Original Prompt : Hi can you carry on the one shot connection about the dancing? It was so good xxx
I called it 'My Funny valentine' because that was the song I had in mind. ^^ Also Connection is Chapter 14.
My Funny Valentine
Effie was about to follow Portia out the living-room cart when the familiar notes stopped her. She turned toward Haymitch who was standing innocently beside the gramophone, with an outstretched hand and a smile on his lips.
"One last dance, Princess?" he suggested.
There really was no refusing that smile because Haymitch often smirked or sneered or even occasionally grinned but his smiles were few and special. Doubly so when he smiled at her. "It's always one more thing or another with you." she sighed, but she took his hand and let him pul her into his embrace. His arms naturally wrapped around her waist and hers circled his neck, their face were so close she could feel his breath rolling on her lips. "One last glass of wine, one last bottle, one last dance, one last kiss…" she teased.
Haymitch's eyes were twinkling with amusement but his words were laced with seriousness. "I don't like the idea of last times, that's all." He pressed a light kiss to the side of her neck, his lips barely grazed her skin. It frustrated her. "All the more so when you're concerned. If it were up to me I would never stop kissing you."
"I thought we were dancing?" Her fingers brushed the hair at the base of his neck tugging a little on the strands.
"In my memories, one doesn't exclude the other." He started swaying them slowly to the music, one of his hands wandering lower than propriety allowed but they were alone so she didn't rebuke him like she usually would. "How come you have a record of that song?"
"I love that song." she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. It reminded her of the last time they had danced, a few Games ago. She had nagged him and nagged him because he had promised her a dance at a victory party but had never actually danced with her, too busy drinking with Chaff and the others, so when they had finally come back to the penthouse, he had been so fed up with her that he had turned the radio on, had taken her hand and had forced her to dance. She had struggled to get free, they had bickered and then she had yielded. She hadn't known the song at the time but it was slow and bittersweet and the tension between them had shifted from hostility to something else. "I'm surprised you remember it, though."
He bowed his head, his mouth brushed softly against her throat. "There is nothing about that night I could ever forget." His lips trailed up to that spot just under her jaw. "I remember dancing." He kissed her skin. "I remember kissing you right here." His hand went up her back and cupped her nape briefly before sliding under the base of the golden wig.
"Careful with that." she chided him quietly.
"I remember tearing that ugly thing off your head." he continued, but he removed it with more care than he usually showed, throwing it on the couch. He slowly removed all the pins keeping her hair in a tight bun before tousling it a little. "I remember being mesmerized by your red hair."
"It's not red, it's strawberry blonde." she cut in. "As I've told you countless times before."
"It's reddish blonde and you're ruining the mood." he scolded her. She rolled her eyes but kissed him hard on the mouth which made him fall silent as it always did. "I was working my way up to that." he smirked, brushing the hair off her shoulder to kiss her neck again. "Now, where was I?"
"Telling me everything about your little obsession for my hair." she grinned, undoing the first three buttons of his shirt, to stroke the skin there. "And more generally trying to convince me to let you in my bed tonight, I think."
His smirk deepened. "Is it working?"
"I'm not sure." she mused, letting her nails trail on his chest. "I was promised dancing but there seems to be a lot of talking and not much of that."
"Ah, yeah… Dancing…" He took hold of the hand roaming on his chest, raised it into the air and made her twirl. It was ridiculous really and she couldn't help her giggling. "What is it you said earlier about connection?" he asked, when she put her arms back around his neck. "Do you think I'm the right partner for you, sweetheart?"
His eyes were uncharacteristically inquisitive. "I don't think we're ever going to win a dance competition if that's what you're asking." She smiled a little, kissing him softly. "Mainly because each time I'm back in your arms your forget to dance."
"That's your fault, you're distracting." he rebuked her, nuzzling her neck again. His left hand was on her lower back and steadily getting lower by the second.
"You're easily distracted." she pointed out before closing her eyes to enjoy the feeling of his arms holding her close. She rested her head in the crook of his neck and sighed in bliss.
"True." They swayed slowly for a while longer, the song was about to end now and she was already regretting that it couldn't last some more. That kind of moment between them were few and far between, there never seemed to be enough time for them to enjoy a dance or simple things like that. "You never answered my question, princess." he whispered in her ear. She only hummed in reply, his thumb was drawing soothing circles on her back and she was easily distracted too. "All your talk about loving and caring for your partner… Do you think I'm the right partner for you?"
She frowned against his neck. "Are you asking me if I have feelings for you?"
His chest rumbled when he chuckled, she knew because her hand was there and she could feel the reverberations under her palm. "I know you have feelings for me." He pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "You're usually very vocal in your feelings for me."
"Then what?" she asked, puzzled. She chose to ignore the teasing, she might have been, once or twice, a bit vocal, true, but he wasn't that much better. She lifted her head to look at him just as the song ended. Another began to play but it wasn't the right tempo, so they stopped swaying yet they didn't let go of each other. "I don't understand."
"Just curious." Haymitch shrugged, faking disinterest. "Having feelings doesn't mean… one is one's right partner." He was embarrassed.
"Haymitch, are you blushing?" She touched his slightly flushed cheek, it was warmer than usual.
"Don't be ridiculous." he scoffed. "I don't blush."
"Oh, but you are!" she grinned. He rolled his eyes and she felt a little bad but it was too good to pass, really. "You are blushing."
"Are you done?" The scowl on his face only made her smile wider, for the amount of teasing he did every day… He was a big baby, she thought fondly.
"You're my partner." she said, finally answering his question. "The only one I want and the only one I need."
He didn't seem satisfied, though. "So, you do actually… you know." He winced. "Love and care and all that crap."
"All that crap?" she asked, drumming her fingers on his chest as a warning. "Why don't you ask what you want to know instead of being so cryptic?"
His sigh was deep and a tad nervous, but when she looked at him, his grey eyes were resolute. "You have feelings for me, you care for me, but do you…" The words weren't coming out but Effie understood suddenly what he was trying to say.
"Oh." she blurted in comprehension. He wanted to know if she loved him. "Is it going to spook you away if I say yes? Because I know you, Haymitch, you're…"
He cut her off with a kiss; a slow, tantalizing kiss that left her breathless. "Don't say it. Don't." He kissed her again. "I want you." He was done playing around, she could tell. He was already unfastening her dress and she had to clasps his face into her hands to stop him from kissing his way to her breasts.
"Bedroom." she reminded him. They had been reckless enough for that night, dancing and fooling around as if nobody could walk in on them.
"One day" he growled when she stepped away from him to fix her clothing and gather her belongings. "we will have a house and we won't ever concern ourselves with where we have sex."
"We?" she teased, opening the door.
His only answer was a wink.