Hayffismas week is finally here! And this is day one: mistletoe and wine…
Mistletoe & Wine
Effie often had amazing ideas, if she could say so herself. Dragging everyone – some of them kicking and screaming – to a rented cabin in Seven for Christmas had been one of her best.
She surveyed the room as she took another sip of her mulled wine, feeling very proud of herself when she saw the Christmas decorations all over the living-room. Finn had long fallen asleep on the couch, the long day of travel and decorating a little too much for his five years of age. Peeta and Johanna were still arguing about how to decorate the tree – Peeta's side was pretty and organized, Jo's was… chaotic. Annie and Katniss were hanging fairy lights all around the room…
And Haymitch, of course, was hanging back next to the fire he had lit in the fireplace, pretending to warm himself up so nobody would ask him to help. She sauntered over to him, feeling in such a good mood she couldn't help but hum along the Christmas music playing low in the background.
He took one look at her and smirked. "Enjoying that wine, aren't you, sweetheart?"
She pouted. "I am not drunk, merely happy."
"Sure." he mocked. "You're gonna be less happy in the morning, let me tell you."
Her pout deepened when he stole her cup of mulled wine – which had admittedly been her sixth or seventh so it was possible she might have been a little tipsy – and downed what was left of it. It wasn't much anyway but still. Manners. And such. Important things. Things that she would have cared more about if that wine hadn't been so strong.
He placed the cup down on the mantelpiece and she licked her lips when she realized the wine had left a purple-ish stain on his mouth.
She grabbed his hand to catch his attention – because she really did not like it when he wasn't paying attention to her – and twirled a little. "How do you like my dress? You did not say."
She was wearing a short red dress with a green belt and little pieces of holy sewed on the collar. She had made it herself and was very proud of it. She thought it looked cute but a little sexy, which was the look she preferred on Christmas.
"Thought we agreed you shouldn't ask my opinion on your outfits." he snorted.
She pulled him away from the fireplace by tugging on his hand and he followed willingly, clearly humoring her, even when she stopped a few feet away and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Oops." she grinned. "Mistletoe."
He glanced up at the mistletoe hanging from the chandelier and then looked back at her, eyes twinkling in amusement. "How long have you been planning that, Princess?"
"Since my third glass." she chuckled.
"Crafty." he snorted with undisguised approval.
"Always." she bragged.
He ran his fingers through her hair and, really, she should have protested because she had spent a lot of time styling it into something a little less wild than her natural curls, but she couldn't chase the sudden images of his hands tangling in her blond strands to force her head back while his mouth ran on her throat and…
"Hot." he murmured, low enough that nobody else would hear.
The children were all busy and she was tipsy so, even though they weren't usually big on public demonstrations of affection, she didn't see the harm in kissing him. Hard. She could tell he was surprised when she pushed her tongue in his mouth but he surrendered with a chuckle and deepened the kiss, pulling her even closer.
"Gross!" Katniss exclaimed somewhere behind her.
Effie drew back a little but Haymitch followed, one of his hands leaving the small of her back for a second. She supposed he had flipped the girl off – which was really really rude. Unfortunately, that was another thing she didn't care about right then because it was Christmas, her family was all in one place, she was drunk and Haymitch was kissing her.
"You know you've got a room, yeah?" Jo sneered. "Go fuck each other in there before I puke."
Effie broke the kiss with a sigh and dabbed at her lips with her thumb, cheerfully smiling at Johanna. "Do not be ridiculous. The evening is not over yet. Let me help you with that tree… And truly… Mind your language, dear."
"Aren't you too old for that crap?" Johanna grumbled in Haymitch's direction. "That plumbing's even working?"
"It works very well, thank you for your concern." Effie purred before Haymitch could say something even ruder.
"I want to erase the last five minutes from my mind." Katniss grumbled.
Haymitch rolled his eyes and went to pour himself some mulled wine of his own, briefly catching Effie's eyes from across the room.
She smiled back at him.
She wondered what he would say when he would realize she had hung mistletoe over their bed..