The energy of the crowd was growing to match the intensity of the fight between Johanna and Katniss. It was quickly escalating, becoming more brutal with each punch and barb that the women threw at each other. Haymitch was surprised that it hadn't been broken up yet, but he knew that it was only a matter of time. He glanced toward the men and women concealed by the force field and saw that even they had ceased their constant drinking and eating to watch what was happening. Their faces were a mixture of entertainment and concern, and Haymitch wondered what this would mean for Katniss. A second later, he looked away from them once more and returned his focus to Katniss who had just given Johanna a damaging headbutt. It was a good move, a smart one too and the blond man was definitely proud of her fighting instinct.

It seemed that Katniss wasn't done yet, either and Johanna had gotten the rise out of her that she had been gunning for. Haymitch was sure that the older woman hadn't expected to be punched in the face, let alone lose to an eighteen year old girl but the former mentor could do nothing but smirk even as Katniss was pulled away from her competitor. There was no punishment in store for either of them and the two seemed to walk away with a new found respect for one another. Haymitch, on the other hand, was grinning ear to ear. Had he still been a mentor, he would have thought twice about approving of such violence pre-arena but as a tribute, he didn't have to hide his enthusiasm. 

“[i]That[/i] was excellent, sweetheart,” Haymitch smirked and clapped Katniss on the shoulder. She was bleeding, but she didn't seem to be bothered by it. Haymitch could think of at least two people who were going to be very concerned by her current appearance and behavior, but Effie and Cinna's opinion mattered very little at the moment.

Over on the machines, Prim had been running and keeping up decently with Gale, but when the Peacekeepers had stepped in to break up the fight between Johanna and Katniss. As soon as she saw her sister being pulled away, legs flailing, Prim thought back to the Reaping and immediately left the machine she had been working at, leaving it on without a second thought. She ran over to her sister as the crowd dispersed but was surprised to see that everything had calmed down without much incident. It was hard for Prim to think of Katniss being in pain, or being dragged away somewhere and the older girl didn't even stop to say anything to her, and she left with Haymitch instead. Prim shook her head, feeling more out of place than usual but was easily comforted by Gale's arm around her shoulders. She stayed close to him as they headed for the elevators after waving goodbye to Yelven and Iva for the day.

With Katniss and Haymitch already on their way upstairs, Prim and Gale were forced to share an elevator with a pack of careers. Prim did her best not to pay them any attention, figuring that was a better strategy than engaging, although she was angry and wouldn't have minded blowing off a little steam. Thankfully, they were gone fairly quickly and the blonde girl was finally able to exhale. “I am proud,” she said, her smile returning, “mostly because I beat you at that race.” In all actuality, Gale had probably won, but Prim needed a little bit of humor at that point in time.

The doors of the elevator soon parted and the first thing that Prim heard was Effie yelling at either Katniss or Haymitch. Prim couldn't say that she blamed the brightly-colored woman too much, and she was even a little envious. “I'm going to take a shower,” she told Gale, and quickly made a beeline toward her room.

“Just what were you thinking?” Effie asked, her hands on her hips as she demanded some kind of answer. “And you!” She gestured to Haymitch, “encouraging that? You know better! She's hurt!”

Effie's lecture had quickly grown old, and Haymitch wasn't going to apologize for Katniss being good at what mattered. Looking pretty wasn't going to save anyone's life in the arena, but having enough sense to play dirty would. “It's going to heal,” he replied to the escort's tirade. “And if it doesn't, there's medicine for it. I don't know why you're yelling at her for this. She did a [i]good[/i] job today!”

Effie's face screwed up in anger and she was soon storming out of the room. Haymitch smirked as she walked off and turned back to Katniss. “Seriously,” he grinned, “good job. You should go get cleaned up before the sight of that small cut gives Effie a heart attack.” Gently, he gave her an affectionate nudge on the shoulder, happy that things seemed to be back to normal between them. After that, he left the room, feeling the need for a shower before dinner would be served.

After Prim had taken a long, hot, shower, she changed into something more comfortable. She left her wet hair down around her shoulders, not caring about how it would dry or who would see it. Unfortunately, the hot water hadn't put her in a better mood and Prim didn't want to take her anger out on anyone. Even though she was there with Katniss, the younger girl still felt like she had lost her sister and that scared her more than anything—more than threats from careers and more than dying within the first ten minutes of the Games.

Feeling that she had to come out at some point, Prim left her room and returned to the common area. She was surprised to see that Haymitch was already out and had placed himself on the couch by the window. Prim settled wordlessly into an armchair by the window and watched the view. The sun was beginning to set and the Capitol looked as beautiful as ever, but she was still homesick.

“Did you pick a weapon today?” Haymitch asked.

It sounded like he was trying to make conversation, but all Prim could hear was that she was dragging her feet and making things harder for everyone else. Maybe she was projecting a little. “No,” she answered and then looked back toward the window.

“Why not?” he asked, sounding a bit more accusatory. 

“Because I didn't,” Prim replied. When prompted, she could be just as unpleasant as her older sister.

Haymitch shook his head, “I don't know why you think everyone is going to baby you through this. You're here, deal with it.” 

Prim glared at Haymitch from across the room. “I'm not and I never asked anyone to,” she snapped.

“Then pick something to defend yourself with!” 

Prim didn't answer him, and fixed her gaze on the window and the buildings outside. Behind her, Prim heard someone else come into the room, but she didn't look to see who it was. She was curled up in the chair, trying her best not to acknowledge that the pressure of the Games was already getting to her.