Prompt : I had no idea that Effie was engaged twice. Wow. Could you write about a meeting with a former fiancé maybe at a point when she's married to Haymitch or in a real relationship with him and the guys get to talk about her? That would be so great. *_*

AND

Prompt: In HaDS, there's always prompts where Effie feels insecure about Haymitch liking a district woman. How about one where a close Capitol friend of Effie's is involved in the rebellion or is one of the refugees living in 13. It may sound weird but you also wrote of Effie's parents being in 13 so maybeee there might be a teeny tiny chance you can try to write this! Thank you and you're such an amazing writer, this is why I'm dumping it on you :)

Of Ex-Boyfriends, Cheating and Engagements

Haymitch walked in Thirteen dinner hall, grabbed a tray and passed his wrist under the scan without thinking twice about it, waiting for the guy behind the counter to give him his allotted ration. Everything in that District was so mechanical they might as well all be robots. While he waited, his grey eyes studied his surroundings, looking for a place to sit.

He spotted the grey headscarf and so he headed there automatically, only regretting not paying more attention when he realized who she was sitting with. Plutarch, he could deal with. The man sitting next to Effie, not so much.

"Haymitch!" the Gamemaker exclaimed when he saw him, waving with too much enthusiasm. "Come and sit!"

Too late for a hasty retreat.

He dropped his tray in front of Effie and flopped down. Flashing him a bright delighted smile that had less to do with his arrival and more to do with the yoghurt they had given him for dessert, Effie beamed at him until he rolled his eyes and waved at her to do what she wanted. She didn't need to be told twice. She exchanged her cheese for the yoghurt.

A small silence followed his arrival, as if the three Capitols didn't know how to react to the sudden apparition of a District person. It might be shallow but Haymitch liked that they were unsettled. It seemed fair.

The guy, particularly, looked at his plate and at nothing else.

"Venio, you were saying?" Effie prompted, briefly placing her hand on the man's arm.

Haymitch stabbed his undercooked rabbit – probably Katniss or Gale's game – with a little too much brutality if Plutarch's glance was to be believed. Still, Effie took her hand away and that was a small victory.

Venio.

What kind of ridiculous name was that? Everything about the guy was ridiculous anyway, from the died blue eyebrows to the small golden tattoo in the shape of an eye on his inner wrist. He had arrived with a bunch of Capitol refugees, not a real rebel but the brother of one of Plutarch's agents, and had looked completely lost. Not as lost as Haymitch had felt the first time Effie had spotted him and had jumped into his arms with a delighted squeal – completely undignified behavior, as he had pointed out later, very unladylike.

She had been closed lips about the guy, eluding all his questions and gibes, but he had more or less understood they weren't just friends. His best guest was ex-boyfriend.

"You were telling us about that party at Frenzy's the both of you attended?" Plutarch reminded the man helpfully. "I do miss that restaurant..."

Venio shot Haymitch a tentative look but the victor refused to pay attention, focusing on his tray instead. The Capitol cleared his throat and started his story again. It wasn't interesting to him who didn't know the people they were talking about, famous singers and actors he had never heard of, friends or acquaintances they all had in common...

"I don't recall this Daniva..." Effie frowned, scrapping the bottom of the yoghurt pot with her spoon to make sure she had scooped everything.

"Yes, you must." Venio insisted. "She was at our engagement party."

Haymitch had been in the process of eating his cheese. It remained stuck in his throat. If it hadn't been for Plutarch's forceful slapping of his back, he might have choked to death.

"See?" Effie mocked. "This wouldn't happen if you had proper table manners, Haymitch. If you chewed – and with your mouth closed, mind you – instead of gulping everything down."

He glared at her but accepted the helpful glass of water she handed him all the same. Venio was looking at him with a perceptive expression Haymitch didn't quite like.

"It was long ago, though." the Capitol man felt the need to clarify.

It was meant to be reassuring but Haymitch pretended not to catch it. What did he care if Effie had been engaged to the guy?

"When was that?" Plutarch asked, still shooting concerned glances to the victor, probably scared Haymitch would try to kill himself by stuffing his throat with cheese again.

"Oh, it was long ago, as Venio said." Effie hurried to say, suddenly a little flustered. She patted her headscarf and cleared her throat. "By the way, Haymitch, I have the speeches for..."

"When?" he frowned, picking up on her sudden nervousness.

His grey eyes darted from her to the guy and back.

"Oh... Eight... Seven years ago, maybe?" Venio hesitated. "It lasted all winter after the sixty-seventh Hunger Games before Effie called it off."

"Oh, that's a shame." Plutarch commented. "Were you together long?"

"Around a year, I think." the man answered. "Am I right, darling?"

The pet name slipped past the Capitol's lips in an automatic way, as if talking of the past had brought it back. Haymitch suppressed the growl that wanted to escape his throat by gritting his teeth.

"You were together from the sixty-sixth to the sixty-eighth Games?" he insisted, torn between a smug smirk and annoyance.

Her foot nudged his under the table and suddenly his ankle was framed by her feet. She squeezed gently enough that he looked up at her. She tilted her head slightly, silently begging him not to say anything.

"Yes." Venio confirmed, a touch of suspicion in his voice. "Why?"

What could he say? Because we've been fucking the brains out of each other since the Sixty-fourth Hunger Games at every given opportunity? He could, actually. He could inform the guy he had been wearing horns all the time he had been in a relationship with her. They hadn't been exclusive so it wasn't cheating but he would have bet that as far as Venio was concerned, the two of them had been exclusive.

So, yeah, he could hurt the guy that had been irritating him since he had arrived but fair was fair. As far as he could tell, The Capitol hadn't tried to make a move on Effie and he had been painfully careful about not stepping on Haymitch's toes. Not that Haymitch had officially any toes anywhere. But, right now, he and Effie's relationship was probably the worst kept secret in the whole District. Finnick was babbling too loud about it, he and Plutarch were sharing a compartment so naturally the Gamemaker suspected because you couldn't share a room with someone and not have an inkling about what they were doing, and they weren't as careful as they used to be either...

Haymitch shrugged. "Just asking. Never bothered keeping up with Trinket's boyfriends. Never knew she was engaged either."

"Oh, Effie was engaged quite a few times." Plutarch laughed helpfully. "It was in every newspapers."

"Twice is hardly a few times." she countered.

"When was the other time?" he frowned. How many time had she gotten engaged behind his back?

"Is it important?" Effie sighed, running her foot up and down his calf in a blatant attempt at distracting him.

"Why, I thought we were just having a friendly chat, sweetheart." he smiled innocently.

It was her turn to glare. "Sixty-ninth Hunger Games, if you must know. It didn't last more than two weeks."

"And you say I'm not good with commitment." he snorted.

"If you were better with commitment I wouldn't find myself in those situations in the first place, would I?" she retorted sweetly, standing up. "Gentlemen, if you will excuse me, work is calling."

He waited until she had dropped the tray and was at the door to push his chair back.

"You don't want to go after her now." Venio advised. "Let her calm down. She is impossible to talk to when she's angry."

He chuckled, not even trying to hide his amusement. "Yeah, no offense, but I've been handling Effie for thirteen years. I know how to deal with her. Besides, she's not angry, she's irritated."

"Is there a difference?" the Capitol replied. "She won't talk to you."

"No, she won't. 'Cause it's not talking she wants." he snorted, eyeing the man almost with pity. He had been a little jealous before but, now, he couldn't muster the energy. The guy didn't know her, he didn't understand her. And he certainly didn't deserve her. It wasn't such a surprise she had called everything off.

He had to hurry to catch up with her. She was halfway to the small room Plutarch had claimed as an office when he finally caught sight of her headscarf. He walked next to her, keeping up with her brisk pace and ignoring her annoyed glances, until they reached the office. Then he closed the door behind them, locked it and pushed her against it.

"You are insufferable." she huffed.

She didn't try to push him away. Here was the difference between angry and irritated. If she had been truly angry, there would have been a lot of shouting before they ended right there, against the closest flat surface. She was irritated though and irritated meant the pursed lips turned into a pout when he lowered his lips to her neck.

"No mark." she reminded him. "And we don't have time."

"How many men did you cheat on with me?" he asked, half-amused and half-jealous. His hand curled over her hipbone possessively. It was his own fault. He had told her time and time again it was just about sex. Even now, he dodged her attempts at talking about them, not ready to accept they were a thing but unwilling to tell her once again that she was free to do what she pleased.

"Not as much as you think." she sighed. "It was always... There was no comparison. Unlike you, they always treated me right but something always felt off. I suppose they simply weren't you. And I tried not to... When I was seeing someone, I tried to... You know how we are, I couldn't..."

That elicited a territorial growl. He didn't like thinking about her with other men. He hated it in fact. He moved his mouth up her throat and to her jaw line. She sneaked her hands under his shirt and to his back and he groaned, somehow he had a feeling it was less about a quick fumbling than about getting her frozen fingers somewhere warm.

"You're cold." he grumbled. She was always cold in Thirteen – and maybe if she had consented to wear normal uniforms instead of her customized ones she wouldn't be...

"A little." she admitted.

With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, he shrugged off his woolen sweater and wrapped it around her. "Start wearing proper clothes."

She slipped her arms in the sleeves with a grateful smile and wrapped it around her torso before leaning against his chest. He held her, regretfully kissing any fun times goodbye. It was too cold and Plutarch would be there soon.

"How many women did you cheat on with me?" she whispered uncertainly.

"None." he muttered. "I had one night stands in the beginning then it didn't feel worth it. And you know I don't want relationships so I didn't cheat on anyone."

"Good for you." she sighed. "I did. More times than I can count. What is it about you, Haymitch..."

"Could ask the same thing, you know?" he scoffed. "It's not like we're a match made in heaven, sweetheart."

"And yet we work better than anything I shared with anyone else." she pointed out, placing her hand on his cheek, the nail of her thumb grazing the stubble on his jaw.

"In a very screwed-up way." he amended.

Their relationship, whatever name they wanted to give it, was far from being healthy. It had even been very toxic at times. It had sprung from hatred and loathing into lust and passion to end up being this odd mix of fondness, tenderness and, yeah, Haymitch wasn't ready to admit it but he could see it, maybe love.

"Which probably says a lot about us." she joked a little bitterly. "And language."

"I don't care what it says about us." he grumbled, leaning in to steal a kiss. "I'll take this screwed-up thing with you over anything else. Don't get engaged behind my back anymore."

"I haven't done anything behind your back in a while." she sighed. "And it wasn't really behind your back anyway, we weren't exclusive. It has been years since I had a boyfriend."

"You've got me, don't you?" he mumbled, not looking at her.

It was lucky she knew him as well as she did because he wouldn't have appreciated his quiet admission to be met with excited shouts. She didn't make a fuss about it. She simply kissed him, perhaps more deeply than she would usually have given the situation, and rested her forehead against his.

"As long as you remember that you have me." she declared.

"Would be hard to forget." he snorted. "Your voice's so loud..."

She whacked his shoulder but locked her arms around his neck. She was shorter without her heels and the height difference meant she had to go on tip-toes every time she wanted to kiss him so he refused to bow his head just to annoy her.

"You can stop feeling threatened by Venio, now." she hummed. "He isn't interested in me in the slightest anymore. But he is a nice man. I am glad he is safe here. He is a good friend, I think you will like him if you give him a chance."

"Sorry, Princess." he sneered. "Can't make friends with people who saw you naked."

She shook her head but an amused grin was tugging at her lips. "You are ridiculous."

"That's my line." he complained, stealing a last kiss.