Prompt : May I prompt? Haymitch is getting hit on at a party and asks Effie to help him out. He expects her to just call him away for 'buisness talk' or whatever but instead she goes up and makes out with him and when the other woman leaves she carries on as normal. Haymitch can't stop thinking about the kiss and thinks up ways to make it happen again until he just can't stand it anymore and...well...lovey kissy fireworks happen! :D x ps. I love ur writing this is why I'm asking you

A Blueberry Taste

Downtown bars were the only way for victors to have some measure of tranquility.

Haymitch, Chaff and Johanna had managed to escape the Training Center that night, eager for a change in scenery – anything that didn't remind them of kids about to die was good – and Trinket had tagged along under the pretext of chaperoning them. Or so she said, he mused.

She had been glued to the pool table with Johanna ever since they had put a foot in the bar. The two women took turns teaming up against innocent Capitol men who didn't know what they were in for and playing against each other. It was a sight, Johanna Mason and Effie Trinket playing pool in their short dresses, high heels and with that killer glint in their eyes.

He and Chaff were enjoying it very much.

They had made quite a good amount of money by betting on them.

People in that part of town weren't much concerned with victors and escorts and were happy to drink their own misery away – whatever Capitol citizens' miseries were – and leave them to their own devices. That was why Johanna had chosen that particular bar after all : they would be left alone.

In theory.

Haymitch blamed the pants. Fashion, Trinket had retorted when he had complained that his pants were too tight that year. At least a size too small, he could swear. Everything was squashed down there, front and back. He had caught more than one woman looking at his butt at the Training Center and even Seeder had teased him about his new choice in attire.

Yes, he blamed the pants.

He wasn't even sure the woman who refused to take no for an answer knew who he was, she just kept patting him everywhere, batting her eyelashes and pouting in a way that he supposed was meant to be seductive. He had tried to tell her nicely, he had tried to snap at her, he had tried to get angry… She was still clinging to him like an octopus.

And he had only stepped to the bar to get more drinks…

He tried to glance at his friends but the bar was crowded and the pool area was a popular one, all the more so now that Johanna and Trinket were putting on a show.

"Look, lady…" he gritted through his teeth.

The woman moved as if to kiss him and he stumbled back against a stool. The bartender had trouble suppressing his grin as he slid the two glasses of margaritas – trust the girls to drink something so ridiculous – and a brand new bottle of whiskey his way. Haymitch's hands were already full trying to keep the stranger at bay.

He had never been so happy to glimpse his escort than at that moment. He spied her just as she exited the ladies and he caught her eyes. An amused expression flashed on her face when she realized what was happening.

"Help." he mouthed at her.

She rolled her eyes and disappeared in the crowd before he could try to be more explicit. He would even be willing to discuss sponsors if that meant getting rid of the woman desperately tugging on his arm. He didn't want to hurt her, she was clearly intoxicated and she looked harmless enough compared to the sponsors he was used to. She didn't seem to expect anything from him, she just… wanted him for some reason.

He was so busy gripping both of her wrist to keep her from groping him that he almost jumped when a third hand slid in the back pocket of his pants like it was a common occurrence. Trinket ducked under his arm, effectively standing between him and the stranger. For a second, he was oddly touched by her shielding him with her body. Then she coiled her hand around his neck and pulled him in a kiss that left no room for his brain to think.

He barely registered when the other woman snatched her wrists away from him but he placed his newly freed hands on Trinket's waist instinctively.

It wasn't a nice kiss.

It was fierce and demanding, possessive even, it was almost a claim. There was nothing tentative or sweet about it. They kissed as if they had been doing it for years and he didn't think anyone could have said it was their first time.

When she finally drew back, she was sporting a wolfish grin. She looked devilish.

"I think you are quite safe now." she told him, patting his chest with her free hand. The other one was still in his back pocket and she took her sweet time pulling it out. She grabbed the two margaritas, winked at the bartender who was clearly trying hard not to laugh at Haymitch's tribulations and sauntered off.

If the pants Had been tight before, now they were outward uncomfortable.

Chaff flashed a knowing smirk when he joined him at their table, placing the bottle between them for easy reach.

Johanna and Trinket were back at playing against one another, bickering and insulting each other at every turn. He couldn't keep his eyes away from his escort. Every time she leaned over the poor table to take a shot, his gaze wandered down.

It didn't occur to him he had been staring until a napkin was waved right in front of his face.

"You're drooling." Chaff chuckled.

Haymitch snatched it from his friend's hand. "Shut up, I'm not."

"Then use it to wipe your face." Eleven's victor taunted. "You have lipstick all over your mouth and I'm not sure blue is really your color."

He was quick to rub at his mouth. Trinket caught his eyes right at that second and grinned wider. Her blue lipstick didn't look smudged at all.

He lifted an eyebrow in challenge but she didn't pay him any more attention. She was too busy arguing with Johanna over which of them was truly cheating.

He wanted her attention back on him.

He wanted her lips back on him.

That thought brought him short. There had always been an odd tension between them and they had always danced on that thin line but they had never crossed it. Had that one kiss made them topple over?

The pants were too tight. It didn't help his dwelling.

"I need to get laid." he mumbled in his glass.

Chaff chortled in his. "Who's stopping you? There are enough drunk and desperate women around."

Except there weren't. He eyed a blonde woman with pink strands and he even chatted her up for a while but, somehow, he always ended up staring at Trinket again. She looked up at some point and pursed her lips in obvious annoyance. It only made him want to taste the blueberry lipstick again.

He moved on to a drunk woman next, hoping Trinket would come to his rescue again but no luck there. She did notice the Capitol hitting on him but instead of coming to claim him with a kiss she said something to Johanna. Seven's victor's nasty cackles were loud and cruel to his ears.

"No luck?" Chaff mocked when Haymitch flopped back down in the chair next to him.

"Shut up." he grumbled.

When Johanna and Trinket decided to call it a night, he was only too happy to stand up and leave, vowing to never come back to that particular bar. Clearly it had played a number on his sanity.

Worse was, during the car trip back to the Training Center, while the two women fought and snapped at each other, he couldn't stop staring at his escort's lips.

Chaff was alternating between shooting him disapproving and amused looks.

It seemed to take forever before they reached the Training Center's elevator. It was slow torture to wait for Johanna to get off at her floor and then to watch the numbers slowly go up one by one until Chaff left too, not without a last glance that Haymitch knew to be a warning.

The tension once they were left alone was palpable.

"Johanna is a cheater." Trinket declared in an awful attempt at breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Why did you play with her then?" he asked.

"I don't know. Why did you chat up that tramp with the cheap pink strands?" she retorted.

It was such an abrupt switch of topic he looked at her with both eyebrows raised. His brief surprise was soon replaced with a smirk though. "Jealous, are you?"

"Hardly." she huffed. "She was old, her clothes were distasteful and don't get me started on that awful red lipstick she was wearing."

"Yeah, that didn't look so appealing." he admitted willingly, turning to face her. "Seemed like strawberry lipstick."

"You like strawberry." she pointed out.

"I'm craving blueberry." he smirked.

"Good thing there are blueberry muffins left from this morning then." she deadpanned, smoothing the creases off her blue dress.

"I don't want muffins." he replied, slowly stepping closer. She didn't step back even when he placed his hands on her waist.

The elevator chimed and the doors slid open.

Neither of them moved.

She cleared her throat. "It's late, Haymitch. I think we should go to bed."

His smirk deepened. "No argument there."

"Haymitch." There was a warning in her voice but she didn't protest when he nudged her back against the wall and her fingers dug in his shoulders when his mouth pressed against her neck. "You shouldn't do that. It isn't proper at all."

"How about kissing me? Was that proper?" he shrugged.

"You asked for my help." she pointed out.

"I didn't think you would jump on me." he snorted. "How long have you wanted to do that? You should have asked, sweetheart…"

A derisive smile played on her lips and she grabbed the lapel of his coat. "I don't ask, Haymitch. I take."

"Well, take then." he challenged.

He wasn't quite expecting to be pushed against the opposite wall and as much as he tried to take the control back, he didn't manage to. She was an expert at kissing.

And he was developing a taste for blueberries.