Katniss still wasn’t a fan of Johanna’s and though the fight had been a major pain, Katniss did have fun and found herself liking Johanna slightly more now. What probably pushed Katniss into such high spirits was the reaction from Haymitch. The girl grinned as he complimented her and patted her on the shoulder. “Thanks.” Katniss said, rather grateful for the attention. It really did suck not seeing or speaking much with him during the day, especially after the nice calming night she had thanks to his presence. Katniss saw other tributes looking at her, some giving silent nods of approval while others just smiled slightly and went on their way. She and Haymitch headed off to go up to their floor so they could both get cleaned up. Having been so caught up in her own accomplishment, she forgot to see what Gale and Prim had been up to.

At Prim’s comment, he balked. “What? You did not.” He protested and shook his head at the girl. He had won and she knew it. She was just pulling his leg but he didn’t like being passed over for first place. “Better luck next time.” Gale teased as they walked into a scene of Effie throwing a fit. He looked to Prim who quickly went off to her room. Gale on the other hand, lingered to hear what all had happened. He wanted to catch up with Katniss and make sure she wasn’t too hurt but his gut told him she was alright. Still, he wanted to be sure. When the noise quieted down, Gale jogged back to his room and quickly pulled off his training uniform, glad to be rid of it for the day. It just reminded him of his fate and it made him sick. He threw it into the laundry basket and hopped in the shower, scrubbing off the day’s antics.

Back in the large common area of the living room and dining room, Katniss looked back and forth as Haymitch and Effie began another exchange of loud feisty words. Katniss couldn’t refrain from smiling even more. Before Katniss could defend her actions to Effie, Haymitch had already spoken up and pointed out a bunch of the obvious points. By now the blood had dried up and she could go ahead and wash up, sure that the Capital wanted to keep even her looking fresh and perfect like some precious doll until she was dumped in Hell with everyone else. Haymitch stuck up for her once again by saying did good which just made Effie leave in a huff. A part of Katniss felt bad about worrying Effie, she was just looking out for Katniss, after all but still, she wasn’t one to apologize either, not for defending her reputation.

The girl with the braid lingered behind Haymitch and he turned and said once again how well he did which in her mind, meant he was proud of her and she was on cloud nine and couldn’t get any higher. “Thanks.” Was all she could say once more. Katniss was a tad speechless but not with just herself but also Haymitch and how great it felt to be on normal terms again. Now that CInna had told her it was love and not some brain eating virus, she felt like she could get a better handle on the issue. With that, she headed off to her room and took a shower, a quick one and spent most of the time cleaning up her forehead and bandaging up her hand. Her hand just ached but she had the gauze one to remind herself to not do anything major with her hand until the soreness went away. Heading out into the room, now in a pair of red pants and a black tank top, her hair pulled back into a bun, she noticed an odd tension in the room.

She caught the last few remarks between Haymitch and Prim and she felt a very painful tug on her heart. Two people she cared about were butting heads and Katniss had the massive urge to turn around and go back to her room where her shining mood couldn’t be rained on. “Prim...you really need to try a little harder here.” Katniss frowned, ultimately taking Haymitch’s side because he was right. “I might not be around to save you and I need to know you can handle yourself.” Katniss said, getting a bit angry herself. Gale and Katniss wanted to help Prim, even Haymitch did but they would be useless attempts if Prim couldn’t be bothered to help herself. “I know you miss home and mom and even that stupid cat...but you need to start thinking about what’s at stake.” Katniss shook her head, feeling like she wasn’t getting through to Prim. So she walked over and crouched down next to her sister.

Katniss was sure Prim knew what was at stake and that might be what was holding her back from taking everything seriously and in stride. “Without any confidence, you won’t last a minute in the Games.” It was the truth. “I love you Prim and I know you can do some pretty amazing stuff but unless you try, that’s not gonna matter.” Katniss kissed her head and gave her a hug from the side before getting to her feet. People would be gunning for her and Prim and Katniss feared she might not be around Prim every minute to look after her and in all honesty, she knew she would need to leave Prim’s fate in Gale’s hands or even Haymitch’s. She glanced over to Haymitch and gave him a bit of a shrug, not sure what else she could say to her stubborn sister. 

“Hey Katniss!” Gale’s appearance made her relax a little as he hurried over to her and rested his hands on her shoulders. “What happened with you and Johanna?” He asked, making sure she was okay. He could spot a few bruises on her upper chest but they weren’t too bad. He glanced over her shoulder to see Prim sulking but hadn’t a clue as to why. She seemed fine when they parted ways. He then turned to Haymitch, not sure if he said anything to upset Prim. Katniss noticed this and decided she needed to get to the bottom of things sooner rather than later. “You’re okay?”

“I’m fine, Gale.” Katniss said softly and put her hands over his. “We just sparred a little, no big deal.” She said, looking at him closely. “What have you been up to? You and Prim making friends? Training?”

“I was getting used to the sword, I’ll do more with it tomorrow.” He replied as she laced her fingers between his and pushed his hands off her.

“Great.” Katniss looked back at Prim again, a bit disappointed. Here she was getting her ass kicked and Prim was still reluctant to get involved like Gale. “Can I talk you after dinner?” Katniss said, figuring she could pick Gale’s brain apart when they had food in their bellies. “I was thinking of checking out the hot tub, you know where you and Prim were last night, looking at those weird paintings.” Katniss said, making a slight face as she thought about plenty of other times she had seen Gale with Prim. A lot of times, if Katniss recalled. Part of her hoped she was wrong about what was going on but as an older sister, she had to know. Gale agreed and said he could use a nice soak as well. It was then the Avoxes appeared and began to set up dinner which of course allowed Effie to reappear and greet the four fo them.

“Where’s Peeta?” Gale asked.

“He is busy, he wouldn’t say with what but he said to start eating without him.” Effie answered as she swept up the stairs to the dining area. “It is a bit rude but not as rude as giving someone a black eye.”

“I’m sorry Effie!” Katniss said but her laughter gave her amusement away.

Gale watched Katniss hurry after the woman while he lingered to see what was on Primrose’s mind. He saw Haymitch head up after Katniss while the two sat together. Gale smirked, glad to see them on decent terms again. He was surprised a fight with Johanna could bring them together but he knew that there were some things about Katniss that he wouldn’t be able to understand. For now he was more worried about Prim and her sudden change in mood. He had noticed the similarities about Katniss being grabbed by the Peacekeepers in the training facility to those of the Reaping recently but it hadn’t hit him as much as it had Prim. He rubbed her back and glanced out the window at the view. It was lovely. “I prefer what we saw last night, if I had to pick.” He said softly and motioned her to come eat. “Come on, I bet you’re hungry after losing to me.” He teased as he headed up to sit across from Haymitch. 

He hadn’t a clue what Katniss wanted to talk about but he figured it had to do with Prim or Peeta. He still hadn’t picked up on any notion that maybe she had somehow developed feelings toward Haymitch. Who would ever get that idea? Maybe Johanna but he didn’t know and frankly, he had someone else on his mind other than the sober straw haired man who seemed less agitated than during breakfast. Now if only all of them could be happy and not have a mixed bag of emotions. Whatever was wrong with Prim, Gale needed to know so he could fix. “So what were you up to?” He asked Effie as they were served their drinks.

“I had a wonderful chit chat with Cinna today. I’m not the only one, Katniss-” At that, Katniss started to choke on her juice, not sure what CInna had said to Effie but she was already assuming the worst. 

“Wh-wha-what did he say to you?” Katniss blushed slightly as she collected herself.

“He showed me designs for you and you sister, you’ll both look so stunning at the Ball this week, everyone is going to want to be you, kiss you or kill you.” Effie laughed and took a drink herself, seemingly in better spirits despite what Katniss had done thanks to Haymitch.

“I can’t wait to see you.” Gale found himself saying without thinking. He looked to Prim who had finally sat next to him. “I mean...you too Katniss.” He said and looked at her but then back to Prim, already imagining what she might wear. But Gale tore himself away as they were given different choices of food. Some were meat, some were pasta and some were salad. Gale selected the meat and salad while Katniss took some salad and pasta. Gale would talk to Katniss after dinner but he also made a mental note to check by Prim before bed, He wouldn’t stay again but he did want to check on her.