off his jacket and made her way inside, Andrei stood out on the porch, toeing off his soaked, muddy boots and socks, and gingerly (trying not to move his injured arm any more than he had to with in the soggy cast) tugging his equally-wet shirt off over his head. Andrei frowned as he wrung it out; it was going to take forever to dry. "--You're soaked, come sit by the fire and dry off." Andrei looked over his shoulder, oddly charmed by the sight of Autumn crouched in front of the warm glow of the fire telling him to come inside. He didn't catch the bright red flush on her face as he took a minute to shake the droplets of water out of his hair. Save for the flickering light in the fireplace, the inside of Autumn's home was dark, the clouds outside obscuring sunlight from coming in through the windows to light it up. It seemed strangely empty in spite of the small, cozy layout, but before Andrei could think much on it (and realize they were alone) he pushed it to the back of his mind. Andrei hung his wet clothes by the fireplace near his jacket, the outside as waterlogged as the rest of him but the inside still dry and smelling of the pine sawdust that clung to everything he owned. "I think the cast is past saving..." He admitted, tentatively squeezing it and feeling the soaked plaster give way under his fingers. "Unless you think I'm good to get it off a little early?"

Word Count//Theme by Ali

000000 - Andrei
d88a00 - Autumn
c5c5c5 - Deanna
00234c - Konstantin

[Sage]

Post for Arty.

She looked back at him to see him enter through the door sans shoes or shirt and she knew her cheeks were burning before she looked at his cast, the material too soaked to recover. She stood from her crouched position by the fire and approached him, her hands gentle as she touched the cast. It was close to disintigrating.

"I think the cast is past saving..." he said, trailing off. "Unless you think I'm good to get it off a little early?" she shook her head, her damp hair falling into her face.

"Come sit, I'll get that off you but unless you want your arm setting funny, I will have to rewrap it" she said, leading him towards the small couch before she sat him down and found her first aid kit that she always kept in her home for emergencies. She set to work carefully unwrapping the soaked bandages and looking at his arm. It was almost healed but it wasn't totally ready for being left to the open air.

She opened her first aid kit, retrieving a few rolls of bandages and starting to rewrap. "How are your ribs feeling. The last time I checked on them, they were almost completely healed." It was the first thing that came to her mind and she didn't know why said it.

thump thump her heart raced as she gingerly wrapped his arm tight.

The rain pattered down above her head, thunping on the roof like small hammers and she realized how warm he was. Her fingers weren't cold anymore but she didn't dare touch more than she should have. Why did he appeal to her? Why did she feel so safe around him? Was it because he reminded her of Brayden? The two of them were approximately the same height and they both had dark hair.

He's also great with kids she thought, remembering how much he adored his siblings, especially the twins. Some day, he'd make a great father for some lucky woman and Autumn couldn't help a slight pang of jealousy for his future wife. She pushed it away, she had no right to be jealous, it wasn't like they'd ever be more than acquaintences. He was a patient (a hot patient but a patient still) and she was too busy with her shop.

She sighed before looking away from him. Stepping back, she inspected her work and gave a satisfied smile before becoming distinctly aware of the fact that they were alone in her house. What am I doing? she asked herself.

She realized that he was probably cold and was half naked. "where are my manners, I'll get you a blanket" she said, leaving the room to retrieve a blanket which she unfolded and spread it gently over his frame. I wonder if he'd keep me warm if I asked she wondered with a bright flush of her cheeks.

[Artemis]

It figured he wouldn't be so lucky to get that damnable cast off early; Andrei was slowly going stir-crazy having it keep him from working.

Though the twins and Leif had been admittedly happy to see more of their brother now that he had such an ample amount of free time... much of it consumed with whittling since he wasn't ambidextrous enough to make anything useful. Seth's prosthetic leg was still in his workshop, and Andrei felt a pang of guilt that the project had been put off for so long.

A bit longer still, it would seem.

But, then, there was worse company to have while he was on the mend. The fact that Autumn was pretty certainly helped, but Andrei had never let himself get too wrapped up in looks even if he was a complete sucker for blue eyes. Granted, his check-ups over the past couple of months didn't typically last long, but in that time he'd started to get a handle for what the healer was really like. On-duty, of course she was take-charge and no-nonsense (and damn it if he hadn't also inherited his father's weakness for tough women), but never once had that translated into brashness or a lack of delicacy when she'd checked the progress of his mending bones and the bruises that had colored him black and blue for weeks.

Andrei wasn't altogether sure what to make of all this sudden shyness on her part.

He let her lead him to the couch, sitting down like an obedient patient while she retrieved her medical supplies and set to work cutting off the ruined plaster and re-wrapping his arm.

"How are your ribs feeling. The last time I checked on them, they were almost completely healed."

"Good as new... most of them." Andrei rubbed the tender spot over the rib that had been broken; it didn't protest much anymore, outside of when he'd discovered one-armed pushups weren't a terrible substitute for his usual physical activity.

The new cast, though Autumn apparently lacked some of the necessary materials in her personal kit, was snug on his arm and considerably lighter. Andrei clenched his hand as best he could, relieved that in spite of the rain there was no harm done.

"Where are my manners, I'll get you a blanket," Autumn said suddenly, as if thinking aloud.

She disappeared into another room, leaving Andrei to slide off the couch onto the rug in front of the fireplace; his trousers were nearly sopping wet, but there was no way in hell or high water he was about to take them off, here and now and in this particular company...

Who had come back to drape a blanket around his shoulders; he rumbled a 'thanks', pulling it around his shoulders grateful more for the cover than the warmth. Andrei had always had the approximate heat output of a furnace, a point well established by the fact that when they were younger (and he was smaller), his siblings often crept into their oldest brother's room in the dead of winter for company and warmth. Even nowadays as the nights got colder, Leif still used his brother's chest as a pillow on the floor in front of the fire and the twins still fit neatly under his arms.

Their parents rarely had the heart to wake them when they inevitably fell asleep in a pile that way.

Autumn's cheek were flushed, appearing warm if not for the fact that her arms were tucked against her body, trying to suppress the shivering barely noticeable if not for her hands.

"C'mere." He said finally, gesturing her to move closer, "You're still cold and I'm hogging the blanket."

013761 - Andrei Ehrenström
d88a00 - Autumn Summerleaf

[Sage]

Post for Artemis

It appeared that she couldn't hide her shivering from Andrei. "C'mere" he said, making the healer blush impossibly more red. "You're still cold and I'm hogging the blanket." he said, offering her a spot beside him.

With her heart fluttering like a trapped bird inside her chest, she sat down next to him, very aware of how close he was to her and she wondered if he could hear her racing heart. She hadn't been this close to a guy in ages, not since Drew who she didn't like to talk about.

She scooted closer because she wouldn't lie, she was cold, he seemed almost like a human furnace, the body heat he released was astounding as she felt herself growing sleepy. The rain on the roof slowly lulling her to sleep.

"Wonder how long this rain will last" she thought out loud, fighting to keep her eyes open as the rain on the roof pattered softly. The scene reminded her of when she and Brayden were little, huddling by the fire for warmth after getting soaked in the rain. It didn't happen too often but it had happened a few times where she had fallen asleep on her brother who would always tuck her into bed. She sighed, letting her eyes droop as she rested against Andrei. She didn't want to hurt his arm, she'd made sure it would not be moving any time soon and knew he would probably leave it. I can imagine it's hard on him, not being able to work right now she thought, sighing.

"You know, Andrei, I never really got to ask exactly what you guys were doing up on that roof without a harness on. You were lucky it wasn't a lot worse than it was." she said quietly as she looked up at him, only really able o see him in profile but goodness he was beautiful, at least in her eyes. She didn't understand why they had been working without something under them to catch workers if something fell onto the place they were working, as had happened during the accident and she had a feeling she shouldn't blame his supervisor, rather the people above his supervisor and boss; the Capitol. Were they the reason nothing had been there to catch the workers when they fell?