Ocean Waves - A Hunger Games Odesta AU FanFic

2 | Glassy Waters

Ψ • FINNICK • Ψ

The weather was relatively good today. The sky was clear and a beautiful cornflower blue, no clouds in sight at all. Radiant beams of sunlight shone down onto the Earth, making the world warm and cosy and bright.

The water surface was smooth and crystal clear, like a sheet of liquid glass rippling slightly in the breeze. Finnick sat at the pool edge, his legs dipped in the water as he swiftly and slowly kicked them back and forth. Sunlight poured from the sun in radiant golden rays, giving the entire world a bright gold outline and tanning Finnick's skin even more. Eventually he got bored and got out of the water, making his way to one of the diving boards on the other side of the pool. He stepped up onto the board, shuffling to the edge and clasping his hands above and over his head. Finnick crouched down, his hands aiming into the water, and jumped, propelling himself forward in a flawless streamlined dive.

He did a simple freestyle to the other end of the pool, his body cutting through the water as he made powerful strokes with his arms, his legs kicking the water with smooth strong kicks. He swam lap after lap after lap, his body working hard while his mind was somewhere else. Finnick didn't need to worry about being disrupted - nobody could really disturb him while he was freestyle swimming in a private pool in a private estate. That was like the only upside about having a rich stepfather. Everything else was a downside for Finnick.

Don't get him wrong, his stepfather was a generally okay person. It was just that he didn't get Finnick, and made him do things he doesn't want to do and pushes him to try things that are way past his comfort zone. When Finnick had mentioned that he was a swimming enthusiast, his stepfather had quickly renovated a new pool in the estate for him, which Finnick guessed he was grateful for, except from then on his stepfather kept pushing him to swim laps followed by another then another and another, signing him up for clubs and training sessions. Soon, something Finnick used as a coping mechanism and made him feel free become something more like a burden, that tired him out because he had to do it and not because he wanted to.

His biological father never did that, and Finnick knew it was unfair of him to compare the two of them, but as a still half-grieving teen it was kind of hard not to. Finnick tried to like his stepfather, he really did, but nothing was really the same, and Finnick just couldn't. No matter how hard he tried he could never love him as much as he loved his real father. He knew it was useless, so eventually he just gave up trying.

After another seven laps, Finnick hauled himself out of the water, beads dripping down his soaking hair and droplets still clinging on his skin. He gave his head a little shake, water spraying off of his hair like rain and dropping onto the wet poolside floor, before grabbing a towel and collapsing onto one of the deck chairs in exhaustion.

His sea green eyes flickered closed as he lay there, resting in the warm midday sun. It was completely silent, except from Finnick's pronounced breathing and the occasional chattering of birds singing in the trees. He was so tired - his arms, his legs, his muscles, his entire body, were positively aching. Finnick buried his face in his hands, stifling a groan of frustration and exhaustion, before he lay still again, trying to relax under the scorching heat of the sun in the sky.

Eventually, Finnick managed to drag his sore body through the large amount of land his father owned back into the main building, grabbing a change of clothes, pushing one of the bathroom doors open and stepping onto the cool tiled floor. He stripped off his clothing and stepped into the shower, turning the knob as the water starting falling down like soft spring rain. Finnick fiddled with the other knob to adjust the temperature until it felt comfortable, and gave his body a quick rinse, letting the water soothe his aching muscles and wash out the chlorine.