𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩.

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tw: talk of noose

"So, do you guys want to meet up tonight? I have some cookies left over from last night's bakery run." Juniper asked Lennox and Nina. The three were on their way to the second day of training. Tonight was the meeting.

"We were already planning on meeting." Nina said, smiling. 

Great, so they already knew about it. Someone must've told them this morning. Juniper went through the options in her head but pushed it off- they were already at the training center.

Walking in, the air was pretty tense. The first person who caught Juniper's eye was, regrettably, Finnick Odair. He was wearing the training outfit, just like everybody else. But in her sights, he stood out to her. 

Him in a tank top made her nervous.

He looked over at the entrance and saw her looking at him, which she immediately looked away and played off as if she wasn't. 

Gloss and Cashmere were training with knives while Enobaria and Brutus were working with swords and spears. Beetee and Wiress stayed in the survival section- like they did the day before. 

"I think Beetee and Wiress are trying to make a fire again." Nina pointed out. "I saw Katniss try teaching them yesterday. Maybe they need a little more support." She nervously smiled and walked over to them, leaving Lennox and Juniper to themselves.

"What are you thinking of working with?" Lennox and Juniper measured the room, looking at all of the different stations. "I'll probably go to axes with Johanna- whenever she gets here."

"I would help you with that, but I think I would fall over if I swung one of those." Juniper said. She meant for it to be a joke, which it was, but it was probably also true. She didn't have much upper body weight to yield something that needs such power, that's why she prefers smaller weapons.

"I worked on agility yesterday... I'll probably train with an officer and maybe work on some survival tips." Juniper eyed the trainer who stood there doing nothing, then looked over at the rope section.

"I can give you some company for a little while." Lennox smiled, pointing to a training area. Juniper nodded and the two walked over to it. Lennox put his hands on his hips, eyeing all the weapons he barely used. 

Juniper grabbed a belt and clipped it around her waist, putting some Kunai in the empty spaces. She then grabbed her signature chakrams, hooking them together and holding it in one hand. Then with her other, grabbed a bladed boomerang.

"Since when did you know how to use that thing?" Lennox pointed at the boomerang. "I feel like if you throw it, it'll just kill you coming right back." 

Juniper shrugged. "I learned how to use it during training a few years ago, let's see if I still got it."

Juniper stepped into the training room. It dimmed as she entered her spot. She hadn't done one of these in a while, but she stretched in her spot- waiting.

With that, the first pixelated figure came running at her from her right side. She took her right hand with the chakrams- sliding the blade right through its stomach. Another figure came from right behind her. Juniper crouched down to its knee level, elbowing it in the stomach and slicing its neck with her blade.

When she stood up fully again, she noticed an archer on the top floor. She dodged an arrow- it nearly hit her. But she threw her chakram weapon at the enemy, slicing its head clean off.

Now, she was only left with her boomerang and some kunai- which she put to quick use. After that kill, someone came running at her with an axe swung high above its head. She took two kunai, in one hand, throwing them both and landing them where its eye sockets would be.

The thought disgusted her if she actually had to do that to a real person.

Suddenly, two figures at once began running to her. One from the left and one from the right. The one on the right was gaining on her faster, but they were both almost the same distance. Juniper grabbed the bladed boomerang and held it firmly in one hand. Allowing one side of the blade to be against her forearm and the other side to be sticking out as an extension from her hand.

With that, she kicked roundhouse kicked the one on the right, knocking him clean in the face. As her body turned around, she stuck out her left arm and stabbed the left guy in the chest. She grabbed a kunai from her belt and threw it behind her- killing the guy she kicked before.

There was two more guys on the balcony, and with a flick of her left arm, she threw the boomerang, knocking them both clean out. The boomerang came flying back to her and she put her hand in the air, catching it in the middle.

She exhaled a short breath as the lights came back on. She turned around to see Finnick and Lennox watching side by side. She also noticed in the corner of her eye, Katniss and Peeta watching from a distance. 

Juniper stepped out of the training area, putting the belt away in its former spot. 

"Johanna just got here, so I'm going to go. But you did great." Lennox smiled widely, walking away. Leaving her with...

"That was cool." Finnick said. "Except, you almost got struck with an arrow, so. Could be better."

"You always know how to point out my flaws, don't you cariño?" Juniper said with a tone of anger hidden behind a fake smile. Finnick sent her a fake smile back and tilted his head slightly.

"You can count on me, darling."

Juniper rolled her eyes, being done with their short conversation. She made her way over to the rope section.

When she was a kid, her father always had her help tie up their boat when they were done with a morning ride. But that was many years ago. Juniper Plinth had pushed most of her memories of her parents out of her head completely.

Juniper tied a bowline very quickly, remembering a tactic she was taught as a kid. However, the rest seemed a bit complex to her. 

When Juniper first got into this outfit, she realized the shoes were very breathable. Which allowed her to pick up presences more often. She knew he was coming up behind her, but she did nothing about it.

Arms wrapped around her waist and gripped the rope in front of her. It caught her off guard- and frankly, she wanted to elbow him in his ribs. 

"District Four, and can't even tie simple knots?" Finnick laughed. He continued talking, but everything he said when in one ear and out the other.

He was so close.

Juniper could feel the warmth of his body right up against hers. She couldn't even hear his voice, everything around her seemed to stop in some way. She heard beating in her ears. All she could do what look down at his hands, gliding her hands through the movement of the knot.

Before she knew what was even going on, a noose was tied in front of her. Sound in the room and around her slowly started coming back and she heard him subtly laugh.

"Just stay there for me." Juniper said, taking the noose and turning around, placing it around his head. She smiled up at him. "You're welcome." 

Juniper didn't really think how to get out of this position. His arms were on either side of her. The front of their bodies were touching. and now he had a rope around his neck. He was just smiling down at her. He grabbed a part of the rope.

"Not gonna take me for a walk?" Finnick handed her the rope, and when his arm moved, she snuck out from in front of him. "Embarrassed?" 

Juniper noticed her face felt red. She was mad he was doing this to her. That's when she realized- he was also embarrassed.

"Look at you, you're red!" Juniper pointed at his face, grinning and laughing to herself a bit. He got thrown off, turning to the side to hide his face- lifting the rope above his head and throwing it on the ground. 

"Says you!" He pointed at her face.

"Don't put your finger in my face." Juniper slapped his hand out of the way.

"Well, don't put yours in mine." He retaliated. 

"I wouldn't have to if you would just stay away from me, why are you following me anyway? Nothing better to do?" Juniper asked.

"The best part about my day is annoying you, honey." The two didn't even realize this time how close they were, once again. They were right up in each others faces.

"Wipe that smile off your face before I do it for you." Juniper said. Finnick's smile remain stained to his face.

"Okay, I have to steal her. Sorry!" Nina quickly came over in between them, grabbing Juniper's elbow and dragging her away to the front of the room.

"I wasn't done training!" Juniper whined, earning her a stern look from Nina, making her shut up. Juniper turned her head to look at where Finnick and her were once standing, she noticed his hand rested on his face- but he stayed in the same place.

"We are having a girl outing!" Nina cheered. Johanna was waiting at the front for them. And the three of them left. "You still have tomorrow to train, we don't have time for a mini girls trip."

"Don't worry, you can have another close call with Finnick tomorrow." Johanna snickered to herself, earning a look of disapproval from Nina and a glare from Juniper. Johanna shrugged. "Just saying."

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