9.

Waffles on Sunday mornings were hugely overrated.

Katniss poked at the soggy mess in her plate with her fork and tried to muster an appropriately thankful smile for a beaming Effie. Prim had coaxed Haymitch into helping her make the dough that morning and the witch's only job was to actually put the dough in the waffle iron. How she could have messed that up…

Peeta was still trying to swallow a bite of his own waffle and Prim was pretending to be looking for Buttercup's food in a cupboard to avoid having to deal with her own.

And yet Effie hadn't been out of the hospital long enough that Katniss felt comfortable rubbing her nose in her lack of cooking talents. Not when the woman still had visible dark bags under her eyes despite the heavy layer of make-up and certainly not when she had remained in a coma of sort for two very long days.

She reminded herself she was supposed to be the Slayer, vanquisher of all evil or whatever, and that she could confront a saggy waffle. She took a bite, chewed hard and forced a smile.

"It's good." she said around that mouthful.

Haymitch snorted. He was leaning against the kitchen counter, a tall glass of orange juice – although given the color, it probably wasn't only orange juice – in his hand. When Effie pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at him, the warning obvious on her face, he simply shook his head and nudged the witch toward one of the chairs.

"I'm in charge of making the waffles now." he decided.

"I am perfectly capable of doing it." the woman huffed. "I just have to pour dough in the machine, press down and wait the required amount of time. How can I mess that up?"

"That's the question." Peeta muttered under his breath, for Katniss' ears only. They exchanged an amused smile and quickly looked away to avoid bursting out laughing. That wouldn't go down well.

"Let's make it a new rule that people who spend a week at the hospital ain't required to cook." Haymitch taunted. "Hell, I'm gonna sweeten the deal, Princess. Let's make it a rule you are never required to cook cause I don't wanna spend a whole week with food poisoning."

The witch huffed and puffed and then pouted but Katniss thought Effie was secretly relieved to be able to sit down and eat breakfast without having to make it.

It had been her own idea to have everyone over. Peeta had showed up practically at dawn, having sneaked out of the house before he could be swept in the Sunday rush at the bakery. He, unlike Effie, looked completely recovered from his slight concussion.

None of them, however, seemed completely recovered from the fear demon's influence. The fears lingered under the surface, unaddressed and generally ignored.

"What's the plan today?" Peeta asked just as Prim came back to the table. Right in time for Haymitch to switch her waffle for a fresh one – one that didn't look a mess. "More research?"

The Careers.

The reminder made Katniss' stomach churn and her appetite wavered. She casually took a sip of her tea and avoided her sister's knowing – and worried – gaze. The two of them, along with Haymitch and later on once he hadn't felt like puking every five seconds Peeta, had been poring over books all week. In effect, they had been poring over books for months.

"We all need a break." Haymitch denied, his grey eyes traveling from the boy to Effie and back to Katniss. They lingered on her and she jutted her chin up, trying to convey she was perfectly up to doing more research. She wanted to be prepared. When the Careers would come… Haymitch shook his head, as if already knowing what she was about to say. "We don't have any lead to go on. There's nothing in the library. We're gonna have a training session later but we're taking today off. You kids do something fun."

"We could all do something together." Prim suggested. Everyone looked at her and she blushed. "I mean… It could be nice? Like a family day?"

Katniss held her breath, not sure what sort of reaction that would trigger. Haymitch was their guardian now, it didn't mean he was duty bound to indulge her sister. He had promised he would take care of Prim if anything happened to her but he had never promised he was going to…

"Don't see why not." Haymitch shrugged, his face softening like often around the twelve year-old. Maybe she reminded him of his brother. "What do you have in mind?"

"Oh… How about some manicure time?" Effie cut in, almost bouncing on her chair in her enthusiasm. "I have new nail polish bottles I have been meaning to try and I have precious new patterns for nail art…" Haymitch opened his mouth – probably to protest – and the witch waved her hand before he could say anything. "You can sit in a corner and read. Nobody will force you to paint your toenails pink, Haymitch."

"We could play chess." Peeta offered the Watcher.

"Chess it is." Haymitch gratefully agreed, dropping a waffle on Effie's plate.

"Do you have a purple one?" Prim asked, clearly excited by the prospect. "Can I paint mine purple?"

Effie flashed her a bright smile. "You can have purple nail polish, glitter and any pattern you want."

Katniss found herself lost in the momentum, not really wanting to get a manicure but also unwilling to damper her sister's and the witch's mood. Haymitch and Peeta started talking about their History assignment over Effie and Prim who were still discussing nail polish and Katniss ate her waffle and watched, content to know everyone was in one place, safe and sound.

Maybe waffles on Sunday mornings weren't so overrated after all.

Her thoughts strayed to Gale and she was tempted to send a text, check up on him, but she ignored the impulse. Things were too strange with her best friend right now, too tense, and Gale had made it clear he didn't want to be a part of this team, of this makeshift family. The thing was – and she might not have been willing to believe it a few months earlier so she couldn't fault her best friend for doubting it – she loved her makeshift family, even the witch whose magic she still had ambiguous feelings for most of the time.

They all looked happy enough right then, so she went with the flow.

Once they had eaten their full, they all ended up in various spots of the living-room. She had had no idea Prim was so knowledgeable about nail art until that moment – although, as she promptly was informed by her sister, that was apparently what Pinterest was for; she didn't confess not knowing what it meant. It took her a while to realize all of Prim's friends probably used nail polish but her sister had never asked for any because she knew it cost money.

"That's a lot of glitter." Haymitch muttered at some point, glancing away from the chessboard and to what Effie was doing to Prim's nails. It was a lot of glitter for a twelve year-old but Prim looked so happy… And it was pretty. Stylized glittery flowers over a light layer of purple… Katniss was pretty sure if she had tried to do that it would have ended up looking like a dump of glittery stuff.

She was wary when it was her turn to submit to Effie's talents and she begged off anything glittery but she had to admit it was a little fun. If only because when Prim tried her hand at it, it turned out a little odd and they all laughed about it.

It felt strangely… normal. Not only like before the supernatural entered her life but before her father died. She had very vague memories of entire days spent like that, doing nothing special but spending time together… She couldn't remember the last time she had seen Prim so relaxed and that was good. She needed this. A strong woman she could look up to – even if Effie was silly at the best of times – and someone who would watch out for her like Haymitch obviously intended to do, even Peeta had started acting like a protective brother and it made Katniss feel better about the whole dying young thing. She knew Gale would also still look out for her sister even if they weren't on the best terms. When she would fall… Prim would be alright.

Katniss, maybe a bit reluctantly, found she was having fun. At some point, she switched places with Peeta because Effie was adamant about initiating him to nail art – or, more accurately, because she wanted him to help her with her own nails – and she ended up being mocked mercilessly by Haymitch for her lack of talent at chess.

They had a late lunch where they lingered at the table afterwards and they were all so relaxed and, dared she think, content that the ringing of a phone was like a very cold shower.

"Is that Rambo?" Haymitch frowned, fishing the phone out of his pocket, sparing an irritated look for Peeta.

"What else was I supposed to use for your mysterious demon hunter friend?" the boy replied innocently. "From the stories, Chaff sounded like a Rambo to me."

"What did I say about the personalized ringtones?" Haymitch grumbled, standing up and swiping the screen in the same move. "Yeah."

He left the room and all they could hear was the low rumble of his voice in the corridor. Nobody tried to start a conversation. Even Effie was staring at the door with worried eyes. The mood had shifted, they were all tense and anxious again.

When Haymitch came back, his face was grim. "Chaff managed to track Enobaria down to Italy. The trail led to a missing ceremonial dagger, a coven full of dead nuns and few missing sailors and dock workers. His lead went dead in the harbor and the trail was already cold."

"What does that mean?" Peeta asked.

"It means they are planning a ritual of sort and that Enobaria took a boat." Effie deduced.

"It means the Careers are on their way." Katniss added. "If they're not already here."

There was a long pause and then Haymitch cleared his throat. "It's training time. For all of us." His glance fell on Prim and a flash of regret passed over his face. "You too, sweetheart. Don't expect you to do any fighting but I want you to be able to use a stake. Just in case."

Katniss doubted that was what her sister had meant by family time but their family wasn't exactly normal to begin with.

They can't catch a break! Did you like it? Let me know!