Chapter 7: Treasure

The wind had become stronger since they came in and the cold of it shocked her. Effie remained there for a moment, breathing it in, letting it calm her down…

Where was she going to go if she decided to leave Haymitch's place? Would she sleep under the stars tonight? Could she do that? She knew herself. Living rough wasn't exactly her forte. And it was getting cold fast. She would last one night, maybe two, but not much more. And with that ankle, she couldn't really walk long distance so…

There were two men smoking under a porch on the other side of the street, she headed straight there without a second thought and begged them for a cigarette. She smiled and flirted until she had her prize between her fingers. The first drag was heaven and she breathed out a long cloud of smoke that did wonders for her nerves.

When she heard the little bell and saw Haymitch exit the restaurant, she thanked the men and crossed the street again, feeling a little steadier.

"You smoke." he said and he didn't bother masking his disapproval.

"I quitted a couple of months ago." she countered. "You drove me to it. The last forty-eight hours drove me to it."

She didn't mention that she quitted every six months and usually lasted only three before picking up the habit again. She had a bad tendency to gravitate toward cigarettes when she was stressed. She had since she was fifteen.

It had been her way of imitating her big sister at first and then a way of rebelling when her mother was overbearing. Smoking in secret was the sweetest revenge.

"Don't smoke around the kids, that's all I ask." He shrugged. That surprised her because she thought he would make it a big thing. He must have caught it on her face. "Chaff smokes too from time to time. He usually keeps it to his house but… Yeah." He shrugged again, clearly uncomfortable. "To each their own ways to cope, yeah?"

She had expected another argument and thus she relaxed. She took another drag and then forced herself to drop the cigarette, crushing it under the ill-fitting boot. "I did mean to quit for good."

He nodded his acknowledgement and looked down, kicking at a loose cobblestone. "Didn't mean to sound all… up in arms about the food."

It wasn't quite an apology but she felt herself softening nevertheless.

"You know…" she hesitated. "You will think me horrible for drawing the comparison but… I was forced to go on so many diets over the years…" He cringed and clearly made an effort to keep his temper under check so she hurried to finish. "I mean, when I was thirteen, Mother only allowed me to eat soup and healthy smoothies for a whole year because I was so chubby… No solids, at all." She laughed it off. In retrospect, perhaps that wasn't a good thing to confess to a man she was hoping to eventually seduce. "I have never gone hungry, of course, but food for me is… complicated. I am used to… I am used to think in terms of calories and…"

"You're fucking beautiful." he scoffed, incredulous. "What would you need to do that shit for?" He cringed even further. "And what sort of mom forbids her daughter from eating?"

"She did let me eat soup." she countered defensively. Her fingers were itching and she regretted dropping the cigarette so soon. Or confessing that much. "And Seneca sneaked me a pack of sweets once. It was not that bad."

Haymitch looked horrified. He shook his head, placed a hand at the small of her back and guided her back inside the restaurant. "Yeah, that's it. We're keeping you. It'd be like sending a dog back to its abusers."

"Are you comparing me to a dog?" she growled. "And I was never abused."

"Sure, you weren't. Cause it's totally natural to force her daughter to marry dinosaurs and expect her to sleep with them." he muttered in a tone that let her understand very plainly what he thought of that.

"It was not like that." she protested, perhaps too faintly.

"Seems like that to me. If it quacks like a duck and all that shit." He snorted. "Come on, I'm promise I won't give you shit about the food anymore." He paused and then snorted again. "And for the record, you don't need to watch your figure. You could easily gain a few pounds. You're so skinny it can't be healthy."

He had probably meant that as a compliment but she took it like a slap in the face. She sat back down, pursing her lips. "Are you saying I am too thin to be attractive?"

"No, I'm saying…" he started, sitting back down. He froze once he was across the table again. "Shit, I did the thing, yeah? I commented on your weight and now I'm trapped in scorned women hell?" He winced. "I'm telling you right now, I don't have the experience to dig myself out of that hole. Told you, I don't really date."

He looked so candid that instead of getting worked up, she actually relaxed.

"I suggest you refrain from commenting on my figure if it is not going to be a compliment in the future." she remarked.

"Noted." He smirked. "It's a damn fine figure, anyway."

She chuckled. "Yes, like this. Perfect."

"I aim to please." he mocked.

The awkward uncomfortable tension had vanished and Effie let herself relax, smiling more genuinely again. Of course, that was when the waitress with her dark hair pulled up in a hasty bun arrived with their food.

She remained unacknowledged by either party again and if there was one thing Effie hated, it was being ignored. She drummed her nails on the table until the woman was gone.

"Pretty." she commented.

He frowned. "The salad?"

The salad looked like every other Caesar salad she had seen in her life. A glance at his plate told her the fried chicken wasn't as greasy as she had feared but the sight of it made her queasy all the same. She wasn't used to that kind of food and she had the feeling she would need to.

"The waitress." she deadpanned, looking back up at him with eyebrows playfully raised.

His smirk told her he wasn't that unaware of the woman's crush on him. "Hazelle's a friend."

"Oh, Hazelle…" She let her eyes drift back to the woman who was making her way around tables. She studied her more closely this time. Mid-thirties, probably. Closer to Haymitch's age than to hers. A little plump but that was to be expected, she supposed, if she had a couple of children. Attractive in a country way. "The only other woman in town who isn't a dinosaur that you like…"

"Katniss has a way with words, doesn't she?" He snorted, attacking his chicken.

"She certainly does." She stabbed a piece of tomato. "Do you? Like her?"

"What's this? High school?" he taunted. When Effie only lifted her eyebrows again, a little less playfully, he rolled his eyes. "She's got five kids and a dead husband, sweetheart. She ain't really interested. The flirting's just that."

"She looks very interested to me." she hummed.

And why wouldn't she be? Haymitch was handsome, clearly good with children…

"You've got a damn fine figure, you know that?" he deadpanned. It was such a clear deflection that she couldn't help but laugh. He looked pleased to have amused her but soon grew serious again. "There's nothing between us and there's never gonna be anything. I've known her since we were kids. I know she'd have liked it at times but… It's just not there."

She resisted the urge to ask if it was there between the two of them. She thought it could be but the thought was a little frightening.

"Sae's been hinting for a while I should take her on as a housekeeper. She could use the extra cash." he added. "Since you say the house's a mess…"

It wasn't her place to comment and so she simply smiled but she still felt a tinge of guilt. She hadn't meant to insult his home. "I could take care of it, you know."

He looked very amused. "I saw you with that vacuum cleaner, sweetheart."

"I can learn." she huffed. "And it would only be right… You are letting me stay with you for free…"

"It's fine." he dismissed. Again.

She dropped it this time, moved a small piece of cold chicken around the plate in a way that would have horrified her mother… "Truth?" He shrugged his agreement and kept shoveling his food in his mouth as if he was starving. It was an atrocious display of table manners but she didn't comment on it. "I would not say the house is a mess. It is clean. But two children require a lot of work from a single person, at least I imagine so, and it would probably be easier for you if you hired someone to do the cleaning, yes." She made a face, feeling exactly like the posh person he had accused her of being because of the food. "But, again, I would be happy to do it. I can learn."

It wasn't that she really wanted to get her hands dirty but… She felt she had to contribute somehow if she was going to live there.

"Let's see how it goes, alright?" he answered around a mouthful of chicken.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." she chided. That amused him and he made a point of chewing loud and with an open mouth. She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "This will not convince me to take my clothes off for you, you know."

He snorted and washed off the too big mouthful with some water.

"We'll see." he said again. "If she really needs the extra cash, I'll ask her to come in once or twice a week… She's gonna need it around Christmas anyway…"

He was talking to himself more than he was talking to her and Effie was fascinated. He really was a good man. A part of her had been wondering if he was putting on a show to get into her pants but…

"What do you do?" she asked curiously. "I mean, you said you used to be a soldier but you never said if you had a job or…"

His face darkened as he sneered, suddenly bitter. "The only thing I know how to do is kill. They frown on that when it's not sanctioned by the government."

His mood had turned dramatically and she didn't like it, mostly because all the bitterness and self-loathing seemed painful. She reached across the table and covered his hand. He shook his head once, clearly coming back to the present moment… She wasn't sure where his mind had been wandering but it couldn't have been pretty.

"From what I have seen…" she countered softly. "You excel at a lot of other things."

He licked his lips but only held her eyes for a second before looking down at his mostly empty plate. "Never found another job. Don't really need to. One good thing to Special Forces is that it pays really well. I've barely touched any of it. And I got compensation for my injury on top of it so, there's a stipend that goes with that… I didn't want it. Ain't like the injury left permanent damages or anything but…"

He waved the rest away.

It was probably the longest thing he had revealed about himself that day.

It didn't feel right to push too much so she changed the subject, commenting on how good the salad was – a bit of an exaggeration maybe but he looked grateful to be left off the hook.

The restaurant was almost completely empty by the time they ordered some dessert. It was late enough that most people had gone back to work, she supposed. They didn't discuss anything serious anymore. He told her anecdotes about the girls, funny little stories like how they found the three geese lost in the woods behind the house or how Prim had managed to sweet talk him into buying a goat…

Effie was laughing hard and teasing him and it was the best time she had had in ages. Haymitch did that thing when he wanted to chuckle and smile at the same time, that sort of smirk that wasn't really a smirk, and she was very quickly becoming fascinated with it.

She was sorry to see the meal end when Sae wandered to their table but, at the same time, they were the last ones there and their desserts had long been gone.

"I'd ask if you've enjoyed your time but it's a bit obvious you did." the woman mocked. "You stay any longer, boy, I'm gonna have you do the dishes. She lives with you, you said, you can keep flirting with her at home. No need to camp in my restaurant."

She wasn't actually kicking them out, Effie mused, but Haymitch rolled his eyes all the same. "You talk like this to all your clients?"

Sae snorted. "Only the stupid ones."

There was a deep fondness in the woman's voice. It was clear there was an important bond between the two of them.

"You ain't that funny, you know." Haymitch commented. "Say, you're still looking for a seamstress?"

Sae groaned. "Don't get me started. You know how long I've wanted curtains on those windows?" She nodded to the windows on the far wall. "Got the fabric and everything… When am I supposed to find the time to do the hems though? Ain't like I've got a fucking business to run…"

"Well…" Effie grinned. "Isn't it your lucky day…"

By the time they left the restaurant, she had been hired to do the curtains – but only once her ankle had healed because Sae wouldn't hear otherwise – and if she did a good job, the old woman had promised to advertise her around. Apparently, there was some demand for a seamstress. It wouldn't be exciting, mostly curtains, tablecloths, maybe some embroideries on sheets, hems and the likes… But… It was a start.

The ambitious side of her was already calculating that if she made enough benefits, she could potentially expand a little… Maybe if she designed and created a couple of dresses, she could sell them?

It took longer than Haymitch had planned to go around the few shops in town: first because her ankle and the ill-fitted boots slowed them down and then because the spare parts he thought he needed for the sewing machine weren't as easy to find as he had hoped. People were helpful though and they eventually bought them from someone who didn't own a shop but collected that sort of stuff – it was a little like a treasure hunt because they had to talk to at least four different people to get there, it allowed her to meet some potential customers too. She was a novelty in a town where nothing changed, people were both curious and wary of her.

She could barely walk anymore once they secured the parts though and she dropped on the first stone bench she saw. It was half crumbling around the edges and had clearly been there decades if not more but she let out a sigh of relief at being off her feet.

"You're okay?" Haymitch worried. "Sorry, I didn't think there would be that much walking… Should have told you to wait in the car…"

"I will be fine…" she promised. "I think the boots are just making it worse."

"We should buy you shoes." he suggested for the third time.

"It's alright." she refused. It was bad enough that she had been forced to borrow money from him to buy some underwear – the cheapest she could find, meaning they came in a package of boring white; probably the ugliest she had ever owned too. It certainly wasn't the sexy adventure they had hinted at in the car but, on the other hand, she really hadn't expected to find a lingerie shop in that town.

"I'm gonna swing by Aster's later and borrow some sneakers." he insisted.

That, she could live with. "I do not think I ever wore sneakers. I do not think I ever wore anything that didn't have heels."

"You were a kid once." he pointed out. "You must have."

"Oh, I had those darling flat ballet shoes…" she hummed. "And then once I turned twelve it was heels for me. Mother insisted it was only proper."

He shook his head. "Your mother seems like a real piece of work." He checked his watch. "It ain't worth going back home. School's gonna be over soon."

They waited on the bench. He probed at her childhood, clearly torn between shock and pity when she told her she had never actually been on a swing or down a slide. He didn't seem to consider playing with dolls an appropriate pastime and insisted she had missed out by not running free outside or kicking a ball. She tried to explain that her mother would have had a heart attack if she had done any of that – never mind the fact that she would probably have gotten herself dirty and then there would have been hell to pay – but he didn't seem to truly understand.

Prim beamed when she spotted her when they picked the girls up and ran straight to her, colliding against her legs and hugging them for dear life. Then she dragged her to her best friends so she could properly be introduced. Rue and Rory looked like good children. Rue's mother had the same haggard look Hazelle did. Too many children, she supposed.

Eventually, Haymitch perched Prim on his shoulders and they went on to get Katniss – and Peeta for a playdate, she was informed – with the girl telling them all she had learned at school that day. She was learning her letters, apparently.

Katniss' greeting was less enthusiastic than Prim's but Effie was introduced to the rest of her little band of friends, dragged by Peeta who had caught her hand as soon as he had seen her. It seemed that Katniss' crown braid hairdo had been a major success with the girls and she had to promise a shy girl named Annie that she would do her hair sometimes.

It was hard to keep up with all the names, between the children and the parents. The adults were particularly curious about her but Haymitch didn't offer a more detailed explanation about her sudden presence than what he had told Sae so she let it rest – but didn't waste an opportunity to advertise her new seamstress business though.

The drive back to the house was noisy with the three excited children on the backseat and Effie was relieved once they had eaten an – equally noisy – snack when Katniss and Peeta begged Haymitch to take them in the woods. Prim wanted to stay home though and Haymitch was clearly reluctant to leave her behind with Effie.

She couldn't quite blame him. They had known each other for twenty-four hours, it was hardly long enough to build the kind of trust necessary to leave a child in one's hands.

"I'll be fine." Prim insisted. "I want to show her Lady!"

Haymitch sighed and crouched in front of the girl. "Her ankle's hurt, remember, you've got to let her rest a little first, okay?" When he stood back up, he loosely coiled his fingers around Effie's wrist. "Phone numbers are on the fridge. Signal is tricky in the forest but you can't reach me, you call Chaff. You can't get him, Sae's next. Alright?"

She pursed her lips. "I won't break your child in the thirty minutes stroll you are going to take."

He didn't seem that confident and he looked back over his shoulder a lot when he finally herded the children towards the woods. Was that safe, she wondered? Woods didn't seem like a child friendly place.

Prim, she quickly concluded, was an easy child and if she had been well on her way to be wrapped around the girl's finger that morning, she was now completely bewitched. She introduced her to the goat – Effie remained well back and insisted Prim was very careful when she touched the animal and then she spent ten minutes washing the girl's hands to her obvious delight – they stayed at the back of the house. The goat had a little fence all to herself so she could wander around and a makeshift shelter in one corner. There was also what Prim explained was a pen for the geese but Effie insisted that if it was a pen for the geese then the geese would be better in it instead of freely roaming around the overgrown yard.

She didn't let Prim run too far away from her. The grass was so tall she was a little afraid she would lose the girl.

All in all, it was a relief when they ended up sitting on the plushy rug in the girls' bedroom, if only because Effie felt much better once her weight off her hurt ankle.

"Do you like sharing with Katniss?" she asked curiously. "Wouldn't you prefer having your own bedroom?"

She would have gone mad if she had been forced to share a room with Lyssandra.

"Katniss likes it better." Prim shrugged. "I don't mind."

It was the only room in the house that was clearly new. The color theme was all blue and green, there were two single beds with plenty of white cabinets, round plushy rugs in green and blue, a doll house with a respectable amount of inhabitants, toys scattered around, white shelves with children books… If Haymitch had put the same attention into the rest of the house, it could have been so beautiful… There was a lot of wasted potential there and she vowed to talk to him about it at some point.

She spotted a few framed pictures on the dresser but didn't look any closer because she didn't want to accidentally upset Prim. There was a man in a few of the pictures she supposed to be the girls' biological father and a woman who must have been their mother… The ones featuring Haymitch and the children were at the front though, clearly the favorites.

"Do you want to see my treasure box?" Prim asked.

She had already been showed most of the toys in the room and had been entrusted with the safekeeping of the stuffed cat that was Prim's favorite and, she had been informed, without which the child couldn't sleep.

The treasure box was full of knickknack and Effie smiled remembering the music box full of similar mementoes she kept in her bedroom. She felt a wave of sadness when she remembered the box was probably gone now, if her mother had gone through with her threat of giving everything away – and she probably had. There were plastic rings and necklaces, carefully cut out butterfly pictures, and at the very bottom a bunch of heavy metal things stuck to large ribbons of various colors.

It was so incongruous to find them there that it took Effie a moment to realize they were medals.

"Uncle Haymitch gave them to me." Prim told her when she saw her inspecting one. "He doesn't like them."

There was a collection of them and Effie licked her lips. They didn't give medals for free or, at least, she didn't think so. For his current dislike of the army, he must have done some pretty courageous things… She had no clue what the medals meant and she already knew she wouldn't ask but they seemed like a good indication of the number of times he had risked his life and probably saved some as well.

She put them back in the box when she heard the front door open and shut, quickly closing the girl's treasure box. Prim put it back in its usual hiding place and snatched the stuffed cat from her lap right in time for Haymitch to appear on the room's threshold, a little out of breath. Whatever fear he had created for himself seemed to vanish when he found them on the floor, surrounded by discarded toys.

"Everything's okay?" he asked.

Effie pursed her lips to stop herself from smiling. "Didn't I tell you I would not break her in such a short amount of time?"

He rolled his eyes but there was a smile tugging at his lips.

He was a lot more relaxed than a moment earlier though.

Look at this... They managed to COMMUNICATE. Who knew it was possible XD Did you enjoy this chapter? Can we agree a baby Prim is my new favorite thing to write? What did you think? Let me know your thoughts!