Bar fight.
Xx
He could sense it a mile off. The man had been glaring their way the entire evening, getting drunker and drunker and drunker.
He'd warned Effie, as soon as she had showed up with a gaggle of her friends. This was not the bar for them. But, quite rightly, as Effie proudly pointed out, they were in the Captiol, the bar was a Capitol bar and so she and her friends had the freedom and right to go wherever they liked.
It had been a long and gruelling end to the games. Effie and her friends kept to themselves, at the end of the bar and Haymitch kept, by himself, to the other. He kept himself separate from her party for a reason, to keep an eye on them, to make sure they kept out of trouble. But, Effie knew the truth. He was keeping an eye on everyone else, to make sure her and her friends remained safe.
He'd spotted the gentle man as soon as he'd first approached the women. Drunken and confident, he'd strode over there and snatched Effie's hand and bent to give it an uninvited, sloppy kiss. Much to Haymitchs amusement, Effie had whipped her hand away just in time to avoid such contact and quite rightly shoo'd him away.
Ever since, the man had kept his eye on her and on her friends, and slowly drunk himself into a more confident, less respectful stupor.
Haymitch could tell that Effie was uncomfortably aware of the man. She avoided his dirty, beady eyes, much to the mans dissapointment, and had stolen a few fearful glances Haymitchs way. He'd nodded at her knowingly, to try and put her at ease. But the man was becoming agitated and restless and luckily, Haymitch got over there at precisely the right time.
The knife came out of nowhere, but Haymitch was fully aware and trained to avoid the slice of a silver blade. He knocked it from the mans grubby hands, effortlessly. One of Effie's friends alerted the bar crowd with her high pitched scream, and things got intense pretty quickly.
The drunken man stumbled around, knocking over drinks that didn't belong to him and at the same time, angering more and more people. He took a swing at Haymitch and missed, crashing down onto a table of poker players. Whilst he was down, Haymitch took his chance.
He spun around, lifting Effie up by the waist and sat her up on the bar.
"Andreas!" He called to the bar tender "take them through the back!"
Andreas nodded in agreement, helping Effie and the rest of her friends over the bar and leading them through the kitchens.
"What about you!" Effie called back, as Haymitch was avoiding another swing.
"Don't worry about me, sweetheart!" He winked "meet you out back in 10" and he flashed her a dashing smile before jumping into a crowd of revellers and throwing a few punches in for good measure.
Xxx
When he eventually surfaced from the chaos now erupting from the bar, he was cut at the forehead and a little bloody from the wound.
Effie's girls gathered around their 'hero' singing praise and trying their best to clean him up.
"You saved our lives Mr Abernathy!" One cooed
"You're and absolute dream!" Another sighed.
Effie parted his mini sea of admirers and took a hold of his askew tie.
"Well, well. My hero" she smiled sweetly, fixing the knot in his tie and smoothing down his jacket. "How will I ever repay you?" The question rolled off her tongue more suggestively than she'd meant, but they shared a knowing smile and he took her hand in his and kissed the back of it gently.
"Just…keep out of trouble for me?" He lowered her hand and turned towards the suspicious and sheepish looks, coming from Effie's girlfriends. "Now, you all head on up to the nicer part of town ok? And look after my dear escort" he winked Effie's way and she protested with a 'humph'
"Oh, we will Mr Abernathy" the girls giggled. Effie rolled her eyes at their questioning looks as they led her away.
Haymitch turned in the direction of home. He thought it best to avoid any more bars for the evening, then suddenly, a small hand was at his elbow, spinning him around.
"Effie? I thought you were goi-"
His words were cut short by her soft lips, pressing eagerly against his own.
It lasted no longer than an imperfect second, but the kiss itself, felt indeed…perfect.
"What was that for?" Haymitch smiled teasingly.
Effie slipped her arm into his and led them both into the direction of home.
"All heroes deserve a thank you kiss" she smirked, holding her head up proudly.
Haymitch laughed and linked with her a little tighter.
"I think I could get used to rescuing you from a few more bar fights"