ten_fwd | New roomate - locked to Bob Fraser

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bob fraser

New roomate - locked to Bob Fraser

Prim woke when the alarm on her padd woke her. Time to feed Buttercup and Lady. Then she could go to sleep again. She might have nightmares when she slept, but at least in the nightmares.... Katniss is there. At least she's not alone.

But when she woke up...

She got up and fed the animals, refilling their water bowls. She was about to go to back to bed, then she saw the notice on her padd, waiting for her.

A new roommate. She went to Katniss' side of the quarters. Touched Katniss' bed. No trace of her warmth left.

And then... then someone else will come... and use her bed?

She sank to the floor, tears running down her face. Someone else is taking Katniss' place. But...

....

... does that mean that... she really.... isn't coming back?

When her new roommate came in, he'd find her sitting on the floor beside the bed that's made and neat, sobbing into her hands.

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"Assig..... This room? Y...you're the one taking Katniss' bed?" she asked, her eyes widening, her skin paling again.

He looked at the bed in question. "I can certainly make my own," he replied, which was true. He didn't ask who Katniss is.

"I...I meant... you're the one... they sent to take her place..." she whispered.

"I'm not going to replace anyone, miss," he replied. "I've been assigned here, though, yes."

"Then...then she's really not coming back?" she whispered, tears welling again.

"I don't know, miss," he replied. "Somehow, I don't think they know much. After all, it's this Q that's behind this, isn't it."

She gave a small nod. "I... thought he was doing it... to save us..." she whispered.

"I don't think he's just doing it to amuse himself," he said. "There's definitely more to it."

She nodded. "That's what I thought," she said softly, "that she was like what Fatima called a hero." Yes, she said the word as if it were a new one by her.

"Katniss..." her voice caught on the name, "she said that... they she saw me die. That Finnick was dead and I was dead but... But Q brought us here. He went back and got us, saved us. I thought that meant that everyone here had been brought here so they wouldn't die... and then... and then he took her away!" Anger and tears there.

He listened to her as she vented and explained. Then he took a moment to think.

"I'm dead, miss," he confessed. He put his hand through a table. "I was shot and killed by a man who was hired to kill me by a policeman who I thought was my friend."

So he understood her distrust of policeman.

"I don't know what happened to her," he didn't use Katniss' name, because he wasn't sure she would have felt he'd earned the right. "But I watched over my son when I died and now this Q brought me here."

"Yo....you're... dead?" she asked, stuck on that part. She heard the rest she just... couldn't process it at the moment. "How could you be dead... if you're here?"

"I don't know, really," he admitted before shrugging. "Nothing much I can do about it."

"Does... does that mean that... that Katniss is alive... if she's not here?" Sh was so confused.

"I don't know what it means, miss," he said, honestly. "But I know you can't assume you know what goes on after death."

"But... but you do?"

"I think it's unique for everyone," he said. "You drive your own path."

"I'm worried about her," she said softly.

"You can do that," he nodded. "But she'd be worried about you. She'd want to know if you're ok. Could you tell her that?"

"Tell her that...how? Q took her away, took her back... back home..." her voice caught and she choked on the word home. "That's why I'm so worried... This place... this place seems to be almost... safe...."

In other words, home very much was not.

"No," he shook his head. "I'm saying that worrying about her isn't going to her or you any good. You should live your life as best you can and focus on where you can do good."

She sniffed. "Where I can do good? I'm a kid, here. I used to help mom take care of everyone, but they have more medical staff here than the seam has miners. They don't need me underfoot. I can't help Katniss because she isn't here to help. Milking Lady is no longer needed for making cheese, so only happens when Lady needs the comfort. Because there is all the food you could ever dream of here...."

No one here needed her. For anything.

"You're only a kid if you want to be," he said. "Otherwise, it's up to you to find a place to do good. Ask. Ask the captain, ask that counselor, that security officer. Keep asking until you're happy."

They may try to pawn her off, but if she's determined, she can get past that too.

"I can't be happy," she said softly. "I was happy, and Katniss wasn't and then she was taken away."

"I had a wife die," he admitted. "She was killed." By a friend, which seemed to him to be a bit of a theme. "And I won't lie. I was devastated. I was half a man. I couldn't look after myself, much less my son. I didn't eat, I didn't sleep. I didn't want to die... I just stopped living."

He shrugged. "But one day, I shaved. I washed. I put breakfast on the table. I don't know if I'd call myself happy. But I was me again. Maybe it's that you should shoot for."

"L...like our mother... when dad died..." he whispered. "That's when Katniss started taking care of us..."

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