Prompt: I don't know who sent it to you,because it wasn't me but could you actually write about Hayffie having some ice cream? Something light and fluffy? Thank you!

Don't Let The Ice Cream Melt

"You cannot walk around like that, Haymitch." Effie half chided, half chuckled. "This is indecent."

She stretched like a cat but didn't move from where she was lying down on her stomach on the bed, not even bothering to pull the sheets over her naked body. The train was rocking a little and she deduced they must have been in the patch of wilderness not too far from District Seven. She mentally reviewed the schedule, happy to realize they were a bit ahead – good. At least one thing would go right in this Victory Tour from hell.

"Two minutes ago you wanted food." he grumbled, watching her with that frown that meant he was finding her insufferable, his hand already on the handle of her compartment's door.

That, too, was good.

She liked to keep him on his toes.

"I am hungry." she confirmed. It was two a.m. and it would be positively wrong to eat anything now – she was on a strict diet – but she hadn't eaten enough at dinner, her appetite ruined by all the stress the Tour was putting on all of them. After hours of reviewing speeches with Haymitch and a few more agreeable moments spent blowing steam between the sheets however, she was now starving. But she wasn't starving enough to impose the – admittedly glorious - sight of him clad in boxer briefs and nothing else to anyone he might meet on a nightly stroll. "Put on some pants at least."

He rolled his eyes but snatched the pants from the floor and slipped them on, muttering under his breath about how he was going to leave some of his sweatpants in there because he was done wearing uncomfortable clothes after hours.

It was true he tended to end up spending the night in her room more and more…

Things between them were shifting – they had been for a couple of years, truth be told, but now it was getting harder and harder to ignore how different their relationship was from what it used to be. Hate sex had turned into something else along the line even though they had always been careful not to slip. They had never defined themselves as a couple before. Exclusivity was never something they had verbally agreed on, tender gestures used to be the exception rather than the norm, and it had been rare for them to kiss if they hadn't intended to follow that with sex.

Now…

Now he pushed her in empty rooms and hidden alcoves to kiss her senseless. Now he kept repeating they meant nothing but he also never let her out of his sight when Peacekeepers breathed down their neck. Now he slept in her bed and held her at night and looked at her in that way that gave her butterflies in the stomach.

It had been ten years of a casual affair and she was absolutely certain she would have gotten bored with anyone else. Never with Haymitch though. Haymitch… Haymitch was something else. And the sex… The sex was always so good it made everything worth it. Even after ten years.

Only now, watching his bare chest was enough to make her thirsty for another round.

Later, maybe.

She also really wanted food.

"Be quick." she demanded.

He rolled his eyes, zipping up his fly. "I'm not your fucking slave, Effie."

"Be quick, please…" she amended, rolling on her back. His hungry grey eyes immediately roamed on her body just like she knew they would. She wasn't the only one who was helpless to resist this magnetic attraction between them. A slow grin stretched her lips, her voice turned to a purr. "Be quick and I will do that thing you like."

"I like a lot of things, sweetheart." he pointed out with a smirk.

"Perhaps I can be persuaded to do them all." she teased.

"In one night?" he snorted, lifting his eyebrows and shooting her a calculating look. "Can't back down from a challenge like that…"

She chuckled and he put a knee on the bed to steal a kiss she granted readily. It got a bit out of hand but she gently pushed on his chest, biting down on her bottom lip. "Food?"

"Yeah." he sighed. "Food. Then you."

"Does that mean you plan on eating me out?" she asked, eyes twinkling in amusement.

"Maybe I can be persuaded." he retorted, shooting her own words back at her. He got up from the bed once more, pointing a warning finger in her direction. "Don't fucking get dressed."

She lifted her arms over her head on the pillow and bended one leg, giving him a lascivious display. "I was not planning on it."

He shook his head, chuckling a little. "Shit, Effie. You're hot."

"Which always seems to surprise you." she pointed out. "You should be aware by now."

"I'll never get used to it." he mumbled with a shrug. Those were his parting words.

After ten minutes she started dozing off and she was sure there was nothing sexy to the curled up position he found her in when he came back, a huge tub of chocolate ice cream in one hand, two spoons in the other and an untouched bottle of whiskey wedged under his armpit.

"Ice cream, truly?" she winced. "Wasn't there anything a little healthier?"

"It's two a.m." he countered. "No train attendants around. You want to get up and cook something, go ahead. You can eat your disgusting healthy stuff and I'm going to eat that."

"Not by yourself, you are not." she huffed, snatching the tub and the spoons from him before he could actually act on his threat – he would, she knew he would.

He chuckled at her but she didn't mind his mocking. She barely even noticed he placed the bottle on the nightstand and kicked of his pants and underwear because she was too busy opening the plastic lid and planting a spoon in the ice cream.

She moaned around the first spoonful.

It had been a while since she had allowed herself ice cream – never mind chocolate ice cream.

"That good?" he taunted, sliding back in bed next to her, propping a pillow against the headboard to sit comfortably.

She didn't lose the royal opportunity to use him as a pillow. She snuggled against his side, rested her head on his shoulder and dug in the ice cream tub again. He did too and, given the speed they were going, she was afraid there would be nothing left when they would be done. After a moment, he opened the whiskey bottle and alternated between spoonfuls of ice cream and mouthfuls of whiskey.

"You should have brought me some beverage too." she hummed after a while. "Bad manners, that."

"Couldn't find that tea you like." he muttered with annoyance, either because he found her choice of nightly drink too complicated or because he was irritated to have to admit he had actually looked without being prompted to – because it wasn't something a casual lover would do, it was more something one shared with a boyfriend…

Like eating chocolate ice cream while cuddling naked on a bed probably.

They would need to talk about the elephant in the room at some point. Sooner rather than later would have been best but she knew Haymitch… They wouldn't talk about it until they absolutely needed to.

And with the state the Districts were in…

She chased those dark thoughts away.

She wanted to forget about what the future would hold. She wanted to forget about the children's burden, the tour, and the Peacekeepers poking them all with their guns at every turn. She wanted to forget about the Districts on the brink of rioting. She wanted to forget about the fact they were all in more danger than ever.

For once, she just wanted to enjoy some time with him since he was willing to let her cuddle.

Everything else could wait.

It would have been a shame to let the ice cream melt.

He couldn't keep his hands to himself though so what was left of the ice cream did melt.

Not that she noticed.

She was too busy screaming his name.