Annie Cresta is one with the waves (lifeisastorm) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-02-19 12:53:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, annie cresta, finnick odair |
Who: Annie Cresta and Finnick Odair
What: Battling mutts who want to ruin things
When: 19 February, late afternoon
Where: Finnick’s
Warnings: Violence against Mutts. Hunger Games related trauma
Status: Log | Complete
Annie was not happy. Ever since Valentine’s Day. The blood rain. The arrival of the cornucopia. The lightning. The reports of what could only be mutts. It was one of the very few times she actually wished she were hallucinating. Because hallucinations were easier to deal with than the fact that Orange County was becoming the arena. All she had wanted for Valentine’s Day was to enjoy her lunch with Finnick. She appreciated the flowers, but she was distracted and panicked by the developments.
But they had rescheduled. And she knew that she couldn’t stay locked away. Nothing had attacked. No one was being forced to kill. There were no cannons. It was all just a bad memory…. with very real reminders but nothing like the Games. It was fine. Besides. Getting out might help. And Finnick was able to calm her even at her most chaotic. True it didn’t help that the dreams had given her the picture of their son, but that was placed with the wedding dress, not sure what to do with it.
Breathe. It was just a late lunch early dinner. It would be fine. There was nothing to be afraid of.
There might have been more thought put into her outfit than usual, but nothing obvious. Subconsciously she had dressed to be able to move at a moment’s notice. One more look around and she made her way to Finnick’s, always repeating that it would be fine and that it would be good to get out and be around people, or well just Finnick as it was at his place. Which..also good so she didn’t potentially have a breakdown around people should something else happen.
Not thinking about that. Focusing on the good. Focusing on the fact it was something to look forward to. Shaking her head some to clear her thoughts, Annie tugged on her hair before knocking on the door as she had gotten to Finnick’s.
Finnick’s feelings had begun to formulate not long after he’d met Annie. There was just something about her that drew him to her and made him want to know her better. Made him want to be there for her and help her in whatever way he could, but he didn’t want to push. He didn’t want to scare her away so he had asked Peeta for advice once he’d started dreaming about their relationship in the dreams. He had helped her, taken care of her and calmed here there whenever she’d needed it, but among everything, he loved her there. He protected her from Snow and would have protected her during the Quarter Quell had Mags not volunteered in her place.
Finnick had no idea how Annie felt about him in the waking world, but he was fairly certain that she had dreamt further than him and knew about their relationship and probably was just as confused as he was. His feelings were only getting stronger the more he thought about Annie so after he spoke to Peeta, he’d decided to send Annie flowers for Valentine’s day that had a bit of an ocean theme, because he knew she enjoyed the ocean. He’d also asked her out for an early dinner that night, but around the time they would have gone out the regular rain had turned to blood rain and they had decided to postpone.
They had decided lunch at his place would be good for the postponement and Finnick had grabbed food from the restaurant they were supposed to go to on Valentine’s Day then had grabbed one of the desserts that Peeta had told him Annie liked from the bakery. When it got close to the time Annie was supposed to show up, Finnick began setting things up.
There were many things that Annie was thinking about when it came to Finnick. She had come to terms with her emotions, in knowing that it was the Finnick of here and not the bleedover that she was feeling. It might have made her more comfortable around him initially but that wasn’t it. No. She was afraid. Afraid that once she told him about her past that he would decide it was too much. Afraid to lose him like she did in the dreams. Because she knew that if she was to let herself be in a relationship of any sort, she would first need to disclose her past and Finnick was the first person she had felt like she could say it to without prompting because her scars had been seen or because she was in a therapy session.
But that wasn’t for now. She wasn’t quite sure of his intentions, if he was just being friendly or what, though she was beginning to think that his feelings were more than friendship. What with (a cancelled) dinner on Valentine’s Day plus the flowers. But she also didn’t want to read into it because that would be awkward if she were wrong. No, for now it was just lunch and whatever came up.
And strictly ignoring the constant reminders of the Quarter Quell that kept her up every night, unable to sleep, nightmares and memories flashing in her mind whenever she closed her eyes. A car bang down the road caused her to jump before she told herself it was just a car engine and nothing to worry about. Not like logic worked well with loud noises startling her. But it wasn’t a cannon. That was all that mattered
Arriving to her destination, Annie knocked, twisting the charm bracelet over the ribbon absently.
Hearing the knock at the door, Finnick reached it quickly, considering his place wasn’t exactly huge and smiled when he saw Annie standing outside, “Hey. How’re you doing?” He asked as he moved aside to allow Annie to enter his tiny house. Seeing Annie always seemed to make him smile no matter what and he wanted to make her smile in return.
Annie was fairly used to Finnick’s home by that point as she did tend to hide out there more often than not. Especially on weekends when it seemed her neighbours were even more annoying than usual. Still, she did smile in greeting as she stepped inside. That was the question though, wasn’t it? How was she doing as with everything going on it was messing with Annie and she always made sure to be honest.
So she shrugged.
“Better than I have been.” She wasn’t great, but she wasn’t as complete a mess as she’d been when it had all started. She was worried because she doubted that it would end with blood rain and lightning. She remembered watching the Quarter Quell all too well. But she didn’t want to think about that.
Besides, then there was a Winston rubbing against her legs and so Annie knelt down to give him attention as well, “You?”
Having just started dreaming about the Quarter Quell all of this was far too fresh for Finnick. The blood rain had come as a complete shock. Lightning was one thing, but blood rain was not a normal occurrence. Then there was the cornucopia that had appeared on the beach. So much had happened in the arena so if what was happening was for their benefit, there was more to come. He just hoped that certain things wouldn’t happen.
“He must have been expecting you too.” Finnick laughed as the cat began rubbing up against Annie. He liked that Winston liked Annie and vice versa, because it was obvious that the cat made Annie happy, “I’ve been as good as can be expected. Do you want something to drink?”
Once she had given Winston his share of attention, even though she had a feeling that he would probably follow her around, Annie straightened up and gave a small nod. That was all any of them could hope for right now. To just… be as good as they could be with the constant reminders of what they had faced in the arena happening in Orange County and not just from dreams.
“Tea?” Goodness knew she needed it at the moment. She was doing better but tea would at least keep her calm. Well, calmer even though at the moment things were… well, okay. But Annie knew both the Arena and Orange County so she was also constantly on edge and had been since the cornucopia had shown up.
Since Annie had spent quite a lot of time at Finnick’s place over the last month or so, he knew that she liked tea and had already put the kettle on, “Water should be ready in a few minutes,” He said, glancing at the small stove then went to get a tea cup and the tea that Annie liked, “So, I got dinner from the place we were gonna go on Sunday.” He said, gesturing towards the table where he’d set everything. “I wasn’t sure exactly what you liked, so I got a little sampler of a few things.”
“Thank you.” Tea did tend to be a good thing to have on hand if Annie went anywhere often. She had no qualms with water, but tea was definitely preferable. “You really didn’t have to do that… but thank you.” Because Annie was touched by the gesture. She didn’t quite know what was going on, though she didn’t mind it. Whatever it was.
About to say something, she went rigid as she heard what could be considered a howl near by, a chill running down her spine as she looked over her shoulder.
“...How close do you think that was?” Oh god. No no no nono. Her mind was beginning to race. This wasn’t happening. this could not be happening.
Finnick’s head snapped around at the sound of the howl and he moved towards the window to peer out, “Probably not as close as it seemed. This area echoes sometimes.” That was only partially true, but Finnick didn’t want to think that there were mutts in the area. He did not need something like that to ruin his night with Annie.
Whether Finnick wanted them to ruin the night or not, it wasn’t like mutts really listened one way or the other when it came to that.
“I might be staying the night again then…” Because even if she could handle herself, if there were mutts out there, Annie wanted nothing to do with going out and dealing with them potentially. After all, it wasn’t like she had dealt with them herself. She had trained but given she spent most of her games hiding and avoiding everyone….
Or…. something could jump through the window and Annie quickly backed up against Finnick, breathing hitching in fear and panic because this was ten shades of not okay. Especially as she knew others were close by.
“That’s fine. You can have the bed as usual.” On the nights that Annie stayed over Finnick gave up his bed to her and slept on the smaller futon in the loft. All he ever wanted when she came over was for Annie to be comfortable and feel safe.
He was just about to suggest they sit down to eat and try to take their minds off the howl when he was sprayed with glass shards. Before everything registered, he heard a hiss and yowl from Winston and a returning screech from the Mutt which now stood in the middle of his house, blocking them from the door, “Shit!” His gaze quickly moved to his trident, which was only a few feet away near his bed, but he also didn’t want to move, because Annie was behind him and he didn’t want to expose her to the mutt.
First blood rains and cornucopias. Now mutts breaking in. Annie was about ready to quit life. Not really, but given how anxious and panicky she’d been since it had started? This was just one more thing to add to the list of things she wanted done. Especially since she knew how Finnick died in the dreams and she was terrified it would happen here as well. Which meant she was looking for found weapons because she didn’t have her own but she wasn’t about to just stand back and let history (the future?) repeat itself.
“Get your trident! I’ll be fine!”
Okay so she might have broken a chair leg but it would do right now. She’d gone through training just like everyone else even if she had hidden the entirety of her Games following Eric’s death.
Anyone else might have refused, determined to protect Annie, but she had survived the Hunger Games. It might have been because she had hid, but he knew that she could fight if need be and he hoped that that skill had bled over to the waking world. It only took him a moment to grab his trident, which he was very grateful for, before he was back at Annie’s side. The Mutt was still screeching at the top of his lungs and Finnick was grateful that he didn’t have any neighbors. Winston had, by now, gone up into the loft, deciding that he didn’t want any part of this, which Finnick was also grateful for. “You picked the wrong night to come in here, Curious George.”
Annie honestly had no idea if the skill to fight had bled over, but it had been a risk she was willing to take because really, having no weapons on hand? It wouldn’t have ended well if they had stayed in a standstill. Chair leg worked for her current purposes though. Even if the screeching sounded like it was calling another one of those things to them. Oh god. Focus. Breathe. Her grip on the chair leg tightened as she scanned the small bus home.
Which was ambushed by another Mutt, who seemed to head straight towards--
“No!”
And without thinking, Annie lunged forward, stabbing the new Mutt with her weapon of choice. Which… seemed to draw the attention of the original one. That didn’t go as planned. But did anything?
Finnick had been prepared, just in case another one showed up, recalling the ambush he and the others had fallen into in the Arena so he wasn’t surprised when a second one joined them, but what did surprise him was how Annie took action. As the first one charged towards Annie, Finnick reacted and thrust out with the trident, spearing it through the neck. The thing let out one final screech before falling dead, “Please let that be it.” They might be able to protect themselves against two mutts, but Finnick certainly didn’t want to get ambushed again.
Struggling to catch her breath, Annie slid down against the wall she was closest to, just staring at the two dead mutts. Yes. Those being the only ones would be ideal because she didn’t know if she could handle another attack. It had been pure adrenaline and panic that had made her react. She didn’t even noticed one of her arm ribbons had fallen to the side. But that didn’t matter right now.
“I really hope that’s it too.”
Finnick ran a hand through his hair as he stared at the bodies of the two mutts for a moment before he noticed Annie sitting on the floor. Trident still in hand, just in case, he moved to her and sat down beside her. He hesitated for only a moment before he brought his free hand up and brushed Annie’s hair away from her face, “You okay?” It was probably a dumb question, but he wanted to make sure that she wasn’t going to go into shock or have a breakdown, not that he’d blame her after what they’d just done.
Rubbing her wrists anxiously, Annie was trembling but blinked and looked at Finnick as he brushed the hair from her face. Well, that was a ridiculous question. How could… not that he knew how he would die. Lizard mutts instead of monkey mutts. But still. She was flashing back to learning about his death. Flashing back to watching helplessly while the Quarter Quell took place.
“I’m just happy you’re okay.” Not a real answer because Annie didn’t know how to really…. say what she was feeling. There was too much happening in my her mind. Maybe she hadn’t really processed the fact that she had just killed a mutt as she had never killed before. So focusing on immediate reactions seemed best. “You are, right?”
“I’m okay. As okay as one can be right now.” Now that the mutts were dead, Winston decided to come back down and after sniffing at one of the carcasses, he approached Annie and rubbed his body against her side, “Would you be okay here if I went and took care of these?” Finnick had some wood planks that he could also use to board up the window until he got someone to come out and fix it, “Dinner is still on the table if you wanna eat while I take care of this.”
That was definitely something Annie could understand. Being as okay as possible at a given moment. So not really okay but knowing that it could have been worse. She didn’t even want to think about the what might have happened or how it could have mirrored her dreams. Not now. Not ever, even though she knew it would come up whenever Finnick got there. Momentarily distracted as Winstone joined her, she nodded at the comment on if she’d be okay while he took care of the Mutts, instead picking up Winston to give him some much needed attention/comfort as well as fixing the ribbon.
“I’ll wait. But I’ll be okay.”
She had a lot to think about as it were. Sighing, she just rested her head against the wall. Time was too short, there never was enough of it.
Finnick nodded and watched as she pulled Winston onto her lap. The cat didn’t resist and snuggled on her lap almost right away. “Alright. I’ll be as quick as possible.” Without really giving it a second thought, he leaned in and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before getting to his feet and proceeding to take both mutts outside. He hadn’t decided if he was going to bury them or burn them yet, but he had a spot a little ways away from the house that he could do either in.