Love at Sea (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 6

Finnick had nothing to do. And it was killing him. He'd never felt so useless. He was too unstable to work, but he wasn't physically ill enough to keep locked in a hospital room.

Tyler and Buck had campaigned hard to get him upgraded to unsupervised walks, so at least he didn't have doctors trailing him quite so aggressively anymore. That being said, Tyler and Buck were usually close by to step in whenever he started wavering, or to pull him away when he got too fixated on any blonde girl with the false hope that it was his partner.

He tended to just spend his days wandering up and down various corridors, hoping to hit the same jackpot he did the other week and hear Taiya's name being spoken from within a room. That was his new method of obtaining secrets. Eavesdropping.

That's how he'd found out that both Tyler and Buck had refused to take him on as a roommate yesterday when the doctors asked, leaving him to stay in the hospital wing. Not that he could blame them, his night fits hadn't really improved.

But for now, he'd just been wandering up and down the room Katniss was filming a 'propo' in. The girl had been dolled up in makeup that aged her about 15 years, and the tech wizard behind the screen was digitally altering her body and surrounding it with fire.

To be honest, he could see it exciting those in the Capitol, but not those in the Districts. They wanted honesty, the real Katniss, and this wasn't it.

Finnick walked up behind her to joke. "They'll either want to kill you, kiss you, or be you."

Katniss simply rolled her eyes and ignored him, but she was amused. Good. He had to keep her on his side. She was his best way of reaching Taiya. The more valuable she made herself to the rebellion cause, the more leverage she had over them.

"Thanks, Finnick," she mumbled. Even the small acknowledgement was enough to make him smile. It was astounding how, despite Taiya's obvious dislike of the girl, she'd managed to become one of the closest people to him. The 17-year-old rebellion symbol from District 12. Go figure.

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Finnick had been lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. How dare Buck and Tyler tell him no?

Katniss had been granted permission to go and visit District 8. They'd all had a meeting about it, a meeting arranged by Haymitch. He made the very good point that Katniss was a terrible actor. The Districts had fallen in love with her based on her authentic moments of generosity and kindness, not the circus act they were trying to make her. The Districts fell in love with the girl, the Capitol had fallen in love with the mask. She was going to film her propo in District 8, let the real her shine.

And Finnick wanted to go, but Buck and Tyler shut him down immediately. He wasn't ready apparently. Who were they to tell him what to do? If he could prove to District 13 that he was getting better, maybe they'd let him join a mission to the Capitol to free the victors. Even if he just stayed in the hovercraft, it'd be a step towards proving his health.

So he leapt out of bed and took off running down the corridors and straight for the command rooms. He slammed open the door and skidded to a stop, his eyes immediately meeting Plutarch's. Exactly who he was looking for.

"Plutarch," Finnick breathed as he ran at the man, grabbing onto his forearms. "I want to go. I want to go with Katniss. I can help. Because I'm better now, you see that right? It can be like a test, if I can do this then I can go to the Capitol. I can go help her. I can help Taiya."

Finnick didn't even register how unwell he sounded, he couldn't see the madness in his eyes that was startling even Plutarch, who having been around Capitolites wasn't unaccustomed to a certain degree of madness.