Reputation (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 10

     "Am I correct to assume you want Katniss on your team? Everyone else does," Olympias's dull tone echoes across the room as she enters from the elevator. Apricot is walking by her side, her hair now a bright strawberry red to match her brightly coloured pumps.

     "Sure, she's pretty good I guess," Atlas replies, fanning her hand out in front of her to observe the paint that had gotten stuck under her nails from when the morphlings had decided to use her as their canvas. She could still feel the paint on her neck.

     "You don't sound too enthusiastic," Olympia raises an eyebrow at the younger girl, crossing her toned arms over her chest.

     Atlas lets a small breath out of her nose at Olympias's response, "I imagine she'd rather ally with someone else. We aren't exactly buddies."

     "Well, doesn't Peeta like you a good amount?"

     Atlas shrugs, "I don't think Peeta is really the one in charge in that relationship."

     Olympia laughs lightly, a sound Atlas hadn't heard from her in a long time. Apricot has abandoned the conversation, instead choosing to sit down at the dining table and drink a glass of some fancy, bright pink, wine-looking drink. The escort was much quieter than usual. Atlas sits in silence for a couple of moments. Eventually, Atlas' eyes trail over to Mars who is laying asleep on the couch. Olympia follows the girl's gaze and her eyes land on the man snoring peacefully. His head is smushed up against one of the couch's many pillows.

     "You can't save him."

     Atlas' head turns quickly to Olympia who is avoiding the blonde's gaze, her eyes still locked on Mars, "What?"

     "He's too far gone. He's old, he's slow. You have a chance to win this thing, and he's not exactly in the best shape of his life. Trying to carry him around would get you killed," Olympia's tone is cold and certain, "Only one person can win. They'll make sure of that this year."

     Atlas frowns, looking her mentor up and down. How could she suggest letting the man die? Both of them had watched his children grow up, held them in their arms as they cried, watched as they ran around Victor's village and picked them up whenever they fell. Atlas couldn't let them be without a father. She knew they couldn't both win but she wasn't going to let him go down without a fight. 

     "I'll be fine," Atlas replies, turning her nose up and looking away from the former tribute. She looks back at Mars, eyes trailing over the scar on his shoulder from where he had burnt himself making cookies for his kids. On his other shoulder is a scar from a stray knife being thrown at him in the arena. The two actually looked quite similar. Atlas only knew the difference because he had told her the story a couple of times. 

     Olympia takes a deep breath and releases it quietly, biting onto her bottom lip, "What does he think?"

     Atlas turns to Olympia with her eyebrows raised, "About what?"

     "Who does he think you should ally with?"

     A small smile breaks out on Atlas' face despite the dreary mood, "If it was up to him he'd probably ally with Haymitch. Spend their days drinking and reminiscing about the good old days."

    Olympia laughs for the second time the night, moving to lean against the couch the two tributes were resting on, "Right. Probably die from alcohol poisoning if they had the choice."

     "If you ask him about who I should ally with he'd probably say Finnick," Atlas' smile falls slightly at the mention of the boy.

     Olympia looks like she wants to tease the girl but stops when she sees the look on her face, "What's wrong? Usually mentioning Finnick would make you grin like crazy."

      Atlas looks away towards the window where the sky above the city is darkening quickly, "One of us is going to die. It wasn't exactly a conventional friendship before, we saw each other like once a month but it made me happy." 

     Atlas takes a shaky breath before continuing, "Sometimes I secretly hope if he dies, I do too. I don't want to have to keep doing this," Atlas gestures out at the city below, "Without the one thing I looked forward to. He's the only part of this city that has kept me sane."

    Olympia looks down at the floor, seemingly searching for a response but Atlas just shakes her head. She didn't want pity, she's had enough people tell her they feel bad for her lately. Luckily, Apricot pops her head in to break up the palpable tension in the room.

     "Time for dinner!"

      Atlas stands from the couch as Olympia starts walking towards the dining room silently. She hated to wake Mars from his rest but he'd probably rather be eating anyway. Atlas takes a step towards the other end of the couch, reaching down to shake Mars awake. His eyes open slowly, a groan falling from his lips. He looks up at Atlas, confusion clear on his features.

     "Dinner." 

      Mars hums in recognition, sitting up and stretching a bit before standing up and walking groggily towards the other room. As Atlas follows him, she notices Olympia had never actually left the room. Mars walks through the doorway and as Atlas tries to follow him, Olympia grabs her arm and pulls her back into the living room.

      "What are you-," Atlas tries to ask but is cut off as Olympia pulls her into a hug, her strong arms holding Atlas close.

      "You've never hugged me before, are you okay?" Atlas asks as Olympia allows her to pull away a little. Confusion laces the younger girl's face. In all her years of knowing Olympia, the older victor had never been affectionate. When Atlas won her games, Olympia greeted her with a firm handshake and a pat on the head. Even now, so many years later, the most she got from her was an awkward side hug every so often.

     Olympia holds the girl's face in her hands gently, like she was scared to break her, "It's been an honour to know you Atlas. You're like a sister to me and I'm so proud of everything you've done, even if I've never said it before. I believe in you and I believe you can make it out of this and come home."

    Atlas looks up into the girl's eyes, "You really are proud of me aren't you?"

     Olympia just nods, a small smile on her face, "I've never told you this before but I love you little Lily flower."

     Atlas groans, her head rolling back, "Did Diamond tell you about that name? I hate it."

     Olympia smiles, "I know, that's why I said it."

     Atlas quickly dissolves into a fit of laughter, the first real feeling of joy she had felt since her name had been pulled from the bowl. Something about the little moment of familiarity between the two victors of District 5 filled Atlas with a strong feeling of pure adoration and she couldn't help the smile that rested on her face all throughout dinner. She didn't even notice as she went in for second helpings of the food laid out in front of her, too busy laughing at a story Mars was telling about his daughter managing to end up on the roof of their District 5 home. The three victors sat at that table and talked for hours on end, even after all the food had been eaten and Apricot had retired to bed. They sat and talked about anything from wild children to hair dye, forgetting about the games and just enjoying one of the last moments of peace they had before their peaceful world caught fire.

A/N

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