ten_fwd | Ten Forward -- OTA

Plenty of people have, by now, seen Finnick tying knots with either the rope Katniss and Guinan gave him or the hair ribbon that was a gift from Sinthia. On his bad days, that's still what he does: find a quiet spot somewhere and sit and tie knots, his whole being focused on the length of rope in his hand.

Today, he's also tying knots, but this isn't like that. Today, Finnick's sitting at a table that's scattered with gleaming golden things. One of them looks like it might be some sort of circlet or headpiece made of complicated knots. Others look like little figures: a turtle, a dragonfly, lots of different little flowers.

He's got a chair pulled out next to him, a skein of golden thread wound around its back, and he's cut a length off it that he's concentrating on weaving in and out and around. When it's done, though, he still doesn't look entirely happy with it, and he gets up to go to the replicator for a cup of coffee.

When he sits back down, he doesn't pick up his knots again, immediately, but studies them for a while. It's possible he could use some distraction. Or some advice.

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There was no arena for him, though he knows some of the terror he endured at the hands of the Nazis was done for the sport of those watching, but he's well aware of what being hunted does to you, how it lingers long after people want to assure you the danger is passed. And he's also well aware of being willing to do whatever it takes to survive and to ensure the survival of others. The risks you'd take, the prices you pay.

He's less aware of how these traumas linger in an adult, he was only seventeen when he and Magda escaped. Magda, the girl he loved and nearly lost and would have been forced to clean up after, the girl he'd met with in secret for months, the girl who despite her fear had survived what many would not have been able to.

Magneto feels he understands Finnick pretty well - and vice versa - and some day, one suited to the subject, he feels he should sit him down and begin a series of conversations to explain why they understand each other. Why Finnick is one of the few, and one of the few humans, he counts as friend.

"There are a great deal of them...it's overwhelming." He doesn't know if anyone told Annie either but he wouldn't be shocked to learn she wanted to surprise him either.

"Makes sense. In Jewish communities - which is mine - and Roma communities - which is my late wife's - families would make the dress for the Bride or if they had money, purchase one. It was a way of showing wealth and status within the community, as well as how loved the bride was. You and Annie are lucky you aren't navigating different cultures, then it really becomes confusing."

The danger never passes for the victors. None of them, but especially not those like Finnick and Annie who'd incurred the wrath of the president. They cannot trust their government, and they can't always know who to trust in their districts, either. Their lives were supposed to be freed from the fear of the Games when they'd won, but nobody ever warned them about the new fears they'd learn on victory.

He'd rather talk about the wedding customs than that, and his expression is attentive as he listens, then smiles.

"In the Capitol, it's not a wedding without a party that lasts at least three days, and enough food to feed a village for a week."

The dryness of his voice suggests what he thinks about that. "If we were getting married in Panem, we'd probably have got my stylist from the Capitol to make our clothes. But we'd want a traditional wedding."

He shrugs, his smile going softer, more genuine. "You've been married. I guess you know what I mean when I say it won't feel right without some parts of the traditional District Four ceremony."

Never trust a survivor until you know what they did to survive was often warned - but when you are the one who forced that person to become a survivor and you know what they did to survive, you can never trust them. You especially cannot trust someone you've taught to kill for your amusement.

But this isn't a topic either of them want to linger on, and they both know that.

"Shame people don't understand that food is supposed to feed the village for the week." He wasn't one to want a large wedding - but some did. And wedding parties had been meant to feel a village. He liked that idea, even if it didn't often work out.

"Who is the other victor?" That he was curious about. "I do understand. It's a balance but it's an enjoyable one. I loved planning it as much as I loved her, the start of our lives together."

There was, it's certain, one person in Panem who could not trust Finnick, and that was Snow. Hate is not something Finnick does easily. He hates his patrons. He hates the people who prey on the Games. But above all, he hates Snow, for what he's done to him. He hates Snow so much that he's gathered enough information to destroy what little reputation the President has, turn people who think they are his allies and associates against him.

It is true, though, that he doesn't want to focus on that. Not when he is trying to plan the wedding Snow would have forbidden.

"In the district, if anyone had enough money, they would have. The victors sometimes held public feasts in District Four." His mouth twitches a little in disapproval. "Of course, in the district that wins the Hunger Games each year, the Capitol pays for the feast at the Harvest Festival."

Not because the Capitol cared. But because it was another perk for the victors of the Games.

"Lacey Harwood. She's from District Eight. I only know her a little, but she's a dressmaker."

A perfect, as it were, fit.

"I hope Annie and I get to enjoy planning ours that much."

Hate is learned. It's a lesson Finnick and Magneto have learned all too well.

"Because of course, they didn't leave you with enough of what you caught to do it yourselves." It's the only way the system would have worked. Starve and brutalize people into submission.

"How many are there now, from your world?" He assumes they will all be present at the wedding. "And that does sound opportune."

"I'm sure you will. Anyone would understand how much you love each other."

Ten Forward -- OTA

[cw: discussion of effects of abuse and WWII]

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