Hello! I'm a huge fan, and I hear you're taking prompts. So I have one. In HaDS chapter 103 Effie mentions that she laughs on command and those other things. Maybe Haymitch asks her what those things are? Thank you if you do it!
I don't think it's necessary to have read the chapter 103 to understand this one. I have this headcanon/idea that victors might not have been the only one being sold, that's what is implied. I'm not sure that's what the prompter wanted but… It's the best I could do.
Watching
I'm already a slave. I smile and laugh on command. I do other things on command too. Do you want to know?
Her words were haunting him.
She had delivered them on a drunk rampage, she would never have spat them at his face otherwise. Still, they haunted him. He found himself watching her, watching each and every move she made, watching the way she interacted with sponsors…
He couldn't stop wondering.
He had a good idea of what she had been referring to but he didn't want to find out. He couldn't do anything for her even if he did find out. It was a lost cause.
Yet he couldn't stop keeping tabs on her.
The question was perpetually frozen on his lips.
She had become a mystery. He wanted to know if those things she did on command were the reason for the doll mask she was so readily wearing. He never dared to ask her outright. He had the peculiar feeling the mask was also a shield, a smooth surface that revealed nothing but sent back people's reflection. He didn't want to break her shield and he was afraid of what was underneath the mask. He was afraid of the human hiding behind the doll. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to discard the woman as easily as he did the Capitol toy.
So he didn't ask.
He simply watched.