Ocean Eyes - Finnick Odair

Ten

Marissa stands before the mirror in her bedroom, speechless. Chambray is fixing any last altercations on the dress she has designed specifically for Marissa's interview. The dress is even prettier than Marissa had imagined from the sketches she had been shown. The Mockingjay birds are sewn delicately on top of the satin fabric and, Marissa runs her fingers over one of them, admiring it.

Chambray delicately fastens a golden chain with pearl charms around the redhead's wrist, and her eyebrows raise when she examines the familiar bracelet.

"This is Mira's bracelet," Marissa chokes out, tears welling in her eyes at the sight of her little sister's bracelet. "How did you get this?"

"Sterling asked her for it," Chambray tells the District Four victor. "I needed it for your interview, and we thought it could be your token in the Games."

"Thank you," Marissa smiles at her stylist. She has never been more thankful to have Chambray and Sterling as her team in the Capitol. She does not know how she would have managed to mentor for so long without them and Finnick alongside her.

"There's this ring too," Chambray slides a golden band with a round pearl onto Marissa's middle finger. The sheer volume of pearls is to make up for the fact that her dress does not symbolise her District in any way. A pearl and pink crystal hair vine sits among her red locks which have been tamed into an intricate up-do, her shoes are a blue satin heel with golden vines climbing up the heel, pearls scattered among the gold and, her eyeshadow is a beautiful pearl sheen, fake pearls stuck on top of her eyelids in a cat-eye style. The fake pearls make her eyelids heavy, and she is not the biggest fan of them, but she does not complain. "Oh, Marissa! You look so beautiful!"

This is the first time Marissa has ever seen Chambray choked up. The stylist's eyes are glossed over with tears and, her hands shake as she adjusts the placement of Marissa's hair.

"Chambray," Marissa says softly, her own tears threatening to spill but, the stylist forces a smile on her face.

"Don't cry now. You'll ruin your makeup and, Galla and Honorius don't have time to redo it," Chambray shakes her head, taking a calming breath. "Now, let's get you out there."

Marissa, who has not worn heels for almost a year now, struggles to adjust to wearing such high ones so, Chambray holds onto her arm as she leads Marissa to where the victors have gathered. Finnick greets her first, sweeping her into a hug. He wants to kiss her, but Chambray strongly advises him not to disturb her makeup and he obliges.

"You look beautiful," Finnick whispers in Marissa's ear after Chambray bids the two of them farewell. Marissa takes one look at Finnick's outfit and, her lips twitch into a smile.

"And you look like a pirate."

"That's the plan, sweetheart," he winks at her, and she practically melts in his palm. No matter how long the couple has been dating, Marissa has always been particularly susceptible to his charm.

"You two are disgusting," Johanna Mason interrupts the couple's moment and, Finnick drops his hands from Marissa's waist.

"Wow, I love your outfit, Johanna," Marissa remarks, knowing that the tree bark texture of her dress would be something the District Seven victor will despise.

"Well, you look amazing," Johanna rolls her eyes, tugging harshly at the fabric of her own skirt. "Chambray really outdid herself. I'm not so sure about lover boys' outfit, though."

"You're just jealous you couldn't pull off this outfit as well as I do," Finnick responds to the girl's teasing's.

"Please, anything that you can pull off, I'd wear one hundred times better than you."