Infelicitous | f. odair

34 | CUTS AND BRUISES

34 | CUTS AND BRUISES

❝and i'll swim the ocean for you❞

Greyson had never seen him so fidgety. It was as if she was watching a man trying to stop a ticking bomb. He was on edge, his pupils alert and wide as though someone was going to come out of the shadows and shoot him in the head. He was afraid of the world and she was the only thing keeping him from floating away. He was broken and she was imperfectly impaired. They were both damaged, and yet he had a few more cracks than she would ever be able to comprehend.

His hand never left hers. They were stuck together since the moment he laid eyes on her, even when he was forced to change into the ghastly gray jumpsuit. She had to force herself to look away when his gown fell off his shoulders. She couldn't bare looking at what he had gone through, she was sure that if she did she wouldn't have been able to keep herself from breaking down. She couldn't dare to look at what Snow had done to him, especially when his capture was partially her fault.

"Okay," he whispered. Greyson looked up to see him staring at her with red eyes, full of tears. She frowned deeply.

Reaching out to him, she cradled his face in her hands. "I'm here now, it's okay. You're safe now." She told him, pulling him in close to her as she had done earlier.

He rested his forehead against hers, taking a breath and nodding. "I know, I know. I just missed you." He met her eyes. "So much."

Greyson forced herself to smile as she leaned in to kiss the corner of his mouth, mumbling, "we can catch up later, right now we have to make sure you're okay."

He pulled away with a slight nod. "Okay."

It was strange, talking to him. He wasn't the same in the way she knew him. There wasn't that twinkle of mischief gleaming whenever he looked at her, no smirk itching at his lips, he was quiet and sincere like a poet. They took the man she had fallen in love with and turned him into a statue of iron. And for that, she knew that once she got to Snow, or to any Peacekeeper for that matter, they would receive no mercy. She was done playing games.

Finnick did fairly well with the doctor, except for at one point when he had to show his injuries. Again, she looked away.

After he was cleared, Greyson took him to the cafeteria to get something to eat because it looked like he hadn't eaten a proper meal in weeks. His muscles were smaller and his skin was pale aside from the bruises that littered his body and the deep-set bags underneath his eyes. She held his hand, feeling his thumb run over the back of her hand repeatedly. His hands were dry and cracked against her soft skin. It had been so long since she felt his touch that it seemed as though she was touching a ghost.

They waited in line for their food, that Greyson personally thought was still bad tasting even after hunting with Katniss and Gale. The food was still sloppy and discolored with little flavor, but nobody in Thirteen would complain, especially her, who's been through enough hell to know what it's like to survive with what you have. She wasn't going to start being picky now.

Finnick trailed next to her, almost looming over her shoulder as they found Gale sitting at the table with Prim, Katniss nowhere to be seen. He was staring down at his plate until Prim smiled at them. "Hello, Greyson and Finnick," the young girl greeted them.

Greyson sat with Finnick across from her, poking at his food with his fork. "It's not the best, but it's all we've got." Greyson said to him, causing the corner of his lip to quirk up into a minuscule smile.