penfold_x | Umprompted Prompt

Selene is not a morning person, despite being raised on dawn rises and morning runs and that sort of thing. In divergence where she's a Peacekeeper she's merely surly in the morning, but Victor Selene goes through a phase of going over to Misha's for breakfast and oozing onto her mentor's lap like a grumbly amoeba. (Misha thinks this is adorable, because mentor vision.)

Dash on the other hand would go for a morning swim every day if he's around a suitable body of water.

Victor Selene goes through a phase of going over to Misha's for breakfast and oozing onto her mentor's lap like a grumbly amoeba

I also think this is adorable and would love to read it; the image is making me grin like a maniac.

Dash on the other hand would go for a morning swim every day if he's around a suitable body of water.

Ha! I love sunny Dash. I bet he bounds out of bed with a smile, too, most of the time.

Misha has just finished flipping the last of the pancakes when Selene oozes down the stairs, hair mussed and sticking up at the back of her head. “Morning,” Misha says sunnily, grinning a little at Selene’s wordless grunt as she pours herself into a chair and lays her head down on the table. Misha transfers the pancakes to a plate and turns off the heat, scraping off the overly-crisped piece of bacon from the edge of the pan that she always leaves there to entice Selene down with the smell.

The eggs and toast are warming on another pan, and Misha switches them over to the plates and brings everything over to the table. “Here you go,” she says, and Selene extends one arm and curls her fingers around her fork like it’s the greatest effort in the world. “Coffee will be up in a second.”

Selene becomes a little more human halfway through her giant mug, and she rubs at her eyes and attacks her breakfast with a little more enthusiasm. Misha asks her about her night — no nightmares, though she did have a dream where she and Claudius had to climb a mountain to rescue Devon, who had been turned into a rabbit, and then they all flew back to the Victors’ Village in the back of Brutus’ truck — and her plans for the day, and it’s nice, as always. The sun catches the glass prisms dangling in the window and scatters rainbows around the kitchen, and Misha sips at her tea and eats her breakfast and tries not to watch Selene too much like one of those weird mothers on CapitolTV who stare at their babies all day and coo over spit-up.

“Misha can I ask something?” Selene says at the end. She’s chasing the last of the yolk around her plate with a crust of toast, and Misha refills her orange juice. “I know you’re a crazy morning person and you’re all about the sunrise and those birds outside the window and seizing the day or whatever, but do you think I could sleep in more?”

For a minute Misha actually can’t respond because the irony is too, too great, and she gulps down the last of her tea despite the burning because otherwise she’s going to burst out laughing. It’s been fifteen years but it still feels like yesterday since Misha declared to Lyme that she would not get out of bed unless Lyme carried her, and her mentor picked her up — blankets and all — and hauled her over her shoulder and down the stairs like a squawking, angry burrito. Misha had curled up inside her nest of blankets on the couch in protest, and Lyme fed her breakfast one piece at a time by poking bits of toast into the gap she left for air.

Crazy morning person, oh Snow’s frigid balls preserve us. Misha keeps a straight face with the power of twenty years’ experience and snags an apple from the bowl on the table. “Sure, wildcat, if you want.”

Selene looks startled, though she covers it quickly. “I mean it’s not, this is nice and stuff,” she adds, eyes darting away, and Misha very carefully does not smile too widely. “But it’s so early. I like breakfast, but maybe we could have it later. Like around noon.”

“And we can have sandwiches instead of eggs and call it lunch instead of breakfast?” Misha asks, grinning, and Selene makes a face at her but doesn’t say no. “But no, you can start coming by my place instead, that’s fine with me. How about this, you come over when you feel like it, and if I don’t see you by around eleven I’ll drop by and see if you want to spar before lunch.”

Selene studies her for a second, eyes thoughtful but not suspicious like they would have been last fall, and finally she nods. “Okay,” she says, and drinks the rest of her juice.

---

Devon laughs at Misha for the first three days pretty much entirely, though he makes up for it with shoulder massages and foot rubs even as his hands shake during. It’s not Misha’s fault she doesn’t know what to do with herself in the mornings anymore; before Selene she’d never bothered, and now mornings are Selene Time and everything else just feels strange.

1/3

Back in the day she used to try to trap Devon before he could escape for his morning run, hooking her leg over his calves and snaking her arm around his waist and holding on tight; after Selene, she would wake up when his alarm went off and drag herself into the shower while he ran, and meet him at the door for a kiss and a friendly ass-grope on her way out the door to see Selene.

Now she still gets up at the same time, only this time she slips out to her house and paces the living room for an hour, sitting down for a few seconds before jumping back up to walk again, restless. Eventually she gives up and actually cleans the house, which is another thing that shocked the hell out of Lyme the first time she walked in after Selene’s victory.

The first morning Selene doesn’t stop by, and Misha waits until eleven-thirty and actually scrubs down the fridge so she doesn’t go insane looking at her watch every few minutes before heading over. Selene is still asleep, sprawled across her bed with one arm flung over her eyes in an unconscious effort to block out what sun creeps through the crack in the curtains, and Misha laughs.

“Hey wildcat,” she says gently, sitting on the edge of the bed and running her fingers through Selene’s hair. “You want to join the living?”

Selene makes a noise of protest and rolls over, but finally she squints up at Misha from underneath her arm. “What time is it?”

“Quarter to twelve,” Misha says. “I haven’t made lunch because I wasn’t sure what you felt like. If you get dressed and come down you can help me pick out what to eat.”

Selene gives Misha’s hip a sleepy head-butt while Misha makes sure not to react. “Mmrph. Sure, okay, gimme a few minutes.”

Misha kisses her forehead and taps her between the eyes, then heads downstairs to check the cupboards. The shower runs for a few minutes upstairs, long enough for Selene to get clean without falling asleep under the spray, and finally Selene comes down in fresh clothes, towelling off her damp hair. She throws the towel onto a chair before rifling through the cupboard, and Misha actually picks it up and folds it, setting it on the counter, before she can stop herself.

“Neat freak,” Selene shoots at her, grinning, and Misha thinks of the laundry pile she named Jeremy because Lyme said it had gained sentience and prudently says nothing.

On the third day, Misha is contemplating whether she should tackle the shower when Devon shows up with a basket of pastries from the bakery in town. “What’s this?” she asks, frowning, and Devon rolls his eyes and kisses her.

“You and your empty nest Mama thing were making me sad, so I figured I’d come over after I run,” he says. “Ran down to town to grab some stuff, ‘cause I was afraid you were going to start cooking everything in your fridge or something.”

“You can run your ass back down to the Fuck You store and buy yourself a case of Shut Up,” Misha says, but when Devon laughs and moves past her to put the basket down she catches him by the shirt and pulls him in for another kiss. “Thanks,” she says, a little sheepishly, and she lets him pull her in for a hug and buries her face in his shoulder. “It is a little weird.”

“See, I make fun, but it’s just so I don’t get feelings all over you,” Devon says, running a soothing hand over her back. “You sit, have a cinnamon roll, I’ll make us something.”

“Thanks,” Misha says, and after breakfast they spar on the lawn and Devon kisses her one last time before she heads over to wake Selene.

He comes by the next day, too, freshly showered and bearing more pastries. This time he brings some work over, and they eat and chat and read while Misha plops her feet in his lap and he absently rubs her calves. It’s not a bad routine, really, and finally Misha might make it through the morning without being completely at a loss.

They’re just finishing up the food when the door opens. It’s probably Lyme, who drops by on the odd morning still now that they’ve patched things up and it’s no longer terribly awkward, and Misha calls out, “In the kitchen!” and leans back to grab another mug from the counter.

2/3

It’s not Lyme, and Misha nearly drops the mug on the floor when Selene rounds the corner, yawning and rubbing at her eyes. “Hey wildcat,” Misha says, pulling her feet out of Devon’s lap and sitting up. “Everything okay?”

“Mrrph,” Selene says, grumbling, and she shuffles over to the table and drops herself in Misha’s lap with a small sound of satisfaction.

Misha actually does drop the mug this time, but Devon makes a quick dash off his chair and catches it before it hits the floor. “Good morning,” Misha says. She scritches her nails across Selene’s scalp, and she’s rewarded by another pleased sound and a shoulder nuzzle, which nearly makes her squeak. Selene snakes out one arm backward toward the table, and Devon helpfully pushes the plate a few inches to the right so she can snag some toast without having to move.

Selene munches on the toast, still not up for words, and Misha hopes the early morning haze will be enough to mask the fact that her heart is pounding. Selene will curl up on her at home, sure, but she’s always been a bit more reticent when others are around. Then again, Devon has treated her with his usual trademark open affection and lack of judgement since day one, and other than Claudius he’s the Victor that Selene gets on with best.

“Mornings,” Selene pronounces finally, her tone dark and disapproving, but Devon offers her his coffee and she accepts. She shifts, flopped sideways across Misha’s lap but sitting enough to drink without getting it all over herself, and Misha could just die right here right now and she’d be happy.

At least until the glint of sunlight on glass draws her attention and she catches Devon hastily pocketing his phone after taking a picture of them. Misha glares at him over the top of Selene’s head, but all he does is spread his hands in mock helplessness and give her a shit-eating grin. “Why don’t you ask Devon to make you some breakfast,” Misha says to Selene, kicking him hard in the shin and digging her toenails in. “May as well make himself useful.”

“I’ll make you a breakfast wrap,” Devon says, standing. “You can eat it without moving that way. Sound good?”

“Yeah,” Selene says, leaning her head against Misha’s shoulder and sipping at her pilfered drink. Misha kisses her forehead, Selene smiles sleepily, and Misha could live a hundred thousand mornings just like this and never know what she did to deserve even one. “And more coffee,” Selene calls out, but then before Misha can flick her between the eyes she adds, “Please,” and settles back into her mentor’s lap.

“You got it,” Devon says with a sunny smile.

The day after that Devon comes back from town with a hand-painted mug with the picture of a cat on it, which he places casually on the counter without comment. Selene wanders in partway through breakfast again, and she makes to steal Devon’s coffee before her eye catches the cat mug. She snags it, examines it with a pleased grin, then shoves it in Devon’s face. “Coffee please,” she says, full of mock sincerity, and he laughs and takes it from her. Selene drops back into Misha’s lap, and Misha curls an arm around her waist.

“Morning, wildcat,” Misha says, kissing her forehead.

“G’morning,” Selene says, nosing her shoulder, and Misha reaches past to grab her datapad. Selene tucks her head under Misha’s chin, and Misha rests the datapad on Selene’s leg and goes back to reading.

3/3

Awwww this is the cutest of cute things

Selene is not a morning person, despite being raised on dawn rises and morning runs and that sort of thing

I suspect this is why a lot of ex-Careers are obstinately NOT morning people once they aren't forced to do it. Some of them find they like it when they're allowed to choose, but others are like haha nOPE CAN'T MAKE ME DO THAT ANYMORE.

I'm going with my Victorious-Rebellious 'verse on this one, but since you did ask What is Finnick and Annie's home like?

Finnick's and Annie's home develops over time, kind of like a living thing and part of their family. Annie likes things light and airy, so there are lots of windows, some walls even made of windows (this, of course, is many years after the second rebellion), and those windows are always open to the breeze unless it's actively storming. The house is surrounded by trees on three sides and has easy access to their private beach. It's littered with kids and dogs and bright-colored birds, all of which (except for a couple of the kids) belong to them. And there's always music, too, whether it's Finnick playing his guitar or someone playing the radio.

If you want to know anything in more detail, ask. :)

(Sadly, I let my journal drop down to the free version, so I have no nifty icons to go with this post.)

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I want to move into that house. I love the idea of floor to ceiling windows (I briefly had that in one apartment), especially if you can do it on multiple sides of the house, so you continue to get bathed in light during the day. Also love the idea of being ensconced in trees and a private beach.

Who's doing the cooking, and what are family meals like?

They both like to cook, so especially early on, they share cooking duties. Later, when there are more kids in the picture, since Finnick is better at issuing orders to the troops, he does most of the cooking with the kids helping, and then Annie works cleanup, also with the kids (and the dogs) helping. Things are usually pretty chaotic, but everyone's having fun, and the adults keep an eye on things to make sure the kids are safe.

For whatever reason, I see Finnick as very much liking to cook. I think maybe because it's tactile/sensual, very practical with an obvious and sense-pleasing final product (see him as very much a sensing type personality).

THIS TOTALLY WORKS FOR DIVERGENCE BTW, HEADCANON ACCEPTED <33333

And ahh this is an amazing image and I love it. I ESPECIALLY LOVE THE WINDOW-WALLS because after all those years of being on display and having no privacy and wanting to keep himself shut away to be safe from people staring, this seems like a really really big step for Finnick (correct me if I'm wrong). Ahhh feeeeeeelings. <3333

Like I said, it takes years to get there, and it helps that it's a private island, but yeah, it is a big step for him. :)

I like hearing that kind of thing too, though I'm not sure it comes all that naturally to me out of context... (so I know I have some thoughts about this kind of stuff regarding some other favorite characters, but maybe I haven't engaged enough with Divergence AU at this point?)

No matter the universe, I refuse to believe Haymitch doesn't secretly love his geese though XD

......I'm trying to think of something...

No matter the universe, I refuse to believe Haymitch doesn't secretly love his geese though XD

Hee! He's a huge grump but I think it's 75% for show.

Agreed! ^^

Tell me about Theo when Brutus comes to visit for his 20th Games anniversary? :D ?

I wish I could launch into an actual story about this, but I think I can just blab XD (by which I mean, thanks for asking)~

Song doesn't come with him. Although she tried her best not to act annoyed about it, after hearing about this on and off for weeks beforehand ('How cold is it going to be in Two at this time of year? What kind of clothes should I wear?' 'Should I bring him a present? Hmm, what should it be?' etc), it's a relief to get Theo out of the house and actually off to Two.

Everyone else back in Four sends a lot of 'say hi for me' 'tell him congratulations' which Theo casually combines into a big 'everyone says 'hi!'' because by the time he arrives he's forgotten all the details (Finnick is the only one who thought far enough ahead to anticipate this and wrote some cards for Theo to hand off to Rokia, Eibhlin, etc).

He ends up bringing Brutus a sample of some local beer one of the former Careers in Four has started brewing post-war and some sort of smoked fish (though he's a little disappointed it was too inconvenient to bring up something fresh and let Brutus cook it however he liked).

Inevitably underestimates the temperature and someone has to loan a coat or something (but who? XD).

Also, I am not 100% decided if he has any children, but if so, Theo definitely brings his child(ren) along and introduces them to everyone and wants to get a photo all together with Brutus.

He has a great time overall, although he undoubtedly gets in over his head regarding something (queue jokes about what happens to him whenever Mags/Song/ his father aren't around to bail him out).

Hmmm, what else? ^^ (but I suppose I have to go for now...)

one of the former Careers in Four has started brewing post-war and some sort of smoked fish

Ha, I think Theo knows just what will be appreciated by Brutus!

Inevitably underestimates the temperature and someone has to loan a coat or something (but who? XD).

LOL! I picture Theo with the slimmer, Finnick-like build, rather than a giant like Tyde, so I think this could be pretty funny.

He's thought extensively on the subject! (he'll be all proud of himself)

LOL! I picture Theo with the slimmer, Finnick-like build, rather than a giant like Tyde, so I think this could be pretty funny.

Ha ha, exactly! I think of him with a more Finnick-like build too and he's just ~5'7"-8" or so (he and Song are about the same height), so-

Heeeee this is very fun. I like the idea of these guys being able to visit each other and just relax and hang out.

Thaaanks. Out of my Fours, Theo is the one who seems most likely to make me laugh. I like that sort of idea too. I feel like all these characters deserve lots of opportunities to relax.

(OK this is long and rambly and I'm not sure if it answers your question? Happy to give/invent more specifics if you want)

Well, divergence-wise Rokia has to re-learn the concept of "free time" and "hobbies" (painting playdates with Devon, hijinks of various kinds eventually).

When I wrote that thing with Devon I randomly decided that Wednesday afternoons were enforced free time, and she usually goes to visit Marc and Heidi and her sisters on weekends, and other than that, she works a lot. That's sort of the pattern the first couple years she's in Two while she gets her head a little more sorted. She lives in Lyme's spare room so it's pretty generic although it does collect bits of scrap metal and screws that migrate in from the shop, drawings eventually start going up on the walls, etc.

Then she gets a place of her own and she has to figure out what to put in it and probably has people tell her "yes you do need actual furniture" and mostly she agrees because she wants her sisters to come visit and feel comfortable. They have a room with bunk beds that Nero probably builds, and Brutus comes and looks after them sometimes (BECAUSE GIANT MEN AND TINY GIRLS ALWAYS ADORABLE). Eventually Sara comes over a lot when she has breaks (the railroads run on something like a 3 weeks on 1 week off schedule) and she is shockingly good at enforcing free time and enabling hijinks. Eibhlin is also a very good hijinks enabler, see Operation Arctic Foxes and Operation Panem Rocketry Program.

Bonus silly fic snippet I wrote at some point--when Rokia gets her own house she's sort of at a loss for a while. She literally has not lived on her own ever except for some very dysfunctional months in the Capitol so she doesn't quite know what to do with herself--and so she sheepishly comes back to say hi to Lyme:

Lyme’s siting on the couch with a pile of papers trying to pretend she’s not half-listening for noises coming out of her now-empty garage. For all the moments she’d wished for an evening to herself it’s ridiculous that now she has one and she’s, well, moping. She goes to the kitchen to get a drink and she’s just coming back when she hears the door open.

“Hello?” Rokia sounds a little hesitant.

Lyme walks around the corner and says, “Hi, Rokia, what’s up?”

Rokia glances down. “Um, I think I forgot something?” she says, hesitant, and Lyme smiles.

“Sure thing,” she says, and Rokia ducks up the stairs. Lyme hears footsteps in what is finally, again, the spare bedroom, and goes to the kitchen to see what she could make for dinner.

When Rokia comes in a few minutes later Lyme’s chopping vegetables and heating water for pasta, and she motions to the counter. “Come sit, if you want.” Rokia looks a little sheepish but she comes in.

“Can I help?” she asks, and Lyme passes over a knife and some carrots. They work in silence for a while until Rokia says, “I don’t know how to cook for just me,” and she laughs a little. “I don’t think I’ve ever done it before.” Lyme smiles and glances over and there it is, just a little tension in Rokia’s shoulders.

“You’ll figure it out,” Lyme says, and Rokia sighs.

“Yup, guess so.”

They eat together and when Rokia doesn’t seem eager to leave Lyme puts on a movie. Rokia curls up next to her on the couch and when Lyme puts an arm around her she sighs, content. Before long she’s asleep, and Lyme runs her fingers through her hair and smiles.

HEE HEE HEE

painting playdates with Devon

Awwww, I really like this :)

collect bits of scrap metal and screws that migrate in from the shop, drawings eventually start going up on the walls, etc.

Ohhh, like the picture this gives me. See lots of blueprints, etc, on the walls.

BECAUSE GIANT MEN AND TINY GIRLS ALWAYS ADORABLE

ACCURATE

see Operation Arctic Foxes and Operation Panem Rocketry Program

:DDD

They eat together and when Rokia doesn’t seem eager to leave Lyme puts on a movie. Rokia curls up next to her on the couch and when Lyme puts an arm around her she sighs, content.

Awwwwwm bb!

I really had fun writing Rokia and Devon painting together, it's just....nice.

See lots of blueprints, etc, on the walls.
Yup, I think it starts off blank and moves through functional before more decorative things start showing up.

And yes bb girl is stealth comfort-seeking and Lyme is totally fine with enabling that kind of thing :D

Yup, I think it starts off blank and moves through functional before more decorative things start showing up.

Yeaaah maybe bb is a bit afraid to personalize because she's thinking that this is just temporary and she would be being 'presumptuous' in having anything in there, and it's easier to let the work stuff creep in before finally making it about Rokia the human.

Yes, I think that's it, plus identifying Rokia the human apart from work stuff takes some time. Which is why the enforced free time is so important.

awwww Rokia

(I've been thinking I need to have you describe Rokia a bit for me so I can doodle her)

It gets better! she's got her people to help her figure it out.

(I've been thinking I need to have you describe Rokia a bit for me so I can doodle her)

eeeeek that'd be awesome, I occasionally go "man I wish I could draw so I could draw this" but well, never enough to prioritize actually learning to draw.

Rokia and her sisters are all mixed (I found some super-cute pics of Quvenzhané Wallis and decided she's my model for Kadi when she comes to Two, it's about the right age) and since they all have different biological fathers they don't necessarily look _that_ much alike. Rokia's little (especially compared to the Twos, which occasionally annoys her), maybe 5'3" and skinny, curly hair and big brown eyes. If nobody's making her do something else she keeps her hair really short so she doesn't have to do anything with it and wears jeans and t-shirts which tend to get covered in shop grease in short order.

hee! And of course now I want a drawing of Eibhlin and Rokia working on some project together, because I think they'd be a cute contrast (being relatively the same size and build, but having very different hair/skin/eyes).

I've gotta agree with you there about the idea of a cute contrast!

(I feel like Annie, who was only taller than Mags among the victors in Four, would be slightly pleased at being enough taller than Eibhlin and Rokia for people to be able to tell, ha ha)

I like this! She gets to feel all tall, eh? I have a lady friend who is 6'2, who I like to stand next to because she makes me feel all petite :D

Exactly! Ha ha, that sounds great!

I see, I see~

(although I never responded to this comment within a reasonable timeframe, I'm sure that I must have read it/referred to it at least to some degree based on my prior Rokia doodlings...)

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