Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games or any of its characters.
Okay, so this scene of Haymitch slipping around in his own vile puke, trying to get up, is hard to take in. It's disgusting, but honestly, I've seen more disgusting things in my life. Katniss and I look at each other with an "Oh God" face. He's not much, but he's all we got in the arena. Like we were telepathic, we each take one of his arms and help him stand up.
"I tripped?" Haymitch asks. "Smells bad." He wipes his hand on his nose, smearing his face with vomit. How revolting.
"Let's get you back to your room," I say. It's not trying to win him over, it's just being nice, because being nice is in my nature. "Clean you up a bit."
Katniss helps me basically carry Haymitch to his room, and she looks pretty disgusted at him. The bedspread is way too nice to put him on, so we stick him in his bathtub and start the shower. He doesn't seem to notice.
I look at Katniss's face, and she does not seem to into it. I decide to be nice. Like I was at one time before... or maybe it was an act of love. The bread.
"It's okay," I tell Katniss reassuringly. "I'll take it from here." I really didn't want to, but I think Katniss didn't want to even more.
Katniss lets out a sigh of relief. "All right. I can send one of the Capitol people to help you."
I don't want them to help me, so I reply, "No. I don't want them."
Katniss nods, and walks out. I really don't want a Capitol person to help me, they shouldn't have to deal with Haymitch. And I am just a kind person who does things for other people, asking for nothing in return.
I hope Katniss doesn't feel threatened by me, because I am not a threatening person. In fact, I'd probably be killed in the bloodbath. I'm weak, I don't know how to survive.
Now bathing Haymitch doesn't sound fun, nor is it, but I start stripping him down anyway. With the water still running, I take off his shirt, and remove his dirty under shirt. His pants are hard, but I eventually get them off of him. Now he's just in his underwear. Nakedness doesn't make me uncomfortable, but who knows if it makes him uncomfortable. But I press a button, and unscented soap rains down on him as I scrub him with a scrubbing brush. Then I shampoo his hair, and let a spray of fragrance rain down on him so he doesn't smell foul.
"Okay Haymitch, stand up." I say as I turn off the water. "We're going to get you to your bed now."
He grunts, but stands up. I wrap a towel around him, and lead him to his bed. I get another towel, lay it down on the bed, and lay him down on the towel.
"Are you good now Haymitch?" he doesn't answer. "Now go to sleep."
I walk out, and close the door behind me. Haymitch is such an embarrassment. I pass Effie as I walk to my room, and she is muttering things about Haymitch. A Capitol person is cleaning the rug Haymitch threw up on. I feel bad for her, even though it wasn't my fault. Seeing Katniss was not an option apparently, so I headed to my room and started watching last year's games. But they got boring after awhile, so I just took off my pants and shirt, and nestled into the silky sheets in my boxers. I couldn't really sleep, and thinking about home just made it worse. I thought about James. I wonder how he's doing right now. Probably the same as normal. I'm willing to be he thought of a way to turn the reaping into some joke like he always does. And my mother is probably gossiping with neighbors, accepting pity gifts, and pretending like she actually cares that I'm gone.
I'm not sure how, but eventually I get to sleep.
The next morning, I wake up early. Dim light comes through the windows. I'm glad I didn't have to have Effie wake me up. That's just what I need right now. A crazy Capitol woman waking me up with her perky, weird, Capitol accent.
Breakfast isn't for an hour, so I hop out of bed, and look for something to wear in the drawers. My outfit from yesterday got wet from washing Haymitch, which I am kind of embarrassed of. Apparently a "nice guy approach" wasn't the best strategy. Maybe I'm wrong, Haymitch is so drunk all the time that I'm not sure what he is even feeling. Oh well, I'll just wait for him to sober up before I ask too many questions.
I grab a clean pair of boxers, some brown pants, and another soft blue shirt I found. I'm not a fashion expert, but it looks nice to me. I just slip on the leather shoes from my Reaping outfit, and sit on my bed. Someone will make it for me, so I mess it up a little extra just because I can. Might as well enjoy the fact that someone will always clean up after me these next few days.
The shower is calling my name, but we'll be at the Capitol soon. Every year, there's opening ceremonies where the tributes are introduced for the first time. I am willing to bet that they had to go through a lot of cleaning, considering how dirty some of the districts are. So there will probably be lots of cleaning I have to go through once we're there. I honestly hate the idea just thinking about it. But I hop into the shower, and layer on a thick foam of a rose scented body wash. The smell of roses is really strong, and I'm starting to regret it.
Why are you so stupid Peeta? I think to myself. Roses? Really? Katniss will not be impressed by a guy who smells strongly of roses. I rinse myself as best as I can to get the smell of roses off of me, but it still lingers. Well, there are so many scents in the Capitol that I doubt Katniss would notice.
I put on the outfit, and ruffle my hair, which is still a little damp. I look pretty casual, and actually kind of nice. Maybe Katniss will enjoy the outfit. Actually, I doubt it. She barely noticed me. But I noticed her. In class, the cute face she puts on when someone is being stupid. She doesn't smile, but almost smiles, and I love her face when she does that.
Snap out of it Peeta! If you want to stay alive, she's going to have to die! No, I'm going to die, and she's going to live and go home! My family doesn't need me, and I've seen her with her little sister Prim. Prim needs her. She can go marry Gale, for all I care! I'll be dead anyway...and everyone will forget I even existed. Oh my god Peeta, shut up and stop thinking about it!
It's almost time for breakfast, and I can hear Effie starting to walk down the hall. Those stupid heels of her click across the floor noisily, and I cover my ears. How is it so loud? I decide to head out before Effie comes and barges in trying to wake me up. I don't need that in my life.
I head down to the dining cart, and nobody is there, not surprisingly. There's a basket of rolls, a container of fruit in ice to keep it chilled, and I'm served a huge plate of food. Eggs, ham, fried potatoes, it's endless. A glass filled with an orange liquid is next to a glass of water, and a mug of something milky brown. I drink some of it, and the warm, smooth liquid slides down my throat. Tastes like chocolate. I love chocolate. I've only had it a few times. We were actually able to get a chocolate cake for some of my earlier birthdays a few years ago. Now I could get as much chocolate cake as I wanted to! I smile to myself just thinking about it.
Haymitch staggers in, holding a glass or red liquid I assume to be alcohol. "Morning." he says gruffly, obviously not fully awake. He's probably hung over from yesterday also.
"What's this drink right here?" I ask, gesturing to the mug of the sweet chocolate drink.
"Hot chocolate. Do you like it?" Hot chocolate? I can't believe I didn't guess that.
"Yes, it's quite good. Where's Katniss and Effie?" I grab a roll out of the bread basket. No matter how bread I eat, I will always enjoy eating bread.
"I'm sure Effie is grabbing Katniss right now. Or finishing up her make up that probably adds five pound to her weight." Haymitch says with a chuckle. I smile slightly at Haymitch's feeble attempt to be funny.
"Yeah... hey I'm sorry about you falling into the throw up, and yeah..." I look away, embarrassed. I doubt Haymitch cares. In this situation, you'd think Haymitch would be more embarrassed.
"Peeta, do you honestly think I care?" Haymitch chuckles, his face getting red, as I look at the roll still in my hand. I probably look more embarrassed then I was before.
Just then, Katniss walks in, and Effie walks by her with a mug of something in her hand, no doubt muttering crap about Haymitch.
Haymitch wavers over Katniss with an exclamation of, "Sit down! Sit down!"
Katniss sits in the chair across from me and stares at all the food and drinks before her. I realize that I haven't even eaten, and start eating the food slowly, trying not to stuff myself too much.
Katniss looks at the hot chocolate, and without her asking, I tell her, "They call it hot chocolate. It's good." I smile, but I don't think she notices it as she sips the drink, then proceeds to drain the cup.
I start eating some fruit, and I really enjoy how fresh and sweet it is. I never get to have fresh fruit back home.
But I notice Katniss is just shoveling all the food in like she'll never see it again. That's my girl. It's actually quite cute how she's doing it. Even if she's stuffing her face. Haymitch continues to drink, not really eating anything at all. Typical Haymitch.
After a while, Katniss leans back in her chair, obviously she's stuffed. It's a quite unattractive position, but she could care less. I decide to experiment with the food, and break off bits of the roll and dip them into the hot chocolate. I'm not sure why I did it, but it's actually quite good, and I continue doing it. I see out of the corner of my eye that Katniss is watching, but I try not acknowledge that I see her.
We sit in silence for a few minutes, but finally Katniss says something. "So, you're supposed to give us advice." she says to Haymitch, a little bit sarcastic. I put down my roll and listen. I would love to hear this so called "advice" Haymitch is going to give us.
"Here's some advice. Stay alive." Haymitch says with a laugh. Well that wasn't funny! He needs to take this seriously. Our lives are on the line here! Katniss and I look at each other, but I don't give a soft look, I'm sure I look quite angry. She looks away quickly, as do I.
"That's very funny." I say, without really thinking. I lash out at the glass in Haymitch's hand, and it drops to the floor, shattering into many pieces. The red liquid stains the carpet. "Only not to us." I glare at Haymitch. It really isn't that funny when your life is on the line.
For a moment, Haymitch looks like he's thinking, but then he punches me in the jaw out of nowhere, knocking me out of my chair onto the floor. I see Katniss drive her knife into the table between his hand and the liquor bottle he was reaching for, barely missing his fingers. Haymitch doesn't hit her, and it looks like Katniss expected it. He just looks at us, squinting.
"Well, what's this?" says Haymitch. "Did I actually get a pair of fighters this year?"
I stand up, still a little unsteady. My jaw really hurts, so I grab some ice from under the fruit container and start to hold it up to my jaw. The ice soothes it and makes it feel better.
"No," says Haymitch, stopping me. "Let the bruise show. The audience will think you've mixed it up with another tribute before you've even made it to the arena."
It hurts, but I put the ice down. "But that's against the rules." And it is. But replacing me would be pointless. I'm going to die anyway.
"Only if they catch you. That bruise will say you fought, you weren't caught, even better," Haymitch says, and then he turns to Katniss, who has been watching the whole time. "Can you hit anything with that knife besides a table?"
Katniss probably gets that throwing the knife would be a good idea. But she's more of a bow and arrow kind of girl. I've seen what she can do. She's good. But she takes the knife out of the table, and throws it across the room at the wall. It lodges in the seam between two panels. Nice shot.
"Stand over here. Both of you," says Haymitch, who ignored Katniss's knife throwing. He gestures to the middle of the room and we walk over there. He circles around us, looking at us, poking parts of us, and prodding our muscles. He looks impressed at my muscles. "Well, you're not entirely hopeless. Seem fit. And once the stylists get a hold of you, you'll be attractive enough."
Neither of us question this, even though I think Katniss is beautiful. I'm the ugly one here. But better looking tributes pull in more sponsors, I will say.
"All right, I'll make a deal with you. You don't interfere with my drinking, and I'll stay sober enough to help you," says Haymitch. Finally, he's actually going to try. "But you have to do exactly what I say." And there's the catch.
It's not that great of a deal, but it's the best we can get. "Fine," I say rather irritated.
"So help us." Katniss says. "Where we get to the arena, what's the best strategy at the Cornucopia for someone -"
Haymitch cuts her off. We don't need to go that far yet. "One thing at a time. In a few minutes, we'll be pulling into the station. You'll be put in the hands of your stylists. You're not going to like what they do to you. But no matter what it is, don't resist." Oh god, what are they going to do to us? I'm kind of scared to find out. This is where the torture begins, and we haven't even entered the arena yet.
"But -" Katniss begins.
"No buts. Don't resist." answers Haymitch. He takes the liquor bottle from the table and leaves the car, slamming the door behind him. I'm pretty sure the nice guy approach with Haymitch didn't work out as well as I wanted it to.
Then the car goes dark. I'm scared for a split second, but lights turn on, and I realize we are in tunnels that run through mountains into the Capitol. The reason the Rebels lost was that they were easy targets, scaling the mountains to get to the Capitol. It's a natural barrier between the Capitol and districts.
Katniss and I stand in silence, looking around, but not at each other. I want to say something, but what is there to say? We keep going through the dark tunnel, and it finally slows down after a few minutes, and bright light shines in, causing the dim lights in the car to turn off.
Both of us run to the window, we need to see this. Even though the people of the Capitol are shallow and ignorant, the Capitol is quite grand. Shining sleek buildings. But the people are terrifying. Deep colors, layers of makeup, hats the size of animals, dress that poof out over three feet. Tattoos everywhere, and no one, of course, is fat. It's all too fake looking. They are definitely excited to see us, because they point and wave. Katniss steps away from the window, but I have a better idea.
Everyone is cheering, so I wave and smile, and try to be charming. Maybe this isn't Katniss's approach, but the charming nice guy from District 12 might work for sponsors! I stop once we pull into the station and can no longer see them. I catch Katniss staring at me, and I know why.
I shrug. "Who knows? One of them maybe rich." Katniss turns away, and looks like she's deep in thought. Oh well. She looks so cute like that.
The two of us are lead off the train by Capitol guards, and into the Remake Center, where we will be remade by our prep team and stylists for the Opening Ceremonies tonight.