Prompt: How about the story where Effie put fire on a trail/dress of a woman who was flirting with Haymitch?

Arsonist's Lullaby

This was the worst party Effie had gone to in ages.

The music, she decided, was simply outdated, the food was bland and the garden was overrun with mosquitoes. Worse, the heat made it impossible to stay inside the big hotel without suffocating so there was no other option but suffer the crowded space next to the big fountain and the mosquitoes desperate to take a bite.

A bright smile was fixed on her lips as she moved around, a flute of champagne in one hand and an unlit cigarette in the other. Officially, she was mingling and trying to find a cool spot. Unofficially, she was keeping an eye on that would-be pop star who seemed to believe the whole world belonged at her feet.

Liloth Manega, one hit song to boost and a head as big as District Seven.

And, apparently, her sight on one particular Quell Victor.

Effie took another turn around the garden, always keeping watch on them in the corner of her eye, even as she stopped to exchange a few words with various groups of people. A lot of them commented on how lovely she looked tonight – and she did look lovely, thank you very much, she was wearing a long flowing high-waist skirt that was split up to her hip and a mid-length sleeved crop top with a large collar and two big buttons on the front; the whole thing was an exquisite purple with golden embroideries that she had matched with huge golden bracelets, earrings and rings. A lot of people, to her growing irritation, also commented on Liloth's daring outfit.

If you could call that an outfit.

The dress was flimsy at best. It was a light pink with a deep neckline and it rode very high on her thighs. A veiled train set off from her shoulders and spread behind her when she walked… Everyone had been forced to be careful not to stomp on it all night as she moved around – well… Effie might have stomped on it with her golden heels a few times but it wasn't like she was expected to watch where she put her feet.

All the more so when that would-be singer had been chatting up her victor for most of the night. And Haymitch didn't look like he minded being chatted up. His grey eyes hadn't strayed from Liloth once since she had approached him and he was actually chuckling at her jokes and regularly flashing what Effie had longed dubbed 'the charmer smile'. He was behaving as if he wouldn't have minded taking that woman home and she had a problem with that.

Yes, she had a very big problem with that…

She shouldn't have, of course, their arrangement was pretty clear on that part. No strings attached meant she should have averted her eyes and found herself a pretty man – or woman – to spend her own evening with.

But she didn't want a pretty man or a pretty woman, she wanted Haymitch to slide his hands under her outfit and tell her he liked how accessible she was. Because that may or may not have been the point of said outfit.

She wanted his eyes on her.

"Do you need help?"

She turned her head to look at Finnick who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, a small smile on his lips. He took a sip of his champagne and lifted his eyebrows in question, his green eyes sparkling in pure amusement.

She almost took him up on it. She could have asked him to dance, made sure Haymitch saw… He never liked it when Finnick made a show of hitting on her… But then again, it had been a joke for so long between them all that it wasn't as effective as it used to be either.

"Do you have some fire?" she asked with a grin of her own, lifting her untouched cigarette to her lips.

"I'm pretty sure Haymitch has a match in his pocket, you know." Four's victor commented, already fishing a small matchbox from his own pockets. "He's the one who taught me the trick."

She held his eyes when he cupped one hand next to her mouth and brought the flame to the end of her cigarette. The gesture was intimate and had caught a few people's attention. Haymitch's too. She could feel his steady gaze on her face.

"Well, Haymitch is busy, it seems." she replied at last, breathing out a long puff of smoke. "Thank you, dear."

She winked at him and moved away, continuing her mingling game up until people stopped tossing glances at her. She stood out, fading in the background was difficult for her, but she made an effort.

She made an effort until the cigarette slipped through her fingers.

Then she kept on walking until she was on the other side of the garden, back to Finnick's side where people started noticing her again because she wanted them to. It was a good ten seconds before someone started screaming 'fire'.

Finnick leaned in so he could chuckle in her ear. "You little arsonist. Remind me never to get on your bad side."

There were a few shouts and it took a while for people to realize it was Liloth's train that was on fire. Of course, then the singer started wailing as if the quickly doused flames weren't half a mile away from her body. The dress was ruined though and the fright was enough that the woman chose to call it an early night.

Effie and Finnick were discussing possible outcomes for the current Games when Haymitch joined them, one of his hands holding a glass of whiskey loaded with ice – concession to the weather, she supposed – and the other buried deep in his pocket. Four's victor greeted him but Effie ignored him, leaving him to awkwardly stand there, a third wheel to their conversation. Not that he seemed to mind. He was watching her, equal part amusement and fascination.

As should be.

When she snatched a cigarette from a passing friend, he was the one who offered a match. She accepted it without a word, only smiling at Finnick when he excused himself with a knowing grin and a wink.

"Bit excessive, ain't it?" Haymitch smirked.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." she lied, watching the twirls of smoke rising in the air. She flicked ash off her cigarette and met his eyes.

"Sure." he granted. "Be careful with this one, yeah?" He nodded at the cigarette. "We don't want to set anyone else on fire. Clumsy accidents and all."

"I have no idea what you mean." she insisted, schooling her features in an innocent mask of polite interest.

He chuckled and shook his head. "The jealousy thing? You make it look hot."

She flashed him a glare but still hooked her arm around his when he offered it.

Setting one woman on fire was enough for one night.

She wasn't about to let him wander again.