Walking into the dark of my tent, I carefully kneel down next to the fire. Peeta is outside, talking to the people he met, telling them about the process of shoeing the dreaded Kelpie. Everyone who witnessed this simple feat is amazed that a  "snowflake" was able to tame her when no warrior could even get close enough to even feed her.

I smile to myself as I pull out my new weapon supplies. Picking up the arrowheads from the broken arrows of a few days ago, I begin binding the new shafts with sinew string. I hum to myself and  listen to the crackling of the wood as I work, thankful for the peace and quiet finally allowed to me. People speaking in happy voices outside, but I drown them out as I work, needing just a moment to be myself, to be myself. 

The tent rustles and Peeta walks in, the door falling back down as he walks in. I glance at him and he smiles at me. "Your people are very impressed by a simple act of shoeing a horse. They gave me this meat to make dinner." He holds out the back leg of a deer and I chuckle.

"Considering there are more than a few of them that got a swift kick to their genitals from Kelpie, They would respect a man who was able to come away from her unscathed," I say and he smirks, carefully setting the meat on the rocks by the fire. 

"Do you have any poles for me to roast this with?" He asks and I nod my head towards the spare wood in the corner.

"Knock yourself out," I say. "I don't cook in here, or at all really, so you will probably need to track down salt and such for it." Peeta walks past me and I place my arrows down. "You are settling in well?"

"Yes, thank you, Katniss," He says, grabbing some wood to set the long flat cooking stone on top of. "And this may not be the most ideal time, but where am I to stay, permanently? I don't want to impose on you, seeing as you are who you are." I set my weapons down and look up at him. 

"Do you wish to leave?" I ask. Peeta looks at me, blinking a moment. He walks around the fire and I keep my eyes trained on him.

"You don't want me to?" He says and I slowly stand, my long braid falling to my side

"I offered you shelter," I say. "I meant what I said, that you can remain in this tent. You don't have to leave." Peeta looks away from me and walks around me. 

"I know what the others think of me," He says. "It isn't the first time I have been called a snowflake. I don't think it is a good idea for me to stay here, for there to be whispers about you and I, with who you are." I look at him and shake my head. 

"Would you want to leave me?" I ask, walking around him and gathering my weapons. "If the whispers were not there, would you still wish to leave this tent?" Peeta swallows nervously and I step closer to him. I feel my heart beating and he takes a step back.

"Katniss," He says, "If it did not matter, I would never leave your side again. But your men, they may respect what happened today, but that did not win their respect for the snowflake." I reach out and grab onto his wrist. I hold up his fist and look at the scarred and calloused hand, abused by years of working the ovens of the bakery.

"You have my respect," I say, I run my fingers across the leather bad, the crown I wear, still wrapped around his wrist. "That is all that should matter. Those arrogant cockheads that judge you on your appearance are the same ones who took over a year to accept that I was the Valkyrie that Tigris envisioned. I do not care what they think of you. I know your worth. If you wish to remain here, I will hear no more of it, and you are permitted to keep your bed on the south side of the fire." He blinks at me and brings my hand to his lips, kissing my knuckles.

"Who am I to argue the will of a queen?" He says softly and I smile, glancing at the meal cooking. I look back at Peeta and chuckle, looking at his messy, well worn clothes from the last few days. I let go of his hand and walk to the pile of clothes I had traded with Gale's mother, the laundress for. I pick them up and hold them out to him. "What is this?"

"Did you expect me to make you wallow in those soiled clothes?" I ask. "Especially seeing as you will be staying here and you are beginning to stink of sweat." He chuckles and takes the clothes from me. 

"Yes, I suppose I am," He admits and as he takes them from me. He looks around the room and then to me. "Where uh, do you want me to change?" I walk over to the wash bucket and turn back to him. 

"As long as you at least preserve some modesty and do not strip completely bare, I will allow you to wash and clothe yourself here," I say. "Otherwise, feel free to go down to the lake and bathe in the cold night water. You would have privacy there by now, as the soldiers mostly clean themselves after morning training." Peeta purses his lips and sighs. 

"Well, it is rather cold out," he says and I carefully take the clothing back and set it on the bed roll. He smirks at me and starts unbuckling his weapons from his body. "Does washing here give me the pleasure of your help, Milady?" 

"Are you a child?" I ask, taking the leg bone of our dinner and turning it over to help cook it. Peeta chuckles and unrolls the sleeves of his button up shirt.

"No, but I just figured that, well when a lady invites one to rest in her home, she would tend to him," He says cheekily. "After all, I did save your life, Lady." I shoot him a look and walk over to him as he start unbuttoning his shirt. I smack his hands away and carefully take over, being careful not to touch him as I move down the garment. "Katniss, I was only teasing."

"No, you are right," I tease right back, not looking up at him as I move my fingers down the garment. as I reach the last button above his trousers, I pull the shirt out of his waistband and move my hands up to his shoulders. I walk around him so my face is inches from his ear. "You are my guest and I will treat you as such." I clutch my hands into the fabric of the ash stained white fabric and pull the shirt from his shoulders. I toss it to the side and tuck a curl of his shaggy hair behind his ear. "I won't be touching your pants though. You can handle that yourself. Then, I will help make sure you get clean." 

His cheek turns beet red next to mine and I move away from him and pick up the shirt, carefully folding it and putting it next to the other dirty garments that are meant to go to the laundress. I hear the rustle and slight jingle as Peeta zips his pants and he pushes them to the floor. I grab a rag and my bucket, pointing at the trunk in the corner. He walks past me and sits down in only a pair of pale blue undershorts. I walk behind him and kneel down, wringing out the rag.

"Katniss, you don't have to," he says and I shake my head, which he can see in the corner mirror. 

"Just hold still," I say. I sit up and carefully run the damp rag across his shoulders. The muscles in his back tense a little and I can see the slight raise of old scars across the whole of it. I feel my heart drop a little and I dip my cloth again, shaking my head. "And relax. I don't bite." He looks down and takes a deep breath as I continue, carefully wiping down his sweaty and grubby skin.

His back is well muscled and firm beneath my fingers. Years of hard labor that many of us face, even though he should have had the luxury not to have all the deep, straight cut scars that are no doubt from a lashing of some kind when he was younger.

 I feel him wince and I pull my hand away, revealing a dark bruise over his kidney. As I look, I notice more, many more fading bruises across his back that I hadn't before noticed, thinking them just shadows in the firelight.  Peeta sighs and shakes his head.

"It's pretty bad isn't it?" He says. "I stopped even taking a look a long time ago." I reach forward, hesitantly with my left hand and rest in on his bicep. 

"I'm sorry," I say softly. "I'll be more gentle." He looks at me, as though expecting me to be making some joke, but I just look back at my work, being very gentle over the deep purple marks. "Tigris left me some muscle relaxing herbs and some for blood flow. If you would like, I can make a poultice and put in on the injury after I am done." Peeta blinks at me and slowly, his hand comes up and clasps over mine still resting on his arm.

"I'd appreciate that, thank you," He whispers and I carefully finish washing the dirt and grime from his back, running my damp cloth over the planes of his body one last time to rinse off any leftovers. I pick up the bucket and set it in front of him. 

"I'll get to work on it then," I say, walking over to the small crate of jars and bottles Tigris keeps well stocked in my tent for my various injuries I often incur.

 I hear the slight sloush of the water as Peeta starts cleaning himself behind me. I pull out a small pestle and mortar, mixing together some ginger, methol, peppermint, and camomile. I hum softly to myself as I grind the leaves together and smell the strong stench of the herbs. Once I am satisfied with the texture, I scoop up a small handful of butter and mix it in to make a paste. I glance at Peeta and he looks uneasily at me as I stand and walk towards him. 

I pick through the herb box further and find a roll of wide bandage I can use to wrap around him and keep the poultice against his skin. I grab it up and walk around Peeta, kneeling back down as I had before. I take a small portion of the mixture in my hand and sit up a little, feeling the tingling feeling across my fingers. 

"I'm sorry, but this will probably hurt quite a bit as I apply it," I say and he nods, looking at me through the mirror. 

"It's okay," He says. "I'm used to the pain." 

I feel my heart clench a little, remembering him saying those words to me many times as children before I even knew what he really meant, the many times I had seen him scrape a knee or trip and fall, coming up bleeding and acting as though that was nothing. I reach out and gently as I can begin massaging the medicine over the bruise. 

Peeta groans and I have to close my eyes and push through as Irub the injured muscle. I start to hum again as I do my best with my limited knowledge to treat the injury, shaking my head, as I do. WHen I feel it is applied well enough, I sit up and grab the bandage, starting to firmly but not tightly wrap it around Peeta's middle.  Tying it off, I whisper a quiet prayer to Freya so she might use her power to help him heal from the wounds of his old life. 

"That is all I really know how to do," I say. "It would be best to go to Tigris, but at least for now it my give you some relief." I carefully start to stand, resting my hand upon the old trunk and he grabs it.

"I couldn't ask for any more kindness, Katniss," Peeta says, "Nor would I have ever expected it." I shake my head and stand up, looking at the fire. 

"I'm going to get dressed for bed," I say. "You should do the same and we can eat. We have a long day tomorrow and will need our strength to begin our training." He nods and I walk back behind the curtain where I keep my clothes, glancing at him one last time as I duck behind the screen.