PAWNS | FINNICK ODAIR

HOURLY CHOICES

"God, that stings."

Lara nodded lightly to acknowledge what Octavian had said. But she continued to carefully clean out his wound with a piece of torn clothing.

They were sat down at the edge of the lake. Octavian was laying down on his back with his injured leg outstretched. The only person he'd let help him was Lara.

So she tried to clean up the slash on his leg with water. He made groaning sounds and grabbed fistfuls of sand to keep his pain collected.

"If only we were popular enough for someone to send us some actual medicine," she muttered.

Octavian let out a bitter laugh. He looked around for camera that was watching them.

"We have supporters, they're just too afraid to help."

She rolled her eyes, "We're out here literally dying and killing ourselves for food and water while running for fear of being murdered...and they're worried about what? Being too merciful?"

Lara scoffed and grit her teeth to keep herself contained. If she said anything more against the Capitol, they'd probably try to kill her with a new type of device.

They stayed silent for a little while longer. But Lara needed to keep mentally busy while her hands patched up his leg in a hurry.

She glanced at the remaining tributes scattered around them.

Katniss was helping Wiress clean off the blood that covered her body. Johanna was doing the same for herself and cleaning off her weapons. Peeta and Finnick were talking. And Beetee was messing with a coil of wire.

She nodded her head in the direction of the intelligent man.

"What's that for?" she questioned.

He glanced up as he heard her voice for the first time in awhile. But a soon as he met her eyes, he looked back down at the coil.

"I constructed it to hold a great strength while also being able to conduct a variety of materials and energy levels," he explained.

It made some sense to Lara but she knew that was a dumbed down version. She didn't even bother to ask for him to explain it further.

She let the topic rest and turned back to check on Octavian. His face was contorted in pain as she tied off the cut with a piece of Finnick's sleeves, which he offered up to her.

"I should've found you."

Her head snapped up as soon as Octavian spoke. Their eyes met with a solemn look behind their guarded layers.

He shrugged and kept going, "Do you remember what you told me before my first game?"

Of course she did.

"You said you were betting on me. You said I was smart and strong."

She nodded, "You're district partner was too. But the difference was that she was terrified all the time...and she let it show."

She straightened out his leg to let it rest.

"You told me to find her and stick with her until the very end. That way I'd know how to beat her because I knew her weaknesses; because I knew how to stay strong."

She nodded and leaned back on her heels. She brushed away the hair that stuck to her forehead.

"I wish I didn't have to teach you that," she admitted, "I didn't want you to be so guarded like me. You don't deserve to feel what I do."