𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄 ‣ 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐫

vii. false god

act three, chapter seven – false god

The crashing of their impact echoes in her hollow frame, making shock and gratification reverberate in her brittle bones. The swarm of doctors and patients make space around like they are a piece of art that cannot be touched but only examined from a far. When Finnick and Fallon release each other, she burrows herself into his contours to feel whole again. Over his shoulder she sees another familiar face and gets the sense that she might shatter, that this is all too good to be true.

Aris, in a soldier's uniform, sprints towards her, looking like it's a mission to be achieved. When she slings her arms over his shoulders, it's slow and satiating, and he holds her like she always wished her father would. His arms, corded with muscle, wrap around her like a coil, trapping her in the safety of a cage she calls home. Aris's grip stiffles how she shakes violently and holds her steady. It's now apparent to her that she was crying intensely because, to her, their embrace signified the fulfillment of the promise she had made before the Quell.

Shortly after, he was swept away by a sea of guards to answer questions about Fallon with an admirable amount of dissent that caused multiple guards to physically tear him away from his sister. With compassionate, regretful eyes, he leaves her and Finnick, who walk silently into an empty room, now filled with one soul and two bodies.

He moves her to a cot and she lowers herself onto his lap, her arms clenched tightly around his biceps and his tightly around her waist. Time passes strangely as he traces delicate circles over the veins running underneath her skin. She rests his head on his chest and lets its rhythmic beat lull her into a sedated state.

Silence breaks when Fallon whispers into him. "I'm sorry."

Finnick gently props her chin up with his two fingers and looks down at her with sympathetic and adamant eyes. "You have no reason to be." Temperate breath brushes against her face, sending a cool air over the moistened skin where tears had begun to dry.

"I should've gone to you earlier." To her it felt like something both of them could see but ignored out of courtesy. Shame lingered and she felt desperate to rid herself of the things that she related to the Capitol, and this was near the top of her list.

He cups the back of her head and encompasses her smaller frame with his warmth. "Johanna told me. You did what was right and you're here now. That's all that matters."

The pump of his pulse, the depth of his features. It seems too good to be true. Tentatively, he repeats soothing, poetic epithets in her ear but she can't decipher what they say exactly. It's like an angelic language that is foreign to her but she understands that this was a blessing that was divinely sent to her.

Alert, Finnick straightens when the door opens, defensively concealing Fallon with himself. It's just a guard, which allows Fallon to let out the breath she held.