The next morning, Effie heard clattering. She had been asleep, quite deeply, for two hours since she arrived home, guided into her bedroom by an only slightly more stable Salla. Neither of them had drunk. Salla didn't drink ever, so nor did Effie when she was around. She had just been worn out.
"Ugh," she said, pushing herself unwillingly out of bed. "Katniss?" she called.
Katniss was already deathly asleep on her sofa by the time she got back. Which Effie thought made sense, as it was around five by then. Salla said that Katniss was horribly lazy and boring, and made an attempt at kicking her. Instead she fell against Effie, nearly knocking her to the floor. She had giggled a while, and Effie reminded her that she wasn't actually drunk. Salla shoved her lightly, and that time Effie actually did fall to the ground that time, and Salla's light, high chuckles broke into proper laughter.
There was no answer to Effie's call, and she guessed that Katniss was still asleep. Or ignoring her. Maybe both… No, wait, that wasn't really possible.
"Who's there?" she said, opening her bedroom door a crack. Salla had shut it the night before apparently, which she supposed was nice of her.
"Heeey, Effie," Salla's voice called.
"No." Effie stumbled out of her bedroom sleepily.
"Huh?" Salla asked.
"Why are you here?" Effie rubbed her eyes.
Salla laughed lightly, walking away to the kitchen, Effie following behind. "I've been here all night, obviously. Why would you think I was gonna leave at that time?"
"Salla, I have to go to work," Effie told her.
"What?" Salla asked, rifling through her cupboards. "Not for another hour or two, at least. Besides, what does that have to do with anything? I'm not taking you hostage, I just stayed overnight. I'll leave, if you want." She pouted, pulling a tin out of the cupboard and examining it.
"I don't know," Effie said. "What do you want?"
"I wanted a place to sleep, without braving the cold all alone. You provided that, though admittedly unwittingly. So, uh, sorry, and thank you."
"Wait," Effie said. "Where's Katniss?"
"She's on your sofa, angrily flicking through a magazine. I offered her tea, which I can actually make, which is impressive. I figured this all out last weekend. Stuff is fun." Salla grinned at the pinkish tin in her hands dreamily, as though it was the most wonderful thing she had ever seen. "She didn't take it though, and that was a little sad."
"You haven't done anything to her, have you?" Effie asked, starting to wake up just a little now. Her arms ached, though she didn't know if that was because of tiredness or overuse last night. She pulled them across her chest, and shivered.
Salla looked affronted. "No, I have not. What motive would I ever have? Besides, she was perfectly nice to me. I think you may have been overreacting slightly about the whole thing."
"She spoke to you? What did she say?" Effie blinked in surprise. That was good, though. Maybe Katniss would be in a better mood this morning, which would make things nicer for everyone.
"Not much. Mostly turning down my offers of tea. We had a short conversation about your lamp, which is horrendous, she thinks." Salla put the tin down, running a finger along its side as she bit her lip.
"Oh," Effie said. "Should I get rid of it, do you think?
Salla laughed. "I don't think that getting rid of your lamp is gonna make her talk to you. Just chat to her, like, normally. You aren't really that great at introducing yourself, or just being regularly friendly."
Effie blinked, quite insulted. "Yes I am! I'm good with people. I really try to be nice, and…"
"Yeah, you're brilliant with professionals and stuff, you just aren't very good at genuine." She pulled the tin open, examining its contents.
"No, I'm great. And stop it, that isn't very nice."
"Aw, Effie, I don't mean it badly. You wanted help with Katniss, and I'm giving it to you. Besides, I'm awful with anyone, so you're a step above me. You have a job." Salla laughed, pulling out a decorative pen that Effie didn't remember owning from the tin.
"You aren't awful with people at all! You're the friendliest person I know. And I know a lot people, I think."
"Heh, thanks, but no. You don't know many decent people anyway, who are the only ones who count." Salla started flicking the pen open and shut, clicking it over and over. "Anyway, talk to Katniss some more. She'll come round, almost definitely. She just needs to get used to you. Maybe she's nervous around new people." Salla laughed, and Effie wasn't really sure she got it.
"Yeah," Effie said uncertainly, rather than laughing as well. "Or maybe I should get rid of my furniture." Effie smiled.
Salla laughed again, this time sounding much friendlier, and it put Effie at ease. "I really hope you're joking. Anyway, I should probably leave? Because you obviously have so much work to do at work that I'm not gonna join you for." She sighed, but smiled. "Can I have this?" she asked, holding the pen up. It glittered prettily in the light.
"Um, I guess," Effie laughed. "Why?"
"It's nice." She slipped the pen into her pocket, smiling. "Alright then. Bye bye, Effie. Properly this time. Dunno. Uh, whenever you're next feelin' a bit down about your servants! Ha ha, sorry Katniss." She smiled at the door, into the room where Effie guessed Katniss was.
"She isn't my…" Effie started to say, but Salla was already walking away out of her front door, laughing lightly. It made Effie a little annoyed, though she wasn't really sure why. It was sort of weird.
"Bye!" she said, uncertainly. She was pretty sure that Salla had already left.
Okay. Oh. Now she would have to talk to Katniss.
It was silly, she shouldn't be nervous. She did want to get on with Katniss, seeing how she had to live with her and everything. Besides, it wasn't very nice when people didn't like you for any sort of reason. Like that man last night, she thought, remembering her and Salla's visit to that weird house. She wouldn't think about that too much though. It was just Salla being Salla. She took Effie weird places sometimes, and she didn't ever explain herself. And Effie was okay with that, really.
But, yes. Katniss.
She should make breakfast. Katniss would be hungry.
"Good morning Katniss!" Effie said cheerily as she entered the room. Katniss was lying sprawled across her sofa, apparently not having moved since being left there last night.
Katniss grunted, her shoulder twitching slightly.
"Do you want breakfast? I was just going to make some, and-"
"Okay," Katniss said, looking up at her lazily.
"Good!" Effie said, smiling. "What would you like?"
It took a few minutes to prepare a few bits of simple buttered bread. Probably, it would have been less, but Effie had been quite determined to lay it all out nicely before she finally placed it in front of Katniss on a small glass table. She couldn't help smiling slightly when Katniss quietly said "Thanks."
"Um," Effie said, as Katniss started eating the bread far too messily for her liking, butter smearing around her lips. She tried to look away as discreetly as possible, and Katniss didn't seem to notice. "You were taking to Salla earlier, right?"
Katniss looked at her for a few moments, seeming to decide whether or not Effie's question was worth answering. Effie would have pointed out to her that this was more than slightly rude, if she weren't so desperate to please her.
"Yes," Katniss said finally.
Effie laughed. It was false, but she was at least hoping that she sounded genuine. Like Salla said, that should help. Even if Salla was totally wrong, which she was. "You don't like my lamp?"
Katniss frowned. "Huh?" she asked, bread still filling her mouth. Effie made an effort not to wince.
"Oh, oh, I'm not annoyed. It's fine!" Effie paused for an unsure moment, worried that she had sounded a little too accusatory. "Is the bread nice?" she asked, biting her lip.
Katniss nodded, shoving more bread into her mouth. Oh gosh. That wasn't nice.
Effie waved a vague hand forward, but quickly pulled it down again so she wouldn't upset Katniss. She didn't seem to notice anyway.
"That's good," she said again. "Is there anything you want to do today? After work I mean? I guess you're coming there with me." That reminded her: what was the time? She didn't keep a clock in this room, though.
"I am," Katniss said, forcefully enough that it took Effie aback.
"Did I do something wrong?" Effie asked after a pause, and Katniss frowned. Maybe that had been a little out of place, Effie thought. "Like, to upset you I mean. Because ever since you got here you've seemed kind of really angry." Effie pulled away from her slightly, without really thinking about it.
Katniss didn't move from her spot, but she looked suddenly annoyed. Really annoyed, Effie thought. She seemed to be about to say something, but she frowned instead, baring her teeth slightly. "Not you, personally," she said finally, a slight growl in her voice.
Oh gosh, she was finally getting somewhere! Effie reminded herself that she had to stay terribly calm and collected if she were going to get through to Katniss. She knelt down slowly, watching Katniss's eyes as they followed her to the floor. "What do you mean?" she asked, making an effort to keep her voice low, inquiring and calming and nice. "Did someone else do something? Oh gosh. Was it Hela? She can be awful! I don't like her a lot of the time, either." Effie squeaked every word in overexcitement.
"No." Katniss said, shuffling to roll over away from Effie. Struggling, she let herself fall onto her back again, sighing roughly to herself.
"No to which one?" Effie asked, nibbling lightly on the end of her tongue.
"Effie," Katniss said slowly, nodding as she spoke her name. "Do you really think that I want to be here?"
"Um, I don't know. I get if you don't like it here. The city isn't for everyone." Effie squinted. "Are you homesick?" she said, somewhat triumphantly. Maybe she had finally figured this out.
"You could say that, I guess."
"A-ha!" Effie very nearly squealed, but collected herself quickly, only taking a few seconds to shuffle in glee. "Is there anything I could do to help?" she asked, softly enough, she hoped, to let Katniss know that she really was concerned.
"Send me home?" Katniss said dryly, her voice almost eerily empty. It made Effie want to shiver.
"I could try. But I'm not sure how happy Hela would be about it." Effie bit her lip.
Katniss laughed, in that same hollow way. "No," she said eventually, turning her head to look at Effie, seeming to decide whether or not she was being serious. Effie frowned. "You can't do that."
"Why? No-one can stop me."
Katniss briefly opened her mouth to speak, but she stayed silent. Instead, she just looked at Effie, confused and vaguely pitying. Or maybe it was contempt. Effie wasn't sure.
Neither of them spoke, and they both sat gazing uncomfortably into space for a few horrendous moments of awkwardness.
"I need to get to work," Effie said, climbing up from the carpet. She brushed her knees off, despite knowing that her floor was perfectly clean. She couldn't bear to have a dirty house. "And you need to get dressed, or else you can't come with me."
It wasn't exactly a threat, but Katniss immediately murmured a quiet, "Mm-hm," and pushed herself up hurriedly.
Effie smiled at her quickly, and almost found it turning into a huge grin as Katniss gave her a short nod in return. Not quite a smile, obviously, but it was most definitely an improvement on the harsh glares and scowls she had been treated to before.
As Katniss walked away to find the clothes Effie had left for her in the tiny spare room, Effie rewarded herself with her own short clap of self-applause.
So there, Salla! This wasn't so hard.
Author's Note: Sorry I haven't updated this in ages! Hopefully I'll start getting chapters written slightly more quickly. I'll try to write more quickly than this, anyway.
Thanks for reading!