thecapitol | Into the deep end

Entry tags:

Into the deep end

Who| Finnick and Anyone
What| Swim lessons
Where| The pool in the training center
When| Just before the crowning
Warnings/Notes| None. No one will be drowning today.

It has come to Finnick's attention that some of the tributes from District 4 don't know how to swim. That is utterly unacceptable so he's going to do something about it. He had one of the stylists from their district to get swimsuits made for all his tributes and made sure they were all ready and handed out before he got things set up.

The escorts had been instructed to send his tributes down to the training center with no ifs and or buts, with their swimsuits on if they knew what was good for them. There was a sign set up there instructing District 4 tributes to come to the pool, with an arrow pointing them in the right direction. Of course, there was nothing preventing anyone else from coming to the pool also.

Anyone who investigates will find Finnick in his own skin tight swim suit sitting at the edge of the pool waiting for tributes to arrive.

"Everybody in. The deep end if you know what you're doing, the shallow end if you don't."

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Shion had taken the offer of swimming lessons gladly. He knew it was a skill he had to learn. Not just because he was district four and if he drowned in a water based arena it would be very embarrassing. But because it was one of those things, like so many things, that marked him as a kid from No. 6. So much knowledge yet not knowing how to do something basic, so basic that even puppies could manage it. Something that could keep him alive.

Not being able to survive, needing to be a burden. He wasn't going to be like that any more.

However stood here, in a swim suit, cold and scared he was beginning to regret it.

He rubbed at his arm, at the scar that ran down his body. He had become used to people seeing it, and had become used to wearing less clothes then he felt comfortable with, but this was a much larger step and so he was glad to actually get into the water.

Even if that was terrifying. He climbed into the shallow end and clung to the wall, trying to remember to breathe. The water here was clean and clear, nothing like the sewer line, which was the only other time he had swam.

Finnick stayed with him as he got in the water, swimming a little further out to try and coax him away from the wall.

"Don't worry, I won't let you drown. Can you imagine the headlines? Just try and come a little more toward me. You need to get used to how your body feels in the water, how it sort of carries you but resists you at the same time."

He would stay where Shion could touch the bottom since that was a lot less frightening than throwing him in the deep end. He would have to put his own life saving skills to the test if he had done that.

"You'd never live it down." He took a gulp of air and slowly took his hands off the wall. His feet were firmly on the floor, the water was still, not like the fast current of the sewers. Nothing to drag him off his feet and send him under.

Calm water and Finnick was right there, he wouldn't let him drown. Shion moved forwards a bit, walking slowly and concentrating on not falling over.

"There, see, you'll get used to it."

Finnick held out his hands. He wanted to be encouraging, but he really did need to actually get something accomplished.

"Why don't you take my hands and see if you can get your feet off the bottom. This is supposed to be a swimming lesson and not just a walking one."

Shion smiled, encouraged that he had managed to do even this much. He was still alive, and not drowning, and Finnick hadn't got angry at him, so he supposed he was doing it right.

Not that there were many ways to walk through water wrong.

"Oh... okay..." He reached out and took his hands, bracing himself for the next part. The frightening part, actually taking his feet off the bottom. He reminded himself that Finnick would not let him drown.

"Okay..." Deep breath as he lifted one foot off the floor slowly.

It was slower than Finnick really wanted, but some tributes could take being thrown into the deep end and he didn't think that Shion was one of them. If he was learning it didn't matter how it happened, just so long as he was able to keep what he learned.

"You're doing good. Can you feel how the water sort of picks you up? If you're ever in real trouble try to get a good breath of air and just hold steady. You should be light enough to float up to the surface of whatever water you're in, and with a little practice you can float for longer than most people could ever swim."

Shion nodded, that was how he had survived the escape from No. 6, held his breath and hoped he didn't sink too deep.

He nodded and then raised his other foot, clutching onto Finnick's hands for dear life, kicking out instinctively in panic, trying to keep his head above water.

And breathe, because passing out from lack of oxygen without ever going underwater would be... special.

Kevin sees the sign and decides to check out the swimming lessons, even though he was neither a Tribute nor from District 4. Some of the Mentors have already been back in the Arena once. What if they do it again and he's one of the ones sent back? Besides, he likes to learn things. And it might help him not think about Blaine's "vacation" even if he's just watching from the side of the pool room.

He runs back up to his room and grabs a swimsuit. And promptly pulls his clothes back on top. There's no way he's walking around this place with no shirt on. No way.

Edited 2014-03-10 03:47 (UTC)

Finnick greets him when he gets to the pool. He doesn't have a problem teaching another mentor how to swim, although he isn't sure what Kevin is up to coming with his clothes on.

"You here to watch or did you want to swim?"

He doesn't take his eyes off the other tributes for too long, just in case one of them gets into trouble. Which is far too likely at the moment.

Kevin smiles nervously. "I don't know how."

He's not planning to interrupt anything. The last thing he wants is more trouble. "I just thought maybe I could figure it out if I watched."

Finnick shook his head. It wasn't like people from Panem all knew how to swim, it was just amazing that so many of them didn't want to take the opportunity to learn when it presented itself.

"Trust me, you'll learn better in the water than you ever would just sitting and watching. It's one thing to have the theory, but your body just moves differently in the water."

Kevin looked at the water, longingly. He still didn't like showing as much skin as his swimsuit did. But then he remembered Blaine and his decision to do whatever it took to keep that from happening again. He pulled his shirt off and dropped his jeans before jumping in the water. "Okay. Teach me."

Finnick shook his head. "You should have your stylists get you some swimwear. It helps."

But he wasn't going to say no to someone who wanted to learn. He was also there to make sure no one drowned.

"Put your arms out and try to press the water away from you, see if you can do that without touching the bottom for a while and then try to get from one side to the other."

He made a face. "This one's good enough. They'd probably make me one that's smaller than my underwear."

He pushed his arms out, kicking at the water to try and keep his feet off the bottom of the pool. "Like this?"

This would be fun.

He didn't bother with a swimsuit, instead dragging his feet all the way in those old, worn mud-caked standard issue boots and olive drab. His reasoning with the escorts had been that he had taken the effort to dress up, albeit in the wrong attire, and so he couldn't be told he didn't pay the Big Event no mind. For his part, Hawkeye would rather play the part of recluse this time around. If not allowed, he only wouldn't make a scene and get on with it. Simple enough, right?

Master Complicator, Carlye had called him. Hawkeye didn't know how but he had managed to tune out most instructions given, most of the talk of where he was headed, until the smell hit him. And so when he sauntered into the pool area he was looking a mix of confused and purposely apathetic to the ordeal. Okay, the set-up seemed fair enough. The gesture seemed even genuinely thoughtful. Hawkeye's gaze is on Finnick, and for a moment he wonders about the boy who hadn't seen an ocean before, and then about the living dead boy, and his right hand shoots up before he can think better of it. "Teacher, can I be excused?"

Finnick wasn't surprised to see Hawkeye show up in his normal clothes. Or at least in clothes that weren't appropriate for the task at hand. Hawkeye just had a knack for making everything that much harder, on himself and on others. When he was addressed as 'teacher' Finnick snorted and lifted himself out of the water.

"No, you should have gone to the bathroom before class. Now get in the pool and give me five laps or you'll be in detention the rest of the week."

It was a pleasant surprise to see Finnick playing along, but not so much to learn Hawkeye wouldn't be getting the answer he'd been betting on. With a great pensive air, he hiked his shoulders up a notch and crossed one arm across his chest so that it supported the elbow of the other, which he used to gesture at the pool. "Do you really want me in there before I've tinkled?" he asks, deadpan and serious and he's not expecting to be taken seriously at all. "We had a swimming hole right up the road where I grew up," he explains, as if it's the best part of his excuse. "With a tire swing and everything- it'd always be full in the summer when school would let out and the whole gang would run there. It'd be our little secret meeting place too, the nights we felt like being secretive, though it strikes me now that a place so obvious couldn't have been a big secret to our parents or anything." Hawkeye pauses again and then adds, "The water was freezing."

Finnick was ready to call Hawkeye's bluff. It was a real shame to not have tributes from District 4 know how to swim. Swimming could save lives out there in the Arena, and that was the sort of thing Finnick was all over.

"There's enough chlorine in here to kill off even the nasty things you could bring to the pool. And if you're that worried about temperature you'd better get in quick. The longer you wait, the colder the water gets. Besides, if I can be in here without shame, I'm sure you can do the same."

He had a feeling that challenging Hawkeye's manhood might get him in the water. But still, this was going to be a tough nut to crack. So to speak.

Hawkeye debates saying he was allergic to chlorine even knowing it would just be rightfully brushed off. He had no idea Finnick could stay so patient- courteous, sure, in a way, but everyone Hawkeye knew would have snapped at him to get his sorry ass in the water- and in those words. So it's a little out of respect for the boy that he steps a little closer to the edge of the pool, and kneels down.

"Well, not all of us are hunky enough to pull off a skin-tight suit," he teases, a lazy look to him that communicated he was either baffled or disinterested even after the jab. "But whatever you do, please don't pull it off." Hawkeye thinks about just doing as the fella says. He surely wouldn't be allowed to just walk away without at least hearing someone nag him the rest of the day. It just wasn't worth the headache, which of course only begged the question of why he was insisting on making it one. "I already told you I know how to swim. What can you teach me?"

"I don't care if you get in wearing everything you have on now. If you can show me you can swim I'll leave you alone. But I'm afraid I can't just take your word for it. I won't take the risk that one of you makes me look bad in the arena, or the risk that I have to watch your colorless, lifeless corpse get hauled out of the water."

Finnick was serious about this, he wasn't going to let Hawkeye or anyone else off the hook so easily. He may not have known the tribute all that long, but he knew better than to just take his word for something like this.

This was going to end up with him either floating like a bloated corpse or sinking to the bottom, hoping they either drain the pool or he can just walk out. Even his Escort looked sympathetic as she herded him there, forced some "oohs" and "aahs" over the sign by the Finnick Odair, and reminded herself to tell Finnick that he might need to fish a zombie out of the pool if this goes like she think it will.

R in a clinging bathing suit is one of those images even his biggest fans could go without: he's littered with scars and almost shapeless in his corpsehood, sickeningly pale with mottled splotches where his blood settled when he died, his head lolling more than usual as he looks doubtfully at the water. Jesus. Even he can tell this is a bad idea.

He shuffles in and nearly takes a header off the stairs in the shallow end, off-balance already as the water laps at his knees. Finnick's got his work cut out with this one.

Maybe Finnick was just being tested. This was a test, something the Capitol sent him as punishment. He had the worst possible sea-faring tributes and he knew that if it ever got out he would never hear the end of it.

He had to admit he was impressed when R was willing to try it anyway.

"Okay, maybe we won't work on swimming with you so much as floating. Think you can float? Or will you just sink?"

As little as he wanted to have to resuscitate any of his tributes, giving mouth to mouth to a zombie seemed like the absolute last thing he wanted to do.

R looks a little haunted at the idea, his grey eyes staring sorta-kinda in Finnick's direction. Is he serious? He's serious. "Don't...know. A-void...water."

It's one of those weird zombie self-preservation things - they won't wander out of a fire, but they'll try, in a vague, shuffling way, to avoid guns and water and the wide open sky. They're all vague threats. They get in the way of feeding. Now he wobbles on that last step with the water up to his thighs, unsure if he should shuffle forward or there's something he should be doing with his arms. Seems like he should be doing something with his arms, although he's not sure what.

R holds them out in front of him, zombie-style, and looks over at Finnick with a soft groan, as if to ask am I doing it right?

It dawns on Finnick that this may be beyond his ability both as a swimmer and as a mentor. What do you do with a dead boy in the water?

"I think I can see why you would. But if you stay there for a minute I have an idea."

Finnick gets out of the water and heads to one of the supply rooms nearby. He comes back with a floatation device and some little inflatable arm cuffs. He floats the big orange one in the water and pushes it toward R so he has something to hold on to, in case he tips forward. The floaties might be a little harder to work with, but it's worth a try.

"I think we'll start you off extra slow, okay?"

This still looks like a bad idea, R's mouth curling into a faint frown, his blackened lips turning down now as he stares at the rescue buoy. The red seems familiar. He's probably seen that color and shape before in his life, when he still needed to breathe, and he thinks he can see where Finnick is going with this. R reaches out and fumbles with the buoy, his hands sliding over the handles and trying to get a hold on it. It scoots across the water, clearly not built for zombies.

"Ugh..." R's bitching now, his moan irritated. "Too...fast."

He hunches even more now, only up to his hips in the water. The arm cuffs might be the equivalent of a band-aid on an amputated leg at this point, R's grey eyes going mournfully to Finnick.

Clearly this was going over badly. Even if Finnick was not one to give up easily, it wouldn't due for him to be fighting a losing battle.

"Okay, I think maybe we'll call it good where you are right now. Why don't you give me a couple of laps back and forth on the steps, just side to side and if you can walk back out of the water again I'll call it a success. Sound good?"

Okay, so basically walking. R can do that, at least. He shuffled a little to the left, then to the right, the arm cuffs only things keeping his arms afloat. R cuts a slow straight through the pool water, so slow that an old lady with a walker could probably race him there and back.

It didn't look like swimming or even bobbing - it mostly looked pathetic.

Some liked the pool, when he remembered it was there. So while he had nothing to do with District Four, he followed the sign down, curious to see what was going on.

By the time he slipped into the big room, he had his shawl draped over an arm, his hat wrapped in it, and he set both aside on a bench, looking around to see who else was around.

Finnick recognized Some, he knew most of the more memorable tributes just from watching recaps of the area. But he wasn't sure what this big furry alien wanted.

"Did you want to learn how to swim also?"

"Ah... No, I swim well. I only came to see if, perhaps, you need any help with those who don't."

He made the offer tentatively, with a sheepish smile. "I think you probably couldn't teach someone with so many legs anything anyway."

"I'm sure I could use all the help I can get. But if you don't think I can teach someone with more legs, what makes you think you can teach someone with fewer legs?"

He wasn't going to turn away extra help, especially when it seemed like he would need it more than usual. But he wanted to make sure Some knew what he was getting into first.

"Because I was a biped for two years and had to learn like that." He shrugged, grinning. "And I am a good..." He had to fish for the word. "Life guard."

Mindy was getting at the age where she was starting to notice her hormones messing with her, and certainly they seem to tell her that they thought this boy in her usual calm, serene swim that usually ended up being her pretending to drown or take someone out underwater.

So much for that now. She got out, starting to dry her hair. "So when did this become a thing?"

Edited 2014-03-11 12:43 (UTC)

"Since I found out my district is not as good in the water as people would expect them to be. I'm fairly sure everyone in Four would disown me if my tributes drowned in the next arena. It would be a total disgrace."

There's more than enough room for his lessons and some free swimming. But if she does pretend to drown she'll probably end up being saved whether she likes it or not.

"Yeah, that would be pretty pathetic. I can swim and I'm a city girl. Not exactly known for swimming in brooks and all of that. But some things are definitely worth knowing. Imagine they pick an underwater Arena or something."

"Who are in your district again? I'm only starting to get the names.

Finnick looked around, not as many of his district had showed up as he had hoped. But it was a start and he could drag the rest in later.

"We're not all accounted for at the moment. But I'm Finnick, Finnick Odair. In case you manged to not have heard of me by now."

If he was expecting a lot of people, she was sure it would happen soon enough. He was a victor, and she had definitely heard his name.

"Yeah, I've heard of you. You were one of the youngest to make it, and back when all the tributes were kids. Must have been rough."

Sorry, Finnick. Eliot's been down here since right before the sign went up. He swims laps the length of the pool and almost misses Finnick's instruction to his students. He smirks, unable to resist teasing. "District pride at stake, huh?"

"First and foremost. It doesn't hurt to get them some exercise, too. I'd like to see a district 4 win this next arena. I'm sure they would, too."

He's letting his students and some of the other extra people gathered do their own things, all while keeping a very close eye on them. There should be plenty of room left to do laps, after all, this is the Capitol and if there's one thing they know, it's how to go big.

"Or to show off for the masses." He didn't mean their swimming skills, either. At least it might help them get out of the Arena.

"There are very few sports more suited to showing off, that's true."

Finnick resisted the urge to wink. He didn't have to seduce anyone right now, this wasn't that kind of party.

Eliot grinned playfully. "So just how good are you?"

Admitting a hole in his skills was a problem for Rat. He arrived, dressed for the occasion, with a towel draped over his shoulders. He let his hair hang in a ponytail and scowled at the pool as though it had done him some insult simply by existing. He was a bit later than had been arranged, but that was the last of his concerns.

Deep end or shallow end, eh? he had learned most things in his life out of necessity, and this would be no exception. He left his towel out of splash range and confidently climbed into the deeper water. He was quickly in over his head, quite literally. But he had the wherewithal to grab hold of the wall and drag himself back up to the surface. Well, here he was. The rest of the plan for the day involved keeping "drowned rat" merely a metaphor.

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Into the deep end

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ffff, sorry about the wrong account tag

not a problem

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Arriving to this waaaaaaay late. But this is something I've meant to do with him.