Haymitch woke to knocking on his door. Swearing under his breath, he groggily got up from the couch where he had passed out the night before, and walked over to the door, shuffling his feet to avoid stepping on empty liquor bottles.
Opening the door and flinching at the bright morning sunlight, he groaned and said, "Wha? Who's there? The damn sun is bright!"
Hearing the familiar laughs of Katniss and Peeta, he ran his hand over his face and walked back into the house and into the kitchen, allowing them to walk in and muttered, "Hey, kiddos. Shut the door after you." Then mumbled to himself about the god forsaken hour as he looked at the clock and saw it was ten o'clock.
Pouring himself a glass of orange juice, he closed the fridge and turned to face the two familiar faces as he leaned against the counter. "So. What do you two love birds want from me at this most lovely hour of the day?" He said, ending with a large, snarky, fake grin.
"Well," Peeta began, "Katniss and I were talking last night-"
"You don't say?"
"And Katniss had a thought-"
"Now that's dangerous."
"And I think it's a good idea-"
"Okay, now I'm worried."
"Dammit, Haymitch!" Katniss shouted, slamming her palm down on the counter and starling Haymitch, making him jump and some orange juice slosh out of his cup.
"Now look what you made me do, Sweetheart!"
"Shut up, Haymitch and listen. Peeta may be patient with you but I am not. Especially when it is an idea as good as this." The tension melting on her furrowed brow as she smiled and said, "And you know how rarely I get those."
"Ha, ha," Haymitch said dryly. "You've got that right."
Chuckling, but falling silent under Katniss's glare, Peeta continued, "We think you should get a dog."
Haymitch spit out his orange juice in surprise, his eyes bulging. "What?!"
"We think you should get a dog," Peeta reiterated.
"I thought you said this was a good idea."
Rolling her eyes, Katniss said, "Look. We love you. We have dinner with you every night. We help you clean. But we aren't going to be here all the time, and you need company. I know how lonely it can get." She reached out and put a hand on his arm. "Ever since we got our dog, things are a lot easier. You can talk to them, tell them all your fears, and secrets, anything, and all they do is listen and comfort. They don't judge. They don't pity."
"What about my geese?" he asked softly. He could feel his resolve melting and he didn't like it.
"They will be fine."
Looking back and forth between their two faces, he finally sighed and said, "Fine. But I get to pick it out."
They both smiled in relief.
"We'll take you to the shelter after lunch," Peeta said happily.
"What? So soon? I thought we would wait. Like maybe, say, a few years?"
Katniss glared at him and he threw his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay, geeze. Turn the dagger eyes and flaming scowl off. I'll go."
X-X-X
As they crossed the threshold of the shelter, Haymitch immediately hated it. It reminded him of being a mentor. So many souls right there for him to save, but yet out of his control. Trapped in cages, just like the train that would carry them to the Capitol year after year. "Let's get this damn thing over with," he mumbled under his breath.
"What?" Katniss asked.
"Oh, nothing, Sweetheart. I just said, 'I'm so happy we are doing this.'"
She gave him a knowing smile, and rubbed his back.
Walking from cage to cage, peering in each one, Haymitch saw the same look on each face he had seen on the faces of the tributes he had mentored. Fear. Despair. Terror. Confusion. Blankness. It was nearly driving him mad until he came upon a cage and looked quickly into it, like he had the others, but what he saw made him stop in his tracks and stare.
What he saw in this dog's eyes was familiar, too, but in a different way. It was the look Peeta and Katniss had had. Determination. Tenacity. Fire. Courage. Wisdom. All he could do was stare.
Finally, he pointed and said, "This one."
Katniss grabbed the card off the cage and read, "Male, 8 months old, neutered, Weimaraner. The Weimaraner is known as "the Grey Ghost" because they stick so close to their owners, they are like a shadow. They like to lean into their owners as well, earning them the name, "Velcro Dogs"."
"How appropriate," Haymitch mused. "A ghost to help me deal with my own."
"Well, let's go take this card up there, and they will come and bring him up there."
"No, you guys go ahead. Fill out the paper work for me? I want to stay right here."
They both smiled, nodded, and headed off with the card.
Haymitch sat down in front of the cage, grabbing the wire grating of the door. He didn't want to leave because of those eyes. What he saw in them. He knew it was rare, and there was no way this one was slipping away.
"You and her got a lot in common," he said to the pup, who wagged it tail at the sound of his voice.
"What do you say, bud? You wanna be my shadow?"
The pup blinked it's ice blue eyes, wagged it's tail, and licked the tips of his fingers.
Smiling, Haymitch said, "I'll take that as a yes."
X-X-X
"So, what're you going to name it?" Peeta asked on the way home.
Looking down to the pup in his lap, Haymitch said, "Moonshine."
Katniss scoffed. "How original, Haymitch. Of course you would name it after liquor."
"No, not like that. In that case it would be "Ripper". But "Moonshine" because he is the color of the moon shining on a lake at night."
"Look at you," Peeta smiled. "Only had the dog for an hour and you are already deeper."
"Shut up, lover boy."
X-X-X
That night, Haymitch sat in his chair in the living room, and stared at the dog, who was laying in front of him, facing him, head in it's paws, looking up at him.
"Can I tell you a story?"
The pup merely turned it's head slightly to the side, and perked up an ear. It was so subtle, it made Haymitch laugh. The sound of his laugh made the dog wag it's tail, but it didn't move it's body, it's tail just thumped up and down, smacking the floor almost lazily.
The grin on his face growing, Haymitch said, "You and I are a lot more alike than I thought."
The dog stopped wagging it's tail.
"Well, don't be too ecstatic about that," Haymitch said dryly.
The dog nudged his foot, put his
Head back down, tilted and ear cocked as if to say, "Go on."
Smiling for what felt like the millionth time that day, Haymitch said, "Okay, okay! Well, it all started with a thing called 'The Hunger Games'…."
