AN: I forgot to add at the end of Chapter 3, all the sugar cube dialogue was a direct quote from Catching Fire, just wanted to make sure that that was fully established. :)
Chapter 4: Admitting that We Need Help
Sleep never came, but the nightmares did haunting them both as they lay awake counting down the hours until they had to get up and go down to the training center. He and Annie both ended up tossing and turning all night and he had to drink a multiple cups of coffee just to make the circles under his eyes go away as Iris, Aya, and her partner Talal Ali berated him for not getting an adequate amount of sleep. As per usual he just tuned them out and glanced over at Hank, the only victor who had volunteered to come along to mentor them, who was chuckling into his own mug. Annie soon joined them at the table and she looked much better than he did despite the same lack of sleep he was dealing with. With just a bit of make-up she had managed to cover up the dark circles and make her sea green eyes look perky and wide awake after only one cup of coffee while it had taken three just to make him wake up enough to keep his eyes open. Her hair looked perfect with her dark curly ringlets pulled back in a pony tail and her slim form contained in the outfit that they were supposed to wear for training that day.
"Now that's how someone should look with an adequate amount of sleep Finnick!" Iris exclaimed making Annie blush at the unwanted attention and making him feel slightly jealous but mostly a little turned on by her ability to hide her sleeplessness so well. "Finnick?" She continued snapping her glove-covered fingers in front of his face and rolling her magenta-contact wearing eyes when he responded a moment later with a grunt and a glare from his still sleep-filled sea green eyes. "Were you even listening to me?" Her sigh made him feel a little bad but not enough to lift a hand to stifle the yawn he felt coming on causing her to groan at his lack of manners.
"Sorry Iris, I zoned out a bit there. can you ever forgive me such a grievous faux pas?" Finnick replied in the most dramatic tone he could manage and finished with a theatrical bow that earned the bated breath of Aya and the laughter of Hank and Annie. Iris continued to glare at his back as he placed his mug in the sink, snatched a piece of French toast off Talal's plate, causing Talal to glare at him as well, before he exited the kitchen. Munching on the toast as he climbed up the stairs to his room, he finally allowed the fake smile to fall away. He could hear Annie kindly excuse herself and felt, rather than heard, her soft footfalls follow him to his room, well their room, she spent more time in their than her assigned room anyhow.
"Nice performance." She congratulated him with a sly fake grin from where she stood in the doorway and he turned around from where he was standing barefooted in just a pair of over-sized sweatpants and holding the tight athletic shirt he was supposed to be wearing. Blushing slightly, the acting bit of Finnick took pleasure at her discomfort but his real self won out and he pulled the shirt over his head covering up the distraction.
"Distracted you there for a moment?" He asked as he pulled off the sweats, knowing that Annie had seen him in just his boxers at a previous time, and sat down to pull on the shorts that thankfully fell longer than his outfit from last night. Though Annie's looks from her slightly embarrassed sea green eyes had made the net worth it, it still revealed more skin than he normally cared to.
"Just enjoying the view. Wouldn't know anything about that now would you?" Annie teased as she sidled closer and his mind returned to the outfit that she had been wearing last night, so maybe she wasn't the only one who got distracted by the perfect body of their fellow tribute and significant other, technically he was definitely guilty of that as well.
"Suppose I do." The twenty-four year old came back with a real smile that met his eyes as he wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her close and he pressed a kiss to her lips. In return the woman wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to deepen the kiss which surprised him slightly but hey, he wasn't complaining.
"Come on Finn, you need to get ready or Iris will come up here and have your hide." She pointed out when they pulled away to catch a breath and he sighed because as much as he wanted to continue kissing her lips, he really did need to get ready.
"Fine." He allowed as he ran a hand through his hair to make it look nicer, pulled on the constricting shoes that he hated so, and double checked that the circles under his eyes had faded enough to make it look like he wasn't going to fall over in exhaustion any second now. "One more for the road?" The twenty-two year old nodded and stepped forward and pressed a quick kiss to his lips with her sea green eyes closed in absolute bliss. His were too and when he opened them he saw that she had already gone and he sighed. This was so much harder now that he had someone he needed to take care of, to protect. It was easier when it was just him but the two of them made everything infinitely more difficult, specifically because only one of them could get unless he came up with some brilliant plan to change that. Sadly he wasn't the plan maker either and if he couldn't then he needed to ensure her survival, he was replaceable while she was not, she had a little brother to go back home to while his family could move on especially if Annie was there to help them.
"You're late Finnick Odair! Get down here already!" Iris hollered up the stairs disturbing his thoughts as he bolted at the noise and was down the stairs infinitely faster than he had gone up them. Hank joined Finnick and Annie for the ride down to the training center and despite it being a mere six floors, he was glad for the company of the older victor.
"Any advice for the Quell that differs from that of the usual Games?" She asked Hank and the older victor closed his light blue eyes as he contemplated her question. Finnick could think of a few good answers but the French toast was sticking to the back of his throat and he didn't really wish to chance talking at the present moment with that complication facing him. Getting sick in the elevator would not have been good for any of them, especially since he absolutely hated to puke.
"Alliances are goin' to be the difference between livin' and dyin' this year Miss Annie but that's the best that I can tell thus far." Hank analyzed as he stroked his wind-worn and sun-damaged chin with a thoughtful expression, "Got anything to add, Finn?" The younger male victor shook his head as the doors opened and he and Annie stepped out with Hank only following when he spotted Haymitch, his friend and one of three surviving victors from his district.
"Gris!" The mentor of Katniss and Peeta called out to them and Hank smiled at the unusually sober victor. As Annie and Finnick moved on towards the door to the training center, they heard Hank reply and the two victor wander off discussing the horrors of the Quarter Quell and wondering why this terrible event occurred.
"You ready?" He asked, now that the toast had gone completely down, as he held one door handle and Annie took the other and gave him a look that he had come to know well.
"Course not but there's no better time to begin." Pulling open the doors simultaneously he was greeted by the harsh noises of Gloss and Cashmere's knives thudding into the dummies and the sound of Jo's grunts as she used her axe to hack away at another. Annie and he quickly separated as she went off to go and learn a bit about working with a knife from someone other than Gloss or Cashmere. He already had a weapon of choice though and went off to practice with his favorite weapon; the trident. No one else liked it, thankfully, and he wasn't about to complain about the empty practice range. The emptiness made it easier for him to think, which, now that he thought about it, wasn't one of his greatest ideas of all time. Thinking gave his mind time to roam to ideas better left alone like the one that wanted to run away with Annie and another that was desperate to let the shards that were his mind just fall to pieces but that would mean leaving Annie which he couldn't do nor would ever actually dare.
"Finny-boy!" Jo greeted him distracting him from his thoughts, for that he could thank her tenfold, but he faked a groan at the use of what he knew was a nickname he wasn't losing anytime soon.
"Jo-Jo!" He returned the greeting with an attempt at a new nickname to make them even but the girl only gave him a look that meant it wasn't quite up to snuff.
"Better luck next time Finny-boy. I know five year olds who can come up with better insults than you." The warrior shot back and punched him in the arm that luckily wasn't holding the trident he had been throwing at the target a good many yards away. If it had he was sure he would have dropped it making for a great show of manliness from the heartthrob of the Capitol who was supposed to be a real manly man.
"Don't be too hard on the pretty boy. My mentor was never one for being quick on his feet mentally." Annie pointed out stepping up behind Jo and causing the younger woman to rapidly blink her golden eyes to hide the fact she had been startled. Not many people could call Annie much of a fighter but she was quick with knots and one of the greatest at sneaking around out of all the victors here with her only possible rival being the huntress Katniss. When it came to knots though he was beyond grateful for her teaching him that skill, it had become very handy over the years as a method for him to keep calm.
"Annie!" He whined and she turned to look at him as she twirled a throwing knife between her finger tips dangerously. Smirking back at him she turned round completely and threw the knife so that it landed in the middle of the bull's-eye.
"Somebody has gotten more dangerous as of late." Jo complemented her as the older girl blew on her finger tips boastfully with a competitive smile dancing on her lips. Finnick knew that she had been practicing that skill for awhile now and had become very, very adept at it but up until now he was not aware exactly how good she'd become.
"Practice makes perfect." Was all she needed to say back before she met Finn's steady sea-green eye gaze. "Oh yeah and I was supposed to come get you two because it's lunch now but you two missed the lunch call while arguing. Nobody else was brave enough to come break it up except me." Puffing out her chest like a proud bird, Finnick held back a chuckle as he watched her give him a wink before locking arms with Jo and pulling her down the hall to the cafeteria. Knowing all the victors as well as he did, he was self-assured that they would be broken up into little cliques of sorts. He was not proven wrong, the four other Careers were all seated at one end of the table on their own while Katniss and Peeta had joined a group from District 11 along with Beetee and Wiress at their end of the long table. Jo joined him and Annie and they sat in the middle of the table, in between the two main groups and the rest of the tributes who were sitting on either side.
"That Peeta fellow," Jo began as she clanged her tray loudly on the table and plopped down in her seat violently. Annie and Finnick soon joined her but in a much quieter manner as she forked a load of food into her mouth and swallowed before pointing her now empty fork at the pair. "Is good at charming people and would probably be good at getting sponsors."
"I'm good at getting sponsors on my own." He pointed out as he sipped at his water and looked down at the unappetizing food on his plate. "Plus we're not looking for allies, I'm sure that the three of us can take on everyone and come out on top."
"But then it would end up being just the three of us." Annie pointed out with a frown as she blew on her spoonful of soup to cool it, "And Hank said it would be a good idea to get allies." She continued before putting the spoon in her mouth and swallowing it.
"Your Hank is right, allies will be necessary this year." The warrior woman pointed out from where she sat on the opposite side from the District 4 tributes. "Peeta isn't much of a fighter but I know Katniss is good, having them both on our side will be better than partnering up with the golden siblings and the killer twins from Districts 1 and 2." Nodding her head in the direction of Gloss, Cashmere, Brutus, and Enobaria, she feigned a shudder earning a laugh from Annie and a sigh of acceptance of the inevitable from Finnick.
"Fine. Fine. Fine." He muttered into his soup as he spooned a mouthful in before remembering how hot it was and scalding his tongue. Quickly swigging his whole glass of water down, he vaguely heard Annie and Jo laugh at his mistake. "Not that funny!"
"Oh honey, it was that funny." Jo corrected him as she stood up to go put her tray away and walked back into the training room following the footsteps of the "golden siblings" and "killer twins" that she hated so but was oddly enough a lot like. Sighing to himself, he could still see Annie smiling out of the corner of his eye as she followed him to go put away their trays and the pair also reentered the center. Upon catching sight of Katniss alone at the rope tying station she grabbed his hand and pulled him over to go and introduce her to the huntress.
"Hey Katniss!" He exclaims putting on his fake charming grin and leaning around her to fix the knot she was working on.
"Oh you again." Katniss replies with a sigh as she waited for him to move himself out of the way before turning around and catching sight of Annie standing beside him. "Who is this?" She continued crossing her arms over her chest and looking the woman beside him up and down with her calculating slate gray eyes.
"Annie Cresta, District 4." The twenty-two year old introduced herself with a smile and stuck out a hand that Katniss surprisingly shook.
"Katniss Everdeen, District 12." Peeta chose that moment to walk up behind her with the clanking of his prosthetic making both ninja-like women wince at the clumsy noise. "And this is my fiancé, Peeta Mellark, also of District 12."
"Good to meet you both. You already know Finn." Annie gestured behind her to where the twenty-four year old had fashioned a noose without looking and was now pretending to hang himself for their amusement. "Seriously? Grow up already Finn!" She exclaimed with a sigh and he laughed as Peeta and Katniss raised their eyebrows. Brushing away a stray strand of curly dark hair, Annie recomposed herself and turned back to the younger girl who seemed to not mind her too much. "Don't mind him, he just came along to introduce me so that I could ask you for some shooting help in exchange for maybe a few lessons on hook-making or rope tying."
"Sure." The huntress replied with a smile and earned a startled look from Peeta, Finnick assumed that that blonde baker must be painfully well aware of his fiancé's inability to make friends easily. "Want to start now? I need to practice my shooting anyway and your friend Finnick seems to have claimed the knot tying station." Annie nodded and the two girls walked off chatting away as if they had been best friends for years rather than five minutes.
"Damn your girlfriend is good at making anyone warm up." Peeta observed with a smile playing on his face and his blue eyes sparkling behind some locks of blonde hair that had spilled over his eyebrows. Finnick turned to him with a startled look of surprise in his sea green eyes and his jaw gaping.
"She's not my girlfriend!" He exclaimed even as the little voice in his head wanted to scream and argue otherwise but he knew that to keep up his façade, he couldn't. "I mean she's a hottie but no, a little too unstable for my taste."
"You might want to work on your taste." The baker smirked as he shook his head in amusement, "Not one of these victors is going to be stable enough if you don't." Now he really needed this kid as an ally, he was observative enough to notice even his brokenness, a fact that had gone completely over his fiancé's head. In the mean time Peeta was about to walk off and head over to the painting station to make friends with the morphlings and Finnick bit his lower lip as he debated whether or not to tell the other guy to wait up. Eventually the voice in his head, that sounded a bit too much like Mags in her compassionate and always right way, won out and he took a step after him.
"Wait." The twenty-four year old called back and the eighteen year old turned around to look at his with his blue eyes filled with confusion and his arms crossed in front of his chest, a habit he had undoubtedly picked up from his suspicious fiancé. "Would you and Katniss possibly be interested in allying with Annie, Jo, and I?"
"We'll think about it." Peeta replied with a smile that met his eyes and Finnick smiled back, maybe asking for help wasn't the end of the world after all.