The stylist was silent for what felt like forever and Katniss was about ready to just leave and go find Finnick as a last resort since she figured Effie would lecture her on rules on proper etiquette. As she moved to make her exit, Cinna held up a hand to stop her. “Sorry I was just thinking.” He said and gave her a small smile which held understanding but also curiosity. 

“Me too.” Katniss shot back and slouched her shoulders. Cinna motioned for her to sit down and the pair sat on his black leather couch. Katniss surveyed the room which had many colorful swatches on the walls with varying textures and patterns. He had a large sewing machine and a box filled with fabrics and other things that Effie would surely love to play with. Cinna leaned close to her, as if trying to read her more clearly. Katniss looked off and clenched her hands which were resting in her lap. “Is this how Peeta felt about me?” She wondered aloud. She felt weak by just admitting these things to Cinna. it wasn’t that she hated how she felt about Haymitch but she knew this was one of the worst things to happen right before the Games. She needed a clear head, not on filled with childish whims and fantasies. Surely Cinna could help unravel her cluttered mind. 

“I don’t know.” Cinna shrugged. “It does sound like you’re in love though.”

“How do I know it’s not...just a crush?”

“I don’t think you’re the type to get crushes, Katniss. You don’t love easily, you don’t fall for tricks either. I feel like you’re someone who would find someone special enough to foster feelings for and focus everything on them, making it as real as possible, unlike a typical romanticized crush.” Cinna explained. “But if you can’t take your own feelings seriously, Haymitch surely won’t.” He told the girl which caused her to look up, confused by what he meant by that. “Each person would have approached this differently. And if you wanted tough love you would have gone right to Haymitch. You came to me because you don’t have to be someone’s sister or someone’s friend or crush.” He said, referring to the possibility of her having gone to Prim, Gale or Peeta. “And Effie would have reprimanded you, but you went to me because you must think I can help you sort things out but the joke is on you Katniss, you already know how you feel, you just don’t want to have anything to do with it. Which is a shame because a girl as beautiful and fiery as you, shouldn’t push love away or deny herself or Haymitch, some happiness. And be honest, as crazy as you feel, you still feel happy when you think about him, don’t you?”

“I do.” Katniss said quietly, her heart aching slightly.

“See? The worst thing for you to do now is to pull away and make both of you upset.” He told her. He wanted to point out more to her, that Haymitch was sober because of her and that while he wasn’t nice to many people, he was still nice to Katniss and though they might fight, he knew they got along rather well due to their numerous similarities with one another. And if Cinna had to guess, he figured Haymitch was affectionate with Katniss because he liked her. Was it love? He didn't know, he wasn't around them very often but it did make him want to make Katniss a great dress that would grab Haymitch’s attention. “Go on, go get some lunch and find Haymitch and talk to him because if you want him to take you seriously as a person, you need to take him seriously as one too.” He pointed out to her. She got up and hugged Cinna, knowing he was right. if she wanted Haymitch to see her as someone mature, she needed to start acting like it. Cinna watched her go, hoping she could channel her attention better. He was one of the rebels who believed that Katniss could do something great if she was pushed far enough. 

He wanted her happy because if she was happy, she would have something to protect and maybe, just maybe she would be able to free everyone from the strangling Capital. Cinna had faith in her and if she put her faith in Haymitch and herself, as well as those around her, he was certain she would go further than anyone could ever imagine. The girl headed back to the cafeteria, trying to put Cinna's advice to good use. She considered her approach so far had been a bit narrow minded and she hated herself for that. She wasn't a kid, she had done more than most adults would ever do in their lives. Katniss knew these Games were about more than just her and the people she cared about but that was easy to forget. Maybe that was the point. She needed to stay focused on what was important and it wasn't just herself anymore. She was determined to save Haymitch and anyone else she could. She found Haymitch sitting with many of his old friends and she swallowed her pride and walked over as Johanna and Haymitch were exchanging strong words. 

"Hey." She said, not sure if she was interrupting something important or private. She decided to not ask about any sort of plan since from the sounds of it, no one had. She wasn't sure what they would need a plan for but Katniss did want to help. "You're pretty good with water huh?" She looked to Finnick. "I was wondering if you could give me some pointers in case we might need to swim against any big current or something." She asked him and then looked to Johanna, trying to push out the image of Katniss stabbing her in the face repeatedly. "Johanna, I'd love to spar with you sometime this week, it could be fun." She smirked and corrected herself, much to her own annoyance. "I mean...having a female victor isn't common and I'd rather try befriending you than Cashmere who looks like she could rip out someone's throat if they wore the same earrings as her." Katniss laughed a little. Making allies seemed pointless at first but Katniss knew she needed to be nice to Haymitch's friends, as stupid as they were. "I liked what Beetee and Wiress had to say this morning, I'd like to do something with them, they know the ins and outs of the tech around here." She told Haymitch and glanced off to see that it was time to go back to training. "So Finnick...about that water thing?"

"You just want me to take my clothes off." He smiled and got up. They did have a pool they could use and the blond was more than happy to spend some more time with the girl who could change everything, that and he was immensely curious as to her change of tune. "You know there's something different about you, Katniss." Finnick noted as he threw his arm around her neck and headed back. Katniss just laughed and tried to stay focused, now that she could talk to someone about her feelings, they didn't seem as frightening. 

Gale and Yelven introduced themselves to Iva and Prim and the four newbies had a table all to themselves. Gale was proud that Prim had befriended someone, in his mind, he found Haymitch lecturing him about networking and making allies. While he was sure Haymitch had meant other victors and not fresh tributes, Gale considered his and Prim's tact to still be worthwhile. Gale was sitting next to Yelven and also across from Prim. He didn't want the other two younger tributes to think that he and Prim were possibly ganging up on them. No, District 12 wasn't that ruthless. It was thanks to Ivan and Yelven that they got to hear some stories about the other districts as well as the past victors. He was surprised to hear about the unrest. Since neither Gale nor Prim had been allowed on the tour with Prim and Peeta, they didn't know how bad things really were. Nor did they know how Katniss' brave spirit was rallying people together.

Things like that were dangerous though.

During lunch, Gale looked over at Haymitch's group, a little worried that Katniss still hadn't shown up. He didn't think she'd be back in the penthouse sulking or something. She could be training too but he didn't know and that worried him the most. He and Katniss used to be in sync but lately, that wasn't the case. His anger was also sparking as Haymitch didn't seemed concerned at all, and was just joking around and catching up with the others. Looking back to Prim, his anger began to fade. Katniss could take care of herself and Haymitch really wasn't in charge of Katniss. Right now he wanted to pay attention to what the others were saying. They soon came to the topic of Prim's sister, Katniss. Gale acted like he wasn't too close to her because he knew it might be weird if he was close to her and then Peeta and Katniss were suddenly no longer an item. While Katniss insisted the star crossed lovers was Haymitch's stupid idea to save their lives, Gale knew it would weird if he and Katniss were close. He certainly didn't want to make it seem like he and Katniss were together either. In the past, the dark haired man had played with the idea of him and Katniss but there had been a part of him that always knew, they were too alike to ever be serious.

"Katniss helps out a lot in our district, she traps animals and trades them and if people can't offer much, she doesn't need to take anything in return." Gale said to Yelven and iva. Katniss had some admirable qualities but even so, when he thought about Primrose, he knew his feelings for her were somehow stronger than those that he may had at one point for Katniss. Looking around, he saw some people who he knew he had to worry about, namely the careers and he had a feeling they had Katniss in their sights, as well as Prim. He finished his lunch and got up, holding the tray. "You done?" He asked the girls. He took their trays and headed with Yelven over to put them by the trash. Yelven and Gale had a quiet conversation about what they could next. "I think we should branch out a little more. You need to work on building muscle mass." He pointed out. The way Gale stayed fit was with all the running he did. Peeta's trick was the lifting he did at the bakery and Katniss did plenty of climbing and archery. Prim needed to also work on her stamina and body strength. "Why don't we all work on weight lifting?" He suggested as they headed back to their table.

On their way, he saw Katniss walk in and he noticed something different about her, but he couldn't figure it out. Getting back to the others, he leaned over as it was time to go back anyway. "How about we lift some weights and then work on running." He suggested. if they had other ideas, he was happy to hear them. They had a set amount of time to try and work on as much as possible, while not pushing themselves too far. The training facility had a nice machine that let you run in place without going somewhere and their weights ranged from light to heavy. Needless to say, they had some things to work on and if they were in a group, it might not seem as stressful.