Prompt: i saw your oria faceclaim in a picture where she was like 18 years old. This got me thinking…what if she played a prank on aymitch and effie saying she eloped with a current boyfriend? This would be crack, if you're feeling cracky! X3
It's not really what the prompt requested but… close enough. And she's 16 because of reasons. ;)
Caught
Peace and quiet in the Abernathy household was a hard thing to come by nowadays which was why Effie was savoring her mug of tea and her fashion magazine in the blissful silence.
A silence that was abruptly shattered when the backdoor was slammed shut and screaming invaded the house. She didn't even have time to stand up and investigate – and, truth be told, she wasn't sure she would have; teenage rebellion being what it was – because Haymitch dragged Oria in the living-room by her arm and tossed her in the armchair without enough care in Effie's opinion.
"You are going to hurt her!" Effie protested. "What in Panem…"
"He did hurt me." Oria pouted, rubbing her arm.
"Oh, don't!" Haymitch snarled, raising a warning finger. "You don't get to turn this around by crying into your mommy's skirt. You're not turning her against me. That's not happening. You are in fucking trouble."
Effie watched her daughter's face becoming sullen as she stopped rubbing her arm – which had, probably, been all for show in an attempt at drawing her to her side of the argument – and cut in before it could all escalate into a screaming match once again. "May I ask what this is about?"
Her sixteen years old daughter glared at the both of them and folded her arms across her chest, her cheeks slightly flushed. It clashed with her dyed cotton-candy pink hair. "Dad is being unreasonable."
She said it in a calm, almost detached voice that was just as fake as her pretending to be hurt two minutes earlier had been.
"Unreasonable." Haymitch sneered. "You want to see unreasonable? 'Cause, it's been some time since I killed someone, baby girl, but that boy can be next…"
There was a loud silence. Oria was staring at Haymitch with a defiance that hardly hid her apprehension and Haymitch was panting, the vein on his temple beating so hard Effie was afraid it would burst. She cleared her throat and reached out to touch his wrist. He flinched and glared at her, looking a little lost, as if the words that had just come out of his mouth had shocked him. And that was how she knew he actually meant them.
"Sit down, Haymitch." she ordered. He dropped on the couch next to her without a fight, his breath still short. "Do you feel alright?" She was starting to get worried.
He pulled at his collar, ignoring her growing concern. "You know how your daughter was supposed to be studying at her friend Lanie's?"
She was always her daughter when it was about boys. "She wasn't. She was with Kal. I surmised that much." She shot Oria a look. "If you are going to lie to us to meet your boyfriend in secret, could you at least do it where your father isn't susceptible to walk in on you? You know he doesn't like seeing you kissing boys."
"Kissing." Haymitch spat. "She wasn't kissing him."
Oria's face was now crimson and she stubbornly kept her eyes cast down.
"Ah." Effie winced. "I see."
"You see?" he chuckled, almost hysterical. "You see nothing! I saw! I saw…"
"Yes, dear, I can imagine what you saw." she tempered, studying her daughter. "I thought we had an agreement, Orianna. I thought you would come to me if you thought you were ready to…"
"We weren't!" her daughter muttered defensively. "Like I said. He's overreacting."
"Overreacting." Haymitch repeated, still slightly out of breath. "I went to the shed to get tools to strengthen the pen. And what did I find? What?" He was snarling at Effie like she was responsible and she frowned a little at how unfair that was. "You daughter with her shirt off and that boy's paw in her bra." He stood up and started pacing, tugging more on the collar of his shirt.
"What did you do to Kal?" Effie asked, although she was a little afraid to know. She was half certain they would need to bury a corpse in their backyard – or maybe the geese would get rid of it for them…
"Nothing. He's fast." he grumbled. "Scurried off like a spooked rabbit. Good thing too. If he's smart he will keep running to the next District and he won't be back."
"He left you alone?" she gasped, turning to her daughter. "How ungentlemanly!"
"Can we go back to the point when you shout at her for letting a boy in her underwear?" Haymitch scorned.
"It wasn't my underwear, it was my bra." Oria retorted. "And it wasn't even in my bra. I'm telling you you're being unreasonable. Calm down already!"
"You don't tell me to calm down." he hissed. "Watch your tone." He raised his arms and let them fall. "What did I do wrong with you? I didn't raise a Capitol slut!"
"Why, thank you!" Effie huffed.
"Are you calling me a slut?" Oria growled, bolting to her feet.
Haymitch glared at her. "I call it as I see it. Girls don't let guys into their pants until they're married around here."
"In your youth maybe! What am I supposed to do? Elope with Kal?" their daughter scoffed. "This isn't the Dark Days anymore! Wake up, Dad."
"Your father does have a point, Oria." Effie cut in. "You do not want people to get the wrong idea about you…"
"Seriously?" The sixteen years old rolled her eyes. "Mom, you slept around so much you don't even know who my father is. I'm not sure you've got room to lecture me."
"Don't call your mother a slut." Haymitch warned, taking a step forward. Effie swiftly placed herself in front of him because she could feel his patience was frail and his control even thinner.
"I can't call her a slut but you can call me a slut?" Oria spat "How is that fair? He touched my boob over my bra, end of the story. For fuck's sake!"
"Don't swear, Orianna, it is unladylike." she chided her, touching her brow. "We should all calm down. Haymitch, why don't go take a walk. Calm yourself."
"No." he scowled. "'Cause you're just going to stand there and tell her she has to have safe sex."
"I would rather she has safe sex." she replied.
"She shouldn't have sex at all!" he shouted. "Why am I the only one seeing that?"
"Can we stop talking about it?" Oria exploded. "I'm not having sex, okay? I promised Mom I would tell her, I will tell her. I don't have to tell you everything though, right?"
"No, you do not." Effie granted. "Except if you want to or if you have questions or…"
"I don't." their daughter whined, clearly embarrassed.
"You can go." she offered.
"You're doing it again!" Haymitch shouted. "You're giving her tacit permission to screw boys in the shed! You are not allowed to let a boy touch you, Orianna. And you are not allowed to take your shirt off. Or your pants. Or any clothes."
"Enough, Haymitch." Effie snapped. "Oria, go up to your room, please."
The teenager didn't need to be told twice. She scampered away and stomped on the stairs like Effie always reminded her not to do.
"Why do you do that?" Haymitch sneered. "You want her to be Capitol so bad? Like it's not enough she dyes her hair ridiculous colors and wears weird clothes?"
If only Effie had had a say in whatever her daughter was wearing… But Effie's fashion sense had been called uncool in every manners under the sun by the girl and Oria was dead bent on becoming a famous stylist herself – to Haymitch's dismay – and thus claimed it was never too early to start her own brand which was why she only wore customized clothes or whatever expensive outfits Lyssandra shipped her from the Capitol. Her sister was encouraging Oria in ways Effie wasn't always comfortable with.
"I don't force her to do anything about her style, Haymitch. She decides for herself." she sighed. "And this had nothing to do with her being Capitol or District. She is sixteen, she is curious. She is experimenting."
"Can't she experiment on her own?" he spat, his face so red she grabbed his arm and forced him to sit down again. "He had his hand down her bra."
"She said it wasn't inside." she argued.
"It was well on its way there." he groaned, letting his head fall back against the couch. "I feel sick."
She placed her hand on his forehead with a tinge of worry and hurried to the kitchen to get him a glass of cold water. She didn't take no for an answer and forced him to slowly sip it. The vein on his temple was still beating fast.
"Will you calm down before you have an attack?" she demanded.
"Would suit both of you right." he muttered. "You'll be happy then. Your daughter can have orgies and you can let her."
She sighed one more time, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Haymitch… What did you do with girls when you were sixteen?"
"I was sent in an arena when I was sixteen or did you forget already?" he taunted.
"No." she said firmly. "Don't do that. Don't play the Games card. That is not what I asked."
"It was different." he snapped. "I loved my girl. I was going to marry her. So what if we did some fumbling… I was going to marry her. I respected her. You think that boy respects our daughter? 'Cause I can tell you he doesn't. She deserves better."
"Is there a boy out there who will ever be good enough for her?" Effie teased.
"Would have to prove himself." he grumbled.
She ran her fingers in his graying hair with a smile until he finally relaxed.
"You are very silly but I do love you." she declared.
"Tell her not to do it again." he begged. "She doesn't listen to me…"
"You called her a slut, Haymitch." she pointed out. "That was unforgivable and you will apologize for that. I won't have sex being a taboo subject in this house. I want her to feel comfortable talking to me about it. It is the only way to ensure she doesn't do anything stupid and it will be more effective than your shouting."
"She called you a slut too." he growled, always protective.
It was an old argument by now. Something Oria liked to use against her when the fight grew really heated. It almost didn't hurt anymore.
"You had backed her up in a metaphorical corner." she chided him.
"She's my baby, boys can't just paw at her like that." he sulked.
She pressed a kiss against his cheek, reassured to see he had cooled off a little. "I am going to check on her. You are going to sit and keep on calming down. You are fifty-nine, Haymitch. You should be more careful."
"What are you going to tell her? You're going to tell her not to do it again right?" he insisted. "Tell her she's too young. Tell her sex is better when you're old. Really old. Like… forty years old old."
"Of course." she humored him.
The first thing she would tell Oria is not to do that in the shed or anywhere they could catch her again. She didn't particularly want to stumble upon that and she thought if it happened again Haymitch might very well have a heart attack next time.