A/N: Hey fam! I noticed a small mistake in ch. 10 and just wanted to clarify - the piece of the sign that Peeta picks up at the bakery is supposed to say "Merllark" on it. I'm not really sure why it got published with just "K" lol, but just figured I should clear that up. Anyways, that's it! Hope you all are enjoying the story and please review :)
I wake early the next morning. The sun is just beginning to stream in through the windows. Peeta is asleep on his stomach, but his head is turned on his pillow and he's facing me. A beam of sunlight hits his face, and his golden eyelashes seem to shimmer.
I feel deeply calm, but that changes when the reality of last night comes back to me. We kissed. Peeta and I have kissed a countless number of times. It was a constant and perfunctory aspect of the Victory Tour. But before last night, I had only kissed him once since his hijacking, and it was to stop him from going into battle with the mindset of killing himself. Last night was different. Last night was real. I don't know how I feel about that. I think I should feel concerned, I should want to stop it from ever happening again. That would be the smarter thing to do. But I don't think that's how I feel.
I am jolted from my thoughts and Peeta from his sleep by the sound of the front door opening and closing, followed by loud footsteps traipsing around my kitchen. Peeta sits up, blinking his eyes as he adjusts to the light.
"Who's here?" he asks, his voice still bleary from sleep. "Haymitch?"
"He's never up this early," I say, but the footsteps do sound like him. I don't really know who else would come here, anyway. Peeta and I get out of bed and head to the stairs, still pajama-clad. We walk downstairs and, sure enough, Haymitch is here and bustling around my kitchen.
He looks...nice. His hair isn't greasy like it usually is, he must have showered. His clothes are actually clean and different than they were yesterday, he doesn't smell, and he's up early. He's hurried, filling up four thermoses with coffee. Four?
"Good, you're both here," he says, looking up at us. "Get dressed. We should head down to the train station in 10 minutes."
"Why? What's going on?" Peeta asks.
"Effie's coming." Peeta and I both immediately start trying to ask questions, but Haymitch just waves us back up the stairs. We comply and go get dressed.
I actually put some thought into picking out what I'll wear today, only because I know Effie will care. It'll make her happy if I look nice, and she will spare no remarks if I don't. I put on jeans, a dark blue long sleeve tee, and a creamy colored knit cardigan. It's simple and not formal, but at least it all matches and none of it has holes. I think Peeta was thinking along the same lines as I am, because as I look in the reflection in the mirror while braiding my hair, I see he's wearing a grey pullover sweater and brown corduroy pants that he's cuffed at his ankles. He looks good. I blush as he catches me looking at him in the mirror. He smiles a little.
"You look nice," he says.
"Thanks," I say. "You...you too," I add awkwardly. He laughs a little and we head downstairs. Haymitch is sitting on a stool tapping his foot. When he hears us coming down the stairs, he looks up.
"Good, let's go," he says, pushing a thermos into each of our hands and heading out the door. I don't think I've ever seen Haymitch walk this fast. With his prosthetic, Peeta is actually struggling a little to keep up. He and I lag a few paces behind Haymitch, smirking at each other.
"So, what's Effie doing here, anyway?" I call up to Haymitch.
"I don't know," he replies. "All I know is that she called me about an hour ago saying she was almost in 12, and was expecting to see us all at the train station when she arrived."
I laugh a little. That sounds like Effie. And, as much as he would want to kill me if I commented on it, it's very like Haymitch to bend to her will so completely. He's always had a weak spot for her or, at least, an ability to tolerate her that is entirely inconsistent with his typical attitude towards Capitolites. We near the train station and see it pulling in as we arrive. We stop at the platform as the train slows down, and Haymitch is panting a little bit in effort to catch his breath. He risks spilling the two coffees that he is holding, so Peeta takes one into his empty hand.
"Thanks, kid," he says. Peeta nods. The train has now come to a stop. First we see some workers, I think they're from 6, unloading crates of supplies. In a cabin further to the front, however, the door opens and I see Effie Trinket emerge. She looks like herself, still very much in Capitol fashion, but a little more toned down than she might have once been. She's wearing a light pink wig, but it isn't as tall or grandiose as those she wore at the Reapings. Her face is covered in makeup, yes, but there is a sense of her underneath it all that I don't think was always there before.
"Ah, here you are, my Victors!" she exclaims, disembarking the train and quickly hobling over to us, her high heels getting stuck occasionally in the cracks of the platform floor.
"Hiya, princess," says Haymitch, using the nickname that he gave her initially as an insult, and now is equal parts mockery and affection. She gives him such a strange, dainty hug. He looks very wrong as the recipient, but it's kind of funny. Behind her, I see several more attendants coming off the train carrying an absolutely absurd quantity of matching luggage, which I know can only belong to Effie.
"Hi Effie," I say, and she gives me a similar hug to the one she gave Haymitch.
"Katniss Everdeen I am so thrilled to see you. How I've missed you all since you left the Capitol! I have worried about you three nonstop of course." She moves to hug Peeta, who pulls her into a more loving and normal one than the Capitol-style greeting she's been giving us. Haymitch and I are too stunted for moves like this, but Peeta is so skilled at showing affection. Effie happily reciprocates, and seems beyond pleased when he holds out the coffee for her.
"Oh Peeta, you are just a dear! Still so polite, so kind, even after all they put you through. You have always been such a good boy." Peeta flushes and tells her it's nothing. I hear Haymitch grumbling under his breath that the coffee was his idea, but I don't think anyone else does. I laugh at him a little and he gives me a death glare.
"So, Effie, what made you want to come out to 12?" Peeta asks her, taking one of her bags over each of his shoulders and rolling a third one behind him. Haymitch takes the remaining bag and the four of us set off back to Victor's Village.
"Well it's quite simple really, dear," Effie says, sipping her coffee. "I heard from a friend of mine who works in the new Bureau for Drug Administration, one of the many new agencies Paylor has set up to help ensure the safety and success of our new nation, that a shipment of medicine was going to 12, for none other than Katniss Everdeen, and that there would need to be an attendant, as the anti-rejection medicine is what is known as a controlled substance. Now, usually this would be far below my job level. You see, I'm working now in public relations and communications for the newly established Senate, assuring that there are open lines of communication and dialogue between the Capitol and the Districts at all times. It's very important stuff, you know. But I just couldn't resist the opportunity to serve as an escort for you all one last time, and decided that I might as well take the opportunity to make a trip out of it! I'm set up to stay in one of the empty homes in your Village, and am planning to stay for a week or so."
I think through everything she's just said, trying to process it all. I know it shouldn't but it makes me uncomfortable that people in the government are keeping any sort of track of what medications I'm on, even if it's coming from the best of intentions. I've had too many experiences with governments and hospitals that have made me angry, both in the Capitol and 13, to trust it.
Additionally, I can't help but notice Effie's condescension towards transport work, a job that is now typically done by people from 6, the district in charge of transportation efforts, rather than Avoxes or other Capitol servants. She's vastly improved, but old habits die hard. Still, I'm happy to see her. I know that despite all of her eccentricities, she truly cares about us. And we all care about her.
"Thanks Effie," I say, finally. "I appreciate that you brought the medicines for me. I'd much rather it be you than some government representative or something." She beams at me, taking my hand in her own.
"Of course, my dear," she says. "I am always here to help you."
We reach the house that Effie is going to be staying in. It's just across the street from Haymitch's. She reaches into the small purse she has looped over her wrist and pulls out a key. She unlocks the door, and we enter a home that looks just like each of our own.
"Well, this will do just nicely," she says, as Peeta and Haymitch deposit her bags in the entryway. "Thank you, my boys." She unzips one of the bags and takes a parcel from within it, then leads the rest of us over to the living room. Peeta and I settle in on the couch, while Haymitch and Effie occupy the two arm chairs.
"So, Katniss, they asked me to give you a brief explanation of when to take each medication and in what quantities. Since Haymitch is still your legal guardian, it is appropriate that he be here too."
"Should I leave?" Peeta asks.
"That is up to Katniss, dear," Effie replies, looking at me expectantly.
"What? Oh, no. I don't care. You basically know it all already anyway, you can stay," I get out. I really do not care, to be honest. Peeta has been really honest with me about his medications and his mental health in an effort to make me more comfortable with my own issues, and we're on a lot of the same stuff anyway.
"Excellent," Effie says, nodding and beginning her lecture.
I try my best to pay attention, but I start to tune her out after she spends a good five minutes reminding me that I cannot operate heavy machinery while on my antidepressants. Haymitch makes a snide remark that no one should let me near a forklift on a good day, and she returns a glare at him and he falls silent.
I know his attention is drifting too, I can see it on his face. Frankly, it's a good thing Peeta's here. He will probably retain more of this information than myself and my guardian combined, even though it doesn't apply to him. He's always been so much better at listening to Effie than I was. I think it all just went along with him being more respectful in general, I guess. I tune back in to her finishing up telling me about the anti-rejection medicine.
"...now, the anti-rejection side effects aren't particularly common, but there is a chance that you may experience some brain fog or high blood pressure. You are to phone Dr. Aurelius right away if you experience symptoms, and make sure Haymitch is with you if you feel at all unstable. Haymitch, you have to make sure that as her guardian you are always accessible to her. Do you understand?" She turns to Haymitch, who is entirely obviously not paying attention. He jolts out of it when he feels everyone's eyes on him.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Of course I'm here for you, sweetheart." Effie just shakes her head at him and turns back to me.
"Finally, the last thing is your birth control, dear. Unlike the other medications, which as you now know you are to take daily, this one you only need to take once a month, although I must say it is important to take it on the same day each month if at all possible." She lowers her voice slightly, although not nearly enough for Peeta and Haymitch not to hear it. "Between us girls, I've seen far too many women who thought they were protected end up in situations they did not want because they weren't taking it with as much regularity as is required. While I'm sure you and Peeta would make wonderful parents, you don't want that kind of responsibility right now do you?"
I immediately blush a horrible shade of pink, maybe even red. Haymitch absolutely guffaws, he's laughing his head off and smacking his hand against the arm of his chair. I don't know what Peeta's reaction is. I cannot bring myself to look at him, or even move my head at all. I am frozen in mortification.
Effie is clearly confused at what just happened, so eventually Haymitch slows down his laughter enough to explain it to her, because neither Peeta nor I are offering up any sort of explanation of our own volition.
"Yeah, the kids aren't fucking, princess," he says, still laughing a bit. She seems to bristle at the gruffness of his words. "I think they just wanna control sweetheart over here's hormones and shit. The kids are close now, yeah, but nothing like that is happening."
This time I do look at Peeta, and find him staring at his shoes with pink cheeks. Haymitch doesn't know, of course, that while Effie is still very far from accurate, something happened with me and Peeta last night. He doesn't know that those kinds of feelings could still be at play.
"Well, good," Effie says, brushing off any embarrassment from her misunderstanding. "It's much better this way. The other would have been thoroughly improper, but I still think I would rather them be safe, even if impropriety was involved." Haymitch just chuckles some more. Peeta gets up to get everyone some water. I think he just needs something to do that isn't think about what just happened.
When he returns I am relieved that the subject of my medication regimen seems to finally be exhausted, and Effie strikes up a conversation with Peeta about his paintings. They chat about this at length, as well as about everything he's baked recently. She asks me how I've been doing and I tell her that I'm ok, I've been hunting. We tell her about the book and she seems touched by the idea of it. After maybe an hour, Effie says she must go shower away the "grime accrued from a day on the rails," as she puts it.
"If you guys want, I can cook dinner for everyone at my house tonight," Peeta offers. Effie beams at him and cups his face in her palm.
"Oh yes, my boy, yes!" She says. "We will see you there at 6 pm sharp and no one will be late."
She says the last words with a look at Haymitch, and then grabs one of her bags and hurries up the stairs.