Hi! This is a new multichapter story I am starting. This is a series of seemingly unrelated stories. But I promise everything will make sense at the end. Hope you enjoy it!


It was someone's someone's birthday party or so Chaff told him. But who cares, the fact that there was free booze and food was appealing so he put on the only clean suit in his closet and turned up at this gorgeous mansion with Chaff by his side greeting every other person they passed. The excessively flamboyant Capitol lifestyle can be seen seeping through every corner of this place. Everything so bright and shiny, including the people, it was almost blinding. Was this the theme of the party or the new Capitol trend? Or perhaps both.

They went straight for the bar and ordered a drink each. He quietly nursed his drink as Chaff scanned the floor for a good lay.

Less than fifteen minutes into their drinks, his best friend wandered off to the dance floor with his drink in hand and his new flavour of the week by his side. He never understood the appeal of Capitol women or men. The way they dress and modify their bodies, cake their faces with layers upon layers of makeup and dye their body hair every shade under the sun.

To him, they were an entirely different species. It was like watching a freak show. Sure, when he was younger, he did pimp himself out to some of them willingly or unwillingly. But he grew older, things changed, he changed and people moved on to younger and fresher victors. That felt like a million years ago. At the age of 30, he still got the occasional offer here and there but he only accepted them when he had needs to fulfill. People used to swarm over him and now he was alone at the bar, those passing by him barely bat an eyelash. He didn't mind it at all, he enjoyed the solitude.


He saw her walking towards the bar with an empty glass. Her hair so pink it was almost impossible to miss, he wondered if it burnt her scalp when she dyed it. She was wearing a dark green dress which looked stiff and suffocating. She almost looked like Christmas tree. He turned his attention back to his half empty glass, swirling the golden liquid around and the block of ice clinking against the glass.

He heard her made her order before he saw the pink gloved hand shot out at the corner of his eye.

"Hi, you are Haymitch Abernathy right? Effie Trinket."

He looked up to see her leaning against the bar and smiling brightly at him.

"Hi." Ignoring the hand completely, he gave her a nod and finished his drink in one go before signalling the bartender for another. He wasn't in the mood to entertain anyone tonight. She retracted her arm slightly embarrassed. But that didn't deter her from continuing to try to start a conversation with him.

"You alone here tonight?"

"Can't you see I am with a friend?" He smirked and gestured to the empty space beside him. He was expecting her to walk away but she didn't.

"You are funny." She laughed.

Ignoring her, he continued sipping his drink, hoping that she would leave. But instead of leaving, she did quite the opposite. She moved a little closer towards him after the bartender gave her her drink. From that distance, he could smell her distinctly sweet perfume.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be? Someone else to entertain?" He could almost see her real face underneath the makeup. Unlike her hair and dress, her makeup was relatively toned down compared to other Capitols. It was still gold and glittery but her skin wasn't excessively pale or tinged with any colour. If he looked hard enough, she was almost pretty. All the crap on her face made her look old, he bet she was younger than he imagined.

"Not enjoying Kellen's party?" She asked.

Who the fuck is Kellen? He almost said it out loud. Oh. He should have figured from the giant K in the middle of the room.

"Who says I am not enjoying myself?" He looked up just as she brought her glass to her lips. The oddly gold liquid in her glass matching the rest of her face. If he didn't know, he would have thought that was what made her lips gold.

"Perhaps we should head somewhere else."

"Not interested sweetheart. Find someone else to play with."

"I wasn't- I just thought we could get to know each other."

"Yeah, because that's what people like you do."

"We could be working together next year."

"Yeah, of course." He shrugged, clearly uninterested in the conversation.

It was like she finally took the hint and decided to leave. She picked up her drink and stood a little straighter before leaning in to whisper by his ear.

"It was nice meeting you, Haymitch. I look forward to seeing you again." She gave a peck on his cheeks before finally leaving the bar.


Little did he know, she became the youngest escort to be recruited. And she was knocking at his door the next summer.

The bickering, the fights, the sex and whatever came after.

Life works in the strangest ways.