You got a new horizon, it's ephemeral style.

[sixsciencecredits]

The sharp edge of shock and white static thrum of continuous fear upon arriving at the Nexus hotel had begun to fade, mostly because Darcy was five shots of Patrón into her demise and moving fast. It had been a conscious choice when she realized that she was a long, long way from home with no way back to just get so drunk she didn't give a shit, and it was an official success. Darcy had long moved past complacency and, thanks to the Patrón, was now inching towards the level of boisterous that would have her table dancing, if she thought this place was of the sort of calibre that could handle a bitchin', interpretive rendition of "Disco Stick." Since it probably wasn't that sort of place and Darcy didn't care to be escorted out of the hotel and onto some planet she had no working concept of, she was keeping her ass still and settling for occasionally humming.

She'd tried a door for the first time ever that day in search retail therapy and had actually found some boots to pair with her jeans that looked like they could fend off an alien invasion or whatever the fuck had been the catalyst behind landing her in the Nexus, though she assumed, as always, it was on either Jane or her boyfriend. Since she'd mustered the nerve to go shopping mostly because it was too abysmally pleasantly warm on the Nexus grounds for the clothes she'd been wearing in Norway, she'd felt she'd done enough for her day and could reward herself by basting in checked worry and booze. The hotel had given her a phone that worked as long as she wasn't trying to call anyone she needed to call, and the sheer level of frustration involved in being defeated by technology had been enough motivation to skip dinner and head straight for the drinking. She felt a little light-headed, but the blissful fog of approaching ignorance was definitely worth it.

She waved one of the waitresses over to order a sixth shot, and upon recognizing she had yet to truly speak to anyone she hadn't stopped to ask for help, Darcy turned sideways in her chair, fluffed her hair, and gave the room in general a slow look. She thought about smiling to make herself look welcoming, but since she'd be smiling at no one in particular and was no doubt drunk enough that all the muscles in her face wouldn't cooperate at the same time, she held off.

Comments

[65th_victor]

"Darcy," Finnick repeated if only because the name was unfamiliar to him. Of course, he'd heard often enough that his name was the strange one. He liked it though. There was something appealing about the fact that worlds evolved so differently that the sound of the names varied.

He slid across the bar to sit beside her.

The request made him a smile a bit though, if only because he knew his backstory was strange (well there were plenty of people here with strange backstories). But all about Finnick? Twenty-four, enjoys long walks on the beaches, somewhat married with a very pregnant wife, and killed six other kids when he was fourteen. What was to know?

"Are you new to the hotel?" he asked instead.

[sixsciencecredits]

Darcy looked at his face because it was a habit and quite frankly faces like his made looking at them hardly a chore. His smile was faint, just a curl about the edges, but she could see the potential in his lips that said when Finnick smiled, really smiled, it would stretch from ear to ear and be as pretty as the rest of him. She noticed that he wasn't leaping to talk about himself, and that was okay. Darcy was one for needling, but only when it was important. If he wasn't chomping at the bit to tell her about himself, she'd leave it alone out of respect of newfound friendship.

"I am new to the hotel," she said, looking at his teeth as he spoke, his eyes, the sun-bleached highlights in his hair. "I have such a crush on you right now," she blurted. "That's weird, right? I'm drunk, and you're pretty, and yeah." She smiled, then picked up the shot she'd recently ordered and tossed it back, allowing the burn of tequila to recenter her thoughts and allow her to continue to converse without looking or acting like a creeper. "Anyway. Have you been at the hotel long? You seem pretty calm. You must've had plenty of time to adjust."

[65th_victor]

"It's not weird," Finnick said with a laugh. Her bluntness was refreshing and amusing -- which of course, was what he enjoyed about Katniss and Johanna, although their delivery was far more flat and less flattering.

"I get that quite a bit," Finnick said, dropping his voice a little and leaning in closer, as if he was sharing a secret with her. "And my wife certainly thinks I'm very pretty." Admittedly, it was a delightful change of pace to be able to draw a line because he was in a relationship. It was something that had never mattered before.

"I've been here for a few months now," Finnick continued conversationally. It was weird to think that it had been that long now. "Definitely has its perks compared to home."

[sixsciencecredits]

"As she should," Darcy said, laughing with Finnick because he just had that sort of laugh. She was mildly disappointed to discover so early on that she and Finnick wouldn't be ending the evening in her room, but that was alright. Darcy liked handsome, interesting and pleasant friends as much as she enjoyed the same attributes as other, and had to admit that her approach to acquiring either usually started in the same way. "How long have you been married?"

Darcy picked up her recently refilled shot glass to drain it of its contents as Finnick spoke of the Nexus being beneficial in comparison to his home. Darcy hadn't really weighed the pros and cons against each other yet, but she had to admit that the environment in the Nexus was more agreeable to her nature than that of Norway. Thus far, anyway. "Where is your home, anyway? Someplace beachy, right? You've got the tan." Darcy had been freezing her ass off for months, and had the pasty white tail to show for it.

[65th_victor]

"How long have I been married?" Finnick echoed, pursing his lips playfully as he spoke. "Well, that's rather complicated. We're from different times. When she's from, we're married. When I'm from, not yet. But we've been together for over six years."

Which was also complicated in its own right. But it also wasn't. Maybe they weren't and had never been together in the most traditional of ways, but that had never changed that they loved each other.

"From a lovely little place called District Four," Finnick responded, picking up his own glass again. "Which does indeed have an abundance of beaches. And yourself?"

[sixsciencecredits]

"Huh," Darcy said, her head tipping at his mention of both he and his wife coming from different times. She was a bit too drunk to apply the science smarts she'd acquired while working with Jane to this particular situation, but she would file the information away for later contemplation. "Well, that sounds like it would make life interesting, or at least give you something to talk about for a while, huh? I hope I have a babe of a future husband strutting around this hotel somewhere, maybe counting our lottery winnings. I could do with some good news."

She'd never heard of this 'District Four' place, but in a place like the Nexus she was discovering that would be common enough. "New Mexico," she said with a bit of a crooked grin. "Pretty far away from District Four, I'm guessing. Have you been here long?"

[65th_victor]

"It was a wonderful surprise," Finnick replied easily, his voice not conveying just how wonderful or how much of a surprise it had been for Annie to show up and announce that they were married and she was pregnant with his baby. Of course, it had been equally difficult to contend with the fact that he was also dead where she was from, dying weeks after their prized wedding. But as he had thought a thousand times before, he would have rather died as her husband than as the toy of the Capitol. He had to take his victories where he could.

"Well, the good news is that you're here drinking with me," Finnick responded teasingly, flashing her another grin.

"I haven't many people who have heard of it," he said, shrugging lazily. But then, he also hadn't heard of New Mexico or many of the other places that people came from here.

He paused openly when she asked him how long he had been here. It felt as if he had been her for forever and had just arrived at the same time.

"Seven months now, I think," he answered.

[sixsciencecredits]

The longer Darcy looked at Finnick, the more things became increasingly clear to her. She had been blinded by the overwhelming attractiveness of him, as she could admit to being more than a little drunk and of a singular mindset most of the time anyway. She thought then, without any tangible reason that she could come up with, that he was very contained without appearing to be so. It made him all the more interesting and admittedly attractive to her, as one was always bound to be attracted to a polar opposite by contrary nature alone.

She also had to admit that the attraction was less in the sense that she wanted to unzip his pants with her teeth - learning he had a wife had put a permanent nuke on any and all proverbial boners she might've been able to muster otherwise - so perhaps 'compelling' would've been a more fitting word for Finnick. Either way, she leaned in to rest her elbow on the bar, settling in, and smiled brightly at him. He was pleasing and interesting and continued conversation with him was bound to be enjoyable, so why not?

"It is some pretty good news," she agreed. "I like making new friends. And I bet your wife was doubly pleased to find you kicking around here. Being reminded that you won the husband jackpot has got to feel pretty incredible, I'd imagine."

Darcy attempted to imagine staying here for seven months or longer, and found the idea both harrowing and interesting, all at once. "You must like it okay here," she said. "I mean, just assuming that you aren't stuck here and unable to move on somewhere else. From what I heard that happens to people here sometimes."

[65th_victor]

Annie's reaction probably wouldn't have been close to what Darcy had imagined. Mostly, because, well, at first, Annie had been fairly upset to find him here, understandably so, because she had thought he was dead. Of course, after that, her joy was probably far beyond what Darcy thought. Not so much to do with winning the proverbial husband jackpot and more to do with simply having a husband.

"Less of a jackpot than you might think," Finnick answered, still keeping his tone teasing.

"I do like it here, yes," Finnick answered, content to move onto something more positive. "There's a door to my home world, but I've never used it. Hotel's a lot calmer. What about you?" he asked. "Have you enjoyed your stay so far?"