"I'll take it as a compliment anyway," Finnick answers immediately, smiling at her again -- he doesn't care if it irritates her, because if she wants to do anything about it, she has to come in the pool after him. He'll take his chances.

Besides, only part of what she says is true. He certainly hadn't put any care into his appearance before he went into the Hunger Games. It wasn't like his prime strategy when he was reaped was to charm everyone. It had just been who he was, paired with natural good looks; he might be more polished now, but there's not denying that he started off naturally good-looking. And to be fair, even now he doesn't put that much effort into his appearance. It's everyone else who does. It's his team of stylist who work to make him look effortlessly polished but not plastic, to get as little clothes on him as humanly possible.

But appearances being the difference between life and death is an absolute rule -- at least for the two of them. There are plenty of Hunger Games that are won by weird instances -- BeeTee's, Haymitch's. But most of them are won like his and Johanna's. The play a role. The Capitol loves them for that role. That's how Katniss' and Peeta's were won too, wasn't it? They wanted to bring home a pair of star-crossed lovers, so they did.

"You found anything out?" Finnick asks Johanna in return.