prompt : (After the war)haymitch hasnt touched effie in monthes ( because he doent want to scare her , so (even with all her scars)effie buys lingrie and tries to seduce him. Shes afraid he doenst want her but its opposite

Reaching Out

Haymitch was dozing off.

The popping of the logs in the fireplace had been lulling him to sleep for a while now, the dark prints of his book were blurring together and the glass of liquor in his hand was dangerously tilting toward the floor.

He could hear the faint honking of the geese in the backyard, the tired humming of electric appliances in the kitchen and the familiar cracking of the fire. He loved those background noises. They were peaceful to him.

It was late enough that he might consider trying to go to bed.

The creaking of the stairs, as light and discrete as it was, brought him out of his daze. He stretched and rubbed his neck with a wince when he realized he hadn't been falling asleep at a good angle. He placed the glass of liquor with the book on the coffee table and turned just in time to see her lean against the living-room doorframe.

"Can't sleep, sweetheart?" he asked.

His eyes automatically roamed over her. How not to when she was wearing a short red silky dressing gown that left her legs entirely bare? The immediate arousal died when his gaze lingered on the long thin scar on her thigh. He felt disgusted with himself for those primal responses he couldn't quite control.

He forced himself to look up and straight into her eyes, bypassing the loose neckline of the dressing gown that showed more creamy skin. It was new, this gown, and the color wasn't helping. He had always loved her in red.

"No…" she offered, tangling her hand in her hair to push the blond curls over one shoulder. He tracked the move with hungry eyes. It exposed her throat and the hand slowly fell down the shimmering fabric, brushing against her breast in a not-quite accidental manner… "I have been having dreams lately."

He knew all about her dreams. He was the one who had to shake her awake more often than not. He was the one who held her until she stopped shaking long enough to fall asleep. He was the one who pretended it was completely normal for her to go on a cleaning spree at three in the morning only to collapse next to him in bed around dawn.

But he didn't think she was talking about night terrors.

He remained silent.

There was a touch of nervousness to the way she swayed her hips as she came to stand next to the couch. Not within reach, he noticed, and that was why he kept very still.

"I have been here for months, Haymitch." she stated.

He nodded once, curious to see where that particular conversation would lead. He hadn't been sure when she had showed up in Twelve, truth be told. He had let her in and had offered her a place to stay, but he hadn't been sure it would work – could work. They hadn't killed each other yet so he supposed he had been wrong to doubt.

She was doing better than when she had arrived, there was no denying that, but she was still… not quite herself.

"Are you being obtuse on purpose?" she snapped, clearly annoyed.

He lifted his eyebrows, a smirk on his lips. "Sorry, sweetheart, just not quite sure what you're getting at."

She stared straight at him for a few seconds and then untied the dressing gown's belt.

He felt himself twitch only to throb in need at the sight. She was wearing a crimson red see-through lacy corset complete with matching panties. His mouth was suddenly very parched and it was very hard to remember why he had been so careful about not initiating anything. They still had separate bedrooms even if they ended up in each other's bed more often than not. It was platonic though. They had kissed a few times, pecks that he had kept chaste on purpose because he didn't trust himself not to cross the line.

"Effie…" he hesitated.

Lingerie had always been one of his weaknesses. Red lacy stuff on her skin made his blood boil like hardly anything else.

It took everything he had not to stare. He resolutely met her eyes. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

Hurt flashed on his face. "Don't you want to?"

"Stupid question." he scoffed.

"Then what is it?" she snapped. "Every time I kiss you, you just… You run away. You turn your back on me when I try to initiate something in bed. You never look at me like you used to. You… you could never keep your hands off me before and now…" She shook her head. "Are you seeing someone else?"

There was a sharp accusation in her voice, as if it would be cheating if he was, as if they had ever said they were more than…

"I'm not seeing anyone." he grumbled. "It's not that."

She wrapped the gown around herself once more, averting her eyes, making an obvious effort to school her features into detachment. "You are not attracted to me anymore."

She was trembling and he hauled himself off the couch to reach for her. She recoiled a little but didn't try to flee when he placed a hand on her waist and grabbed her chin with the other.

"It's not that either." he mumbled. "Come on. You know it's not. No way, you don't feel the boners in the morning, sweetheart."

"You are hardly responsible for the way your body reacts to mine in your sleep." she hissed. "I know I am not… The scars and…"

"Don't." he cut her off "Look. You wanna know if I want to tear your clothes off and fuck you in every room of the house?" He scoffed self-depreciably. "Haven't been thinking about anything else since you arrived. Hell, if it was my call we'd live naked and have sex every five minutes."

She met his eyes with a frown. "Then, why…"

"Cause you've been hurt. Bad." he explained. "And I don't trust myself not to hurt you again." She relaxed a little, tension left her shoulders, and she leaned against him. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss against her neck. "We don't know how to be… tame together. I don't want to… I don't want to hurt you."

"What if I want you to hurt me?" she whispered uncertainly. "What if I want you to pin me to a wall like you used to? Or to just… Just take me, Haymitch. Like you cannot stop yourself. I miss you. I miss that." She tangled her fingers in his hair and tugged a little. "You have been very kind and patient with me but… I am not a china doll. I won't break. I do not want tame, I want us."

"I don't want to hurt you." he insisted stubbornly. "I don't want to trigger…"

"Fuck me." she cut him off in a raspy breath. "You won't hurt me. I trust you. I am not scared. I just need… I need you."

She nipped at his jaw only to smooth the sting by licking it. He closed his eyes, not quite noticing when she pulled his sweater over his head. He did notice when her hands sneaked under his undershirt though.

"Effie…" he growled, a last warning.

"Shhh." She kissed him and he didn't resist this time. It was tongue and teeth and before long he grabbed her under the thighs to lift her up, losing all common sense.

There was no common sense to be had when she was trying to seduce him.

He hesitated when he eventually did end up pinning her against the wall but she framed his face in her hands, erasing any doubt by kissing him again.

"Fuck me." she begged with enough steel in her voice that he stopped doubting.

He was only too happy to oblige.