Calm Before The Storm {Finnick Odair}

Scoring

When Hebe got up the next morning, she was surprised to see that both her tributes and Finnick were already at breakfast.

Annie gave her a warm smile as she sat down beside her, which wasn't unusual, but what wasn't normal was the lack of a glare from her male tribute. Instead he stared down at his plate, a pained expression on his face. She couldn't help the slight twinge of guilt at how anxious he seemed, but it was easy to push away when she realised that it was necessary to Annie's survival. And if it meant that her sister made it out of the arena alive, she could live with her actions.

This time, Finnick took the lead giving the tributes pointers about the individual assessments, basically echoing everything Hebe had said the night before to make sure it was fresh in their memory.

Ambrosia even chipped in a bit, remarking that they should wash their faces before they go so they were nice and presentable for the gamemakers. Pretty surface level advice, but Hebe appreciated the help she was giving them.

The tributes then returned to their rooms for a moment whilst the mentors finished their breakfasts. When they emerged again, Hebe couldn't help the small laugh that bubbled from her throat at Ambrosia's proud expression upon the sight of their freshly scrubbed faces, the woman proceeding to fuss over them until there wasn't a hair out of place.

"I swear she wasn't that interested in us last year." Hebe whispered, and Finnick laughed in response.

"I can't blame her. You're not that interesting."

The girl didn't reply, shooting him her best scowl instead.

Like they had for Hebe's individual assessments, the whole group of them descended in the elevator, and rounds of hugs were issued to the two tributes before they went inside the training centre's waiting room.

"You nervous?" She asked Annie, holding her by the shoulders.

The girl shook her head, "Not really."

"Good. You'll do fine."

"Thanks."

The mentor gave her friend a long hug, before separating and letting her walk down the corridor. She then turned to Victor, who was currently preoccupied trying to obtain some last minute advice from Finnick.

Eventually the two finished their discussion, and Finnick gave the boy a pat on the arm, before returning to his position in the elevator.

The male tribute immediately started to walk away down the corridor, but Hebe called out to him before he could turn the corner.

"Good luck, yeah?"

"Uh, thanks." He said, his voice stilted and his face slightly red with shock. But, he seemed to recover after a bit, turning back around to continue to the waiting room.

Hebe then stepped back into the elevator, and took deep breaths as Ambrosia pressed the button to send them back up to their floor of the tribute centre. Luckily the journey from the basement level to the fourth floor was much shorter than going all the way up to the roof, so Hebe emerged from the elevator only a few seconds later.

Today, because the individual assessments for 4 only took an hour or so, the three of them were spared from the usual cycle of photoshoots and parties and sponsors and socialising, and were free to spend their hour and a half break however they wished. Ambrosia went out with a few friends of hers, leaving Hebe and Finnick alone in the apartment.

They chose to put on the TV, mainly for some background noise, but partly because they were interested in Caesar's opinions on the tributes for this year.