lover/fighter - Finnick Odair

Chapter 22 - Of pirates and wallflowers

Rhea almost runs on her way back to the inn. She wants to tell herself that it's just because she's excited to finally see the village. In truth, she can't tell why she's running, whether toward something or away from something.

Probably, as usual, it's because of what this popular winner from 4 is doing to her. She is agitated because of him. That's what he triggers in her, a feeling of inner turmoil, but not always in the same way, which leaves her utterly confused.

Again and again, she is completely taken off guard by him, by what he does, what he says, and what he doesn't say. His mood changes to the complete opposite from one moment to the next, and it is impossible to predict what will come next.

The same seems to be true of her life at the moment, because when she reaches her destination, she is surprised yet again. When she finds Isla in the dining room, she is not alone. She is having a boisterous conversation with an elderly lady who is sitting at the table with her.

As Rhea approaches the two, she quickly realizes who she is dealing with. It is true that her knowledge of the games and the victors is not particularly extensive, Rhea still recognizes one of the oldest survivors of the hunger games. She is considerably smaller than Rhea, with long gray frizzy hair and a wrinkled face, but an incredibly warm expression in her gray eyes.

When Isla notices her presence, she smiles back at her. "Ah, there you are sweetheart. You've been gone longer than I thought."

"Sorry, I lost track of time a bit. You weren't waiting for me, were you?" asks Rhea.

"Don't worry," Isla replies, then puts on an apologetic look. "I know I wanted to go to town with you today, but unfortunately something came up and I can't leave at the moment. But that's not a big problem, because you can accompany Mags here instead. She knows her way around here better than anyone else anyway," she announces cheerfully.

Rhea, who now turns her gaze to the old lady, notices how she surveys her with a warm smile. She has this look as if she knows more than Rhea. It's a quality she knows from Linus or even Mirella. A kind of mental superiority that seems to develop through a lot of life experience and allows one to see through certain facts that remain hidden to young inexperienced people like Rhea. She likes to refer to this phenomenon as "parental hyperawareness", although Linus never had children himself, but it's clear just what she means.

Rhea quickly falls back into her usual pattern, but soon after the words leave her mouth and she sees Mags' grinning face, she is embarrassed to have introduced herself as if at a job interview. The fact that Mags just shrugs it off with a laugh and replies that she knows exactly who she's looking at doesn't make things any better.

She quickly realizes where Mags' twinkling eyes are directed. Since she didn't intend to linger here for long, but wanted to go on to town right away, she didn't bother to take off her jacket. Finnick's jacket, where it must be obvious to everyone that it is not hers.

Rhea doesn't know too much about Mags, but everyone knows she was Finnick's mentor. On those rare occasions when they are both at the Capitol, they are often seen together. She also pops up in front of the cameras that follow Finnick from time to time here in District 4, even though Rhea avoids all the broadcasts about the victors' private lives as much as she can.

The mischievous look she gets from the elderly lady makes her feel like a kid again. That's the effect that comes with this "omniscience," something that has always given Rhea a sense of awe.

"I really don't want to impose on anyone," Rhea says guardedly, with a shyness she hasn't displayed in a long time. Even as a child, she had never been shy, but the fact that it's starting to seep into her behavior right now kind of bugs her a little.