You Asked For This - Finnick Odair

Goodbyes and Allies

"To the one I can always count on."
— Unknown

...

Klavien and Orasta came with the dawn, waking up Finnick and Cora. The two shared a quick kiss and a hug before leaving with their respective stylists. They would be seeing each other again soon.

The woman and her stylist made their way to the roof where they boarded the hovercraft and the doctor injected Cora's tracker. The hovercraft took off and the strawberry blonde found herself getting more and more nervous, the closer they got to the arena. When Finnick was anxious, he tied ropes and braided Cora's hair. Cora also loved braiding hair, but not her own. But there was no one around with hair to braid...

"You should eat," Klavien instructed.

Cora nodded before freezing, staring at the man. Klavien had long green, blue, and purple hair. Perfect for braiding.

"What is it?" the man asked, noticing the look on her face.

Cora tried hard not to smile at the question she was about to ask, it seemed to stupid. "Can I braid your hair?"

If Kalvien didn't love Cora the way he did, he would have refused such a frivolous request. But, because he had known her and watched her grow up over the past nine years, the young woman held a special place in his heart. Such a special place, that he found himself replying, "If you must."

The woman smiled and moved closer to him to get a better angle. She spent the rest of the ride braiding his hair and feeling a little at peace. But it was over too soon.

Just as Cora finished the braid, the hovercraft landed at the Launch Room. Cora went to shower while Klavien (with his new pretty double braids) prepared her clothes. After her shower, he helped her get dressed.

It was a fitted blue jumpsuit, made of very sheer material, that zippered up in the front. A six-inch-wide padded belt covered in shiny purple plastic. A pair of nylon shoes with rubber soles.

"It feels like a swimsuit," Cora commented, feeling the fabric in between her fingers.

"If the arena has water, you and Mr. Odair are incredibly fortunate," Klavien all but confirmed.

He couldn't possibly know what the arena held, but he was a knowledgeable man. If he agreed that there might be water, that's what Cora would bet on.
It was almost time to enter the cylinder that would raise her up into the arena.

"Klavien... If I don't make it out of the arena this time..." Cora's nerves began to spike, she had never told her stylist that she loved him.

It had always felt too emotional for the both of them. But there was a very real chance that she would never see him again, regardless of whatever the plan was. A plan was a plan, it didn't have to work. And she might die. Or he could die, trying to escape the Capitol. She had to tell him.

"What is it, Miss Newport?"

"I love you," she said before she could back out. "Really, I do. You've always been here for me and I don't know what I'd do without you. You don't have to say it back, I just wanted you to know."

The man's expression didn't change, but he took slow steps towards her. And, almost uncertainly, he gave her a hug.

She hugged back, tight.

"I love you as well... Cora," he told her as he released her from the embrace, using her first name for the first time since they'd known each other. It meant more to the woman than words could describe, though his expression remained neutral the whole time.