Chapter 2
"Wake up." Finnick hears and gets a hard shaking on his shoulder.
Finnick rolls over and sees Remus.
"What?" Finnick asks lazily.
"You need to see Snow in two hours and considering the destination of his house and Capitol traffic, we need to leave in twenty minutes" Remus says.
"Relax Remus he won't mind if I'm late." Finnick mumbles and rolls over.
"Yes, he will." Remus says and pushes him out of bed.
"Oh, right Snow will just be mad at you." Finnick says and stretches.
"Take a shower, you smell." Remus says and drags him to the bathroom.
Finnick knows Snow doesn't care what he looks like when he sees him, even if there are other elite people around. However, Remus might get a stern talking to or abuse if Finnick shows up looking terrible.
Finnick takes a quick shower and gets dressed in the clothes Remus laid out for him. They're his Capitol attire but Finnick would never wear this combination; bright yellow pants and a tight purple shirt.
He walks out to the kitchen and sees Remus is starting to make breakfast.
"Good you look nice. I made you breakfast." Remus says holding out a bag "You can eat on the way to his house." Remus says and leads them out the waiting car.
"Eating in the car, that's surprising." Finnick says because they don't like when he takes his jacket off.
"Just eat in silence." Remus says.
Finnick eats the egg white sandwich Remus made for him, which is dry and has that spice in it Finnick doesn't like but he doesn't complain.
"You should've put on makeup to cover those circles under your eyes." Remus says.
"Like I said, he doesn't care what I look like. I just have to visit him and he will tell me what the clients thought of me. If it's not what he wanted to hear then I'll get a lecture and a threat, if it is then I'll get a 'See you next time Mr. Odair'. He might bring up the Hunger Games because it's getting close but I doubt it" Finnick says and finishes the egg sandwich.
"Well I do care what you look like." Remus says.
"You're just worried Snow will get mad at you." Finnick says as the car slows.
They open the doors to get out of the car.
"Remember your manners." Remus says.
Finnick's never seen Remus so nervous and uptight. He usually has a very relaxed manner but Snow scares him and Remus should fear Snow. Snow holds a lot of power and the people who work closely to him end up dying mysteriously too often.
"Hello Thelonious." Finnick says to the guy who always guards the gate. Thelonious pulls out the schedule. "You're early." He says surprised.
"I had a babysitter with me." Finnick mumbles and nods his head towards Remus.
Thelonious gives the signal to open the gates "You'll need to wait in his office by yourself." He says.
"That's fine." Finnick says.
"Just don't touch anything." Thelonious says.
"Please, I know better than that." Finnick says and walks down the familiar halls of Snow's mansion and ends up in the office he always meets him in. He sits in the chair across from his desk and stares at the clock on the wall. Snow is a very punctual man so Finnick knows he will be here in exactly nine minutes.
Finnick looks around the room, he isn't stupid enough to go snooping in Snow's stuff but is curious. Finnick always wonders what the hard leather bound books hold. Finnick notices one with strange symbols probably in another language, which makes Finnick wonder how old it is because the only language spoken now is English. There are different races, but their original tongue died out when Panem was created.
"The Art of War." Finnick hears President Snow's voice as he enters the room.
"Sorry?" Finnick asks confused.
"The book you were looking at, it's the Art of War a very old book written in Chinese. Having a translator is always difficult, but you can find the right people always." He says and stands in front of his desk. "You should stand for your President." Snow says and sits down in the desk chair.
"I apologize for my rude manners sir." Finnick says.
"Well, I'm usually in the room so you don't know that." Snow says and neats a stack of papers. "Your outfit is clearly not your own." Snow says with a smile.
Ah yes Snow still acts like a good friend when he's around Finnick even though he is threatening the very small amount of things he still cares about in his life.
"Yeah, Remus thought I should look nice." Finnick says and looks at the picture on the wall which is of Snow and his granddaughter.
"Well that's nice." Snow says and rubs his lips together. "Finnick all is the same no complaints. However, in exactly one month I'm throwing an extravagant party that you will be attending."
"Alright, will there be a theme." Finnick asks because Capitol people love theme parties. The most disturbing to Finnick was when they had a Hunger Games theme party. It wasn't the people dressed in favorite tribute wear that got to him, it was the people who dressed as dead tributes. The fake blood makeup made it worse. It was all just a game to the party goers. Finnick doesn't know if it was originally called the Hunger Games to mock the Districts or if it's called the Hunger Games because these people actually enjoy watching it. In the end, there is only one winner so it is a game just a terrible one.
"No, but you and some of the other victors will be attending. You will be auctioned off for charity."
"Charity for what?" Finnick asks somewhat interested.
"The 70th Hunger Games, the budget for this year was underestimated. We need more money and this will be a quick way to get it." Snow says.
"Remus says the ten year anniversary games are always something." Finnick says.
"Yes, they are quite something but they all are." Snow says and writes something down. "A train is set to leave for Four in an hour. I suggest you make your way to the station." Snow says.
He's keeping it brief this time. He must be planning some ploy. Finnick thinks to himself.
"Yes sir, I'll see you in a month-"
"No, you won't but I'll be watching you." Snow says.
"Alright then." Finnick says.
"You're dismissed and have a nice day." Snow says.
Finnick leaves his mansion and goes to the train station to get the hell out of the Capitol and back to the sea breeze beaches of District Four.
Finnick walks the down the long path to the center of town. He still feels terrible, he doesn't like riding the trains. He can't tell if it's from motion sickness or something else. However, to make Finnick feel better he always goes to get ice cream once he comes back.
He sees the worn down sign of Sea Salt Creamery the place that sells the District Four famous sea salt ice cream.
Finnick walks through the door and hears a bell signal. He sees a teenage girl and boy at the counter. He looks at his fancy Capitol made watch to see it is three in the afternoon. He's surprise these two aren't at a swim club or a training academy.
"Welcome to Sea Salt, what can I get for you today?" The girl behind the counter asks. She has light brown hair up in a high pony. I can see tan lines from a bathing suit on her skin.
Sea Salt sells ice cream but they also have taffies, rock candy, and seaweed chips in various flavors.
"What do you want sir?" The girl asks again a little annoyed this time.
"Ice cream… a pint." He says.
The girl nods and the guy next to her goes to the back to get it.
"It will be right out." She says and looks at Finnick strangely.
"What?" He asks.
"You look like hell." She says.
"Sorry I can't always look pretty." Finnick says.
She smiles.
"You just look like you're on something and our victors are supposed to look the best. You know people think you're our best victor because you bring in the most attention." She says.
"You go to the school then?" Finnick asks her knowing that the people she is talking about are the trainers for the games. It's not like in One and Two you don't have to volunteer, it's more of a training to get ready if your name gets called. It's on a first come first serve lesson so it's free, but Four is a big District.
"My parents want me to because I'm useless, I hate it there though." She says. "Lena, did she go to the school?" She asks. Lena is the newest victor Four has. She won a few years ago and is now eighteen.
"No." Finnick says and she nods.
"Are you friends with her?" She asks.
"All of the victors in Four are close." Finnick says and is glad when he sees the guy come back out and sets the ice cream on the counter.
"That will be five gold coins." Annie says.
"Here." Finnick says and gives her a Capitol dollar
Annie sighs.
"That's okay, right?" Finnick asks because it is Capitol money, but he doesn't carry around the coins Four has when he travels to the Capitol.
"Yeah the peacekeepers use them all the time." She says and pulls out a sheet from under the register.
"What are you doing?" Finnick asks her.
"I don't know the exact change to give back to you. We have a chart made for Capitol to Four money."
"Just keep the change." Finnick says and picks up the bag with his pint of ice cream.
"Alright."
"Consider it a tip that way you can keep it for yourself." Finnick says with a smile. He knows the ice cream place can't be paying them that much and he has more money than he needs.
"Okay." She says and looks back down at the chart. It's generous tip as well. Capitol money has the highest value. It isn't supposed to be used in the districts but peacekeepers always have them.
"Have a good day Finnick." the girl says.
"You just talked to Finnick Odair, Annie." The guy says.
"Whoop de freakin doo." Annie says sarcastically. She doesn't care about who the victors are.
Finnick smirks. He always likes hearing someone say that about him. It makes him realize that not everyonr views him as a sexual object.
Annie finds him attractive but she isn't going to throw herself at him she isn't the biggest fan of the Hunger Games.
"Finnick, good you're back." Lena says as soon as Finnick steps foot in victors' village.
"Yeah, hi." Finnick says tired.
"You got ice cream." She says happily.
"Yeah, you want some?" Finnick asks her and she nods.
He doesn't really want the company but Lena is nice enough and he feels obligated to see her because she is the newest victor and she didn't volunteer.
They eat the ice cream and talk it is all going nice until Lena tries to kiss Finnick. Although, Finnick isn't very surprised because It seems like he always has to tell her this she. He doesn't want her kisses or inappropriate touches, but whenever they hang out she always seems to make an advance on him.
"Lena stop." Finnick says.
"I just… I really like you Finnick." He hears her say.
"I know you do, but I don't like you like that." Finnick says.
"You will one day." Lena says and ends up getting in a kiss on the cheek before she leaves his house.
"No I won't." Finnick says when she is gone. He falls back on the couch.
Finnick looks up at the ceiling. He can still see the stain when his sister was playing around with the fancy appliances. She never used a blender before so she didn't put on the top. Finnick and her tried to clean it up, but the ceilings are really high which made it very difficult. It's proof that this house has been lived in and that some nice memories have been made.
Normally Finnick would go onto the back porch to watch the sunset with Mags but he doesn't want to today. He just wants to stay inside his house and be alone. He would rather be on his sailboat to sleep in because there is a nice view of the stars. You can't see the stars in the Capitol because the lights from the buildings block them out, but in District Four the sky is almost always crystal clear. You can see many stars and consultations that Finnick doesn't know the names of, but he does know he loves looking at those stars.