Love at Sea (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 3

"Why are you in a wheelchair?" Taiya asked Beetee as she watched him wheel himself through the breakfast queue.

"The lightning from the quarter quell. I lost a lot of my mobility. How are you Taiya?" he asked. She'd been avoiding him since she was rescued. He'd tried to visit her but she'd always say she was too tired, or she'd have Gloss answer the door, and that would be enough to scare Beetee away. He'd watched that same man kill Wiress after all.

"Fine." She wasn't. "Got to go. Buck's waiting for me," Taiya turned and walked to the end of the breakfast line, shamelessly cutting in to get served first. No one stopped her. They were scared of her.

"Yo," Buck greeted.

"Hey," she smiled, reaching over and plopping some 'sugar' into his coffee.

"Act cool while I tell you this. Tyler doesn't want to tell you. Says it might set you off."

"What's up?" she asked urgently, doing her best to keep her smile straight, but she was already tense, her knuckles going white as she clenched her tray.

"Two nights ago, yours and Peeta's prep teams were executed live on television," he whispered.

Taiya immediately spun around to face her friend, her eyes wide. "Tigris!" she panicked.

"Not Tigris, I said act cool," he spun her back.

"How can I act cool when you tell me my prep team were murdered!"

"Tigris is safe. It seems it was just your team from the last Games."

"Oh thank god."

"Thank god people were killed?" Buck frowned as they got closer to their friend's table.

"Thank god it wasn't Tigris. I love Tigris."

"But the others?" he asked.

"Nonplussed," she shrugged as she placed her tray down and sat beside Gloss.

"Nonplussed about what?" Gloss asked.

"Mind your own business," she grabbed some bread and mashed it into his face.

"What are we talking about?" Finnick asked as he took a seat on the other side of Taiya.

"Taiya and Buck are keeping secrets," Gloss whined.

"Oh yeah," Finnick smiled. "That's not unusual. You've got some bread on your face," he politely pointed out to Gloss who returned his kindness with a cold glare. "Ok, never mind."

"They're trying something new with Peeta today," Haymitch declared as he joined the table, taking a seat next to Buck whose eyes instantly widened and his whole body tensed up.

"What?" Taiya immediately demanded of him.

"Well, they're going to put someone in the room with him that he knows from home, but hopefully won't connect with Katniss. A school friend called Delly. Then they're going to monitor his reaction."

"He was fine with me, put me back in there," Taiya leant forward eagerly.

"You didn't," Tyler groaned, he hadn't been told she'd broken into his room.

"Oh don't act surprised," Taiya just rolled her eyes.

"Unbelievable."

"Plutarch, Katniss and I are going to watch over it. I'll let you know how it goes," Haymitch said directly to Taiya.

"Urgh, Katniss," Taiya groaned.

"Tay," Finnick nudged her softly.

"Oh yippee, girl on fire, woohoo," Taiya mockingly perked up. "How is Plutarch this morning anyway?"