One of the Daines - the one who can't speak aloud, anyway - sits down heavily on the bed. She can more easily comfort Effie from there (and it's just as well she won't be saying the puppy's name aloud; that might just make things worse), and neither of the Daines want Katniss to feel crowded. She pats the bedspread, and Effie slinks out from beneath the bed and hops up onto the bedspread, all but crawling into Daine's lap.

"It's all right," says the other Daine, as if to soothe a hurt, frightened animal. "I know this feels mad - the same thing happened to me, earlier today - but I promise we can explain. It'll just be easier if you can talk back, so we'll... we'll fix that, first." Glancing at Peeta, she allows some of her simmering disapproval to leak out into her tone. "Then we can both yell at him."