sixthiterationlogs | ψ take me to church

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ψ take me to church | CLOSED

WHO: Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta
WHERE: 6I: Church (House 24) & Odair Residence (House 57)
WHEN: 7 October
OPEN TO: Francis Mulcahy, Johanna Mason, Bodhi Rook
WARNINGS: Excessive amounts of sap. Possibility of references to traumatic backstory/sexual abuse.

If he'd been asked, perhaps Finnick would have imagined something different. In District Four, a wedding would have been a cause for celebration, with the formal part of the ceremony performed by a respected member of the community, and they would have been surrounded by people they knew. Not his family, no matter how much he would have wished them there, because they're long dead, destroyed in proof of the President's hold over him. But Annie's family, maybe, and the other District Four victors, and people they knew from the city. There'd have been a song about marriage being the voyage of love, and music and dancing. But that wedding was impossible in Panem, so impossible that Finnick had never allowed the image he thinks of now to tempt him.

It's only here, because they're away from Snow, that they can dare to do this. And if it's going to be simple, and different, what matters is that it's happening at all, and that Johanna will be there. He'll be with the two people left who mean the most to him, and at the end of the day, Annie will be his wife.

Finnick and Annie have spent days in preparation, working on the traditional net that should form a canopy over the couple. At Annie's suggestion, because the church-house is small and their supplies are limited, they'd draped it over the roof instead of setting up a canopy. Finnick's collected salt water from the sea -- if that's what it is -- to the east, to be used in the ceremony. They had wedding clothes already, gifts from Credence and Johanna on the day last winter when gifts had appeared. Annie even has a pretty necklace to wear, and Finnick's done her hair with the ribbons she'd gotten in one of her gift boxes from whoever's looking after them here.

They've been cleaning their house so they can have their small group of attendees and participants for a celebration lunch, and as much as possible is prepared ahead of time. That leaves just the ceremony itself, and at the designated time, the two of them make their way to the church.

[ starters in the comments, one for a short thread of the ceremony, and another for mixing at lunch ]

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They walk together. In Panem, they might have arrived separately, but in Panem, they might not have been so openly living together before they'd gotten married. In Panem, they'd always had to hide, to keep their relationship to the shadows, because it could never be publicly known that Finnick Odair loved Annie Cresta. Here, they've learned not to care who knows, and today, they're going to make that official. Not legally binding, but that doesn't matter. It's enough for them, and it'd be enough for most of District Four, too.

(He doesn't care what the Capitol would think, for once.)

Finnick has to fend off their friendly birds as they leave the house, because curious geese and a beautiful white dress are not exactly the best match, but he reaches for Annie's hand when they're further down the path.

"You ready?"

Her parents aren't here (one dead, one just... no here). Her stepmother isn't here. None of her siblings are. None of friends, none of the other victors from District Four. It's just her and Finnick, and there's a pang at that. There is.

And yet...

Annie wraps her hand around Finnick's and beams at him. Her eyes are bright and so is her smile. No matter that they are in a strange place, that they are mostly alone here besides Johanna, that she's had to gather up the hem of her dress so it doesn't get dirty, no matter all of that, she's marrying him. And that is sweet beyond anything.

"I am," she says. Her voice is a little hushed with nerves and excitement, and her eyes do scan the surrounds just in case, but she is ready.

She looks beautiful. Finnick often thinks she looks beautiful, but this is different. Happiness is lighting up her whole being, her smile radiant and her eyes dancing. Neither of them had make-up to wear today, but to him she's more beautiful without it than anyone else could be after a stylist's makeover. She's been so happy about this, about making this place give them something they could never have at home, and now it's happening.

But he knows Annie, and he knows that she gets nervous about things, so he had to ask. he squeezes her hand and grins across at her.

"Johanna got you a good dress. You look beautiful."

It's very much something Johanna would have picked for her rather than Annie picking it herself, but it's beautiful, slinky and elegant with a mermaid silhouette and pretty beaded patterns. It was a thoughtful gift, as much as any of the gifts they'd idly thought of then found themselves giving had been, and he's grateful to Johanna for that. And for so many other things today.

Left to her own devices, Annie prefers skirts with bounce and swish. Whether long or short, it doesn't matter; if she can't twirl in it, then it has to have some damn good aesthetics or a stylist's mandate for her to wear it. But this dress is lovely, sets off her hair without turning her ghostly pale, and more than that, it'd been a gift. Not purposefully given, but almost more dear because of it.

She's wearing boots, rather than pretty heels, and the straps are not much protection against the cool breeze, but it's worth it. It is all worth it for this day and the look on Finnick's face.

Annie blushes, murmurs a thanks, and is for a moment at loss for what to do with her hands. One is captured by Finnick, the other occupied with her dress. But she lifts their joined hands and kisses his. He's beautiful, too, and he knows it, and she's trying to get better at just accepting compliments here where she doesn't have to hide so much.

"Are you ready?"

There'd probably been something in that mermaid styling, whether Johanna remembered the mermaid motif that had run through so much of Annie's victory celebration or she just liked the style, he's not sure, but it works on Annie even though it's not what she'd usually wear. It helps that her hair is beautiful, partly braided and partly arranged carefully around and over her shoulders in long curls.

Of course, he'd love her even if she were wearing the now-dirty white outfit she'd arrived in, if her hair were still dirty and matted, because her beauty isn't about what she's wearing or how her hair is done: she's beautiful because she's Annie. The outfit and the braids and pretty ribbons and golden-glowing necklace just make her look even better. Her prettiness is heightened by the flush in her cheeks, and he knows she doesn't always do well with compliments, but it's their wedding day, the day for her to feel beautiful and wanted and loved.

Her lips are warm on his skin, and he holds the back of his hand to her face for a moment before he lets their hands drop again.

"Absolutely." He hadn't been, always, not when Johanna first suggested it. But he's ready for it now, wholeheartedly. "Once I was sure it was possible." It's a happy thought, one to hold onto, big and warm in his heart and spreading out through his whole body. They'd always had to steal happiness before they came here, sneaking in secret shadows to be together, but here they are, taking it openly for themselves.

They don't need to say much, so they don't. Instead, they walk together, hand-in-hand, until they arrive at the church. Finnick leads her into the building, squeezing her hand reassuringly as they enter.

"Father Mulcahy?"

Edited 2017-10-21 11:53 (UTC)

They've been cleaning the house for days. Not that they are messy people by nature, but the see-saw of their respective mental states meant that things have needed to be straightened, dusted, aired and cleaned. This is just a good reason. So the house, once the party of five gets there past the curious geese and peafowl, is open and fresh, with some flowers in mismatched vases and mugs in the windows and on the dining room table. It's this room that Annie leads her guests to, all nervous happiness, and then she darts off to the kitchen to finish making lunch.

(Hopefully people will sit, she thinks. She did say for them to do so, right? Or. Well. Finnick's there, he can be all smooth at them.)

Lunch is easy for a woman from District Four. Slipping a makeshift apron over her pretty dress, Annie works quickly to grill some fish (flavoured by fresh herbs, like peppercress) and toss some pre-prepared shoots and stems to steam them. The longest thing might have been the rice from the buckets she and Finnick received along with their nice clothes, but she'd started that before she left for the ceremony.

Within five minutes, the dishes are placed on the table in the dining room, along with the sliced strawberries (the Legacy bucket) and peaches (from the mirror village) for dessert.

"Well, um, dig in!"

Being assaulted by fowl is an unexpected but amusing reminder of several of the villages and the orphanage around the hospital - chickens left to run everywhere half the time, pecking up seeds and insects and generally doing equal parts of cleaning the place up and causing chaos. He's clearly practiced at the sidestep one has to learn to avoid trampling a bird or getting knocked over by them. When they make it into the house, Mulcahy nods in approval at the way the place looks and the little touches that have been made to turn it into a true "home" and not just a place to sleep - little touches that he hasn't been able to put into the church yet. He begins to follow Annie to the kitchen to offer to help, but he's held back and eventually takes his seat without protest.

As the food comes out, he smiles up at Annie, obviously pleased at everything that's been done to make this day welcoming, and clearly looking forward to the food. "It looks absolutely delicious. Do you mind if I say a quick blessing before we begin?"

He'd seemed nice, this man Finnick found to marry them. Genuinely so enough for her to settle, a bit, around him, instead of being too strung out with nerves. And he'd married her to Finnick, something for which she'll forever and ever and ever be grateful to him for.

So Annie's smile is warm and bright as she turns it onto Mulcahy, even if she's not quite sure what he means.

He's nice, is Mulcahy, and he'd seemed happy for her and Finnick, and her normal ticking paranoia does little more than flicker because she quashes it.

"Thank you. And, and sure. Do we need to do anythin'?"

The seat next to Finnick is, of course, saved for Annie. For his wife. Perhaps it's not legally binding here, but Mulcahy did a wonderful ceremony, and they were married under a net and touched each other's lips with saltwater, and that makes it as sure to anyone from District Four as if it were done and registered with the Mayor. He'd never thought that formality particularly mattered to him, or maybe he'd just told himself that, but now he knows that it did matter to him, just like it mattered to Annie, because he's never felt so happy, never smiled so hard, never been so pleased just to have her sit down beside him.

Finnick grabs her hand under the table as soon as he can, though it stops him from actually being able to eat much of the food on offer there. He just needs to touch her, to feel the ring on her finger and know that this is all real.

"I love you," he murmurs. Just to remind her.

Finnick clutches her hand and she clutches back. Her husband. Legality is only the rules of the place they are in, as far as Annie is concerned. As far as Annie is concerned, she and Finnick are married. Married. The only people who would disagree would be the Capitol, and honestly, fuck them.

"I love you, too," she whispers back, and beams at Finnick. There might be some price to pay for this - no, scratch that, most likely, probably, will be. But it's worth it, she thinks, for this.

(This isn't Panem. Her family is safe. The rest of her family.)

"Are you gonna eat?" Her tone is high, cheerful, teasing.

He doesn't want to think about consequences. He's spent the last ten -- no, more now -- years thinking about consequences, knowing that if he slips, it will fall to someone he loves to pay the cost. He wants to be with her without being afraid of it, and that was part of what all this was about: making that statement that he only wants her, forever, that he doesn't care what anybody else says or thinks.

His wife. This place isn't a place that makes it easy to be happy, but he's been more content here than he could be in Panem. It's hard, here, but he has Annie, and he doesn't have to hide that he loves her.

And now she's his wife.

"Mmm. Thought I might just stare at you for a while."

He's only teasing, though, and the huge grin on his face makes it clear. He can't stop the grin, and he wouldn't want to. He wants to make sure that she knows just how happy this makes him.

She blushes. It is one of the many curses of her pale skin: freckles and how easily it is to see when she blushes. Normally, with other people, it's one of her sources of awkwardness. With Finnick, it's only a source of awkwardness when they are arguing, when the flush of anger spreads of her face. One of many reasons why, when they argue, she prefers them to not be looking at each other.

But here, now, she blushes, and she can feel herself blushing, and it's okay. It's expected, it's okay, he can laugh and grin and if she feels silly, she's allowed. It's a nice kind of silly.

"That's just rude," Annie tells him, glancing at him impishly and then trying to one-handedly use her fork to scrape away a piece of fish. "If I say anything in reply, you'll just turn it back on me and I'll turn even more pink."

"What if I promise not to?"

He's not actually deliberately making her blush, but he truly doesn't want anything else in this moment but to be here, with her, yes, with some of their friends, but mostly with her, because that's what today is meant to be about.

"Besides, the pink's good on you," he says, as if it were really actually some sort of logical argument they're having here.

He presses a little into her side, a shifting of his weight so he can feel her warmth next to him. He probably actually should serve himself some food, after they'd gone to so much effort -- particularly Annie -- to pull together a celebration meal for their little party, but he's almost giddy on the joy of the day and it's hard to think of anything else right now.

Annie can pull off pink, although she doesn't immediately seem the type to. But it warms her skin, and the pink she's received from their captors certainly looks cute. He's not wrong. Yet blushing is different. Obviously. She can feel the heat in her face after all.

But it's a good day, it's a happy day, and Finnick's being silly. It lets her coast over the feeling without tripping over Father Mulcahy and Bodhi.

She squeezes his hand and then, reluctantly, pulls her hand free. She needs her knife and fork to eat, and she won't let her food go to waste. Finnick leaning into her helps; they are still touching, and she is very unwilling to let him go. She should. He should talk to Johanna. But not yet, not yet.

"I was gonna say, 'wouldn't you get bored staring at me'," she says then, giving him a sly look. "But you would just say something like, 'never'. Right?"

CHURCH

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