Love at Sea (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 11

Gale shot a quick look down the table where Haymitch Abernathy sat with Boggs, hoping for the man to come to rescue him from his fellow victor.

"Don't look at him, look at me Hawthorne," Buck snapped, raising his voice. "Abernathy's not going to save you."

Taiya looked over at Haymitch. His amused expression was poorly hidden, he was thoroughly enjoying the show.

Gale decided to attempt to diffuse the situation and raised his hands.

"Easy there, Buck. No need to..."

"Don't tell me to calm down! You just stay away from her! I don't want to see you anywhere near her! Do you hear me?"

Gale just stared dumbfounded. He had no words. The entire cafeteria had fallen into a hush. All eyes were now on the unfolding drama.

Taiya grinned widely as she watched the chaos unfold.

"Do you hear me?" Buck repeated.

Haymitch snuck a glance at Taiya and shot her a knowing wink before he turned back away.

"Yeah. Yeah, I hear you," Gale responded swiftly.

"Then get out of here!" Buck yelled, and Gale made a quick exit.

As soon as Gale was out of the cafeteria, Taiya's giggles bubbled up. She was staring at Buck with a mix of amusement and bewilderment.

Finnick, quick on his feet, dashed over and slid into the seat beside her, grabbing the tray Gale had abandoned with a grin.

"That was brilliant!" he laughed. "Well done Buck. Well done."

Buck, still trying to calm himself down, looked at the couple with a frown. Neither seemed bothered by the blatant play Gale had just made at Taiya.

"You knew he was flirting with her?" he asked incredulously.

Taiya, her laughter subsiding, nodded mischievously. "Oh yeah, Finnick and I have been having some fun," she smirked at her partner as he threw an arm around her shoulder.

Finnick chuckled. "We spent the past two days making Gale more and more paranoid about my 'relationship' with Katniss. Her's and Gloss' idea," he pointed at Taiya.

Buck's mouth fell open as he looked at Taiya.

"I don't like him and he's our number one target," she shrugged. She was only sad that Gloss had missed the spectacle.

Buck shook his head in disappointment. "Why do I even bother?"

"Oh come on," Taiya smiled. "Don't tell me it wasn't fun watching him squirm."

"I don't know what you see in her Odair," Buck grumbled. "She's a nightmare on legs."

"But I thought I was out of Hawthorne's league?" Taiya repeated his earlier words.

"You need psychiatric help," Buck glared. "Both of you."

"Fair," Finnick nodded, digging into Gale's untouched breakfast.

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The corridors of District 13 were busy as everyone headed off to their morning activities. Finnick and Taiya were on their way to a meeting in command, albeit at different paces. Finnick, ever the punctual one, walked ahead of her with purpose, while Taiya, who did not want to go to this meeting, was dragging her feet and delaying their progress.

Glancing over his shoulder, Finnick couldn't help but smirk at Taiya's pace.

"Come on, Tay, we're cutting it close. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave."