Whatever Sunshine was expecting, it wasn't that, and she stands, stiff with growing horror, as Peeta tells his story. At first, she has no idea where he's going with it, or if this is just some attempt to even the scales now that he knows more about her personal life than she wanted him to. But what's he spilling this disproportionate tragedy for?
Then, 'it was true,' sends a jolt through her, sympathy mingling with anxiety, and she thinks poor kid even as she remembers a disappointed sigh ghosting over her skin and a brief nuzzle against her bare shoulder. She gets it.
No. He gets it.
Sunshine remains silent for a few moments after he stops and offers her a smile - look at him, still smiling after all that - and then she says, stupidly, "… Damn." What else is there to say? It's not enough, though, and she gives her head a little shake to clear it. "Um. Gods, that's… appalling." Bad things happen to kids back home, too, but it's not institutionalized badness. It's not like the Hunger Games. It's just… unfortunate accidents, overdoses, moments of stupidity, maybe a vampire with certain tastes, not a slaughter on the television. "I'm sorry." The apology is more for what he went through than her own understandable presumption that Peeta wouldn't have had experience with faking a relationship to save someone's life, but it could cover both.
She also can't help thinking that it's not that straightforward. Yesterday afternoon might not have been smart, or her proudest hour(s), but… it wasn't a lie, either, or a - a show.
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Then, 'it was true,' sends a jolt through her, sympathy mingling with anxiety, and she thinks poor kid even as she remembers a disappointed sigh ghosting over her skin and a brief nuzzle against her bare shoulder. She gets it.
No. He gets it.
Sunshine remains silent for a few moments after he stops and offers her a smile - look at him, still smiling after all that - and then she says, stupidly, "… Damn." What else is there to say? It's not enough, though, and she gives her head a little shake to clear it. "Um. Gods, that's… appalling." Bad things happen to kids back home, too, but it's not institutionalized badness. It's not like the Hunger Games. It's just… unfortunate accidents, overdoses, moments of stupidity, maybe a vampire with certain tastes, not a slaughter on the television. "I'm sorry." The apology is more for what he went through than her own understandable presumption that Peeta wouldn't have had experience with faking a relationship to save someone's life, but it could cover both.
She also can't help thinking that it's not that straightforward. Yesterday afternoon might not have been smart, or her proudest hour(s), but… it wasn't a lie, either, or a - a show.