Prompt? Katniss find out that Effie likes girls. (Although I'm not sure how because lets be real she'd never notice without someone saying it explicitly hahah... maybe peeta would or something?)
(continued) pansexual!hc wise obviously, not 'effie likes girls instead of haymitch' hahah
The Long Wait
Katniss was plucking a bird, distractedly humming along with the song on the radio. She had been having a good day so far. The two birds she had caught that morning were on the small side but they would do for dinner once Haymitch worked his magic on them – unless Effie started screaming when she saw the state of her kitchen. Granted, Peeta had put flour everywhere while baking the dessert and she hadn't been that careful with the feathers…
Maybe they should just have done that part at their house instead of at Haymitch's and Effie's… But it made no sense to work there given that they would have dinner at their mentor's and escort's.
"It's weird they're not back yet…" Peeta commented, peering through the window over the sink.
She glanced at the clock and she had to agree. Haymitch and Effie had gone to the market for some fresh groceries but it shouldn't have taken them longer than thirty minutes and they had been gone a whole hour. "Effie probably stopped at the fabric booth."
The former escort always had to stop at the fabric booth when the market was on. Her dressmaker business was slowly taking off – not that Haymitch was thrilled about having customers visit his house so often and Katniss privately wondered how much longer he would last before he seriously started investigating the empty buildings in town so Effie could properly set up shop, no matter how much the former escort protested she wanted to make it on her own.
"I hope they come back soon… It looks like it's going to pour." he remarked with a small wince.
"I hope they come back soon because I'm hungry." she replied, more prosaically. She pushed away the now feather-free bird and started cleaning it so Haymitch would only have to stuff it with whatever.
She didn't know how he did it because her own interest in cooking was limited – as long as it was palatable, she would eat it – but it had turned out Haymitch had gifts for making delicious dishes when he actually bothered. They certainly took advantage of that hidden talent regularly.
Peeta put his now finished apple pie in the over, checked the timer twice because Haymitch's appliances were as old as the house itself and tended to misbehave, and then started cleaning up the flour, picking up the feathers and wiping off the smudges of blood the birds had left.
"Not Effie-clean but clean enough." he declared once he was done.
They heard the soft sounds of drizzle suddenly hitting the window pane and, as if on cue, the front door opened and chaos came in. As it turned out, Effie wouldn't have cared about the state of the kitchen because she was too busy berating Haymitch.
"Oh, please." their escort snapped as the sound of their footsteps came closer to the kitchen. "She was pretty and you know it. It was not just the generous cleavage."
"Didn't notice." Haymitch grumbled back, appearing on the threshold and rolling his eyes for their benefits. "Unlike you, clearly."
"You certainly noticed the redhead at the flower booth." Effie retorted. Her voice suddenly became more cheerful. "We are back, darlings! Sorry it took so long we had a bit of a delay."
Haymitch placed the bags down on the table with a snort. "And by delay, she means the woman minding the vegetables booth."
Peeta frowned. "Gertrude?"
"Gertrude had a bad fall." Katniss explained with a shrug. "Her daughter is taking over for now. Delly told me."
"Oh… I hope it's not too serious?" he worried.
She shook her head. "She broke her leg. It's not really bad but she's getting old so her daughter decided to…"
"Yes, yes…" Effie dismissed. "All that gossip is very entertaining but the important part is that her daughter is now manning the booth."
"Her very married daughter." Haymitch pointed out in a mutter, unloading various vegetables from the bags.
"How can you possibly know that?" Effie sighed.
"'Cause while you were obsessing over her breasts, I was looking at her left hand." Haymitch deadpanned.
Katniss and Peeta exchanged a long suffering look. It was one of those times, then. She had troubles swallowing back her sigh even as she willingly gave her spot at the counter to Haymitch so he could start cooking. She sat down next to Peeta at the table, wondering if it was wise to stay in the same room or if they had better made themselves scarce while Haymitch cooked.
"For someone who was not obsessing over her breasts, you certainly mentioned them a lot on the walk back." Effie snapped. Haymitch was washing his hands and shot the former escort a look. Effie huffed. "Well. I suppose she was not quite your type…"
"No kidding." Katniss muttered and immediately regretted it when all eyes turned to her.
Peeta looked half-disbelieving and half-impressed.
She winced.
How could she make that stupid mistake again? She and Peeta should never get involved in one of their fights. Never. And certainly not when Effie was accusing Haymitch of having been ogling another woman – that never ended well. Well… It usually ended well because Haymitch somehow always convinced her she was the only one he wanted but that also usually meant he had to work at convincing her – and she didn't want to know how he did that – so they went without dinner.
She had spotted oranges in those bags and she really did want his version of canard à l'orange for dinner – even though no duck would be involved. It was good and tasty and it might have been her favorite dish. However, she wouldn't get to eat it if Effie started distracting him.
So she bit the bullet and confronted the ticked off Capitol woman who was staring at her with a annoyed pout.
"In all the time you've been here, Haymitch's never looked at another woman." she stated truthfully. At least he had never done so in front of her. Or she had never caught him. But he had been so miserable in the months before their escort had joined them in Twelve… "I don't get why you always have to be so jealous…"
Peeta slowly pushed his chair away from hers. Traitor.
She shot him a glare but he simply lifted his eyebrows, all amused innocence.
Effie huffed again. "What you call being jealous, I call being possessive. And I assure you Haymitch never minds that."
"I mind." Haymitch corrected, starting to slice and dice the vegetables – he was careful though, the tremors were sometimes bad since he had drastically cut down on the drinking. "Sometimes."
Effie's pout hardened, her lips pressed tight together as she narrowed her eyes at him, her head tilted to the side. "Katniss thinks I am making a scene. That is so unfair. Say something."
Haymitch smirked, his eyes darting to her and then to Katniss before lowering back down to the carrots he was slicing. "You're always making a scene, sweetheart."
"I am not the one who is being ridiculous, accusing the other of cheating." the former escort hissed.
"Never said you were cheating." Haymitch argued. "I said if you ever caught me looking at a woman the way you were looking at that one, you'd cut my balls and make yourself a necklace with them."
"Ew." Katniss made a face at the same time as Peeta.
"Quite." Effie gestured at them as if their reaction was making her point. "How disgusting. I told you to mind your language, did I not?"
"You've been telling me for fifteen years." Haymitch answered in a false sweet tone. "Why would I start now when you're the one straying?"
"I was not straying!" Effie exclaimed, lifting both hands in a theatrical gesture of exasperation. "I will admit I may have looked…"
"Flirted." their mentor corrected, his face darkening a little. "You were flirting."
"I was not." their former escort sputtered.
Haymitch rolled his eyes again and took a coquettish voice that was a clear – bad – imitation of Effie's. "Oh, what nice oranges you have here… Is it alright if I feel them?"
"I never said that!" Effie protested. "Oh, how aggravating you are! She was pretty! You admitted so yourself! I was simply being nice. I did not ask for her number or…"
"Wait." Katniss cut in, confused beyond belief. "I'm lost…"
"I'm lost too…" Peeta frowned. "Who flirted with Gertrude's daughter?"
"Nobody." their former escort answered at the same time Haymitch coughed 'Effie'.
"But…" Katniss insisted, looking from Haymitch to Effie and back. "She's a woman… Why were you flirting with…"
There was a sudden charged silence in the kitchen.
Haymitch and Effie, she realized, couldn't have been that irritated with each other – more likely it was one of their weird play fights where they pretended to be annoyed with each other just so they could banter all night – because they were suddenly standing close together, a unit facing her and Peeta.
"Well…" Effie hesitated. "I did not realize you did not know…"
"Oh." Peeta said suddenly, as if he was having a revelation. Then, he shrugged and smiled at Effie. "Okay."
Effie smiled back at him, some tension leaving her shoulders. Why was she so tense all of a sudden?
Katniss searched Haymitch's eyes like always when she was confused but he simply gazed back, lifting his eyebrows, waiting for her to catch up…
She wasn't catching up.
She didn't get their weird fight at all… If Haymitch hadn't been the one flirting, where was the problem? It wasn't like Effie was going to cheat on him or seriously be interested in another woman.
Was it?
Oh.
The polite thing to do, probably, would have been to react just like Peeta had, be all natural and accepting.
But it was kind of a shock.
She had known Effie for four years and she had had no idea that…
"You like women?" she asked.
She wasn't oblivious to the fact Haymitch's hand had navigated to the small of their escort's back. A show of support.
It was unnecessary, of course, because Katniss wouldn't shun her just because of that but… Well… It wasn't that she didn't know that sort of things happened – she hadn't been exposed to a lot in the city but she had seen enough – it was just more… low-key in the Districts. The Capitol might have been all about propriety but Districts were very traditional in certain areas and… She supposed the Capitol was more progressive for… some things.
"I like people." Effie answered, her voice calm and collected.
Katniss wouldn't have heard the tinge of nervousness if she hadn't been waiting for it.
"What does that mean exactly?" she insisted, curious.
"Katniss." Peeta said, putting a hand on her thigh. "It's not important. She's Effie. We love her."
"Of course, she's Effie and we love her." Katniss snapped, glaring at her boyfriend. She was angry he would even imply she would cut Effie off just because she… "I was just asking a question not judging."
Peeta, to his credit, winced and lifted both hands up. "Sorry."
Haymitch, she noticed, had relaxed and had gone back to slicing his carrots.
Effie, for her part, was beaming. Her eyes were a little shiny. "I know the Districts are a lot more conservative than the Capitol – although the Capitol is not without its fault in this matter – and I would understand if…"
"We love you." Katniss cut her off with a shrug. She was far more bothered with the Capitol's eccentricities than she was with the knowledge she also liked women. She just needed a second to let it sink. She hadn't been prepared for that tiny bit of information, that was all. "I don't care who you like."
"I love you too." the escort vowed. Effie's eyes were shinier and shinier and that was making Katniss ill-at-ease. Fortunately, Haymitch accidentally bumped into the woman's hip, prompting her to clear her throat. "If you have questions… Naturally, I will answer them. Ask away."
Peeta, clearly, was of the opinion they should respect her privacy – or maybe he didn't have questions – because he remained silent. Katniss was… intrigued. "What does that mean you like people? Like… both men and women?"
Haymitch let out a small sigh and winced when Effie shot him a chiding glance.
Katniss had the feeling he had been submitted to that speech a few times.
"I am attracted to both men and women, yes." Effie confirmed. "Although gender isn't always so easily defined and I do not discriminate. I prefer to consider myself pansexual."
She shook her head. "I've never heard that term before."
"Cause you ever heard the word gay out loud in those parts?" Haymitch snorted. At Effie's look, he shrugged. "Sorry, but I'm calling it as I see it… People still really ain't coming out in the Districts."
"And the fact that we are living together without you having put a ring on my finger is still wildly considered appalling." Effie retorted. "Archaic thinking is not…"
"Ain't saying you're wrong." Haymitch interrupted. "I'm just saying it's no surprise the girl doesn't know your fancy labels when…"
"My sexuality is not a fancy label." Effie growled.
Haymitch quickly realized his mistake and, while Katniss expected him to be stubborn about it like he usually was, the topic must have been a part of what he considered too serious to be joked upon because he retreated. "No, it ain't. And you know I don't fucking care so don't read me the riot act. I'm just trying to say… Minds are slow to change, that's all. And I'm not saying that's right either. I'm just saying…"
"I think you should stop just saying things before I get irritated, Haymitch." Effie snapped. "I am perfectly aware of the state of things in the Districts. That does not mean I will pretend to be what I am not. I had a lot taken from me already, nobody will rob me of my sexual identity, thank you very much. I have always been very proud of it."
Katniss watched as their escort jutted her chin in the air.
"I think that's cool." she declared suddenly, bringing everyone's gaze back on her. "Liking people. I just never really thought about it." She tilted her head and then shrugged. "You know… I think Johanna's hot. I mean… I wouldn't want to kiss and make-out with her but… She's hot in a different way than all the other girls I know."
Haymitch was gaping at her a little and Effie quickly nudged his chin back up so he would close his mouth.
Peeta watched her, a bit amused. "Should I be worried you're having a revelation and leaving me for Jo?"
"Don't be an idiot, I love you." she scoffed, wrapping both arms around his and propping her chin on his shoulder. "I'm just saying… I never even realized it could be attraction, 'cause…"
She shrugged.
"I get it." Peeta offered. "I don't think I've ever been really attracted to a boy but Finnick wasn't bad to look out naked…"
They all turned toward Haymitch but he shook his head. "Don't look at me, I've only ever been interested in breasts and cu…"
"Say that word and I will stab you with this knife." Effie warned.
Haymitch desisted with a smirk. He had made progress while they had been talking and he switched the now golden apple pie for the birds into the oven. "Alright. We're all very cool with Effie liking people, Katniss has the hots for Jo, Peeta needs to find himself a new man crush… If we're all done with the revelations for tonight…"
They all made faces at him but Effie grabbed the plates to set the table while Haymitch quickly washed the knife and the chopping board. Peeta excused himself to go feed Buttercup and Katniss put away the remaining groceries.
They were a well-oiled machine and she knew where the stuff went in the pantry so she didn't really bother paying the mentor and the escort much attention but she didn't miss Effie bumping hips with him again as she came back out. She froze on the threshold, knowing it was one of those moments she would regret walking in on them. And, sure enough, this time Haymitch's arm sneaked out and wrapped around the woman's waist. He pulled her against his side and planted a long kiss on her mouth that conveyed love, pride and a lot of other things she wasn't privy to.
When he drew back, Effie was grinning up at him with adoration in her eyes.
It was disgustingly cute.
"I still say you were flirting with that girl." Haymitch snorted, not sounding particularly bothered.
"She had nice breasts." Effie replied, matter-of-fact.
"I like yours better." he deadpanned. And it was all Katniss could do not to make a gagging sound.
"I am disappointed you are not more jealous." Effie hummed.
He snorted again, leaning down to peck her lips. "I know when you're just trying to rile me up, princess. Might have been more pissed if you'd actually been interested…"
"I would not have tried to rile you up if you had not been eyeing that redhead at the flower booth again." the Capitol pointed out.
"What can I say…" Haymitch teased. "She's got nice breasts too."
"I thought you never looked?" Effie challenged.
Haymitch smirked, his grey eyes twinkling with mirth, and Katniss wisely retreated to the pantry because she didn't want to see horrors, wondering how long it would take Peeta to come back and save her.
Locking herself in the pantry didn't spare her the kissing sounds.
She sighed and opened a pack of biscuits that Effie would probably scold her for and prepared herself for a long wait.
Hopefully I did the topic justice. I hope you liked this! Let me know your thoughts!