The sky was glittering like the lake on the outskirts of District 12. Katniss still wasn’t fond of water but she could still admire the beauty of it, even if she didn’t trust it much. Katniss let out another sigh and rested her head on the railing, using her arms as a pillow. Much to her relief, she wasn’t thinking about Gale and her sister, or even the Games. She was just letting her mind empty and wander to what the other districts might be up to. She wondered how Rue’s family were and if they were still looking down and expecting their young girl to be helping out. That agony was part of the reason why she didn’t enjoy allies or getting to know other Tributes. 

In the end, she knew they would die or she would die and that kind of pain, that kind of loss was something she didn’t like spreading. Still, she tried to push those thoughts out of her mind so she could just focus on nothing. When she was with one of the other tributes, they had mentioned meditation but she brushed their advice off since it sounded stupid. But now that she was alone, she decided to try it out. It wasn’t easy. As her mind thought back to the city and how it was so different from home, and how she never thoughts she’d have to visit it again unless she was mentoring, she heard the door slid open. She lifted her head, turned and saw Haymitch let himself in. 

She’d be lying if she told herself she wasn’t happy to see him. Haymitch walked over to her and commented on the night. Katniss found for once, words fail her. The girl looked back out, still in awe of how much of a contrast the city was to every other district she had visited. It was horrible. “Yeah maybe if the city wasn’t filled with such vapid creatures.” She muttered after having time to think about it. Katniss turned to him and leaned her side against the glass wall, her arm resting against the outside of the rail. “Tomorrow is going to be a waste of time.” She said, admiring the light from the room wash across his face. “At least I won’t be suffering alone.” Katniss smiled to him.

“I mean at least you and I can stand around and make fun of everyone else dancing.” Of course if Haymitch did ask her to dance, there was no chance she’d say ‘no’ to him. The idea caused Katniss to blush as she once again tried to empty her mind and just enjoy this moment.

Gale didn’t mind that Prim told Katniss, he would have liked some notice so that he could talk to her but he knew it was Prim’s call. They were sisters and it was big news. Gale was just happy that Katniss hadn’t done anything too drastic. He figured since she knew him so well, she wasn’t as upset if he were a stranger. But Prim and Katniss both had good heads on their shoulders and could judge people well enough. As he wandered around with Prim, he found himself not thinking so much about the older Everdeen sibling, but the younger one by his side. It felt right and it was something he wanted to hold onto for as long as possible.

When Prim just laughed at him and advised that Katniss not find out, he flinched at the thought. “O-oh no. She might not like that.” But what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt either one of them. Gale knew both sisters were important to one another. He didn’t want to get in the middle of that and make either feel weird or possibly threatened. “Still, it would be nice to spend the night together at least once before the Games…” He said in a more serious tone. If the four them somehow got separated or couldn’t meet up right away, he might not sure if he’d be able to sleep until he knew Prim and the others were safe. And as he said before, with Prim, he had a great rest.

He rubbed his neck with his other hand as they came to a painting bathed in a sunset. It was sort of the like the Capitol and he frowned, trying to think. “Hmm...I don’t think so.” He knew he had seen it, probably out of the corner of his eye. “It’s nice, a bit boring but I mean, it’s nice.” He hadn’t seen enough art nor cared enough to consider himself a critic or anything. “I think Effie said ours was special but something tells me she’s just trying to make us feel better.” Somehow. Gale looked around and didn’t see anyone around. No Peeta or Effie or Haymitch or even Katniss. He wondered how much privacy they were going to get now that Katniss knew about them, and if they couldn’t really be too close around the others, for obvious reasons. 

While Prim looked at the painting, he couldn’t help but let his eyes wander back to her. She was so pretty, just studying that paining. He moved forward and slipped his right arm around her, using his left one to brace himself gently against the wall behind her, over her head. He leaned down and kissed her softly, his actions having been casual and not at all forceful. “I don’t know how many more times we’ll get to that.” He smiled after he broke the soft kiss.