Prompt: Haymitch flirts with Effie, who is quite oblivious until Haymitch decides to take action (post-rebellion).
How's that for flirting?
"You're going to fall into that mirror, sweetheart."
Haymitch leaned against the open door and watched Effie pat her real hair desperately in front of the silver lined mirror the kids had gifted her with on her birthday. He hadn't seen her all morning and he had been worried when he had finally hauled himself up the stairs to the guestroom – turned into Effie's room, about a year ago – that he would find her catatonic or having one of her panic attacks. The stress of the upcoming wedding had taken its toll on her and he had sometimes wondered, in the past weeks, who was getting married: Katniss or Effie? Weddings in Twelve were simple enough affairs but simple wasn't Effie's way and she had planned a dinner, a party and everything you could imagine really from start to finish. All Katniss had to do – and Haymitch thought the girl was secretly happy for the help because she couldn't care less about those things – was chose a dress. Bottom line was Effie was tired and since the rebellion a tired Effie often lead to a frantic panicked Effie with nightmares, flashbacks and a lot of unpleasant things he could go without on Katniss' and Peeta's wedding day.
"I'm just trying to look nice." Effie said, twisting her hair into a bun and keeping it in place with a few pins.
"You never look nice." He crossed his arms. "You always look gorgeous."
"I'm never going to be ready in time." she lamented, taking back the pins and letting her glorious curls fall loose on her shoulders. "I've spent so much time getting everything just right, I didn't even think about what I was going to wear."
That probably explained why it looked as if a mini-tornado had ransacked the room. He sighed and went to sit on the bed, trying to find a small space between dresses and blouses.
"What's wrong with what you're wearing?" It was a simple summer blue dress but it looked okay to him. It suited her features perfectly.
"It's an everyday dress, really, Haymitch." She clucked her tongue in disapproval and tried a ponytail with her hair, another attempt at pinning them and then she was letting them fall again. She was getting frustrated.
"Well, it's still day, so I don't see the problem." he shrugged. "That color looks good on you, it brings out your eyes. I like that."
He loved her eyes really but he wasn't about to tell her that openly. She didn't even seem to hear him. He was paying her compliment on compliment and she wasn't even listening… He wondered how rude she would judge that to be when she finally realized what was going on.
"It's not good enough." she snapped.
Patience, patience, he needed patience. "Okay, what are the other choices then?"
That caught her attention. She turned and rummaged in the clothes thrown on the bed, taking out three dresses and holding them out for his inspection. A dark red one that was too long and too sophisticated for anything in Twelve, a short lime-green in which he was sure she wouldn't be able to sit and a light pink bustier one.
"The pink one." he said immediately.
"Are you sure?" she winced. "Pink is close to white, I don't want Katniss to think I'm trying to outshine her."
"You will outshine her whatever you wear, princess, that's just the way it is." He meant it too. Katniss might be young and pretty but Effie was perfect. She was beautiful. Even more so since she had left her wigs and outrageous make-up behind after coming to Twelve.
"Don't be ridiculous." she huffed, but she discarded the other dresses on the bed again and studied the pink one at arm length.
"I am not ridiculous I'm trying to be honest." He needed a drink but he had already gotten through his share for the day. She was worse than a jailor with the amount of liquor he was allowed per day. "No woman in Twelve can hold a candle to you."
She was too focused on inspecting her dress to listen it seemed. "Turn around." she requested, already undoing the buttons of her blue dress.
"Why?" he smirked. "I would like to enjoy the show…"
He got a discarded dress thrown at his head for his trouble. "Turn around."
He rolled his eyes but fall on his back amidst her numerous dresses and put his arm on his face. "Here" he snorted. "Happy?"
"No peeking." she warned him.
He didn't gratify that with an answer because there wasn't a good way to peek without being caught anyway, so he listened to the ruffling of fabrics.
"This won't work." she said and it was so desperate he sat again. She was wearing the pink dress and, just as he predicted, she looked gorgeous. The lower part was fluttering around her leg with each of her move and the upper part… He didn't think he could tear his eyes away from her cleavage even if he had wanted to. She didn't even notice, she was stretching her neck to look at her back in the mirror. "You can see the scars."
"Nobody is going to look at your scars." he promised absent-mindedly, too busy staring at her chest.
"But they're ugly." Her voice was shattering and he looked at her face abruptly, noticing the frustrated tears in her eyes. "My hair isn't even long enough to cover them…" Her hair had been cut short and unevenly when she was in prison, it had been a constant reminder. It was just beginning to reach her shoulders now but she was insecure about it, he knew. She was insecure about a lot of things she shouldn't have been insecure about.
He got up quickly and turned her gently so she would face the mirror and not see the scars anymore, his hands moving up and down her arms soothingly. "You're beautiful. How many times do I have to tell you that?"
She didn't look convinced but she sighed softly. "Maybe with a cardigan. I think I have a cream one somewhere…"
Somewhere in the numerous heap of clothes scattered around the room… Good luck finding it. His hands stopped on her shoulders and his thumb retraced the scar there. He couldn't lie and say they weren't ugly because they were, scars always were and hers were particularly noticeable. Doctors in Thirteen hadn't been concerned with aesthetics, her scars were swollen and still white against her skin. She shuddered under his touch but not in a good way. Not like he would have loved for her to shiver under his hands.
"Don't, please." she begged. "Don't look at them. I don't want you to see them. They're repulsive."
He frowned slightly. "You could never repulse me. Nothing about you could ever repulse me." She leaned back a little against his chest but she didn't look pacified. "Don't think about that today." He should have known that the wedding would bring trouble. She was very self-conscious about her looks since she had gotten out of prison. Her beauty, he had come to learn, had always been her greatest asset and she felt like they had taken that away from her. "You're beautiful." He kissed her shoulder, just above the scar.
She gave him a small smile in the mirror and it reached her eyes this time. "I don't know why you put up with me but, most days, I don't know why I put up with you so I suppose that's alright."
He rolled his eyes but wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. If she was surprised by his sudden affection she didn't let on, she just placed her hands on his arms and fully leaned against him. "So, who are you taking to the wedding? Do you have a date?" she asked. "Or are you going alone?"
He frowned. What was she even talking about? "Aren't we going together?" Did she have a date? Most District Twelve citizens stayed clear of her, her days as an escort still very present on their mind, but some didn't mind that at all. She had made friends since she had come to live there. Had she met someone? A someone who was more than a friend?
"I don't know, you never properly asked me." she pointed out, with a smile. She was making fun of him. The little…
"I thought it was obvious." he replied with a shrug. "We live together, don't we?"
She lowered her eyes. He felt her tense in his arms. "We live together but we don't… We aren't… You shouldn't feel obliged to take me."
It took him a few seconds to decipher was she was trying to say. "Are you putting me off or being extraordinary thick?" Because either way, she needed to be clearer.
She blushed a little. "How am I supposed to know if you want to be friends or more? People usually hint at that kind of things, you know?"
His eyebrows shot up and he actually straightened. Her hands gripped his arms instinctively, as if she was afraid he would let go of her. "Well, I though all the flirting would have been hint enough."
"Flirting? What flirting?" She sounded genuinely confused.
Haymitch let out a deep sigh. "Sweetheart, you've known me how long? Have you ever heard me telling one of my friends they're beautiful and gorgeous fifth times in ten minutes?"
She pursed her lips in obvious amusement. "Was that your attempt at flirting? Because I've heard you more creative."
"I will give you creative." he growled, turning her around by the shoulders. He didn't give her time to react before he kissed her hungrily, one hand twisting her hair and the other clenching her waist. "There." he said, when breathing became an issue and he had to lean back a little. "How's that for flirting?"
She licked her lips with a smug smile. "That's not flirting, that's kissing." Without her usual heels, she had to go on tip-toe for their face to be on the same level, he let her initiate the kiss this time. She fisted her hands in his waistcoat – he wondered distantly if Katniss and Peeta would mind them going to their wedding with creased clothes and then forgot the thought because there was more important things happening right now – and pressed her lips to his, softly at first and then with more and more pressure until he had no choice but to open his mouth with a moan. She stepped back then and winked at him. "Fortunately, you are better at kissing than at flirting." She smoothed her dress and went in search of shoes to match.
He watched her put on heels, dumbfounded. "You, princess, are a tease." he accused, half-joking. You didn't kiss men like that and then left then hanging it was simply… wicked.
"We have a wedding to attend." she reminded him.
"Let's skip it." he suggested, even though he knew they would never do that to the kids. "Nobody will notice."
"You're supposed to give Katniss away, I think she will very much notice." She strapped the second shoe on.
Yeah, and the girl would probably hunt him down with her bow, wedding day or not, but Effie sounded more like herself and it was too good an opportunity to pass. "See, I think I liked that dress better when it was on the hanger, you should take it off."
"That sounds more like your usual pick-up lines." She opened a drawer and took out several pieces of clothing before finding what she was looking for and putting on the cream cardigan, effectively hiding the scars on her back. "I'm still waiting for you to ask me out."
"We're not fifteen, I'm not asking you out." He sat on the stool in front of her dresser, watching her going back to her mirror and trying several things with her hair again.
"You are very much asking me out if you want to take that dress off me at some point in the evening." she retorted. "That's only proper."
"That's stupid." he snorted, even if the prospect of her letting him take that dress off was doing things to him he was sure were very improper.
"Is that so hard to ask me on a date?" She separated her hair in two, twisted it in a complicated knot and frowned still not happy with it.
"Let it loose." he requested.
"Loose isn't classy enough for a wedding." she sighed.
"Nobody is going to care, Effie." He said as kindly as he could. "And I like it like that."
She stared at her reflection a few seconds and then tousled the curls a little. "Let's make a deal. Ask me out and I will keep it that way."
He rolled his eyes but knew it was no use to argue. It was a victory in itself. Given the state she had been in when he had walked in her room, it was a miracle she had not gone into a full panic attack at some point.
"Are you going with me to this wedding?" It was flat and boring and she crossed her arms, watching him with a stern face that promised trouble. "Okay." he sighed. "Do you want to go with me to this wedding as a date and not as the friend I've been flirting with for years to no avail?"
"I would love to." She smiled. "See? That wasn't so hard."
"I would tell you what's hard but I don't think you would deem it very proper." he deadpanned with a smirk. "That's innuendo by the way, not flirting."
She shook her head, clearly not impressed. "Keep your innuendos to yourself, please. We're going to a wedding not a bachelor party."
"Yeah, well, we're going to be late for that wedding if you don't get a move on." he said. "Didn't you say you needed to be at Katniss' two hour before the ceremony for whatever reason?"
"To help her get ready." she explained for what seemed to be the hundredth time. "And you need to go find Peeta and make sure he's alright."
And by alright, she meant not having one of his episodes, in which case Haymitch wouldn't be able to do anything but pray for it to end quickly. Katniss was better at bringing him back than he was. Of course, there was also a fair chance that Katniss would have a breakdown again because her sister wasn't there on her big day. He didn't know if her mother was coming or not, he doubted it, he had gathered from Katniss the woman wouldn't put a foot back in Twelve if she could help it. He could understand that but he was also a bit sickened by the way she had sunk into her grief over Prim and left Katniss to fend for herself when she so obviously needed someone to rely on. Haymitch had done his best for the kid but…
"This is going to be a long day, isn't it?" He let out a tired sigh. He was exhausted only thinking of everything that could go wrong.
"Yes." She said coming closer to kiss him on the lips. "But we will get through it together"
Together… He could do that.