𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐏𝐈𝐄 ━━ finnick odair ✓

𝐬𝐢𝐱. ( need )

  I wake to the barest of knocks on my door. I look over at my clock and see that it's just past 2:00 am. I finished my appointments hours ago, there shouldn't be anyone waking me up to get ready for another one at this time.

I rub my eyes roughly with the heels of my hands and try to get myself to wake up entirely. It's probably Finnick, come to argue that I've had enough time to think on my own. I try to work to prepare myself for a debate, taking a deep breath before I open the door a crack. Deep brown eyes peer inwards, meeting my own after a second of peering into the darkness.

"Can I come in?" Gloss asks.

"Uhhhh.... I guess," I say quite eloquently.

"I'd expect a secret late night visit to make you swoon. I guess you're unique, not as easy to impress as other women, especially for your age," he says as he steps inside.

"Don't pit me against other women like that." I deflect. "It makes you sound unintelligent to try to paint a whole gender in a dull broad stroke of mediocrity. It's not an effective leveraging tool."

"Ouch." He holds a hand up to his chest.

"Sorry. It's two o'clock, I'm not exactly feeling very hostlike." I say, yawning.

He takes a seat on my bed and I rest on the edge beside him.

"Did you get scolded when I left earlier?" Gloss asks.

"Finnick tried, but I wasn't feeling all that meek this time around," I admit.

"Attagirl." Gloss beams at me. "Cashmere tried her hand at reprimanding me too, but I think she realized she was out of line."

"You told her?" I can't keep the distress out of my voice.

"Sweetheart, you've got to know by now that I'm not exactly the most discreet person in the world." He fixes me with a deep, open stare.

I groan and nod.

"I did give it a shot with the whole sneaking up here in the late hours of the night, though. It's kind of thrilling, pretending that I have to be subtle. Must be exhausting to keep secrets every day, though. Easier just to be an open book."

"Why did you choose to sneak here?" I wrinkle my nose, glancing once again at the clock.

"I figured we could pick up where we left off, see what would have happened today if we hadn't been interrupted." There's a devious twinkle in his eyes that takes me by surprise.

"We would have finished eating lunch." I laugh at his behavior.

"Then what?" he asks.

I pause to fully take his whole image in. He's wearing a very similar outfit to the one he had last night, but this time his shirt is bright pink instead of dark purple. It's unbuttoned almost all the way, just a few points near the bottom strain to anchor it to him. His push towards an initiation of a much deeper conversation shirks the casual atmosphere we basked in this morning.

"What changed since I last saw you?" I ask the question directly.

"I don't like when someone tells me no."

His response sends a cold shiver down my spine. I rise to a standing position, not wanting to be so close anymore. The door lies to my back, only a short distance away. But Gloss is large, fit, and fast. A high pitched ring sounds in my ears.