A Jack Harkness/Effie Trinket story, written for two amazing friends of mine. I made up Effie's full name on the spot, just for the sake of having it be short for something.
If there was something Jack Harkness appreciated about the Capitol, it was the way the people were always more than willing to have a good time. This meant a bunch of interesting occasions to crash - easy to get into with a charming smile, let alone with that convenient piece of psychic paper in his possession. Tonight it was the wedding of a couple with matching shades of lavender skin and dark purple hair, and looking at the pair of them, Jack lamented not having been there the night before.
He took his eyes off the dancefloor, and scanned the room for someone he might invite to dance, and then, perhaps, dance. And there she was, a young woman with light pink hair who looked vaguely familiar, and for a moment he wondered if she wasn't a celebrity of some sort. Except - no. That there was a very young Effie Trinket, before she got her job in the media, before she had anything to do with the Hunger Games. And she was really good-looking, too. Of course he'd have to ask her to dance.
To Jack's surprise, this Effie was nothing like the one he'd seen on the screen. This was a quiet girl, quite shy, who introduced herself as "Effalina", and blushed as he offered his arm. It was still that part of the evening when the music was fast, and Effie was glowing as he spun her around the dancefloor.
At some point, they found themselves seated in a corner of the room, drinks in hand, and flirting increasingly openly with each other. When Jack asked if he could call her "Effie", she told him he could call her anything he liked. Then she kissed him.
Still, by the time the last song of the night began playing, neither one was sure what was really going to happen. Jack watched as Effie seemed to grow even more nervous, and wondered if she wasn't as interested as he was. The song was slow and long, and an excuse to hold someone close, and after a sigh, Effie leaned in even closer and whispered in his ear.
"Just for the record, if you were thinking of taking me home tonight for some more, uh, dancing, I'm up for it, you know."
She was ten years older the next time he saw her, confident and bubbly as she wished good luck to that year's Tributes, dressed in the same shade of green she had worn the night they first met. There was a formal occasion, something of a celebration now the Tributes were busy with their training, and Jack had somehow gotten himself invited - this time through association with the Doctor, who was too busy being smitten with Rose to notice anything. Jack took the opportunity to do some mingling of his own, bumping into Effie nearly by accident.
"Hello, Effalina."
"Hello, Jack."
"You've changed."
"You haven't."
"So, I see life has treated you well."
"Just for the record, if you were thinking of asking me to dance, well, I'm up for it, you know."
The Doctor and Rose waited patiently back at the TARDIS.