"Cinna has real talent," commented Peeta, looking sternly out over the crowd as instructed by their respective fashion teams. Lit up by the glow of the suits, the pair was a truly impressive sight, attracting even more gasps and camera flashes than last Game's display.
Katniss had to try significantly less than him to maintain a look of superiority over the crowd. "And Hugo Boss made the S.S. uniforms. So what?"
"I'm not totally sure what kind of comparison you're trying to draw here."
A silence fell between them that lasted until the chariot had finished its route and they dismounted to hesitantly mingle with their fellow victors. One victor who was far from hesitant to mingle approached Katniss when Peeta had wandered off a bit.
"Hey girl," he said, propping himself up on the District 12 chariot. Wearing only a fishing net, he asked, "Are there twenty-one letters in the alphabet?"
Apparently undeterred by the overwhelmingly unenthusiastic look she answered him with, he gave her the answer himself.
"Oh yeah, I forgot: 'u', 'r', 'a', 'q', 't'," then, in subtle undertones, he added, "I'm very famous."
Turning her head as if she was speaking to someone beside her, she jerked her thumb towards the minimally clad man. "Get a load of this guy," she said to nobody in particular, "Why don't you go back to Free! where you came from?"
Finnick winked. "Get ready for your love triangle to become a love square."
As he strutted confidently off, Peeta reappeared.
"What's up with that guy?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. Hopefully he doesn't end up being too relevant."
"Yeah," Peeta squinted after the sensual victor, "I'd hate for this love triangle to become a love square. I'm already at a disadvantage as it is."
A lengthy, involved shower was necessary to undo the work done by the prep team. Dyes and chemicals ran down Katniss's body as scented, high-pressured water came at her evenly from four sides. As she fell asleep, she thought of how she had just wasted more water than would probably ever pass through the average District 12 citizen.
She struggled to wake up knowing that her destination was Haymitich's pre-training strategy meeting, and was late as a result.
He greeted her predictably with, "Nice of you to show up sometime today."
"What is there to discuss?" she demanded, already feeling contrarian, "My strategy for success was pretty much confirmed by watching you use the same one in your Games. Grab something small, get to the perimeter, wait it out."
"It's different this time. Everyone's a victor, so they all know that. Which is why," he said, transitioning into the tone of voice which meant they were about to be mentored, "I want you to make some friends this year."
"Oh come on, let me lone wolf it again."
Seated across the table from his two pupils, Haymitch saw Peeta's indignation before it could register in Katniss's peripheral vision.
"Well, you weren't exactly alone last year, were you?"
"I got all the kills-Peeta spent half the time camping by the river," said Katniss, who was clearly only having a conversation with one member of her team.
"When has Haymitch been wrong about something like this?" asked Peeta simply.
This realization brought Katniss back down to a place where she was willing to listen; she folded her arms, but the automatic objections stopped.
"Just be sociable and it won't be that difficult to pick up some people. You're fan-favorite, and you're both talented enough to be contenders, so you'll be pretty desirable allies."
Taking a box of cigarettes out of her pocket, Katniss drew one out and placed it just barely between her lips.
Haymitch, confused and mildly irritated, asked her what she was doing.
"What? You said to make friends," she said, flicking her lighter with one hand and shielding the flame with the other, " So I'm a social smoker now. It's a great way to meet people-you always have something to talk about."
This explanation served only to deepen Haymitch's bewilderment. "You're already all in the same room, training. You're not allowed to leave the building. How is this going to help, exactly?"
Katniss exhaled a grey stream above their heads, leaning her chair onto it's back legs. "I don't think you're totally getting this."
Haymitch raised a finger, and spoke very deliberately. "There is one person at this table who isn't getting this. And it is you."
"Oh! I got it, okay," she snatched the cigarette out of her mouth, and trailed it about as she motioned excitedly with both hands, "We'll both pretend we're cops, and go up to people and say we're going to arrest them, and then we'll be like 'it was us the whole time' but we'll already know their secrets by then, from the interrogation, so they'll have to join us."
A breathy sigh escaped from their mentor.