It was only a little lie, one Maxwell certainly understood, but the young man acted like a pup who'd just soiled on a favorite rug and was expecting a rolled up parchment to the nose.

Shaking his head, he held up his hands in a show of peace.

"It's alright," he insisted, smiling widening, friendly and honest. "I was a stranger too you, after you'd been told everyone here meant you harm. You had every right to to defend yourself with what you had at your disposal."

Hands dropping again, settling once more - well away from the bow at his back - he nodded.

"Your Father sounds like a wise man," he said gently. "And he's not wrong, but we're not going to let it stop us. I understand there's somewhere around one hundred tributes sent into the arena. How many exactly disagree with the Capitol's actions, I can't say for certain, but there are seven I would readily trust with my life." A beat after he said it, his brow wrinkled, eyes closing as he remembered. "Six. Six, now."

Almost less, after the damned birds. The Capitol hitting them right where they knew it would hurt most.