Work Text:
The whole thing was stupid.
Katniss couldn’t believe she had let Madge talk her into something as ridiculous as Speed Dating. On Valentine’s Day. In a bakery, of all places. This was going to be a disaster, and there wasn’t anything to be done about it at this point. Katniss just had to endure a couple hours of nonsense then they could go to a bar and forget the whole thing had happened.
That’s the deal she had made. She would come with Madge for moral support if they could do shots afterwards. Not that Katniss was much of a drinker, but when everything was coated in hot pink and bubbly hearts, she figured it was the only way to tolerate it.
“Look how cute!” Madge exclaimed over the decorations, little bows fastened to the chairs that were arranged into pairs. There apparently weren’t enough tables for the turn out that was expected since those were left to line the walls while the seats were neatly arranged into two rows, facing one another, along the center of the room in a large circle.
“Yeah, it sure is something.” Katniss wanted to gag. The only thing that made this bearable was the sweet scent of cookies mixed with the aroma of coffee that filled the air. Maybe she could pick something up for Prim before they left.
She fiddled with her single sheet of paper with numbers down in a single column in blue and clicked her pink pen a few times. Katniss looked around at the numbers everyone was wearing and smoothed a hand over her “12” sticky badge. What a way to start a date, assigned an arbitrary number.
A bell rang out to call everyone in the quickly gathering crowd to attention. Katniss was ready to huff and text Gale to please call her with a crisis - he owed her an escape call anyway after his last failed date with the girl who only talked about her ex-boyfriend, complete with a review of his new girlfriend’s Instagram - when she looked up and was immediately distracted.
The young man standing in front of the room had to be around her age. He had broad shoulders, a winning smile, and shining blue eyes. He was wearing a light blue shirt that seemed to be a similar shade to the dress she’d let her sister talk her into wearing for the event and it complimented his fair skin. Katniss didn’t spend much time paying attention to the rules as he outlined them, too busy watching his full lips form the words he said.
“Hello, everyone! Thanks for coming to the first annual Valentine’s Speed Dating Event at Mellark’s Bakery. I’m Peeta, and I’ll be your host today. We’re going to have all you beautiful ladies sit in the inner ring. The gentlemen will move around the outer ring. We’ll play a chime every five minutes to signal the switch. Pay attention to the number your partners are wearing, you’ll mark them on your sheet and at the end, if you match, we’ll give you their contact information. Have fun and let the games begin!”
The bell rang out again, and everyone moved to take a seat. Katniss sat beside Madge in a daze, looking over the crowd to try to catch sight of their host again. He seemed pleasant and was definitely pleasant on the eyes. Katniss wanted to see if she could talk to him, but she’d probably just make a fool of herself anyway. It was probably best that number 6 was sitting in front of her when the bell rang again.
He was boring.
One was brash.
Three was a bit of a blockhead.
Nine talked more about lacrosse in five minutes than Katniss could deal with.
Katniss was exhausted before they’d even made it halfway through the circle. She looked to Madge for support when there was an inexplicably empty seat across from her, but she found her friend engaged in a conversation with someone with limp brown hair about their favorite desserts.
Madge was having a great time while Katniss was her usual disaster self.
“Hi,” the next suitor said with a grin evident in his voice as he sat across from her.
Katniss was ready to sigh and be as taciturn as she had been to the 10 men who had come before, when she looked up and met blue eyes. The man who had called them to attention. She hadn’t noticed he had joined the others, figured he wasn’t allowed as the Master of Ceremonies or whatever.
“Oh. Hi.”
“I’m Peeta.”
“Yeah, you said that.” She nodded before wincing a little. “Katniss.”
Peeta laughed, but it didn’t sound unkind. “You look like you’re having a great time.”
“Sarcasm, I’ll allow it.” In spite of herself, she felt her lips quirk at the edges.
“I hope you don’t mind me jumping in. My mom’s probably going to yell at me about it, but I saw you getting annoyed with the last guy and thought you could use a break.”
Katniss shrugged. “I don’t know. While his story about getting wasted at a sorority party was riveting, it didn’t seem like much of a match.”
“Yeah, that’s not really my scene. Probably because between school and here, I don’t get out all that much.”
“I don’t believe that.” She shook her head when he looked confused. “You seem to know your way around a crowd up there.”
Peeta snorted a little. “Customer service 101. What do you do?”
“I’m in school right now. I work at The Hob. I let my friends talk me into weird activities because, and I quote, You can’t be boring all the time.”
“You don’t seem boring to me.”
Katniss felt the warmth in her cheeks and had to glance away from the intensifying eye contact. Peeta didn’t seem too bothered and help carry the conversation until, too soon, the bell rang out again and everyone started moving.
“Have a good night, Katniss.” Peeta told her, standing. His voice took on a bit of an edge when he said “I hope you find someone interesting.”
“Wait!” She reached half-heartedly toward him as he made room for the next men to take his seat. Tapping the little name badge on her shoulder, she looked up at him with a small smile. “You don’t have a number.”
“Oh. Yeah. But I’m easy to find.”
Then he was gone, back to the front of the room, taking over again for someone that looked a couple years older but with the same blond curls. A brother maybe? An older woman was scowling at him while he laughed and waved off her obvious fussing. Katniss didn’t hear what number 20 said to her, too busy puzzling out why Peeta would risk getting scolded just to talk to her.
Her mind was occupied through the remainder of the rounds, and she was sure no one was circling her number on their sheet. She definitely hadn’t bothered.
Finally, there was a double ring, followed by Peeta’s cheerful voice. “Thank you everyone! Please return your sheets to the counter and give us a little time to tally your marks. We’ll text you when we have your matches. There’s coffee and hot chocolate, complimentary, on the side tables while you wait.
Katniss followed Madge to the counter to return her blank sheet, trying to catch a certain pair of blue eyes and mostly failing while he was accosted with a new line of customers buying treats while they waited.
“Well!” Madge exclaimed. “Did you find anyone you liked?”
Katniss hummed. “Not really, I don’t think.”
“Oh, come on, Katniss. Not a single person? Not even the pretty boy that left his hosting duties to talk to you?”
“What?” She started, head whipping around to catch Madge’s eyes.
Madge gigged, a little giddy when she handed in her own, carefully marked, sheet. “I saw the way you looked at him. You didn’t even try to talk to anyone after that. You were all red and everything!”
“That’s. Well, I mean.” Where was she supposed to go from there?
Her friend was all smiles as she motioned around the room. “Go talk to him! Ask him to come out with us!”
“I’m sure he’s busy, Madge. He probably has to work all night.”
“Do you know that? Hmm? No, you do not. Go!”
“Oh my God. Stop it.” Katniss hissed at the scene Madge was causing. Though, a quick glance around indicated no one was paying them too much attention. “Besides, he’s busy!”
Grabbing her hand, Madge nodded and marched Katniss unceremoniously over the the queue at the register. “Then we’ll wait. I want a muffin anyway.”
And wait they did. Katniss had to admit, this Speed Dating thing was probably a great way to drum up business. Thinking about that kept her distracted as the line became shorter in front of them, easing them ever closer to the young men at the carefully decorated counter with elegant displays of breads, cakes, and cookies.
When they finally reached the front, Madge ordered a dozen of Prim’s favorite cookies, winking at Katniss since she’d clearly forgotten all about wanting to pick some up. Certainly, she was too distracted by her task to remember.
When it was her turn, the other man was taking orders, so Katniss waved him off. Taking a deep breath, she slid down the counter to where Peeta was filling orders. He was very busy. Probably, she should just leave him alone and come back when they’re less busy. Madge’s elbow in her ribs forced Katniss to take the final step forward.
“Hey, Peeta?” Katniss called, sliding into the space vacated by a woman with a slice of black forest cake. Looking around to avoid meeting his eyes, Katniss could see that some of the others were paired off, possibly going out for their own dates for the evening even though the sheets were still being tabulated.
“Yeah, Katniss?” His voice was soft but kind. Interested but not overbearing.
“I don’t know if you… I’m sure you’re busy with closing or whatever… It’s just… We’re going out for drinks… I was wondering if you…” Why was she so bad at this?
“I’d love to come.”
“Oh…”
“I meant,” Peeta glanced down and looked up with a slight tinge of pink to his cheeks. “If that’s what you’re asking. If not, you should probably just ignore me.”
Katniss laughed, quiet and short. “No, no. I was asking.”
“Great. Let me just get my brother to cover the rest of my shift after this line dies down.”
“Great,” she echoed, voice quiet and nowhere near as assertive as she should be.
Peeta disappeared into the back just as Madge squealed. “You have a date!”
She did, didn’t she?
Who would have thought. Katniss Everdeen had a date. On Valentine’s Day. With someone she’d managed to only know for five minutes.
What was her life?