By the time they had finished dinner, the train was nearly to the Capitol, so they sat and waited. Reyna worried at her bottom lip, not noticing how her gnawing had caused blood to trickle past her chapped skin.

Finnick looked over at her and frowned, scooting closer on the plush, canary yellow couch and cradling her face in his hands. "Hey, stop that." He gently rubbed his thumb across her sore lip and tutted softly, wiping the rest of the blood off.

She found it just the tiniest bit difficult to breathe looking into his eyes, though she would never admit it. She went to bite her lip again (it was a nervous gesture), but he stopped her with a look. It was all she could do to clear her throat and grin jokingly. "What, no kiss from the King of Flirtation? You're already halfway there. I've been your wingwoman enough times to recall this being when you tell them they're gorgeous and then make out with them, ya know."

He rolled his eyes and let go. Her skin felt cold where his hands no longer were. "Whatever, insane person."

"Whatever, Fish Boy." The corners of his lips twitched up just a tad, amusement glittering in his eyes.

"That's the best you can come up with, Reyna? 'Fish Boy?'"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "It's better than 'insane person.'"

He glared at her playfully. "What was that? 'I want to be beaten in a tickle war?' Well, if you insist." His hands went up threateningly.

Reyna's eyes widened and she stood up, taking slow steps back. "Now, Finnick, there's no need to be irrational. Let's not do anything crazy."

She squeaked when he stood up and began approaching her, fingers wiggling as an omen of her impending doom. He rushed forward and began tickling her sides, making her giggle loudly.

He smirked mischievously, continuing his assault. Reyna laughed harder, falling down and bringing him with her. She writhed under his dancing fingers, tears of mirth streaming from her eyes.

Finnick smiled widely (yes, a real smile) and moved to her stomach, relentless in his tickling.

She gasped and giggled, trying to get free. "Oh, no you don't!" He said with a grin, holding her down.

Reyna recovered enough to flip them both over, her legs wrapping around his waist to keep him in place and her hands mercilessly retaliating against his earlier tickling. He laughed, the sound rumbling in his chest.

Adam - the male mentor, who Reyna discovered over dinner was actually quite funny - decided to walk in right then, raising an eyebrow. She reddened, freezing mid-tickle and looking at him sheepishly. "H-Hey, Adam..."

Finnick took the opportunity to grab her wrists and roll over, effectively pinning her down. He totally did not notice the strip of bare skin between her shirt and pants, where the lavender v-neck had ridden up (she changed out of her dress before dinner.)

He smirked at Reyna, who pouted. "I get it, you have only a little while left to live. I'll just... Leave you two to... Uh... Do whatever..." Adam said before clearing his throat and ducking back through the door, closing it quickly behind himself.

"Finnick!" She whined, wriggling under him. "Now he thinks-"

"What? What's he thinking, hmm?" Finnick murmured, leaning down closer. Her breath hitched in her throat, which was suddenly dry. She swallowed, trying to ease that weird feeling in her stomach.

"U-Uhhhh..." she stuttered out, making him chuckle.

God, I could just- He thought. He was tempted, so tempted to-

No, it wasn't fair to either of them to do this. Not now. He grinned and stood up, offering a hand to help her. She took it, but didn't expect him to be quite so strong.

Thus, she fell onto his chest, hands flat to stop her fall. A breathless "Thanks." was all she could manage after her eyes locked with his.

He let her go and stepped back, realizing for the first time that they were slowing down in front of the train station. "No problem." Do you even know how crazy you make me?

Reyna stepped up to the window, looking at the crowds with a fake smile. She detested this–the lies, the façades, the killing. It didn't matter now, anyway. She had already made up her mind to do everything she could to save Finnick. And that Katniss Everdeen. She added mentally. That girl may not be a born leader, but she gave people hope. That was more powerful than anything the Capitol could try to crush them with.

Finnick stood next to her and waved at the screaming fans, smirking. She rolled her eyes. I will never understand how he got to being so charismatic.

And then she mentally scolded herself. He wasn't charismatic. Shush, subconsciousness.

Oh, how she had NOT missed her prep team plucking every bit of hair from her body... They hovered around her, talking about the atrocious outfit 'Valentine' (whoever that was) had worn to some party or another, or which of those Reaped this year would die first. You know, just idle chitchat.

It always amazed her that, in under half an hour, she had no excess hair below her neck, and everything above that point had been styled to perfection. Her skin was pink and she stung all over.

Next she was bathed in some purple sludge that vaguely reminded her of rotten meat, but supposedly made her skin extremely soft. She actually got out of the tub ten minutes early, and thankfully the one afterward was a more neutral bath.

Then they set to work on her nails, filing them into twenty symmetrical ovals that were glossed and buffed. She had also, apparently, let her hair fall into 'a horrifying state of neglect and disarray.' So, naturally, they soaked it in about five different things and then they were finished.

She had just finished catching her breath when the door opened and closed behind her with a soft click. Reyna turned around and smiled at her stylist, Lily.

"My, my. You've grown a lot in just a few months, haven't you?" Lily murmured, walking forward. Reyna smiled at her warmly.

"Maybe a little."

The older woman chuckled. She had raven black hair and eyes like burning emeralds. Her skin was a pale, and she only wore a tiny bit of jade green eyeshadow as makeup. It was a nice change from the blaring colors of the Capitol.

"Now, let's make a stunning Victor out of you."