Love at Sea (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 2

"And then Katniss was like... pachoo," Taiya mimed shooting an arrow. "And she missed!" she exclaimed, turning to her audience for dramatic effect.

"Katniss missed?" Johanna asked incredulously. She and Finnick were sprawled out on the floor of the Odair's room watching Taiya's animated retelling of Katniss' first scoring session.

"Patience, patience, hold your horses, I'm not finished yet," Taiya held her hand up to draw out the suspense. She'd never told them the full story of what happened during that session, she'd only ever shared that she saw a Gamemaker fall into a bowl on punch, that Gamemaker being Plutarch, they had no idea how that happened.

"Well get on with it!" Johanna waved her hand impatiently, taking a sip of her martini.

"Bossy," Taiya glared teasingly. "Anyway, Plutarch gave me this look with his weird little beady eyes, and I was like 'ok dude' and just looked away. But Katniss, oh, she wasn't having any of it, Katniss does not like to miss as you all well know. So she stormed over to grab another arrow, took aim, shot it and bullseye!" Taiya clapped excitedly and threw her hands up. "Perfect shot! But, alas, guess what? She turns around, and smirks because she is very impressed with herself, but no one is watching! Well except for Plutarch and I, but no one else. Sen, bless him, the little foodie, had spotted some food that had been brought in and got distracted, so he and the others were too busy ogling the food to notice Katniss."

"Typical assholes," Johanna grumbled to herself. She hated all the Gamemakers, rightly so, but Seneca was a touchy subject for Taiya that was best to leave untouched.

"Jo," Finnick whispered, elbowing her lightly to urge her to let it go.

"And Plutarch realised he was missing out on all the fun, so he jumped up to join the others, which left just me watching Katniss. I could see the anger in her eyes, after all, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. So she grabbed an arrow, and pulled it back," Taiya demonstrated, miming the tension in her arm. "And she let it fly straight at the Gamemakers!"

"She did what!" Johanna nearly spat out her drink, prompting Finnick to hurriedly pat her back to ease her coughing fit.

"She aimed straight at them! She shot an apple right out of a roast pig's mouth. Pinned it to the wall," Taiya recounted.

"You never told me about this," Finnick exclaimed, his eyes alight with excitement. Such good gossip and he'd never been let in on it.

"Couldn't. You know the rules," she winked playfully at her husband. "Anyway, Plutarch got such a scare and he went 'AH!'," she exclaimed, flinging herself dramatically backward onto a beanbag she had strategically placed for this very purpose. "And straight into the bowl of punch he fell," Taiya scrambled back to her feet. "And in she comes, Katniss with all the sass, and she bowed down all dramatically," Taiya mimicked the move. "'Thank you for your consideration', she snarked before she stormed out of there like a queen. And that, my dear friends, is the story of how the girl on fire earned herself an 11. You've been a fabulous audience, lady and Finnick."

"Shouldn't it be lady and gent?" Finnick interjected, handing Taiya her drink back as she settled down between his legs.

"Gents know how to climb ladders," Johanna quipped, taking another sip of her drink.

"Have you put everyone up to this?" Finnick asked, glancing down at Taiya who was struggling to hide her smile.

"I can honestly say I haven't. Gloss, on the other hand... perhaps. He really has it in for you at the moment."

"I noticed," Finnick groaned, dropping his head back against the footboard of the bed. "This morning at breakfast, I grabbed a coffee and he came up to me, sprinkled salt into it right in front of me it, and then had the audacity to tell me to drink it."