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[stillplaying]

For the most part, Katniss spends February inside. It isn't something she's fond of but she remembers the last time there had been creatures in Itinere. Matt had to rescue her from lizard mutts because all she could focus on had been Finnick's death and not the prevention of her own. Though the chances of that happening again are slim (these are different creatures and not the lizard mutts, not the things that still haunt her nightmares every now and then), there are chance she doesn't want to take. Everyone seems to be following trend for the most part, and only going out when needed. She's done her best to do the same.

Eventually though, restlessness gets the better of her and she decides to slip out early one morning. She opens the door to her apartment, she stops dead in her tracks. There's a heart on the doorstep and from the looks of it, not one belonging to a deer or any similar sized creature. She doesn't hesitate to pick it up. That's when the memories hit.

She can't see in the memories, not in the conventional manner that she's used to, but regardless she sees herself. In the memories, she's singing and dancing in a rainstorm - high from the glow of that golden orb. There's amusement and joy stemming from the memory similar to how she remembers that night. But it's more than that. Even though Katniss refuses to admit it, she had been in love with Matt by that point. She doesn't expect to experience his side of things: the realization in that moment that she could be someone he's falling for, too.

It's jarring and the heart nearly slips out of her hands. Her own heart pounds in her chest and she races to Matt's apartment. Katniss doesn't hesitate to use her key; that awkward encounter with Foggy is the last thing on her mind right now. As she opens the door, she shouts into the apartment, "Matt! Matt! Answer me!"

But if there's an answer, it's not from the man she's looking for. Katniss looks down at the heart in her hand and she feels a kind of pain she hasn't felt since Prim disappeared from Itinere. It might as well be her own blood coating her hand given how much she hurts. This has to be some kind of sick joke. It has to be. Somehow, she stays rational enough to pull out her phone and type in a quick text:

Text to Everyone:

When is the last time you spoke with Matt Murdock?


[ooc: if you have reason to be near or around matt murdock's apartment, feel free to catch katniss there. or whatever; i'm flexible!]

Comments

[stillplaying]

The drag the muttations?

[It's the only word she really has for the creatures. Dragons aren't heard of in Panem.

Unfortunately, the pit in her stomach is growing. It doesn't take much to put two and two together.]

Did they get him?

[veryimportantlittlegirl]

[ While Bo is unfamiliar with the term, she knows that they're both on the same page. ]

Yes. ...and yes. I'm sorry...

[stillplaying]

[She hates this. She hates that Matt's been taken from her and she hates that this little girl is the one to have to tell her. She hates that someone Bo's age has to carry the weight of this knowledge. Feels the urge to apologize for something Katniss is certain she has no control over.

She hates that Matt's been harmed. That he's.... he's gone just like everyone else she's ever loved. Loved. She never got to tell him that, did she? That she loves him.]

Not your fault. [She's struggling to keep it together right now. Not to break. Then a thought hits her:] You weren't there, were you?

[veryimportantlittlegirl]

[ It's almost impossible not to feel the sorrow drenching the city of Itinere the past couple of days. Matt means a lot to Bo; he's taught her how to fight so that she doesn't have to depend so much on her abilities. But he doesn't mean as much to her as she can tell he meant to Katniss.

The confusing thing is that it doesn't feel like he's gone gone, and Bo can't quite wrap her head around that to figure out what it might mean, so she doesn't dare bring it up, lest she give Katniss a ray of hope that might not be worth clinging to. ]

No, we split up to cover more ground. ...I miss him, too.

[stillplaying]

[She had been out there, too? That's worrisome. The girl is too young to be out there, fighting against these creatures. She should be at home with her guardian, safe and playing with that stuffed toy of hers. Katniss has seen too many others lose their childhoods at too young an age. For all her heart aches over Matt's death, it aches over the thought that even here, there are children that aren't acting like children.

Sorrow like this, presented on so many levels, can be overwhelming. It's tempting to curl up in a tight ball leaning against Matt's bed, and hide until everything is right again. Can't she? It's so hard to be strong.

At least Bo has inadvertently provided Katniss with a distraction.]

Don't. Don't you go out again. It's too dangerous.

[veryimportantlittlegirl]

I have to.

[ Bo can understand the trepidation that comes with knowing a child her age is still going to go out in that mess to try to stop it. Tate and Milton would've lost their minds. Sirius, too. Peter probably doesn't like it much and she knows Matt didn't, but Bo is one of the most powerful people here when she really puts her mind to it. She can't afford to sit this one out. Nobody can afford for her to sit this one out. ]

I'll be okay, Katniss. But I have to.

[stillplaying]

[There's conviction in the typed words, conviction that a girl as young as Bo shouldn't have. It makes Katniss feel both sympathy and a great amount of admiration for the girl. This isn't argument that she's going to win. There's no point in trying.

But at least she can offer something:]

Do you need company?

[Katniss might not have any powers but she is good with a bow.]

[veryimportantlittlegirl]

[ It's only because Bo doesn't sense anything bad happening to Katniss that she's going to agree to this. Well, that and she knows how sad Katniss is and maybe Bo isn't the one who needs the company right now... ]

Sure. I'll meet you in the lobby. We can go together.