Jonah

[nola_katniss]

They'd started to settle into a routine, and routine was essential for Priya to avoid meltdowns and anxiety attacks. So was sticking close to Jonah, which is why their lives had become so heavily entwined. They spent most early mornings at the yoga studio for Jonah's classes, the middle part of the day at the garage so Priya could work, and then it was either back to the studio for evening classes or running errands or getting things done at home. Home, which was Jonah's apartment, though Priya had all but moved in. She didn't need a lot of stuff--just a toothbrush and some clothes and a few pictures of her family.

Her mother still didn't understand what was going on, and Priya wished it could have resolved into something other than the chilly stalemate they were currently in, but it was the best of a lot of bad options. She couldn't tell her mother what was really going on, she couldn't let her mother get upset and yell at her in front of Jonah and risk hurting his fragile peace, and she certainly couldn't leave Jonah alone and just go back to her life like her mother so desperately wanted. Priya hated that she couldn't make things better for her mother, who had always accepted everything about her, things other parents were horrible to their children for, but some things she couldn't fix.

But right now she wasn't thinking of that. Right now she was thinking about how peaceful Jonah looked as he slept, and about how she hadn't noticed before how long his eyelashes were. She was tempted to reach out and play with his hair, those curls she'd become incredibly fond of, but she didn't want to wake him. It was a Sunday, and they had nowhere to be; the garage was closed, none of the morning classes at the studio were Jonah's. Priya had only been awake for a few moments herself, and she was going to enjoy being here, in bed, safe, both of them curled towards each other without even meaning to, as long as she could.

Comments

[nola_peeta]

Somehow, maybe, shakily, Jonah was still living. He was still teaching yoga, and his classes were starting to feel good again, like the safe place they used to be before the Capitol blew his world apart all over again. And Priya was there at every class, sometimes even taking the class, and if Jonah started to feel overwhelmed or unsure of reality, he could look at her and feel real. At the garage he was more out of his depth, but Jonah helped where he could.

And home was home, because Priya, Katniss, the Priya-Katniss force in his life, was there.

Finally, Jonah had slept through the night. Finally, when he woke, he felt — was this rested? What that what it felt like? He could hardly remember. Jonah blinked his eyes open slowly, coming gradually back to the conscious world.

[nola_katniss]

Priya watched his eyes open with a tiny smile. "Hi." She lifted her hand to his cheek simply because she wanted to be touching him and shifted a little closer, bent knees bumping against his.

[nola_peeta]

Jonah smiled and closed his eyes again, lingering in the touch of Priya’s hand. It was a nice way to wake up. They kept waking up close to each other, like in sleep they were sunflowers, reaching out to each other’s suns.

[nola_katniss]

His smile tugged at her heart, reminding her what it was like to feel happy. He was absolutely her sun, keeping her warm and making her want to reflect that brightness back at him. Priya leaned in and kissed him softly, heart fluttering in her chest.

[nola_peeta]

That was a surprise —- not a bad surprise, but certainly a surprise. Jonah’s eyes flew open again, but only briefly, and gently, he kissed Priya back. In this tiny, soft, moment, things felt okay.

[nola_katniss]

It felt nice, nicer than she expected, really, and she could feel some of the worry she carried at the back of her mind that this wouldn't work dissipate. Kissing Jonah felt right, and she made a quiet, contented noise as she drew it out.

[nola_peeta]

Jonah was flooded with memories of Peeta and Katniss, of following her lead and letting her set the tone, of waiting until she was ready, one day, after everything, to kiss him like this. It was special then, and it was special now. He only broke away after a long moment, and only so he could open his eyes and properly look at Priya. He was still smiling, and it was a small, but genuine, smile.

[nola_katniss]

Priya twirled one of his curls around her finger; she couldn't always handle this kind of casual, intimate touch, but when she could, she was almost a little addicted to it. "I like waking up with you."

[nola_peeta]

“Me too,” Jonah replied quietly, because it was true, and because he didn’t want to shatter the moment. “Good morning.”

[nola_katniss]

"Morning. Did you sleep well?" They hadn't woken each other up with nightmares, which was a plus, but truly restful sleep could still be elusive.

[nola_peeta]

“Actually I did,” Jonah admitted, still a little surprised about that himself. “Did you?”

[nola_katniss]

Priya nodded. "Well, I had a weird dream where this cat kept stealing my bagel," she admitted, but really, that was the kind of dream she could get behind.

[nola_peeta]

“Was it your cat?” Jonah smiled a little, reaching for one of Priya’s hands.

[nola_katniss]

She shook her head as she twined her fingers with Jonah's. "I think it was the little black and white cat I see outside sometimes. My arms were full last time I saw her so I couldn't pet her. Maybe she slipped into my dreams as payback."

[nola_peeta]

“Do you think that cat has a home?” Maybe they should be taking care of it.

[nola_katniss]

"I don't know. I don't think it had a collar. We could take it to a vet, see if it has a chip." It was hard to tell well-fed, friendly strays from outdoor cats.

[nola_peeta]

“We should do that. In case it’s out there alone.” It was easier to live if you weren’t alone.

[nola_katniss]

"We can get a carrier and some food later, to catch it," she assured him. Though, since they were on the topic of not being alone... "I met someone like us."

[nola_peeta]

“Someone from…” Was home the right word? “From Panem?” He settled on, uneasily.

[nola_katniss]

Priya shook her head. "No, not someone we knew." She couldn't imagine anyone from then that she could have run into and not immediately told Jonah about. "Someone from another...story." There was still so much she didn't understand about how this worked. "His name is Max. He and his wife, they remember another life too. They were married there and they met here and remembered." Priya didn't know their story like Max knew theirs, but it was nice knowing someone else was going through something at least sort of familiar.

[nola_peeta]

“I... I don’t understand.” Jonah felt panicked; he tried to ignore it.

[nola_katniss]

"It's okay. It's safe." She squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I don't know how it works either, but I don't think it matters. I think it just matters that there are people who understand why we're important to each other." Who wouldn't look at her like her life had taken a sudden, strange turn when she knew that she and Peeta being together had been a long, hard road.

[nola_peeta]

Jonah wasn’t going to lose it. He wasn’t. He took deep breaths and focused on those breaths. It was good that they weren’t the only ones, right? Right?

[nola_katniss]

Priya wrapped an arm around him and rubbed his back in even circles. "I've got you. And you don't have to talk to him, to them, if you don't want to. I just thought you'd want to know." Her first instinct, always, was to protect Jonah, to keep everything from him that might hurt or upset him. But he'd said he didn't want that, so she was doing her best not to follow that instinct.

[nola_peeta]

“Sorry, um.” Jonah wasn’t sure he had even heard the whole story. God, they were having such a good morning, he didn’t want to ruin it. “Where is he from? And he found his — his wife?”

[nola_katniss]

"You don't have to apologize, you didn't do anything wrong." She knew he wasn't choosing to be upset. "His name was Tristan Thorn. I looked it up, and it's from a story called Stardust." It wasn't one she was familiar with, so she read the synopsis. "Yes, his wife. But they're not married here yet. Like I'm your wife."

[nola_peeta]

Stardust didn’t mean anything to Jonah; it didn’t ring any bells. But he knew that their lives, here, existed between the covers of books. So was this any more crazy than that? “What kind of story is it? Was he… is he…?” Was he a good person? Was he nice to Priya?

[nola_katniss]

"Wikipedia says it's a romance. And fantasy. There were witches and sky pirates and things." All in all, it sounded like a much nicer world than theirs. "Tristan was the hero. And at the end he marries Yvaine, a star who accidentally got knocked out of the sky."

[nola_peeta]

"That sounds a whole lot nicer than... you know." Fighting to the death. Brainwashing. Oppression. Fear.

[nola_katniss]

"Yeah, it does." Priya was a little envious, but also she would never wish what she had gone through on anyone. "There's a movie, maybe we can watch it."

[nola_peeta]

"We could do that." There was a movie about their lives too, Jonah knew. He couldn't imagine watching that, but maybe this story about love and a star... would actually be pleasant.

[nola_katniss]

"It can be a date night," she offered, a little of her earlier smile returning. Not that they didn't spend every night together, but she liked the idea of doing something cute and special for Jonah.

[nola_peeta]

"Date night." It was, genuinely, a novel concept. Jonah considered that, smiling. "We're going to have a date night."