The Sterling Nightingale ⟷ Finnick Odair/OC

The vast array of stars laid out

Oh I should probably just put up a little disclaimer: the gif above is Dove Cameron's beautiful face, which she obviously owns since it's hers.  I imagine that Sil looks something like her, in terms of hair color and the big eyes and all that.  Please enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Three | The vast array of stars laid out

"And she glided through republican, revolutionary, bloodthirsty Paris like a shining comet with a trail behind her of all that was most distinguished, most interesting, in intellectual Europe." Emma Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel

Everything certainly appears to return to normal after the fiasco at Finnick's apartment. Sil does her best to remove all traces of their encounter from her life. She throws away her gown and sends his clothes back as soon as she can. She goes to another party, gathers names of interested potential clients, and pushes Finnick Odair back onto his untouchable pedestal. But it doesn't last, because there is one problem: somebody saw Sil leaving Finnick's apartment that morning.

She sees the article as she's brushing her teeth the next day. She's dressed in her silk robe and slippers, hair tousled from sleep but eyes chirpy. She adores mornings, and she's humming as she shifts about the bathroom, toothbrush in one hand and her tablet PAAD in the other. The small computer is opened to the local news station as she searches for potential gossip to twist into new, amusing tales for her parties. It's a morning routine that she could certainly live without, but her Capital loves rely on her for her gossip, and when they rely on her for something, it is so much easier to manipulate them.

Her finger moves over the screen, shifting down to read the text. Her eyes are moving so fast over it that she hardly even notices the bold news title that waits on the side of the page. She is drawn to it after she is done reading an article about the outer district food sources. It's bored her to death, but when she sees the title of the newly posted article about her and Finnick Odair, her heart starts beating a million miles a minute.

"Naughty New Relationship Between Victors Odair and Cornelius? page 4"

"Well!" Sil exclaims, reading the title several times before flipping down the page to find where it's been posted. She finds it alright, in the dead center of the page because apparently it's exciting enough to broadcast.

"'Socialite Silver L. Cornelius does love her drama, but the sight of her quietly leaving Finnick Odair's apartment early Tuesday morning has taken it to a whole new level – '" Sil reads, and exclaims to herself, "I do not love drama! And I did not quietly leave his apartment!" She's got nothing to hide! Nothing! She scans the article and her scowl deepens with each fabricated, lie-infested sentence.

"'Did she finally join the bandwagon and fall for the charming Capitol Daydream, or was it her own social graces that won Odair to her side? If these two do end up together, they will surely make waves here in the Capitol as being the most powerful couple after our Star-Crossed Lovers – "

"What slander!" Sil loudly complains, tossing her tablet onto a nearby towel and throwing her toothbrush into the sink. She stomps out of the bathroom and paces angrily around her apartment. This is too much. Finnick Odair is too much. Her double life is too much. What will District 13 and Coin say when they hear that she's apparently fallen head over heels for a fellow Victor – and a Career at that. As far as she knows, Finnick is loyal to the Capitol – or at least as loyal as a Victor could be. Will they assume that she is becoming loyal as well?

She growls and grabs her phone off its cradle on the kitchen counter, scrolls down the list of names she's programmed into it, and hits dial when she finds Finnick's number. It rings three times before he answers it with a drawled, "Hello, Sil. Read the news, have you?"