You Asked For This - Finnick Odair

First Look

"Like nature, she evolves."
— she

...

It was all a blur. Cora and Reef waived and smiled at the Capitol citizens. Ambrosia explained some stuff. Finnick gave advice. Mags provided comfort. Everything happened so quickly.

Cora and Reef had been whisked off immediately to the beauty stations. After much waxing and washing and strange Capitol beauty products, Cora was left exposed and alone in a room, waiting for her stylist.

A man with dark brown skin and long, straight blue, purple, and green hair tied up in a loose bun walked into the room. He wore sea-themed blue, purple, and green make-up and was dressed in black with shimmery blue, purple, and green accents. His eyes were an auburn sort of brown– striking against the blue in his make-up.

While he did look odd, he didn't look as bad as most Capitol citizens. In fact, he almost looked stylish in some weird way. Like the casual-but-over-the-top look worked for him. Or maybe he was just really good at color theory.

"Put your robe on, I'll do the measurements in a moment. There's no need for you to be exposed right now." The man instructed and explained, rather quick to the point.

Cora, with a small sigh of relief, did as she was told and put on the black robe.

"My name is Klavien Gritaue. This is my first year as a stylist for District 4. You needn't worry about looking ridiculous so long as I'm styling you."

Cora nodded. She wasn't sure if she liked him or not. He was very blunt and hadn't smiled at her once, but all of his words had been good. He didn't have the usual Capitol twitteriness, but he wasn't quite a calming presence either. He was more no-nonsense if anything.

"Your reaping ceremony was certainly interesting. Twins. Both volunteering. Not only is it a family affair, but it's a once-in-a-lifetime sort of event. Your brother's stylist and I have talked about which angle to best present you two as. It's my impression that the both of you are trying for confident. Is that correct?"

Cora nodded.

"Good."

...

Cora ended up in a sort of pirate princess getup. Not only did she look beautiful, but she looked confident. And she felt confident. After seeing herself in her outfit, she decided that she did like Klavien, after all.

When they went down to the chariots, she noticed that Reef was also in a pirate getup.. He was smirking and sauntering to and from all of the female tributes. What a flirt that boy could be, even with death just around the corner.

An incredibly skinny girl with bright blonde hair, pale skin, and dark brown eyes stormed up to Cora with a flushed face. She was wearing a gown comprised of many patches of different textiles. District 8, probably.

"That's your brother, right?" The girl demanded in exasperation, pointing back to Reef. She looked to be about fifteen years old.

Cora nodded, slightly confused.

"Get a handle on him or, so help me, he won't make it to the games!" She threatened, still exasperated.
Cora could've laughed. "Will do."

The blonde girl stormed away, angrily muttering something that sounded like nonsense.

The strawberry blonde looked at her brother, who had watched the girls' exchange, and raised her eyebrows at him.

"What did you do?" She asked, trying so hard to avoid laughing, just in case the blonde saw her.

"I was just talking to her!" The curly-haired boy defended, smiling and putting his hands up in surrender.

"I'm so sure," Cora playfully rolled her eyes.

Finnick, who had been taking his new role as mentor very seriously and talking to the other mentors, walked over to the twins in utter confusion.

"What was that?" The freshly fifteen-year-old boy asked, referring to the blonde from a moment ago.

"Reef did something," Cora explained. She spoke to him so casually.

They'd ignored each-other for a year, and suddenly they spoke casually? Cora really didn't get it, she used to hate him. But now wasn't the time to ponder questions that she might not even be alive to ask in a few weeks. She could ask them if she survived.

"All I did was say hi! Among other things..." Reef murmured the last part.

He didn't just upset the District 8 girl, it seemed that every other female tribute was sneaking not-so-subtle glares at the boy.

"Do you even want allies, Reef?" Finnick asked the boy.

"I have all the allies I need right here!" The boy happily assured, pulling Cora into a dramatic side hug. The girl in question just rolled her eyes. She swore her eyes would roll out of her head if she rolled them again.

"Guys, you need allies from other districts— two versus twenty-two won't work out very well!" The bronze boy exclaimed, worried for the two.

Reef stopped smiling, knowing the severity of the situation. "We'll get them."

"How? You've scared off half of them within the first five minutes!"

"I've got it under control, Finnick," the boy assured.
Finnick just sighed as Mags, Ambrosia, and the stylists came over.

It was time to board the chariots.

"Just, act confident. Act like you want to be here," Finnick advised the two right before they took off.

"Get them to like you."

The twins nodded.

...

The Capitol loved them. The two smiled and waved and flexed their muscles dramatically, setting whatever anxieties they had aside. Mutually deciding to make the crowd go wild, while being careful to keep their balances, the two had a sword fight with imaginary swords. They were pirates, after all.
The crowd was roaring for District 4.

Back home, Ocean, Sean, Lyra, and Blue smiled. Maybe their siblings/friends had a chance.