Caged Nightingale [Hunger Games Fanfic]

Phobias (VI)

Nosocomephobia (fear of hospitals):

"Is everything alright here?" Plutarch bursts into the bathroom in a panic, and Seneca vaguely remembers that they were in Plutarch's home and that they'd probably had ruined the party.

Seneca apologizes for that, because it's only right.

Plutarch sighs heavily in exasperation. "Never mind that! Are you two alright? And what was that screaming about?"

"Nightmare," Katniss mutters, still hiding her face and trembling in Seneca's arms. That's all she says.

Seneca elaborates. "She's been having really bad nightmares. She must've had one right now."

The older man watches the two warily, before shaking his head. "So that would include you two depriving yourselves of sleep?"

"We aren't –" but the lie never finishes as Plutarch cuts him off.

"Seneca, you two were chugging down coffee at the party like you wouldn't be able to have it again. Everyone knows Katniss enough to know she doesn't care for coffee either. And that's never mind the fact you two were drinking it at all, at a party, at night. You two were jittery as hell, my friend. The way you two looked and acted set off red flags to everyone."

Seneca winces, but Katniss barely hears it. In fact, she seems to have slipped into a catatonic stupor and it worries the two men.

"Right now, I think the both of you should sleep the rest of the night away, and probably the rest of the day. I'll call in sick for Seneca," Plutarch strongly suggests.

Seneca is resistant, knowing Katniss wouldn't like it. So Plutarch sighs and scratches the back of his head helplessly.

"Alright, have some tea with me then. Tea's healthier than coffee anyways, and I think stronger. I got an agitated victor pacing my living room too, so it would be nice if you two could come and settle him down."

Seneca isn't sure who he's talking about, until they cross the living room and he sees Finnick angrily pacing the floor like an angry lion.

"Finnick, what are you doing here?" Katniss speaks, and surprises them. She'd been nearly unresponsive all the way there, clinging tightly to Seneca like a child.

Finnick's surprise wears off quickly. "I was at the party last night," he growls. "What the hell is wrong with you two? You had me worried. Goddammit, what the hell were you thinking? Sleep depriving yourselves –"

"How'd you know –"

"Seriously?" Finnick's pissed off. "It was pretty fucking obvious to everyone. They're not stupid. They've deprived themselves of sleep every once in a while for their stupid little parties to know the effects and what it looks like, and you two look like you had a major case of it."

They hadn't thought it had been that obvious. Still, neither have anything to say to that, especially as they knew it was true. Katniss is out of it anyways, but Seneca should have known better. He's been with that crowd and knew they tended to skip sleep every once and awhile –just never to the extreme the two were putting themselves through. At most, the party crowds didn't sleep a night or two, but never more than three. As much as they liked parties, they indulged in sleep too.

Seneca and Katniss missed that memo somewhere along the way, it seems.

Or at least, to Plutarch and Finnick's views, that seems to be the case. And their baleful glares directed towards the two speak volumes. Finnick is the one who makes the tea, while Plutarch makes another go at trying to convince them to try to sleep. But Katniss starts having an anxiety attack, muttering something about apparitions, Peeta, the dead coming to get her (in a way, it's sort of easy to come to conclusions what she's talking about), and Seneca simply takes her into his arms and it's his turn to glare at Plutarch.