"I don't think you were ever boring," Mindy said, looking amused. "You've stuck around this long, haven't you? By now you're probably a crowd favorite, and considering what you've done, I'd say you're at least as vigilant as any mentor. Better to have that fire than be done with the Arena and be content."

Which, obviously, Mindy wasn't. She'd done her best to play the game, so to speak, on mentoring and keeping her head down, and they'd found a way to get to her anyway. So at this point, appearing to keep her nose clean was important.

"There's a lot I would do," Mindy said, grinning, "that you're starting to do yourself. It's just starting to piss me off you beat me to it!"