Just a Chance I Take // [Runaway+Kate]

[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

NAVYA RHODES

During Kirito's prolonged absence, Navya Sachdeva hadn't let his mansion go to ruin. Even though the walk from her family's apricot orchard was long and hot, she visited the District Center daily. She told herself it was to dust the windowsills, or check the water tank, or weed the garden. But truly, those tasks took her no more than a hour. The rest of the day, she'd simply watch Kirito's house from next door.

After the tsunami, she could have left it, knowing that it was ordered enough, even for someone in recovery. Certainly she had good reason not to venture out the front door; her status as newlywed would have been enough, but she was also suffering through a lingering flu she'd picked up in Four. The fever flushed her head to foot, and she could barely make it through the day without racing for the toilet. Harbinger had been even more attentive than usual, but now that they were back, he had other duties to attend to. She practically chased him out of the house to visit his family. Then, she unpacked the basket her brother had sent over, keeping a third of the apricot jam for herself and dividing the rest into two bags.

They were heavy, awkward and clinked sharply with every step. She decided the fastest route would be from her back porch (and it was so strange to think of Harbinger's home as her own) to Kirito's kitchen. She made it down the wooden steps, through the winding garden path and through the open gate before she had to abandon Katelyn's bag and carry Kirito's. Navya hugged it to her chest as she carefully scaled his identical porch and eased the back door open with the spare key she'd had made. Someday, she'd tell him about that. She might even blame his disappearance. But the truth is, Navya had gotten to know a keymaker during one of her volunteer rotations and, well, she'd always cleaned better than Kirito ever could.

The key stuck a little in the lock. She rattled the handle before it finally gave, her weight too far forward. She stumbled into the kitchen, apricot jam jars bouncing and rolling away from her. They splayed beneath the chairs and table, sticking underneath cabinet doors.

Navya's lips puckered. "Oh, please," she mumbled, as close as she ever came to swearing. She crawled on her hands and knees, sweeping the kitchen for jars. She didn't bother to put them back in the bag; instead she lifted them to whatever counter was nearest. She'd shuttle them all into the icebox once she made she none had spilled orange sugar over Kirito's pristine kitchen.

She was beneath the table, tracking down the last of them, when she heard the floor boards squeak. "Well, it's about time, lazy bones, " she scolded, even as she reached for the jar someone was holding out to her.

Her dark curls fell back first, long lashes lifting, dark eyes last. She froze, half kneeling, at the sight of the girl. "You're not Kirito," she said, in that same scolding tone, before she caught herself. Slowly Navya came to her feet and set the jar on the table. She'd seen plenty of starving people in the district. This girl looked a little thin, a little lost, but she wasn't a thief. At least, she wasn't stealing food. Navya glanced at the door, which suddenly seemed very far away, and then finally looked the girl in the eyes. "What are your intentions here?"

table coding (c) ghosty

[Tom]

Writing Thinks "Says"

Her heart beats. Hands feel sweaty everyday that she stays in the house. Lockdown from the outside world, a secret kept locked up in a box, to never be found out. The house was enormous, bigger than the neighbor's house who provided for her and her brother. The rooms that Kirito let Rafe and Oasis stay in, were rather luxurious to what they had at District six. The covers that she was currently under felt soft against her clean skin. The dirt and grime had gone down the drain of a warm shower, a luxury that she didn't know was as wonderful as she had thought it would be. The soft fluff of covers tickles her skin like how her brother used to when they were little and playing around. The warmth felt different, yet comforting. Something different that she had never felt. When she had told Rafe about it, his mind seemed to go in overdrive. Gears clicking in her brother's head and no answer came, until they had gotten close to District Eleven. The words echo in her head, "I think you're falling for Kirito, Oasis."

Falling was a perfect way of putting it. Her body felt like it was falling every time she thought about him. The tingling sensation on her waist comes to life again making her want to search for him, but she couldn't. Not with how she was feeling in that moment. Every time she would see him, her whole body felt light and weightless. The world seemed to spin and focus only on him. Since she met him, the world seemed to do that, focus on the man who had lost more than she had. If Rafe had been in a games, she wouldn't survive. Imagining what Kirito was going through made her just want to cry for his sake, but pity wasn't what he needed. He needed an anchor to keep him stable. An anchor to lean on when he needed damage repair. Rafe had told her that was her specialty in the clinic. Patients lived because of her groundedness. Her heart was walled off from the world, but patients got to see only a peak inside of the real Oasis, which showed the girl who pushed the limits. She was still pushing the limits in everything she does.

The house felt alive and yet dead at the same time. The place was larger than she expected, any of the Miristioma's could be doing anything a few rooms away and she couldn't hear a peep from them. The bed's covers call to her as she stands, but she had been in bed long enough. The Tuson changed into a comfortable outfit of a t-shirt and sweatpants as she made her way to the main area, where everyone else would be. Rafe had been sleeping as she passed his door, he brother had been much worse off than she was, on the journey, sleep was something he needed more than she did. Her brother had been through enough trauma in his life to match up to her own or even worse than her own. Oasis moved along, past her brother's sleeping form, down to the main area, where people would walk inside if they could get in.

That's when the door opened, frightening her. Her legs moved her away from the front door and over into another room to hid from the person who just opened the door and walked in with jars in her hands. The women moved to the kitchen with the jars, which allowed Oasis to breath for a second. It could have been anyone. Peacekeepers to take her away from Kirito, so she would never be seen again. Anyone could have came to see Kirito, but a women whose composure reminded her of her mother. Curiosity was Oasis' best friend, it drove her to learn about new things and escape the terrors of her life before. Though, curiosity was betraying her as she made her way into the kitchen to see what the woman was doing.

The floor's creaking sound came rumbling forward, the woman's voice reaching her ear as she spoke, "Well, it's about time, lazy bones." Oasis stayed silent, she was caught red handed, in a house that she didn't belong in. Her hands were already wrapped around a jar handing it to the woman who could tell the peacekeepers where she was. The woman who could ruin it all. Oasis' heart was pounding against her chest. The curly hair moved away from the lady's eyes and that's when she knew she was caught. The voice scolded her soon after noticing Oasis standing there, "You're not Kirito," Oasis wasn't Kirito and that was the problem. Kirito would have been able to come up with an excuse or something to not raise any questions, but she was Oasis, the girl who puts up walls, but lets people peek inside to see the real Oasis.

Run or stay. It was the choice she would have to make. The woman seemed fairly nice, since she had jars in her hand, putting them away in Kirito's cupboards. Oasis wasn't one to trust easily, since everyone she's trusted, except for Kirito and Rafe, broke her to a point of wanting to leave home. Oasis was broken, but the shards were holding together for Kirito and Rafe, she had to hold them together. They were the two most important people in the world to her. The woman in front of her glanced to the door, like she was either trying to find an escape or trying to trap Oasis inside and never let her escape. A sudden calm hits Oasis when the woman speaks, "What are your intentions here?"

It only takes her a second to analyze the question. A second to wonder why a woman would think that. A second to realize that the woman was someone that Kirito knew and trusted. Then her answer came from her nervous lips, "I'm Oasis, I'm Kirito's...." What was she to him. A friend? A lover? A secret? Oasis had no clue how to answer her intentions. Her hand went through her long brown hair, feeling the now soft and clean locks. Her tongue felt numb, but she still got words the out, "I dunno exactly what I am to Kirito. I was someone who worked with him, but now I'm in his house, hiding from sight. I dunno, maybe I'm just a friend. Or maybe I am more. I don't fully know. My intentions are good though." Oasis just took in a breath that she seemed to have been holding since thinking about it all. There wasn't really a clue what she was, but one thing that she was sure about was Kirito and her had a connection and that's all that matters.

The woman who Oasis still didn't know about stood up, a more friendly look seemed to form on the woman's face. Oasis felt herself relax for only a second, until the woman said something along the lines of someone she had to meet. One second Oasis was inside the safety of the Miristioma house, the next Oasis was following the woman in spite of everything that could go wrong to this mystery person. Everything in Oasis' body told her to run, but how could she run when her body felt so worn out from traveling all the way to District Eleven. Luckily, for Oasis, the place was close by. The door opens, and out pops someone that Oasis didn't expect, Katelyn Persimmon, the first District Eleven Hunger Games victor. Oasis stands silent, waiting for the woman to speak and when she does, it is a question, "Katelyn, can I borrow some honey and baking soda?"

Oasis was about ready to fall over and die from confusion. Someone important that she was supposed to meet was obviously Katelyn Persimmon, the one and only. Though, the woman asked for some food products for whatever reason, but Oasis felt confused and yet it felt a little welcoming in the moment. A family-like scene that she had always dreamed of having, but she wasn't a part of it. She could possibly never become a part of that bond that they all had. Oasis Tuson was a jar of glass that had shards stuck together, holding it's form, barely containing the contents inside. Oasis was breaking, but in District Eleven, she was fixing herself. Everything seemed to be normal and friendly. Oasis Tuson wasn't breaking, but rather confused now and confusion was better than breaking apart.

[charade]

KATELYN PERSIMMON

District four had been…interesting to say the least. Katelyn doubted she’d forget the talk she’d had with Mayor Perch for some time to come. Nor would she forget the devastation she’d seen. She knew that as things died down, the Capitol would gear up for the games and the tragedy in four would be largely forgotten as there would be much more to watch on television to distract people. But there was time yet before that. And as much as she hated to admit it, she was starting to focus on the next reaping and what it might bring. Iain and Carrita’s deaths were still raw for many of them even though several months had passed.

Katelyn sighed and wiped her hands on her apron.

A boiling saucepan containing cherries, water and sugar was simmering on the stove. She dutifully added cornstarch, salt and a bit of lemon juice to it before turning her attention to the dough on the table and rolling it out. She was just in the middle of deciding whether or not to make a lattice when the bell rang. There were two girls standing on her doorstep. One was the closest thing she had to a sister in law. The other was a new face. Navya asked to borrow a few things and Katelyn nodded warmly.  “Of course, give me a minute.”

She bounded back over to the kitchen and grabbed a box of baking soda from her cabinet of baking supplies and a small jar of orange blossom honey. Maybe navya was making a batch of corn bread. She’d have to check on her later, the girl hadn’t been doing well since getting back to eleven. Some seaborne bug had gotten ahold of her, but then, she was hardly the only person to get sick. People in eleven weren’t used to the ocean, or the creatures that dwelt in it. There had been several cases of food poisoning, more of seasickness and someone had gotten stung by a jellyfish. Katelyn went back to the door and handed Navya the containers with a swish of her apron.

“Who’s your friend?” she asked brightly.

A surprisingly hurried explanation filled with tripped over words and a twisted tongue was what followed, but as Katelyn extracted the gems from the torrent of speech, a picture began to form in her head. Once it made sense, Katelyn’s eyebrows raised. Then she yanked the two of them inside. Navya had found a strange girl in Kirito’s house. One that knew him. Was a friend. But that was ridiculous; Katelyn knew all of his friends. Or thought she did at least.

She stared Oasis up and down. The girl didn’t strike her as the stalker type. With how unconcerned she had supposedly been when Navya found her it didn’t seem likely that she had broken in either. It was impossible to know everyone in the district, but Oasis stood out. The name for one. Her clothes too. Katelyn’s gaze bored into the girl and she could only come to one conclusion.

“You’re not from around here. Are you?”

"My friends still stand behind me.
We stuck together through all we lost.
Even when your worst surrounds me,
you'll never get the best of us."

table coding (c) ghosty