AFTERGLOW // finnick odair

three

Denial is a bliss.

A knock on her door startled Alivia's hand away. She'd been about to open it to go out herself, to meet Finnick of all things; only to find out that Finnick went out to find her instead.

"Good morning," he said with a smile.

She already felt her cheeks flush. God, it's not even eight in the morning, she thought. "Good morning. What are you doing here?"

"I brought breakfast." He pointed out, confused. "I told you we would meet in the morning?"

"No—Yes. I mean, you did. I just assumed—Do you want to come in?"

Alivia saved her breath, it was pointless trying to explain that when Finnick said "Let's meet up first thing in the morning," she expected to meet up at the training center.

Finnick hardly gave it a second thought as he walked into the house, trying to act as casual as he could. Now, Finnick wasn't nosy but he'd never seen the inside of Alivia's house and it thrilled him to finally do it. Not nosy, just curious.

By his side, Alivia didn't miss the way Finnick lingered ever so slightly in every little detail on her house; it made her feel self conscious. She didn't welcomed guests very often.

Even though the lack of—well—everything in her house suggested otherwise, Alivia didn't want to paint herself as some kind of outsider. She had friends like Mags and Tamara. And she definitely engaged in socializing when needed. The problem was that Alivia rarely thought it was needed.

Once in the kitchen, Alivia tried her best to start a conversation.

"Where is Mags?"

"I already walked her to the center. Apparently she is making it a habit."

"And you didn't have breakfast with her?"

"Not really. I don't enjoy eating that early in the morning. But, on my way back I bought some pastries. I thought of asking Mags which ones you fancied but I was setting myself up there cause she would've definitely asked for one. I just brought variety, feel free to help yourself. And if you're not in the mood I also brought some fresh fruit. And oh!" He gasped. "I almost forgot but I bought you something for the training."

Alivia's mouth slightly opened as out of the corner of her eye she managed to confirm that it was 7:30am indeed.

"Sounds like you had a busy morning."

He hummed in acknowledgement while Alivia focused on putting the kettle on, she figured it was the least she could do.

"What about you," he asked. "Did you had breakfast? It looked like you were already going out."

"I ate an apple." Finnick snorted.

With no sign more obvious than Alivia's oblivious frown, he understood she wasn't trying to make a joke.

"Oh, you are serious." She shrugged. "Do you usually eat like that? How do you get through the morning of training?"

"Well, you said it yourself, they are children. And we have lunch at twelve so it's not really a problem."

She slowly placed a cup in front of Finnick and the kettle right by his side. As she watched Finnick drop three sugar cubes into his tea, another question slipped her mind. If she'd been attentive she would've listened Finnick's commentary about eating better.