Prompt : If you haven't already done something similar, could you do something where the kids somehow accidentally see the extent of effies scars?

A Day At The Lake

Effie laughed when Peeta flung Katniss in the water, amused by the uncharacteristic girly screech their Mockingjay let out. Katniss resurfaced with a glint in her eyes that meant war but looking thoroughly amused. She splashed water in Peeta's direction but the boy quickly jumped out of the way, laughing too.

"It is good to see them act this way." she hummed, piling the dirty dishes of their picnic back in the basket.

Haymitch shrugged but the smirk on his lips said it all. He was half lying down on the blanket, propped on his elbows, to watch the children."They're better."

It had been around two years since the war and six months since she had given up and ended up on Haymitch's doorstep with a handfuls of problems and nowhere else to go. Truth be told, Twelve wasn't ideal but she had been doing better there too. Having her team – her family – around helped tremendously. She wasn't an anomaly there, with her nightmares and her PTSD, she fitted.

"It is a beautiful day." she hummed.

A picnic at the lake had been the children's idea and it had been a very good one.

"Yeah." Haymitch agreed, sitting up to untie his boots. "Hot too, right? You look a bit hot."

"A bit? You used to find me absolutely hot." she joked and then shook her head at herself. "The day is rather warm, yes." she said, half chuckling because Katniss had succeeded in dragging the boy in the lake. She envied them their freedom. She would have never jumped in a lake in her underwear, not even in her youth – that was as improper as it got and she would have gotten an earful when her mother would have learned about it; and her mother always learned about those things.

Haymitch kicked his boots off and she frowned, wondering if he was planning to join them. It was only when he slipped his shirt over his head, displaying a not so muscular chest and its familiar scars, that she started to get suspicious.

"Haymitch." she growled before he could do anything he would regret.

"Sweetheart?" he replied innocently, hauling himself to his feet.

His grey eyes were twinkling with mischief and she scrambled up, quickly kicking off her heels because if he was serious – and he probably was – she didn't want to ruin them. The trek through the woods had been difficult enough on them as it was.

The ground around the lake was full of small rocks and dirt with the occasional patch of grass. She hated the feeling of dirt under her toes. She hoped away in a fashion that was probably not only undignified but also ridiculous, if the children's sudden bouts of laughter were to be believed, but Haymitch was faster and grabbed her around the waist.

"Don't you dare!" she squealed. "Haymitch, I do not have a bathing suit! Don't you…"

She was putting up a good fight and if his idea had been to toss her in the lake, he was soon forced to revise his plans. Of course, he was nothing but stubborn and thus he marched them straight to the water with her wriggling left and right in his arms. He was still strong for a man whose only physical activity consisted of the occasional chopping of wood and irregular walks in the woods.

"Haymitch!" she screeched but she was almost laughing at the stupidity of it all.

He tripped and they plummeted in the water and that was it for her blue summer dress. She wiped her eyes and pushed her wet hair out of her face and immediately splash water at him, annoyed to find he was laughing at her.

"You do not even know if I can swim!" she snapped. "I could have drown!"

Still chuckling, he wrapped an arm around her and drew her close to his chest. "Have a little faith, sweetheart. I'd save you."

It mollified her a little and she coiled a hand around his nape, ready to punish him with a violent kiss, only to be brought short by the two groans behind them. She and Haymitch exchanged a look and the twinkle in his eyes only intensified. There was a challenge there. One she didn't take him up on.

The children didn't like them kissing in front of them.

That was understandable, she decided.

So, instead, she grabbed his shoulders and pushed down. He wasn't expecting it, she could tell, but he was also much stronger than she was and he didn't move one inch. He did however look very amused.

"You get that means war?" he snorted, placing his hands on her hips and pushing her away.

She crashed further away in the water and almost choke because she was laughing so hard she swallowed some. It did end up in a war of sort with she and Katniss teaming up – and failing – to get the upper hand.

They were all quite exhausted when they staggered out of the lake. The children immediately crashed on the blanket, letting the sun warm them. Haymitch took his soaked pants off and laid them down on a rock before outstretching his hand.

"Give me your dress." he requested.

She immediately took a step back as if he was about to tear it off her. "It is not necessary."

He rolled his eyes. "Come on, it won't dry on you. It will be chilly soon. You'll need it dry to trek back home."

"And whose fault is that?" she accused, folding her arms in front of her chest. "I will be fine, thank you for your concern."

"Effie, he's right…" Peeta cut in with a wince. She shot him a betrayed look and the wince deepened. "I'm sorry, but he is. It's okay, we won't look if you're embarrassed."

"She's got nothing to be embarrassed about." Haymitch snorted.

His amusement died down faced with her glare.

"Do you even know what sort of underwear I have on?" she hissed, low enough that the children wouldn't hear. "Perhaps I have a see-through pairs. Perhaps I am not decent under this dress. Do you want me to give the children a show?"

He didn't even blink. "You've got the blue stuff on and they're pretty tame." Somehow, she wasn't even surprised he couldn't pay attention to anything she did but that he knew what kind of underwear she had on. He sighed. "Come on, Princess, you're cold."

"I am not." she huffed.

"Your tits say differently." he shrugged. She looked down, horrified to see her nipples were visibly hard under her dress. And she was starting to shiver. He reached out and brushed her wet hair behind her shoulder. "It's not a big deal, sweetheart. We're family."

He didn't seem disturbed to be half naked in front of the children. On the other hand, he had a tendency to walk completely naked around the house unless she stopped him, so…

Jaw clenched, she surrendered and unbuttoned her dress, slipping it from her shoulders and handing it to him, staring straight ahead. She could feel the children's eyes on her back and knew it had nothing to do with what she chose to wear under her clothes. Her lips wobbled a little but she jutted her chin in the air.

Haymitch's face fell when he finally realized what her problem was. "Effie…"

She walked back to the blankets without looking at anyone and sat down, hugging her legs close to her chest, her eyes on the lake.

Peeta was making an effort to be subtle but Katniss was openly studying her exposed skin with a horrified look. It took the boy elbowing her in the side for her to stop gawking at the scars on her body. The ones on her back were the worst. Then there was the long gash on her thigh, the burned patch of skin on her hip – not unlike the girl's own scars – and the neat surgical mark on her shoulder.

She felt the fabric brush her arm and she looked up right when Haymitch sat down, offering her his shirt.

"Sorry." he whispered and he seemed to mean it. "Didn't think."

"Thank you." she answered in the same tone, embarrassed.

"You don't need to hide them from us." Katniss frowned when Effie slipped the shirt on. "You don't need to hide anything from us. We all have them."

Her blue eyes fell on Peeta's prosthetic leg, on the girl's patchwork like skin and on Haymitch's chest where the swollen white lines stood out.

She relaxed a little and launched a new conversation topic, not answering that very astute comment. It was only later, once the children were distracted and they were all quickly getting dressed to head back that Haymitch pressed a quick and discrete kiss on the side of her neck.

"You're gorgeous." he mumbled.

Because that was what she needed to hear.

And because he meant it.