A/N so as a reader of the Hunger Games books. I was kind of surprised about the Effie/Haymitch kiss at the end of Mockingjay part 2. I thought it was really cute and I just loved it. Now I'm re watching the movies and I'm noticing the chemistry that I didn't see before. So now I ship them I guess I'm just a sucker for romances that stretch class boundaries.
It was finally over. Effie stumbled into her room; her feet were sore as she took off her shoes. She gave a small sigh of relief as they came off. They were the height of fashion obviously but unfortunately were not made for comfort. She went to her dressing table and started the slow process of disassembling herself. She carefully removed her eyelashes and placed them lovingly into their case. She wiped her face clean, frowning at the blemishes. Maybe she should put on more moisturiser, she reached towards the tub, generously applying it to her skin, as always she was annoyed that it didn't work instantaneously but you can't have everything. She looked at her eyes and was surprised to see tears there.
Her first Hunger Games, well as escort anyway. The Hunger Games had always been there. She was often teased in school because she only watched the prep, the parade and the interviews. She hated watching the games themselves; luckily her job didn't involve her participating in the games. She was just there to make sure the two tributes from District 12 made the best chance out of their opportunity. She considered that she'd done well despite Haymitch. He didn't seem to care about the tributes and she tried to make them feel fortunate and to make sure they wanted for nothing whilst he just drank and occasionally spoke to them. She hadn't been happy with the designer, she'd need to try and get a new one for next year. It was unfortunate that District 12 mined coal. How could you make coal visually appealing? She'd have to sell it as a challenge.
She wiped the tear away; it had been a long time since she'd cried. She looked at it; it had smudged her mascara, making her look like some kind of clown. She wiped it away angrily; she would not stand for that. As she did she thought of the two empty rooms that now existed. She'd liked her tributes, the boy didn't stand a chance but he was kind and polite. But she had faith in the girl. She had an impressive score and the public adored her. Apparently the girl had done well coming second but she hadn't watched it. As she thought about them, her eyes betrayed her and the tears fell down her face, as she wiped they just kept coming and coming, faster and faster.
"Just stop!" She shouted, her mad reflection stared back at her. It was almost accusing her of something. "What do you want?"
"Peace and quiet." Someone answered.
"Haymitch." She exclaimed, turning to face him and then remembering what she looked like, covered her face with her hands.
"Haymitch, you are not allowed into my room and you must leave at once."
She thought she sounded intimidating. Haymitch thought she looked ridiculous, like a child with her hands in front of her face as if she was hiding some big secret. "Right." He drawled out. "Are you going to be talking to yourself all night?" he asked nonchalantly "It's just I've got an early train back home tomorrow and I'd like some sleep."
Effie bristled. "I don't talk to myself and if you tell anyone otherwise…" she threatened with her hands still covering her face.
"You'll what? I'm a victor, I won, you can't do anything, you're just a doll that can talk, and I can buy them in a shop, 10 credits I think." He laughed taking a swig from his bottle.
Effie got up and she looked him in the eye, she would not accept that insult. "I arranged the transport, the accommodation, the food and the clothes. If you think that's easy with your District's budget then next year you can do it and I'll just lounge about and drink myself to death."
Haymitch laughed again but it was warm this time. "Wow, you have fire in your belly. And that's what you look like without make up." He added, almost as an afterthought.
Effie looked horrified, he had seen her. "Leave and don't you dare tell anyone what you saw or God help me there won't be a single drop of liquor seen at the next Hunger Games."
Haymitch just smiled but instead of leaving he sat down on her bed. She glared at him, no longer caring that he could see her. What did it matter, he wasn't important, just a washed up drunkard.
"Why are you crying?" He asked.
She wanted to shout at him to leave, she wanted to demand it. She was from the Capitol and he was just from one of the grubbier Districts. "Don't you?" She eventually asked.
Haymitch drank at that. "Not for a long time."
"You're lying." Effie retorted "I've heard it at night when I go past your room."
Haymitch sighed, "Why did you ask then?"
Effie sighed angrily, why was she putting up with this? He was useless. He couldn't help her. "I wanted to know how you live with it."
"Live with it? I've been a mentor for 15 Hunger Games and I still haven't figured that one out." He drank another gulp from his bottle.
"Why do you do it, you don't have to be a mentor?" She didn't know why she was so curious. This man had frustrated her, insulted her and had been just plain obnoxious since she first met him. Maybe because she'd never met anyone like him before. Maybe it was because despite everything, he was more experienced. Maybe because she just needed to know.
He wanted to give the stock answer, the fact that the Capitol provided him with an abundance of free alcohol but the way she looked at him or maybe because he'd drank more than he should have. "If I don't do it no one else will, no one else cares."
"You call what you do caring." Effie retorted, "I had to wake you up every day so you'd spend some time with the tributes and even then you just complained you had a hangover. You needed to inspire them, to make them believe they had a chance."
"They never had a chance, the odds were never in their favour as you say. They were just two kids from the poorest District going up against kids that were richer, stronger and better than them." He growled, he could feel himself getting angry, normally the alcohol dulled all his emotion but it wasn't working.
Effie was scared, she'd always looked down on him but as she looked at him now. For the first time she saw him for what he really was, a killer. If she stayed quiet then maybe but this didn't seem to be the night for rational decisions "The odds are what you make them and if you don't believe you can help them then why are you here?"
Haymitch looked up at her, venom in his words "I'm here because I need to be here."
"You're not needed," she persisted, a waver in her voice. "If you decided to not be a mentor then the Capitol would assign someone else, they've even threatened to do that a couple of times, I read it in yout file."
He stood up to face her, their breaths mingled in the air together. Effie wanted to pull away but she was frozen to the spot. "I need to be here." He whispered.
There was silence between them, Effie took a deep breath and was going to tell him to leave. "I'm sorry, truly I am. I know it doesn't mean a lot coming from me, from the Capitol, but I'm sorry." Why in the hell did she say that? It was beyond foolish. There was nothing she could do, no recompense was good enough. The realisation dawned on her, he may be a killer but he was also a victim forced to watch and never intervene.
There was another silence; he wanted to punish her for that. How dare she be so sanctimonious to apologise. How could anyone apologise for what they'd done to him? What could he do with an apology? It was a sick reminder that he hadn't won. The Hunger Games has no victors, apart from her, apart from the Capitol. She looked at him with tears in her eyes like she could see. She was just a dumb doll from the Capitol. One in a thousand. Plenty of her sorts. "Goodnight Miss Trinket." He headed for the door but she stood in his way.
What in the hell was she doing? "Don't leave, I've offended you, I didn't mean to but I just wanted…" She kissed him, she tasted the drink on his lips and then she pulled away. "Um I wanted to… I don't know what I wanted."
"No you don't Effie." He looked into her eyes, how had he not noticed how beautiful they were; maybe it was those ridiculous lashes that she insisted on wearing. He really cared about her, the way she organised herself, her optimism and most importantly she cared about everything.
She didn't understand why she'd kissed him. What would it look like to him? A plea of desperation. A slap to the face after all he suffered. A sick sort of pleasure derived from pain. "You can leave if you want Haymitch, I won't disturb you again."
He kissed her, her kiss was chaste and innocent, and his was not so accommodating. He'd never felt this way before. He wanted her, his whole body shook with it. How could he not want her? She'd truly seen him and she didn't flee. He knew he was exposing himself to a whole load of trouble. If anyone found about this. He was finished, when there was something you cared about, they could and would take it away.
At first she just let him kiss her like it was a form of penance, a sacrifice which was laughable. But as he reached to untie her dress. She felt herself getting excited, she felt her body surge with heat, and she kissed him back knowing that this was the worst idea she'd ever had. As her dress fell, her skin was exposed, she normally had sex with the light off because she never wanted anyone to see her but she didn't care. It was freeing in a way, being seen and not being afraid.
/
He looked at her, part of the reason he'd never seriously pursued a relationship despite there being opportunities. He never thought he could sleep with anyone, not sex. He'd had sex plenty of times since his victory and a few cheeky encounters before. But to actually sleep with someone, to be that vulnerable. During the games he'd always been afraid to go to sleep, anyone could stab a sleeping figure. So you limited your sleep, set up rudimentary traps but it didn't matter, it was still terrifying. He thought it would go away after the games but it didn't. One of the many disappointments that being a victor offered. In a way it was stupid of Effie to fall asleep next to him. He could kill her so easily but despite everything she trusted him. Maybe she was foolish. Maybe he was using her to satisfy a carnal need. Maybe he cared. The last one was terrifying which is why he walked away.
She felt cold as she woke up and as she stretched her arms all she felt was nothing. She was slightly offended, how dare he just leave after everything. She grabbed her dressing gown and for the first time in her life left her room without applying makeup or even putting her wig on. "Haymitch!" she called "Haymitch!" There was no answer. She pushed his door open not bothering to knock. Of course it was empty; she was hoping he'd left a note or something. Something to explain what had happened, what it meant? She found nothing but she didn't really expect to find anything. He was probably on the train back to District 12. For a second she thought about following him but how desperate would that look.
She turned back to her room and reached for her moisturiser. Besides this was clearly a serious error in her judgement. She applied her pristine white foundation, rubbing it into every pore. It wasn't like she was going to even entertain repeating this venture. She reached for the glue and applied her eyelashes, fluttering them to make sure they stuck. No he couldn't possibly expect her to expose herself again. This was a solo one time mistake. It was never ever going to happen again.
A/N So my first Hunger Games fanfic, I'm going to miss this franchise yet please don't make a sequel. Yeah this ship is really a goldmine for emotions and angst I love it. Why didn't I board this ship sooner? My lovely sister was right. So yeah I'm not sure how or if I'm going to continue this fanfic, I've got a mess of ideas in my head at the moment so we'll just see how it goes.