"I'll trade you my pretty girl for Brock Samson." Jason faux-bats his lashes, but like his smile or his laughter, it just doesn't seem to match his face. It almost looks rendered in stop-motion, rather than something happening organically. "I bet he'd look like a perfectly respectable lumberjack in a coonskin cap and flannel."

He, too, doesn't spoil the crowning further than that. Even with so few Tributes here, he doesn't trust anyone who overheard not to go running their mouth. He's been so disappointed by secret-keepers in the past.

"The Crownings, though. You'd think with all the money they put into making each one bigger and better, they could raise our salaries a bit."