Prompt: Haymitch finds out about Effie's crush on him when she was younger, then, Cinna, Katniss, Portia or someone teases her about it and Haymitch just winks at her- thank you!

A Bit of a Crush

"They have all that merchandise for children and teenagers…" Effie explained, carefully cutting her meat in even pieces. "Toys, posters, collector cards…"

How did they even get to that topic of conversation? A comment from Cinna during the appetizer and the whole dinner had been about the public image of victors in the Capitol.

"I had all the figurines when I was younger." Portia said. "I collected them."

Katniss and Peeta exchanged a look, obviously not so pleased at the prospect of toys in their effigy going around in children's hands.

"Me too!" Effie rejoiced, remembering all the fun she had with her toys as a girl. "I used to play the Hunger Games with all the former victors, all day long." Which probably wasn't the right thing to say with three victors sitting at the dinner table.

She felt really uncomfortable but Portia kindly smiled at her and took a sip of her wine. "I did too." she confessed. "All children do, I think. I remember my room was full of posters… I could have killed to meet some of those victors, then."

Once again, a look passed between the children. Cinna, despite having launched the topic, wasn't bringing much to the conversation. And Haymitch, of course, was silently nursing a drink and not touching his plate much. He wasn't drunk yet, so Effie didn't comment on it.

"I know." She told Portia, pouring herself another glass of wine. She might be drinking a little more freely than usual to compensate for the weird mood in the room, but… "My mother was ready to tear her hair out at some points. She wanted my room to be proper and lady like but I kept covering the wall with posters of my favorite victors."

"My mother was the same." Portia sighed. "I was mad for Seeder. I wanted to be like her so much… Trading cards, posters, dolls… I had it all."

"I was the same with…" She bit her tongue at the very last possible moment but her eyes betrayed her. They glided down the head of the table were Haymitch was sitting and she didn't look away early enough.

Everybody was startled by her sudden silence and, of course, everybody picked up on it. Even Katniss stopped eating morosely to stare at her.

"Were you a fan of mine, sweetheart?" Haymitch smirked.

"If I was I long grew out of it." she huffed. "That is why you should never meet your childhood heroes."

"Heroes?" Katniss laughed. It sounded cruel to Effie's ears. "That's a strong word, don't you think?"

"Haymitch did make an impression at the time." Portia cut in with a smile for Effie. "Half the Capitol was in love with him."

"True." Cinna pointed out, looking at Portia with raised eyebrows. "Were you in love with him? Should I be worried?"

Portia rolled her eyes and sipped her wine. "He was a bit old for me. I was… eight, I think. What about you, Effie?"

She cleared her throat awkwardly. "I was ten."

"I don't think that was the question…" Katniss said, even if it had been quite obvious Effie had wanted to avoid answering. "Did you have a crush on Haymitch?" Her voice was playful but Effie felt a tad overwhelmed.

Haymitch was no help either. The correct thing to do for him would have been to call Katniss into order and to switch topic but of course he was enjoying it too much to do anything but watch her closely, twirling the wine in his glass, with a smug smile on his lips.

"Everybody had a crush on Haymitch, back then." she replied.

"Really?" Peeta was frowning with disbelief.

"Haymitch wasn't always… the Haymitch you know." Cinna had tried to be delicate and spare Haymitch's feelings but Haymitch's face turned a bit gloomier and Effie didn't like that. Unlike him, she had some manners.

"He was young, handsome, brave and clever." she sighed, all the while knowing she would never hear the end of it. "What's not to love in that?"

"You did have a crush." Katniss was triumphant but Effie didn't know what was there to prove. Of course, she had had a crush on Haymitch. Like Portia had said, half the Capitol had been in love with him.

"I…" She took another sip of her glass but the wine didn't inspire a clever retort. "Well…"

"Do you still have a crush on him, Effie?" Katniss teased. It wasn't mean but it certainly wasn't kind either and how did you even answer something like that ?

She could feel her cheeks reddening under all her make-up and instinctively looked at Haymitch to silently beg for a way out. He had to say something to change the subject, it was only proper. Did he really take so much pleasure in seeing her embarrassed?

But all Haymitch did when their eyes finally met was wink. He winked with that smug smile of his like he knew perfectly well that she did have a bit of a crush still. Of all the nerve! For him to assume that… She blushed even more and turned her head.

"Is everything ready for tomorrow?" Cinna asked suddenly, turning to Portia. "Did you lay out the blue suit for Peeta? I want them to match."

Portia retorted that they had agreed on grey and that it was what she had prepared. From there, it only grew into a debate over which color was better for their visit in District Seven. Effie piped in now and then, adding her two cents to the conversation between the stylists, Katniss and Peeta had gone back to staring at their plate which was for the best, really, but she was very aware of Haymitch's eyes on her. They followed her when she finally made her escape to her room after dinner. She pretended really hard not to be affected.