when the flood calls you have no home, you have no walls [Closed]

[treadswater]

WHO: Annie Cresta
WHERE: #House 57
WHEN: 2nd, 3rd and 6th July
OPEN TO: Finnick Odair, Beverly Crusher, Natasha Romanoff and Percival Graves
NOTES: Most starters in the comments
WARNINGS: Anxiety - disordered thinking, intrusive thoughts, etc. Potential panic-attack, discussion of Panem.

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2nd July | Finnick Odair

She has to watch.

There's no question of it in her mind, not this. She has to watch. Hearing also helps but trees muffle things, buildings muffle things. Water muffles water, so the rain might mask the sound of the approaching deluge.

There might not be a flood. She can appreciate this. She can. There wasn't a flood last time. But last time she could run and now she's hampered, tied down by the birds and the weather. It's raining. Raining makes it worse. It never rained in her arena, never had to, but here there is mud, more buildings, a river half-dried out and what if things died? Roots no longer holding the ground together? Except, no, it wasn't a drought, it was just hot, but the waterfall came from somewhere and the water had dried up, it hadn't been hot enough or long enough for it to just be the weather, so something was blocking the flow of water. And now it's raining, after an earthquake. Water builds and builds, water has weight, water is strong.

So Annie watches. Uselessly. She can't see the river from here, not really. She's sitting in the bedroom she and Finnick have claimed, sitting on a chair with her arms folded on the windowsill and she's watching.

She can't move. No, not even to make a trap, which she thought about, because Peeta Mellark is here. He arrived last night, when she was bad. Finnick's call. Finnick wouldn't make a bad call, he wouldn't, but she doesn't really know Peeta and she has her back to the door. Open door. Closed would muffle things. Open means she can listen to the creaks of the floorboards but she can't turn around because she has to watch. If she leaves, something might happen. The flood might come. It doesn't matter that she's been sitting here so long, she needs to go pee, she has to watch.

So Annie sits and watches and tries to pay attention to every tiny sound both inside and out.

Comments

[ethnobotany]

They're darling birds, especially the one that wants so much attention. It reminds Beverly of a cat and she finds herself wanting one again. She hasn't had the chance, but she's always loved cats. Geese are another thing entirely and she thinks Annie and Finnick might have more bravery than she does on that score.

Something about Annie seems a little different, though. Like she's been shaken a bit and by something. Though why might be hard to say. The what seems obvious. Earthquakes aren't easy for anyone. Some more than others.

Instead of pointing it out, Beverly tries to work the conversation naturally and let Annie take whatever solace and comfort she can. "It's very good. Otherwise... I'd have to figure out what they do here and everywhere is different." She knows what Starfleet would do, but each of these people seems to come from different places and cultures, so there's no telling what might be right to do.

"Do you keep fish or just have a lot of experience with them?"

[treadswater]

It wouldn't occur to Annie that, really, her birds are dangerous. She knows that they are getting big, and that they are territorial, but she's their momma. They love her. They love Finnick. That's all that really matters.

But Annie is a Career, still. It comes across in a number of ways.

As Beverly talks, Annie looks at her. Squints, and squints in blank bafflement. What do people... do? Do with what?

There's something there she could maybe analyse, pull from words and context and stitch together, but it's too hard right now. There's too much fog.

"Keep... fish?" That also is strange, not quite right. "Um. We're fisherfolk? Brought up in District Four, with fishin' with our parents. Trained, too. But it's different, here. Not enough infrastructure."

[ethnobotany]

Fisherfolk. That makes more sense somehow. It sounds more like a society based on fishing and all that comes out of it.

"There's not much infrastructure for a lot of things here," Beverly agrees with a shrug and a slight frown. "It's strange to see it working at all."

But with so many people from differing cultures and backgrounds, it's not all that surprising in the long run. Maybe this village will work better than a lot of Earth history. She hopes so. No tyrannical rule. But mob rule won't be much better, either.

"From fisherfolk to geese-keepers. Nothing like keeping occupied, is there?"

[treadswater]

"It. Could have been bad," Annie agrees, slowly. Reluctantly. She's survived the Games, witnessed all the rest. She's seen her own District descend into rebellion, and what people in power can do. But here, there are... It's not. It's better, so far.

The stronger voices in the group aren't ones to tolerate cruelty or violence. She just hopes that they stick around.

"I'm, um. Being busy is good. It fills in time. But if fish are gonna be farmed more, needs to be like, digging? And pools made, off the river. That kinda infrastructure. What do you do?"

[ethnobotany]

Those suggestions make sense, though they aren't the sort of thing Beverly would think about. It's not in her line of work. "Maybe you could suggest that? I'm sure someone would be able and willing to help with a project like that."

It would give the villagers more control over their own food supply, she thinks. That sort of idea would be a lot of work, but good in the long run.

She doesn't comment much more on the society they're in now or the earthquake, opting to let that fall by the wayside. Instead, she focuses on Annie's question.

"I'm a doctor here. I just patch people up and lecture them until they take care of themselves," she jokes lightly. "I've also been making and keeping a garden in my spare time. I'm something of a botanist on the side."