Belated post for Day 3: Family, friends and enemies
I've been drawning with university projects, but I still managed to write something. Hope you like it.
Johanna had always looked up at Haymitch in a way. After her Games, she had felt lost and angry most of the time. She felt like she didn't belong, but when she met him… Well, he was a fearless man who had set quite the precedent when winning the Quarter Quell, right? So when their paths crossed the first time she worked as a mentor, the small part of her that still could feel wanted him to approve of her.
To her surprise, the first words he told her were "Good job, sweetheart."
"I am not your sweetheart" she replied aggressively, almost by instinct, but it made him laugh. Just like that, she was somehow accepted in his group of friends. In a way, having tem was what kept her from going insane. Once a year she got to see the people she liked and trusted, and that was a light in the darkness that surrounded Panem.
For some reason she couldn't quite understand, Haymitch seemed to be everyone's advisor. It didn't make sense to her. Why did they, herself included, end up looking for the one person of the group who seemed to constantly forced his emotions out of his body? He seemed detached whenever he sat down to listen to someone's problem and, even though his way of giving advice could be seen as blunt a hurtful, it left a sense of peace.
That was the reason why Haymitch was the first person she looked for in Thirteen. She knew he would spare her the "you are safe here" bullshit. She found him – or bumped into him, to be precise- just as she was leaving the hospital wing. He looked at her intently for just enough time to let her notice he was sober. Then he pulled her into his arms and hold her against him without any sort of sweetness.
"I'm glad to see you" he said and it was as if he had teared down something inside her. She allowed herself to cry silently against his chest, knowing he wouldn't mind. He understood her. He always did.
When Finnick met Haymitch, he didn't like or trust him. He thought the man was intimidating and looked like the kind of person Finnick's mom would have forbidden him to befriend. By that time Haymitch was already lost in the vice of alcohol, of course, but for some reason Mags seemed to like him. The first few years the boy tried to avoid the mentor from Twelve, until he received his first envelope. He didn't want to ask Mags about it. She was like a grandmother to him, and the talk would be not only uncomfortable, but sad as well.
Haymitch seemed to notice there was something wrong with him, because he approached him silently and pulled him aside. At first, Finnick was silent and wary of his fellow victor, but then Haymitch started talking a little about his own experiences and offering one or two advices on how to keep his mind off it. Once Finnick's first appointment was over, Haymitch was the first person to visit him and show him some support. The younger victor saw him talking to Mags afterwards, but the woman didn't act any differently towards him, which made him thankful.
When they were in Thirteen, Haymitch was one of the few to understand Finnick's worry. Having Johanna and Peeta in the hands of Snow was a mild equivalent of what he felt towards Annie. Still, that man everyone disregarded as a drunk who didn't care about anyone was the only one who managed to convince him Annie wouldn't be harmed. When he said it, it somehow made sense.
With the war over, Effie felt more out of place than ever. True, she had felt inadequate in Thirteen, but now she didn't belong in the Districts, as always, and the Capitol wasn't as welcoming anymore. Wherever she looked, there would be someone looking at her with disdain. The rebels didn't fully trust her because of her past as an escort, and the Capitols saw her as a traitor. While other people celebrated or found a way to start building their new lives, Effie locked herself in her apartment and tried to figure out where to go. As days passed by, she was more and more convinced that she would end up being forgotten. Just a shadow of the revolution that no one really cared about.
She was beginning to accept that fact until, one day, there was a knock on her door. When she saw Haymitch standing in front of her, she couldn't help but throw her arms around his neck and hug him as tight as she could. It made him chuckle softly as his arms wrapped around her waist.
"I thought I told you not to be a stranger" he whispered as his lips met hers in a quick, chaste kiss. They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds and he ran his hand through her hair. "Come home, sweetheart."
With a small smile and another kiss she nodded, even though she was already there. That was the thing with Haymitch. He didn't need to do much to make people feel at home.
