Prompt: Could you maybe write something about Haymitch calling sex 'making love' sometime after the rebellion and Effie is so taken aback by it. Thank you!

Let's Do It

Effie was standing on the far edge of the makeshift dance floor, keeping an eye on everything but unable to stop herself from grinning. It had taken five years for the children to officially tie the knot but the wedding so far had been absolutely perfect – and given that she had been the one to organize it, it had better be. She hadn't been convinced at first when the children had insisted that everything should take place in their backyard but she must now admit it wasn't as terrible as she had feared.

She had hung fairly lights on the trees, had forced Haymitch and Peeta to scatter tables around that had been loaded with food and drinks, had cleared a huge space in the middle for dancing… It all had a country wedding air, nothing like what it could have been in the Capitol, but it was a success nonetheless.

Katniss' dress was lovely – too simple for her tastes but lovely all the same – and Peeta was beaming with happiness. Truly, Effie was happy to watch them dance all night with the rest of their friends.

She felt his presence long before he sneaked an arm around her waist, his hand resting flat on her stomach. She leaned against his chest automatically, placing her hand over his.

"We are in public." she reminded him, not certain how much he had had to drink yet. "People will see."

"Let them." he shrugged, his voice sounding suspiciously clear of the slur that always went hand in hand with too much liquor. She turned her head to look up at him with a raised eyebrow. He was sober, she thought, mostly.

"Let them?" she repeated with a hint of teasing.

"There's no one here who doesn't know we're shagging." he grumbled, his thumb lazily stroking her stomach as if to soften his wording.

"But we never confirmed it." she argued for the sake of it. "They might suspect but they don't know."

They always eluded questions, never took the bait even when Johanna's jokes turned aggressive or when their friends' frustration with their refusals to admit they were an item grew… She was partly following his lead and partly too set in their obsession for secrecy to change ways. Secrecy was safe and necessary. Or at least it had been before the war. Now… It might have been five years but it was hard to break patterns that had been in place for more than a decade.

"I wanna go home." he said, dropping the previous conversation. He brought the glass in his free hand to his lips and finished it before stretching his arm to place it on a nearby table without letting go of her. Then he wrapped his other arm around her waist and nuzzled her neck. People were starting to glace at them. She spotted little Finn tugging on his mother's skirt and pointing at them. Yet she didn't move. They could always pretend he was drunk. Or that it was simply a friendly embrace. Although the way he was kissing the side of her neck was rather… unfriendly. "I like your dress."

"Thank you." she answered, surprised by the compliment.

Haymitch often told her she was beautiful but he hardly ever bothered to comment on her clothes. She really liked this dress. She had sketched it herself, she had cut the fabric, put it all together and sewed each and every blue rhinestone herself. It wasn't her first dress but it was the first evening gown she had made and she was really proud of it. It floated down to her feet, it was white and blue – mostly blue – and it sparkled prettily under the fairy lights.

For Haymitch to say he liked it…

It really pleased her.

"I want to take it off you." he whispered in her ear. "Let's go home, sweetheart. I wanna make love to you."

The wording more than the intention shocked her and she turned her head abruptly to study him. His face was set though. It didn't look like a slip of the tongue or anything unintentional. He had said that on purpose and if the aim had been to throw her off, he had succeeded.

She might have called it making love once or twice on days when she badly yearned for some gestures of love and tenderness but he had never used that term before. To him it was always fucking, shagging or screwing.

Love was a word that was banished from his vocabulary.

"Careful." she laughed, more to keep her composure than because she was amused. "I think weddings are turning you into a sappy person. Five minutes from now you will ask for my hand."

She had expected him to make a face or scoff or even sneer but his features didn't betray anything.

"We've got bread at home." he said. "And we've got fancy clothes on…"

She blinked, certain she hadn't understood him properly or that he was pulling one on her. Then irritation took over.

"It is a bad joke and it is bad form." she snapped.

"I'm serious, Princess." he mumbled, pressing a kiss against the side of her neck. "Let's slip away. Have a toasting. We can go to the Justice Building tomorrow. Make it official."

He was being serious, she realized as she escaped his arms to turn around and face him.

"It is the children's wedding." she said.

"It's almost over…" he shrugged. "Let's slip away."

"But… But…" she stuttered. "We cannot steal their thunder. We cannot suddenly decide we want to get married too and drag everyone to our house. That is simply not done."

"Wasn't suggesting we invited everyone." he snapped. "We do this you and me or not at all."

"A wedding without witnesses." she deadpanned.

"A toasting." he corrected. "You can bring whoever you want at the Justice Building tomorrow. You'll need someone to sign papers with you anyway. Small thing. No big party or anything."

She stared at him long and hard.

"Are you serious, Haymitch?" she asked. "You want to marry me?"

He buried his hands in his pockets, ill-at-ease, and shrugged, averting his eyes. "Just an idea. If you don't want to…"

"I want to." she cut him off. "I very much want to."

His grey eyes met hers again and he outstretched a hesitant hand. "Let's do it then."

There was no hesitation when she slipped hers in it.

"Let's do it." she agreed.