i'm not trying to kill you ~ finnick odair x reader

chapter 24 : meetings. lots and lots of them

"And that, my friends, is how a revolution dies." Haymitch said as he came into the room, slowly clapping.

Katniss and I looked like we were going to breakdown from embarrassment as we slumped our shoulders.

"Hello, Katniss, Y/N" Haymitch said, coming up to us.

Katniss didn't say anything as I smiled at Haymitch. "This how you greet an old friend?"

"Maybe I don't recognize you sober." Katniss sneered.

Haymitch blew his nose into a handkerchief. "I guess it looks as bad as it feels."

- - - -

After finally completing the script as perfectly as we could, Katniss and I left the room, going to see how it looked with the green screened background.

"People of Panem, we fight! We dare! We end this hunger for justice!" Katniss and I yelled on the screen.

I slumped back into my chair, already hating this video. It was dumb and stupid.

"I hate it." I spoke up, making everyone turn towards me.

Haymitch cleared his throat as he got up from his seat. "Uh, Madam President, indulge me for a moment, if you would. Let's everybody think of one incident where Katniss Everdeen and Y/N L/N genuinely moved you. Not where you were jealous of their outfits or the guys they were with."

Katniss and I stared at Haymitch in shock for the end of that sentence. I looked at Haymitch strangely, wondering where he was going with this.

"Or they made halfway decent shots with their daggers and arrows." Haymitch continued. "And not where the boys made you like them. No, I'd like you all to think of one moment where they made you feel something real."

"Oh!" Effie chirped up, raising her hand. "When they both volunteered for someone at the Reapings."

"Excellent example." Haymitch said.

He began wiping the digital board with his arm. "I hope that wasn't important." As he wrote messily onto the screen.

"Good, what else?" Haymitch asked.

"Oh. When Katniss sang that song for Rue, and when Y/N helped patch up Finnick in her games." Effie added enthusiastically. 

"Oh, yeah. Who didn't get choked up at those moments?" Haymitch stated. "You know, I like  you better, Effie, without all that makeup."

"Well, I like you better sober." Effie flirted.

"Now, what do all of these have in common?" Haymitch asked.

"No one told them what to do." Gale said

"Unscripted, yes." Beetee added. "So maybe we should just leave them alone."

"And wash their faces. They're still girls. You made them look 35." Boggs added in.

Effie scoffed in annoyance with Bogg's statement.

"The opportunities for spontaneity are obviously lacking below ground. So what you're suggesting is we toss them into combat?" Plutarch asked.

Katniss' eyes went wide.

"I can't sanction putting untrained civilians in battle just for effect." Coin said. "This is not the Capitol."

"We're not untrained. If anything we're more trained than you are." I said to Coin. There was something about her I just didn't agree with.

Haymitch chuckled a little. "That is exactly what I'm suggesting. Put them in the field."

"No, we can't protect them." Coin argued.