Working [open]

Dittany pursed her lips. In a poor District like the one she lived in giving things for free was nearly unheard of, not taking money when offered wasn't considered kind--it was crazy. Secretly Dittany thought she was better off than most people of her beloved District Eleven, she picked fruits, she sold them, she got by. Maybe she was a little skinny, but that was fine. Dittany watched the Hunger Games just like everybody else, and knew in the Capitol being skinny was fashionable, something weird yet appealing to the teen. The people who were skinny when times were good, wouldn't suffer as much as the people who had grown fat and soft when bad times came again.

Logical. Logic, logic, logic. In Dittanys mind, as long as she was almost well-fed she could help others out. Brushing her hair away from her face, Dittany daintily picked up two of the four coins. She had said it was free. She had meant it. Her grey eyes were cast downward, she smiled, "I'm Dittany," she said. The pear she had kept for herself had already been slipped into a small bag she had tied around her waist. It would be dinner, or maybe late lunch--depended on if she thought she could survive the heat all the way back home.

The sun really was hot. A trickle of sweat went down her back and Dittany nearly groaned aloud. She hated the warm weather, sure some fruits were best in this weather, but at least when it was cold her body was numb. During too hot days like this one, Dittany was painfully aware of her slow, lazy body. If the world had to end in either fire or ice, Dittany would choose ice.

"You've already given me money, no need for water," she said in a voice bordering on scolding the nice boy. Secretly Dittany was thirsty, but she knew if she relaxed now, she would need to eat too, and sleep and end up coming home very late. She resisted the temptation to take the water, in this case it was hypocritical of her, because she had a reason behind why she refused the drink. Or--thats how Dittany saw it.

She looked at Koda, her grey eyes friendly, "By the way nice to meet you Koda, I rarely meet people who know what my name is," she said. Dittany was a name often considered some form of the name Brittany. She was very impressed with Koda's knowledge of her names meaning. Dittay highly doubted even her sister knew what her name was.

She smiled at the boy. He didn't seem to have any baskets to sell anything to the farmers, and Dittany was pretty sure he wasn't an occupant of any of the farmhouses. It was a mystery to what he was doing here right now. She also for some vague reason could have sworn she had seen him with a little girl earlier. Maybe hes visiting distant family... she thought. That didn't sound right either. Dittany would just have to ask him later.

She looked up to see a mockingjay flying low i the sky and smiled as she watched it. Mockingjays were beautiful mutts, the best, really. They were helpful, pretty and seemed to like Dittany's singing. She caught herself starting to hum an old song her sister and mother had once sung to her when she was just a little girl. Those were the days...

Dittany smiled as the mockingjay sang her song and then flew off upon the arrival of a small girl. She knew this to be the girl Koda had been walking with before, and was mildly amused when she called her lady. She blinked and looked at Koda as he trailed off. Looking for some food... Dittany pondered it for a moment then sighed. "A trade. A bit of water in exchange for this pear, and Ill take you back to my place--theres a few apples about to die. Not the best quality, but nobody in my household really likes them--you can have them," she said. To think the truth, her older sister actually loved apples, but being pregnant and all Ashes diet had changed rapidly.

The sun was at its peak, by the time they got to her house she was sure it would be cooler. Dittany could help Koda out, then take a break--sit around and do nothing. Oddly she wasn't even hungry now. Dittany knew the reason behind it was that she had stuffed herself with too much good food that morning. She had expected to be out a lot longer and have no leftovers by the time she was done with her sales.

Things had changed, all Dittanys day plans had changed when she had decided to jog instead of walk to a few houses. It was nice actually, she had managed to gain a few hours in the process. Too bad its like hotter than its been for years... she thought. Just Dittanys luck...

Dittany gave the boy a strange look then raised her eyebrows, "You're talking to the girl who just nearly gave you two pears. Of course I understand, I hate watching people starve or even knowing its happening," she explained. Dittany wasn't going to go into detail, her older sister turning away a girl she had known from school four years ago. Scared Dittany not feeding her, and finally finding her near death behind their house--sneaking her food... trying to help. But not succeeding. She shivered, Ash had gone outside then told Dittany to stay inside the rest of the day as she removed the body. Dittany knew it was the girl, she knew it. That was what it was like, ever after Dittany had sworn to never wait that long, to wait until food would only make things worse.

She walked and hummed, trying to be fast but also not impatient. That was Dittany, never doing anything to the extreme, only partway. She had helped the starving girl, but not enough, she would give Koda food, but know in her heart it just was never enough. Clearly, in her head was a picture of the four apples still on the tree, and three on the ground. It wouldn't be enough to help Kodas, 'family,' but it would be enough (she hoped--some families had extremely large amounts of children, something she refused to ever let herself do)

Looking back at Koda she stopped, waited for the boy to catch up to her. They were in front of her house, but the apple tree was in back. "Just a moment, the tree is out back but let me check something inside," she murmured than disappeared inside. She searched for more food, and successfully found a few strawberries and some grass. Fruits always made grass taste a lot better--people half-starved would eat nearly anything, but this would be nice. She went out back, looking for Koda...

Dittany smirked as he spoke then yawned. "No, its fine, my sister is pregnant and the boy... hes rather well off, or as much as one can be around here," she commented. Growing up, 'around here,' was to Dittany the biggest challenge life could offer except maybe the Hunger Games. Thinking of the Hunger Games made Dittany mentally shudder. She hated watching them, and knew they were to start all too soon. Getting a great televised view of people you know, dying was something Dittany utterly loathed. She had watched a friend die only a few years ago, Chad hadn't even had a chance though, that year had been brimming with Career Tributes. It was just a feeling, but this year Dittany was sure there wouldn't be as many as the previous. The year before there had been a few fights as Career after Career hunted each other down. Picking off the entertaining, fun Careers before going for the weakling lowly District Tributes. It had made Dittany sick to her stomach, and she was pretty sure the Capitol hadn't been happy either. That made Dittany cheery, but the twenty-three lives guaranteed to be lost every year was just horrid.

She set the food on the ground before sitting herself down next to it. The walk had been long and Dittany had hated every step. All she wanted know was to sleep! Glorious sleep where dreams of another world came to her mind, and the cruel, cynical side to her up and vanished. Thats exactly what she needed right now, to rid herself of thoughts and memories of Hunger Games. Starvation. Runaways. The worlds pressures were starting to upset Dittany far too much to be good for her health. She looked at Koda, "I'm exhausted," she said and grinned. It seemed funny to her that only walking around and selling stuff had made her so tired. What an odd thing.

ooc- i ish tired... -dies-

Dittany grinned. She was tired, and didnt feel like holding back her laughter. In a depressing ,starving district if you had something to laugh about--why hold it in. Joy was such a rare thing to find in everyday life for two struggling kids. She grinned and tossed one of the apples up and down. "Jeez, Koda--trying to kill me with my own apples? Thats low..." she teased. He had seemed to be in pretty deep thought before... and Dittany knew it had been an accidant, but she still laughed and teased him. She layed her head back in the dying grass. Stilll laughing though.

The teen sat there and waited, her grey eyes tearing from laughing so hard. It was a nice thing to do, Dittany vaguelly wondered why she hadnt ever tryed to be nice to anybody else for awhile. It was a gift that kept on giving, be nice, be treated well, and on and on. She finally stopped, breathing hard.

ooc- no muse for happy-Dittany