Hi, I love your fics, huge fan of your Hayffie stories, I have a prompt if you will: since Katniss is a terrible actress and the kids don't look like they're in love Effie and Haymitch end up demonstrating how to pretend to like each other. Maybe kissing is involved? idk, you get the picture, thanks if you do!

Acting Lessons

"I'm doing my best." Katniss sulked.

Sometimes, all Haymitch wanted to do was tear that sulk off her face and slap her with it. He loved the girl to death but, really, she was irritating.

"We know, Katniss." Cinna replied calmly. "But we need to make it more believable…"

"And Effie's speeches only get us so far…" Portia chipped in.

Katniss wasn't hiding her annoyance and Haymitch couldn't quite blame her. The living-room cart was quickly morphing into a court of law. The kids were sitting together on one couch, Portia and Cinna on the other one, facing them, Haymitch was slumped on a chair with a drink and Effie hadn't stopped pacing behind him ever since the disaster that had been District Eight.

"You don't act like people in love." the escort said. It was relatively to the point compared to the running commentary she had given Haymitch during the kids' time on screen a few hours earlier.

"Are you kidding?" Katniss exploded. "I'm kissing him all the time!"

"Being in love isn't just about kissing." Effie snapped. "And if truth be told, I don't know if we can call what you do kissing. You smile, you peck him on the mouth, you move away."

"And how do people in love behave?" Peeta sighed, not without irony.

Haymitch felt for him. The boy had the shortest end of the stick there.

"Watch them." Haymitch shrugged, nodding to Cinna and Portia.

The stylists both froze. Cinna's arm was stretched on the back of the couch – although Portia was sitting so close to him she was almost in his lap anyway – his hand kept brushing against the side of her neck. He wasn't even aware of it, Haymitch was sure.

"People in love touch." the victor went on. "They can't get enough of the other. They touch, they look at each other, they kiss – and Effie is right, I'm talking real kisses not those pecks you do, Katniss."

The girl didn't like what she was hearing, he could tell.

"We're holding hands all the time." Katniss argued.

"That's not enough, dear." Effie commented. "You need to touch more. Peeta, why don't you…"

"I don't want to make Katniss uncomfortable." Peeta interrupted her firmly.

Effie's face softened. "And that's very commendable but…"

"But it's not about being commendable, it's about staying alive, here." Haymitch finished, raising his glass in a parody of a toast.

"I think what Effie and Haymitch mean is that you shouldn't mind so much, Katniss." Portia suggested kindly. "It's all an act. Peeta knows it, we all know it. There is nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah, sorry." Katniss scoffed. "I don't see how you can act so in love everyone will believe it. People in love always look stupid, that's the only thing I know."

"Why, thank you." Cinna grinned, his hand settling on Portia's shoulder.

Guilt washed on Katniss' face. "That's not what I meant… I…"

"Oh, it's quite alright, darling." Portia laughed. "Cinna does look stupid." The soft smile she sent his way denied the truth of her words. The stylists stared at each other for a few seconds, having the kind of silent conversations only long time couples could have.

"See." Effie exclaimed, bursting the bubble. "That's how you ought to act. As for the kissing… Please, Katniss, today was truly embarrassing. The wince right after Peeta tried to deepen it? That can't happen again. I saw it, Haymitch saw it, Portia and Cinna saw it. Do you know what it means? Everyone could see it."

"It's my fault." Peeta offered. "I got caught up."

"He put his tongue inside my mouth." Katniss mumbled. "I wasn't prepared."

Haymitch wanted to bang his head against the wall. Repeatedly.

"Next time, instead of being prepared, try to enjoy it a little." he sneered. "Or at least pretend to."

"Why don't you try for a change?" Katniss shot back. "It's easy for you. All you do is sit there and drink."

"Sit there, drink, review the speeches, check the outfits, smooth things out with Peacekeepers you keep annoying, invent excuses to explain why the boy spends his nights in your room so train attendants don't ask too many questions…." he scoffed "But who's counting, right?"

"Well, let them know." the girl spat. "If everyone thinks we're… doing things, it's good for us, right?"

He carefully didn't meet Effie's eyes. There was a reason they had been trying so hard to keep their new sleeping arrangements from the staff. Once the rumors were out that they were sexually active, there wouldn't be any protecting them from lustful Capitol citizens.

"We're aiming for a teenage romance." Cinna cut in. "Innocent and sweet."

"Not to mention, the impropriety of what you are suggesting." Effie huffed. "You are under my watch. My reputation is on the line."

"If it's supposed to be innocent and sweet then why are you so mad we just hold hands and peck?" Katniss hissed, completely disregarding Effie's comment.

"Because I don't know any seventeen years old who just hold hands and peck." Haymitch sighed, infuriated with her refusals to get it. He understood that it was difficult and if he could, he would spare her and the boy the comedy of it all but what need must… They needed to keep the charade going. "At least kiss like you mean it!"

"I'm trying." Peeta replied with obvious irritation.

"You are not the problem." Haymitch snapped.

"Oh, yeah, I am the problem." Katniss grumbled. "I am always the problem, right?"

"You said it not me." Twelve's mentor shrugged.

Katniss moved as if to get up but Effie was right in front of her suddenly and pushed on her shoulder – gently but firmly – so she would sit back down.

"Don't you dare storm out." the escort warned. "We are only trying to help you here. Now… what we need is an acting lesson." Her voice was cheerful but Haymitch could tell at her quick movement that she was just as infuriated as the rest of them. "Cinna, Portia… I loathe to ask but perhaps… If you could show them how a couple in love truly kisses…"

Haymitch raised his eyebrows at her suggestion. He hadn't been planning on any demonstrations.

Cinna looked ill-at-ease while Portia simply looked amused.

"But we don't need to act, Effie dear." the stylist objected. "It wouldn't really be an acting lesson. Why don't you do the honors."

Effie blinked once and then smiled pleasantly. "If you wouldn't mind me borrowing Cinna…"

Cinna didn't look keen on being borrowed and Portia's hand fell not so subtly on his thigh.

"Cinna isn't quite Katniss material." she countered. "If I am right and you intend to have Peeta take the lead like you're about to do, then we need someone who acts like Katniss on a daily basis. You wouldn't object to playing Katniss' role would you, Haymitch?"

"Nope." Haymitch smirked, making the "p" pop.

"And since you aren't in love with Haymitch, it would truly be acting, wouldn't it, Effie?" Portia teased. "You have never kissed him before, have you?"

Effie pursed her lips and looked at her friend who only winked in answer. There was a story underneath that little scene, Haymitch sensed and he would need to get it out of his escort later.

"Of course not." she huffed in a clipped tone. "Now." She turned to the kids, waving a warning finger. "If I convince you that I enjoy kissing Haymitch – and I would deserve an award for that performance – I don't want to hear any more complaint about how it is too difficult to act in love. Do we have an agreement, Katniss?"

The girl rolled her eyes.

"Convince me." Katniss challenged.

Haymitch's smirk only grew when Effie advanced on him, a predatory glint in her blue eyes. Since he didn't even try to get up, she flopped sideways on his lap and brushed her fingers against his cheek. Her face was its usual cheerful smiling mask. He placed a hand on her leg just to see her eyelid twitch – which it did – she tilted her head in a silent warning but never departed with her smile. Then she leaned in, she brushed her lips against his playfully once or twice and he chased after them every time, forgetting about their audience when she finally relented and kissed him properly. She didn't resist when he tentatively deepened the kiss– testing the boundaries of that public display.

He found the limit when his hand wandered a bit too high on her thigh, under her skirt and she smacked it not so playfully.

"Don't push it." she murmured against his lips.

"Sorry, I got caught up." he snickered.

Then she was standing up again and he felt the loss of her warmth keenly.

"So?" she prompted, folding her arms over her chest and waiting for their audience's criticisms.

Katniss remained stubbornly silent, refusing to admit her defeat.

"Scary." Peeta commented, looking half grossed out and half impressed. "Please, don't do it again."

"I could have sworn you have a lot of practice together." Portia smirked. "Are you sure you don't have a secret affair on the side?"

"Quite sure, thank you." Effie replied, leaving no room for arguments. "Katniss?"

"I will try." the girl sighed and since it was the best they would get out of her, they all decided to call it a night.

Haymitch waited until the train had gone silent before he crept along the corridors to his escort's room. He didn't bother with knocking and went straight in.

She was sitting in front of her dressing table, wearing nothing but her yellow nightgown, brushing her hair diligently. She didn't even pause when he sat at the foot of the bed, a few inches behind her.

"Did you enjoy molesting me in front of people?" he teased.

"Portia saw you walking out of my room yesterday." she replied. "If she or Cinna asked, we were reviewing speeches."

"Not your best lie." he snorted.

"You are lucky I am a good actress." she argued.

"Yeah…" He stood up and took the hairbrush from her, dropping it on the table and brushing her hair to the side so her neck would be exposed. "You proved to everyone you enjoyed kissing me. Such a good actress…"

His irony flew high over her head when he lowered his lips to the spot behind her ear. He relished in her sharp intake of breath.

"Perhaps I have plenty of practice." she teased, letting her head roll on his shoulder to give him better access. "Perhaps I pretend to enjoy kissing you when I really don't."

"Sure." he snorted, pushing the strap of her nightgown to the side to kiss the soft skin of her shoulder. "What else are you pretending to enjoy?"

Effie's grin was challenging. "Take me to bed and I will show you."

He was happy to comply.

He loved acting lessons.