Prompt: Hi darling! Could you write a little piece of Haymitch asking Katniss for help on learning how to braid hair – to make it look fancy – to impress Oria with it? (maybe keeping it secret from Effie as well so she's all surpised about it?) That would be super lovely

Playing Hairdresser

Haymitch turned the page of his book, watching from the corner of his eyes as his five year old daughter pushed her hair back for the tenth time. She was lying down on her stomach, her tongue stuck between her teeth, very carefully coloring a fairy drawing.

"You want me to tie your hair up, baby girl?" he asked because it was clear it was bothering her.

She glanced up at him with a mistrustful expression, her little nose wrinkled. "Are you going to pull on it again?"

She looked vexed – and, he figured, for good reasons. He had been surprised to find he wasn't terrible at taking care of her, he was good even, but hairdos were more than he could handle. Effie was usually in charge of Oria's hair. Or Katniss when she was around.

"Look, now…" he grumbled. "It happened once and…"

The sound of the front door opening and closing interrupted him.

"Is anybody home?" Peeta's voice asked, prompting Oria to erupt in a shriek of joy and a very loud "Uncle Peeta!". Peeta was on the threshold by the time the girl had bolted to her feet and he got ready in time to grab the kid when she flung herself at him, holding out his cheek to receive her kiss. The boy chuckled. "Well, I'm happy to see you too. How's my favorite niece?"

"I'm your only niece." Oria grinned.

"Right, I forgot." Peeta humored her, propping her on his hip to nod at Haymitch. "Hi! I was hoping to borrow Oria. I'm in need of an assistant to bake strawberry cupcakes…"

"That's Mommy's favorites in the whole world!" the little girl exclaimed.

"You don't say?" Haymitch snorted with an indulgent smirk. "Wouldn't happen to be yours as well, now, baby girl?"

"Maybe." Oria giggled. "Can I go, Daddy? Pretty please!"

"Sure. Go knock your head off." He waved his hand. "But make sure Aunt Katniss does your hair first. You washed it yesterday, Mommy's gonna rip my head off if she has to do it again."

Both Oria and Peeta promised to behave, which made him roll his eyes and go back to his book without a second thought. He didn't really like it when Oria was out of his or Effie's sight but he trusted the kids with his life and with their daughter's.

He managed to read half a chapter before his house was invaded again. He watched Katniss come in and drop on an armchair with only a lifted eyebrow.

"Your kid is doing a mess in my kitchen." she grumbled. "Buttercup fled."

"Good survival instinct, that cat." he commented.

"I'm hanging out here until they're done." she proclaimed.

It wasn't so rare for the kids to use his house as an extension of theirs so he simply shrugged. They remained in a comfortable silence for a while. He read his book and she perused one of Effie's magazines – more out of boredom than interest, he figured. Eventually, his attention started wandering and his eyes ended up on one of Oria's dolls.

"Say, sweetheart…" he hesitated. "I kinda need a favor but if you tell anyone, nobody's gonna ever find your corpse, got it?"

She rolled her eyes, not fooled for one second. "What do you need?"

He let her laugh for a whole minute once he had explained and then barked at her to cut it off.

She laughed a few more times in the two hours it took for Peeta to bring back Oria, arms loaded with too many baked goods.

Still, her mocking taunts were worth it the next morning when Effie was dashing all around the kitchen to make sure Oria was ready before she had to leave for work. Haymitch casually told her he could take care of the kid's hair while she finished her second cup of coffee.

Oria looked up from her bowl of cereals with apprehension, tossing an imploring look at her mother.

"I've got it." he insisted when Effie diplomatically tried to hint that it might be best if she took care of it.

Brushing her hair was the easy part. He had been doing that since her hair had started to grow and he knew how to do it without hurting her by now. When he was done, he applied every of Katniss' instruction under Effie's watchful – and, he couldn't help but notice, impressed gaze – and eventually managed a braid that was quite good if he said so himself.

"Here." he declared, pleased with himself.

Oria finished the last two spoonfuls of cereals, patting her head with her left hand. She must have been happy with the result because she didn't comment, simply jumped off her chair and loudly declared she was going to brush her teeth – something she was very keen on doing since it was a big girl thing to do by herself.

Haymitch was a bit put off to not, at least, get his efforts acknowledged. He watched their daughter scamper off the kitchen with a pout that quickly disappeared when arms locked around his torso.

"Why, Haymitch…" she purred in his ear. "You have secret skills… What else are you hiding from me?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he smirked as she nuzzled his neck. "You should know I've got talented hands by now."

"Oh, that I know…" she grinned. "I might let you do my hair…"

"Yeah?" he snorted. "You're gonna have to pay me for it, you know."

"Too bad I have to go to work." she sighed, pressing a kiss on his cheek. "But tonight… I am most definitely willing to pay whatever price you require."

His smirk deepened and he leaned in for a goodbye kiss that lasted a bit longer than strictly appropriate.