Hey after yesterday's prompt, I wonder if you would consider writing something where Finnick sees Effie in her underwear and how the situation would be totally different. Haymitch's reaction probably as well. :D

Aphrodisiacs

Haymitch watched the boy move his rook with a quiet sigh of despair. He had been trying to teach Finnick how to be a decent chess-player for two solid years now but the kid wasn't a natural at it. Four's victor wasn't as hopeless at the game as his escort was but it was a close thing.

"Not good?" Finnick winced.

"Think it through." Haymitch rebuked, making a grab for his glass only to realize it was empty. He hauled himself off the couch and made his way to the liquor cart in the corner of the penthouse's living-room, sparing a quick glance for the city lights spilling from the bay window. Even in the middle of the night, the Capitol's sky was polluted by neon beams and flashing lights. "You've got to anticipate your opponent's next move, boy."

He poured himself some whiskey, not offering the eighteen year-old kid a refill because he didn't really fancy getting scolded by Mags in the morning.

"I'm trying." Finnick grumbled, taking his rook back to its original place to study the chessboard.

Haymitch rubbed his face and glanced at the clock, not surprised to find it was well past one in the morning. On the muted TV, the live feed of the arena was still going strong. Caesar's face was in the bottom left corner as he commented the action, tangible proof in Haymitch's opinion that they expected the Sixty-ninth Hunger Games to get a victor tonight. Caesar only appeared at night if the Gamemakers were sure something interesting would happen. Two and Three still had all their tributes and the Career pack was currently hunting the boy from Six. Once they would have taken him down, Haymitch figured it would be a second bloodbath, the kind of finale the Capitol loved.

The elevator chimed not long after he had taken back his seat and Finnick had finally decided to move his knight instead. Bold move. Stupid but bold. The trap was obvious and clumsy to Haymitch's eyes but the fact that the kid was trying to set traps at all was already improvement.

"Haymitch?" Effie's shrill voice called from the hallway, loud enough to wake the dead.

He rolled his eyes. What if he had been asleep? Would she just have come storming in like a banshee and woken him up? Who was he kidding? Of course, she would have.

"Still kicking!" he shouted back because she had been reluctant to leave him to his own devices as if he were a child who needed a babysitter and not a grown man. "And what do you know! The Center's still standing!"

He didn't get an answer to that very clever retort. Finnick was watching him with a small grin, his green eyes sparkling in amusement even as he tossed a few glances over his shoulder, waiting for Twelve's escort to appear. She never did so Haymitch figured she had gone to bed.

A whole night of partying with her silly friends for whoever's birthday… She was probably exhausted.

He snorted.

Finnick lifted his eyebrows in a silent question that he waved away. With Effie Trinket, some things were better left unexplained.

They didn't talk much during the next minutes, Haymitch patiently lured Finnick in the web he had started weaving since his very first move while avoiding his trap, making the boy sigh in irritation. He was about to call checkmate when he heard the clicking of heels in the corridor…

"Oh, Haymitch…" Effie sing-sang. "I have a surprise for you…"

He knew that tone and he guessed something terrible was about to happen seconds before she appeared on the living-room's threshold in all the glory of a pink and black corset bodice complete with ribbon suspenders, stockings and ridiculously high heels.

Finnick gaped. And stared.

Haymitch bolted out of the armchair and to her before he could think it through, confused by her own lack of reaction. She was just standing there, staring back, not making any move to cover herself or retreat to the safety of the corridor…

Now, let's be honest, that was the kind of surprises he would have loved if he had been alone.

The way the kid's gaze was roaming on her though? He didn't love that so much. And he loved it even less knowing Finnick had had a crush on her forever and that he would probably have very wet dream that night.

"You mind?" he spat at the boy, trying to shield her with his body, shoving her back toward the corridor.

She was still strangely unresponsive and it wasn't until he took a good look at her that he realized why.

She was torched.

She reeked of tequila, her eyes were glassy and she wasn't so steady on her legs. She grabbed his arms with a hurt look on her face.

"Don't you like my surprise?" she whined, her lips wobbling.

That was a drunk Effie for you. She went from complete happiness to total despair in the remarkable space of two seconds.

"You get that Finnick's here, yeah?" he growled. "You remember I told you we were gonna play chess tonight? You need glasses or what?"

She blinked and peered over his shoulder. "Oh… Yes, he is. How rude of me. Hello, Finnick, dear!"

Finnick was still speechless and could only wave at her.

Haymitch spared him a glare. "You're gonna pick that jaw off the floor any time soon, boy?"

Four's victor blinked, cleared his throat and finally realized why he shouldn't be staring. The kid flushed bright red and looked around until his eyes fell on the jacket Haymitch had discarded earlier. He grabbed it and crossed the distance to hand it to Twelve's victor. "Here."

Haymitch snatched it from his hand and wrapped it around Effie's body but it didn't do much to hide… Well… Everything was pretty much on display. He supposed it was a small mercy she was wearing lingerie at all, she could have come barging in naked.

"You should pay attention to me." Effie pouted, tossing her arms around his neck. "I want you to pay attention to me."

"Oh, I'm paying attention." he scoffed. "Everyone's paying attention."

"Is Finnick leaving soon?" she purred, nuzzling his check before playfully biting down on his earlobe. "I want you to play with me now. Not chess though. Chess is boring. I want fun. I want…"

"Yeah." he cut her off before she could say something they would never be able to take back. He wasn't sure how he was going to keep hearty denials that he wasn't sleeping with her after that. The tips of his ears were red – and so was the back of his neck, he was pretty sure.

Finnick was equally crimson. "I'm going to go now."

"She's drunk." he tried to argue. "She doesn't know what she's doing."

"Sure." the boy grinned but it turned to a small wince when Effie tangled a hand in Haymitch's hair and forced his head to the side to lick his neck all the way up.

Haymitch almost choked because… "How many fucking bottles did you drink?"

"A lot." she hummed. "And there were those cocktails too… They are supposed to get you… In the mood. I drank a lot of those."

"No kidding." he deadpanned.

"Alright, I'm off." Finnick insisted, jamming the elevator button with his finger. He actually looked a bit spooked now, like he didn't trust Effie not to have his way with Haymitch with him standing right there and Haymitch wasn't sure he was wrong to worry.

He waited until the boy was gone to push her away from him. She whined and immediately tried to sneak closer again.

"Those cocktails… What the fuck are they?" he frowned.

"Aphrodisiacs." she hummed. "I didn't really want them but Dawn kept buying them for me and it would have been rude not to drink them. I liked the tequila shots better."

"Dawn." he repeated. "Who's Dawn?"

"A girl I used to hook up with." she dismissed, shrugging off his jacket. And fuck but that corset bodice thing looked good on her. Now that Finnick was gone and he was finally able to appreciate it… His pants suddenly felt tight. "I think she really wanted me to go home with her." she continued, her fingers traveling down his chest and then back up. When she started toying with the buttons of his shirt, he didn't stop her. "I really wanted you to fuck me though."

"She drugged you?" he growled – because woman or not, there would be hell to pay about that.

She stopped unbuttoning his shirt to look up at him with a confused look, clearly trying to understand the question. "Do not be preposterous." She slurred that last word slowly and uncertainly. "It is just a cocktail. Perfectly harmless. The tequila is the real devil."

She managed to get his shirt open with a content sigh and pushed it off his shoulders, apparently not caring it remained stuck around his arms since he was still holding her at a safe distance. Well, probably not that safe given that her nails were scratching his nipple.

"Effie." he grumbled, trying to hold her further away but she whined and bit down on her bottom lip in a ridiculously endearing pout. "You get you just made a pass at me in front of Finnick, yeah? You just stood there half-naked in front of the boy and you didn't even care. Don't tell me you're in your right mind."

She blinked and blinked again, looking upset now. "It is not my fault."

"Didn't say it was…" he cut himself off and shook his head. "Okay. Bed. You need to sleep this off."

"Bed, yes." she beamed, suddenly happy again.

He hated when she was wasted. It was much easier being the one completely drunk than being the one taking care of them.

"Your bed." he clarified.

"Of course." she chuckled and then wrinkled her nose. "Your room is a mess."

"I'm not fucking you when you're like this." he insisted. He stopped fighting to keep her at bay but just because it was easier to steer her in the direction of her bedroom when she was snuggled close against him.

"But I thought you would like it." she complained, looking down at herself and running her hand on the fabric.

"Oh, I like it" he muttered. "Bet the boy liked it too. The little shit couldn't take his eyes off you."

"Language." She clucked her tongue but she did sound a little put out. She wrapped her arms around his neck again, making it hard for him to maneuver. He grabbed her waist and she just hopped on like it was perfectly fine for her to lock her legs around his hips on a whim. Her giggles were loud in his ear. "See? I knew you wanted me."

"When don't I?" he snorted, hoping she wouldn't remember any of this in the morning. Not that he would let her forget the main events though. He would take great delight in making fun of her and embarrassing her.

He managed to get to her room and tried to drop her on the bed but she refused to let go of him. She was like an octopus and the things her mouth was doing to his neck shouldn't have been allowed because it made it really hard to think. Fuck, but she had him throbbing for her and she hadn't even properly touched him yet.

"What's in those aphrodisiac cocktails?" he grumbled.

"Ginger and ale and a light recreational drug." she hummed. "It is all quite harmless. They are pink with golden specks. Very pretty."

"Can't believe you would be stupid enough to drink that." he snapped, sitting down on the bed because it was the only way he could think of getting her off him. She didn't move out of his lap though. She seemed content to rub herself on him. He clenched his jaw but let her because… Well, fuck, he didn't have a good reason. He knew she wasn't really herself and it was wrong but she was begging him and it wasn't like they were strangers who had never slept together before. Besides, she looked like she was in heat and he kind of hoped if she got it out of her system she would be… a little less high. "Fuck, Effie…"

He groaned and dropped his forehead on her shoulder because the rhythm she had going… It was good. He was going to come in his pants like a teenager but it was all so good.

It clearly wasn't working out that well for her though because she sneaked a hand between their bodies.

She was touching herself, it wasn't taking advantage if she was the one doing it… He kept telling himself that, not sure it was right, not sure it was okay… He was pretty sure they would have an explanation the next day anyway so…

"I did not want to sleep with Dawn." she insisted, a little short of breath. "I am strictly into penises those days. Yours to be specific." She laughed. "Isn't it funny? I am Haymitch oriented…"

"Shit." he spat and he just… He gave up. He flopped on his back and he watched her hump him and get herself closer and closer to the climax she wanted, only batting her hands away when she tried to open his pants. She came with a sharp little cry and he knew, just at the sound, that it wasn't a good orgasm but she dropped on his chest anyway and nestled there like a content cat, leaving him to close his eyes and clench his jaw because of the hard-on nothing was stimulating anymore. It took a very long time before his erection disappeared and it wasn't helped in anyway by the woman napping on his body.

He found himself petting the pink wig, fighting off sleep. He tried to move her at some point but she started grumbling and holding him tighter and he decided it was safer to have her asleep on top of him rather than in that sort of mood again so he just… drifted off.

He woke up to pained groans and a series of muttered obscenities he wasn't aware she knew. Her familiar weight was still on top of him but they had shifted at some point and now most of her lower body was framed by his spread legs – not his most glorious position. She had been using his stomach as a pillow and she had her face pressed against the scar on his side – not in a let me wake you up with sex way either.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?" he teased. "Nasty headache?"

She groaned again and tried to curl up which ended up with her knees propped on his right one and her torso weighting down on parts of him that liked her to be pressed upon them. She was a little heavy for such a delicate area though and he pulled her up higher. She immediately hid her face in the crook of his neck and it took him a second to realize her problem was the light spilling from the window because nobody had bothered pulling the curtains closed.

"Haymitch, there is an elephant pounding on my head." she whined. "Make it stop."

"Sorry, no can't do. That's what happens to naughty girls who take drugs." he mocked, not bothering to hide his irritation.

"What are you on about?" she muttered and then she winced. "Oh, the aphrodisiacs… They are perfectly…" And then she stopped and lifted her head, squinting at him because of the sunlight. "Did I truly walk around wearing…"

"Yeah." he confirmed.

"In front of Finnick?" she insisted, looking panicked.

"Oh, yeah." he shrugged. "Licked my neck too."

She shut her eyes tight and pressed her face against his shoulder with a disgruntled noise. "I am never drinking again." She peeked up at him briefly. "Did I come on you?"

"Yeah." he said but he was a bit hesitant, not sure if she was going to be angry about that or not. She hadn't exactly been in any state to consent to anything and he didn't want to be that asshole.

"You didn't…" She let her sentence trail off.

"No." he winced.

"Oh." she breathed out and then nuzzled his shoulder. "I owe you one then but later if it is alright with you. Right now I feel like dying."

"You're not mad, then?" he asked, knowing he should have quitted while he was ahead.

"Mad?" she repeated. "Why would I be mad? You took care of me. If either of us should be mad, it should probably be you."

"I'm mad." he scowled. "I don't like you taking drugs. The state you were in… Anyone could have done anything to you and you'd have probably thanked them too."

She pursed her lips. "I was not that far gone. Just… uninhibited. My uninhibited self very much wants you as it turns out. Poor Dawn was very disappointed."

"I bet." he scoffed, coiling a hand around her nape. "Finnick wasn't, let me tell you."

"Oh dear." she groaned against his skin. Then she grew very still and she bolted out of the bed and into the bathroom. The door slammed shut mere seconds before he heard the unmistakable sounds of retching.

"Hope you learn your lesson!" he taunted, comfortable in his hypocrisy. "It's never fun the next morning!"