"WIRESS!" Terrance pounded on his district partner's door. "GET UP! YOU GOTTA COME SEE THIS!" Wiress opened the door and was surprised to see Terrance literally bouncing with excitement. "They have like the ULTIMATE MEGA BREAKFAST BUFFET OF AWESOME!" Wiress came out of her room and laughed. Indeed, two large tables were along two walls holding juices, pastries, fruits, cereals, breakfast meats, and eggs fixed in various styles.

"Wow! Was it just you setting it up?" Wiress asked a young Capital attendant who was straightening the stack of napkins. She shrugged. Terrance poked her and made a motion of zipping his lips closed. "Oh – sorry." Wiress whispered to her before grabbing a porcelain plate and filling it.

"Oh yeah! OH YEAH!" Terrance exclaimed happily as he filled his plate. "Beetee said load up on the protein. Remember from last night?"

Last night. Wiress thought. She smiled thinking of her time with Beetee after the chariot ride. "Oh – oh yeah he did." Wiress said quietly still deep in thought. "Um – Terrance – You're taking all this surprisingly well."

"Yeah." Terrance said around a large mouthful of food. "C'mon, when they feed you like this who can't?" He swallowed. "No – don't worry, I've had a heart to heart with Beetee about some stuff. But I mean think about it – honestly, do you want the people pushing you around to see you upset?" He asked the last bit barely above a whisper.

"No." Wiress said.

"There ya go." Terrance said. He watched Wiress eating dantily. "Seriously, Wiress, you're not going to bulk up eating all dainty-like. Do you think you're on a date or something?" Beetee chose that moment to walk into the dining room. Wiress blushed darkly causing Terrance to howl with laughter.

"I – was – before." Wiress stammered staring at Beetee as he was getting his food. "Hi, Beetee." She said smiling. Beetee sat down with his tributes. He placed a muffin on a plate at Eustacia's place next to him. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you." Beetee said. His heart melted as Wiress smiled at him. "Hungry are you?" He asked playfully as Wiress put a rather large scoop of eggs in her mouth. She giggled and blushed while covering most of her face with a napkin. "Good. You both are eating well this morning." Eustacia joined them fifteen minutes later. She told the Capital Attendant who was monitoring their buffet what she wanted for tea before sitting down next to Beetee.

"I'm pleased to say that you two both did well with the chariot ride." Eustacia said smiling. "You have more sponsors than I'd expect from a non-career district. In fact, you have more sponsors than I've seen in the past five years." She looked at Terrance who was drinking his orange juice and club-soda mix loudly with a straw. "Terrance – you have more sponsors than your sister did when she was here! Isn't that exciting?" Wiress tried to hide the horrified look from her face at the realization that Terrance's parents had to send another child to the Games. Terrance gave a look of mock surprise before leaning diagonally to get as close to Eustacia as he could. He took a deep breath and belched in her face. Wiress began laughing. She looked over at Beetee who was chuckling.

"Thank you! Ladies – and gentleman! Thank you!" Terrance said sitting back. Their attendant had to put Eustacia's tea-tray on the buffet table as she was also doubling over with silent laughter. "A young man is always pleased to know when his burps are appreciated!"

"Honestly –" Eustacia muttered disgusted before taking the tea-tray placed near her breakfast. "Scrambled eggs and some strawberries, please." She said to the attendant. "Well, Beetee should thank me for talking up your performance last night to your sponsors if this year you can make it past day one." Wiress looked across the table at Beetee who had his jaw clenched. He was clutching his sliverware in a white-knuckled grip. She reached out and lightly brushed the back of his right hand with her left hand. He moved his hand and began eating.

"Beetee – do you have any tips on training?" Wiress asked timidly.

"Plants and survival. Both of you." Beetee said. "Terrance, strength training for you today. Wiress, work on traps and then simple light weapons if you have time today." His experession softened. "You can observe the other tributes using them. Think about their mechanics and the physics of their use before you train, ok?" Wiress nodded. "Eat up." Eustacia started talking about sponsorship parties and what she could and couldn't tell them about the training. Terrance and Wiress took Beetee's cue to not respond to Eustacia.

"Terrance, I'll be right down." Wiress said as Terrance beckoned her to come to the elevator at the end of the living room.

"Well, hurry up! I want you two walking in together!" Eustacia called. She huffed and pushed the button to the elevator before boarding with Terrance. Wiress watched as the doors slid closed before wrapping her arms around Beetee's waist.

"Honey, I know you'll do great." Beetee said before kissing her. "They can't take away your intelligence." Wiress nodded. "I have faith in you. Both of you."

"Thank you." Wiress said simply. She stared into his eyes. They still looked sad. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled as he ran his fingers through her hair before pulling her close. They kissed with more urgency.

"You can't be late." Beetee said cupping her face in his hands when he realized that several minutes had passed. "I'll see you this evening." Wiress nodded. In the elevator, she wiped her mouth on her sleeve and then tried to straighten her hair that Beetee's fingers had tangled in several minutes ago.

"What were you doing up there?" Eustacia asked staring annoyed at Wiress.

"Talking. Strategy." Wiress said. "Um – Beetee said he wanted me to keep some things in mind that I learned from the engineering academy."

"Ok." Terrance said simply, though he said it with a hint of doubt. His eyes lingered on Wiress' mussed hair and slightly swollen lips. "Right. Let's go, Wiress." They counted to three and opened the Training Center doors before walking confidently in.

"You made flash-cards?" Terrance asked shocked. "Geez, smarty-pants!" He teased.

"What did you think I was doing with a pencil and paper, Terrance?" Wiress asked. She shuffled the pieces of paper and handed the stack to him. "Quiz me."

"Let's eat first." Terrance said. Wiress nodded. She was glad Terrance was absorbed in inhaling his lunch as the lull in the conversation gave her time to think about Beetee. She knew they were getting closer, but she couldn't just suddenly act like they didn't have feelings for each other. It wasn't logical, but she would continue to love him until she died – probably in the arena next week. She sighed.

"I'm done! I'm done!" Terrance said laughing. He looked at the far-away expression on Wiress' face. "What's up?" He asked concerned.

"Nothing." Wiress said even though Terrance gave her a knowing look.

"I can be empathetic when I want to." Terrance said quietly. "I'm not all class clown."

"I know, Terrance." Wiress said quietly. "I – it's just complicated." Terrance nodded. He began quizzing Wiress on the plants they learned that morning.

They went back to training and Terrance lifted some weights. He was strong from working in the factory. When he felt satisfied with how much he could lift, he went to the hand to hand combat station. He saw Wiress watching other tributes using weapons. She would jot down notes every now and then. He wondered what Beetee had talked about with her before she came down to training. He was sort of jealous that they knew each other before the Games. However, he gave them credit. They weren't snobby engineers that flaunted their intelligence in front of the poor guy who worked in the factory. Beetee had spent a fair amount of time with him last night discussing strategy and about his sister's games. He knew he would work hard in her memory to hold his own.