𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔩'𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔩 || 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜

𝙵𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙱𝚘𝚡𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛

POV:VERENA

I duck, barely missing Finnick's fist. He strikes again, his fist hitting my stomach. I fell onto the ground. I can taste the blood in my mouth. "Where's all the confidence now?" I hear him mock. He stands over me. I grit my teeth, "Don't worry, it's still here."  I jumped back up onto my feet. There was no way I was gonna lose to this peacock. I ran towards him, throwing a punch. He blocked and stepped back. He aimed for my abdomen. I swiftly pulled back, dodging his attack. I dropped down to the floor, to sweep his legs. He barely avoids my attempt, slightly getting unbalanced. I get back up and rush towards him. I tackle him on the ground. We both land on the ground, me on top of him. I position my knee on top of his stomach and my hands pinning his. "Who's on top now, fish boy?" I mock. He smirks slightly in shock, "You are, for a change."

I grin widely, slightly loosening my grip on his arms. "I think I prefer being in this position, looking down on a peasant." He smiles at me, not saying anything. I look at him slightly confused. The fish boy has nothing to say? In a blink of an eye, he pulls his arms out of my grasp and wraps his hands around my waist. I'm still in confusion until I feel myself being flipped over onto the ground. I hit the ground with a "thump". I look up, meeting Finnick's sea-green eyes. His face glows with a gold hue. He leans closer to my face until our noses are almost touching. He smirks, now being the one looking down at me. "I think I like this position better." I struggle to not laugh at his comment. Why did he have to be so charming, but so slapable?

We stayed in that same spot for a while. Just staring into each other's eyes, until he rolled off me. He laid down next to me. I shifted myself, laying on my side so I could look at him. He turned his head, facing me. I break the silence. "I'm glad you're the same fish boy I met at the dock." His cheeks flush pink, but he seems to shake the redness away. "And you're still the same box-stacker." He raises his arm to brush a piece of hair off my face. I couldn't help but lean into his warm hand.

He returns his hand to his side and props himself up. I push myself off the ground as well, meeting him at his level. We look towards the weapons inventory, looking at the endless supply of nets and spears. "They remind you of home don't they?" I say as I gesture to them. He sighs, looking at the triton. "Yes, I mean how could it not." I look down at my hands, balling up my fists. "I can't imagine ever calling this place home." My voice slightly cracks. I can't help it. This place is just so empty. "Isn't it funny how everything is bright and shiny, but nothing seems to have any substance?" Finnick says. I nod, agreeing. "This place is just a shiny birdcage."

The room seemed cold, the warmth that was once there by our interactions started to fade. I didn't want to let go of that yet. "How's it been? Since the last time we saw each other?" I spoke up, hoping to keep the fire in our conversation burning. "It's been a living nightmare." He laughs. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but I could tell he was hurting. I grin, looking back up to his face. "Well, I guess we'll be getting through this nightmare together then." "When did I ever invite you to help?" He said sarcastically. I hit him lightly, "I invited myself of course!" We both laughed.

"Thank you." He says. "Why are you thanking me?" I tilt my head, confused. He smiles, but there's some sadness in his eyes. "You volunteered for my sister. I don't think I could ever repay you." I put my hand on him, "You don't have to repay me. It was my decision, you didn't force me to do it. Plus, you being my mentor is a pretty good payback, in my opinion." He laughs, "You can't be serious right? You know that it's mandatory that I train you, right?" I nod. "Yes, I know. That's all I need. I don't need some grand gesture." "I'm not so sure that's enough, but I won't bug you about it for now." After we finally settled, I leaned closer to him until our shoulders touched. He wrapped his arm around me, holding me tight. I placed my temple on his shoulder, and we both relaxed our muscles as we just sat in comfortable silence.

Two years prior:

I sit down on the wet wood of the dock. The wind combs through my hair, tickling the surface of my skin. The sunset paints the sky, with colors of purple, pink, and orange. I lean back on my arms as I enjoy the peaceful atmosphere. I hear footsteps coming up from behind me. I turn around to face the person walking up to me.

"Hey." I meet a pair of familiar green eyes. "Hey." He says back. He sits down next to me and swings his leg off the dock. He looks tired. "You look dead." I make fun of him. He laughs falling over on his back. "It's been a long day. I work unlike you." I flick his head, "Excuse me, I work too. I stack boxes and gut fish." He rolls his eyes. "That's why you're the box-stacker." I laugh at his comment. "Look fish-boy, sorry I can't be anything other than the box-stacker if you don't know my name." He sits back up to look at me. "What if I don't want to know your name?" I rolled my eyes. "Wow, I didn't know you were that type of person." He laughed, "You make no sense. I just want to keep some mystery in this partnership."

I flopped down on the dock laughing too. This conversation was ridiculous and made no real sense. "Look, to be honest, I came to the dock today to say bye." I hurriedly propped myself back up. "What? Why?" He averts his gaze, "I finally saved up enough money for the career school." I crossed my arms, irritated. "Oh well, goodbye then." I stand up to walk away.

He stands up and grabs my arm, "Wait! Please don't leave yet." He looks at me pleading. I turn my head to look into his sea-colored eyes. Without saying a word, he pulls me into a tight hug. I wrap my arms around him, squeezing him tight. "Promise me, that you won't let this change you." He puts his chin on the top of my head. "I promise." We both separate. I see tears welling in his eyes, threatening to spill over. I feel the sting in my eyes too. I try to laugh, "Don't cry fish-boy. It makes you look stupid." He looks at me shaking his head, "What are you talking about? I'm not crying." I stick my hand out to shake his hand. "It was nice meeting you, fish-boy." He takes my hand and puts it in his, he raises it to his lips, just like to first time we met. "It was a pleasure, getting to know you better, boxstacker." He gives my hand a light kiss."I promise to tell you my real name when I come back." Still keeping a tight hold on my hand. I squeeze his hand. "I'll hold you to it."

I let go of his hands and started walking away, back to the steps of the dock. Before I can reach the top of the stairs I hear a yell coming from the dock. "Don't have too much fun when I'm gone!" I turn around to face the fish-boy. I swear I can see him rubbing his eyes, maybe from tearing up. I wave at him, yelling back. "Don't count on it!"