Sugarcubes // Finnick Odair - Hunger Games Fanfic

V.

Everything is ten times worse than it was when I was in my first games.

The crowd is ten times larger; the dress is ten times more uncomfortable; Snow looks ten times more evil. My heart doesn't pound as fast as it did the first time I did this, so that's a good thing. When Finnick and I make an appearance, the crowd goes wild. Now would be the time I wave and blow kisses, the curves of my body doing what my face cannot, as Capitol men and women drool over me. I don't this time. My gaze is fixed ahead of me as I resist the urge to puke, unfazed by Finnick's hands waving, and his net of a dress swinging in the wind. The Capitol doesn't deserve my smiles, or my kisses. They don't deserve to see me happy when they are the sole cause for my unhappiness. I can tell Finnick is nervous too, only by one thing. His left hand grips my right one tightly, so tight that I'm sure the blood has stopped flowing to the tips of my fingers. I don't mind though. It keeps me grounded as well. It also keeps me from leaping off our carriage to kill Snow as he delivers his speech, an objective I'm sure was intended.

Johanna greets me with a punch as I step down from the carriage, and Finnick walks away, after whispering peevishly that he thinks I will win the bet with Katniss.

Blight joins us and John, the other Victor, stares at us from afar. He seems cold and calculating, as though he doesn't really want to be with us, although I wouldn't want to be with us if I was in his position either.

"You looked hideous." Jo informs me, after a moment of silence, and I smile.

"Almost as hideous as you when you wake up in the morning," I tell her, ruffling her hair playfully.

"Hey! Watch your words, I'm your mentor this year, remember?"

"Yes ma'am," I tell her, giving a mock salute.

"Speaking of which, any alliances you're thinking of?"

"Not the careers. Finnick. Mags. Beetee."

She sighs. "You really know how to choose 'em don't you?"

"You won't change my mind, Jo. Don't try." I tell her, leaving her in the common area as I head towards the lift, eager to strip off this ridiculously ugly dress. And of course, as fate would have it, or Finnick would have it for that matter, I meet the tributes and mentor of District twelve in the elevator.

Who can piss Katniss off to the extreme that she snaps?

Finnick's voice echoes in my head and I smirk slyly as Haymitch greets me, and we hug. Katniss doesn't help her cause, or my self-control when she glares at me as though she'd want the games to start right now, in this elevator. She shouldn't of course, because I could take all three of them if I wanted to, especially since Katniss doesn't have her bow.

"So, you're the girl on fire?" I ask, not expecting her to answer, "The reason we're all back in this hell hole."

She opens her mouth angrily, but clamps it shut after a second thought, and I press the button for the seventh floor. She is easily wearing some of the best clothing seen in this year's tribute parade, and I'm jealous of her for it. I don't care about impressions, no, I care about people taking me seriously. They can't do that if I'm dressed like a log.

"I've been looking forward to meeting you," I tell her, lying through my teeth, "Kendria Parstons."

"Katniss." She says from between her teeth.

"I'm glad Cinna made a decision to put you in something more your style after a year of little girl playthings." I tell her, smiling, and Haymitch smiles alongside me, already knowing where I'm going. I lean forward and touch a part of her braided hair. She flinches back, and I smirk, plopping another sugar cube in my mouth. "My stylist, however, obviously has no brains in that thick skull of hers. Kind of like you when you made that move to fake eat the berries, Katniss. We all know you could have killed him and saved us all this trouble." I tell her, turning to Peeta and toying with his zipper suggestively.

I can practically feel the heat radiating off her, and I can tell I'm pretty close.

"Will you unzip me darling?" I ask suddenly, as a miraculous idea strikes me, turning my back to Peeta as Haymitch suppresses his laughs. The poor boy looks like he's going to pee his pants, but nevertheless, unzips the back of my dress allowing me to step out of it. I'm left in my bra and an underwear, though the Capitol men have made me immune to being embarrassed in this state. I slip off my heels and hook them with my fingers, turning to Haymitch.

Without a word, he takes off his coat and hands it to me, to which I mouth him a thank you, wrapping it around myself. Katniss glares at me as the lift dings at the seventh floor.

"Here," I tell her, handing her the heels with such force that her hand come up instinctively to grab them. "You'll need the extra height. It makes your stares appear a lot more intimidating if you can actually look them in the eye. Other times, you just look like an angry schoolgirl, darling."

She tips off. I can see the switch in her click.

"Why you-" She says, lunging at me, but both Peeta and Haymitch hold her back. I smile.

"Tell Finnick he owes me," I whisper into Haymitch's ear before stepping out of the lift.

I hear Haymitch introduce them to me before the doors close, to which I respond with a middle finger, resting my image in their minds forever.

Published: 3 December, 2023