DOUBLE UPDATE!
Chapter One-Hundred-and-Seventy-Two; Hangover
"Bloody hell Ellen! Please tell me that's not daylight I'm seeing outside the window!"
"That's not daylight you're seeing outside the window," Electra replied dutifully, never once opening her eyes.
Stephanie scowled half-heartedly at the blue-haired woman, before she threw a defeated arm across her eyes, groaning audibly.
Stephanie was currently sprawled across the sofa while Electra was slouched in the chair opposite her, shoes propped up on the coffee table that was littered with numerous empty bottles of alcohol.
The penthouse was silent and despite Electra's words the sky outside was most definitely lightening to very early morning.
"Ellen, I'm damn well serious," Stephanie moaned.
Electra cracked open an eye to glance uninterestedly towards the windows. "Looks like there's going to be a storm," she commented indolently.
Stephanie peered at the sky outside again. The Capitol was shrouded in mist, bright flashes of light cutting through the grey murkiness sporadically, as the shadowy forms of skyscrapers loomed out of the gloom. A steady rain was already falling, and it was hard to actually tell it was nearing dawn at all. Gunmetal grey clouds were stacking ominously and Stephanie suspected Electra was right; there would be a storm before the day was out.
Stephanie shifted against the leather of the sofa. Her skin-tight party dress was alarmingly comfortable right then and Stephanie guessed that it was most likely ripped in several places by now. She pulled the warm material draped around her, closer up beneath her chin, breathing in the comforting scent. She jolted rudely when she realised it was Seneca's blazer she was snuggling up with. Stephanie glared blearily across at Electra snoozing easily in the chair opposite her.
"I can practically feel your eyes on me," Electra muttered drolly after a few moments.
"You're turning me into an alcoholic, like you and Haymitch," Stephanie grumbled, eyeing the empty bottles crowding the table.
Electra snorted, grinning, eyes still closed. "You've a long way to go yet, before you can brag about reaching Haymitch and I's level of accomplishment."
Stephanie made to roll over to get up off the sofa and make some sense of the situation. Instead she mistimed the distance and landed on the floor with a painful thump.
Electra finally opened her eyes to stare down at Stephanie lying on the floor.
"Ow," Stephanie moaned as she peeled her face off the marble.
Electra smirked. "By the way we have training at Blondie's apartments in about…" the blue-haired woman looked towards the windows, trying to roughly gauge the time, " – An hour or so."
Stephanie gave a feeble "Ha!" as she threw Electra an unamused look. "Ellen, I didn't even manage to successfully get off the sofa. The chances of me doing some secret, illegal training in Sterlin's apartments today are slim."
Stephanie wincingly dragged herself to her feet, swaying slightly as she stood before picking up her District clothes still on the sofa.
Electra cast an appraising eye over Stephanie's once more chaotic appearance.
"How do you manage to get yourself in such a state all the time?" Electra asked lightly.
Stephanie glanced down at her dishevelled self. She had been right. Her dress was torn in numerous places accounting for Stephanie being suddenly able to breathe so easily in the thing. Stephanie snatched up Seneca's blazer from the sofa and slipped it on, hugging it around herself to try and cover up her dismal appearance.
"Well, I've been drinking all night with you!" Stephanie accused, glaring balefully at the other woman. Especially as Electra grinned irritatingly when Stephanie had put Seneca's blazer on.
Electra gave a half-shrug. "So have I and I don't look as bad as you do," she countered.
Stephanie frowned moodily. Apart from the bleary, blood-shot eyes and the slightly scruffy edge, Electra's appearance was annoyingly passable for a night of drinking.
Stephanie sighed defeated. "Fine. I don't know how I always manage to end up looking an utter mess," she said drily.
Electra smirked as Stephanie made to shuffle off. "I'm going to collapse in my bed now, if you don't mind."
"Training in an hour," Electra reminded her.
Stephanie scoffed, looking over her shoulder, "Ellen, I've barely slept all night," she exclaimed emphatically.
"When you're a Victor Stephanie, you'll find that's the norm," Electra replied.
Stephanie sighed sympathetically, too tired to conjure a response for the former Victor.
"I will kick you out of bed if I have to Trindlesworth," Electra threatened as Stephanie turned towards the hall. Stephanie frowned, ignoring her, knowing the blue-haired woman wouldn't hesitate to do just that.
Unable to help habit, Stephanie ducked her head in quickly to see if Frenkin was alright. She was worried the grim weather outside would have disturbed his rest. But her little pseudo-brother was curled up tightly beneath his covers, golden hair in adorable disarray atop his head; completely unaware of the chaotic mess his surrogate sister had currently entangled herself in.
Stephanie smiled lovingly, feeling the familiar pain cinch her heart as it did everytime she looked at Frenkin. She shut the door quietly and stopped in the middle of darting across to her own room. She turned slowly, eyes drawn irrevocably to Haymitch's shut door further down the hall. Her stomach flipped. A yearning part of her still wanted to go down and slip into his room, crawl into bed beside Haymitch and into the safety of his arms, burying her face in the familiar crook between his neck and shoulder and inhaling the comforting scent of his skin that reminded her of home.
But when she breathed deeply it was a sharp, heady scent that assaulted her senses where she stood. She looked down already knowing, of course. She was wearing Seneca's blazer, the sleeves too long slipping past her wrists. His scent was everywhere around her; that sharp, clean scent with his usual light aftershave, seeping into her skin, mixing with her own natural scent. It was clinging to her now, sliding as possessively over her skin and marking her as surely as Seneca's hands and lips had done last night. Stephanie shivered and turned quickly for her room. She knew irrefutably then that she couldn't go to Haymitch like this; with the scent of the Gamemaker still on her skin.
In her room she kicked the utterly ruined party dress off, before throwing on something soft and comfortable she clambered gratefully into her bed, after stashing her district clothes at the bottom of her wardrobe. But not before she had hid Seneca's blazer away with her pills still in the inner pocket. Hiding Electra's phone that Seneca may call her on had been one thing, but hiding away the Gamemaker's jacket in her room was another thing entirely.
Stephanie had finally resolved to put it in her wardrobe. She was aiming for the whole 'hidden in plain sight' idea. She reasoned that anyone would be less inclined to pinpoint one item of clothing in a whole wardrobe of clothes. Furthermore she had covered it mostly with some of her own Capitolite clothing. Stephanie couldn't help thinking, that the next time she would wear those clothes Seneca's scent would be on them also.
Stephanie scrubbed a weary hand over her face, as she lay down on the pillows. Despite the alcohol she could still feel thrumming through her blood, Stephanie remembered clearly every word of her conversation with Electra last night. And in the lightening morning, Stephanie couldn't help replaying it all in her mind; the revelations, the new information, the confessions she doubted she would make sober.
Haymitch had known she was with Seneca last night. Electra had a daughter called Eve who she had lost. And I'm falling at a breakneck speed in love with Seneca Crane?!
…
"Oh look Haymitch pet!" Electra exclaimed in a voice uncannily like Isa's. She clasped her hands together under her chin, sidling up to Haymitch. "Our little pet here has her first real hangover! Isn't she just adorable?!"
"Haymitch, I will kill her," Stephanie mumbled into her pillow. "And you," she added when she seen the smirk tugging at Haymitch's lips.
Stephanie felt like one of the factories from District 3 had been squeezed into her skull. The cacophony of noise always generated on the factory floor was tenfold in the confined space of her head.
Haymitch came further into her room to look down at her, with a smirk still on his lips.
"Alright sweetheart, what possessed you to try and drink with Ellen here?" he asked.
"I wasn't thinking – and now I regret it – bitterly, so very, very bitterly," Stephanie rasped out. She felt like her throat had been sanded a thousand times.
"Right Trindlesworth – I did warn you that if you weren't going to get up, I would kick you out of the bed." Electra loomed threateningly at the edge of Stephanie's bleary vision.
Stephanie whimpered. Her entire body, except for her rock-pounding head, didn't feel very solid. Stephanie felt like she could quite literally pour herself out of her bed, her limbs like uncooperative jelly.
"Haymitch," Stephanie mumbled pitifully.
Haymitch actually chuckled as he glanced between the two women.
"Ellen, go make some coffee," Haymitch instructed the blue-haired woman before she could physically remove Stephanie from her bed.
Electra actually seemed disappointed not to have the opportunity of kicking Stephanie out of bed, and Stephanie groaned inwardly. That didn't bode well for training if Electra was going to be there.
"She's still going to training, no matter what," Electra said uncompromisingly before she left the room.
Stephanie moaned as Haymitch sat down on the edge of her bed.
"Haymitch. I can't go to training. I can't feel my legs for starters."
Haymitch snickered, finding the whole prospect of Stephanie having a blinding hangover too amusing to pass up.
"Here sweetheart, drink this," he said, shoving a silver flask towards her.
Stephanie glared at it balefully.
"You're as bad as Ellen is Haymitch. I don't care what you two say; you can't just 'drink through it'. Drinking more is not the way to avoid a hangover."
Haymitch smirked. "This isn't alcohol," he assured her. "Come on," he said as he pulled her up into a sitting position despite Stephanie's moaning complaints.
Stephanie winced as soon as she was upright. She had thought lying with her head buried in her pillow was bad. But sitting up was worse! It felt like her head was just going to topple off.
Haymitch shoved the flask encouragingly into Stephanie's hands and Stephanie didn't think twice before drinking it. She would take anything to get rid of this horrendous state!
She gulped down a few mouthfuls before she held the flask out from her, screwing her face up into a disgusted grimace.
"Oh – that's vile!" Stephanie spluttered, trying desperately to get the horrible taste away to no success.
"But it works," Haymitch countered unsympathetically, "Now get up and get dressed, before Ellen comes back and decides you need a kick to hurry up."
He gave her a wink before standing up and going to the door.
"Haymitch!"
He turned to her expectantly.
"Thanks," Stephanie murmured, smiling softly.
Haymitch smirked in understanding. "I did warn you sweetheart; you and alcohol don't mix." Then he turned to go down the hall.
…
Stephanie successfully managed to untangle the sheets from around her legs after a minute's struggling. She fell out of bed during the process though. Stephanie groaned against the floor. She fleetingly wondered if it would be considered acceptable for her to crawl about for the rest of today. Actually standing upright and walking seemed to be too much of an effort right now.
Giving herself a mental shake, Stephanie clambered wearily to her feet. She ignored the spinning of her room and staggered on unsteady legs into the bathroom. She splashed handfuls of ice-cold water around her face, tactfully avoiding her reflection for as long as possible. She slurped some of the cold water from her hand to try and get rid of the horrid taste on her tongue, of the liquid from Haymitch's flask. She brushed her teeth and that did the trick. She tried to brush her hair, but gave up half-way through. She finally chanced a peek in the mirror, grimaced at what she saw and swiftly jumped in the shower.
As the warm water soothed the aches and kinks out of her limbs, Haymitch's vile concoction started to do its work. By the time Stephanie got out of her short shower – Electra had burst into the bathroom unceremoniously, ignored Stephanie's indignant curses and threatened to kick her out of the shower also if she didn't hurry up - Stephanie was feeling monumentally better than she had been when she first awakened.
"Will you stop threatening to kick me places today?" Stephanie muttered reproachfully as she went into her room and found Electra lounging on her bed.
"Will you hurry up?" Electra countered impatiently.
Stephanie ignored her as she trundled about her room at a sedate pace, getting ready.
"Why are you so annoyingly…not dying of a hangover?!" Stephanie called out irritated to Electra from the bathroom, as she struggled to get her shirt over her head.
Electra paused her cheerful humming, "Because I am a seasoned alcoholic and you are but a novice," she replied sagely.
"Why do you sound almost boastful when you say that?" Stephanie said sardonically, tugging frustratingly at her shirt.
"Are you wrestling with your clothes or putting them on?" Electra queried drolly as she once more pushed into the bathroom with not a thought to privacy.
Stephanie managed to finally get her shirt on with one last affirmative tug and a grunt. She glowered at Electra once she had, smoothing her hands over her fresh clothes, while Electra remained looking completely unperturbed.
"Here, slip this into your pocket – in case," Electra murmured as she shoved a smooth, sleek object into Stephanie's hand.
Stephanie looked down at the familiar sight of Electra's phone. Her frown dissolved as she chewed anxiously on her bottom lip, knowing the only person who could be ringing her would be Seneca.
"Won't you need it?" Stephanie protested feebly.
"Not anymore for sure," Electra replied enigmatically.
Stephanie arched a brow in confusion.
Electra snorted as she leaned back against the wall, a smirk battling on her lips. "I'm not sure I even want to know the reason," she began genially, eyes narrowing, "But when I got up this morning there was a delivery for me. You wouldn't happen to know why I was sent ten new phones this morning, now would you?"
Laughter blurted instinctively from Stephanie's lips before she clapped a hand over her mouth. She could practically imagine the smirk that would have been on Seneca's lips, even as she rolled her eyes in exasperation at the blue-eyed Gamemaker's antics.
Electra remained looking at Stephanie discerningly and Stephanie shrugged sheepishly. "Seneca and I argued about him forcing you to give me your phone. He said if I was so feeling about Miss Hocol being denied a phone, he'd buy you ten new ones in the morning," Stephanie explained.
Electra gave a snorting laugh. "A little excessive, but I'm appreciative all the same for your concern of my being phoneless," she added, voice lightly sardonic. "Come on then."
Stephanie brushed past Electra into her room once more, but didn't follow the blue-haired woman to the door. Stephanie went to her wardrobe instead, her thoughts occupied with remembering the numerous things Seneca had said to her last night.
"Are you changing your clothes? You're like a damn Capitolite!" Electra exclaimed.
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not changing my clothes," she snapped. Intuitively, Stephanie slipped her hand amongst the rail of clothing until her hand connected with something silky and familiar. She slid her fingertips over the luxurious material, resisting the urge to shiver as memories of last night assaulted her. Once she clasped her hand around the hardy form of the pill bottle, Stephanie extracted her hand, the pills rattling.
"What are those?" Electra asked curiously, leaning over Stephanie's shoulder and making to swipe the bottle from Stephanie's hand.
Stephanie ducked out of her reach. "The cure to my fainting."
Stephanie returned the bottle to Seneca's blazer pocket, before closing the wardrobe door.
She popped the pill in her mouth, swallowing it quickly before it could dissolve and release its bitter taste on her tongue again.
"Are you going to tell Haymitch about your fainting?" Electra murmured quietly as they walked towards the main room.
Stephanie frowned in thought for a moment. "There's no need to tell him how bad my fainting actually is. But I will tell him I've got a cure now."
"Do those pills stop you from fainting then?"
"Unfortunately not. They only reverse the damage my fainting does. I have to try and stop fainting all on my own," Stephanie replied grimly as they entered the kitchen.
Stephanie immediately made a direct line for the mug of steaming coffee waiting for her on the counter. She sipped at it gratefully, the warmth seeping into her gradually. When she peeked outside, the sky was a dark murky grey of very early morning and rain was still falling heavily.
"Feeling better, sweetheart?" Haymitch asked, as he leaned against the counter opposite her.
"A lot," Stephanie answered emphatically, lowering the cup from her lips, "What was that stuff? It tasted horrible but it certainly helped."
"Ugh Haymitch! Did you give her that vile drink out of the flask," Electra exclaimed, before looking to Stephanie. "Believe me, it's better not knowing what's in it," she muttered meaningfully.
"Ellen, you had Stephanie up the whole night drinking and seriously expected her to still be able to get up to train the next morning without some sort of help?" Haymitch said sarcastically.
"I thought it would be good practice for the arena," Electra said as she rifled through the fridge. She turned back around to them a cupcake stuffed in her mouth and one in each hand.
Stephanie grimaced at the mere sight of food; especially something as unbearably sweet and rich as cupcakes. Her stomach still felt a little queasy. It felt like when she had first come to the Capitol and had obliviously starting scarfing down every delicacy set in front of her. The rich food her stomach wasn't used to had inevitably made her and Frenkin sick countless times, until they had gotten used to it.
Stephanie watched, simultaneously astounded and jealous as Electra wolfed down a cupcake without a second thought.
"How is making me train with a hangover good practice for the arena?" Stephanie asked dryly, "I am hardly going to be able to learn anything successfully with a splitting headache."
"Training with a hangover is good practice for fighting in the arena when you are suffering from severe dehydration. The symptoms are similar; blinding headache, dry throat, grogginess, slower reflexes," Electra answered as she meticulously wrapped up her other two cupcakes to stash in the pockets of the coat she was wearing. "I'm bringing snacks!" Electra announced cheerfully.
Stephanie frowned, shooting Electra a deadpan look while Haymitch concealed a smirk behind his glass. Stephanie resolutely refused to look and see what Haymitch could possibly be drinking this early in the morning. She was sure if she as much as saw one drop of alcohol in the next few hours her stomach would immediately start retching.
"Why are you so excited? It's…unsettling," Stephanie mumbled in Electra's direction, as she set her empty coffee mug in the sink. She felt a little better with the injection of hot caffeine to her bloodstream.
"I'm always excited at the prospect of kicking the living daylights out of something," Electra replied with a splitting grin.
Stephanie frowned as she habitually washed out her mug. "And you say I'm irrationally violent," Stephanie muttered sardonically under her breath.
Electra sidled up to her suddenly, flinging an arm around Stephanie's slightly taller frame, she pulled her close companionably, "Stephanie, it would be in your best interests to be nice to me this morning. I may just take pity on you enough then to allow you to walk out of Blondie's apartments and not be carried out on a stretcher."
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "This is retaliation because I punched you last night, isn't it?"
"Sure is," Electra grinned wider.
"I thought you said that was a free hit!"
"No such thing!" Electra replied resoundingly, clapping Stephanie forcibly on the back as Stephanie dried her hands beside the sink. "I'm going to see if our little sympathetic, district-loving driver has arrived yet," Electra added, making to move off.
"Ellen, there's no need to threaten the kid this time," Haymitch said smirking, as he finished off the drink in his glass.
Electra rolled her eyes exaggeratedly at Haymitch, before pausing in front of Stephanie.
"Here," Electra said, handing Stephanie a pair of sunglasses from the voluminous pockets of her coat.
Stephanie looked pointedly towards the windows and the heavy rain battling against the reinforced sheets of glass. "What sun are you protecting me from, Ellen?" she muttered dryly.
Electra chuckled. "Believe me, you'll need them. Capitol lighting sometimes rivals that of the natural sun."
Stephanie remained unconvinced but accepted them anyway, tucking them into her back pocket, beside the phone Electra had slipped her in her room.
Then Electra with a mock salute, sauntered out of the kitchen, the ping of the lift doors opening sounding a few moments later.
"She's going to wipe the floor with me at training today," Stephanie predicted, casting Haymitch a resigned glance.
Haymitch chuckled, but didn't correct her statement, which Stephanie found very discouraging.
"Well seeing as the possibility that I won't come back from this training session alive is a distinct possibility with Ellen there, I'm going to check on Frenkin to say my last goodbyes," Stephanie muttered drolly, moving from the kitchen.
"Be quick," Haymitch told her and Stephanie gave him a small smile over her shoulder.