Finnick | Backstory | Post-Tour
Feb. 26th, 2014 11:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
themadgirlAs it turned out, the Capitol's curiosity regarding its victors only carried so far.
Most of what Annie remembered about that night—What her escort had delicately labeled her "episode"—were little more than flashes, but with the benefit of time she could see how quickly it had all happened. There had been no attempt to return her to the ball, only Mags and Finnick bundling her swiftly onto the train. She'd lost one of her shoes at some point, like the old fairy story, and when she'd recalled this days later, she'd fallen into a sudden and manic laughing fit that lasted until she was half-hoarse.
When the train had begun to move that night and Finnick hadn't been on it, she'd laid down right where they'd placed her, curled up on her bed in her gown, hem dirty, one bare foot peeking from beneath frothy fabric. She wasn't certain how long it had been, but she remembered Mags coming in, and the gentle confidence of the old woman's fingers as she sat Annie up and carefully stripped her of the Capitol. Unpinning the weight of Annie's hair, wiping her face clean, and perhaps most tellingly, removing the dress by cutting it cleanly up the side with a pair of shears. Annie had stayed in bed the entire next day and then emerged thoroughly sober, freshly eighteen, and with a curt dismissal of her escort. Mags had given her the thumbs-up.
Her mother had hovered for awhile, had skirted on the edge of difficult questions but ultimately relented when no solid answers were forthcoming. With Annie so quiet and withdrawn, it wasn't unlike when she'd first returned from the games, but for two glaring differences: More introspection and less Finnick.
Today, Annie's mother had been the first, but not last, person to tell her about the train. Four was a large district, but in some respects it was like the smallest village, and word traveled fast. Preparing for a passenger train was unusual enough for assumptions to be made. Annie had gone for a walk.
Hours later she nudged her way through the back door and into the kitchen, shawl trailing behind her and laden basket hooked over one arm. Barefoot from the moment she returned from the Capitol, there was sand dusted like sugar up to her ankles and over her toes, and she tracked it inside without thought or hesitation. Following after was Bosun, who had been her father's water dog, a gentle giant in his old age with baleful brown eyes and silver sprinkled in his dark coat. From the moment Annie had stepped into the house after returning from the Capitol, he'd not left her side. Not once.
Just now he padded to the end of the kitchen table and sat, turning his wise, old gaze upon Finnick where he was lingering the hallway beyond. Basket still over her arm, Annie paused at the sink and flicked a glance to the doorway. Seeing Finnick again would hurt; she'd known that. What surprised her was how calm she felt, most of her anger bled out of her by time and resignation. Wordless, she turned her attention back to the basket and began carefully washing the sand from the shells she had collected.
Most of what Annie remembered about that night—What her escort had delicately labeled her "episode"—were little more than flashes, but with the benefit of time she could see how quickly it had all happened. There had been no attempt to return her to the ball, only Mags and Finnick bundling her swiftly onto the train. She'd lost one of her shoes at some point, like the old fairy story, and when she'd recalled this days later, she'd fallen into a sudden and manic laughing fit that lasted until she was half-hoarse.
When the train had begun to move that night and Finnick hadn't been on it, she'd laid down right where they'd placed her, curled up on her bed in her gown, hem dirty, one bare foot peeking from beneath frothy fabric. She wasn't certain how long it had been, but she remembered Mags coming in, and the gentle confidence of the old woman's fingers as she sat Annie up and carefully stripped her of the Capitol. Unpinning the weight of Annie's hair, wiping her face clean, and perhaps most tellingly, removing the dress by cutting it cleanly up the side with a pair of shears. Annie had stayed in bed the entire next day and then emerged thoroughly sober, freshly eighteen, and with a curt dismissal of her escort. Mags had given her the thumbs-up.
Her mother had hovered for awhile, had skirted on the edge of difficult questions but ultimately relented when no solid answers were forthcoming. With Annie so quiet and withdrawn, it wasn't unlike when she'd first returned from the games, but for two glaring differences: More introspection and less Finnick.
Today, Annie's mother had been the first, but not last, person to tell her about the train. Four was a large district, but in some respects it was like the smallest village, and word traveled fast. Preparing for a passenger train was unusual enough for assumptions to be made. Annie had gone for a walk.
Hours later she nudged her way through the back door and into the kitchen, shawl trailing behind her and laden basket hooked over one arm. Barefoot from the moment she returned from the Capitol, there was sand dusted like sugar up to her ankles and over her toes, and she tracked it inside without thought or hesitation. Following after was Bosun, who had been her father's water dog, a gentle giant in his old age with baleful brown eyes and silver sprinkled in his dark coat. From the moment Annie had stepped into the house after returning from the Capitol, he'd not left her side. Not once.
Just now he padded to the end of the kitchen table and sat, turning his wise, old gaze upon Finnick where he was lingering the hallway beyond. Basket still over her arm, Annie paused at the sink and flicked a glance to the doorway. Seeing Finnick again would hurt; she'd known that. What surprised her was how calm she felt, most of her anger bled out of her by time and resignation. Wordless, she turned her attention back to the basket and began carefully washing the sand from the shells she had collected.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-05 03:29 am (UTC)Sitting down, she reached instinctively for Mags' closest hand, and the older woman gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze, the gesture feeling a little like a lifeline as the girls bounded exuberantly around them.
In a rare pause in the chatter, Annie turned to Finnick, her head canted, birdlike, eyebrows arched. "Where's my present?" she asked, only the faintest twitch at the corners of her mouth giving her away.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-05 03:38 am (UTC)"Oh, yours must have gotten left on the train, too," Finnick answered, matching her smile immediately. Mags patted the back of his wrist reassuringly with her other hand.
"Or, maybe the two of you should go check the back room," Finnick suggested to his younger sisters who bounded immediately out of the kitchen to see what had been brought when they weren't paying attention. It was a challenge finding things that would suit them; they were in the early teenage years and he didn't dare bring home most of the things that girls their age in the Capitol were wearing. Plenty of it was fabric that Aerona and their mother would make into dresses. And some of the more subtle jewelry. He still brought the odd toy, things that were so strange that they served as a source of amusement for awhile.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-05 04:01 am (UTC)"I guess you'll just have to make it up to me," she told him, and popped the bit of bread into her mouth with a smile. Mags wagged a playful finger Finnick's way with a look that seemed to say that he should have known better—About the presents, or Annie, or both.
Of course, maintaining a haughty facade was nigh on impossible for Annie, and she was instantly back to smiling at Finnick's mother with a little crinkle of her nose when the woman turned back toward the table.
"Whatever's for dinner smells nice," Annie said. "I don't know if my mom said anything, but thank you for the care packages. It was all really good."
no subject
Date: 2014-03-05 04:12 am (UTC)"I'm sure I'll find a way," Finnick said with a smile. He certainly hadn't brought anything back from the Capitol, because he didn't think there was a single thing in the entire city that held any value for her.
Finnick reached for Annie's hand when she began to speak to his mom, catching it gently underneath the table. He ran his hand slowly along her palm, enjoying such a simple and profound point of contact.
"Thank you, dear," Finnick's mother answered, taking a momentary break to sit down beside them. "You poor thing, getting sick on your Tour. It's no wonder though. The ridiculous pace they set you at. Finnick was sick at the end of his Tour, too."
Finnick squeezed Annie's hand lightly. He'd been sick in the same way Annie had been, of course. Terrified of the world he had stepped into and overwhelmed by what was expected of him now.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-05 04:21 am (UTC)"I think we're both just happy to be back home," she added, something true to balance out lying by omission. Sometimes she wondered whether it was better to have a mother who had become cynical and wary, or one like this, who refused to acknowledge the plain truth as some sort of self-preservation. Annie could definitely understand the appeal of the second option.