The plate of fluffy, almost melting rolls immediately drew hands down upon themselves like a magnet. After taking a conservative bite, Katniss let it warm the palm of her hand as she examined it thoughtfully.

"Are there cars, Peeta?"

Setting the plate on the coffee table, he took a seat beside her before answering, "There are trains, and the Capitol has hovercrafts and high-tech equipment like that."

"But don't you ever wonder where the cars are at? Or what happened to them?" she inquired further through a mouthful of bread.

"Not really."

Katniss shrugged and took another roll. On television, the moment she had been waiting for arrived as they cut to their reporter in District 13. Katniss kept her eyes focused at the corner of the screen. The mockingjay Bonnnie had predicted arrived, then silently continued on its way, oblivious.

"Alright, this confirms that the Capitol no longer cares," Katniss said, resting her hands behind her head, "So if they're not going to try, neither am I. I'm going to coast through this mentor thing Haymitch style, but without getting depressed and disgusting."

"Oh, they're picking the Quarter Quell now," chirped Prim, entering the room and selecting a roll.

"Yeah Rue, what did you think we were watching this for?" Katniss managed to project through her dough-filled mouth. Peeta gave her sister an interested glance, but Prim shook him off with wide eyes.

Onscreen, a fashionable crowd of Capitol citizens clapped in a reserved yet appropriately enthusiastic manner as a presenter in a flowing dress came forward. In her gloved hands she held a glossy black box, out of which would come this year's nightmarish twist on the Games. The applause intensified as President Snow took the stage in a tuxedo that even Katniss would have admitted he wore very well. After nodding and thanking the crowd, he slid his hand into the box and selected a card.

"Well, would you look at this," his eyebrow's rose in surprise, "It looks like this year all the Victors have to go back and fight again," the camera zoomed in closely on his face, and he winked animatedly.

Peeta placed a gentle hand on his fiance's shoulder. "Katniss, don't-"

The room immediately filled with a blood-curdling scream as she exploded off of the couch. In an effort to stop her, Prim reached out a twig-like arm, and received a fist directly to the face. Crashing through a window, the victor staggered out through the snow. She entered the lowest window in Haymitch's house in the same manner.

"Haymitch may I have some alcohol?!" she asked aggressively, brushing shards of glass out of her hands.

For a moment the dark room wouldn't answer her, until the questioned alcoholic rose from behind a couch. Struggling to pull himself up on an armrest with one hand whilst holding a bottle of clear liquid with the other, it was apparent that he hadn't taken the news particularly well either.

"Normally I'd say no," he paused to chuckle at himself, "but normally they don't have victors come back, do they?"

Coming forward to collect her bottle, Katniss stretched her arm out over an ottoman, wiggling her fingers when she had reached maximum length in an effort to take the bottle from Haymitch. The bottle however, was taken from them both.

Peeta smashed the container on the floor. "Absolutely not!"

A stunned Katniss turned on him. "Why?"

"Enough of this, too," Peeta began scooping handfuls of white powder off of a nearby table and tossing them into the air.

A wild-eyed Haymitch dropped down on his knees, holding out his tongue and hands in an attempt to catch some of his supply, like a child on the first snow of winter. Katniss soon joined in, dabbing at the floor with her finger before swiping it across her gums.

"Stop!" Peeta ceased upon observing their activity, wiping his hands off on his shirt, "Get up!"

The pair reluctantly attempted to obey.

"This isn't how we're going to do this! We're going to train with weapons, plan, lift weights, and listen to 'Gonna Fly Now' from Rocky. We're going to wear tracksuits, and act like careers."

Katniss groaned. "Can we not? We were winging it last time and we beat all the people who trained their whole lives. And that was just the two of us-with Haymitch we'll be unstoppable," she reasoned, returning to normal levels of articulacy.

"No!" he gestured towards their mentor, "Also, it will only be two of us in the arena."

"I feel kind of robbed by this then," said Katniss, "we have to go through a whole other Games storyline and we don't even get to see Haymitch in the arena."

Peeta exited the house.