If someone hadn't been watching, it would be as though Finnick appears out of nowhere. He's just there, a smile with a few too many hard edges and a little too much gleam in his eyes to be genuine slipping easily onto his face as he slips into the seat next to Annie at the table.

He doesn't appear out of nowhere, of course. He's simply good at being where he needs to be in the right moment, and he's been watching, from over at the bar, knowing as he does the effect that being around strangers, being out in public, being out of her comfort zone, can have on Annie. So he's been watching, ever since the woman sat down at Annie's table.

He doesn't trust this place or anyone in it but Annie.

He'd been prepared to move the instant Annie needed him to. She'd already warded him off once, but this time, he was moving even before she held up her hands.

Under the table, his foot reaches to press against Annie's for a second.

"Ladies," he says, his brittle smile bright, "I hope you don't mind me interrupting. I just had to say hello to the two most gorgeous girls in the room."

He's well aware that the manner he affects in the Capitol can be disconcerting.