I wake at dawn, a habit I've had since since I was a child, and decide I could use a shower. Figuring out the fancy Capitol controls is a puzzle but eventually I am able to get cleaned up before heading out of the compartment. To my surprise Haymitch is awake and even looking somewhat alert as he glances in my direction. Deciding to take advantage of this moment I walk over to where he is sitting on an armchair and sit on the sofa to his right.

"Good morning," I say in the friendliest voice I can muster, which is not very friendly at all. Haymitch only moans and rubs his forehead in response. At first I think he is most likely feeling the aftereffects of the previous day's indulgence, then I notice the half empty bottle of spirits in his other hand and realize he never stopped indulging. I press on, "I thought we could talk a bit about my strategy in the arena."

"Well look at you," Haymitch finally speaks. "Eager to get me to yourself, are you? Already trying to figure out how you're going to kill the other one?" He lets out a low chuckle and the strong smell of alcohol washes over my face.

I have no doubt "the other one" he is referring to is Katniss and my eyes flash with anger. Before Haymitch can register my movement I have pulled him out of his seat and have him pinned to the floor. I have one knee pressed into his stomach and my arm is at his neck, holding his head against the ground. Leaning in close to his ear so he can feel my breath hitting his neck I whisper roughly, "Listen you drunk imbecile, this is not a fucking joke. You need to sober the fuck up in order to be useful to the two of us otherwise you're just dead weight and I have no intention of dragging you around. This is your only warning, next time I swear I will snap your goddamn neck."

I put a bit more force on his neck for emphasis as I glare at him. Of course I'm aware that if Haymitch was solidly in possession of his faculties I would not be able to get him down so easily however at this point I don't care if he sobers up out of a desire to help us or a desire to stay alive. All I know is that a sober Haymitch must be better than the man in front of me now, and if he can't sober up I may not kill him but I could make sure he's unable to perform his sponsor duties. Surely the Capitol would find some sort of replacement for him to avoid questions, and they wouldn't be able to punish me seeing as they are about to throw me in the arena.

"Am I interrupting something?" Katniss' voice startles me and I snap my head to look at her, she is standing fairly close by. She has an amused look on her face and I have no idea how much of the conversation she heard.

"Not at all," I say in an unusually perky voice, "Haymitch and I were just having a chat, and I believe we have reached an understanding."

I am sure to put a bit more pressure on both his neck and stomach as I stand up, walking past Katniss towards the table the Capitol servers had piled high with breakfast food. I hear Haymitch getting up but he does not join me and Katniss at the table - he probably retreated to his room to regroup. I fill my plate with eggs, potatoes, and sausages - still in awe of the sheer volume of food available to us. I wonder what Carter and my mother are eating right now but I quickly push the thought from my mind. After silently eating for a few minutes Katniss speaks, "I heard everything. I would have done the same thing."

I simply grunt in acknowledgement as my mouth is full of fried potatoes. I may not know Katniss but I understand her all too well - we are similar in so many ways. We both lost our fathers to the mines and were forced to step up to provide for our families. We have both made many sacrifices to do so and this was the ultimate one - there was nothing funny about the situation we were in

"Oh you two are already awake, how wonderful!" Effie is walking towards us with Haymitch following close behind.

"Good morning," Katniss says politely to them both. Haymitch says nothing as he sits and begins putting food on his plate. He seems to have taken a quick shower and changed, his hair is wet and although he still smells like alcohol it is much milder. Finally he looks up at me and Katniss and starts to speak.

"Once we get to the Capitol your stylists will make you look presentable and dress you for the opening ceremony. The Capitol will no doubt be obsessing over the two District 12 volunteers - we need to come up with a strategy to keep them interested and get you two sponsors. Cinna and Portia will help with that."

"Thank you Haymitch," I tell him as I look him in they eye, hoping to also convey an apology for how I reacted to his joke earlier. He was a miserable drunk and his joke had been tasteless, however threatening to snap his neck may have been an overreaction. Although I regretted my impulsive actions, I could not argue with the results as he was already being helpful.

"Well it looks like you may have a chance, you've got more spunk than any of the other tributes I've seen. What sort of skills do you have?"

I glance at Katniss briefly but I realize it is ridiculous to worry about her hearing - she knows about my knives just as I know about her bows. So instead of answering him I pick a knife up off the table and launch it at a portrait behind Katniss' head. To her credit she doesn't even flinch as it whizzes past her ear and lodges in the throat of the man shown in the painting. Haymitch nods approvingly and turns his head to Katniss, "And you, darling?"

"I'm alright with a bow." Katniss says and Haymitch nods.

"Alright? She always shoots her game in the eye, no matter what it is or how far it is. She's amazing."

Haymitch and Katniss both turn towards me and suddenly I feel embarrassed at having blurted that out. Not only because it was a bit over enthusiastic but also because it may have revealed that I have watched Katniss hunt without her being aware of my presence. I couldn't help it, something about her intrigued me, and the first time I saw her shoot her bow I was drawn in even further. Judging by the smirk on her face Katniss is more than aware of the implications of my outburst.

"I thought you two didn't know each other?" Effie interjects.

"We don't really," Katniss replies. "We live close to each other and see each other around occasionally, never really talked."

Haymitch nods as if he's bored with the conversation and says, "Well it looks like between the two of you we could see a District 12 victor this year. I will stay sober enough to help you two but in return I need you to listen to everything I say without question."

Katniss and I glance at each other then back at Haymitch as we nod.

After hours of being scrubbed, plucked, and buffed I am finally ready to meet my stylist, Portia. She looks way more normal than most of my prep team - her skin is tan, not quite as dark as Katniss' olive skin but definitely darker than my own pale complexion. Her blond hair has streaks of blue in it and she informs me that she will be putting streaks in my hair as well, although mine will be red. I suppose that's better than dying my skin pink so I do not complain. Anyway Haymitch had told us to listen to our stylists and considering he had already started making an effort to be more useful I was going to follow his directions the best I could. Portia explains to me that for once we would not be coal miners but rather coal - a distinction I assume means a return to the naked, covered in soot style from a few years back. However she soon explains that we will be wearing unitards with capes that will be on fire along with our headpieces. While I am skeptical about the idea of being on fire, even synthetic fire, it definitely sounds as though it will get the crowds attention.

When we meet Katniss by the chariot I am impressed by how her unitard fits her, she is more fit than I originally assumed, the outfit reveals the muscle definition in her arms. Before we get on the chariot Cinna instructs us to be sure to hold hands and smile at the audience. We glance towards Haymitch and he nods his approval so once I climb onto the carriage I grab her hand and link our fingers together as Portia and Cinna light our outfits on fire. Portia reminds us to be friendly, Haymitch gives me a look as she says this - he's definitely caught on to my somewhat abrasive attitude.

As we ride around in the chariot and hear the cheers, Katniss and I both smile and wave at the audience. Katniss tightens her grip on my hand as she begins to blow kisses to the audience and I decide to follow suit. All too soon the ride is over, though Katniss does not let go of my hand until the last possible moment she is dismounting from the chariot. I don't know if she even realized she was still holding it, but I immediately miss the contact when she lets go. Our teams go on about how well we did as we walk towards the elevators to get to our floor. Effie, Haymitch, Katniss and I climb onto an elevator and push the button for 12. I notice how entertained Katniss seems to be by the ride so when we reach the floor I let Effie and Haymitch get out and then quickly press the button to take us back down. Katniss raises an eyebrow at me but does not protest as I shrug my shoulders and say, "I wanted another ride."

As the elevator starts its descent she smiles at me and I feel that I may have made a mistake. I just wanted to take a moment to enjoy the smaller things however my kind gesture and all these looks and smiles we have been sharing is beginning to make it seem like I want to be her friend. Which I most certainly cannot afford to be if I am going to make it back to my mother and Carter. Sure I don't think we will kill each other right away, however if it comes down to just the two of us I need to be able to take her down without thinking about how much we both enjoy elevator rides.

In an attempt to unbalance her I decide to strip out of my costume, anyway it was beginning to make me feel a little hot and I say as much to explain my sudden need to be naked. I have nothing on underneath and Katniss tries to look away as I slip it off but I notice that she is unable to stop herself from sneaking a few glances - that may be useful later on I think to myself. When the elevator reaches the first floor the doors start to open and Katniss turns bright red as she sees our prep team along with some of the other tributes and their teams are still down there. We both go for the button at the same time and in her hurry Katniss trips over my abandoned unitard and falls into me, pushing us both onto the buttons. The doors start to close but it's too late, as most of them have noticed us standing in the elevator - me stark naked and Katniss blushing furiously while pinning me to the wall - and are staring in our direction. Cinna and Portia are looking towards us with contemplative gazes as the doors close and we head back to our floor. Katniss pushes herself away from me and stands fuming at the other end of the elevator.

When we reach our floor Katniss storms out of the elevator and I follow behind her, Haymitch and Effie both looking shocked at my state of undress. For the second time that night I shrug my shoulders, "I was hot."

A/N: Please let me know what you think - good or bad, so I know if it's worth pursuing.