Prompt: i am a big fan of yours, so i'll leave here this prompt: you often talk of effie's nightmares, but what if one night she would have a wonderful dream? all of her dead friends are alive and fine, everyone is happy, even johanna, and they have a big lunch all together in 12

Sweet Dreams

Haymitch had been awake for a while but he hadn't moved to get out of bed yet. It was early still and he was enjoying the warmth of Effie's body pressed against his side.

It was funny how he used to hate lying in bed like this but now it was one of his favorite things. He still mulled over bad memories from time to time but mostly, lately, all he had to think about in the morning and in the evening, at the edge of slumber, were good things. Like how he should go about expanding the pen for the geese because the gaggle was becoming too big for it – his own fault, as Effie claimed, since he forgot to pick up the eggs a lot and he refused to let Katniss cook any of them.

Effie hummed in her sleep, pressing closer to him and he tightened the arm he had wrapped around her, amused and relieved to see a soft smile on her lips. Her body was heavy and relaxed, whatever dream she was having, it must have been a good one.

His thumb drew distracted circles on her upper arm while he pondered what it would take to bribe the boy into helping him with the pen. Not much, probably. Peeta was always happy to help. Most likely, all he would need to do was offer some coffee and…

With another sleepy hum and a deep breath, Effie's body stretched before curling on itself. She nuzzled his shoulder and he let his hand trail up her arm to her hair, tangling his fingers in the wild curls.

He was about to make a joke about hoping he had been the star of her dream given how happy she had looked but before he could say anything she rubbed her cheeks and he realized, a heartbeat too late, that she was crying.

He frowned. "Nightmare?"

That really hadn't looked like a nightmare…

She shook her head and cleared her throat, lifting her head to peck his lips good morning. "No… It was the sweetest dream. I just… I sort of knew I was dreaming and it made me sad because… Well… It was the sweetest dream."

"What kind of dream?" he insisted.

He never had sweet dreams that made him sad.

Either he had nightmares or he didn't dream, there was rarely an in-between.

She settled back down with her head on his shoulder and placed her hand on his heart. She liked feeling its beat, he knew, it calmed her down. "We were all having a picnic in the meadow."

"Doesn't sound so sad…" he pointed out. "So what… Katniss forgot the salad forks?"

She snorted at his bad joke but didn't protest when he started petting her hair.

"It was all of us." she whispered. "The two of us, the children, Annie and Johanna… Finn… Finnick was there too. And Chaff and Seneca. Cinna and Portia. Primrose. It was… It was just so good to see them all but I knew it wasn't real. It is difficult to explain. It was a good dream, though."

Dreaming about dead people was sad to him, no matter if they were having a picnic or running around in an arena.

He wrinkled his nose. "Doesn't sound that fun." She shrugged a little and he leaned in to kiss her, hoping to distract her before the melancholic mood could take root. "Hey, sweetheart…" He smirked against her lips. "You know what sounds fun?"

She chuckled. "Let me guess… It involves me losing my nightgown…"

His rolled on her and let his mouth trail down her throat, below her ear, on her collarbone… "Only if it gets in the way…"

She laughed louder when he nuzzled it down so he could get access to her breasts.

That was better, he mused.

Dreams were all well and good but it didn't beat reality.

I'm guessing the prompter wanted fluff but I'm sorry when I dream about dead people even if the dream is happy I always wake up sad because I know it's not real. I usually know inside the dream too. And sure it's cool but it's also so fucking depressing... I don't know if it's a me-thing but... Yeah. So I hope you liked this anyway, count on Haymitch to lift the mood - and the nightgown. Let me know your thoughts!