AN: Almost to the actual Games...

"Why are we the only ones dressed the same?" Katniss asked as she stepped out of the elevator and into the training floor with Peeta and Haymitch.

"It's cute. It's different," Haymitch replied.

Peeta eyed the floor moodily. "You're cute and different," he muttered.

"Hey, shut it pumpernickel," Haymitch growled at him, "Now go out there and learn something you can use to kill other children with."

The unfortunate pair made their way around to the different stations. They avoided archery and weight lifting, attempting to disguise what would hopefully be their biggest advantages in the arena. Instead, the two spent an unusually long amount of time at the knot station.

The knot expert set down his rope. "You know what I'd like to see? Just once?"

Katniss looked up from her work hesitantly. "Um, what?"

"Someone win with this," he held up his knot, "With just this."

"What?" said Katniss.

He leaned closer to her. "Like, set tons of traps everywhere across the whole arena. Some, massive knot network that would catch animals and other tributes."

"Um..."

Peeta tapped her on the shoulder. "That girl behind us. She's been following us the whole time."

Slowly, Katniss turned her neck, and looked just past her shoulder at the tiny girl.

"She's probably trying to figure out how she can kill us," Katniss hissed," We need to throw her off."

Her voice suddenly raised to almost shout. "And then, I used that bear's teeth to kill the second bear!"

Other tributes turned towards them with skeptical looks. The little girl didn't move.

"Dang it Peeta she's some kind of tactical mastermind she saw through my bluff," Katniss said, keeeping her head low to the table.

xxx

"I hope you kids learned something, because these scores are important," said Haymitch as he and his tributes waited for their turn in front of the Gamemakers.

"What am I even suppossed to do? Bake?" Peeta asked.

Haymitch shrugged. "Sure. Bet they've never seen that before. Is there an oven in there, by chance...?"

Peeta gaved him an amazed look. "No. There is not an oven in there, Haymitch."

"I don't like your negative attitude, Baguette," said Haymitch, "You'll never win like that. That's how I won, you know."

This comment made it's way out of their conversation and into Katniss's head. "Excuse me, how'd you win?"

"With attitude," said Haymitch.

"Come on," a disgusted Peeta stormed out of the room as his name came over a speaker.

Haymitch sighed. He and Katniss waited in tense silence for her turn. She rehearsed what she would do to dazzle the judges with her archery abilities. Haymitch inspected a bottle of amber colored liquid that had turned up in his pocket. When Peeta trooped back in, Katniss took a deep breath and her name came over the speakers.

She could hear Haymitch and Peeta talking behind her.

"So how'd it go?"

"It went great. They loved the bread I baked for them."

"Did they now?"

"NO-"

The elevator door slid closed behind her, and she dropped down into the training room. The Gamemakers were eating at a long table, and appeared to barely notice her walk across the room to the archery station. She began shooting. They continued to barely notice her.

"Ahem," she coughed, then shot another arrow into the human-shaped target.

The Gamemakers continued their general merry-making.

"A-he-hem," she coughed again.

Laughter from the table.

"If you would all please observe my archery skills," she said in a raised voice. A Gamemaker put down his cutlery and wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin.

"Thank you for getting our attention in such a polite manner. Social skills," he made a mark on a clipboard, "Ten out of ten."

The other Gamemakers nodded appreciatively. She began walking back towards the elevator, bowing every couple of steps as they clapped.

"Thank you, thank you," she said.

xxx

Katniss and Haymitch sat across from each other on separate couches. The leather squeaked as the portly man shifted around, looking at her as if searching for the proper viewing angle.

"This would be easier if you were nice like Peeta, you know that?" he asked.

Katniss nodded. She had anticipated that her interview would be the most difficult portion of the pre-game events for her.

"Maybe, I can talk about how my Dad's dead, and I'll get pity sponsors," she said in a questioning tone.

"No teen protagonists have parents. No one will care about that," Haymitch said gruffly.

"Hey," Katniss looked at the floor, "That was a tragedy."

"You're going to be a tragedy if we don't get you any sponsors," returned Haymitch.

"Nice conversational segue," said Katniss appreciatively.

Haymitch squeaked back into his couch, patting the big armrest. "Yeah, talking to kids who are about to get brutally murdered just gets easier every year."

"The interview?"

"Just... just try not to be hated."

xxx

The Capitol's colorful crowd cheered as Katniss took her seat beside Caesar Flickerman. They shook hands, and he complimented her dress.

"Yes," said Katniss, "If I had to choose what I would wear before being stabbed to death in the wilderness, it would be this."

Laughter from the audience.

"You're great sweetie, you could've been a comedian!" said Caesar with a look at the crowd, who cheered in affirmation

Katniss's face lit up. "I get it now! Caesar. Flickerman. You're a Roman Candle firework."

The crowd burst into laughter again, like a sitcom laughtrack.

Caesar laughed along, a real smile splitting his perfectly sculpted face.

Katniss let out her own chuckle. "I also think that this whole thing is the most disturbing display of barbarism in the history of humanity, and that you're all conceited fascists!"

The laughter faded into a rumbly silence. A couple smarter Capitol citizens booed, and it caught on. Haymitch burried his face in his hand. Katniss pushed herself out of her chair with both hands, and walked across the stage with her hands raised.

"Keep hatin'," she said.

Haymitch took a flask out of his jacket as his second tribute took the stage, and the crowd toned back down. Peeta and Caesar were great, just enough emotional content to make it personal but light.

"So you probably have a girl waiting for you back home?" said Caesar. He was shocked as Peeta shook his head, "Someone you've got your eye on at least? What better way to get her, come back the winner of the Hunger Games?"

"I don't know if that'll work too well."

"No...?"

"See, they came here with me."

Caesar offered him a look of deep pity. "That's going to be hard."

"Pfft. Not for me," said Katniss offstage, and then, in a whisper, "I will waste you!"