Better Games

11. Secrets Pt. 2

I wake up to the smell of ginger. Cookies. I think. I stretch out of my sleep, my body acknowledging that I've slept on the couch-bed and turn around. I see into the kitchen where I find Peeta looking up at me with a steaming tray of ginger cookies.

"Happy Libertatem," he says.

I stand up and walk around the couch then into the kitchen, hugging him warmly for a moment.

"Happy Libertooty," I shuffle the word together making him roll his eyes and smirk. I try to distract him with silliness to reach for a cookie behind him.
"Katniss they're scorching hot." He states, still looking me in the eye. He senses it, dang it. I pull my hand back and poke him in his side which only makes him smirk even more.

We eat cookies for breakfast and after we wash the plates Peeta suddenly puts his hands over my eyes, blinding my view completely.

"Peeta what are you-"
"You're present," he cuts me off, guiding me to walk forward.
"Peeta you didn't have to-"
He cuts me off again. This time with a quick kiss on the cheek that makes a SMACK!  when he pulls away.
"Come on," he silent a me, still walking me with his hands over my eyes.

We walk a good minute or too along the walls of our house, he spins me around a couple of times to mix me up probably then we finally stop as we reach a room. The smell of paint is pungent in the air as pine is in the woods. We're in his studio.

"Don't open you eyes until I say three, okay?" He asks.
"Alright," I promise.
He takes his hands away from my eyes, which I keep closed as promised.
"Ok," he announces from the middle of the room. I hear shuffling of cloth.
"1,2,..3 Open your eyes!" He exclaims.

I open them, white spots float and blur my vision for a moment but then my eyes come into focus. The first thing I see is myself. But not a reflection, a picture, a painting. Then I see Peeta, not the bright hopeful Peeta standing next to the painting but inside it, who is the painting. It's a painting of him and I holding each other. I'm looking forward with my cheek resting on his chest, my arms around his waist. Peeta on the other hand isn't facing forward but his gaze down on me, with so much love in his eyes. One of his hands rests on my waist, covering part of my torso, the other is hugging me around my shoulders towards him. We're both smiling widely, protecting each other. My eyes scan the rest of the picture in detail, my hair is laced with flowers, the same kind that he knotted my hair with before the Quarter Quell. We are surrounded by the beautiful woods during the summer it looks like. I think back to the colors splattered on him a week before, it makes sense. I look further into the picture, forgetting the room behind me. I see it clearly, it's beautiful, and we are happy and it's beautiful. It's almost as if we are actually there, the summer breeze warms me and so does his arms. The leaves rustle in the wind and we stay in each others embrace. A tear rolls down my cheek pulling me back into reality. I see the worry on his face but I soon assure him with my smile.

"It's beautiful Peeta," I almost whisper but he's heard it because the worry disappears from his face and is replaced with elation.
"I'm glad you like it. I spent hours trying to think of what to give you. I was working on this piece for a while now and decided to make it even more special, adding the woods and the flowers in your hair. I went through about five of my brushes..." He looks down at his feet rubbing the back of his neck. I walk closer to him and lift up his face by his chin.
"Thank you," I say, followed by a soft, sweet kiss. "We'll frame it.

"I made something for you too," I add. I lead him to the front hallway and tell him to close his eyes like he did for me. I go into the closet and retrieve my hunting satchel to find a handheld rectangular wooden box. I stalk towards Peeta, his eyes still closed, and lift his hands in my own, placing the box there. I then walk to stand behind him.

"You can open now." I grin to myself.

He opens his eyes and I watch him scan the top of rectangular box, brushing over its engravements with his fingers. Scrolled across it are the same patterns engraved on the bow my father made for me, but the box says Peeta. He sees that it's not just a piece of wood as the objects inside it jiggle around when he moves it. He finds the notch and slides the box open revealing,

"Paint Brushes." He whispers in joy. Peeta picks one up and runs too fingers over the bristles just as I would if it were a sheath of arrows.
"I made the box and brushes out of oak, the same way my father taught me to carve my bow but, you know, I made you brushes instead. The bristles are made out of rabbit fur," I add silently praying that I made them good of use. "I took some of your brushes to study them in the woods so I could model these after them. I put them back, of course, before you noticed."

I reach for the brush he holds in his hands and turn it over so he can see I engraved his initials on the sides of each one along with a swirl, matching the pattern on the box and my bow.
Peeta turns all the way around so that he's fully facing me. He puts the brushes back in the box and looks deeply into my eyes which take me by surprise for a second.

"These are absolutely beautiful. I'll paint the rest of my special portraits with these. They're the best present Katniss." I can't help but smile from ear to ear now. He pulls me into a big sweet kiss.

We spend the rest of the day eating in his studio as he uses his new brushes to paint a portrait of me, which I try to turn down to no avail, and framing my present. After we retire to bed he kisses the apple of my cheek and says,

"Happy Libertatum Katniss."

I look to the side of the bed where I have placed the framed picture on the floor ready to be hung.

"Happy Libertatum Peeta."