Prompt : not my ask originally so i don't know if it might have already been prompted but if you like the idea could you maybe do a fic where effie finds out she can't have kids (pre-mj)? i feel like even if she hadn't wanted them she would probably take it pretty hard. maybe you could involve haymitch in some way? :)

I'm sorry this one is kinda lame but I didn't manage to make it better.

Personal News

Once their tributes were dead and aside for the necessary interviews to fill in the hours of blanks while the arena slept, Haymitch and Trinket didn't usually spent their time together. He sometimes showed up at a Games event or another if she insisted, made an appearance at a party if she threatened to cut off his alcohol supply but otherwise they lived two separate lives.

Even so, two days without any news from her was odd and Haymitch was starting to get worried.

Which was why he was sort of relieved when he came back late one night to find her standing in front of the bay window in the dark. Her figure neatly contrasting against the neon lights coming from all around the city.

"Here you are." he scoffed, switching the lights on. "I've been starting to think you had gone over to another team."

"What?" she asked without any of her usual poise. She glanced at him over her shoulder but quickly went back to her gazing of the city spreading below the Training Center tower.

"You were gone." he insisted. "No note. No explanation. No one knew where you were."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't think you would notice." she replied flatly with no hint of her usual cheerfulness. Trinket was always bubbly. If she wasn't, she usually pretended to be.

"Well, I did." he grumbled. "Two days. Where were you? You got a brand new boyfriend somewhere?"

He wouldn't have put it past her.

"I had some medical exams I couldn't postpone." she explained slowly. "With everyone being busy about the Games… It's the best time to have things done discreetly. I didn't mean to worry you, I didn't think you would care."

"I'm not worried and I don't care." he denied grumpily. "What kind of medical exams? You're not sick, are you? 'Cause you better not be. I'm not taking another escort. You're a pain but I'd rather have you than one of those stupid bitches who cares only for their make-up."

He hoped she wasn't leaving. As far as escorts went, she was certainly the best he ever had.

"I am not sick, don't worry." she said, still sounding aloof. "I am fine. I am not going anywhere. I am fine."

"Yeah, you sound real fine too." he scowled, edging closer warily. She was acting very odd, this wasn't like her. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"Nothing." she hummed. "Nothing at all."

Her voice cracked on the last word and she ducked her head.

Haymitch froze. He never had to deal with a crying Trinket before. He wasn't sure how to handle it.

"Okay, now you're scaring me." he readily confessed, placing a hand on her shoulder. It was awkward. They didn't do comfort. They didn't do anything except screaming at each other, really.

"I am just being silly, that's all." she declared, taking a deep breath and angling her face away from him. "Never mind me. I should go to bed it's late."

She tried to walk past him, her head bowed but he touched her arm. He didn't know why he did it but she stopped and he found himself gently gripping her chin and nudging her head up so he could see her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen, her make-up was smudged. It was plain to see she had cried before he had arrived.

She always looked so confident and strong that it chilled him to the bone.

"What's up, sweetheart?" he asked with a frown.

"I just… I…" she stuttered, fighting against the tears in her voice. Her blue eyes were avoiding his too. "I just found out I would never be able to have children, that's all. And I don't know why I am upset because I've never wanted them in the first place. At least I don't think I did, I never… I don't know. I don't know why I am upset. Why am I upset?"

That was a hug bomb to drop on someone you weren't friends with.

"Shock?" he suggested, before shrugging. "I don't think it's silly. You've got a right to be upset."

"I'm barren." she whispered with horror.

She was always pale but right then she was white as a sheet.

"You should sit down before you fall." he advised. "And I will get you a drink, yeah? You need a drink…"

"I need a hug." she countered weakly. "I know we are not friends exactly but… May I have a hug?"

Haymitch was an asshole but he wasn't the kind of assholes who refused a hug to a woman that upset. He opened his arms with wariness but there was no hesitation on her part when she stepped closer and buried her face in his shoulder. Next thing he knew, she was breaking down in sobs and he was patting her back and making soothing noises.

He wished there was something he could say to comfort her.

He wished he could take her pain away.

And that surprised him.

She wasn't only his stupid escort, wasn't she?