The following days were hard. Effie is going through withdrawal and it's keeping both of them up all night since he needs to make sure she will stick to no pills rule. It's not that he doesn't trust her but he knows how strong the urge to just pop a pill so she can go to sleep. He stayed up with her, playing chess or watching nonsense program on the television. After a few days, she finally crashed. After that phase, it's like nothing has happened. She went back to her bubbly self. Due to her ill phase, they got left behind on schedule. She worked on that right away.
As usual, their tributes died right away. Haymitch knows she's still having trouble sleeping at night. Her strategy is to exhaust herself during the day so she will be so tired that she will just crash at night. It's not healthy but at least it's better than taking pills.
"I suppose you're not joining the Victory Tour", she said while they are in the penthouse working on the post-game documentations.
Effie normally does it but Haymitch is in the mood of helping out. He doesn't have the appetite to go out and get drunk. He might have when he gets bored.
"Yeah, not that close to that district and it's been a long year", he said.
"Amen to that", she muttered.
It's been a long year, not the games, but they battle with the pills and the withdrawal. It took a lot of their energies to go through it.
"I don't think I've ever said thank you for everything you did for me this year", she said.
She continued filling up the forms but he stopped. Since she recovered from it, she never wanted to talk about what happened and now she's opening up.
"You got my back. I got yours", he said casually.
Effie smiled a little.
"Isn't it funny, I somewhat understood why you drink…I don't like it but I get it", she muttered.
He scoffed and shrugged. It is quite funny but he wished that she didn't go through that. He would rather have her loathing his drinking habit than to watch her suffer while going through withdrawal.
"I get it too, princess, if that's any consolation. You scared me but I get it", he said and she finally looked at him.
Her eyes are glassy. The mask is cracked and she's not making any effort on patching it up. His heart started pounding. He's not sure if it's okay to leave her in the Capitol at the state she's in. She's fragile. He knows she's strong but everyone has their limits. She reached hers and almost died from it.
"Are you okay, sweetheart? Really okay?" he asked.
"I will get better. I will be fine. You made sure of that, right?" she answered then asked him back.
She's talking about the gamemakers who are buying escorts during the break.
"Yeah, you don't need to worry about that", he answered.
"Then I will be alright. I will have to deal with my mother again but I can handle that", she said and managed to hold her smile a little longer.
Haymitch boarded the train the next day. He's going back to his house where he can drown himself in alcohol and shut himself out from the world until next year. The train feels so quiet without Effie's voice filling up the space lecturing the kids about manners and scolding him about not setting a good example to the kids with his drinking. It is awfully quiet for his taste and it's bothering him.
He shook his head trying to shake Effie out of his brain. Why is he missing her? She's Capitol. She's an Escort and a Capitol doll. He knew better. No matter how much he denies it. He knows better. She's not just another Capitol doll. She's Effie Trinket. Despite the thick makeup and horrible wigs and dresses, she's a human being. She has a heart and even though he hates to say it out loud, she's his friend now. She has saved him and he has saved her. They are closer now than ever. Now, that is a scary realization.
Once he got to his empty and dirty house, he dropped his suitcase and opened it to get a bottle of whisky he smuggled from the penthouse when he noticed a pink box sitting along with his clothes.
He should be alarmed. Package from the Capitol like that can be dangerous. It could be a bomb or some deadly chemical from Snow but for some reason, the pink gave it away. It's not from Snow. It's from Effie. He should know, the woman loves pink.
Haymitch opened the box and saw a silver flask with a pink ribbon wrapped around it. He gently removed the ribbon and the flask is a beauty. There is an initial engraved on its side A. It must've cost her a fortune and he should return it but how can he. It is gorgeous. The card attached to the ribbon says "…so you wouldn't have to carry bottles around". That made him chuckled. She always hated it when he just took bottles from bars or the penthouse and paraded it around Capitol.
The next item in the pink box is a book. He loves reading but he never showed it to anyone in the Capitol. It is a question how she found out about his hobby but the book is a first edition. It's hard to find and she managed to just sneak it inside his suitcase. If he knows better, the book belongs to the General Library at the Presidential Mansion. The fact that Effie might've committed a crime of theft so he can get a nice book strengthened that unexplainable feeling in his chest for her. They are walking on a dangerous path and he can't stop thinking what next year holds for them. He knows for sure it's not going to any easier than the current year but at least he knows one thing for sure and that is she is not an enemy. She never was. She's an ally, his ally. She's his friend.
been a little busy...67th hunger games is coming up!
