Love at Sea (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 11

"You're laughing at me," Buck accused.

"I'm not laughing at you," Taiya denied, covering her mouth with her hand to stifle a laugh.

"I can see your shoulders going like this," he imitated her shoulders moving up and down. "That means you're laughing at me."

"I'm sniggering. Sniggering isn't laughing."

"Sniggering is as good as laughing."

"I can't help it," Taiya snorted. "You tripped. Watching people trip is funny."

"Yeah, I know," he conceded, dropping his spoon into his oatmeal. He'd been walking over to their breakfast table when he tripped on the leg of the table. Of course, Taiya had to laugh. "Where's your shadow?" he changed the subject as he glanced around for Finnick.

"Getting breakfast for us both," Taiya replied, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"So you don't even have to stand in line to get your own breakfast," he scowled. "How's that fair?"

"It's the perks of having a fiancé," Taiya winked, a smirk playing on her lips.

Buck glanced away from Taiya as he watched Gale Hawthorne confidently navigate around the tables, two breakfast trays in hand. Gale kept looking back at Finnick, who was stuck in the breakfast queue, making sure he was watching.

He approached Taiya and carefully placed a tray before her.

"Morning," Gale greeted, as Taiya stared down at the tray in confusion. "Got breakfast for you."

He glanced back at Finnick briefly before he laid his hand against Taiya's back, with the sole intention of making Finnick jealous.

Finnick was more than happy to let him do that. Gale's antics and attempts to make him jealous had been keeping him and Taiya thoroughly amused over the past few days. With Katniss back in the District, Finnick had been sure to visit her at just the right time for Gale to see. He'd even pretend to sneak in as if he wanted to avoid being seen. That was Gloss' idea. And it only fuelled Gale's jealousy and made him more desperate to retaliate. Taiya and Finnick had some good laughs over Gale's attempts. And anything that kept Taiya entertained in District 13 was good in Finnick's book. She hated it there.

So despite the irritation Finnick felt by Gale getting breakfast for Taiya, he was more than happy to leave it for Taiya to handle herself.

Buck however was not.

"What do you think you're doing?" Buck asked in a quiet, yet threatening voice.

"Huh?" Gale looked over at him, redirecting his gaze from Taiya.

"What's your game?" he shrugged, a glare evident on his face.

"I'm not sure what you mean," Gale smiled.

"Well, why don't you start by getting your hand off her back."

Gale's smile fell. Buck's was scary on a good day, but that was usual. This was something else. So Gale carefully removed his hand from Taiya's back.

"You know she's engaged right," Buck scooped some oatmeal into his mouth, not breaking eye contact with Gale.

"I..."

"She's got a fiance. Which you know, because you were eyeing him across the room," he gestured at Finnick with his spoon.

Finnick quickly looked away before Gale looked back over, he had to hide the smirk on his face.

Gale couldn't see Taiya's face on the other hand, and she was smirking madly as she watched Buck interfere on her behalf.

"You think she'd ever be into you?" he snorted. "She's leagues above you, Hawthorne."