If he knew her at all, he'd preen just for the sake of preening. He'd stick out his chest and straighten up and pat his shirt so it laid flat against his stomach the instant he felt her observing. In the name of fun, of a distraction before he cut the childishness off and never glanced back again, because this work was important and he'd made enough effort keeping his lunch down and his mind from getting fuzzy to screw it up. Hawkeye matched the arched brow- waggled it. "Want a demonstration?"

He won't even wait to be turned down, but a small breath still escapes him. It was like his substitute for a shrug. "I've been in the Capitol for months now. Not all at once. I mean, there's been the fun little Arenas and they even took us to our Districts before." He didn't want to make a sharp turn towards Grim right then, but-- months? Had it been, really? Everything bad blurred together into an indecipherable timeline. When it ends, Hawkeye figured, everything would blur further until the memories wouldn't even be that. Hawkeye looks at the staff now, and even directs his words towards it. "And I've never once stepped foot in this center until now. I never saw a reason for it."

Now's when he could go on and on and never stop rambling about how disappointed, disillusioned, and disheartened he was. Eyes back on De, he's even toned throughout. "Then I saw some kids get really hurt and now I need to know what everyone's capable of. Beginning with you and what you can do with that big stick."