Finnick Odair was sitting by himself in the dining hall when he noticed Johanna walking side by side with Katniss. They were obviously arguing over something, but Finnick couldn't hear what they were bickering about. Johanna's eyes darted around the room before she made eye contact with Finnick. He cheerfully waved and motioned for them to sit with him. The two finished grabbing their trays and headed over to the two empty seats across from Finnick.

"Fucking hell, Jo, can we just forget it?" Katniss asked exasperatedly.

"Fine by me," Johanna muttered, setting her tray down with more force than necessary.

Finnick's eyes flickered between the two of them as he playfully asked, "Trouble in paradise?"

Johanna and Katniss simultaneously barked, "Fuck off." They briefly glanced at each other for a few moments before Katniss broke down and chuckled to herself. "How's Annie?"

Finnick replied, "She's fine, just tired a lot lately. She rarely leaves the room." He smiled and his eyes crinkled at the corners. Katniss could see his love for Annie in his eyes…even the mere mention of her name left him beaming. Finnick chewed his food thoughtfully before his eyes widened. He swallowed quickly and announced, "I had the weirdest dream last night! You'll never guess who was in it, Jo."

Johanna looked at him warily and asked, "Who?"

He grinned wickedly and said, "Jaelyn O'Hare," his eyes twinkled mischievously as Johanna's eyes narrowed to slits. Katniss looked between the two of them before asking, "Who's that?"

Finnick looked pointedly at Johanna as she spluttered, "No one."

Katniss tentatively laughed before saying, "No, no, that's bullshit. C'mon who is she?"

Johanna set down her fork and glared at Finnick once more before admitting, "Just…a girl from a long time ago…I almost forgot about her actually." Finnick shook his head and faced Katniss before adding, "She was the one that got away…"in a singsong voice. Johanna retorted, "She did not get away, Fin, I decided to let her go."

Finnick laughed and exclaimed, "Bullshit! You played your game and it drove you crazy when she wanted nothing to do with you!"

Katniss expectantly looked back and forth between the two as her eyebrows came together in confusion. Johanna scowled at Finnick before offering an explanation. "You see, years ago we had to go to these ridiculous parties in the capitol a few times a year. So after being miserable for the first few years, we decided to make the parties into a game. We both had a 'target' that the other got to pick. First one to seduce their target won the game…" her voice trailed off as she let Katniss fill in the blanks herself. Finnick snorted and added, "Johanna won every damn year until Jaelyn…"

Katniss felt her curiosity rising as she asked, "You tried to seduce girls?"

Johanna laughed once before confidently remarking, "I didn't try, Brainless, I succeeded."

Finnick interrupted, "Except for Jaelyn."

Johanna set her fork down gently before replying, "You know, every other year I succeeded in seducing a girl faster than you could, okay? Does that say something?" Her voice was dangerously calm as she stared at Finnick who stared back in amusement.

Katniss coughed into her water glass and quietly asked, "So...I'm assuming Jaelyn shut you down?"

Finnick laughed out loud and chimed in, "Jaelyn was the only person to resist Jo…I've never seen anyone so disinterested!" His eyes gleamed as Johanna defiantly added, "She wasn't disinterested, I could've gotten her if I had actually been trying." Her eyes were bold as they stared directly at Finnick.

Katniss shook her head in amusement as she said, "I never took you for a womanizer, Jo."

Finnick said, "She was unstoppable, I'll tell you. It didn't matter who the target it was—man or woman—everyone was attracted to her. I don't know if it was because they were scared of her or in awe of her…"

Johanna smirked and cockily added, "Hopefully both." She pushed her tray away from her and rested her elbows on the table. She continued, "But Jaelyn was…I don't know…different I guess."

Finnick jested, "Oh just admit it, she was the one thing you couldn't have and that drove you crazy."

Johanna huffed and repeated, "I could have had her if I had actually tried!" She sounded exasperated as she stubbornly argued. She almost never lost and when she did she was too pigheaded to let it go.

Katniss looked between the two of them for a few seconds before mumbling, "Well at least you're not bitter…" She looked up and grinned at Finnick.

Finnick threw his head back and laughed loud enough for the entire dining hall to hear. Johanna lunged across the table and punched him square in the shoulder before folding her arms in front of her and grumbling, "Having fun now? Are we done making fun of me?"

Katniss teasingly leaned against Johanna's shoulder and laughed, "Oh come on Jo, I'm just messing around, you know I love you."

Finnick smirked at the two of them and pushed his tray away from him. Katniss noticed the gleam in Finnick's eyes as he watched the pair of them. She felt her face flush and pulled away from Johanna's shoulder before averting her eyes to her tray. The table fell into silence for a few minutes before Katniss asked, "So how was your day, Fin?"

He chuckled and wiped the corner of his mouth before replying, "Fine I suppose…though it's much better since the happy couple decided to have dinner with me tonight."

Johanna's eyes narrowed as she stared at Finnick. He smirked with amusement as Katniss froze with her fork hovering over her plate. Katniss's eyes never left her plate as she swallowed her last bite. Finnick risked a glance at Johanna and thanked his lucky stars that axes weren't permitted out of the weapon facility. The table fell into awkward silence for a few moments before Finnick mumbled, "I was only joking, you know." Katniss kept her eyes glued to her tray and Johanna almost unperceptively shook her head before smirking at Finnick. Her eyes turned playful as she mouthed, "You fucker."

Finnick snorted into his water glass and tried his best to suppress his laughter. He wiped his mouth before continuing, "It was a joke…of course everyone knows that you and Gale are a couple…"

Katniss's voice went up an octave as she defensively snapped, "Gale and I are not a couple!" She continued to glare at Finnick.

He instantly faked a look of shock and replied, "Oh, well my mistake then."

"Yeah, your fucking mistake. It seems to be everyone's fucking mistake lately," Katniss stated, "We're not like that. Gale is—I don't know—he's like my brother." She stabbed her food rather aggressively and glared between Finnick and Johanna who both had turned to face her. Finnick's eyes flicked to Johanna so quickly that Katniss couldn't even be sure that he had looked away. Johanna looked down to her plate and mumbled, "Well we know that Katniss, does he?"

Katniss's eyebrows came together as she replied, "Why wouldn't he? We've been friends for as long as I can remember. He knows it's not like that for me."

Finnick began to move his food around his plate with his fork and said quietly, "Well he's certainly making it seem like you two are a couple."

Katniss shot her eyes to Finnick before asking, "Excuse me?" through her gritted teeth.

Finnick now looked uncomfortable and shifted slightly in his chair. He rubbed his hand along his jaw and brought his voice even quieter than before as he replied, "Well there's been…talk lately. He's been telling people that it's only a matter of time for you two." Finnick took a deep breath and looked around before whispering, "He said he's giving you time to grieve for Peeta and once you were better you'd come to your senses and come back to him."

Johanna brought her head up suddenly and looked at Finnick. She had always known about the rumors that Gale still had feelings for Katniss, but she didn't know that he would be so brazen to tell people that it was only a matter of time for them. She glanced over at Katniss who was now visibly glowing with anger. Her cheeks were flushed and her teeth remained clenched as she pushed her chair back and scooped her tray off the table. Johanna and Finnick both moved to stand up when Katniss snapped, "You two stay. I have to go." She angrily brushed her hair behind her ear, turned on her heel, and strode away from the table.

Johanna watched Katniss walk out of the dining hall and then turned to face Finnick who wore a matching look of concern. "Well fuck," he sighed.

"Seriously, Fin?" Johanna snapped, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I didn't know she would get so upset! I was joking…we all were joking around!" Finnick argued.

"Well you're a fucking idiot if you honestly thought she wouldn't get upset."

"How the hell was I supposed to know?" Finnick protested.

Johanna scoffed, "Oh I don't know, by using your goddamn common sense?" She abruptly snatched her tray off the table and moved to stand up as she said, "Honestly Fin…" Her voice trailed off for a few moments before she continued, "She's probably going to go confront Gale now and she's going get even more pissed and I'm the one who's going to have to deal with her when she comes back raving like a fucking lunatic." Johanna slammed her chair into the table and turned away from Finnick. She had almost reached the threshold when she heard Finnick bellow, "Are you mad at me or are you mad at the fact that she still thinks about him?" Johanna froze in her tracks and whipped her head in his direction. She could feel her anger radiating as she stormed out of the dining hall.

Once she was able to clear her head she realized there was nowhere else for her to go except her room. She threw the door open and found herself in an empty room. Johanna reached under the mattress and grabbed the small knife she kept hidden. She gripped it tightly in her hand as she hurled a throw pillow to the floor. Kneeling down, she began to repeatedly stab the pillow, growling obscenities into the empty room with each swing of her knife. Feathers began to drift around her as her movements gradually became less violent. She slumped against the wall and let the small blade fall from her hand. Johanna rubbed the heels of her hands into her eye sockets as she tried to erase the emotions filling her head. She felt the tears welling in her eyes when she realized that she hopelessly cared far too much for the girl on fire.

. . . .