A smile was pressed against her lips at Haymitch’s comment about what Effie might do to try and take her mind away from the edge of madness. When she drifted back into dreamland, she found it very warm and inviting. Usually if she didn’t have terrible nightmares, she would dream of nothing and come out alright, but still not generally rested. This time however, she didn’t dream of darkness or nothingness, but instead had actual good dreams. Katniss had forgotten that when she closed her eyes, blood and horror didn’t have to be the first things to greet her. Instead she dreamed of home and that she was trampling around a meadow with Prim and Gale. They were all happy and soon came to a picnic where she saw Effie, CInne and Haymitch. It was a bit of a doofy kind of situation but it was one that comforted her nonetheless. 

The next couple of hours were spent having wonderful adventures with her family and friends and that by the time the sun had risen, she had already gotten used to sharing the bed with Haymitch. She had an arm around him with the one closer to her curled against her chest as her head had rested against him, not at all minding his lack of a shirt at the moment. He was warm and his steady heartbeat was reassuring her, keeping her grounded while resting well. The female hadn’t noticed him removing himself from the tricky situation and tuck her back in. Katniss, at the moment, was dead to the world, feeling cozy and comfortable. About ten minutes passed and she shifted, noticing something was missing. She opened her eyes and stretched out, in an oddly pleasant mood. Katniss sat up and glanced around, something smelled different. 

Maybe it was her tracking but she could tell something wasn’t right.

She then remembered Haymitch had paid her a visit and helped her relax. She then remembered she asked him to stay and that he was shirtless and then her relaxation bubble popped, leaving her with an uncomfortable feeling. She quickly got out of bed and took a shower, trying to figure out what to do. What could she say to Haymitch? She felt mortified that she had asked him to stay like some helpless child and then another hard realization smacked her in the face. She looked down at her hand and remembered how she felt when he touched it. Katniss would have tripped in the shower and let out a loud stream of profanities if it weren’t for her remembering that she wasn’t alone and that she could smell breakfast. Getting out and dried off, she got dressed in the typical training uniform that had their district’s number on the shoulder. She then hurried out down the large hall and found herself in the living room, looking up to see Haymitch. An avox was behind her, it seemed she ran right past her. “M-morning.” She just said and slowly headed up to the table and deliberately sat on the other side, diagonal of Haymitch as it seemed the furthest she could get.

“Oh good morning Katniss, did you sleep well? Ready for today I hope?”

Katniss looked up from her plate of food which she hadn’t touched. “Wha-uh I did, s-sleep well.” She replied. It was true though, Katniss had a pretty good night’s sleep and she wondered if Haymitch did too. If he got a terrible night’s sleep because of her stupidity and cowardice, she’d want to kick herself. Katniss started to eat and Effie began to talk with Peeta about the plan for the day. Back in Prim’s room, Gale was still oblivious that someone was being sent to their rooms. He was also forgetting one important detail which was that he wasn’t even in his own room anymore. He was in Primrose Everdeen’s. And that would make him and her look pretty bad if anyone found out. And of course Katniss would be livid that it happened and Gale certainly didn’t want to start the day off with Katniss throwing knives at his head. While they were best friends, he was pretty damn certain that she wouldn’t take it lightly that he was falling in love with her sister.

The boy woke up, having actually dreamed of him and Prim together in a cave, he’d come back with some stuff he killed and she’d help him cook and it was really funny in a sense but it still brought him to a place of contentment and dare he suggest, joy.He woke up feeling very rested and hear the door open to reveal an avox standing there. He then quickly looked to Prim who had attached herself snugly to him. He was still on his back and attempting to pry her off of him. He wouldn’t in such a silent hurry had it not been for the eyes on him. Finally he got up and looked back to see the avox had left, thank god. He looked back to Prim, feeling sad that he had to just leave her but he knew it was time for the dark reality to set back into its place. He put the covers around her but then knew they needed to actually go and meet up with the others. He leaned over and shook her slightly. “Hey Prim, hey wake up.” He said softly and resisted the urge to ruffle her blond wavy hair. 

He couldn’t do that, as much as he wanted to.

He shouldn’t.

“It’s morning, we have to get ready.” He told her and when she was waking up, he thought it was best to take his quick leave. It just didn’t feel right leaving her without saying anything. “I hope you slept well.” He smiled and headed out of her room and found his unchanged. He got changed quickly and jogged out to the others to see Katniss’ eyes glued to her plate and he wondered if she had gotten any sleep at all. If he knew she had struggled with nightmares again, he would have taken Haymitch’s place or suggest Katniss bunk with Prim but part of him considered that asking Katniss to keep comforting Prim might be asking a lot from the older sister. He knew she would want to be around for Prim but Gale knew that she was already dealing with a lot. The avox he saw earlier was behind the table, filling up glasses of orange juice and coffee for those who wanted it. 

“Morning.” Gale smiled and jogged up and sat next to Haymitch and began to serve himself. He got some fried eggs, some toast, fruit, and even a pastry since he thought he could indulge a little. Gale was in a pretty good mood and though there was a lot to do during training, he wasn’t daunted in the least bit. He took a bit of toast and glanced to Haymitch, not sure why the older man was in a bit of a mood. He hoped he and Katniss hadn’t had another fight again. “You two okay?” Gale spoke up as he took a sip of orange juice. “You two didn’t have another fight did you? I guess it’s better to get it all out now than where everyone can see us.” He considered before he felt a toe hit him in the shin. “Ow, Katniss!”

“We didn’t fight, just drop it.” Katniss said.

Not feeling very happy anymore, Gale kicked her right back under the table. He made sure to ask her again later to see if he could help. Soon Prim cam out looking good. He straightened up in his seat and watched her make her way up and sit beside her sister. “Hey Prim.” He said and pushed a tray of pastries toward her. “These are great.” He told her. Peeta then began to talk about the training and how they needed to make friends and take thing slow and work on their shortcomings. Then they’d be able to show off in the next day or two. 

“There is a Ball in two days, training will be cut short.” Peeta said.

“A Ball? Like a dance? We don’t have to get dates do we?” Katniss spoke up, wondering if she had to be sizing up competitors who might be able to do the waltz or salsa. The only reason she knew about dancing and whatnot was because of Effie and CInna. Sure, their school back home had an occasional dance but no one had really ever asked her and she didn’t see it changing.

“No, it’s to celebrate the Quarter Quell, don’t worry about it.” Peeta smiled. “And if you can’t nab a date, there’s always me.”

“Oh that reminds me, your birthday is in five days, Peeta!” Effie exclaimed. “I will be sure to do something extra special for you, it’ll be a wonderful party!” Effie smiled, looking at him down at the other side of the table. Gale looked between them and then at Prim, his mind already going to her at the mention of a dance. He couldn’t find himself able to deny it any longer, he was falling for Prim and he was inevitably going to die which meant he needed to tell her. But if he told her, would it do much good? In his mind, maybe. It could help her find a strong purpose for living, he’d make sure she’d get out alive and live a happy live, even if he didn’t. Then that was the issue, if he left her with a broken heart, he would never be able to forgive himself, dead or not. “For dinner tonight, we will have a great pasta treat, plenty of hearty comforting foods to help you four unwind from a busy day.”

Peeta nodded, “There’s also the hot tub which could relax muscles.” He added though the way he said it, made him feel a bit creepy. 

“You look good, little duck, you must have finally gotten a decent night’s rest.” Katniss changed the topic as she played with Prim’s hair. She and her sister both had to do one another’s braids so they could train without their hair getting in the way. Gale looked up at Prim for a moment before he felt the avox’s eyes on him. He suddenly felt weird and fearing Katniss might get upset if Prim said what happened. He wasn’t really guilty or weird about what he did, but he knew it might still seem unwanted in Katniss’ eyes and he didn’t want to trouble her nor Prim.