Prompt : I'm not sure if your still taking these but if you could do one they have one last drink with Finnick and Chaff just for the go back in to the games? I love the friendship you made for the 4 of them :)
One Last Drink
Effie had barely put a foot out of the elevator when Haymitch's voice boomed through the penthouse, from the living-room. "Changed your mind, didn't you, Mason?"
She winced, not sure she wanted to know what exactly could have driven Johanna Mason to visit Twelve's quarters in the middle of the night, the day before she was due to go back to the arena. The doors leading to the corridors of Katniss' and Peeta's room, she noticed, were closed. They had probably gone to bed already, it had taken forever for her to find her way back up there. She headed to the living-room, her blossoming peak of jealousy disappeared when she saw Finnick on the couch and Chaff on a armchair. It had been a common enough sight for her to find the three of them drinking the night away when she got back from parties over the years. She had even joined them sometimes. It made her heart ache to see them sitting there like it was a normal night.
"Disappointed?" she joked.
Haymitch's head snapped back up at the sound of her voice and he was out of his chair before she could blink.
"What are you doing here?" he growled, covering Finnick's greeting. He grabbed her arm and gave a little shake. "They got everyone out. How…"
"Please, Haymitch, I know this building like the back of my hand." she scoffed. "How hard do you think it was to sneak back in?"
He looked at her like she was crazy. "For the love of…" he took a deep breath. "I thought we agreed you would keep a low profile, sweetheart."
"I wanted to say goodbye to the children." she confessed, looking around in case she was mistaken and they were somewhere in the room, out of sight. But they weren't of course. She doubted Haymitch wanted them to know he was entertaining their soon-to-be mortal enemies.
"Stupid move, love." Chaff sighed. "They won't be happy you didn't follow their order."
"Yes, well…" she shrugged, gently easing Haymitch's grip on her arm with her other hand. "I think sneaking back to the penthouse isn't the worst thing I've done over the years." She spied a odd-looking bauble on the coffee table that she was sure had never been there before. "What is that? Am I interrupting?"
"A gift from Beetee." Finnick explained, tapping the empty space next to him on the couch. "It disturbs their bugs. They can't hear and they don't even know it. Welcome to the penthouse of free-speech!" His eyes were twinkling madly but not in actual joy or amusement. It was a bit frantic. She squeezed Haymitch's arm and sat on her usual spot, next to Four's victor. "Just like old times." he grinned at her, patting her knee. "Drink?"
She realized suddenly that Chaff and Finnick were both clutching their glass – which was fine, she wasn't their keeper and they were about to be shipped to an arena the next morning – but Haymitch was too and that didn't sit well with her. "You were doing so well." she clucked her tongue in open disappointment.
"It's grape juice." He rolled his eyes. "Can you, just once, not be at my throat as soon as you enter a room?"
"I don't know." she replied without batting an eyelid. "Can you?"
Chaff chuckled. "Ah… One last spar for the road… I think I'm going to miss this."
"You will probably be dead." Finnick said, keeping his voice light. "I'm not sure there's a lot of missing involved in that."
"Right." Chaff agreed, lifting his glass in a toast.
Effie ignored them and narrowed her eyes at Haymitch. "Are you sure it's grape juice?"
"I'm very sure it's grape juice, love." Chaff sighed in fake despair. "Did you know there's nothing else to drink in your joke of a penthouse?"
"Oh, and you didn't bring wine from your floors, of course." she folded her arms, staring at Chaff and Finnick in turn.
"Haymitch said no." Finnick shrugged. "Which is a first if you ask me."
Haymitch rolled his eyes and leaned in to hand her his glass with slightly shaky hands. She took a careful sip, expecting the sourness of his favorite wine. It was sweet and it wasn't wine. Grape juice.
"Satisfied, baby?" he sneered.
Everyone froze. Even Chaff winced.
"That was bad even for you." she commented. "Call me that again and I will hurt you."
"Yeah, no…" Haymitch made a face. "I will forget this one. It's… tacky."
"Oh, and you're usually such a gentleman." she retorted, passing him back the glass to accept the one Finnick had poured her. Something on her friend's wrist caught her eye and she hooked a finger between the golden band and Finnick's wrist. "Because a gentleman would never get rid of a lady's gift even if he doesn't like it, would he?"
"It's a loan." Haymitch sighed. "I made him promise he would bring it back."
Her face softened and she let go of Finnick's wrist. "You better." she said, her voice strained. "It's an expensive bangle."
She carefully didn't let herself think that if Finnick came back then it meant Katniss and Peeta wouldn't. Or Chaff for that matter but no one in the room really expected Chaff to walk out of the arena alive, least of all Chaff himself. He had made enough joke about it during the last past days.
"Where is Mason?" she asked, feeling a change of subject was in order. Johanna Mason had never been too far behind those three since she had become a victor. It was Finnick who had first befriend her. She enjoyed drinking, she enjoyed making fun of Effie… Chaff and her had become fast friends and Haymitch… Well, Effie didn't quite know what Haymitch saw in the woman. A younger version of himself, perhaps.
"She stayed with Blight." Finnick explained. "They're drinking and spending the evening talking about Seven. A bad way to spend your last night on Earth if you ask me, but…" he shrugged. "To each his own, I suppose."
"You're spending your last night drinking grape juice with two alcoholics and an escort." Haymitch pointed out. "I'm not sure you have room to talk."
"To be fair, the escort wasn't invited." Chaff mused before making a face. "Although she never was so I don't know why Peacekeepers marching escorts and stylists out of the building should have stopped her from crashing on our little pity party."
Effie didn't even try to hide her teasing smile. "Admit it, Chaff, you would have missed me."
Eleven's victor didn't commit to anything but he winked at her which was more than he ever did.
"I would have." Finnick said, his hand falling on her leg. "I wanted a good luck kiss."
Haymitch let out a pained sigh and mumbled something under his breath. Effie could read Finnick's amusement as clear as her own. How many times had they played that game?
"Just a kiss?" she asked, lifting her eyebrows in mocked surprise. "You're usually more demanding."
"I am." His hand ran up her leg and stopped right at the hem of her skirt before going to her knee again. Finnick glanced at Chaff who was doing a bad job at hiding his amusement. "Is he purple yet?"
Haymitch, Effie was pleased to see, was a nice shade of angry red.
"Careful, boy, he's sober." Chaff laughed. "It's a different animal entirely."
Haymitch was glaring at Finnick's hand but didn't venture any comment. As usual.
"Enough teasing." Effie said, whacking the hand on her knee away. "Haymitch, how were the children?"
She probably should have waited to ask that question because the mood shifted from playful to tense at once but she really wanted to know.
"As good as they can be." he grunted. "They say thanks, by the way. They send their love and there was something about you being the best escort ever…" He rolled his eyes. "I was supposed to make it good so if one of them ever asks, I gave you a fancy speech."
"You couldn't do a fancy speech if your life depended on it but… thank you." She took a sip of her juice to hide her sadness. "I would have liked to say goodbye and…" She didn't finish her sentence. What good would that have done them to know she loved them?
"They know, sweetheart." Haymitch promised. For a second, she thought he would reach for her hand but that would have been out of characters for them to act that way. They had so many faces, so many pretends, she sometimes forgot who they were underneath it all.
"Did you know about the dress?" Finnick asked, deadly serious. She wasn't used to seeing him frowning like that. Everyone had their own little act, even with friends. Chaff was always joking even though he never really felt like it, Haymitch had always a bottle in his hand even though he often acted drunker than he really was, Effie always sported her nice bubbly smile even though she felt like crying and screaming more often than not and Finnick was always flirting with everyone even though each foreign touch made his skin crawl. They never really slipped their mask off even if they were all aware the others were pretending too. It was their armor, their last defense.
"No." Haymitch's answer was quick but she couldn't tell if he was telling the truth or not. There were many things Effie didn't – couldn't – know.
"Portia knew." Effie whispered quietly. She had been backstage with Haymitch when Katniss had morphed into a Mockingjay but when the first shock had passed, she had searched the crowd for their friends' faces. Cinna had been smiling. Portia's face had been hard. No smile, no hint at surprise or satisfaction, nothing.
"It doesn't matter if she did or not, does it?" Chaff spat. "She's dead either way."
They both were, Effie had known as soon as she had seen the first flame licking Katniss' dress. Cinna had committed suicide and he had doomed his partner with him. And yet… "She's my friend." How many of her friends was she going to lose before the end of… of what? The war had not even really begun yet.
"This thing is disgusting." Haymitch said, out of the blue, putting the glass back down on the coffee table.
"It comes from my District." Chaff snorted. "Have some respect."
"Respect for pressed fruits, yeah… You bet." Haymitch retorted.
She exchanged a look with Finnick. "I'm not sure what's the most worrying…" Finnick asked her, the easy grin finding its way back to his face. "That they look drunk even when they're not or that they're pretty serious about fruit juice."
"I've stopped wondering." Effie shook her head. "You're all madder than the next."
"Says the woman dressed like a clown." Haymitch pointed out, relaxing back into his chair. He was slumped without any dignity, just like Chaff was.
"Fashion." she corrected in a hiss.
"Which reminds me…" Chaff tapped his lump against his forehead. "We need to settle the bets." He pointed the lump at her. "What does your hair look like under that golden thing, love?"
She flushed. "That's an extremely rude question, Chaff."
"Yeah, whatever." Eleven's victor waved her remark away. "Finnick says you're a blonde, I'm in for brown and Haymitch says red. So, who won?"
She glared at Haymitch and finished her drink in one long swallow. She ought not to grant that sort of questions with a response. That was rude and absolutely improper. And they were all waiting for her answer like it would change their whole life. Stupid idiots who were always making stupid bets.
"Finnick." she said at last.
Finnick let out a victorious cry and Chaff grunted in defeat.
"Liar." Haymitch objected. "It's red." He looked at Finnick. "You didn't win. I did."
"My hair isn't red." Effie denied. "You're mistaken."
"It was red last time I checked." Haymitch grunted. "It's not because you don't like the color…"
"And when was the last time you checked, Haymitch?" Finnick cut in, a triumphant grin on his lips. "Why, oh why, I wonder would you have checked Effie's hair?"
"One bet at a time." Chaff argued but he leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees to study her closely. "Trinket, tell me the truth. Did Haymitch cheat?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" she chuckled, before shrugging. "My hair is blond. Finnick wins."
"Your hair's red, Princess, deal with it." Haymitch folded his arm.
"Well, is it blond or red? Which is it?" Chaff frowned. "'Cause if it's red, Finnick won the other bet."
"What's the other bet?" Haymitch asked, confused. "We only had that one going."
"The other bet isn't for Effie's pretty lady ears." Finnick winked at her.
"The other bet is whether or not you screwed her." Chaff answered, without any attempt at delicacy. "I bet no but I was very drunk so that doesn't count."
"Oh, it does count." Finnick argued. "Effie, I may die tomorrow, I need an answer. Are you and Haymitch going to break my heart?"
"Don't you have anything better to do with your time than speculate on what we do behind closed doors?" she huffed.
"No." Chaff and Finnick answered in a perfect chorus.
"Ignore them, sweetheart." Haymitch instructed, taking her side for once. Pigs might just be able to fly after all. "They're messing with you."
"No, but seriously…" Finnick countered. "I bet a fortune on your hair color."
"You shouldn't have." Effie rolled her eyes.
"You lost, I won." Haymitch insisted. "It's red."
"It's reddish, Haymitch, as you are very well aware." she snapped, done with his endless joke about her hair. It was plain, of an in-between color, and not something she particularly wished to discuss at length. "It looks red under certain light but it's blond."
"Yeah, what do you call that again?" he asked.
"Strawberry blond." She glared daggers at him but that didn't stop him from tapping Chaff's arm.
"You're the fruits expert here. What color are strawberries again?" he smirked.
Chaff's laugher sounded more like a bark and it filled the penthouse living-room, highly contagious. Finnick was trying hard to stifle his own laugher, Effie's mouth twitched despite her best intentions.
"Anyway, you cheated." Chaff panted at last, between two chuckles.
"I didn't!" Haymitch protested. "She's the one lying about her hair."
"And how would you know that if you had not cheated, Haymitch?" Finnick grinned. He elbowed Effie softly. "You sly little vixen! You have been holding out on me."
"I haven't been holding out at all." she argued. "I've always been very vocal in my feelings for Haymitch. He's rude, uncivilized and absolutely insufferable."
Haymitch made a face at her she was all too happy to make back.
"Weird turns on, you have, love." Chaff snorted. "Then again, he's doing you so…"
"Must you be so crude?" Effie wrinkled her nose in distaste.
"Can we drop it?" Haymitch sighed. "I think I like you two better when I'm drunk."
"Really?" Finnick joked. "What about Effie?"
She chuckled. It came out somehow bitter and that made Finnick frown a little but too late to correct that. "It is a truth universally known that Haymitch hates me sober or drunk, happy or sad, worried or confident."
The silence that followed was uncomfortable but she still smiled. It was her stage-smile though and everyone in that room knew her too well to be fooled.
"Well, that's fucked up." Chaff decided, finishing the last of the grape juice.
"And that's untrue." Finnick said softly, staring at Twelve's victor, waiting for him to say something.
Haymitch remained silent.
"Why wouldn't he?" She stared at the small device on the table that granted them total freedom of speech, a thing they had never been given in the past. There were things she had never said out loud for fear of being heard by the wrong person. She had learned to convey her real meaning by other methods, she had let things slip sometimes in the heat of the moment, some careless anti-Capitol words that she was sure would come back to bit her in the ass one day, she had publicly befriended victors and although her sort-of-relationship with Haymitch had been a closely guarded secret for years, she was sure the Capitol knew. Some people teased and speculated but she was sure the Capitol knew.
Oh, she hadn't been the only escort sleeping with a mentor in the history of the Hunger Games, she was sure of that – she had her own suspicions about Brutus and District Two's escort – it could be considered a part of the Games, a slice of fame, but it was Haymitch, not Brutus, and it was different. It was hard kisses in the middle of the night, it was insults thrown back and forth, it was stubble burns on her neck when he kissed every inches of her body reverently or bite her creamy skin when he was angry, it was long and lazy afternoon in his bedroom after their tributes were dead and they wanted to pretend the outer world didn't exist, it was short and quick tumbles in the elevator when one of them was frustrated with the other, it was angry sex, it was comfort sex, it was loving sex, it was everything and nothing at once. It wasn't a meaningless affair but it wasn't really an affair either. She didn't know what it was, she only knew it was. It had been going on for too long, she had been officially single for years… It wasn't just a sex thing and the Capitol must have known that.
"No one here hates you." Finnick grabbed her numb fingers and squeezed quietly.
"Oh, you should." she objected with the fake smile she usually offered cameras. "I reap children for a living after all. I pick them up at random, I make sure they look pretty and then I send them to die. Sometimes I even get my nails done in between." She lifted her hand in the air to contemplate her perfect manicure. She had them painted golden to go with her wig and Katniss' pin. "You should definitely hate me because you wouldn't be standing right here if someone like me hadn't pick your name out of a ball, you would be in your District with a wife, maybe even children, and I don't know if you would be happy but at least you wouldn't be broken."
"Come on, sweetheart, that's enough." She wasn't sure at what point he had left his chair to come sit on the armrest next to her but she was glad for the hand that gripped her shoulder and then slid to her neck. His fingers rubbed the tension away and she leaned against him a little. That wasn't normal behavior either but what did she know? Maybe it didn't count because Chaff and Finnick were about to be shipped to their death? She knew something was planned, she didn't know what but she knew something was planned, she also knew that didn't guarantee anything. There would be a bloodbath at the Cornucopia and they would all turn against each other and…
"I don't hate you." Chaff said suddenly with a shrug. "I don't like you but I don't hate you. You're not bad, Trinket."
"I like you." Finnick added honestly. She mustered enough strength to smile at them.
"I am so very sorry." There was a lump in her throat and tears in her eyes and she didn't know why she was apologizing. If it was because she had probably ruined their night or because they were about to die?
"I am too." Finnick confessed. "You remember the time your purple wig mysteriously got on one of the training dummies? It wasn't Haymitch and Chaff's idea…"
Her eyes widened. She was briefly distracted from her somber thoughts. "I don't believe you." she hissed. "You swore you had nothing to do with it!"
"It wasn't worse than the time Haymitch fell into the main hall fountain…" Chaff commented. "I thought you were going to kill him, love."
"She did worse, she hid the booze." Haymitch snorted.
That went on for a while. Short funny stories from times that hadn't been happier but that hadn't been worse either. There were so many of them to revisit… Although the one when she ended up in Peacekeepers custody and Haymitch had to come and get her was still everyone's favorite to her utter despair. They switched places at some point, Finnick went to sit in the chair Haymitch had vacated and Haymitch slumped next to her on the couch. They were sitting much closer than they usually would and his arm was propped against the back of the couch in such a way her head was cushioned against it. She gradually relaxed, they all did, to the point they forgot what they were doing there in the first place. They were just four friends reminiscing about old times.
Her head was starting to fall sleepily against Haymitch's shoulder when Finnick called it a night. It was so late, now, they wouldn't get more than a couple of hours of sleep before their respective stylist would rouse them and escort them to the hovercraft.
Walking them back to the elevator was probably one of the hardest thing she had done in her life and, as much of a coward as she felt, she was glad that Katniss and Peeta had gone to bed before she had come back. She wasn't sure how to say goodbye to anyone so dear to her heart. As it was, if it hadn't been for Haymitch's hand at the small of her back, she wasn't sure she could have made her way to the elevator.
They all stood there awkwardly in the corridor. No one pushed the button to call the elevator but no one seemed to know what to do either until Chaff rolled his eyes and dragged Haymitch further down by his arm. The whispered conversation that ensued wasn't meant for their ears so Effie turned to Finnick. He opened his arms with a sad smile and she stepped in his embrace willingly, breathing in the salty smell of the sea that always seemed to cling to him even when he hadn't been near Four for two weeks.
"You will be alright." she whispered low enough that the other two couldn't hear. She wanted Katniss and Peeta to be safe, she wanted so badly for the children to be safe… But she didn't want to lose Finnick either. And she wasn't stupid. She knew what the Quarter Quell was about… She hoped Haymitch's plan was solid, she hoped whatever she wasn't allowed to know was the greatest idea that he ever had, she hoped… but if it didn't work, she also knew Katniss and Peeta were as good as dead. Just like Portia and Cinna were most likely going to die in the next few days, accidentally or not. Their death would be an example, a warning. "You will be alright." she said again, because she had to believe at least one of her victors would walk in that arena with a chance to win. "You didn't do anything to spite them, the odds will be fair."
He hugged her tighter and chuckled bitterly. "I haven't been very careful in my choice of friends. Guilty by association, I'm afraid. You know that better than me, don't you?" His voice turned serious. "Inside or outside the arena, it doesn't really matter anymore, Effie, we're all in danger now. You watch your back, alright?"
She didn't have much hope for her own fate. It seemed sealed somehow. Her future as an escort was doomed to end sooner rather than later anyway, she was getting old by Capitol standards, they probably would have replaced her the next year or the one after that even if things hadn't turned out as they did. She hadn't told Haymitch, she hadn't seen the need, but he must have known anyway, he was good at finding out what was making her sad. At least, she was now sure she would never suffer the humiliation of being asked to step down from her job. She would probably be killed first.
She would have liked to say she was at peace with that knowledge, that she wasn't afraid, that she would accept death graciously when it finally came as penance from the wrong she had done. It was all lies of course. Truth was she was terrified out of her mind.
Finnick grabbed her shoulder and held her at arm length for a few seconds, probably reading all that and more on her face, he nodded once grimly and then cupped her cheeks and kissed her right on the mouth. It was very chaste as far as kisses went. He pressed his lips against hers and drew back quickly.
"Is that your good luck kiss?" she tried to joke but it felt short. Mainly because Haymitch and Chaff were now watching them and if Chaff was amused, Haymitch was… Well Haymitch was Haymitch, his face was unreadable but the force of his stare was burning her.
"I know Twelve has this fanciful hand salute but that's how we roll in Four." Finnick explained, giving a careless shrug. "It means farewell to someone you love and in that particular case it means thank you for being my friend, I haven't had too many of those."
She kissed him back, just as innocently as he had done.
"Okay, enough pawing at my escort, Odair." Haymitch snorted, clapping their friend on his shoulder and tugging him away. That left her facing Chaff and wasn't that another world of awkward?
They stared at each other, not knowing how to proceed. They weren't friends in the strict sense of the word, rather they had two good friends in common and that forced them to interact rather regularly. Well, that wasn't strictly true, Finnick would never have brought them together, could never have brought them together.
"To hell with it." Chaff grunted, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
His hugging was bone-crushing and not really enjoyable but she didn't say anything because she, contrary to him, had manners.
"You take care of our boy, love, you hear me?" he hissed in her ear. It wasn't really a request.
"With my life." she whispered back and he must have known she meant it.
Chaff laughed and touched her face with his lump. "Let's hope it doesn't come down to that."
Chaff exchanged one last handshake with Haymitch, Finnick bumped her playfully one last time and then they were in the elevator. The fake smile on her lips was painful.
"A last advice?" Finnick joked just when the doors began sliding shut.
"Try not to get yourself killed, you idiots!" Haymitch shouted back but the elevator was gone before he could finish. He seemed to deflate once they were alone and the smile melt from her lips.
She wanted to tell him she was glad he wasn't going back to the arena because she didn't know how she would have bear having to say goodbye to him but she didn't. She had already done so several times since the Reaping, he was probably sick of hearing it.
"Come on." he sighed, turning to face her. "We need to get you out before they realize you're here."
"I'm staying here tonight." she refuted.
"No, you're not." It was definitive. "It was reckless sneaking back in, sweetheart. You don't need the attention, they're already watching you a bit too closely for my comfort."
She had noticed too. The people following her, the odd questions here and there… "How many nights do we have left? I want to stay with you."
She didn't like the way he was looking at her. His grey eyes were his most attractive feature. Well… It was what she liked best anyway. She loved the way they sparkled when he teased her.
"Was it the kids you wanted to say goodbye to or me, Princess?" Haymitch asked. Usually, that kind of confrontation would end in a fight or in a kiss but tonight the challenge was lacking from his voice. He just sounded sad. With reasons, she guessed.
"I don't know what is going to happen and I don't want you to tell me." She avoided his eyes to stare at the floor. "But I suppose… I suppose after something has happened, I won't see you again and…" She fell silent when he gripped her chin gently, she had no choice but to look at him.
"Are you telling me you really think I hate you?" He sounded offended for some strange reason.
"Please." she huffed. "You don't need to do that. I know you…"
"I don't plan on leaving you behind." he cut her off. "I can't tell you anything but, Effie, I never planned on leaving you behind." The hand slid to her cheek and he pulled her in a kiss that left her breathless. "This isn't our last night and don't you dare say goodbye to me, sweetheart. Not tonight, not ever." He kissed her again, hard. "Get it?"
The smile that blossomed on her lips was as far as it could be from her fake one."Not tonight, not ever."