Prompt: I love your last prompt! You could write another one where Lyssa doesn't understand how Effie can be attracted by Haymitch because of his "plain" looks. And Effie explains to her all the reasons why H is much more attractive than her husband!
Quick word of update: FF isn't sending out updates and it's only the last in a long series of malfunctions. I'm actually pretty pissed off by their lack of communication. I get this is a free site but there are tons of others free sites that, at least, acknowledge the hundreds of people telling them there's been a problem for more than a week now.
This to say that I strongly urge you to subscribe to my chaptered stories on AO3 if you really want to be alerted via mail on time because when they have a problem, they fix it and tweet about it XD I'm also wondering if I should start posting HADS over there as well… I wouldn't repost all 600 chapters because hell to the work but I could maybe post on both sites… I know lots of you are used to ff and are wary of AO3, I was too before making the move but honestly I'm a convert now. Not only is the team ultra supportive and absolutely against censorship (reminder that we shouldn't be posting smut on ff XD) but it's really easier to search stuff over there. So it's a thought, give me your opinion…
Comparing Husbands
"I do not see why we could not take the car." Effie hissed, tugging him out of the way of a lamppost. This was a bad idea from start to finish. Haymitch was wasted and if she had initially caved to his insistence they could walk from the party to the Center to avoid making a scene, she was regretting her decision with every passing minute.
"'Cause I wanna walk." he slurred, tossing his arm around her shoulders and drawing her close to his side. She considered pushing him away but in the end, she surrendered, if only because it was easier to support him that watch him stumble every two steps. The hand on her shoulder was playing with the strap of her dress, toying with the diamond clasp holding it in place.
"Stop this." she commanded. "I do not want to find myself topless in the street and I do not believe you would enjoy every passerby ogling me."
It took a moment for him to process that but then he left the diamond clasp alone, curling his arm around her neck instead so the tips of his fingers were brushing her breast with every step.
"Pretty tits are just for me." he chuckled, leaning in to butt his head against hers. "Your ass is so perky tonight, sweetheart… I'm going to fuck you so hard…"
"You are most certainly not." she scoffed. "Do not be vulgar."
"You love it when I'm vulgar." he accused. "You love it too when I put my dick in…"
"Stop. Right here." she warned again, glancing around.
She had been sticking to smaller streets even though the great avenue would have been quicker. The hour was playing in their favor, at this time people were busy having fun, not wandering the streets. There were a few people mingling around in front of bars and clubs but they remained mainly unnoticed for now – which was for the best given the way he was slumped on her.
"Must hurt having that pole in the ass all the time." he mocked. "Loosen up, sweetheart. More kids are dead, the Capitol's cheering, we're still alive and we're going to fuck like rabbits tonight just so you can pretend it's not eating you alive."
"I hate when you behave like this." she retorted, more sad than angry. She wished he would speak lower though but she knew there was no point in asking. He was too far gone. She should have let him have a few more glasses. Then he wouldn't have been confrontational but downright clingy. It was easier to maneuver when all he wanted was cuddles and not arguments.
"Like what? Like the human garbage you people made me?" he sneered. "You're disappointed, Princess? I'm not the dashing knight in armor you wanted me to be? Can still fuck you alright. Could show you right now."
He suddenly pushed her toward a back alley and she tripped on her high heels and almost lost her footing. She caught herself on a shop's display window but he stumbled and fell. He couldn't have hurt himself because he barely put a knee down but it was enough to sober him up a little. He glanced up at her, a flash of something vulnerable on his face, then it was gone. He clumsily stood up and bowed his head a little.
"You're hurt?" he asked, it was harsh but there was enough guilt in there that she knew he was sorry.
"No." she sighed. "We are not far now. Behave."
She didn't make it sound as an order, more like a request, and he hesitated but eventually nodded submissively. Alcohol was taking its toll, he was getting tired. That was good news. He would be less eager to fight.
"Effie!"
The call of her name had her instinctively looking up and past his shoulder to the car parked a few feet away and to the couple standing right next to it.
"Fabulous." she grumbled under her breath, plastering a blinding smile on her lips as her sister and her brother-in-law made their way toward them. How much of that little stunt had they seen? Clearly enough that Lyssa had a worried frown on her face.
"Are you alright, darling?" Lyssandra asked, kissing the air next to her cheeks in a hurry. "We saw…" She stopped because propriety forbade her from mentioning the dark alley that had been Haymitch's target. "Are you alright?"
Her sister eyed Haymitch warily, making sure to keep Rufus between herself and him. Rufus didn't look any more impressed by her victor.
"Perfectly fine, thank you." Effie laughed. "It is the most stupid thing… Those heels are killing me and I tripped. Haymitch tried to hold me back but we weren't really successful. Haymitch, I am not sure you have ever met my sister…"
"Sister." he repeated, the word slurred. He was making an effort to sober up fast, she could tell, because being in the presence of unknown Capitols was never good in his book and he probably had picked up on her nervousness and latent hostility.
"Lyssandra." her older sister offered and then seemed to think better of the complicated name in the mouth of an obviously drunk man. "Lyssa. And this is my husband…"
"You're a Gamemaker." Haymitch growled, peering at Rufus, before she had time to complete the introductions.
"Junior Gamemaker." Effie automatically corrected while Rufus preened like a peacock. It was his second year and, if what she had heard from the rumor mills was exact, it would also be his last. Seneca wasn't pleased with him.
"You really think there's a difference?" Haymitch snorted at her with open disgust.
"Behave." she warned in a low voice.
Lyssa was watching them with acute attention and Effie knew she was seeing everything most people usually overlooked. Their body language, no matter how discrete they always were, must have given them away to who knew how to look.
"Where is your car?" her sister asked. "Surely they give escorts and victors cars? You should not walk around alone at night, Effie, you never know what could happen! Why, Mother would have a fit if she knew…"
"Maybe they are making cuts for Twelve." Rufus joked, chuckling at his own joke like the arrogant jerk he was. "It isn't like that District is really useful after all."
Haymitch bristled and Effie automatically looped her arm around his, digging her nails in his flesh to keep him calm.
"I am not alone." she hissed at her sister. "I am surprised you would think they could refuse District teams money, Rufus. Certainly it they were short they would get rid of unnecessary employees first. Why, Seneca was just telling me the other night it was time to… renew, shall we say, some of the staff."
Her sister's frown deepened but Rufus understood what she was implying very well.
"Some escorts are getting a bit old, surely that is what he meant." he replied, lifting his eyebrows. "They are not as gorgeous as they used to be. Plus, they grow arrogant with age. They think they are witty when all they are is pathetic."
"You little…" Haymitch growled but he stopped when Effie dug her nails deeper in the flesh of his arm.
Her smile was bright, her expression bubbly as ever. "It is a lucky thing my job is secured, then, don't you think?"
"I suppose you have arguments most don't." Rufus shrugged, a small sneer on his lips. His eyes lingered on Haymitch just a second enough for the innuendo to sink in. Or perhaps he meant Seneca. There were rumors about them too. Well. She certainly had arguments Rufus wouldn't have when the Head Gamemaker fired him.
"If you will excuse us." she cheerfully declared. "We still have quite a walk ahead. It is such a pleasant night…"
"Do not be ridiculous. We will give you a ride." Lyssa cut in. "I won't take no for an answer."
And she wouldn't.
They were ushered to their limo despite Haymitch's protests that he would go on alone and meet her at the penthouse – something she didn't want to hear about.
Rufus helped Lyssa in the car and then placed his hand at the small of Effie's back under the pretence of doing the same thing. She immediately went rigid, knowing what would follow. She shot him an icy glare but it didn't stop the hand from slowly drifting south until…
"You take your dirty paw off her right now or you're gonna be missing a hand very soon." Haymitch growled right behind her, his fingers possessively curling around her hipbone.
She rolled her eyes at the testosterone display but was secretly a bit pleased by her victor's reaction.
For a second, she thought Rufus would engage but then he glanced in the car at Lyssa, who was oblivious to what was going on, and shrugged. "I was just trying to help."
He climbed in and sat next to his wife, leaving Haymitch and Effie to sit on the other bench seat. Haymitch was in a bad mood now. He was still drunk but his head was clearer, she thought, and he was watching their interactions like a hawk. She and Lyssa made small talk for the duration of the short – and yet seemingly endless – ride. Rufus was holding her sister's hand, his eyes focused on the streets passing by the window.
Lyssa did her best to be nice to Haymitch who seemed to recognize the genuine attempt at being friendly for what it was and answered in kind. Effie didn't like it. She didn't like Lyssa near any of her boyfriends – not that Haymitch fell into that category. Still, when the discussion between them became less strained and she felt her victor relax next to her, her hand ended up on his thigh without her planning it.
He stared at her ring clad fingers for a while, not quite understanding what she was doing.
The possessive claim wasn't lost on her sister though. Lyssa swiftly engaged her in a conversation and left Haymitch out of it.
She hadn't planned on Lyssa and Rufus following them inside the Center but Rufus declared he wanted to check in with the Games Headquarters – Effie suspected all he wanted was some time alone at the bar – and he suggested Lyssa went up to the penthouse with her sister for a drink.
Haymitch looked annoyed but it would have been rude to refuse, so they all exited the car.
She was focused on making sure Haymitch didn't make too much a fool of himself in front of the crowd of fans but she could hear people screaming for Lyssa, asking pictures and autographs… It irritated her to no end. Lyssa had been a mediocre model for a couple of years and she was only a Gamemaker's wife. She was the escort. She was the most famous.
"Envy's not a good look on you." Haymitch taunted in her ear, once they reached the Center's doors and slipped inside. Her sister joined them in the elevator a moment later, her cheeks pink under her make-up.
The mindless chatter with Lyssa about fashion houses clearly worn him out because when the elevator chimed to let them know they were on Twelve's floor, the first thing he did was run for his life, barely mumbling he was going to bed and foregoing the liquor cart in the living-room altogether.
On one hand, Effie was glad he would be out of her siren sister's presence, on the other she wouldn't have minded the company.
Lyssa sat down on the couch with obvious pleasure at the prospect of some sisterly time. Effie tried avoiding as much of that as possible without hurting her sister's feelings but she knew Lyssandra missed her and didn't understand why she was constantly pulling away – she didn't quite know herself, her feelings on the matter were too complex to be properly deciphered.
Lyssa accepted the glass of white wine Effie handed her with a quiet thank you, covertly studying her.
"Do say what you want to say." she sighed. Better Lyssandra tell it to her than report to their mother for advice on how to breach the subject. Then her mother would be all over this and the furthest Elindra stayed of her complicated relationship with Haymitch, the easiest Effie's life was.
"We saw him trying to push you in that alley." The words rushed out of Lyssandra's mouth like she couldn't say them fast enough. "We thought… We thought he would hurt you."
"Never." she snapped, taking a sip of her wine before sitting down next to her sister, her back rod straight and her bearings regal. It still didn't compare with Lyssa's natural elegance. Lyssa was born a lady. Effie was just trying to pretend she was one. "We were simply having fun. I tripped."
"He pushed you. He had his hands all over you." Lyssa insisted. "And he was drunk. What if…"
"I would have said no and he would have stopped." she cut her off. "There is no issue here."
"You sound very sure of yourself." her sister hesitated.
"I am." she stated. "It is not the first time he is that drunk and it is not the first time he finds me attractive. He never went further than what I was willing to give. Haymitch is a lot of things but he is not a brute, Lyssa. And, believe it or not, unlike others, he respects women."
If Lyssandra understood what she was implying, she didn't let on. Effie was becoming tired of Rufus' inability to keep his hands to himself. Ever since he had become a Gamemaker, the problem had grown worse. It was like he felt entitled to the women he slept with behind her sister's back. He could be a problem, she thought. He gave her that vibe sometimes, this primitive clenching of her guts that told her she had better stay away from him because he wasn't a nice man. She had never ever felt that uncomfortable with Haymitch.
The problem might be coming from her, though. The rest of the world seemed oblivious to her brother-in-law's flaws.
Lyssa took a sip of wine and averted her eyes. "You do not seem to be immune to him… The way you behave with him…" He is mine and not yours to play with, she wanted to growl but she simply smiled and declined to answer, preferring drinking her own wine instead. Faced with her silence, Lyssa cleared her throat. "It is just… He is so… I won't deny he used to be handsome in his youth. Why, he was quite the Capitol's sweetheart for a while, wasn't he? Not quite Finnick Odair, of course, but… Yes, he was handsome. And I know you were always partial to his charms so perhaps it is why you are still attracted to him now."
"He is handsome still." she retorted, a warning in her voice her sister either didn't recognize or plainly bypassed.
"He could be, perhaps." Lyssa granted with a small pout. "The facial hair would have to go or be styled… And the hair… The hair should be trimmed and washed. The general attitude would have to be adjusted too. The clothes are elegant enough, your work I suppose, but truly there is more fashionable. He isn't very muscular, is he? Broad shoulders, yes, but his chest doesn't look very firm… As it is, he is quite… plain."
"Plain?" she repeated, half scoffing the word.
"Well…" her sister winced. "You cannot deny… Compare with Rufus, for instance…"
"I would rather not." she huffed. "I would choose Haymitch a thousand times over."
"Over someone like Rufus?" Lyssandra gasped, eyes growing wide. "Darling, your victor isn't worth a Capitol man."
Her sister's laughter rattled her the wrong way.
"You are right." she declared. "He is worth twice that."
His eyes only would be enough for her. His grey eyes could be hard like a stormy sky but they could be soft too. She loved them. She loved his hands. She loved the way his calloused palms touched her. She loved his voice. The gruff but direct things he whispered to her in the dead of night. She loved the pale blond hair on his chest, she loved running her fingers through it because it was manly in a way waxed chests weren't. She loved his strength and the knowledge that while he had the power to use it against her he never would. She loved other parts of him. Parts that had her worshipping them on her knees or arching her back in rapture.
Lyssandra laughed as if it was a joke. Maybe to her, it was.
"He must be very good at some things." her sister grinned.
Probably better than your husband, she wanted to retort.
"Why, I have no idea what you mean." she lied instead, playing the dumb ingénue. It was her favorite role.
Minutes were slow to tick by and it took Rufus forever to come and collect his wife. Effie felt exhausted when the elevator doors closed on them, and slightly ill-at-ease in her own skin, as usual when she was left too long in her sister's company.
She wandered to his room without conscious thought, pushing the door open without knocking. She wasn't surprised to find the lamp on the bedside table on, even though he was sprawled on his stomach on the bed, eyes closed – he disliked sleeping in the dark. His clothes were in a heap next to the bed but he hadn't bothered with sweatpants. She let her eyes trail on his naked ass that wasn't as firm as it used to be when they had started sleeping together and she decided that it should be on the list too. She loved his ass, as crass as it was for a lady to acknowledge such things. She had taken a bite enough times to prove it. She liked leaving her mark there, the reddish lines of her teeth on tanned skin for him to remember her by…
She picked up the dirty clothes and tossed them on the growing pile waiting on the chair for him to actually put them in the hamper.
"They're gone?" he mumbled. It was still a bit slurred but there was no comparing to when they had left the party.
"How drunk are you?" she asked.
He opened his eyes and studied her for a minute before rolling on his back, displaying himself in all his naked glory. How someone could say he wasn't handsome or attractive, she didn't know.
"Not enough you should feel bad about doing me." he snorted.
She rolled her eyes but kicked her heels off, forgetting to accuse him of being presumptuous. The wig was quickly removed and tossed carelessly on the side just because she knew it would please him, then she let the dress fall at her feet.
He didn't move or try to help undress her, he simply watched, his eyes straight on her even when she crawled on him and settled on his thighs, straddling him. Not his favorite position but he tolerated it for now.
Another thing she loved was the way he always looked at her when she was naked and ready for him. Lust and desire and awe battling in his gaze. Nobody had ever looked at her that way when she wasn't wearing a wig or some make-up. He would have to compose with the make-up tonight, she didn't want to take the time to remove it.
"Tell me I am beautiful." she requested.
Annoyance flashed in his eyes at the commanding tone.
"Fishing for compliments, yeah?" he taunted, reaching out to coil a blonde curl around his finger. He loved her hair. She didn't understand why. "You're gorgeous, sweetheart. You know, you are."
"More than Lyssa?" she insisted.
His eyebrows furrowed a little and then he shrugged.
"Don't know." he admitted "I didn't really look at her. Too busy watching that guy drooling all over you. What's the deal with that?"
"He is a jerk." she explained. "And everyone thinks he hung the moon, including my sister. Although everyone thinks she hung the moon too."
"You don't like her." he commented.
"No." she protested immediately. "I love her. I do. It is just… complicated."
"Her husband wants to fuck you." he scowled.
"Language." she chided him. "I very much do not want to sleep with her husband."
His scowl deepened. "I don't like him. Didn't like the way he was watching you. Gave me the creeps."
"As usual, we are of one mind." she sighed.
"When are we ever of one mind?" he mocked.
"We are on some things." she argued. "Now. I seem to remember you saying something about fucking me so hard…"
In a swift move, he rolled them over and she was trapped under his body, his mouth on hers.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed back with all she had worth.