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

Observations

Cress woke up screaming. She'd had her stupid dream again, it never let up, not even for a night. The same chain of events, Ferric alive and healthy, unchanged from his seventeen year old self. Then he was dying in her arms, his blood all over her hands. Then Finnick and him strung up on the poles, their bodies rotting as the crows pecked at their remains.

"Fuck," she whispers, wiping her cheeks. She glanced around, she was on the train, in her compartment, on her way to the Capitol. Unable to go back to sleep, she clambers out of bed and puts on slippers, quietly walking down the length of the train to the common room. To her surprise, Finnick is awake still.

"Finnick? What are you doing awake?" she asks softly. Finnick jumps slightly when he hears her voice, whipping his head towards her.

"Cress, holy crap, you scared me," he whispers, hand over his head. "I'm reviewing the other tribute's Games, what are you doing awake?"

"Nightmare," she mumbles, brushing it off as nothing. She sits down beside him, watching the video of the Games with him. "Who's Games are these?"

"Brutus," he answers, adjusting the tablet so she could see. "He's going to be hard to beat."

"I'm more worried about the most recent victor's, Katniss and Peeta," Cress says, leaning back. Her bare shoulder brushes his and that's when she realised something very important.

Finnick was shirtless.

"Why?" Finnick asks. Right, conversation was happening, focus Cress. Don't focus on his abs though, focus on the words. Oh shit, now she's focused on his lips. Be cool, don't freak out.

"They're new. Fresh meat, if you will. And they've got the love story riding on their shoulders. The Capitol isn't going to want to lose their shiny new trophy so soon after they got it." Cress' eyes narrow on the image of Katniss holding the berries to her lips, Peeta doing the same. "We may not buy their act, but the Capitol sure does. I'd also bet on them trying to rig it for one of us to win."

"What?" Finnick looks surprised. "Why would you say that?"

"Out of most of the victors reaped, we're arguably the most relevant. I mean, the Golden Boy and the Pearl Princess?" she raises her eyebrows. "We're going to be targets, but the biggest one will be on Katniss and Peeta's backs. I would bet twenty panars on it, as well as my chocolate ganache cake."

"Wow, pulling out the big guns I see? Your chocolate ganache cake? I'll take that bet in a heartbeat, sweetheart." Finnick smiles, putting his hands behind his head. Her gaze flicks to his biceps, then back to his face. Oh lord, his biceps.

"Uh huh, I'm sure you are," she sighs, rolling her eyes. He can see her fighting to stay awake, but eventually she gives in. Her body curls up against his, her arms wrapping around his in a tight hug as she sleeps. Finnick can feel his eyes soften as he watches her, feel how his body relaxes when he knows exactly where she is.

He was so fucked.

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Cress woke up on the couch, blanket draped over her shoulders.

"Morning Birdie, sleep well?" Finnick asks. He was leaning over the counter, still shirtless. She sits up, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It wasn't bad, actually," she mumbles, her lips pursing at her admittance. She hadn't had the nightmare again, had the best sleep she's had since the end of her Games eight years ago.

"Good to hear." Finnick hands her a plate of eggs. "Here."

"Oh, you made me eggs?" she asks, taking it. "Thanks Finn, you really didn't have to."

"It's no problem, I don't mind." Finnick gives her a soft smile, watching her eat the eggs. Cress noticed the purplish tinge under his eyes, her brows creasing in concern.

"Finnick, are you okay?" she asks, scooting over so he could sit beside her. "You look.."

"Terrible? Yeah, I know," he sighs, sitting down beside her. He was manspreading and it was distracting her.

"What's wrong?" she asks. Her left hand mindlessly fiddles with the ends of her hair, curling it around the tips of her fingers.

"Just stressed about the Games," he says, avoiding her eyes. Cress' eyes narrow, her lips pursing. He was being evasive.

"Is that all?" she asks, her gaze focused on his. Instead of answering, he shoots to his feet and walks quickly back to his compartment, shutting the door. What's up with him, who shat in his coffee? Cress didn't have time to think about that right now, and she especially didn't have time to think about how damn good he looked, but that was all her brain could focus on. "Goddammit."

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"I want you to watch their Games." Haymitch sets two recordings of Games down in front of her and Peeta, one labelled 67 and the other labelled 65.

"Why?" Peeta asks.

"It's Cress and Finnick's Games," Katniss answers. "Why do we need to watch these?"

"Because they're both killing machines, sweetheart," Haymitch sighs. "They have some of the highest kill counts out of all the tributes, ever. Cress killed six people alone, not even including all the people that Finnick himself killed."

"We get it, they're deadly. If I'm being totally honest, though, Cress just doesn't seem like a threat," Peeta says, crossing his arms and leaning back. "I mean, she doesn't seem to have a particular skill set, unlike Finnick."

"Just watch." Haymitch rolls the tapes of Cress' Games, forcing them to watch. "She's an acrobat, incredibly flexible and surprisingly strong. She's also smart. You see the way she killed Morrel and trapped Cliff? She has that killing calm, she doesn't lose it while in the moment. The Pearl Princess is just as pretty as she is deadly."

"Well, what about Finnick?" Katniss asks, leaning forward. "How come he's so.. protective of her? She clearly doesn't need protection if what you're saying is true."

"Sweetheart, Finnick would bend over backwards for Cress if she so much as hinted that she wanted him to." Haymitch raises his eyebrows. "As for why he's so protective, well, that's a mystery to me. I want to reason with love, but there's no evidence to support that."

"I'd disagree, look at the way he's looking at her." Peeta points to the image of Cress and Finnick during the Reaping that was still plastered on the tablet that sat in front of him.

"That's what I'm saying," Haymitch mutters, to which Katniss rolls her eyes.

"Katniss, if she's his weakness then we've got to exploit that. Use her to win." Peeta glances towards her. "Whatever it takes, right?" Katniss stares down at the ground for a moment before raising her eyes to meet Peeta's.

"Yeah. Whatever it takes."