The Flying Fish (Exocoetidae)|| Finnick Odair X Fem!OC

Training

Cress doesn't look across the table, because who's sitting across the table? Finnick, the same Finnick that she saw practically nude that morning. No, she has still not recovered from that.

"What's up with you, you look like you've seen a ghost," Ferric asks, poking her shoulder.

"What? Nothing," Cress answers quickly before stuffing another bite of toast in her mouth. Ferric raises his eyebrow but doesn't say anything.

"After breakfast, I'll take you down to the training rooms." Finnick doesn't make eye contact with Cress, avoiding even looking at her. Ferric glances between them, but doesn't comment.

"Alright then," he mutters, starting to eat his yogurt parfait.

"Can I have some?" Cress asks, leaning over to get a glimpse of his parfait.

"Sure." Ferric scoops some up and hands it to her.

"Thanks Ferric." she smiles, eating it. "Holy shoot, this is amazing. Where did you get this?"

"I ordered it. Yeah, my stylist explained the room service button to me, it's pretty awesome." Ferric grins.

"Would you care to explain it to me after training?" Cress asks, stealing another bite of his parfait.

"Of course, I'd be happy too," he says, smiling.

"If you're both ready, we should head down to the training rooms." Finnick interjects, causing both Ferric and Cress to look at him. Cress and him make eye contact, which has them both remembering their encounter this morning. Cress breaks it first, looking away while the colour rises to her cheeks. Finnick himself is flushing slightly, cheeks now tinted slightly pink.

"I'm ready, how about you Cress?" Ferric glances towards her, and she just nods in response.

"Then follow me." Finnick guides them through the sprawling halls and they exit in a massive room, filled with weapons and training equipment.

"Whoa," Cress says, glancing around the room in awe. "This is.. intense."

"Hella awesome!" Ferric grins, immediately running to the rack of spearguns.

"Yeah, I'm not touching those," Cress mutters, walking over to the bars and flipping around a few times.

"Still got the skills I see." Finnick smiles, leaning against the bars and watching her.

"Of course. What do you think I've been doing for the past two years? I've got to make money somehow, you know?" she rolls her eyes, settling down on the ground again. Ferric had been watching her practice and had zoned out slightly.

"You and the circus have been doing well then?" Finnick asks.

"Yeah, but I haven't been performing for a while. Just a backup for now." she shrugs.

"Wait, what? But you're an amazing trapeze artist!" Finnick looks like he wants to protest her being the backup performer.

"I requested to be backup so I could spend more time at home, since Mom works so much. Junie gets lonely." she goes back to practicing, creating a makeshift catch bar to swing on. When various tributes look up, they can see her practically flying around the ceiling.

"Wow," Ferric mumbles, coming to stand beside Finnick while watching her swing around. "She's awesome. I've seen her at the circus a few times, but only from far away. It's kind of surreal to see it up close."

"It's incredible, isn't it?" Finnick has a small smile on his face as he watches her.

"Hey, what's the deal between you two?" Ferric asks. "You've both been weird all morning."

"..Long story," Finnick mumbles. "It's not important anyway. Anyway, why aren't you training, Amberfall? Get back to it!"

"My bad, my bad," Ferric laughs. "Bye Finn."

"Don't call me that." Finnick makes a face, not a fan of nicknames. "Get back to training Ferric."

"Will do." he nods, walking back over to the speargun he'd been practicing with. Finnick continues to watch Cress, that soft smile never fully leaving his face.

"Finn, check it out!" she shouts, waving to get his attention. When she's sure that he's looking at her, she free falls for a moment and practically gives him a heart attack before gripping onto the catch bar. She does a few tricks before landing elegantly in front of him. "Ta da."

"Ta da indeed, holy shit," he mutters, putting his hand over his racing heart. "Jesus, Cress, you practically gave me a heart attack."

"Scared you a little huh? Come on, have a little confidence in me, alright?" she smiles. "I got this."

"You got this." Finnick says that mostly to reassure himself at this point. "Alright, back to training. Maybe don't spend the whole time flipping around and try something else, yeah?"

"Fine, you're right," Cress sighs, heading off to practice with the knives. She'd had some practice with them, growing up filleting fish and removing delicate bones, so she was half decent with them.

"Atta girl," he says quietly, watching her head off to practice.

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"So, how was training today?" Sorrel smiles, motioning for Cress to lift her arm so he can measure it.

"Pretty fun, actually. Ferric showed me how to throw a knife, which was pretty cool. He also tried to teach me the speargun, but I was kind of bad at it," she says, shrugging. "I also made a makeshift trapeze, so that was nice. I miss the circus, and District 4. Sorry, I'm kind of rambling now."

"Don't worry about it, I've been told I'm a good listener." Sorrel continues to take her measurements. "I had Saffrin draw up some design ideas for your next outfit, which is the interview outfit. Which do you like best?"

Saffrin and Tazzel come into the room, showing their ideas for her outfit. "See, I just don't think they're sparkly enough." Tazzel sighs, shaking his head. "I mean, I proposed more sequins but both Sorrel and Saffrin said no!"

Cress mouths a quick 'thank you' to both Sorrel and Saffrin, who nod in understanding. Even the seemingly stoic Saffrin cracks a small smile.

"So, which do you like best?" Sorrel asks.

"I like them all, but I really like the deep blue one." Cress points to the midnight blue dress design, the bodice one again encrusted with small pearls as well as the ends, creating a sort of gradient. It was paired with starfish earrings, with pearls of course, and matching heels.

"That's what I was thinking!" Tazzel exclaims, eyebrows up so high Cress was afraid they would get stuck.

"Then that's your dress. Thank you for your input Cress." Sorrel and Tazzel walk off to begin working on it while Saffrin stays behind.

"So, Cress, what's the deal with you and Odair?" she asks quietly, a small smirk playing on her face.

"What? Nothing!" Cress' face flushes red, feeling like finding a very deep hole and staying there forever.

"Doesn't seem like nothing to me," Saffrin teases.

"Fine, I have a thing for him, but it's nothing really. He could have literally any girl he wanted, and I'm pretty damn sure it's not some trapeze artist. Besides, in his speech on the victory tour he said something about a special girl." Cress shrugs, picking at her nails. "It's just a silly crush anyway."

"Maybe so." Saffrin and Cress sit in comfortable silence as Saffrin cleans her up. "All done."

"Thanks Saffrin." Cress stands up, adjusting her shirt. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Goodbye Cress."