10. City of Devils

"Ivory, are you sure I should be wearing…this?" Annie gestured at her outfit. Ivory nodded her head, "Oh yes, Miss Cresta, and you'll look great out there." Ivory was her stylist, she was a tall, exotic looking woman. She wore clothing that hugged her every curve. Her skin was a natural color, but she had tattooed designs circling her body. Ivory's hair was a dark purple, and it was flat, hanging in a loose braid almost to her knees.

She continued in her strange, high pitched accent, "You need to make an impression, not be mediocre." Annie sighed, not arguing. She knew Ivory was right.

Annie looked back in the mirror. The contraption she wore was made of seaweed. It wrapped around her neck, and then down to her breasts, then the seaweed made a short, tight skirt around her waist, and finally, it twisted around one leg.

It was hardly even an outfit, but Ivory used a special spray that held everything in place. Her hair was down and curly, and she wore the rope Finnick gave her around her wrist, refusing to take it off. Her high heels looked like they were made of seaweed too, but they were sturdy enough. "Are you ready?" Ivory asked. Annie took one more look in the mirror, wishing someone would have warned her that they were going for a 'sexy' approach. She didn't feel sexy. She felt ridiculous.

Annie sighed in relief as soon as she stepped into the hallway, seeing that Phoenix looked just as uncomfortable as she did in his own atrocious costume similar to hers.

Phoenix took her hand easily, leading her towards the entrance. Annie took deep breaths, trying not to think about the crowds that were just beyond the doors. Phoenix squeezed her hand, not saying a word.

She knew that she could trust him, and she remembered how he'd helped her into the Career pack, well, both of them. He did most of the talking, explaining that they would be joining them this year. Annie was quiet, but she made sure to look above it, bored and uninterested in them.

Annie could see Finnick standing across the room, talking to a few other Victors. She was worried about him. He was so tense, so focused. He barely slept, and spent most of his time talking to sponsors or studying the other tributes.

"He'll be okay, you know." Annie looked up at him, a small smile on her face, "Am I that obvious?"

"No," he answered. Finnick saw her then, and she had to look away when his eyes widened at the sight of her. She wasn't sure if she wanted to hang her head in embarrassment or laugh. Phoenix released her hand and sauntered off to talk to District One as Finnick came over.

"What has Ivory put you in?" He asked, incredulous. "I think I'm supposed to be going for sexy," Annie answered, looking down at herself. She was the same height as him in these heels.

"I wish someone had run that by me," he said, a nervous look coming to his eyes. "Why would they? You're supposed to keep me alive in there, not worry about how pretty I look before."

"I'm still your mentor. Everything you do affects your game." Annie raised her eyebrow, "I think this outfit will get me sponsors, not turn them away." Finnick looked away, not wanting to admit what he was thinking. He wasn't worrying about her getting sponsors; he'd have that handled no matter what. He was more concerned with what would happen to her after The Games, when she won. He knew better than anyone what happens to Victors who appeal to the Capitol. He looked her up and down again…and this was surely going to put her in the same position as him.

"I need to talk to Ivory." Finnick mumbled and then wandered off; not bothering her with a goodbye. Annie shook her head, what was wrong with him? It was like having her in the Capitol made him nervous. He didn't touch her in public; in fact, he made sure not to even accidentally touch her. Was he ashamed of her? Did he not want the Capitolites to know they were together? She sighed, seeing that District Two was going through the doors in their chariot. Annie's heart took off, in about ten minutes; she'd be out in front of all of them…wearing seaweed. "Oh god," she groaned to herself.

Phoenix appeared beside her again, "You look great." He said, smiling at her. "Really," she replied, "You think so? Because Finnick just ran off to talk to Ivory about how sexy doesn't work for me."

"I'm sure that's not what he's doing."

"He doesn't seem to think it's my angle." Phoenix shook his head, "look, don't worry about it right now." Annie laughed, "You're right. I should worry about all those people seeing me like this!" she panicked in a hushed tone.

"Annie," Phoenix took her by the shoulders, "Relax." Annie sighed, training her eyes on his. "Okay, I'm fine." she lied.

He released her, and went to take his seat in the chariot. Annie couldn't move her feet to follow him, she was frozen as District Three left. She could hear her own breath rising quickly, and the next thing she knew she was being dragged into a small, vacant hallway. "What are you doing! I have to be out there!"

Finnick kissed her before she could continue. He didn't release her until he felt her muscles relax beneath his hands. When they did, she twined her fingers into his hair. He hadn't even kissed her since she was reaped, he realized. That fact made it extremely hard to pull away, but he forced himself to. "Get out there, fish, you look amazing." He kissed her nose. Annie still didn't agree, but she felt calm enough to not care. Had she known that kissing Finnick was all she needed to do to feel tranquil; she would have been doing it since Capri called her name.

Finnick lifted her easy into the chariot as the doors open, and she folded her hands in her lap. Phoenix draped his arm over the seat, and smiled. Annie did too, and they both waved at the crowds. Annie pretended there weren't so many people; she focused her mind on home, instead. She thought about what her mother would be saying right now, watching her prance around the Capitol barely wearing any clothes. It made her smile bigger. She'd hate this. Her father was probably huffing and puffing about it. She could see Finnick's mother covering Kaye and Echo's eyes. That made her laugh, and she could see Phoenix eyeing her suspiciously. She gave her head a slight shake and continued to wave.

When their ride was over, they went back into the room they were in before, most of the tributes left right away, but the Careers stayed, claiming their fearlessness. Annie had been doing her best to not focus on the others' faces. She didn't want them to become familiar. "Well, that was fun," Egypt purred. She was the tribute from two, and like Annie, her game was sexy. To Annie's dismay though, she actually achieved it. The six of them hung around until all the other tributes were gone, and then they went to the elevators.

Finnick waited there for them, and Egypt seemed to like that quite a bit. "Well, Finnick Odair," she said lazily, "Were you waiting to come up to my room?" Finnick laughed, "No, just waiting for my tributes."

"Well you know, if you ever wanted to, you're welcome." Finnick hesitated, not sure if he should make a joke of it; not sure if she was joking. "That probably wouldn't be a good idea." He said, leading Annie and Phoenix to the elevator without giving her a glance. "Why not?" she droned.

Finnick didn't bother to answer; instead, he closed the door with the three of them inside. "Do they always talk to you like that?" Phoenix asked, "When you mentor I mean…the tributes?" Finnick shrugged, "Ones like that do; the ones who aren't worried about dying. There's one more tip for you two. Never get too confident. Don't underestimate your opponents. They will, so you need to be smarter."

None of them spoke the rest of the way up. Fortunately it was a short ride. Phoenix went off towards his bedroom with a wave over his shoulder. "Goodnight." Annie murmured.

Finnick walked her to her door like he'd been doing, but unlike the other nights, he hesitated in the doorframe, his arms crossed. "Are we talking now, like actual, genuine people do when they care about each other?"

He sighed, "Of course I care about you. I've only been so busy because I care about you so much…too much." Annie turned to face him, "you don't even touch me out there. You act like you could care less if I die or live."

"That's the person they expect, Annie. They expect a heartless, smug bastard who would rather stare at himself in a mirror than worry about any of this."

"Why are we getting any sponsors at all then?"

"Because," he hesitated, "the Finnick Odair that they know is a smug bastard who likes winning."

"What about the real one? Mine?"

"Well, he's sorry that he hasn't been there for you. But he loves you a lot, and wants to bring you home." Annie closed her eyes, "I'm sorry." She whispered. When she opened them, Finnick was dragging his hands over his face, leaning on the doorframe.

She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him, "I'm sorry," she repeated. He sighed, "Don't apologize. You have every right to feel any way you want."

"I feel," she whispered, bringing her face to his, "like I want you to stay with me tonight." Finnick sighed for the third time, "I can't." Annie frowned at him, "Why?"

"I need to go meet with more sponsors, get them locked in to support you." Annie rested her forehead on his, knowing she couldn't argue with it. "Are you getting Phoenix some too?" He nodded "Yes. Most of them agree that if you both survive the first day, they'll help you; both of you."

"Good." Finnick kissed her, "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" She nodded, "thank you, Finnick. I really appreciate all of this." He gave her a tired nod and turned to leave.