I forgot which, but there was a story somewhere with a drabble about Haymitch not liking icing. It was so adorable, that I just had to try it myself. All rights resowned to that author and to Suzanne Collins
Haymitch Abernathy glares at the slice of cake in front of him. Effie, who had been sitting next to him in the extravagant Capitol banquet, looks at him. Her pink contacts gleam a little, but underneath her blue eyes shine with amusement.
"What is wrong now, Haymitch?"
"I hate icing." He growls, glaring at the others at the tabel. There were two representatives from each district scattered around the round tables, not to mention the most elite of the Capitol. Next to him, Finnick Odair digs into his own cake. The boy always had a thing for sweets.
"You what? That is proposterous. Even if you don't, just toss it and get icing-less cake. It's not that hard, Haymitch." Effie says in her thick Capitol accent.
"I don't. And I'm not about to waste perfectly good chocolate cake." He says. Being a man of the Districts, especially 12, he's learned never to waste. That includes cake. Besides, he has his own chocolate sweet tooth and all the rest of the chocolate cake is gone. Effie sighs.
"I can't believe I am doing this." She whispers, before leaning over and scraping off the icing with her fork. She promptly settles the white icing on her own piece of cake and gives Haymitch a look.
"Better, m'love?" She teases.
"Fantastic, honey." He grumbles, before digging in. The taste improves by one thousand percent, and he is almost sad when it's gone. He looks at Finnick, who is ravishing a chocolate cupcake with blue icing.
"Where'd you get those?" Haymitch asks the sex icon.
"I got the last ones. Here, you can have this one." Finnick offers the cupcake to Haymitch, who graciously takes it. He then looks at Effie with wide blue eyes, pleading with her.
"Haymitch how-"
"Please Effs... just take the frosting." He says gruffly. Effie looks at her cake, which is toppling with icing. Instead, with a grumble of indignation, she licks the cupcake clean before handing it back to him. Haymitch smiles and eats the cupcake promptly. Not at all disgusted. Besides, she's licked worse things before.
-x-
It is at Katniss and Peeta's engagement party that the cake problem resurfaces once more. Effie is on some new diet, so she swiftly backs away from the sweets. Until Haymitch calmly hands her a vanilla cupcake.
"Oh come on, Haymitch. Just eat the icing." Effie whispers.
"Yuck. It's nasty." He whines. Effie takes the cupcake from him with a glare. She promptly begins licking the cupcake, and then hands it back to him. Peeta stalks over, a frown on his face after seeing the exchange.
"Really like frosting, Effie?" Peeta asks quietly, watching as Haymitch stuffs the chocolate cup in his mouth. Effie giggles girlishly.
"Oh no... Haymitch hates it. Did it look inappropriate?" She asks worriedly. Peeta shakes his head and smiles at his mentor, who is placing yet another cupcake on the escorts plate.
"Not at all. I was just curious. Hello Haymitch." Peeta says. Haymitch looks up from the chocolatey goodness and frowns at Peeta.
"Go mingle, bread boy. Effie... the cupcake." He whines. Effie promptly glares at her co-worker, before beginning the process all over again.
-x-
"Not enough icing, Aunt Effie?" Rue asks, setting down a fresh platter of cupcakes. Effie was currently licking the frosting off of Haymitch's cupcake yet again.
"Yeah mum, not enough frosting?" Effie and Haymitch's son, Bastian, asks. Effie laughs and hands the frosting-free cupcake to Haymitch, who takes a bite out of it.
"No, my dearies. Haymitch hates icing." Effie looks at her husband, who holds out yet another cupcake. A long time ago she stopped questioning it. Haymitch loved cupcakes, and Effie was the only who would, or that he would allow to lick the icing off. She used to scrape it onto her own cake or cupcake, but all the frosting got to her and she simply just didn't eat them anymore. In twenty-years of marriage, the duo had never stopped their little routine of licking off the frosting and then him eating it.
"Then again, there never is too much icing." She says. Haymitch rolls his eyes.
"Yes... yes there is."
"To you."
"Maybe so, Princess. But there's always too much icing... frosting, whatever the hell." He says. Effie kisses him. His lips taste like a red-velvet cupcake. Her lips taste like rasberry icing.
Truth is, Haymitch could care less whether or not a cupcake had icing or frosting on it. That one time he hadn't been in the mood for it. But he decided he liked the taste of frosting on her lips instead of on a cupcake.
Oh, how he loved cupcakes.