Even after so long here, Finnick struggles with openly criticizing Panem. He'd lived his entire adult life knowing he was being surveilled, that more than any ordinary citizen of District Four, the Capitol cared what he was doing, and what he was saying. In the Capitol, people speak with care all the time, aware of how much more intense the scrutiny is there than in the districts. Wherever he was, he didn't feel safe to speak as frankly as Hawke does in public, and if his smile is dark, it's still amused.
"Everyone lives under the rule of the Capitol," he says, and his expression softens a little, a hint of wistfulness at the description of different peoples living in the same world in under different laws.
"This is the first place I've been since I was fourteen where everyone didn't know me." He doesn't dislike it the same way Hawke does, and his voice is matter-of-fact more than showing any displeasure at the fact. It was his life, and it was a life he'd chosen, though he'd had no idea of just what that choice would mean and the consequences it would have.
"I grew up in a poor fishing family, but I always wanted to be more than just a fisherman, and you can't do that in Panem. Kids from fishing villages in District Four have to grow up to be fishers. So I volunteered for the Hunger Games when I was fourteen, and nobody thought I was a threat because I was so young and so pretty. But I was so popular and such a good fighter that I won, and winning means fame and fortune. Everyone in Panem's known everything about me ever since."
It rolls off his tongue like it's a story he's told hundreds of times before and finds a little boring, but he's watching Hawke, his interest in her reaction showing in his bright green eyes. He's left out a lot of the story, including all the details of just what the Hunger Games are, but it's the basic outline of the story, in a few minutes.
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"Everyone lives under the rule of the Capitol," he says, and his expression softens a little, a hint of wistfulness at the description of different peoples living in the same world in under different laws.
"This is the first place I've been since I was fourteen where everyone didn't know me." He doesn't dislike it the same way Hawke does, and his voice is matter-of-fact more than showing any displeasure at the fact. It was his life, and it was a life he'd chosen, though he'd had no idea of just what that choice would mean and the consequences it would have.
"I grew up in a poor fishing family, but I always wanted to be more than just a fisherman, and you can't do that in Panem. Kids from fishing villages in District Four have to grow up to be fishers. So I volunteered for the Hunger Games when I was fourteen, and nobody thought I was a threat because I was so young and so pretty. But I was so popular and such a good fighter that I won, and winning means fame and fortune. Everyone in Panem's known everything about me ever since."
It rolls off his tongue like it's a story he's told hundreds of times before and finds a little boring, but he's watching Hawke, his interest in her reaction showing in his bright green eyes. He's left out a lot of the story, including all the details of just what the Hunger Games are, but it's the basic outline of the story, in a few minutes.