Prompt: I have a prompt idea for you: A very cheesy domestic moment post MJ where they brush their teeth together and suddenly Haymitch kisses her with his toothbrush mouth. And it's sweet and disgusting at the same time. 😍
Toothpaste Kisses
The day had been long and Haymitch was tired.
Peeta had had a bad episode that had resulted in a lot of hysterics. Katniss had flipped. Effie had held it together until the situation had calmed down and the boy had recovered and then she had quietly excused herself for a few minutes… He hadn't been able to follow at once, too focused on making sure the children would be alright, but he hadn't been surprised when he had finally gone after her to find her having a quiet panic attack in the bathroom. She had collected herself eventually and they had moved on to taking care of the kids once more.
He was exhausted when he stumbled into the bathroom that night. Effie was already in pajamas, not looking much better than he felt. She flashed him a small smile before squeezing toothpaste on her toothbrush.
She had hated this, at first, sharing the bathroom. It had made him laugh in the beginning, how upset she could get by the fact that he was seeing her wash her teeth or putting deodorant on in the mornings… He had never minded. The less glamorous aspects of a life together hadn't rebuked him at all. He loved the intimacy even, craved the domesticity he had never known he wanted. He loved their routine. And she had gotten used to it eventually. She drew the line at him using the toilet while she was already in the room. He thought she was making a fuss over nothing because it wasn't like she had never seen him naked but she insisted there were mysteries she liked to keep intact. It never stopped him from peeing in the morning when she was in the shower. She would rant and lecture but he would ignore her.
He took off his clothes and tossed them in the hamper because her blue eyes were tracking him in the mirror over the sink and he didn't want to fight about his slob habits that night. It was warm enough that he didn't even bother to look for sweatpants. He was more comfortable naked anyway.
He grabbed his toothbrush mechanically and she moved over to leave him some room. She was dutiful about brushing her teeth for three minutes as all dentists recommended. Haymitch was far less obsessive about it. He wrapped his free hand around her nape and distractedly rubbed the lingering tension off her muscles. She looked up at him with a grateful look and it was a reflex to toss the toothbrush back in its slop, spit the toothpaste and kiss her. It was just as much a reflex for her to take the toothbrush out of her mouth when he leaned in so she could kiss him back.
She wrinkled her nose afterward and Haymitch snorted, not quite pleased either by the overwhelming mix of her strawberry toothpaste with his minty one. He rinsed his mouth and let her do the same before pecking her lips one more time, knowing it would still be a few minutes before she would be ready for bed – she had her own ritual at night, she would apply some cream to her face and brush her hair.
"'Night, Princess." he mumbled against her lips.
"Goodnight, darling." she hummed.
He collapsed on the bed with relief and wriggled under the blankets, flopping on his stomach and hugging his pillow. His eyelids fluttered closed to the familiar sounds of her beauty products being moved around on the dressing table in the corner. He fought sleep until he felt her climb in bed with him.
Only when he felt her head rest between his shoulder blades and her arm was wrapped around his waist did he succumb to sleep.