𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐄 | finnick odair

- 𝟐𝟑

༻ CHAPTER 23 ༺
" you'll drown oceans."

     DURING MORNING LIGHT, atlantis had filed into the lounge, first before anyone. she hadn't slept at all last night, only being able to rest her eyes. her lack of sleep had weakened her considerably, the only thing that could give her some energy would be a good breakfast. today she couldn't keep picking at scraps.

     following last night's events, the girl had made it her mission to ignore finnick. any interaction from him went unnoticed, any looks or the simplest of touches were dismissed completely. atlantis was angry. for the first time in years, a situation like this has frustrated her. usually, she'd support him, but during these times she snapped. the pressure of the games and seeing someone's foreign hands upon his skin made her bitter to no end.

     when breakfast had come, almost everyone could see how unnerving everything was. atlantis wouldn't even spare a glance finnick's way, her eyes focused on the meal before her as she forced herself to swallow whatever was there. subtle bags had appeared under her eyes, signs of fatigue being more than clear. nobody spoke, only the quiet clatter of cutlery against plates. the tension could be cut with a knife.

     since nobody wanted to talk, it made sense for merlin to dismiss himself early. evelynn had volunteered to take him down. at the same time, atlantis wanted to take the opportunity too and put herself forward, which meant finnick was left to his own, feeling his heart sink in the slightest at the coldness he was presented with by his best friend. he was wondering how they were going to talk this one out.

     in light of everyone's recent behavior, mags had taken notice. she'd overlooked finnick for so many years that she could tell his discomfort when she could see it. clearly, something had happened the previous day and neither of them were happy. that meant she had some mending to do - seeing two of the closest people to each other fight was something hard to look at. besides, there was enough hardship as there was.

     when atlantis disappeared out of the room, the woman's frail hand clasped around finnick's, catching his attention as he was staring after the girl as the door shut. he was distressed about the whole situation.

     mags leaned in close, so the blonde could hear her quiet and shaking voice to make her easier to understand, "you must mend this."

     he knew exactly what his mentor wanted from him. finnick also wanted to do that himself, but he wasn't sure how. atlantis wouldn't speak to him at all unless he revealed the real motive behind his disappearances. not only was he feeling guilty but he was ashamed. the girl was always right, he was miserable and tried his best not to show any signs of it.

     "i'll try, mags." he guaranteed, a gloomy expression dancing in his eyes. finnick felt so out of place without his good friend and he wished he could confide in her.