Dew of the Sea [Finnick Odair]

[27. Homecoming]

Finnick

Finnick awoke to the sound of his bedroom door opening. Because of the position he was in, laying on his stomach, face buried into the softness of his pillow, he was able to swiftly grab the knife he had stashed under it. Bleary-eyed but wide awake, he changed positions, knife firmly in his grasp and ready to be thrown, and sighed heavily when he saw that it was Eris who had intruded.

"For fuck's sake..." he threw the knife onto his bedside table. It slipped off and landed on the heated wood floor.

Eris raised a pale eyebrow, unimpressed by his actions. "Really, Finnick? A knife?"

Finnick had dreamt of stabbing Eris with that same knife about a hundred times in the past three years that she'd been his handler. He was a nice person and generally easy-going, but being in the Capitol, socializing with the people who lived there, brought out the worst in him. Eris Chumbley was not the worst person he interacted with, but she was the one Capitolite that he spent most of his time in the Capitol with, unfortunately. As his handler, Eris was responsible for getting him from client to client, event to event, District 4 to the Capitol. She had a direct line with President Snow and handled everything that he did. She chose who the client was, when he was meeting them, and how much they would pay Snow–and in extension, her–for the pleasure of his company. She disgusted Finnick, truly, but he had to deal with her. Fortunately, he could make sure her working with him was her worst nightmare.

"Why are you here?" Finnick pressed his palms to his eyes to block out the light that came in through the door that Eris left open. He wondered what time it was, his black-out window panels didn't let in any light while he slept so he had no way of knowing how long the sun had been up for the day.

"You know why I'm here," Eris snapped. She pulled out her Comm and swiped through his calendar with her acrylic-decorated fingertips. "You have two appointments today, one at five for dinner and then another at ten tonight at Retronique. Before that, you have a lunch date with Thaddeus Hubblebolt at noon, and then a photoshoot with Panem Chic at noon."

Finnick wanted to groan. Three clients in one day was not unusual, but today he felt exhausted. He had woken up early the day before so he could message Rosemary to check in on her, and then the rest of the day he was booked and busy until he fell into bed well after midnight.

He ran his fingers through his hair and slowly sat up, ignoring the way that Eris hungrily eyed his bare torso. "What time is it now?"

"10:30. Get ready or I'll drag you out of here." Eris left the room, slamming the door behind her.

Finnick rolled his eyes. "Sure you will," Finnick whispered to himself. He knew fully well that Eris couldn't do anything to him. She may handle his schedule and his clients, but in many ways he was more powerful than her. She was replaceable and he was not. And if she ever lay a hand on him, she'd end up with a broken wrist and a new job.