The Sterling Nightingale ⟷ Finnick Odair/OC

The captures me with such prowess

Chapter Fourteen | That captures me with such prowess

"It was a ghostlike replica, in fact, of that fashionable gathering upstairs; a ghost that haunts every house where balls and good suppers are given; a picture drawn with white chalk on grey cardboard, dull and colorless, now that the bright silk dresses and gorgeously embroidered coats were no longer there to fill in the foreground, and now that the candles flickered sleepily in their sockets." Emma Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel

Hours slip by. Finnick eventually falls into a brief but stimulating sleep. It seems that the moment he closes his eyes, his nightmares are back at full force. Being around Capitolites has staggered him. He wakes up at midnight to the sight of his borrowed room and all the luxurious furnishings that come with it. For a brief moment, he thinks he's back in the Capitol and scrambles up, still dressed in his clothes from the party. His shirt is wrinkled and his loosened bowtie seems intent on strangling him, so he rips it off. He'd like to rip the rest of the extravagant room, but he figures it would probably be rude. Sil did, after all, set this all up for him. She'd even made sure his room was right next to the –

"Pool," he murmurs. A slow smile creeps up his face. He can go swimming. The thought catapults him off the bed as he wrestles with his constricting clothing. When he is down to his briefs, Finnick strolls across the room to the French doors and quietly open them, stepping out into the enclosed patio.

He takes a moment to let the sight sink in properly. It's a small pool, nothing grand like the ones they have at the Capitol. But the entire interior is tiled with light blue and white ceramic pieces, which swirl like waves beneath the surface. The moon from above lights up the water and the surrounding pavement, giving off a pale white light that illuminates several palm trees and the hammock and poolside chairs. Above it all, cresting between the four walls of the estate that tower on each side, is a glass dome that blocks away the elements. He knows that, outside of this tiny world, the desert is cold during the nights. But here beneath this crystal glass, everything is warm and vivid and lovely, and he barely pauses before jumping into the pool.

He doesn't expect to have company.

It's after midnight, and the world should be asleep. It seems asleep. The mansion is dark and silent. But apparently there is one person other than himself who is awake. One person that Finnick seems to be unable to get away from, no matter how hard he tries.

"Dear me, what a sight you make," Sil's voice drawls. Finnick doesn't want to admit it, but he nearly jumps out of his skin at the sudden knowledge that he isn't as alone as he'd thought. He jerks around, the water cutting and parting as he searches for the body that accompanies the voice.

He finds her across the pool, leaning against a doorway that must led to somewhere deeper into the mansion. Her arms are crossed languidly over her chest, and she's changed out of her frilly gown and into something much more comfortable. Finnick stares for a moment, surprised for one reason: he has never seen her wearing trousers. Usually she just wears her skirts and her dresses. He's not sure why this makes him stumble. It's stranger that she never wears trousers at all.

"Let me guess," Finnick says after a moment, "you had a salacious dream about me and decided to catch me naked to reenact it."

Her first reaction is an amused little giggle. Her second reaction is a pause and then a forcibly neutral, "Are you naked?" To be honest, she's not sure how she feels about that.

Finnick just smirks roguishly, "Why don't you come find out for yourself, sugar." He winks and she rolls her eyes.

Instead of walking to the poolside, Sil steps to the far wall and opens a tiny little compartment built into it, unnoticed unless one is familiar with the pool's layout. She flicks some sort of switch and suddenly the entire pool is lit up with tiny lights attached to the interior tiles. Finnick's eyebrows dart up in surprise and wonder. Sil watches him, trying not to make it too obvious that she is (sort of) ogling his bare chest. Thankfully Finnick doesn't notice because he's too busy examining the little lights.