CHAPTER FOUR!
MANAGING SMALL SMILES.
ELENA HAD SPENT THE NIGHT with Finnick, talking about things from back home and trying to forget the horrible predicament that they're currently in. It worked to an extent - she still thinks about Jace a lot and all that she can hope is that he's safe back in District Four, that he hasn't done anything stupid. He has a bit of a habit for doing stupid things when he's upset.
The following morning, the two of them sit at the dining table with Mags as they eat their breakfast and discuss the training that is coming up later on in the day. Elena doesn't remember much from her training sessions, most of the skills she has revolves around District Four life — fishing lures and knots mostly. Finnick had her train with the trident when she was in her sessions, giving her some pointers before hand but they didn't even have any of those in her Games. She had a knife and that was it.
"I'm going to teach you some things today, Lena and then you can go over to the quieter stations which I know you like to do," Finnick comments to the blonde girl who nods her head as she chews on her toast. "Be careful with some of the people in there, they're good at manipulating,"
"I know, Finn. Don't interact with one and two — it's all I've heard from you for two years," Elena replies, the corners of her mouth twitching up into a small smile.
Whilst District Four is usually a part of the Career alliance, Elena has strayed from that during her Games. She went off on her own, worried that the minute she turned her back to someone from One or Two, they'd stick a knife in her back. They would've seen her as weak and of no advantage to their alliance, she knows that is probably what they were thinking from the beginning anyway.
"Hold on to that advice, especially this year. I'd be weary of trusting anybody who you don't really know," He speaks to her and she nods her head, skimming over the tributes in her mind. Johanna is the only one she's had a real conversation with out of the lot of them.
"None of them probably trust me either," Elena shrugs in response as she finishes her breakfast. She grabs the hair tie off the table and gently positions her hair so that she can tie it up into a ponytail at the back of her head. "I think we have to go now,"
Finnick nods and finishes eating his food, giving Mags a small smile before leaving with the girl. They enter the elevator together and Elena is more than happy that nobody else has joined them on it, not wanting to deal with strangers in a confined space. As they head into the training centre, her palms begin to sweat as the nerves finally kick in. Tributes are already dispersed amongst the stations, the usual message from the trainer obviously not needed since they're all returning tributes. It's not something you could really forget.
"Come on," Finnick mumbles to her quietly, grabbing her arm gently and pulling her over to one of the combat stations. "I'll teach you the trident,"
Elena nods as he lets go of her, the older man picking up one of the weapons and heading into the simulation. She watches on as the enemies start to get closer to him - he allows them to get close enough so that he can hit them with the weapon without losing grip on it. As one sneaks up behind him, he quickly swings around and attacks, the holographic person disintegrating before their eyes. Elena smiles a little and claps for him which causes him to roll his eyes.
"You ready for your turn?" He asks as he hands over the weapon. She grips it tightly in her hand, the weapon feeling incredibly unfamiliar. The knife she'd used in her games was lighter and probably easier for use. "All you can do is give it a shot, Lena. If it's not your weapon, we'll find you something else,"
Elena sighs deeply and walks into the room, the glass door sliding shut after her. She snaps her head to Finnick as memories of the tube that had taken her into the arena start to flood her mind. He gives her a small yet encouraging nod and she takes a deep breath, her gaze returning to in front of her.
As the simulation starts, she is able to hit the first few enemies with ease, however when they begin running at her more she is left overwhelmed. Two of them run at her at the same time and she takes the opportunity to dodge one whilst stabbing one through the back before the other turns back to her, the trident then going through its stomach.
Finnick is still watching outside intently, taking note of her movements and how she approaches the situation and when she takes down the last one, he smiles at her. It's not perfect, if she'd been up against real people, it is very likely she may have gotten injured but it's something they can work with.
"Good job," he wraps his arm around her shoulder as she exits the small room. The trident ends back up on the rack. "I'm going to go speak to Johanna, do you want to come with?"
"I think I might go to one of the empty stations," She replies quietly and he nods his head, giving her a light squeeze before walking away from her.
She looks around to try and spot and empty station, smiling softly when she sees an empty space. The blonde walks over and stands at the table where there are hooks and lines laying across the surface. Making fishing hooks and lures is something her brother does a lot, living up to the District Four stereotype. She's never been one for it really but he's taught her a few things and doing this will just remind her of happy memories with Jace, something she needs right now.
The girl focuses intently on her lure so much that she hasn't even noticed that Katniss Everdeen has moved to stand beside her, watching how she manages to manoeuvre every aspect accurately. It takes a few moments, when she finally sees something actually move beside her, but she notices the brunette girl standing there.
"That's amazing," Katniss says to Elena as she finishes up with it. "Did Finnick teach you that?"
"My brother," Elena's voice is soft and quiet as she thinks about the boy who is back at home.
"Would you mind teaching me? I could help you with the bow," Katniss suggests and Elena looks up at her.
"I'd be hopeless with a bow but I'll be happy to teach you some of this stuff. I'm not an expert myself but I know some,"
"Thank you,"
Elena spent the next twenty minutes with the girl from District Twelve, teaching her about lures that she could use. Katniss listens intently the entire time which Elena appreciates wholeheartedly, most people usually just partially pay attention. Teaching her was not so bad but when Katniss goes to try something else, Elena heads in the opposite direction and towards the camouflage table.
Currently the table is empty, something she quite enjoys. However, she strays away from the red and orange paints, images of blood stained skin running through her mind as she looks at them. Instead, she focuses on the greens, blues and yellows, even the browns. Never in her life has she actually tried to paint her own skin, not intentionally anyway so it's a new experience.
"I saw you helping Katniss earlier," the voice is soft and friendly and yet it still makes her jump, the paint on the end of her brush splattering across the table. Elena looks at Peeta Mellark as he once again surprises her. "Sorry. I thought I could help you with this to repay you,"
"I probably didn't help her that much, I'm a pretty useless teacher," She comments quietly and he shakes his head grabbing another paintbrush himself. "What are you doing?"
"Teaching you. A lesson for a lesson, its the least I can do," Peeta replies as he dips his brush into the paint and lays his free arm on the table. "Make sure not to put too much paint on your brush,"
Elena watches in awe as he delicately paints his skin. She notices the way he layers the paint and adds some of the clay mixture available as well in order to give off a more realistic appearance. He then walks over to one of the fake trees and lays his arm against it, her eyes widening in wonder as it blends in. Peeta watches as the blonde's lips pull up in a smile and in turn, one appears on his face as well.
"How did you get so good at that?" She breathes as she walks over, gently grabbing his arm and rubbing her thumb over it, her hatred for contact from strangers momentarily gone due to her amazement.
"I used to decorate cakes at the bakery back home. My mum and dad owned it," Peeta replies and she moves her eyes up to connect with his. It's then she must realises what she's doing, her hands dropping his arm quicker than imaginable, his eyebrows furrowing together slightly at her actions. "Do you want to give it a try?"
Elena nods her head and walks back to the table, gently lathering her skin with the clay mixture and allowing it to build up.
"It's unlikely there will be any clay in the arena but you can use mud and just plants in general to try and blend yourself in. A little is better than none," Peeta says to her as he grabs some of the plants in front of them. He demonstrates the way they can be used and she smiles,
"Lena? It's time to go to lunch," Finnick's voice sounds behind her and she turns to face him. "If we don't hurry all the best food will be gone," the last part is teasing as he moves his eyes to hover over Peeta who is cleaning off his arm.
"Of course. Thank you, Peeta," Elena says, turning her head back to look at the teenager who nods with a soft smile before she walks off with Finnick.
"Good news. At least half of the tributes wants you as an ally," Haymitch calls to Katniss as he walks into the room where her and Peeta are sitting with one another.
"Well, they saw her shoot," Peeta comments as he looks to Katniss who doesn't look the slightest bit bothered by the information.
"Well, sweetheart, you got your pick of the litter,"
"I want Wiress and Beetee," Katniss says and the two males look at her with an almost exasperated expression.
"Johanna calls them Nuts and Volts," Peeta replies, slightly amused as he remembers the conversation they'd had at lunch.
"Well, okay, good. Now who-who else?" Haymitch asks hopefully, wanting her to give another answer.
"Elena,"
Peeta looks at the girl, admittedly slightly surprised at the request. Haymitch also looks taken aback by her suggestion, her expression showing that he's thinking that over in his head.
"She helped me out today and I know you spent time with her too, Peeta. She seems trustworthy to me," Katniss shrugs as she leans her head back against the couch, her eyes looking at their mentor.
"That's great and all but you have Elena, you get Finnick. It's almost goes without saying and I know that you don't trust Finnick Odair in the slightest," Haymitch responds and annoyance seems to run through the girl's eyes, remembering the odd conversation she'd had with Finnick Odair.
"You're probably right," Katniss gives in to him as she thinks about it. "Then I don't want anybody,"
"I'll tell them you're still making up your mind,"
NOTE!
Thank you all for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed it!