𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇 | Finnick Odair

𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐢. knew you'd linger like a tattoo kiss

The anthem of Panem boomed in her ears, and Genevieve watched with anticipation as Caesar Flickerman greeted the audience. The crowd erupted into another round of raucous applause as the prep teams bounded out on stage. They deserved it, of course, after all the outfit choices made by her stylists were part of the reason she'd emerged alive, they brought in crucial sponsorships and donations.

Although she wasn't as sure about the ensemble they'd picked for her tonight. It was gorgeous as usual, a short blue dress that practically clung to her body. The pearls had made a reappearance and the necklace she'd worn throughout the games matched perfectly with it. The only problem was how sensual it seemed to be, the very deep cut showed a lot of cleavage that had been painted with a light gold shimmer by her prep team to draw attention to it and for once she couldn't help but shy away from the looks directed at her.

Finnick's appearance only a couple minutes before she was due to go on stage helped a little with getting into the right state of mind but the angry look on his face confused her. He'd finally done it. Kept his first tribute alive to produce another victor and bring glory to his district. And yet she'd never seen him look so stony-faced.

"Genevieve?"

"Hmm." She made a noise that Finnick knew was the one she made when she wasn't really listening. He pulled her away from the backstage area, ignoring her grunt of protest and hauled her into a small alcove nearby. Taking a quick look to check if they'd been followed he ducked inside to join her and she looked up, interested.

He hesitated for a moment before asking. "Are you alright?"

Their eyes met for a fleeting moment before she glanced away again. "It's just... so surreal. This is the moment I've been preparing for my entire life and now it's here—" Genevieve sighed deeply, almost waiting for someone to interrupt them. "And I have no idea what to do once this is over. I mean obviously, I'll train tributes and do victor stuff but what about when the games aren't on, do I just stay at home all the time?" She asked and Finnick wished it was that simple because he knew what she was going to have to do in the time between hunger games from now on.

Finnick's mouth went dry, as he struggled to swallow, his hands were clenched into fists at the unfairness of it all.

Genevieve looked up at him, still frantically talking. He reached towards her until his fingers dusted against her cheek. They were completely alone, away from the Capital's prying eyes. He willed himself to make a move, he'd done this so many times with complete strangers and never had an issue, so why was he practically frozen to the spot now?

Finnish could feel his heart thumping wildly in his chest as Genevieve's eyes widened with a realisation of what was going on, ignoring the voice in the back of his head telling him this was a bad idea, he leaned forwards, and tilted her face up so he could capture her lips with his.

"What are you—" She made a noise of surprise as he surged forwards.

The lump in his throat dissipated almost at once when their lips met. They both understood the urgency of the situation they were in, in less than five minutes they'd be separated again and he would be forced to watch from the wings as Snow's plans for her unfolded. Deepening the kiss, he decided to savour the little privacy they had together and worry later.

Finnick felt Genevieve's breathing quicken, as her lips parted against his own and he fought desperately to hold back the groan that was on the tip of his tongue, not wanting to reveal their hiding space to anyone nearby.

A quiet thump from outside shocked him out of his kiss induced daze but as he made a move to pull away Genevieve's fingers surged forwards and tangled in his hair, she wasn't ready to let go just yet.

She pulled him backwards, crowding herself against the alcove wall. He wrapped one of his arms around her lower back, memorising the feeling of her silk dress shifting beneath his palm.

Finnick reluctantly abandoned her bitten-raw pink lips when he heard a noise dangerously close to their hiding spot and remained deathly silent as he attempted to restore the normality between them both as fast as he could. It was hardly graceful, with hushed curses and the slow set in of panic descending around the room in a swirl of chaos. He had to press a punishing bite to the underside of Genevieve's jaw when she laughed quietly at the alarm present on his face.

"Do that again." She commanded, as soon as the coast was clear. Her normally calm demeanour had completely disappeared as colour rushed into her face.

"No. That was— That shouldn't have happened." Finnick spluttered out horrified at himself for being so stupid, he let out a surprised yelp when Genevieve slapped him on the arm in retaliation.

"You can't just do... all of that and then stop. There's no point backing out now. Not when I liked it." She fumed, ignoring his shock at her sudden confession.

"You liked it." He breathed as though he was only just realising the kiss could have meant something to her, making her feel just a little bit better.

"Gigi!" Finnick's brow crinkled at the shout from someone a little way down the corridor behind them. "Oh no, I've got to go, that was Octavia." She explained, futilely adjusting her dress.

"Since when has she started calling you Gigi." He asked buttoning up his own shirt in an effort to look a little less debauched. Although he doubted that anyone in the capital would have been surprised to see the state he's in now, not when they've spent years playing up the major heartthrob who can't keep his hands to himself angle.

"I don't think that's what you should be worried about right now."

"Right, sorry." He straightened his shirt and wiped off the last traces of leftover gloss from his lips. Genevieve ducked her head out to check no one was around and once she was sure the coast was clear she pecked him on the cheek with a smirk.

"I'll see you after the interviews." She simpered sweetly before hurrying out, leaving a very stunned victor behind.

Genevieve Coppergrove really was full of surprises.