First date (Artemis: Ehrenleaf)

Andrei still wasn't entirely sure how it had come to this, or even why Autumn wanted to spend time around him.

As far as he was concerned, work and supporting the family took up so much of his free time that it would be unfair to any girlfriend that might be in his life. And that was opting to ignore some girl being patient enough to get past his quiet demeanor, so much so that many people misconstrued it as Andrei being antisocial.

So it was a little surprising that Autumn had accepted when, at his mother's nagging insistence, he had extended the invitation to join the Ehrenström family for dinner.

It wasn't entirely motivated by his mother's quest to push her oldest son to have more of a social life; Autumn had, after all, taken damn good care of him after taking what could have been a fatal fall that had cracked his helmet like an egg and broken his ribs like twigs.

Inviting her to join them seemed like the least they could do.

But, of course, there was still the underlying motive to deal with. Andrei had warned Autumn (very sheepishly) when she accepted the invite, "I apologize in advance if my mother makes any allusions to grandchildren. She's a little... overzealous."

Not that he could blame her --or anyone else in his family, for that matter-- for trying to set them up. Autumn was... Well, Andrei was having a hard time disbelieving that she might be an angel. It was an apt analogy, too; she made her living tending to the sick and injured, and she was very good at her job.

Even if Andrei insisted to the contrary, not wanting to be a burden, Autumn had made sure he was as comfortable as possible while she'd tended to his injuries.

And what a blessing it was; Andrei didn't want to imagine how much worse the pain would have been when Autumn set his broken ribs if she'd listened to his insistence that he didn't need the rest of her morphling.

He was still racking his brain trying to figure out how to repay her for that. With winter upon them, construction tended to be more dangerous with ice and snow slicking the surfaces the carpenters worked on.

His mind went to the roll of wolf pelts stowed under his bed for a metaphorical rainy day. Fur was a luxury in any district, but in the northern reaches of District 7 it could also be a godsend. Having returned the kids he'd saved to their tearful, grateful parents (and discretely telling Seth that Sparrow was a tough little lady that he'd do well to stay in touch with), Andrei had gone back to the spot where the wolf-mutts lay.

It was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

The butcher had offered to give him the pelts, as intact as possible, for whatever meat was on them and a handful of coins. The family had raised more than a few eyebrows when he'd returned home covered in hair and dirt and blood (Leif had simply asked why Andrei had killed the beasts), and even more so when he returned with the pelts that corroborated his story.

Andrei had a pretty good idea, now, what he intended to do with them.

He'd been on the back porch sharpening his hatchet (which, like every other tool they owned, Andrei had sharpened a thousand times when his arm and ribs kept him from being able to work) when the knock came at the door. One of the twins (Andrei's ability to tell them apart tended to falter when their backs were turned) beat him to the punch.

“Andrei’s upstairs, going through the typical ritual of a teenage boy who still doesn't know how to tie a tie. Until then, I’m Aniike, and I’ll be your entertainment for the evening.”

Andrei smirked to himself from his spot on the back porch. He'd known the moment the twins shut themselves in Aniike's room that they would be up to no good for Autumn's visit. Putting the hatchet down (and where no one would step on it), Andrei stood up; he couldn't really afford anything new, but his old Reaping clothes (the shirt, a white button-down, at least) still fit and had been used gently enough to still be presentable.

He leaned against the doorframe that looked into the kitchen from the hallway leading to the back porch, unable to help the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Autumn was already naturally very pretty with high cheekbones, a defined jawline and dark hair; in the warm glow of the lanterns that had been lit on the porch, it smoothed out her features to look almost ethereal.

Why was this girl spending time with him?

"Trying to get an early start embarrassing your brother?" He asked his sister, "She already knows the story about when Mama thought I fancied guys, you're going to have to up your game."