The first questions she asks aren't the kind of questions anyone other than Katniss can answer, really. But that last one...

That last one.

Talk about a loaded question, that one in particular hits him right in the gut. He won't be helpful if he sugarcoats it or lies to her and it sounds pathetic in his head, never mind the way he thinks it'll probably sound out loud, but it isn't going to help anyone for him to pretend it isn't the truth.

What did he do to embrace this place?

"I hated my life before this place," he admits. "I hated it. I was miserable. I was alone. This place isn't great, but it's not Beacon Hills, either. Fucking petrie dish of drama and death and failure, that's where I was before here. This place has shitty food and there's no individuality, but weirdly there's some comfort in being just another face in the crowd. I miss who I really am and they took that away from me, but if I'm not who I really am then I'm not so dangerous and maybe then I'm not a threat, and maybe then, the people around me stop dropping like flies or walking away."

He gives her a little shrug. "I embraced this place because it's the lesser of two evils. This place sucks, but it's still better than home."