Prompt: Oh dear god please do a prompt based on your headcanon "If she's very very upset, she will be dead quiet though, almost withdrawn. And in those instances, what she needs is a hug. Nothing else will do. She needs human contact. »

Hey it's chapter 500! Nothing special for this – admittedly stunning – landmark. I just hope you guys still enjoy the stories!

I'm not promising daily updates for now. I'm taking it one day at a time. Thank you for sending messages and stuff. I'm not very good at this so I didn't answer everyone but it really meant a lot. It's a very difficult time for me.

Fights And Their Consequences

Haymitch and Peeta exchanged a glance but wisely stayed silent, adding to the tense atmosphere. He almost wanted to crack a joke or to tell the girls to stop being ridiculous but he knew better. Katniss would simply storm out and Effie would huff and puff that 'manners and politeness aren't yet dead' and that 'there is no reason Katniss shouldn't stick to them'.

He figured it was only natural that fights would break out between the four of them now and then. He certainly had his share both with Effie and Katniss. It rarely lasted more than a few days.

Still, it made dinner a very unpleasant affair, with Katniss glowering in one corner and Effie pursing her lips, her blue eyes sparkling in anger, in another.

The kids were gone as soon as dessert was over. He and Peeta shared a last look of painful understanding before the boy followed the girl, Katniss had already left the kitchen in a hurry. Effie was clearing the table with angry jerky moves so he mumbled an excuse about having to check something upstairs to leave her be. He didn't want to get involved in that stupid pointless battle of wills and he didn't want to get dragged in a fight of their own because she was irritated and the fault always fell back on him.

He dropped on their bed and read for a while, waiting for her to come up. After an hour and a half she still wasn't there. He couldn't hear the TV so he knew she wasn't watching anything – she always put it on too loud. With a sigh and a silent prayer to any divinity willing to listen, he placed the book back on the nightstand and wandered downstairs.

She was sitting on the window seat, wrapped in the blanket they always left on the back of the couch, her head propped against the glass, her eyes lost somewhere in the distance. She didn't glance at him when he came in and she didn't react aside from curling up tighter when he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Not angry then – if she had been angry she would have found him and she would have ranted and ranted until he wouldn't have been able to bear it – upset.

"Come on, sweetheart." he sighed "It's just a fight. You'll bury the hatchet tomorrow."

She didn't answer but her lips twitched and he realized she was fighting to keep a composure. He crouched next to her, his knees popping in a humiliating way – he was growing old, when had that happened? – and reached out to brush her hair back.

"It's Katniss, Effie." he stated. "She doesn't do well with parenting and you're always mothering her. She snaps, she regrets it, she will say sorry tomorrow. No fucking reason to be upset."

The reason for the fight in itself had been meaningless, it wasn't the point.

"She called me a Capitol escort." she whispered.

Her exact words had been: What would a Capitol escort know about that?, he had cringed when they had been tossed but had still refused to step in. He hadn't realized how much they had affected her. "Sweetheart…"

"Is that how the children still see me?" she asked in a pained voice. "The Capitol escort? Is that how you see me"

"It's a part of who you are." he answered carefully. "It's not all you are but it's a part of you, yeah."

She pursed her lips tight. "I thought we had grown past that. I thought…"

"Look, the kids love you." he cut her off. "But you're Capitol and you were their escort. You're silly and ridiculous and you don't know shit about living in a place without maids and Avoxes and all that jazz. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that's what she meant by it."

"Or perhaps she hates me still." she countered.

"She never hated you." he snorted. "She hated me, remember?"

She still looked upset and he rolled his eyes, sneaking an arm around her waist and grabbing her under the knees without asking for her opinion. She shrieked when he lifted her up but that was the extent of her reaction. She didn't say anything when he flopped on the couch and she ended up in his lap, she simply curled up against his chest and buried her face in his neck.

"I do not mean to antagonize her or any of you." she confessed. "I know you are all irritated with my quirks and…"

"Shut up." he grumbled. "If we didn't want you here, you wouldn't be here. You're you. That's what we like."

"Like." she repeated. A question, he figured.

"Don't go fishing." he rebuked, pressing a kiss on her head. "You know."

It had been long enough.

He sure hoped she did.