Prompt idea for HADS: Hayffie hearing peeta dirty talk and a little surprised amused cuz hes normally a softy

Thirty Minutes

Haymitch snatched the knife from Effie's hand before she could hurt herself, which earned him a glare. He lifted a mocking eyebrow, silently promising that, next time, she could cut off a finger slicing tomatos without him giving a single fuck. She rolled her eyes in answer, abandoning the tomatoes and the cutting board to him before taking his own spot at the stove, stirring the sauce. The easy work now that everything else but the salad was ready. He stood at the counter and did a quick job of mincing the tomatoes, mindless of what was happening behind him.

The whole scene had escaped the kids anyway.

Well… Kids. They weren't really kids anymore, he figured. The war had been over for over five years after all.

Peeta was baking some sort of pie for dessert – which required the whole surface of the kitchen table and was why he and Effie had been exiled to the counter – and Katniss was helping him. Or at least Haymitch thought that was what she was supposed to be doing because there was a lot of chuckling and whispered conversations but he didn't think a lot of work was actually being done.

Effie kept shooting them indulgent amused smiles over her shoulder.

Haymitch simply wondered when they would get to eat because his duck, the sauce and the salad would be ready well before the kids were done with whatever pastry they were baking.

"You have to squeeze harder." Peeta laughed, demonstrating by kneading the dough Katniss had been handling.

"That's what you always say." Katniss mocked.

"Well, you do have strong hands." the boy retorted, without missing a beat.

Haymitch knocked the pepper shaker over in his shock.

Effie stopped stirring, turning her head towards them, eyes wide.

Peeta sneaked behind Katniss under the pretence of guiding her hands.

"See?" the boy asked. "Just like that. Really hard."

"That's really hard." Katniss chuckled and given how close the boy was standing, Haymitch doubted she was talking about the dough kneading.

The two of them seemed totally oblivious to the fact they weren't alone in their kitchen.

Haymitch realized he was gaping and closed his mouth, torn between glaring at the kids and helplessly looking at Effie who stared back, eyebrows raised high. He could sympathize. Peeta was so sweet and Katniss so uptight that this kind of behavior had never really been a problem before. The boy shifted even closer to the girl and Haymitch felt himself grow red in the face.

"Do you need me to knead something else?" Katniss asked, laughter in her voice.

On one hand, it was good to hear her being so… carefree. On another, it was absolutely disgusting.

Not to mention, she really sucked at sex talk.

Haymitch was already sputtering in indignation when Effie cleared her throat. Loudly and pointedly.

He took a sick pleasure in watching the kids bolt away from each other with a shared guilty look, crashing back to the present hard. How they had managed to forget they weren't alone in the first place…

Well, to be fair, Haymitch remembered how that was like but he had still been deep in denial about his feelings for Effie at that point so…

Fortunately for all of them, the apron the boy was wearing spared them any awkward sight.

"We forgot the wine at home." Effie declared, placing a lid on the pot and turning the stove off. "How remiss of us. Come on, Haymitch, we will fetch it and come back in… Let's say half an hour."

"The wine." he repeated, puzzled, glancing at the uncorked bottle of wine that was on the counter, less than ten inches from his hand.

"Yes, darling. The wine." She smiled her escort smile, the dazzling one with a sharp edge that spelled danger if he didn't follow her lead. "Let's go home and fetch it."

He kept waiting for the kids to protest but neither did. Oh, they didn't meet his eyes when he stared but they didn't protest and he had a good idea of what was going to happen on that kitchen table so…

"You know what… How about they bring dinner once it's ready, yeah?" he replied, making a face. He so wasn't going to eat in that kitchen suspecting what he was suspecting. "And knock first." He shook his head, cheeks crimson, both amused and annoyed all at once. "Half an hour, boy. Better make it quick."

There were protests this time. Muttered and with a couple of curses from Katniss.

Effie wasn't exactly thrilled with that last comment, she pursed her lips at him and clucked her tongue as soon as they were out of the house.

"Was that absolutely necessary?" she reproached.

"I don't know. Did you need to tell them we'd leave so they could fuck?" he grumbled.

She pursed her lips harder, looking him up and down with narrowed eyes. "I simply thought we might have appreciated the same courtesy at their age."

She strutted away in the direction of heir house and he took a second to wonder, yet again, how she could be so quick perched on those heels.

"What do you mean at their age?" he spat.

"You know…" she dismissed. "When we were too much fools for each other to control ourselves." A smile floated on her lips and she forgot to be mad to flash him an amused look. "Do you remember how it was when you couldn't keep your hands off me?"

"The way I remember it, it was the other way around." he argued, unlocking the front door and holding it open for her. It was an unconscious act, something she had long trained into him, but he was rewarded with a grateful hand trailing on his arm all the same. She had always been very tactile.

"I will grant it was a two-way street." she admitted with a shrug. "Still, it was nice. Let them have their fun. It is their turn now."

He sulked both because he hated to be reminded the kids had a sex life and because he was hungry now – and maybe, also, a little because he didn't like the nostalgic tone in her voice.

"Still can't keep my hands off you, you know." he mumbled, following her to the kitchen. "No need to sound so melancholic."

She smiled at him and fetched the opened bottle of wine from the fridge so she could pour them both a glass.

"You are a dear, Haymitch, but that is not true." she countered. "You are not as desperate to get into my pants as you used to be."

"That's 'cause I can get into them anytime I like." he scoffed.

"Exactly." she hummed, taking a sip of her wine. "It is not a bad thing. We have been together for so long… Passion fades, I suppose." She waved her free hand. "As long as love does not…"

He frowned and stepped closer to grab the counter on either side of her, very much trapping her.

"I still want you all the time." he insisted.

Her smile turned tender. "But never to the point you forget we are in a crowded room and President Snow is giving a speech in the background…"

"Snow's been dead a fucking long time and I just got more patient." he shrugged.

"You can be very patient for the right things." she agreed, tilting her head to the side, not so unconsciously offering her neck. He leaned in slowly, never breaking eye contact, and brushed a kiss on her soft skin. "Still…" she whispered. "I wasn't complaining, you know. I love our life. There is nothing wrong is us having become something of a domestic couple and…"

She gasped when he suddenly lifted her by the waist to sit her on the counter.

He was seeing her point.

Nowadays, when they had sex, it was usually at night and in their bed. It was still good but it tended to be more sweet than…

Well…

It had been a long time since the last time he had jumped her bones in the kitchen just for the sake of it.

He ran his hands on her legs and forced her thighs open before dropping to his knees…

"Haymitch…" she laughed.

"Shut up and let me work, sweetheart." he grumbled. "I won't be called domesticated."

"Heaven forbids." she teased.

Thirty minutes…

That was plenty of time to prove her he was still passionate, thank you very much.