The Sterling Nightingale ⟷ Finnick Odair/OC

I know what it means to be infinite

Chapter Seventy Five | I know what it means to be infinite

"She knew in a moment that for the past few months she had been mistaken: that this man who stood here before her, cold as a statue, when her musical voice struck upon his ear, loved her, as he had loved her a year ago: that his passion might have been dormant, but that it was there, as strong, as intense, as overwhelming, as when first her lips met his in one long, maddening kiss." Emma Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel

Finnick turns the town inside out looking for her. He doesn't find her. He's not sure if he's surprised or not. As the Sterling Nightingale, Sil knows how to stay under the radar. She's slipped right through his fingers.

An hour later, he finds himself at the docks. He knows she isn't here. To be honest, he's not sure why his feet have carried him to this part of the district. Maybe it's because, to him, the water has always had the startling ability to soothe any wounds. But as he sits down on the pier in front of his unnamed boat, he reckons that this time, even the ocean can't fix the pain that tears through him. Can he be blamed? The woman he loves has a terrible penchant of running away from him at the worst of times. It's maddening and he's frankly tired of it.

He's not sure how long he sits there. An hour maybe. Time slips by with the lapping sound of the water against the docks, and it's impossible to gauge how much of it passes. He doesn't care. He just stares at the helm of the boats lined up at the pier. All of them have names. Fiddler's Rest. The Sea Shanty. Lady Luck. He studies them quietly, then glances over at his own boat. The unmarked helm is like a curse.

Footsteps sound behind him, but Finnick doesn't look up even when Rory's familiar voice grunts, "What're you doing here? Figured you'd be cozying up with your girl right about now. Whole town's talking about the way she stormed through the place like a damned hurricane."

Finnick huffs out a humorless laugh and mutters, "Yeah. She stormed right back out of it too, before I even realized she was here."

The admission seems to come as a surprise to Rory. The older man looks at Finnick with a raised eyebrow and a keen expression, and drawls, "Well you must have a spell on you, otherwise you'd be storming after her."

Finnick sends him an annoyed look that Rory hardly even blinks at. He's going to tell him he doesn't know what he's talking about, but before he gets the chance, Della strolls up behind her husband with a frustrated look on her face and barks, "What the hell happened, Odair?"

Finnick sighs. Apparently, everyone knows about his love life before even he does.

Glowering over at Della's sharp expression, he says, "She took one look at Annie, thought I knocked her up, and left before I could explain it all to her."

The explanation makes Rory and Della turn to look at each other in shock, before the pair of them burst out into boisterous laughter. The sound echoes over the docks and across the water loudly, making Finnick roll his eyes. He's not really in the mood to be laughed at right about now.

"Well I'll be damned," Della chortles. She looks like this entire situation is hilarious, and Rory seems to agree. Wiping her eyes, Della remarks, "You're a great sailor, Finnick, but when it comes to women, you're a damned blind fool."

Rory snorts, "In all fairness, Dell, his girl seems pretty blind too."

Della and Rory look at each other, shrug in agreement, and then start laughing all over again as if they've never been more amused in their whole lives than they are now. Finnick's getting a little tired of it. He loves the both of them like family, but honestly.