Normally, Katniss was the first person that Haymitch wanted to see, but the sight of her coming into the dining room that morning filled him with dread. When she didn't sit anywhere near him, something she had been doing more and more of in the month leading up to the Reaping, Haymitch knew that he had made a mistake. Last night, he had crossed some kind of sacred, invisible line that separated their professional relationship of mentor and tribute along with being reluctant friends. The worst part of it was that Haymitch had only been trying to help and when he had come into her room the night before, he had every intention of returning to his own. Katniss had needed someone and although Haymitch knew he could have gone and woken up Prim or Gale, she had specifically asked him to stay. If he were being honest, he was a little angry with her because he hardly saw how doing what she asked was wrong.

Although Effie and Peeta were polite enough to say good morning, Haymitch chose to keep quiet. He finished off his glass of orange juice and took a coffee from another Avox, not the one who had caught him coming out of Katniss's room. Now that he was more awake, he opted for breakfast and chose something filling—eggs and bacon with a few slices of toast and jam. That was sure to get him through the first half of the day, although Haymitch didn't plan on going along with what Peeta wanted him to. He had people to talk to and he needed to get a feel or the mindset of some of his friends. If a plan was going to be made, he couldn't waste time on re-learning how to make a fire.

On the other side of the apartment, Prim was still fast asleep and comfortably tucked against Gale's side. While she had never had a hard time sleeping, his presence had eased her fears and relaxed her enough to actually get some much needed rest. She was still sleeping soundly and unaware that the door to her room had opened. It was only when Gale began to move around did Prim start to stir and become more aware of the world around her. Suddenly, her side lacked the same warmth that it had throughout the night and a familiar voice reached her ears. Lazily, she blinked her eyes open and looked up at Gale who was already out of bed and telling her that she needed to get up too. Prim didn't want to, though and simply wished to roll over, pull the covers over her head and forget that these games were now her life.

“You too,” she said as Gale left the room. He was hard to read that morning, and Prim didn't know whether or not he regretted staying with her through the night. His feelings were too much to worry about on top of the anxiety she already felt for training and she attempted to push them from her mind as she rose from her bed. Across the room, an outfit had been nicely laid out and Prim dressed herself quickly. She didn't bother to do anything with her yet, assuming that she and Katniss would help each other with a practical braid. It more than likely wasn't very safe to have long hair in the Hunger Games, but Prim was unwilling to change herself just because someone might get close enough to grab her.

She was the last one to arrive in the dining room and Prim felt a little awkward as she walked in on the tail end of a spat between Katniss and Gale. For the first time that morning, Prim considered how her sister might feel if she knew that Gale had spent the night in her room. Katniss would probably be angry and Prim didn't want to cause unnecessary tension. She thought it best to keep it to herself, to act like nothing had happened and not acknowledge Gale any differently than she ever had. Katniss was obviously dealing with something anyway, and Prim has to guess that it was pre-training jitters.

“Morning,” she smiled at everyone before taking her seat next to Katniss. After taking a glass of orange juice Prim accepted the offered pastry from Gale, but made sure to fill her her plate with something of substance. There was eggs and various fried meats, along with fresh, colorful fruit and even a very tempting dish of yogurt. She ate quietly as Peeta spoke of the ball that Gale had mentioned the night before. She had originally written it off, thinking that it wasn't for tributes, and more for mentors, escorts and any other highly positioned Capitol individual. She didn't understand why they had to go when they would be killed one another in just a few short days, but Prim knew better than to argue. At the very least, she could actually dance. Their mother had taught her years ago and Prim had attempted to teach Katniss once or twice but the older girl had never been into it.

“Shouldn't we be eating healthy?” Haymitch asked, raining on Effie's parade as usual. Carbs weren't exactly something that a tribute needed after a long day of working out and getting into shape. Effie had always tried to mother the tributes, to make them feel better about being away from home, but pasta wasn't going to cut it. He realized that he was being a little more mean than usual, already in a bad mood from his wake up call. That same Avox was still serving them and Haymitch did his best to avoid eye contact.

“You can eat what you like, Haymitch,” Effie snapped back haughtily. “We want to ensure that our tributes are well fed after such a long day and I'm sure they'll be grateful for it.” Because District 12 was starving, of course.

Prim tuned out Haymitch and Effie arguing and paid attention to Katniss. She could tell that something was a little off about her sister, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. When Katniss mentioned her looking well-rested, Prim stiffened slightly. “The beds are really comfortable,” she said, her eyes momentarily flitting toward Gale and then back to her breakfast. She took a bite of melon from the fruit dish in front of her, ensuring that she wouldn't elaborate on her night. “How did you sleep?” Prim asked, thinking that the older girl looked more rested as well in spite of her odd mood.

Effie had let the argument drop at Peeta's urging and Haymitch made the choice to focus his thoughts on training—specifically what everyone else is going to be doing. “Have you given any thought to that sword?” he asked Gale as he pushed his plate away, now done with his breakfast. Choosing a weapon was important, but pestering Gale about it was a wonderful distraction from being angry with Katniss.