His escort glances down at his watch every few seconds and drums his fingers against his arm, but Haymitch pretends not to notice. Instead, he pushes his already-heavy cart into a new aisle, this one with shelves that tower over him full of soft pink and blue blankets. "This aisle only has items for nurseries. I don't think you'll find anything in here," says Cassius, and he starts to move towards the next one.

Haymitch, though, advances into the sea of pastels. His mother likes the color pink, and he's sure she'll like a blanket, even if it is intended for a nursery. They're just squares of cloth – how will anyone be able to tell they were originally meant for a baby? A couple items fall out of the cart when he tries to turn, and he packs the toy hovercraft and the huge box of candy back in among the others gifts. He has no idea how much he's spent, and, frankly, he doesn't care. Haymitch has put Mom, Cardew, and Bryony through far too much these last few weeks; they deserve to enjoy every parsine that comes with his victory.

Cassius rolls his eyes at the behavior of his new victor. "I think you've found quite enough."

This time, Haymitch allows himself to be led to the front. He feels almost embarrassed as the cashier rings up his items, the total quickly mounting higher and higher. "Would you like us to wrap these for you?" the woman asks. He nods. "Is there anything you'd like left out?"

"Well, I was going to wear the purple skirt out, but I suppose you can wrap all of it." The woman shrinks away as though bitten. He only intended it as a joke, but fine; he doesn't care whether or not she likes him.

He walks out of the store weighed down by armfuls of brightly colored bags. Usually, he refuses to smile for the photographers that have followed his every movement since he was allowed out of the hospital four days ago, but today he grins and winks, hoping that the images will make their way back to Twelve. Haymitch knows his family will be excited to see him even if he brings them nothing, but a part of him wants Cardew to stay up at night imagining what wonders his big brother is bringing back from the Capitol for him.

Of course, four days later when Haymitch arrives at the train station in Twelve, nobody is there waiting for him. So he lugs the armfuls of gifts to the Victor's Village himself, hoping that they've decided to celebrate there instead. A vase of white roses greets him at the front door, and though his mother, brother, and girlfriend almost seem to smile at him, he knows that the three corpses seated at his dining room table no longer have any use for his gifts.

.oOo.

A/N: Written for April for the Caesar's Palace snowball fight and using the prompt flesh.