Prompt : hayffie going to the beach. first time haymitch sees effie in a bikini and other woman staring at haymitch cuz hes hot ?

A Day At The Beach

Coming to Four hadn't been his idea but Haymitch couldn't deny he was enjoying the trip. Seeing Annie, Jo and baby Finn was good, better than the occasional phone call and letter. Plus, he hadn't had a lot of opportunities to look around during the kids' Victory Tour and he had enjoyed that District during his own. Being able to visit at his own leisure, without a camera recording his every move behind his shoulder, was a pleasant novelty.

He had walked around for the last few days, sometimes joined by Effie and sometimes on his own, leaving the beach to the kids. He wasn't exactly eager to expose himself to other people's gaze.

Until the fourth day of their stay when Effie declared he was coming with them that morning and wouldn't hear any objection. Johanna had a field day mocking him all the way to the beach about how whipped he was.

They all had their habits by now and he awkwardly hung back as they tossed bags and towels on the sand. Little Finn immediately ran to the water, forcing Annie to run after him. Jo rolled her eyes, shed her clothes and went ahead without waiting for anyone, her jaws clenched as if the ocean had personally offended her – and given that she was forcing herself to go beyond her water phobia every day, it probably had. Katniss and Peeta were slower but no less eager to go swimming.

In a matter of minutes, only he and Effie were left on the sand. She clucked her tongue and arranged everyone's beach towel properly before slipping her loose sunny yellow dress over her head.

He was suddenly aware of how crowded the beach was. There was a group of kids in their twenties, not too far, who immediately started elbowing each other and nodding at her. Haymitch made a face.

"Couldn't find a smaller swimming-suit?" he grumbled.

The two small triangles of red fabric barely covered more than her nipples. He could perfectly guess at the shape of her breasts. Never mind the bottom part. It wasn't quite a thong but it wasn't quite panties either.

She tossed him a knowing look, an amused smile floating on her lips. "Everyone is wearing the same thing, Haymitch." That was a lie if he ever heard one. Granted, Johanna wasn't wearing much more fabrics but both Katniss and Annie were wearing one piece swimming-suits that were by far more modest. She averted her eyes and absentmindedly rubbed at the scar on her shoulder. "Besides, it is not like I am anything appealing anymore."

"Don't." he chided her, reaching out to cup her cheek. "They're all staring at you."

"Because I am a freak covered in scars." she snorted.

"Because you're gorgeous." he corrected with a shrug, leaning in to steal a kiss. They were never particularly demonstrative in front of people, he could count on his hands the number of times he had actually kissed her in public, but he may have had a point to prove. The kiss was a bit too deep given the audience but he shot the group of kids a warning glance as soon as he broke it out.

They had moved on to other things though and were now eying another girl. Good.

"So possessive, darling…" she mocked, not quite fooled by his behavior.

"Yeah, well…" he snorted. "I like the idea that I'm the only one who knows what you look like without clothes on. Sue me."

She laughed, her eyes twinkling. "You do realize I was no virgin when I met you, don't you?"

"I try to forget." he joked right back, just to hear her laugh some more.

She shook her head at him, still chuckling, and tugged on his shirt. "Come on… You cannot be dressed on the beach."

He sighed but complied, slipping the shirt over his head and kicking off his pants, feeling absolutely too exposed in the swimming shorts she had purchased for him.

"You are handsome." she hummed, running a hand down his chest. "Stop worrying."

He wasn't worried about that and, so, he rolled his eyes at her always being so vain. Granted, his stomach wasn't as flat as it used to be and there was a pouch of fat that he had valiantly been trying to make disappear by regularly chopping wood – just because she always pouted when her eyes fell on it and he didn't like the thought that she wasn't attracted to him anymore – but what was really troubling him was the huge scar on his stomach.

They were famous.

There was no denying that and there was no anonymity to be found in a District so large either. People would recognize him, they would see the scar and they would talk about his Games – some would probably even want to talk about it with him because most of them lived under this false assumption that because someone was famous it automatically meant they were your friend. He was good at ignoring what was bothering him but doing so while being half-naked was more difficult.

"I'm gonna go for a swim." he mumbled, leaving her to her sunbathing.

He wasn't a great swimmer but the sun was coming down hard and he enjoyed the somehow cold water. He didn't indulge as long as the kids or Annie and Finn – who was just as much in love with the ocean as his father had been and refused to get out. As for Johanna, she had completely disappeared.

He stepped out of the water, trying not to stumble on the wet treacherous sand, pushing his damp hair out of his eyes, and made his way to their beach towels. Effie had pink sunglasses on her nose, she was propped on her elbows, watching him with a pout that he knew by heart.

"What?" he grumbled. What had he done wrong now? She could be such a pain.

"Nothing." she replied, reaching in her bag for the bottle of sunscreen and handing it to him. "Would you? I don't want to get sunburned."

She flopped on her stomach before he could tell her that he wasn't her slave and that she could do it herself. Of course, once presented with the alluring shape of her ass, he was less eager to deny her.

He greatly enjoyed himself, copping feels left and right under the pretense of doing a thorough job. It was only once he was done with her legs and moved on to the small of her back that he realized she was staring at a group of women a few feet away – and one in particular, a redhead with freckles all over her cleavage.

"Hope I'm not bothering you, sweetheart." he snapped, dripping sarcasm. "Why don't you go over there and ask if she's interested while you're at it?"

She glanced at him over her shoulder, eyebrows lifted. "I am not ogling her, I am making sure she sees you touching me."

Not what he had expected.

"You're so bored with me you're aiming for threesomes?" he sneered.

"Do not be ridiculous." she huffed, waving at him to get on with the sunscreen business as if he really was her personal slave. "They had been watching your for a while now – which I can relate to, I do love you soaking wet – but that one had been particularly vocal about wanting to approach you and not particularly discreet about it either."

There was venom in her voice and his irritation turned to amusement.

"You know… Jealousy's a hot look on you." he snorted.

"Everything is a hot look on me." she replied without an ounce of modesty, still sounding particularly annoyed. "She is still watching you. If she comes over, I swear…"

He bent over and pressed a kiss between her shoulder blades. She squealed, surprised by his wet stubble and the drops falling from his wet hair on her sun kissed skin.

"Could fuck you right here…" he taunted, smearing more sunscreen on her back, insisting on the white lines of her scars. "That would make it clear…"

"Well, it has been some time since we hit the headlines." she answered in an even voice. "Unfortunately, exhibitionism is not one of my kinks."

"Shame." he lamented, faking disappointment only to get his thigh whacked. He chuckled, rubbing her shoulders with the sunscreen, working at the knot at the base of her nape. "Why do you care? Not like I would dump you for her."

"I certainly hope not." she huffed. "She is not attractive."

He glanced at the group of women to find a couple of them giggling behind their hands and not so subtly pointing at him. The redhead looked disappointed.

"Harsh." he commented. "She's not so bad."

"You are a leg man." she scoffed. "Her legs are awful."

"Her breasts make up for it." he shrugged.

She actually slipped her sunglasses off and propped herself on her elbow to better glare at him over her shoulder. "You do not like big breasts."

That had been a subject he had always done his best to avoid every time it had come up. Effie had never had a lot of cleavage but after her stay in the cells and her subsequent weight loss, her breasts were on the small side. But they were round and real and they fitted in his palms and he loved them just like that.

Saying he did not like big breasts however…

"Haymitch…" she hissed when he took too long to answer.

"It's been so long since I've seen breasts that aren't yours I can't even remember." he deflected.

"Do not look at her breasts." she warned in a growl. "Do not look at any other woman's breasts."

"Like you're doing, you mean?" he smirked, bypassing any 'or what?' he would have tossed once upon a time. He knew her well enough to know the what could range from a simple endless rant to her actually staking her claim on him.

She had the good sense to look chastised but not for long.

"It is different." she argued. "I am assessing."

"Nothing to assess." he mocked, lying down on his towel and closing his eyes, letting the sun dry him.

He felt her rolling on her side and he also felt her staring but he didn't open his eyes again. Maybe he would nap for a bit, he decided, he had heard the kids plotting a sea outing on a boat and, with Finn running around, he doubted he would get any rest that afternoon.

"Does that mean you think I am the hottest woman on the beach?" she purred, drumming her fingers on the crook of his elbow. "If you had to choose someone who isn't me… Out of anyone here, who would you pick?"

"I ain't playing that game." he muttered.

"Why?" she pouted.

"'Cause it's a trap." he accused.

"No, it's not." she refuted. "I am merely curious."

"Merely." he taunted.

When it was clear he wouldn't comply, she lied back down on her stomach with a huff. "You would not pick her anyway. You do not like redheads."

"Don't like blondes either." he pointed out.

And it wasn't a lie. There had been a time in his life when any woman would have done the trick but, when it came to preferences, he did like dark hair better. This being said, he was in love with her hair. She had hidden it for too long under horrible wigs. When she had finally let him see… He loved running his hands through it, he loved tugging on the curls and watching them bounce back into place, he loved burying his face in it…

He expected some chiding or an exclamation that he was awful but she seemed pleased instead.

"Only me." she declared and he didn't have to glance at her to know she was grinning.

He snorted but couldn't help his own smirk. She was so childish sometimes… After everything that had happened, it was good to know she could still be so immature on some points. There had been a lot of bad days right after the end of the war but, lately, she had been better. They were starting to see the light at the end of a long tunnel.

"Only you." he humored her.

She seemed satisfied with that answer.

However, when the redhead made a show of jogging toward the water, making sure to slow down when she passed by them to throw him a pointed look – which was flattering, though – Effie's hand suddenly landed on his chest.

She didn't bother turning her head to glare at the woman.

And he didn't bother checking the redhead out.

He could have but he didn't want to.

So he simply covered her hand with his.

The only woman he wanted was right next to him.