A/N. So I never saw anything remotely romantic between these two in the books, but for some reason, the chemistry they have in the movie makes me wonder about the possibilities. This starts before the original story and will probably end sometime after it, possibly going a little AU.
I don't own the characters, the story, etc.
Mahogany and Whiskey
Effie Trinket saw it as paying her dues. She would serve as the District 12 escort, put up with the drunken fool of a mentor and then sooner or later, be assigned to a better district. She had already worked so hard to get to the position of escort, what was another couple of years of hard work? She would do this for a couple of years until a gamemaker or maybe even President Snow realized that her talents were being wasted on an unworthy district. She would be promoted to another district and some other new escort could take this awful district.
She was hoping for 1 or 2. After all, they almost exclusively produced the winners, who were always attractive and marketable. Not only that, but they always had the best costumes and she had heard stories of past escorts being rewarded with jewels or other special items for their work once the victors gained their prizes.
Not to mention how nice it would be to work with some of those mentors; in fact, District 4 wouldn't be so bad an assignment either – she still blushed when Finnick Odair appeared on screen.
Still, this was an important assignment for her and a huge step in right direction for her career. So she approached it with professionalism. She wore her best outfit for the first day on the job and learned all she could about the mentor she would be working with, Haymitch Abernathy.
First, she watched his victory. Admittedly, it was clever though not a very entertaining strategy. The fact that he won during a Quarter Quell with twice the usual tributes was impressive though.
Then she watched his subsequent public appears and it became clear very soon that he was belligerent drunk who would be difficult to manage. At least he was entertaining now, even if it was for all the wrong reasons.
Still, it made her loath her job even more.
Haymitch looked for another bottle of vodka before he had to be out on stage for another reaping. He needed more strength just to show up every year for another set of kids to be lined up for the slaughter, and until they made actual liquid strength or courage or whatever you wanted to call it, he would have to settle for booze. Unable to find any vodka, he settled for whiskey.
This year would be a little different. He had received notice that his district had a new escort this year. She had some dumb Capitol name, Yuffie, maybe?
It didn't matter. Really everyone from the Capitol was the same, at least where the face of the games were concerned. They were showmen and women who wanted to put on a good show, never minding the fact that this particular show was in fact the annual slaughter of 23 children. No, for them, it was just a game.
He hated them all.
He heard the tapping at his door, but ignored it in favor of his bottle. The tapping grew more insistent and was soon accompanied by a female voice calling, "Mr. Abernathy?"
Haymitch nearly laughed, nobody had ever called him mister before. She would learn soon.
It wasn't long before his door was opened and he got his first look at District 12's new escort. She looked even more ridiculous than the last one, but as far as he could tell, she actually appeared to be young and attractive underneath it all. She immediately covered her nose and mouth at the smell that he was sure was repugnant. He didn't notice anymore, but he knew that his house was hardly ever cleaned and the few visitors he had always admonished him for the nasty smell.
This Capitol woman didn't say anything about it though, instead she told him, "You are not camera-ready."
He did laugh at that, like he cared how he looked. But she must have because she came over and made him stand up. This time she didn't cover her face from the smell of him. She straightened out his jacket and dusted it off.
Haymitch didn't like the invasion of personal space, so he smiled lewdly and grabbed her. She squeaked, "Yuffie, I think I'm going to like you."
She swatted at his arms. "My name is Effie. Effie Trinket. Let go of me."
He attempted to kiss her, which caused her to scream and smack his face. He let go of her and she ran out of his house as fast as her high heels could take her.
When she was gone, Haymitch smiled. It was always fun to get back at the Capitol, even when it was in very insignificant ways.
The last District 12 escort had warned Effie about the boorish manners of the district, especially the mentor, but Effie still wasn't prepared for the ogre to have gone as far as he did. What if the awful man groped her during the ceremony? How would she be expected to maintain her composure then?
She took a deep breath. Times like these were sent to try the strong, and she would rise about hers. She would get a better district. The last escort had merely given up, but not Effie Trinket. No, she would whip that vulgar mentor into a somewhat presentable one and perhaps even get a victor. The last was a long shot she knew, but anything was possible with the right attitude.
She straightened out her outfit and her hair before going into the mayor's house, where she would wait until the official ceremony started. Part of her was so nervous no matter how prepared she was. She had practiced her lines over and over last night and had rewatched many of the most recent games in case the chosen tributes had any questions. Granted, they would normally ask their mentor for such advice, but seeing the state he was in, she knew that she may be required to step up and show that she was willing to go the extra mile. This would hopefully be noticed and she would be reassigned from this crappy district in no time.
It wasn't long before her first ceremony began. The annual film played, reminding everyone why the Hunger Games existed and what the rules were. She always loved to watch this snippet of history, but this time all she could see was the empty chair where the District 12 mentor was supposed to be.
For the first time, she thought, 'Where is Haymitch?' It would not be the last time she had the thought.
When she began to speak about the honor of being here and the greatness of the games, her introduction was interrupted by the drunken man stumbling on to the stage. She tried not to let it bother her, refusing to let her big break pass her by, as she was speaking to everyone in Panem. She merely smiled and said, "Ladies first."
It had been a real worry that she would incorrectly pronounce the name on the slip of paper or some other nonsense, ruining her first time announcing the names of the tributes. But it was an easy name and she called it clearly.
The girl who came forward was a young teenager, with limp blonde hair and looked like she hadn't eaten in weeks. The part of her that once betted on games with her sister thought, 'She'll be lucky to get through the first day.'
The boy wasn't much better though he was older and appeared to have some muscles. This year didn't look like it would change the district's luck. She nearly pouted, as that meant there would be no highlight footage played repeatedly with her and her new outfit. But she kept the smile on ending with the usual, "May the odds be ever in your favor."
They certainly weren't in hers.
Haymitch boarded the train at the last possible moment he could. He hated the train trip more than even watching the games and trying to court sponsors. At least he could usually spend most of the games in the bar with Chaff, as their districts were usually out of the running pretty quickly. After his first look at this year's tributes, he had no reason to believe this year would be any different.
He made his way to the dining car immediately. He ignored the kids at the table and the new escort, making a beeline to the bar. He fixed himself a drink and then plopped down at the free seat at the end of the table. He looked up and saw Effie's pursed lips and glaring eyes.
If he cared what she thought, he may have obeyed her silent command to behave himself.
She tried to start up some small talk with everyone at the table. But the kids were too busy eating more food than Haymitch suspected they had ever seen and he was too busy trying to drink away the pain of dining with two walking corpses.
Eventually, Effie said something that caught Haymitch's attention, "Perhaps you children could tell Haymitch and me about some of your skills. That way he can better train you as soon as you arrive."
She said it with an encouraging smile and Haymitch was flabbergasted by the almost sound advice and strategy this Capitol show pony was offering the tributes. The girl said nothing, but was eating slower now. The boy did answer, "I'm one of the fastest boys in my class. I nearly always win races with the other boys and girls."
Haymitch emptied his glass. "That's a great strategy. Run and hide. Never mind the fact that any of the careers are sure to be far better at running and good trackers besides, assuming the arena has any good hiding places anyway."
This ensured both of the kids would be silent for the rest of the meal, as they both bowed their heads, looking only at their food.
Effie was back to glaring at him. She tried to engage the children again, attempting to go over how they should present themselves on television and trying to schedule a time for coaching both of them for their pre-game interviews. Neither seemed interested. Eventually she gave up, sending them to their rooms with a sigh.
Haymitch smirked, but Effie reeled on him. "You're supposed to be helping them. Their very lives are in your hands and you treat it all as some big joke."
Her words sparked something long buried in him and Haymitch responded without his usual snarking tone, "Unlike you, I never asked for this job." He picked up a bottle of champagne that had been chilling. "Now if you'll excuse me." He bowed, nearly loosing his balance and falling over.
She called out after him, "You could at least pretend to care. It would be helpful if they thought someone was on their side. I am, but I can't be the only one."
That was the moment he realized this escort was different; she was ambitious, dumb and shallow, just like the rest of the Capitol folk, but this one actually seemed to care.
He wondered how long that would last.
