You're a little bit damaged, I'm a sucker for that.

[themadgirl]

Slowly but surely over the last few months, Annie had been learning to trust the Nexus. Her faith was tentative, fragile, but she could not live the whole of her life inside a hotel room, no matter how lush or large. Not in general, and certainly not when she was only a month from being a mother. Holding Finnick's hand needed to be a comfort but not a crutch.

Still, it was an ongoing process, and she always opened doors with care.

From their windows she could see the sprawling gardens, her feet itching to wander amongst the blooms, but the space out there felt far too large, too open and exposed, and she hadn't quite managed going alone yet. Inside was seldom better, a maze of corridors and dead ends, but the library she liked. Quite a lot, actually.

Annie liked books to begin with, but the balcony was what she really loved, here. Sitting at the top of the spiral staircase, she could see the entire room and still get up easily with the help of the railing. A watchful bird on her perch.

She was there now, stack of books beside her on the top step and another open in her lap as she referenced the little notebook she'd taken to carrying around with her here. Everything was so different, and she was eager to learn as much as she could. The music she'd discovered on her telephone was particularly confusing.

Eyes narrowing at the page, Annie frowned. She glanced to her notes and then back again. "This makes no sense at all," she murmurred, and then jerked her attention up as someone else entered the room.


[THG cast mates, please read this first. <3]

Comments

[themadgirl]

Annie's posture stiffened, and she shook her head as she swallowed down a flash of anxiety. "No," she said, fingers tightening over the edge of her notebook. "Finnick has."

And therein lay the true worry. Since her arrival, Annie had been meticulous to the point of obsession when it came to stepping through any door in the hotel, so afraid was she that she might accidentally find herself back in Panem and unable to return. Finnick had been more conscientious about it, as well, but still it worried her, that someday his restlessness would get the better of him.

[burn_with_us]

Katniss instantly regrets asking. She knows that Annie, more than anyone, has reason to be wary of accidentally stepping through the wrong door. She gives her best attempt at a reassuring smile.

"Well, you know what? Maybe I can test them all before Finnick goes through. Then he's safe, right?"

[themadgirl]

Annie laughed at that; a warm, if sudden sound, rather than one of her manic giggles. She shook her head, briefly lifting a hand to try and impart that she wasn't laughing at Katniss, but rather just the continued implausibility of their new situation.

"You're such a good person, Katniss. You would take care of everyone if they let you, I think." Her smile was faint but genuine. "If I agreed to that and anything happened to you, I'd never ever forgive myself."

[burn_with_us]

"You have to admit, I'm pretty hard to take out," Katniss says, trying to ease her mind. "I have pretty good luck with the doors. I have found a lot of really good ones that don't seem to be dangerous at all."

The few Katniss has found that are dangerous, she has immediately turned around and never went back through them. It's a luxury this place gives her that the Districts never did.