Prompt: First of all, I'm so happy you reopened prompts (sort of)! Second, I TOTALLY get it if you don't wanna write this or if you feel uncomfortable, but I think it's a general assumption that Effie is very open about sex, so I wondered if you could write something involving anal (could be just a discussion about it, could be just a memory, could be smut, could be whatever), I'd just really like to know your take on this, if they've done it, if they liked it, etc. Thank you SO MUCH for your fics !
A Time For Firsts
Effie hadn't planned on making a show of it yet she knew she looked very good lost in her creamy sheets, naked but for the pink wig and the make-up on her face.
She was lying on her stomach, her right cheek sunken in her pillow – not thinking of the foundation powder stains she would leave behind for the Avoxes to clean up because who cared? – and she had never bothered to tug the blankets up after rolling away from Haymitch so… Her body was exposed.
And she could feel the weight of his grey eyes roaming over her. The curve of her neck, the length of her spine, her endless toned legs, the small blister on the back of her ankle from the uncomfortable heels she had been wearing that day, up her legs again, her ass… She could feel his gaze like an insistent caress even if her head was turned away.
She wasn't surprised he was looking – her body was beautiful after all, she hadn't been elected Sexiest Woman of the year three years in a row for nothing.
She was a little surprised he hadn't bolted out of bed yet – but that had been happening more and more lately. Seeking each other for sex. Not quite rushing to blame it on the heat of the fight or alcohol. Not immediately fleeing like thieves in the night afterwards. The agreement that this thing was casual and had no strings was still tacit and new. And yet she already knew that he wouldn't have still been lying there if he hadn't wanted a repeat.
They didn't cuddle.
He wouldn't have allowed it and she would never lower herself to ask for it. She still had her pride no matter how bad it felt to see him dart out of her bed once the deed was done like she was contagious – and, to be fair, she had done her share of running away afterwards too so it was a pattern they had both fallen into; still her feelings were a bit hurt and her ego a bit bruised.
When the weight of his gaze was replaced by the actual heaviness of his hand, she closed her eyes. His palm – slightly calloused from doing who knew what – explored the small of her back and then slowly, maybe hesitantly, moved down to her left butt cheek. Had he spanked her there earlier? She thought he had in the heat of the moment. The skin felt a little stingy.
"What is it about my behind that has you so fascinated?" she hummed.
He snorted. His snorts were usually bitter and mocking but right then it sounded softer, a little more amused than taunting perhaps. She let herself relax under his hand, confident he wouldn't hurt her – not unless she asked for it, she was pretty sure she had been the one to dare him to spank her earlier.
"Something Chaff said." he muttered.
Getting an answer hadn't been a given either and she stretched a little, not enough to dislodge his hand or discourage the caresses on the back of her thighs and back up to her butt.
Curiouser and curiouser, she mused. They didn't usually have conversations after sex – or at all.
"You're gonna have a bruise." he added after a second, gently rubbing the stingy spot again. "Shouldn't have…"
"It is alright, I mark easily." she replied "I liked what you did or I would have stopped you."
And liking it wasn't another given thing either. Sex with Haymitch was always passionate – had been from the very first time. She had had rough sex before, she had dabbled in a lot of things when it came to that, but he made her feel like she had never been fucked before. And while it sent a thrill through her every time, it didn't mean she always ended up enjoying herself. He was becoming better at getting her off but it wasn't something he cared to do every time. Not when the sex was more punishing than…
"You couldn't stop me." The way he said it, it wasn't a good thing. He wasn't bragging about his skills or his strength or… There was genuine concern in his voice, like he wasn't certain what his limits were, what their limits were.
Perhaps they should have talked about that earlier, she realized. Limits. Boundaries. Maybe throw a safeword in there because it went far into rough territory sometimes – they both had the bruises and scratches to prove it.
"You would stop yourself if I asked." she countered easily. She hadn't realized until that second that she had trusted that fact blindly. For all his drunken rages and his binges and their sometimes scary shouting matches, she had never really been afraid of Haymitch hurting her.
He might refuse to admit it to himself – and she might accuse him of the opposite from time to time – but when it came down to it, he was a good man. One of the few rare good men she had ever met.
He never took advantage and he never pressured her when she said no. He just went away and took his pleasure elsewhere without judgment or guilt trip for her failure to satisfy him.
"You're putting too much faith in a victor, sweetheart." he rebuked, his whole body tensing with that declaration of trust he didn't want.
"Perhaps." she admitted. "I doubt Chaff was talking about my bruised ass, though." She paused and shifted so her head was turned toward him. She studied him with narrowed eyes and pursed lips. "At least, he better not have been."
Just like they had never actually put it into words that this was casual, they had never said the whole affair had to remain secret. It simply seemed like common sense to her.
Sleeping with a victor could certainly give one's reputation a boost but not when it was Twelve's victor and not when you were already above him on the popularity food chain. And that went without even considering the whole escort/mentor problem. It wasn't against the rules and she was certain other victors and escorts indulged but what the Gamemakers didn't officially know, they could willingly ignore.
And aside from that, she didn't relish the idea of Haymitch discussing her bedroom skills with Chaff. She wasn't naïve enough to think she was special and she was certain he and his best friend had talked about their respective one-night-stands plenty of times before but… No, she didn't like the idea of him dissecting what she did or say or how she did it or said it – and certainly not with Eleven's victor.
Haymitch was lying on his side, propped on his elbow. He slowly lowered himself back down so their heads were at the same level. His hand remained where it was, groping her right butt cheek, his fingers drumming a steady beat against the crease of her ass. It did things to her it probably shouldn't have because the contact wasn't deliberate.
"He likes talking about your ass." The smirk on his lips was infuriating and she had a feeling he was only smirking like that because he knew it infuriated her. Her mouth pursed harder and he snorted again. "Relax, sweetheart. I don't fuck and tell." He paused and shrugged. "Well, I don't fuck and give names."
So he had talked about her with Chaff, then. But he hadn't told Eleven's victor it had been her. She thought that over for a moment and then decided it was a compromise she could live with. She had talked about their sexual affair with her friends too, after all. She had simply omitted to tell them who he was.
"Alright." She could tell he was surprised by her acceptance. "So what is it your friend said about my ass that has you so transfixed, then?" Her pursed lips turned into an irritated pout. "I hope it was not this ridiculous rumor again… Viola put it out there, you know. I assure you my body has never seen the blade of a scalpel. I did not get a liposuction and I did not have it pumped with plastic. This…" She wriggled her ass a little. "… is entirely natural."
The wriggling caught his attention very fast. The flash of hunger in his eyes was immediate.
"Oh, I know…" His voice was a pleased rumble and he kneaded her flesh almost instinctively. She wasn't even surprised when he crossed the few inches between their bodies, his front plastering to her side. His nose bumped against her shoulder. It felt a bit uncertain to her, not quite like a request but close, so she tilted her head, stretching her neck so he could have access to it. It was all the permission he needed. His tongue and his teeth attacked the soft flesh and she moaned… He chuckled against her ear. "You're so hot…" Then he sucked her earlobe in her mouth and she rolled on her side to face him, tossing her leg over his hip to bring him closer to her.
It was the first time he had ever said anything resembling a compliment.
Not that she needed them. She knew what she looked like, she was confident enough. But… It was nice to hear after all the insults he hurled at her face on a daily basis.
The kiss came out of nowhere, violent and hungry like all their kisses always seemed to be. She could feel him growing hard again against her stomach so she reached for him, teasing him with a grip that wasn't firm enough to do the trick. He groaned against her mouth and thrust in her hand but she simply giggled and kept on teasing him…
She might take him in her mouth, she decided, just because he had called her hot.
That decision was taken out of her hands when he rolled over her, nudging her right leg aside with his thigh so he could rest snugly between her legs. His mouth left hers to wander down her throat, her collarbones… When it reached her breasts, she arched her back and dug her nails in his shoulder blades, scratching the faded scars there…
His left hand was already rummaging on her nightstand, blindly feeling around for the drawer they had left open and the box of condoms she kept inside it.
"Was that it, then?" she asked, a little breathless because the way his teeth pulled on her nipple was both a little painful and so arousing it made her see stars. "Was it the rumor?"
She didn't know why she was still talking about that. Who cared what Chaff had said? He was a pig on his best days and she had no love lost for him. Eleven might have been a step closer to the Career Districts than Twelve was but she was still grateful to have been assigned to Haymitch. He, at least, didn't spend his day making dubious salacious jokes about her – well, he did make some but they were usually more flirty than truly aimed at putting her down, when he wanted to hurt her feelings he didn't call her a slut, he called her a failure and while it hurt perhaps twice as bad, there was at least an odd sort of respect for her as a woman in there. She often thought she would have quitted if she had been forced to bear Chaff's comments all day long. It was probably very ironical given how many times a year Haymitch wished she did just that.
"No. Wasn't about you, really." he grumbled. "Just… Something in general. Don't… Let's just…"
He stopped trying to talk after that. He rolled the condom on himself and before she could even tell him to wait, he was already there, thrusting into her with the same hurried abandon he often put into sex. He had worked her up but not quite enough that she would come any time soon. She slipped her hand between their bodies, knowing that if she didn't take care of it she would be left hanging.
He had become better at pleasuring her but they weren't quite there yet.
"Want something?" he teased in her neck.
Next thing she knew, her wrists were both trapped over her head in one of his hands. She loved his hands, that was the thing. They were big and powerful and they did things to her body when he put his mind to it…
It seemed tonight he was going to put his mind to it.
He kept pounding into her hard all the time he brushed his forefinger down the valley between her breasts – she wanted him to pinch them but he didn't – down her stomach and down to her pubic bone. He paused there. Just an inch above her clit.
"Haymitch…" she growled. There was murder in her voice and there would be a murder in her bed if he didn't…
"Tell me." he demanded.
His eyes were going a little glassy and she knew he was close, she could feel him swelling inside her. She knew he was going to come and he would simply leave her hanging like he often did and… The frustrated whimper left her without any conscious thought on her part. "Touch me."
He shook his head, licked his lips… "Not enough. Beg." She clamped her mouth shut, glared at him… He shrugged. "I'm gonna come, Princess. You wanna come with me or what?"
Dammit but she wanted to.
"Fuck me." she said. "Please. Please, I want…"
"You want what?" he teased, finally applying pressure on her clit. She moaned. "This?" He stroked and pressed in turns and she started wriggling on the bed, tightening the grip of her legs on his waist, trying to bring him deeper, closer… And then he stopped touching her and she almost sobbed. "Gotta talk, Princess."
"Yes." she hissed. "Please… Please… Fuck me… "
He flicked her clit and she exploded.
She missed his own climax but it must have come right after hers because he slumped on top of her and remained there, panting hard against her neck.
He didn't roll off or move or rush out of bed so she let herself explore while he was still out of it like she rarely had an opportunity to. She brushed her fingers down the lines of his back, asserting he could have done with a skin-peeling treatment. When she started lightly scratching it, he hummed like a content cat and pressed his hips down in something that wasn't quite sexual. It made it a little hard for her to breathe – because he wasn't that light – but she found his reaction so funny that she kept doing it.
"Little more on the right." he mumbled in her neck and she obliged him by scratching under his shoulder blade.
He pressed down with a pleased groan again. It took her a second to realize he was actually arching his back. It was probably a good thing he couldn't see her smile. She scratched all the way to his lower back and eventually just groped him with both hands because he might like her ass but she loved his too.
Every time she saw it, she always wanted to take a bite.
"Chaff said the Capitol bird he hooked up with last night let him fuck her in the ass."
She had been so focused on exploring his body that the sound of his voice almost startled her.
Then, she frowned. "Oh." He wriggled until he slipped out of her – which was a relief because it was starting to get uncomfortable to have him limp inside her – and she had a feeling he was going to flee now so she stared scratching his back again. His body tensed and then simply relaxed under her hands. That pleased her. "Is that something you want to try?"
She couldn't quite erase the uncertainty from her voice.
She didn't have anything against anal per se but… They had always been rough and spur of the moment. Anal wasn't about that at all, particularly the first time and she wasn't sure he had enough restrain and patience to get her to the point where it wouldn't be uncomfortable. Of course, she could always prepare by herself beforehand but…
"I just don't get it." he admitted.
This time when he slid to the side and to his back, she didn't try to hold him back. She was a little surprised when his arm remained around her and when, once he had discarded the used condom, he tugged her closer but she rolled with it, hooking a leg over his hip, her thigh against his penis, and cushioned her head on his shoulder. Her hand, after a moment of hesitation, ended up on his side. Her pinky brushing the huge swollen scar an axe had left.
"How it works?" she asked uncertainly.
They never talked about sex – but they never cuddled either and yet there they were – she knew he resented the fact she had more experience a little, that it hurt his alpha male ego. He had never confirmed it and she had never even tried to ask but she suspected that aside from the various one-night-stands he had with strangers in bars, he had never really been with someone on a relationship basis – not in a grown-up relationship at least. He had never been forced to learn what worked or didn't work for a particular person, to develop enough skills to please them… When they had started having sex, to him, it had all been slot A and slot B and a lot of thrusting. No finesse, no technique and only instinctive skills.
She wouldn't say he had been bad but she would say he had learned a lot with her – like using his mouth, for instance.
"I know how it works, thanks." he grumbled. "Ain't as stupid as I look." His hand found her ass, his finger pressing right there without actually pushing inside. "Ain't like I need a map." She tried not to tense, just in case he got it into his head to try right then, but after a second he relocated his hand to her hip. She couldn't tell if she was relieved or disappointed. He shrugged. "Just don't get why people do that."
She snuggled a little closer to him – simply because she was starting to get cold, mind you. "It can be good."
"You tried it before." It wasn't even a question, just a statement made in a tone of voice that implied an 'of course, you tried it before, what haven't you tried?'.
"On both sides, yes." she confirmed because she refused to be ashamed of her sex life. She enjoyed sex. She loved sex. If he couldn't deal with it then he could go and find himself another woman to have casual sex with.
"Both?" he frowned. "Now, how does that work?"
She drummed her fingers on his chest, following the outline of one of his ribs. "Strap-ons or fingers." She was pretty sure he didn't know what strap-ons were or even looked like but the term was self-explanatory so she left it at that. "It makes men come that much harder, you know. I could…"
"No." he cut her off, very quickly and very firmly.
His whole body tensed.
She felt like she was walking on very fragile eggshells suddenly. "It is natural, you know. It does not mean you are any less straight or…"
"Yeah, I know, thanks." he scoffed. "Ain't the problem." For a whole minute he remained silent and she waited for him to run away. She had always been so open with her sexuality that she had never really understood why some people were so flustered about which gender they took to bed but… "I had bad experiences." he confessed finally, in a rush of breath. The words were so low and twisted together that she had troubles understanding them. "Back when… Not long after I won."
When he had still been regarded as an interesting and appealing victor, she silently translated, when he had probably been asked to be nice to a few wealthy people. It made her sick. It was bad enough that he had been forced to sleep with people he didn't want to sleep with but to be violated like that against his will…
"Haymitch…" she whispered, not quite sure what to say. They were barely friends.
"Ain't saying that to…" he scowled. "Just… Never touch me there. Ain't sure how I'd… Wouldn't want to hurt you." He wasn't sure what sort of reaction it would trigger, he meant. She had seen him trapped in nightmares and waking up with his knife slashing around often enough to understand what he was warning her against. "I'm good jerking off the normal way."
There was no normal way. She hated that discourse. People were all wired differently and there was no shame in finding the best way to have your own fun.
But she bit the words back.
She could understand bad experiences and she could understand never wanting to try something again even if other people had a lot of fun with it.
"I hate being choked." she confessed because it didn't seem fair that she knew so much about him now when she hadn't offered anything personal in return. "I did not use to mind it but once… Let's just say I got scared it would go too far. I really do not like hands around my throat anymore. It spooks me."
They really should have talked about all that when it had become clear they would have been having sex on a regular basis, she mused. Those were basic things – particularly given their aggressive brand of sex.
"I don't ever want to play with being tied up." he countered. "You or me."
She pouted at that because she didn't mind being tied up in the slightest and there would have been an incomparable thrill to be at his entire mercy. But to each their own limits.
"Do not pull on my hair when I suck you off or I will bite down." she warned.
The tension finally left his body and he chuckled. It sounded like a rumble under her cheek. "Fair enough."
They left it at that for a few seconds but Effie was too curious and since he seemed willing to actually talk that night she took her chance. She slid her leg further down his lap and she would have straddled him in a practiced move if he hadn't held her back and tucked her firmly against his side.
"Not on top." he said in a very final voice.
"Ever?" she whined.
She had never been allowed to ever since they had started doing that. And between the first accidental tumbles between the sheets and the beginning or their tacitly casual affair, they had been at it for four years now. He had had her on her knees, on the table, in the shower, against the wall, from behind and bent in two… But she had never been allowed to straddle him. Even the few times she had sat on his lap to start something he had been quick to roll her under him.
It occurred to her, suddenly, with that new piece of information about his sexual past, that it might stem from the same problem. "I would never hurt you, Haymitch."
"I know." he sighed. And there it was again, this reluctant trust. The same trust she had offered earlier. "Just…"
She slipped her leg over his hips again. She could accept never fingering him but she could not accept never getting to top.
"I would never hurt you." she repeated.
She was very slow and careful when she straddled him and, this time, he let her. His body had tensed again but it gradually relaxed once she was sitting on his thighs, her hands flat on his stomach. He still wasn't at ease but he was trying.
She had never expected him to ever try anything.
That night really was full of surprises.
His hands coiled at the back of her thighs and, for a very long time, they just looked at each other. Eventually, his thumbs started drawing circles on her skin.
"Ain't such a bad view." he commented with one of those infuriating smirks.
She rolled her eyes. "Why, thank you."
"Would be better without all that crap." he pointed out, waving his hand at her face.
She patted her cheeks self-consciously, hoping the make-up wasn't too smudged, before checking her wig was still on top of her head.
"I am never taking them off." she vowed.
"Never say never." he warned. "I wanna know what you look like under that shit."
There was an odd note of yearning in his voice that she elected to ignore to come back on topic. "So. You do not understand why people like anal but, still, you spend hours staring at my ass after your friend mentioned trying it…"
He shrugged. "He just made it sound like that perfect fantasy or some shit…"
"Have you ever…" she asked.
"Yeah." he cut her off.
His body tensed another notch.
She told herself to tread carefully. "With a woman?"
"Is it different?" he snorted. "An ass is an ass."
"It is different if you are not attracted to men and if you are forced to be there in the first place." she replied softly.
She shrieked when he tossed her off him, not having expected that. Her body landed so hard on the mattress that it bounced once. Only once. Then it was covered with his, pinning her down.
"Don't wanna talk about that." he growled. "Ever. That's in the past and it's staying there."
"Alright." she breathed out quickly.
They stared at each other for a long moment and then he leaned down and stole a kiss. A hard demanding kiss. "Ain't some victim, Princess."
"I know." she promised, leaning in to steal another kiss. She debated telling him that a Gamemaker had sent her toward someone influent one time or two with an ambiguous request to make sure they had a good night. She wasn't sure it would help, though, so she kept quiet. It was different for her anyway. Sex was sex. Her body was a tool. Her beauty a weapon. "It made you curious though. What Chaff said."
He sighed against her jaw. "Maybe."
"Do you want to try it?" she asked and then put her own misgivings aside. "I am open to it, if you want. Not tonight." She added that part quickly. "I do not have lube and I would prefer working our way up to it. Fingers first then…"
"You sound like a sex manual." he mocked, nipping at the tender skin under her jaw.
"No mark." she reminded him, far too late. He had spent the whole night chewing on her neck. She was going to have to wear a scarf for the next few days. "I just… I am willing to do it but I want to be comfortable. It is not my favorite thing, I will admit."
He pressed a short kiss to her jaw and propped himself on his elbows to look at her. He studied her long and hard and then shook his head. "We're not gonna do it."
She frowned, her heart beating a frantic rhythm in her chest. "If you want to…"
"You don't." he countered.
"I just said…" she insisted.
"You just said it wasn't your favorite thing." he cut her off. "And it ain't mine either." One of his hands was suddenly between her legs, his middle finger pressing at her entrance. "What's the point of going there, when I can have this?" She breathed out slowly when he entered her. One finger wasn't much and she was still wet from earlier. "Feel so fucking good…"
"My ass would be tighter." she remarked. "I believe that is half of the appeal to men. That and I suppose it feels a little forbidden. Or dirty. I do not quite know."
What did she know of the mind of men?
"Chaff made it sound like a feat or something." He added another finger when her hips started rocking harder against his hand. "Like he scored extra point 'cause he got her to let him do that to her. Really don't get it, sweetheart. Taking it in the ass hurts."
"Not if it is done right." she felt compelled to whisper.
"Yeah, right." he scowled and added another finger. This time, she closed her eyes and gave up trying to pretend she wasn't fucking herself on his hand. "I don't want your ass… Don't mind the view when I fuck you on the table… But I like this better…" She wasn't sure what the this meant because he bowed down to suck her already hard nipple in his mouth and the climax came out of nowhere like a tidal wave. By the time her ears stopped ringing and she recovered he was rubbing himself against her, getting himself hard again. "Like your pussy. Like you hand. Like your mouth… Fuck, I like your mouth…"
If she didn't do something, he was going to get himself off on her without her help.
She couldn't have that.
She pushed him off and he rolled on his back willingly. All that talk about her mouth must not have been that innocent because when she crawled between his legs, his hands found her wig. She shot him a warning glance and he chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, I know… No pulling or you bite it off."
Pleased that he remembered, she started licking him. She was very good at this and it was his third time that night. She didn't take it personally when he came after only five minutes. She swallowed it even though he hadn't asked her if that was okay. Training him to warn her it was coming was her next objective.
He pulled her up, kissed her hard, his tongue forcing its way into her mouth… She gave as good as she got though.
"Should go." he muttered against her lips.
She felt so thoroughly fucked that she was ready to drop asleep so she nodded her head.
"My bed is a mess." she complained. And it was. It really, really was. She couldn't sleep in there.
"Take mine." he offered. "I'm going out."
He was already sitting to get out of bed when the words registered in her exhausted brain and her hand darted out. She grabbed his wrist, a pout and a frown on her face. "You are not going to find a woman willing to let you fuck her in the ass, are you? Because I told you. I will do it if you want."
The thought of him going with another woman after what had just happened between them… Not just the awesome sex but the confessions… She didn't like it. She didn't like it at all.
His eyebrows shot up. "Don't turn jealous on me."
"It is not jealousy, it is good form." she argued. "What would you say if I went out now to find another man to sleep with?"
"I'd ask how you can still walk." he taunted but his face softened and he shrugged. "I'm just going down to the mentors' lounge. Need a drink and someone got rid of all the whiskey."
She schooled her face in an innocent expression. "Perhaps someone drank it all."
"Sure." he snorted. "Must be that. You're lucky you're so cute when you look fucked out of your brain, Princess."
He leaned in to peck her lips.
They had never done that either.
It really was a time for firsts that night.