Pearls and Perils ・❥・Finnick Odair x Reader

Chapter 13

"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm over here." The voice says again. I turn to the right and look upwards where I hear the voice coming from, trident still raised. Sure enough, Micah reveals himself from out of the trees.

"Micah!" I gasp. I lower my trident and feel a smile curling at my lips. It was the first time I had smiled in what seems like forever. Then I start questioning how the small boy from district 11 is still alive, especially after that flood.

"I was just going to tell you not to go that way." He starts. "I saw the careers walk in that direction." I nod at him.

"Thank you." I whisper back. There's a brief moment of silence. I look at Micah, noticing how he looks even smaller in that big tree. How is it fair that he got picked for the games? My big sister instincts kick in.

"Are you hungry?" I ask. He purses his lips.

"No, I'm okay." He replies shyly. I can tell he's lying.

"Don't lie to me, are you hungry?" I ask again. He nods his head.

"I'll come up and we can share some of my leftover fish." I say. His body language projects that he's scared. "I won't hurt you," I say, locking eyes with him, "I promise." I make my way over to the base of the tree. I pause to think about how I'm supposed to climb up this. "Don't laugh at how slow I'm gonna climb. We don't really climb trees a lot in the fishing district." I smile. This elicits a smile back from Micah and his body language eases up. I struggle my way up the tree, it's even harder than I thought it would be. Eventually, I reach the branch that Micah is sitting on. I let out a slightly exaggerated sigh. As promised, I reach into my bag and cut into the sea bass. I give Micah half and I eat the rest. He scarfs it down, I wonder how many days it's been since he's eaten. That's when I notice his ankle is wrapped up.

"What happened?" I question, motioning to his right ankle.

"During the flood I had to climb this tree really fast. I misstepped- my ankle caved inward and I heard a snap." He replied. I can only hope for his sake he can bear some weight on it.

"No sponsor gifts?" I ask. He laughs sarcastically. "What? You're very smart and sly. I would sponsor you."

"Very bold of you to bet on a little kid who can now barely walk." He gives a half smile. "But I bet you've gotten lots of sponsors, you're all anyone's been talking about this year. They say you're the female version of Finnick Odair." I feel my cheeks blush when he mentions his name. I miss him more than ever right now. I would give anything to hear one more of his stupid jokes, or be wrapped up in his arms. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Micah giving me a mischievous look, he's raising one eyebrow at me.

"What?" I laugh.

"Is any of it true?" Micah smiles. "What Caesar said about you two, are you in love?" He extends the word love and playfully elbows me. I laugh at his antics but also can't help the way my cheeks are turning bright red right now.

"You're blushing! You totally like him." Micah teases. I shush him and try to change the conversation. I have to be very careful with what I say, cameras are on me 24/7 in the games. I don't want people to assume the same things Ronan did. I'm going to win these games, and I'm going to win them because I deserve to.

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I continue working on my net trap that I had started. I talk Micah through the different knots I'm using. It's surprisingly calming. The sky quickly darkens as I put the finishing touches on my net. The sound of the anthem playing followed by the capitol seal flashing in the sky startles me. The first face shown is a surprise yet again, it's the girl from district 2. I doubt she didn't learn how to swim in the training academy, so it must have been another freak accident, just like what happened to her district partner. Next is the boy from district 3, followed by the male from district 6. The boy from 6, the one I let die. I could have saved him, I was perfectly capable, but I didn't. I start to question if I've let the games change me, if I am now just a ruthless kid who only cares about themselves. I can't even look at his face projecting in the sky, I feel like such a coward. The last one is the girl from 11, Micah's district. Instinctively, I grab his hand and tell him I'm sorry. She looks as if she's not that much older than Micah, maybe around fourteen. Micah bites the insides of his cheeks.

"Did you know her well?" I ask, not sure what else to say at this moment.

"Kind of." He starts. "Back home during harvest season, the smallest kids are in charge of climbing up the highest. That was us. We weren't super close but she's from home, and everyone from home is like family." I bring him into a hug. His body goes stiff at first, like it caught him off guard or he'd never been hugged before. But eventually he eases up and accepts the hug.

"I'm sorry." I say again, and pull out of the hug.

"It's okay." He assured me. "I'm lucky that I had a good relationship with my district partner, unlike you." He gives a soft smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"That's for sure." I roll my eyes playfully. "Wait, how did you even know that?"

"You said it yourself: I'm clever and sly. I tend to pick up on these things without anyone even noticing." He laughs. I smile back but I also feel an ache in my chest. Everytime I talk to Micah I'm reminded of Cora: the social intelligence, being wise beyond their years, constantly being overlooked by everybody. They have an identical demeanor, I think they would be best friends. It's at this moment that I decide if it comes down to us two, Micah will be going home.

It's getting late. Yawns are emerging and eyes are becoming droopy. We determine it will be fine if we both sleep, we've both been sleeping without someone on guard this whole time anyway. Micah lends me some of his rope and we tie ourselves to the tree so we don't roll over and plummet 40 feet to the ground. Micah impressively falls into a deep sleep almost immediately while I just can't get my brain to shut off. I think about my sister. I wonder what she's doing right now. I wonder what she's thinking. I can only hope my dad's with her right now instead of face down in an alleyway somewhere. I wonder the same for Finnick, what's he doing right now? I shift back and forth between all the people in my life, worrying myself sick about them. I wonder what people are saying about me. What do people in the capitol think of me? What do the people back home think of me? Does everyone think I'm sleeping around to get ahead? Does anyone think I have a shot at winning this thing? I just want to shut my brain off. I need rest. I try to go to my happy place. I envision myself at one of the beaches back home. Damp sand. Salty breeze. Cool water. Warm air. Crashing waves. I imagine myself floating in the water without a care in the world. Something splashes me. I sit upright in the sparkling water. It's Finnick, he's smiling at me. How I wish this moment were real right now.

AUTHORS NOTE: I sound like a broken record but thank you for showing this so much love <3 it means the world to me. Two sports and school have been consuming my life but I should be able to write more over thanksgiving break! I'm thankful for y'all btw 🦃