A lot of Careers, a lot of victors, would get angry or frustrated with an ally who reacts to the stress of this place the way Annie does. But Finnick knows that response well; it's as much a part of the Annie he loves and works with as anything else.
He can see when he offers her the backpack that she's not understanding what he's saying, that the slip in her mind has fractured her ability to be in the now, so he sets the pack down and invites her into the house, guiding her towards the kitchen, where it's safer for her to be if she can't stand watch.
"You look after each other, okay? I'm going to check upstairs."
He doesn't want to stay away long, doesn't even want to leave at all. But he has to check the rest of the house; he's not even sure if he can trust what he's already checked. They have no precedent for anything like this, no way of knowing what the Gamemakers are doing with this new move. But checking the house is the first thing he can think of to explore.
Upstairs is as quiet but unsettlingly abandoned as the downstairs is. Their stuff is there, Annie's backpack, the things they'd been gifted, the nets and ropes they'd made. But there's still dust everywhere, which Annie had cleaned months ago, damage unrepaired that had been long ago fixed, almost the same but not quite right in the same way that the village and park were.
When he gets back, Annie is curled up on the floor with East, and he can't get her attention. He sits with her for a while, but eventually, he has to go explore the house more thoroughly than he'd been able to do in the dark, in his initial checks. He takes the flashlight and a knife out of his backpack, and this time he goes over everything carefully.
Once he's done that, all he can really do is return to Annie and wait. He's sitting at the table when he finally hears a shift in her breathing, and he looks over to her just as she calls out.
"Hey," he says, pushing back his chair to stand from the table. He goes to her corner, crouched low so he's at her level, and pauses just within her reach. "Feeling better?"
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He can see when he offers her the backpack that she's not understanding what he's saying, that the slip in her mind has fractured her ability to be in the now, so he sets the pack down and invites her into the house, guiding her towards the kitchen, where it's safer for her to be if she can't stand watch.
"You look after each other, okay? I'm going to check upstairs."
He doesn't want to stay away long, doesn't even want to leave at all. But he has to check the rest of the house; he's not even sure if he can trust what he's already checked. They have no precedent for anything like this, no way of knowing what the Gamemakers are doing with this new move. But checking the house is the first thing he can think of to explore.
Upstairs is as quiet but unsettlingly abandoned as the downstairs is. Their stuff is there, Annie's backpack, the things they'd been gifted, the nets and ropes they'd made. But there's still dust everywhere, which Annie had cleaned months ago, damage unrepaired that had been long ago fixed, almost the same but not quite right in the same way that the village and park were.
When he gets back, Annie is curled up on the floor with East, and he can't get her attention. He sits with her for a while, but eventually, he has to go explore the house more thoroughly than he'd been able to do in the dark, in his initial checks. He takes the flashlight and a knife out of his backpack, and this time he goes over everything carefully.
Once he's done that, all he can really do is return to Annie and wait. He's sitting at the table when he finally hears a shift in her breathing, and he looks over to her just as she calls out.
"Hey," he says, pushing back his chair to stand from the table. He goes to her corner, crouched low so he's at her level, and pauses just within her reach. "Feeling better?"