Heyy guys. So I had a giganticus writer's block. I APOLOGIZe for the IncOnVeNIeNCE (Quote Senior Lobster Bisque).
The video at the top is the Simpson's Hunger Games. It is absolutely hilarious. If you want to watch the whole episode, it's season 28, episode 4
I smiled at Britt as she exited the house across the street diagonally from mine, three lions at her feet. Seneca Crane had come to an agreement with her, concerning the lion mutts. There were nine remaining. Most of them would be released into the wilds, but three of them underwent a procedure where the Capitol scientists altered them, making them much, much smaller, so they were each the size of a large dog. Britt was not informed of this until after it happened. She would never allow such cruelty to be done to her lions. She would have simply set them all free. But, as it was, she kept all three mutts. Winston, Autumn, and Merlot.
Britt crossed the street after retrieving the newspaper that sat on her front porch.
"How are you, Britt?" I asked her once she made her way over.
She shrugged. "How are any of us, really?"
I grinned. "That's the proper response.
It was the day of the Victory Tour. This would be my first time going on a Victory Tour since my own, three years ago. I was elated to see Katniss again. She was my closest friend. No one else understood me like she did. "Train leaves in an hour," I said. Britt nodded, the smile slipping off her face.
"It'll be fine," I said. "Nothing's going to happen. No one will go anywhere near you when you have three lions circling your feet,"
Britt tried to smile, but it clearly didn't work. "That's not what I'm nervous about,"
"Then what is it?" I asked her. She looked down. "I'm your mentor, Britt. If you can't tell me, then who can you tell?"
"I don't even know." She said. "I can't put it into words. I think I'm just nervous about the whole thing in general."
I smiled. "That makes sense. We all were. Now, I don't mean to cut this short, but I still need to pack."
"Don't they provide all the clothes for you?"
"Yeah. But believe me when I say, no matter how comfortable the clothes on the train are, they can't beat my old, pilly sweats."
I reentered my house and breathed a sigh of relief. President Snow hadn't paid her a visit. If he didn't do it today, he probably wouldn't do it at all. Or at least for a few more years. Britt was pretty, but she wasn't nearly as drop dead gorgeous as, say, Cashmere. Most of the Victors never had to participate in my occupation. Just the special ones. Which is why I was so worried about Katniss. Over the next year or so, President Snow would probably make the proposition to her.
I grabbed a bag out of my closet and began filling it with things to last me the next thirteen days on the train. Several pairs of sweatpants, some comfortable t shirts, a tin full of sugar cubes, an old, frayed rope that my Capitol psychiatrist gave to me, my pillow (which I can't sleep without), and a framed picture that sat on my nightstand. It was a picture of my family: Caspian, Solomon, Vann, my mother, Dell, Annie, and me, all standing on the beach. In the corner of the frame, I put a small picture of Katniss, Cashmere, Gloss, and me, standing arm and arm with each other. I had cut it out of a newspaper about a month ago. It was an article about the Victors. A "Where Are They Now" sort of thing. I checked the time, which told me we had about a half an hour. The cameras were probably here already, filming Britt's appearance. I peaked out my window, and sure enough, there was Britt, standing in front of a camera crew, all dolled up. I could see our stylist, Adonia, standing in the doorway of her house, along with our prep teams, and our escort, an absurd man named Cicero. I jogged down the stairs and exited my house through the back door, which stepped right out onto the beach. I walked all the way around the Village, and through town to get to the train station, where the train was waiting for me, the mentor of the 68th Hunger Games.
"Mr. Odair," a Capitol attendant nodded towards me. I nodded back at him and found my way into my suite. I set my bag on my bed, then re-entered the dining car, where I would wait for Britt, Cicero, Adonia, and the prep teams.
Cicero entered first, which I suppose was protocol, but he was the person I was least excited to see. Adonia was next, and I was very surprised that she was still around, given her rebellious actions two years ago. But she had kept a low profile with Britt and her district partner, and Snow decided to spare her, I guess. I gave her a hug as she entered.
"I've missed you, darling," she cooed as she hugged me back. This is what I mean. My stylist and prep team have worked with me for so long that they still saw me as the little boy I was when I was first reaped. Not as the sex symbol I had become over the past year.
Adonia was still decked out in her pale lavender. Titania stood behind her, dressed in a darker shade of purple. I flashed a smile at her. The last one to enter the train was Britt, who let out a sigh of relief once she stepped onto the train. Cicero giggled.
Cicero was the only one on the District 4 team who made me uncomfortable. Britt was his first District 4 tribute, as he was the District 6 escort before he was recently promoted to our district. He clearly had a thing for me and was constantly attempting to flirt. I had made it very clear to him that I was straight, and therefore only interested in women, but that didn't seem to bother him. I also made it clear to him that even if I did have a thing for men, I would not be going anywhere near him.
"So we have thirteen days, which is one day for each district, plus the Capitol. We'll start with District 12 and count down from there, saving District 4 until the end. Of course at each stop you'll make speeches and have to listen to the mayors speak, but it's mostly just parties, feasts, and celebrations. So enjoy it, Victor. You've earned it."
"No I didn't," Britt spat out. I remember saying the same thing when I won the games, so I laid a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down before things escalated. Our previous escort was much more forgiving than Cicero. "I killed innocent children. I murdered them in cold blood. I-"
"That's enough, Britt," I said. She turned her glare towards me.
"I thought you at least would understand," she sounded hurt.
I stood up, and Britt stood up at the same time, taking my actions to be threatening. "If you'll excuse us," I nodded toward the Capitolites, and they graciously accepted it.
I led Britt into the next car over, which was the television car. She sat down, but I remained standing.
"You can't say things like that," I said. "It's not fair to them. As much as I hate Cicero, he doesn't know any better. He's been brainwashed to think the Hunger Games are alright, and yes, we can change that about him, but we need to be gentler."
"It's not fair to me that I should have to deal with his ignorance," she retorted. I sighed.
"Welcome to the life of a Victor. From this point on, everything you do will be to please people. You will be expected to keep up the charade that you formed during the games. Luckily for you, you just decided to be yourself. But people like me? I have to be sexy and gross to everyone I meet. Katniss always has to be an innocent little girl. Enobaria will always be a ruthless killing machine. You will never get off this train. You're here for life. If I were you, I'd start thanking God, Buddha, or whatever you believe in that you were friendly enough that I didn't have to tweak your image too much."
Britt looked shocked, and I didn't blame her. It really is a terrible sentiment.
"I'll do whatever I can to make it easier for you. I'm not just here to send you gifts in the Hunger Games. I'm your mentor for the rest of your life, just as Mags is mine."
Britt swallowed hard, and I watched her throat tense and relax. She had tears shining in her eyes. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close to me. While sitting down, her head reached just about where my hip was. She leaned her head against me, tears flowing freely down her face.
"Why didn't anyone warn me before I volunteered?" She asked.
"We aren't allowed to," I answered. She didn't respond, but just sat there in silence for a few minutes. Right around lunch time, I patted her back letting her know we needed to start cleaning up our appearances, so we can look somewhat like ourselves during dinner.
"Finnick?" Britt said as she stood up. "Stop being such a dad."
I laughed. "Who's dad am I?"
"Mine. Augustus from District 1. I'd even go as far as to say Cashmere and Gloss, too."
"Not Katniss, though?" I asked.
"Katniss is our mom,"
"What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded
She laughed and left the room, leaving my question unanswered.
…
"Finnick, wake up!" I heard a voice hiss through the door. It was Titania, who I had asked to wake me up instead of Cicero. I rolled out of bed, and I could hear Cicero waking up the other occupants of the train. I pulled on a t- shirt and sweatpants, and brushed my teeth. I didn't bother combing my hair or anything. The prep team would take care of that. By three o' clock this afternoon, we would be in District 12. I would see Katniss around six, when the feast would take place, for the mayor and his family, Britt's party, and the District 12 Victors. Today was the only part of the Victory Tour I was actually looking forward to. District 12 is the furthest district from mine, so we had all of yesterday and most of today to get there.
I sat down at the breakfast table, one car over. Cicero was already there, as was most of my prep team and Adonia. Britt was missing, as was her prep team.
"It looks like we'll be in District 12 earlier than we planned," Cicero said. "We should get there by noon, giving us almost the whole day to spend there. Then we'll have dinner at six, as planned, Britt will make her speech when we get there, and you can have all afternoon to do as you please."
I nodded, trying to keep my expression passive as I shoveled a waffle into my mouth. As soon as I finished, Titania, Nyx, and Pertruchio dragged me into my bedroom to get me ready for my first appearance on camera in six months. When they were done it was already eleven, giving Adonia just an hour to finish me up. She had just finished with Britt so she had the rest of the hour to work on me. I was surprised to see that my shirt covered my entire torso, which was extremely unusual. The tan pants were as tight as always, but the shirt was an actual sweater this time. It was white, which was a terrible choice in the district that mines coal. There was coal dust literally everywhere. It would stain the sweater, but I digress.
"District 12 should be covered in snow this time of year," Adonia explained. "I'd rather you be warm than sexy. And in this, you can do both."
"Oh. Thanks, I guess," I said. She grinned, understanding exactly how I felt.
…
The train pulled into the stop, and we were escorted to the Justice Building by a handful of peacekeepers. Once inside, Cicero, Adonia and I watched as Britt made her speech through the live broadcast, played only to us and a few high up people in the Capitol, since she gave the same speech in every district, and it was required viewing.
The speech ran smoothly, and I was grateful she didn't change what was written on the cards as some victors tried to do. As soon as she was escorted back inside, we received instructions from Cicero that we had until five to be back at the Justice Building. I practically ran outside and to the Victor's Village. It took me a second to figure out which house was Katniss's but I deduced it wasn't the first one, because it looked empty, and the second one was definitely Haymitch's, because it looked trashy, so that left me with the third one, which looked very well loved and taken care of.
I skipped over the three steps and stepped right up onto the porch, and knocked on the door. The house looked pretty much the same as mine, except in a more District 12 style.
A woman who looked to be in her mid thirties opened the door. She looked nothing like Katniss, so for a minute I was worried that I had guessed incorrectly.
"Finnick Odair," The woman recognised me right away.
I smiled. "Yes ma'am. Forgive me, I was just in search of a friend of mine."
"Katniss?" She guessed. I nodded. "That's my daughter. She's upstairs. Why don't you come in while I go get her."
I walked in the door and a small blonde girl walked up to me. "Prim?" I guessed. She grinned widely.
"How did you know?" I noticed she was missing two of her teeth.
"You look just as lovely as you sound." She flung her skinny arms around me.
"I keep begging Katniss to let me meet you, but she keeps telling me it's impossible."
"Apparently not, because here I am." I said. She pulled away and stared up at me. I heard footsteps on the stairs and looked up to see Katniss running down them.
"Finnick!" she exclaimed. I grinned. She skipped the last stair. I hugged her tightly when she reached me. I was surprised that our friendship was still going strong. We only saw each other once a year, and sure, we spoke on the phone often enough but that's not usually not enough to sustain a friendship. I guess we just really had a bond.
"How long will you be here?" she asked as she led me outside.
"Just until tonight. We have dinner with the mayor, then we leave right after."
Katniss looked disappointed. "I was hoping you would get to stay longer."
"Me too. Now where should we spend the day?" I asked. She pointed up the road.
"I want to show you the Seam," she said.
"What's that?"
"It's where the coal miners live. It's the poorer area of District 12. I used to live there. I want to show you my house and the Hob, and if we have time, the woods."
"We have four hours," I reminded her. She nodded and pulled me into a run.
After about ten minutes, I noticed she was beginning to breathe hard. "I'm not used to long distance running," She explained between gasps. I was the opposite. I was made for the long distance.
"We should stop," I said. "We can take our time,"
She shook her head. "Every minute counts."
"How far is it?" I asked. As we ran, I noticed District 12 got more and more dilapidated. We were entering the poor section.
When you first enter the district, it's all shiny and clean. Well, as shiny and clean as the poorest district in Panem can be. There was Victor's Village, and the Mayor's house, and the Justice Building. Then further away there was the town square, where there were shops like the bakery and the seamstress and the butcher. These were filled to the brim with blue eyed blond children. Even though there was no way they were all related, they looked like they could all be siblings.
Now, we were entering an area where there were little to no shops. All the houses were small and in need of repair. And the people here frightened me at first. They, like the townspeople, looked like they were all related somehow. They all had dark hair, dark eyes, and olive skin. They were all incredibly skinny, save a few who had decent muscles. They all looked like they wanted to spit on me or rip my head off. I was prepared for someone to jump us any moment, but Katniss nodded politely at all of them, and they all seemed to know her well.
"We're in the Seam now," Katniss said, slowing down.
"You look just like these people," I said. "Right down to the I'm-gonna-kill-that-boy glare."
She rolled her eyes. "I think we're all loosely related," She explained. "Way back, I guess. Probably before Panem even existed. And District 12 is a small enough district that eventually we'll all marry into each other's families, I guess."
I nodded. That was probably true. She led me to the end of a small path, where a house identical to the others stood.
"This is my father's house," she explained. "I lived here until I was twelve, and I would move right back in in a heartbeat."
"So why don't you?" I asked her.
"My mother doesn't want me living here by myself, and she won't move in with me. It's not like I can't take care of myself or anything. I was in the Hunger Games. I survived on my own for over a month."
"My family is the same way," I told her. "Most Victor's families are like that. They can't understand that we're different now, so they'll just keep on treating us the same way they did before,"
Katniss nodded, taking in my words as she opened the front door. A cat hissed at us from the shadows, and my hand immediately flew to my side for a knife. There was nothing there. Katniss didn't seem at all alarmed by the cat and merely rolled her eyes. "Shut up," she commanded it.
"That's Prim's cat, Buttercup. She doesn't like the new house either, so she stays here. That's the only thing we have in common."
The house was small. Just two rooms. A larger room with a small hearth for cooking and warmth, a large table, and a shelf over the mantle. She led me into the second, much smaller room. It had two cots in it, as well as a large barrel which I assumed was a tub, and that was it.
"That one was my parents'," she gestured to the one on the left. "This one was the one I shared with Prim."
"It's so cold in here," I said. I could see my breath in front of my face. "How did you-"
"We would drag the mattresses out by the fire on the colder nights." She led me back into the bigger room. "That table was where my mother would lay her patients."
I didn't know that Katniss's mom ran the apothecary at the time, so I said "Patience?"
"Patients. P-A-T…" she trailed off. "P-A-T-E-N… P-A-T-I-A…" Sometimes it's hard to remember Katniss only has a sixth grade education, until moments like this. "People she was taking care of. She runs the apothecary."
I laughed. "That makes more sense."
Katniss shook her head. She pointed to the shelf. "We kept spices up there, as well as her herbs and medicines to treat patients. Also cooking gear. It's all in here now,"
There was a plastic tub on the floor, waterproof. Katniss opened the lid. Inside was a cast iron pan, and cast iron pot, similar to a dutch oven. There was a ladle and a wooden spoon, as well as a knife, too.
"You didn't have any plates or silverware or anything?" I asked.
"No, we had a set of china plates, and some real silver forks and knives and spoons. My mother inherited them. They've been passed down for generations. We took them with us to the new house."
"Oh," I said. I guess that was a bit of a stupid question.
Katniss then opened a small closet that I missed before and pulled out a bag made of some sort of skin. "This was my father's game bag. I use it now. When I hunt." She slung it over her shoulder, and pulled some jerky out of her coat pocket and unwrapped it.
"Buttercup," She called softly. There was a hiss in reply. Katniss sighed and set the jerky on the ground. "She'll come for it once we leave. She doesn't want to reveal that she's totally dependent on me."
We walked back outside, and we didn't talk much, just enjoying each other's company. We finally found ourselves at an old abandoned warehouse.
"They used to store coal in here," Katniss explained, opening a door. "Now it's the Hob,"
"What's the Hob?" I asked.
"The blackmarket. It's where my father used to sell game, and where Gale and I sell game. These people were all good friends of my father, and they took me in once he died." She said simply.
We first stopped at a long bar-type table, where several other people sat, enjoying food.
"Two bowls," Katniss said to the old woman making the stew. She slapped down a few coins on the counter.
The woman counted them up. "You're over again, Katniss," she said.
"No I'm not," Katniss protested. "I paid exactly as much as you deserve."
"Stop trying to give me your money," the old woman said, fighting a smile from creeping onto her face.
"It's your money," Katniss argued. "You deserve it, and I refuse to take it back."
The woman sighed and pocketed it. She ladeled out two bowls and set it down in front of us. "Who's the boy?"
"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you, Sae," Katniss said with a smile
The woman, Sae, raised an eyebrow. "Try me."
"This is Finnick Odair," Katniss said, lowering her voice. The person sitting next to me, an older man, spat onto the ground by my feet, but I was just thankful he didn't spit at me. Katniss stood up, and was right up against him in a second. "Watch it, Tam. He's my guest and you will be nice to him, or I Gale and I won't sell to you for a year. Or more."
The man sneered, but said nothing.
"You look just as pretty as you do on television," Sae commented, once Katniss and Tam settled their dispute. "You're a lot more polite, though."
"What do you mean?" I asked, taking a bite of stew. It was delicious.
"You don't look as if you're trying to seduce anyo-"
"Greasy Sae!" Katniss protested, mortified.
"This is wonderful stew," I said, taking another bite and ignoring what she said. "What's in it?"
"Wild dog, mostly," Greasy Sae said. "I take whatever Katniss and that Hawthorne boy can sell me cheap."
"Amazing," I said between mouthfuls.
"Has Gale been taking care of you?" Katniss asked.
Greasy Sae shrugged. "Not as much as you once did, but I'm making ends meet."
Katniss looked sad. "I go hunting as much as I can, but it's hard these days."
"I understand, girl. Don't worry."
Katniss smiled and drained the last of her stew. We stood up and made our way to the next stall. She bought several bottles of liquor for Haymitch, stuffing them into her bag, that she planned to lend him in small amounts at a time. Then she moved on to another booth, where she talked to a butcher named Rooba.
"We're missing your deer," Rooba said.
Katniss smiled. "I might go out this afternoon. I have a stupid dinner tonight as part of the Victory Tour, but I still have a few hours."
"That's good. Gale Hawthorne never catches deer. He only really uses his snares, and most of them only catch small animals." Rooba said.
"Well that's where his specialty lies. I'm the marksman."
"That you are." Rooba went to pat her on the back, but then stopped when she realized her hands were covered in blood.
Katniss bumped into a peacekeeper accidentally, and my hand went to my nonexistent knife once more. This looked like trouble. We needed to get out. My hand found hers, and she squeezed it, sensing how tense I was.
"It's alright, Finnick."
The peacekeeper smiled widely. "Hello Katniss," He said. "No strawberries today?"
Katniss shook her head. "Not yet, Darius. We're heading out there now, to see what we can find."
Darius nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer. "I want the first pick." He nodded his head to me. "Mr. Odair," and he walked away without another word.
"He's not going to report the blackmarket?" I asked bewildered.
"Darius? No. A decent number of the peacekeepers spend their days off here. Even the head peacekeeper."
…
That night after dinner, I hugged Katniss tightly, wishing we had more time together.
"I'll see you in July," I promised. She nodded.
"That's for the Hunger Games," She sounded slightly upset. "I wish I could see you outside of that."
"Me too," I admitted. "But at least we're not going back in the Hunger Games."