Renata sucked in a breath as the doors to the train opened to reveal a heavily wooded area. Light from the afternoon sun was coming through the branches of the trees overhead and she felt like she had entered another world. Having never seen any other district before, she had never imagined what they might have looked like; this had completely blown her away.
"Isn't it amazing?" Finnick asked, following her out onto the platform and surveying the sight for himself. "This is my favorite time of year to come here. All the leaves changing and the smell of bonfires…" He trailed off and smiled as Rini looked around in bewilderment, those blue eyes of hers unable to look at everything at once. He stepped over to her and slipped his hand with hers, leading her down the stairs of the platform and into the forest.
She kept close to Finnick as he led her towards where she assumed the actual town to be, for every so often they would pass a small cabin or two. People who were outside recognized the young man and would wave or greet him by name before going along their business. "I've never seen anything like this," she finally spoke, an excited grin on her face. "Look, there!" She pointed at a tree with bright orange leaves and tugged on Finnick's arm, making him laugh.
"I see it, don't tear my arm off!" He grinned when she pouted and he imitated her, jutting his lower lip out and looking ridiculous.
"Quit it, you look like a…a monkey!" she exclaimed, letting go of his hand and wrinkling her nose when he started grunting and making monkey-esque noises. "Quit!" She broke out into a run and laughed as he chased after her, grabbing her from behind and pulling her close.
"No escaping allowed," he laughed in her ear, his arms wrapped around her waist. "What do you have against monkeys, Miss Kelde?" He chuckled again and lightly pressed a kiss to her throat, nuzzling his face against her skin when she murmured quietly.
"Oh, yuck," a voice came from in front of them.
Renata blinked and looked up, her cheeks turning red as she saw a scowling young woman standing at the edge of what she assumed to be the town. She quickly untangled herself from Finnick's arms and gave her a sheepish smile, glaring up at Finnick when he laughed.
"What's the matter, Johanna?" Finnick asked, running a hand through his hair. "I thought you were expecting us."
"Yeah, I didn't think I'd find you two taking each other's clothes off," she retorted, making Renata's cheeks turn even darker. Her hard lips turned up in a smirk as she walked closer to them and when she got closer, Renata realized that she did recognize her as a victor from a previous Hunger Games.
Finnick rolled his eyes and grinned, shaking his head and reaching towards Johanna's belt to grab the axe. "Were you planning on axing us too?" He twirled it in his hand and laughed when she reached for it and missed.
"I'm thinking about it now," She mumbled, then snatched it back from him. That smirk tugged at her lips and she gripped the handle tighter, "Want to see if I can knock something off your head?" She glanced at Renata and grinned bigger at the scared expression on her face. "I'm a pretty good shot…usually," she added with a sharp laugh.
"I hate this game," the young man sighed as he followed Johanna, motioning for Rini to come along him. He winked at her, letting her know that it was okay, and he caught a pinecone that Johanna tossed him. "Kind of a small target, don't you think?"
"Shut up and find the flattest part on your head," she smirked, taking her position in front of a tree. "Any day now…"
"Hey, it's my neck at stake here. I think I'm allowed to take my time," he muttered as he adjusted the pinecone on top of his head and then smiled. "How many times have you done this again?"
"Counting now…two," Johanna grinned and released the axe before Renata could react, and it made a thud against the tree behind Finnick. "Well, what do you know?"
Renata swallowed and tried to force her hands to stop their shaking as she stepped over and picked up one of the halves of the cone, looking at how cleanly it had been sliced through. She looked up at Finnick and smiled nervously when he held up the other half. "That was scary," she murmured, shaking her head. If Johanna had slipped up, then…
"Have a bit of faith in me, will you? It's not like I would've done that if I wasn't positive I'd hit it," Johanna muttered and picked up an acorn, wrinkling her nose at the two.
"My head's still attached, see?" Finnick said softly, lifting his chin and exposing his neck to her. He chuckled when she leaned up to kiss his skin and he pulled her into his arms. "Hey…are you alright?"
Renata opened her mouth to reply but a hard knock on top of her head made her jump and look towards Johanna. She grinned when the young woman whistled innocently and disappeared behind a tree before emerging on the other side and flinging an acorn at Finnick. The redhead quickly darted behind a tree and looked around for things to throw, scooping up a couple acorns and peeking out to find a target.
Finnick exclaimed in surprise when he was hit on the back of his head and when he whirled around he caught just a small flash of red disappear behind a trunk. "Traitor!" he called, then growled when Johanna pelted him with various ammunition and he ducked behind a tree for cover as the small war broke out.
"I'm out!" Johanna finally called, coming out with her hands up. "Plus, we're going to run out of daylight for what you came here to see!"
Finnick's head slowly emerged from behind the tree and once he determined that it was safe, he bounded out and over to Johanna. "Have you already been up to see it?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at Renata when she joined them. "I've got my eye on you, double crosser."
She smiled and bit her lip, bringing her hand out from behind her back and tossing the last acorn she had to the ground. "What are we going to see, exactly?"
"If you hurry, you'll find out," Johanna raised an eyebrow at her and led them up a steep incline deeper into the forest and then stopped in front of a tree with a massive trunk. "Gimme a boost, Finn." She put her hands on the bark and stepped into Finnick's hand, able to reach a branch when he lifted her and she began climbing further up the tree with ease.
Renata watched as Finnick leaped up and grabbed onto the same branch, easily pulling himself up. She blushed when he looked down at her and laughed, reaching her arms up towards him. "Should a get a running start?"
"Maybe," He grinned, letting his arm dangle down towards her, and when she jumped he grabbed her and pulled her up like she weighed nothing. "Not so hard, see? Now you can go first in case you fall," he winked and dodged her swat. He let her start climbing up a ways before he followed, reaching up and grabbing for a branch, but getting her rear end instead.
"Hey!" Renata squealed, looking down at him as he tried to hide the grin on his face.
"Sorry…thought I was grabbing a branch," he offered, biting his lip hard. Grabbing it was unavoidable when it was right there in his face!
"Would you two quit it?" Johanna called from above, interrupting them. She sighed and sat with her feet dangling, smirking at Finnick when they both finally got up to her height. "Are we all situated?"
Renata nodded and smiled sheepishly, watching Johanna pull back a branch and reveal such a perfect vantage point of what looked to be the entire district and beyond. She could see every chimney, the river that wound through the forest, and miles upon miles of colorful leaves. In the glow of the evening, the forest looked so beautiful that Rini's chest ached. "Wow," she whispered, her eyes unable to find where to start looking. The three sat in silence as they drank in the sight, and when Renata managed to finally tear her eyes away to look at Finnick, she found him looking for her reaction. "It's amazing," she whispered, afraid to speak too loud.
"It's nice," Johanna nodded, scratching at her neck. "The view doesn't make up for the fact that the district itself is shit, but yeah…it's pretty."
Renata pursed her lips and glanced at Johanna for a moment before she looked back out at the expanse of land. The trees at home never looked this beautiful…
"You know what time of year it is, Finnick?"
"Hm?" he murmured, looking at her and sighing quietly when she raised her brows at him. "Yeah, I'd almost forgotten. It's only the most important event in the Capitol...aside from the Games."
"What?" Rini asked, furrowing her brow and looking at him.
"Our dear President's birthday celebration," Johanna answered before he could. "Every year, all the victors, amongst other elite Capitol people, are invited to his mansion for an evening of merriment and festivities." She snorted and shook her head, picking at a piece of bark. "No doubt there will be many people we know there, as well as your friend Seneca Crane." She watched Renata without blinking, looking for some sort of reaction. "I've been his toy before, and he's not so bad."
Renata looked up at her with anger, swallowing a lump in her throat. "You don't-"
"Don't you say that I have no idea what it is like," she interrupted her with a snarl. "I don't pity you. You've had your innocence or whatever stolen, but so have I. We all have. You don't know the things I've seen and what has been done to me."
"Johanna," Finnick shook his head.
"Stay out of this, Finnick. You've had it worse than her, too. You should be grateful that he's spending so much money to keep you to himself. There is only him, and no others. Don't you ever come to me for pity."
Renata held Johanna's gaze before she nodded and looked away, her cheeks turning red with embarrassment. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I'm sorry for both of you. I don't really have room to complain…" She hadn't exactly thought about how different her situation was from Finnick and Johanna's. Maybe she should be grateful to Seneca… But when she thought about his hands on her, her stomach lurched. She felt Finnick's body slide next to hers and she looked up to his concerned face. She shrugged and gave him a small smile, not wanting to say anything to further anger anyone.
Once the sun had gone down, the three went back towards town and to where Johanna lived. There was still a bit of tension from the conflict earlier, and Renata kept quiet for the rest of the evening. She sat in front of a campfire pitched in the clearing behind Johanna's house and waited for Finnick to come join her.
"Hungry?" Finnick asked, sitting beside Rini and handing her a bowl of food. "You okay?"
She nodded and began eating slowly, staring into the fire. "Just thinking about what Johanna said earlier."
He pursed his lips and finished swallowing, setting his food down. "You didn't have to apologize; she flew off the handle-"
"No, she was right," she shook her head, looking at him. "It's my life now, right? I need to try and make the best of it…" she looked back into the fire, furrowing her eyebrows. "It's only my body…"
Finnick furrowed his brow, "Rini…"
"It's okay."
"I don't want to talk about this," he mumbled, looking down at his food and not feeling much like eating anymore. "That's great that you're okay with it, but I'm not."
She sighed and looked over at him, trying to get him to look at her. "Finnick…" She reached out and set her hand on his arm, smiling when he looked at her. "We'll be in the Capitol together this time. That's good, right?"
He looked into her eyes for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't think so. I won't be myself; I won't be able to be like this around you." He blinked as she moved his bowl of food away and crawled into his lap, and his eyes fluttered closed as she pressed a kiss to his lips. How could only a kiss render him nearly thoughtless? He murmured quietly and tilted her chin up to deepen the kiss, letting his hand fold through her hair. "And I don't want to see you with him."
She gently shushed him and rested her head on his chest, listening to the crackling of the fire and Finnick's heartbeat. "It won't be so bad. Soon enough we'll be back home, far away from them." The more she thought about it, she didn't want to see Finnick there either. Her arms slipped around his waist and she held him tightly.
Finnick swallowed back a reply and held Rini closer, as if she'd slip away if he didn't. He had only just gotten her back from the Capitol, he wasn't going to let them take her away again.
Well hello there, strangers! I'm so sorry for the delay, I was struggling to do this chapter, but I am pleased with it. Its some more lighthearted ness with a little stab of not so much towards the end...or something lol. Finnick thinks Rini has a soft butt o0o0oo0oh. So looks like Rini and Finnick are going to have to endure an outing in the Capitol together! With no kisses! Wahhh! Lol but that aside, I have a better feeling about the next chapter and will be working on it diligently! Thanks for reading and please please please pleeeeease let me know what your thoughts are on everything that has happened and what you think will happen in the future! :3
-Kelsey :3
