HURRICANE, finnick odair (hiatus)

iii. train ride

CHAPTER THREE!

TRAIN RIDE.

ROSALIE NERVOUSLY TAPS HER fingers against the expensive table as some of the avoxes bring in plates of food. Finnick sits closely on her right, their legs brushing against one another whilst Zachariah and Mags sit on the other side of the table. The fact he is sitting so close brings some comfort to her and she's thankful for that.

The food itself looks absolutely extravagant, nothing like any of the meals she had at home. It makes their fish dinners look like utter rubbish, which hurts a little. The amount of effort they go to in order to get the money for food is ridiculous and yet the Capitol people get to have lavish meals like this for no reason at all.

"So–" Ziggy begins as she looks at the District four tributes, the younger of the two looking down at her plate whilst the other stares angrily at the wall in front of him. "I'm Ziggy, your escort! It's a privilege to be here with you,"

Rosalie doesn't respond, her mind too full of thoughts and worries that she cannot even put together something to say. The gears in her head are turning, over and over filling her with fresh doubts and pain. Fingers brush against the skin of her right hand and she jumps lightly, her eyes finding Finnick's as he looks at her.

"You good?" He questions quietly as if to not draw in the attention of the others at the table - however there is nowhere to hide and Zachariah seems to have heard him.

"Playing favourites already, Odair?" Zachariah questions almost viciously and the Victor looks over, his eyes narrowing on the older boy.

"I don't play favourites, Riverstone," Finnick seems to be just as vicious with his words, almost offended that he'd spoken those words. "It's my job to be a mentor and that's what I'll be,"

"Hmm, right. She's your best friend, correct? I think it's a bit of a conflict of interest for you to be the mentor here. Probably coach me into getting myself killed so she lives,"

Rosalie gulps and reaches out, awkwardly grabbing a piece of bread off the pile of food. She keeps her gaze away from everybody at the table as she hesitantly bites into it, no longer wanting to be the topic of conversation at the table anymore.

"Friend or not, I'm here to do my job. Mags will happily be your individual mentor if that makes you happier," Finnick states as he gestures to the older woman who has sat in silence the entire time.

"I'd prefer it," Zachariah hisses.

"Great, perfect. Now shut up and eat your food,"

Rosalie sits on her bed with her back against the wall, her eyes staring straight ahead as she thinks about her family back home. Carter is probably in a constant fit of tears as his older brother tries to comfort him. Her mother and father have more than likely gone silent, unable to cope with the fact they will more than likely lose their only daughter to a sick game — they will have to watch her die. Asher will have, without a doubt, taken control and tried to comfort everybody because it's what he does best.

The room is much too fancy for her taste - a queen sized bed with silk sheets and a beautiful bedspread with too many colours intertwined within each other. The walls are painted a baby blue and the floor is an off white carpet. It's odd to her because back home, she lives in a small room barely half the size of this one. It's worse for the two boys, they share one due to their lack of income.

Even the lights are weird, funky looking floor lamps with are contorted into odds shapes with odd colours. To the right of one of these lamps is a large wall that is covered in some sort of screen — with the touch of a button you can see the Districts. She could not bring herself to leave it on the oceans of her home, the image bringing too much pain. A literal ache in her chest.

A knock on her door startles her and she jumps to her feet, slowly moving towards it. Opening it up, she comes face to face with Finnick who looks the furthest thing from his happy self. She manages to give him a small smile as she opens the door wider so that he can come into the room. She then closes it and follows after her, both sitting on the side of her bed.

"Been a pretty bad day, huh?" He speaks quietly.

"You could say that again," Rosalie responds, her head now leaning against his shoulder and his against her's. "Never thought this day would come,"

"Me either, thought you were immune to this kind of stuff. Guess we just have bad luck,"

"More than bad luck. I was waiting for the day to get worse, you know? For them to go ahead and pick Carter or Asher — I wouldn't be functioning properly now if that was the case,"

The boy casually leans over and grabs the remote from the table, flicking between the views of the Districts and allows it to settle on the familiar beaches. The same ache still lingers within her but with him it's a little better, it's almost as if she is really there. The sand between her toes and the breeze pushing against her face – something she will likely never get to feel again.

"Just like home," Finnick mumbles.

"Not quite," The brunette replies, emotion thick in her voice. "No home to go to, no family to take care of me. It's just not the same, Finnick,"

"I know, sunshine, I know. But, you cannot spend all your time thinking about what's going on at home because all it will do is get you in a lot of trouble in the arena. For the next few days just enjoy the ridiculous amount of food and the company you get to have,"

"You mean you?" Her voice is teasing, as she desperately tries to break free from the hopelessness and sadness that has filled her to the brim. "I'm sure I could find some better company elsewhere. Zachariah is pretty cute,"

Finnick laughs and rolls his eyes, gently bumping her shoulder with his. "After his outburst before, I'd avoid him if I were you,"

"I don't need to interact with him to look at him, Finn,"

Once again he is rolling his eyes, not impressed in the slightest by her words. After the moment dies down a little, she pushes herself further into his side and watches as the waves roll in over the shore — allowing herself a few minutes to forget all her troubles and enjoy the sights and sounds of her home.

NOTE!

Hi! Hope you enjoyed, thank you for reading!