Who: Katniss Everdeen and Finnick Odair When: Backdated to Katniss de-aging Where: Hall outside their room What: Finnick tries to convince Katniss that they're still allies Rating: Low (unless you're picturing Katniss and Finnick in their undies ;))
Confused and disoriented, unsure whether she was really in danger or not, Katniss followed her first and most basic instinct: to flee. She’d prioritized grabbing her bow rather than clothing, which she knew already she was going to regret, based on how cold it was. Adrenaline and exertion were staving off the chill so far, but she would have to stop moving eventually, and then… well, she couldn’t think about that yet. The more immediate threat was Peeta, and everyone else around, who could kill her long before the cold could.
She’d thought she had a head start on Peeta, having woken up first (and some dazed part of her mind had registered that he only had one leg, but that made no sense), but she burst out of the room to find that there were others, and the sound of footsteps followed her into the hallway. She knew, instinctively, she wasn’t going to be able to outrun the muscled, golden-haired boy, but he wasn’t armed and she had her bow.
She made it into the hallway first and stopped, pivoting quickly, stringing her bow in mid-turn. By the time he was out the door, her arrow was pointed at his chest.
--
Finnick had been sleeping lightly, curled around Annie. His face was nuzzled into her hair, his hand resting on the growing swell of her belly. He suspected that Tristan kicking had gotten old for her already, but Finnick was still quietly delighted every time he felt their son moving around inside of her. It was still odd, sometimes, to remember that he had already met their kid, but the pregnancy was so utterly different than last time that he had eased himself into that as well.
He was startled by the sound of some sort of disruption coming from Peeta and Katniss’ room. He looked up, waiting to see if there was actually any trouble -- and heard one of them heading out of the bedroom entirely, walking a little too fast. Finnick slowly extracted himself from Annie and got up, deciding it was better to check.
He was greeted with the sight of Katniss -- quite scantily clad -- retreating from the room. Frowning, he glanced back at the bedroom and then followed after her.
He stopped immediately in the hallway when he was met with Katniss’ bow and arrow. He held his hands up in a mock parody of what he had done during the Quarter Quell and cast her a look.
“What are you going to do with that?” he asked, borderline sarcastic.
…
Katniss’ eyes were narrowed, her hands relatively steady despite the frantic pounding of her heart. She was more afraid of what was behind her than of this boy - man - in particular, because she had no idea where she was or what was happening to her. She and Peeta had been headed to the arena, and although this was unlike any arena she’d ever seen, she still distrusted the place and everyone in it.
She’d thought she’d have more time to prepare for this. For having to consider killing someone. Now here she was, with her bow strung, her first human opponent right in front of her. If she let the arrow go, she knew it would go right to his heart. It would have been easier, maybe, if he was actually trying to kill her, too, but she was scared enough that a single hostile movement would have been enough to act and worry about it later.
“Defend myself,” she said, grateful that her voice came out harsh and intense. It made her sound a lot stronger and less terrified and vulnerable than she felt. “Stay where you are.”
She took a step backward, angling her body and edging along the side of the corridor so that the wall protected her back. Her senses were on high alert, listening for any other approaching threat.
--
Finnick frowned when she responded. She was Katniss and yet, she wasn’t. He was reminded strongly of actually being back in the Quarter Quell now and the disdain she had shown for him while being so careful with her own survival.
Of course, if that was true, that didn’t bode particularly well for him considering she had an arrow pointed at his chest. He remained where he was, though, keeping his body purposefully lax to show that he wasn’t a threat.
“Katniss?” he asked hesitantly.
…
Katniss’ eyes narrowed even further, a furrow appearing between her eyebrows. He knew her name - but a moment later she realized that anyone who had paid attention to the Reaping would know her name, so that didn’t necessarily mean anything. But when she stared at him a little harder, she realized he was familiar, too.
“I know who you are,” she said. It didn’t make any sense, but nothing made any sense right now. She just never would have expected to see him in the arena with her, or in any place as drab and strange as this. He was a victor. He belonged in the glitz and glamor of the Capitol. “You’re Finnick Odair.”
--
Strangely, that didn’t make him feel any better at all. She knew his name, but she said it as if she didn’t know him. There had to be explanations for why this was happening -- weird shit happened all the time down here -- but at the moment, it was too overwhelming to actually think about the nuances of what was happening or why. He just needed her to remember him -- to remember everything that had happened since she had arrived here. Anything else was impossible.
“That’s right,” Finnick said, edging forward slowly, one of his hands still outstretched to show that he meant her no harm. “We’re friends, remember?”
…
“Stay where you are,” Katniss repeated, vehemently, her fingers tightening around her bow. There was an edge of panic in her voice that she hoped he couldn’t hear. Somehow, this was so much more unnerving than simply being attacked. So many little hints that there should have been familiarity at every turn - a shared bed, her clothing and belongings in a shared room, her distinct lack of clothing - and now this. It made her doubt whether she was actually in danger, but the doubt only put her guard up more, because it felt like a trick. She could only trust her instincts and her memories, and she knew that none of this was right. “We’re not friends. We’ve never met.”
--
Finnick stopped moving when she answered him. Something cold swept throughout his entire body. He didn’t know what was happening, but he knew he didn’t like it. Maybe she had just lost some memories, maybe a new Katniss had shown up all together -- maybe this wasn’t Katniss at all. There were a thousand explanations, but Finnick didn’t like any of them. She had been a rare constant for him while he was here, and he didn’t think he could stand to lose her in anyway. She had seen him at his literal worst when Annie had been gone, and she was the only thing that had made him keep going on.
“I’ll do whatever you want, all right?” he said. He kept himself relaxed, kept his distance. He didn’t want to do anything further to rankle her ire.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” he asked a moment later.
…
If Katniss hadn’t known any better - and actually, truthfully, she had no way of knowing better - she would have guessed he looked upset. She didn’t know what to think about that. Either he genuinely thought they were friends, or he was doing a good job of pretending at it. He had stopped moving, at least, and she allowed herself a moment to adjust and relax her stance a little bit, but she kept the arrow pointed at him, just in case.
“I want my clothes,” she said, after a moment. “Shoes, pants, and a jacket. I saw them in there. I didn’t have time to grab them. My bag, too,” she added, belatedly. There had been a hunting bag by the door. If he wanted to do something for her, if he actually knew where her stuff was, then maybe he’d get them. If not, it was already out of her reach. “Go back in there and bring them out here for me.”
She thought it through, but couldn’t come up with a reason not to answer the other question. After a fairly long silence, she answered, “The Reaping.”
--
“Okay,” Finnick agreed. He didn’t know what was really the best thing to do here. Having some clothes on would be probably relax her a little bit, but he was also afraid that she would just take off. He didn’t know how far she could really get around here, but he worried all the same. But he also didn’t particularly want to be shot in the chest with an arrow.
The Reaping. That didn’t tell him whether she was from before the 74th or 75th Games, but it didn’t really matter. That meant that she didn’t know him either way. But that made a pretty big difference in how much she knew Peeta.
“The 74th Games?” he tried tentatively.
…
Katniss’ eyes narrowed. Of course it was the 74th Games; what other Games would it be? What other Reaping would have caused anyone to notice her? The question made her feel like there was something else she didn’t know about, and she didn’t like it.
But she answered, despite herself. “Yes.” And then, “Are you going to get my clothes or not?”
--
If she had been her -- properly her, little-sister-kind-of her -- Finnick would have cracked some joke about how she was charming as always.
Being that she still had an arrow pointed at his chest, he just nodded and headed inside to retrieve the items she wanted.
His mind was racing though. He didn’t know how else to convince her to truth him other than telling her truth, but he knew the truth sounded ridiculous -- both that he was from the future and that they eventually became friends when she so obviously wanted nothing to do with him.
He gathered her things and headed back into the hallway.
“Will you let me tell you where we are?” he tried as he held out her clothes and her bag to her.
…
Katniss was glad when he left. It meant she was alone in the hallway for a moment, which gave her a moment to breathe, to relax her arms - which were starting to ache - and lean against the wall for a moment. It gave her a second to take stock of herself again; aside from being cold and unclothed, she really wasn’t too badly off. She had an exit, or at least it looked like she did. She had her bow. If she got her clothes, maybe she could make it out of this strange building, whatever it was, and find a way to survive on her own.
The door opened, and she swung the bow up again, tensed and ready but slightly less panicked than before. “Put it on the floor and slide it over,” she instructed him. She raised her eyebrows at him, and answered, “Sure, as long as you don’t have to come any closer to do it.”
--
Finnick knelt slowly and passed her things over to her as she requested, raising his eyebrows back in turn at her. (It turned out that it was really difficult not to be sarcastic with her. Every time he bit back a smart comment, he missed her -- and could only hope that she was actually coming back.)
“We’re in a bunker here because the earth is radioactive,” Finnick said. “And I know this is going to be hard to believe, but people are pulled from a lot of different worlds here.” He paused. “All of that comes with its own set of dangers, so if you don’t stick around here, at least be careful. I think it would be better if you stayed. Peeta and you watch out for each other -- and I know that might be weird to hear, too -- but we’re all allies here, Katniss.”
It was a bit of a mixed bag, he knew, but he hoped that he would be able to move her at least a little bit -- but if he didn’t, he wanted to make sure she left with some knowledge that will help too.
…
Katniss took a few small steps forward, hesitantly, and used her feet to move her belongings. It was going to be impossible to pick any of it up - much less put on the clothes - without lowering her bow, so she took a little bit of extra distance just to be safe. Then she lowered her bow, slowly, keeping her eyes on him for any sign of movement. He was claiming to be her ally, but that didn’t make any sense: she’d have believed Peeta, maybe, if not for the look in his eyes when he’d stared at her, because he’d saved her life once and she didn’t want to kill him. But why would a victor, especially from a Career district, be her ally?
Well. If people around here really were from other places, maybe being from Panem was like being from the same district. But it made no sense for people to be from other worlds. What other worlds could there possibly be?
He’d given her no reason to believe he actually meant her harm, aside from following her out here, and he made no move to hurt her as she lowered her bow to point at the floor, so she dared to reach for her pants and tug them on, awkwardly, mostly one-handed. When she succeeded at that and he still hadn’t tried to kill her, she used the hand holding the bow to help pull on her boots, then her jacket, and finally sling the bag over her shoulder. She felt a lot better once she was clothed and a little better prepared.
Then she re-strung the arrow, and looked at him. Figuring out whether she should trust him was too complicated, and she ignored it for the moment. Instead, she stuck to the practical information he’d offered her. “The earth is radioactive?”
--
“I’ll turn around, okay?” Finnick said, trying to give her some play at modesty. If this had been a regular scenario -- well, she would have never let this happen -- but, at the very least, he could have gleaned some amusement from watching her try to tug her pants on one-handed. Instead, all he felt was vaguely uncomfortable and guilty because he knew she was so private and that it was probably killing her choosing between keeping him at a distance and covering herself up.
He turned, but did listen, making sure that she didn’t entirely run off on him.
“The earth is radioactive,” Finnick repeated. “Most of the people were killed when it happened.”
…
Katniss had left modesty behind in the room when she’d woken up half-dressed and tangled around a similarly dressed boy, but she didn’t argue about him turning around. It did make her feel better for the fact that it would be harder for him to surprise her while she was putting her clothes on.
“So we can’t go outside?’ she asked, dubiously. He could be saying it just because he didn’t want her to leave. And now that his back was turned, it was impossible to see his expression. A little reluctantly, she added, “You can turn back around.”
--
“It’s dangerous,” Finnick qualified. He didn’t really want her to wander around outside, but he suspected the fastest way to get her outside was by telling her she couldn’t. “And it’s winter.”
He hesitated again. He hated this. She had gone from someone he had been incredibly comfortable with to someone he didn’t know how to talk with in the slightest.
“I know you probably don’t want to hear this,” Finnick started. “And maybe not especially from me. But Peeta cares about you, Katniss. I think you might be … confused. About some of the things you feel for him. But he won’t do anything to hurt you. All any of us want to do here is help each other. You should stay with us. If you can consider it.”
He turned back around when she told him he could.
“At least that’s what I think,” he tacked on ruefully with a smile.
…
“I’m going to look around,” Katniss told him. “And unless the radiation is going to kill me, I’m going outside, too.”
She wasn’t pointing the arrow at him anymore, but the bow hung loosely by her side. She felt more like herself now that she was dressed, yet less and less sure of her surroundings. It was dangerous, but she didn’t know quite how. Radiation was one thing, but the people… could she trust them? Any of them? Her instinct was to avoid trusting anyone until they proved they could be trusted.
The only part of his little speech worth considering was the invitation to stay. She hadn’t thought that far ahead quite yet, but if it really was dangerous outside, she was going to have to find a place to stay inside this bunker until she could find a way out. And… well, if not for the absolute terror on Peeta’s face when he’d looked at her, and if not for the fact that they’d been in their underwear, she might have agreed that staying with him in a strange place would be her safest bet. As it was, she didn’t know what to think.
Finnick probably could have answered some of her questions, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to ask him, or whether she wanted to hear his answers. If he was going to start talking about her feelings...