a/n [One of five. Haymitch/Chaff for Shady.]

In a small after party in a large building in a larger district, one moment occurs, briefly, suddenly, that changes exactly two lives. It starts with a drink, and continues with each one taken from the table by the same, scarred hands. When the voice turns slurred and the footsteps keep veering to the left, that's when it happens. An elbow hits a side, a shoulder smashes a head, a glass breaks, and with one loud crash that gets sucked away by the sound of the party, two boys—victors—tumble to the floor.

One of them pulls up and away first, getting to his feet and wincing, while the second lies for awhile, laughing for only himself to hear. Against his better judgment, the first, the latest victor, sticks out a hand to help the second, who won two years prior, to his feet. The first boy introduces himself, as if the second doesn't already know who he is. The second boy throws up on the first's shoes, and as a prep team whisks in, hands and words frantic, the second boy throws the other a smile, which he catches with ease.