Keeping A Promise

"Haymitch?" Effie wasn't sure if it had been a good idea to put her promise into practice right away. Not that it was very late, but she didn't know Haymitch and his sleeping habits. And he hadn't seemed completely sober at dinner.

To her surprise, he answered immediately. The loud groan made Effie feel unwelcome, but it wasn't relevant. "Do you have a minute?"

"No", he answered directly and Effie sighted. Everything else, a groan or a huff, would be unacceptable.

"Please, it's very important."

"I guess that means I should stay away from it", he gave back.

"Haymitch", she hissed, almost furious. "It's about the children. Open the door! It's important and if you continue this ignorant behavior, things will change really quick here."

"Sweetheart, you're killing me", Haymitch said and then, the door made a noise before it opened.

Effie gave him a triumphant smile, which vanished as soon as she entered his room. "What in Panem happened here?!", she almost shrieked.

Her high-pitched voice made him flinch. He looked around. There were his dirty clothes from Twelve laying on the floor, as well as two other shirts which he had soiled with booze. His bed was a mess and the blanket hung more on the floor than on the bed. Not forgetting the amounts of glasses, some were still filled with colorful liquids. He shrugged his shoulders.

"What's that disgusting smell?", she asked panicky and held her nose with widened eyes. She wanted to open a window, but it was impossible in the train. Effie was a tidy woman, the Capitol placed importance on this virtue. Organization was the basis of their society. The wondered if the Districts put less emphasis thereon.

"You can go if you want, sweetheart", he remarked and threw himself at the armchair next to the chaos.

Effie fixed him with an angry gaze in her eyes and shook her head vigorously. "Don't call me that."

"I do what I want." Haymitch's grin widened as he saw how she disliked his answer.

But his grin disappeared when Effie started to pick up his clothes from the floor and carried them in his bathroom. "What are you doing?", he asked when she came back and intended to take his bedsheet.

For a moment, she stared at him puzzled. Then, a resigned expression appeared in her look. "What do you think? Your room can't look like this. I refuse it. A man at your age should be able to keep order."

Haymitch pressed his lips together, but let her continue. Let her struggle with him if she wanted. He didn't care, it would just make her job harder.

When the rest of the room was in a better order again, Effie eyed the glasses on the windowsill. Carefully, she took one of them and weighted it in her hand. The glass was filled with a blue liquid. She raised it to her lips and for a second, Haymitch thought that she would actually drink it and widened his eyes. But she only wanted to smell at it.

She narrowed her eyes in disgust. "Too strong, don't tell me that you drink this pure." Effie was familiar with a the taste of alcohol. There was no way to avoid it in the Capitol, especially not at a young age.

He shrugged with his shoulders. Haymitch couldn't even imagine that she drank alcohol. To him, she seemed like one of those women who rather kept their hands off the booze because another behavior would be ostracized by their family. Or she was one of those women who always kept a good face, only to reveal a dark side as soon as the clubs in the Capitol opened their doors by late evening. Those women, who threw themselves at any random man and popped pills, felt that it was the only way to escape their parents' strict education.

But the way Effie stormed through his room, she reminded him more of a twister. Contrary to Petunia, she didn't seem as stiff as a poker. Every time he looked into her eyes, he saw them light up in dynamism and motivation. As if she had true joy at this job. It was difficult to figure her out. "So you paid me a visit to talk about booze?"

Baffled, she looked up and paused in her movement. "Oh, I'm sorry , of course not", Effie said, her voice under control again. She placed the glass down where she had found it and planted herself in front of him. He questioning raised his eyebrow.

"What do you think about Eustace?" An irritated sigh escaped him and he swallowed the rest of the golden liquor down his throat. Sleepy, he closed his eyes. Did she only came here because of that girl?

Haymitch couldn't understand why she felt the need to involve herself in the Games. Both of them knew that Eustace stood no chance to come out of there alive. Or to survive the cornucopia. "This is a joke, right?" His voice didn't sound amused at all. She has a lot of self-assurance for her age and experience, he thought.

Offended, Effie screwed up her face and straightened her back while she stared up to him. "This isn't a joke, Haymitch. This is serious."

"Why do you bother at all? She's not worth it", he retorted and played with the empty glass in his hand.

"Stop saying those things", slipped out of her mouth and he could pick out the sore tone in her voice. This wasn't good. "The whole day, you only talk about how little point there is in dealing with the tributes. The way you treated Ramon today … I barely believe that you ever really tried!"

Slowly, he flied into a fury himself. With a skillful movement of his hand, he thrust the glass on the windowsill and raised his head so she could see his eyes. This woman had no right to speak about him like that. Who did she think she was? She had no clue what he had seen. He didn't train the tributes because he had learnt by yearslong experience. She would make the same experience very soon. "You don't know the half of it, so shut your mouth. It's for your own good."

She indignantly stared at him. Nobody had ever forbidden her to speak, above all no man. This was unimaginable in the Capitol. "Watch your language!" He sighed. She was Capitol all through. "And in my opinion, both tributes have to be treated equally by us, no one should be privileged", she said, still offended that he had snapped at her.

Haymitch threw a look at her. "Oh and who's privileged in your opinion?"

"I mean … Roman obviously has bigger chances, but we have to keep Eustace in mind … I mean, even if it avails to nothing, she must have the feeling that we did all that is humanly possible to help her."

Now, silence dominated. For the first time since their encounter this morning, Haymitch really looked at her. She had said the thing out loud that he had been thinking about in the few sober moments since the reaping. "Why?"

At this moment, Effie wondered if he was even aware of the sobriety of the whole situation. "She has to go in the arena, Haymitch", Effie snapped at him, her voice so angry that he had almost made a step back. Considering that she had rebuked him for his behavior, she behaved like a whooshing storm herself. He wasn't sure if she even noticed. "We- Or I at least, can't be responsible to send her there without the necessary preparation. We owe her."

She was stubborn, no doubt. Haymitch was surprised about her true attitude towards the things. He hadn't expected her to have a personal interest in the two tributes, especially in Eustace. Petunia had been very different.

"I don't know whether we can help Eustace", Haymitch admitted after a while of silence. He was careful not to show any emotion in his voice. He didn't want to raise her hopes.

"Haymitch, please", Effie pleaded and came closer. Her blue eyes shone begging. "I can't return and tell her that there's no hope. What about you?"

He didn't understand why she seemed to take it to heart. Capitols usually weren't like this. But when he looked at the colorful woman with the soft expression on her face and the deep blue eyes resting on him, he couldn't find the strength to reject her. Something about Effie's appearance hindered him and this fact was strange enough. He was unable to figure her out …

"I'm going to think about something", Haymitch finally said with a sigh and massaged his nasal bone.

Effie's lips immediately twitched into a smile. "Thank you so much!" Her voice got high-pitched again and she made a step in Haymitch's direction with outstretched arms, as if she had intended to hug him. But when she realized what she was doing, she quickly lowered them again.

Had she let her guard down? Haymitch smirked at her. "Careful, sweetheart."

"I'm sorry." But the smile on her lips didn't disappear.

"Seriously, you could've addressed this tomorrow", Haymitch muttered and slowly walked to the door. He wanted her to leave so he could have his peace.

"Absolutely not!" It came from her, quick like a shot. "I can't keep her waiting. She approached me and as an escort, it's my task to do everything humanly possible to heighten her chances!"

As lovely her word might sound, he had barely witnessed Petunia support their tributes. Almost surprised, Haymitch stopped in his movement and surveyed her with raised eyebrows. "She talked to you?"

Effie nodded. "After dinner. That's why I directly came to you."

This woman was so stubborn. In a positive way, as Haymitch had to realize against his will. Truth be told, he found it impressive that she had instantly looked after it. As if she truly cared about what would happen to Eustace. Maybe she really does care, it crossed his mind, but he doffed the thought immediately. She probably saw some kind of chance to burnish her image or to get to more fame. That's the way Capitols were. In the end, everything they did had a positive impact on themselves. And Effie Trinket was certainly no exception.

Hey guys, here's a new chapter for you! What do you think? I hope you like the chapter, I would be so happy about a review! And go check out my spin-off Hayffie stroy Figure It Out! See you soon :)