undergrounds | open: 04/28

a. keeping the deal

Sometimes Finnick wishes he were a lord of greater importance.

The deal he made with Sylvia had implications for all the fae living in the mortal realm, and it's fallen to Finnick to try and keep them in line on the Seelie side of things. He's being quite vigilant about it, lest Sylvia's looking for any opportunity to break it off, but the fact that he's a lesser lord makes it just a bit more challenging. Finnick's good at being charming and threatening, often at the same time, but putting in the extra work when a fae only wants to listen to greater lords is not really his cup of tea.

Regardless, he presses on, maintaining a presence wherever fae congregate in the mortal realm so he can dissolve any problematic situations before they really get going. He's in bars and coffee shops and late night pizza places, following the scent of fae magic whenever he has a moment to spare to make sure there isn't any trouble brewing. It always starts casually, with a wry smile, but if it escalates to threats Finnick always manages to deliver them coated in honey and venom. It's the final week before the election, and he'd hate for it to blow up in his face now.

b. off the clock

With all the work he's doing making sure the fae maintain a facade of cooperation, Finnick finds himself trying to find a little peace and quiet when he's not actively watching over other fae. He spends most of his time with Annie, but when she's busy with Hillingdon or spending some time with her grandmother, he finds himself out in the city. He's always enjoyed the culture of London; and he can be found sometimes in the back of a bar watching a local musician, or wandering a small gallery in the morning when it's quiet.

Otherwise it's the same old routine. He spends time with Annie, runs errands, spends more time with Annie, and tries to relax. With the election coming up, it's not always easy.

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Finnick raises an eyebrow at him, smiling wryly. It's nice that there are no hard feelings after he turned Connor down in the grocery store, but hopefully that doesn't mean Connor's going to take another shot at it.

"Do you often think about other people's breakfast routines?"

Oh yeah, Connor is definitely...not going to take another shot...at this...

"Only the cute ones."

Whoops.

There it is. Finnick lets out a soft laugh, amused and knowing all at the same time. He learned how to turn down his magical attraction long ago, so it's not like it's a supernatural force that's prompting Connor to do this. Nope, this is just plain old human flirting. The poor boy.

"I see," he says, with a sly smile. "And what makes you think you'll have better luck today?" he asks in an inviting kind of way, like he'd love to hear Connor make his case for why this should be a successful flirtation. Humans are so much fun.

It is plain old human flirting, but that's just how Connor is. He's not afraid to put himself out there and he's not afraid to be turned down. (Whether or not he'd be frustrated is another thing entirely.) Look: you might be a merman, Finnick, but there are a lot of fish in the sea.

"I mean, I didn't think last time was unlucky," Finnick's smile is cute, at least. See? Another win. "I got to meet you, that wasn't so bad. You didn't throw cereal at me in an attempt to escape."

"Has that happened before?" Finnick asks, raising an eyebrow. He doesn't have a plan for this; he's not the type of fae who entices and tricks humans into doing his bidding, but he knows the value of a good contact wherever he can find one. He just has to determine whether or not Connor's a useful contact to have and whether or not he needs to keep leading him on to maintain it.

Anyway he looks down at his coffee and then tilts his head at Connor. "Maybe it's a sign," he says.

Connor laughs, "Not yet, but there's a first time for everything." Talking like this, light banter and easy flirting, is what comes so naturally to him. Maybe too naturally considering where things are at with Oliver.

"A sign of what, though? That's always the question."

"A sign that you shouldn't try again," he replies wryly, taking a sip from his coffee and then setting back down on the table. He's partly talking about picking up guys in the cereal aisle, which makes for a cute story if it actually works, but he's also kind of talking about just hitting on him in general. This is fun but he'd never betray Annie's trust just for some fun. He's fairly certain he's made multiple binding promises to her by now anyway; the kind he couldn't break even if he wanted to.

Anyway enough about his magic fae promises. He raises an eyebrow at Connor and asks, "aren't you in a rush to be somewhere? Most people are running off to work at this time of day."

Well, he can definitely tell when he's not wanted, and he really has no interest in flirting with someone who doesn't want to be bothered. There was playing hard to get and then there was parking up the wrong tree.

He holds up his hands in surrender. "Yeah, after I get my coffee, then starts the rush off to work."

Finnick actually feels a bit of guilt. "I'm sorry," he says earnestly, "I didn't mean to be rude."

He doesn't want to lay it on too thick but he still wants to find out more about him, so he gestures with his coffee and tilts his head again curiously. "I don't think I ever got your name."

"You're not," it's only a touch touchy, but the sentiment is there. If he was making unwanted advances, it's totally within Finnick's right to brush him off. Consent is sexy and all.

He's surprised, though, that Lucky Charms follows up with asking for his name. "It's Connor, but you don't have to ask out of pity."

He rests his chin in his hand and gives Connor a soft smirk. "If I pitied you I'd tell you to be on your way," he says, dropping his voice to something a little more honest-sounding. He let's that sink in for a couple seconds before he offers, "I'm Finnick."

Damn it, Finnick, that's dirty pool. Playing cute after pushing him away. There's probably some appropriate Backstreet Boys lyrics for this situation. "Well now I can stop thinking of you as 'Lucky Charms from Tesco.'"

Finnick shrugs a shoulder lazily. "It's close enough, I guess." After another moment he gestures to the chair across from him and says, "you can sit, if you'd like."

At least he has a good humor about it, which wins him some points. Almost cautiously, Connor takes the offered chair, glancing back at the counter wondering when they're ever going to make his stupid coffee. "So what brings you to this particular coffee establishment?"

"Convenience, mostly," he says, unable to tell some fib about it being on the way to his fictional job. It's convenient that it has a table that allows him to watch those fae who are still planning a party across the shop, but right now he just keeps them in his peripheral and focuses on Connor.

"And yourself? Is this really the best cup of coffee you can get on your way to work?"

"Best but apparently slowest." He replies, "Which, on some days, is not necessarily a bad thing."

open: 04/28 - 05/04

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