Though she was escorting the children to certain death, Effie couldn't help but be a tad bit excited when they stepped onto the train. She always loved to see the tributes reactions, and she was especially curious this year since they were so young. And perhaps if they were lucky Haymitch would stay holed up in his room for the duration of the trip. That was the last thing she needed, him terrifying the poor children more than they already were. Katniss kept a firm grip on her hand as she guided them into the dining car and turned to look at their faces.
The little girl was awestruck, never having seen so much food in her life. Gale, though he tried to hide it, was equally impressed, though she suspected disgust at the extravagance was also at the forefront of his mind. Katniss appeared as though she wanted a closer look, as her grip slackened and she took a step forward, but she stopped and looked back at Effie.
"Can I?" she asked, and the woman was impressed with her manners.
"Of course, darling, it's all for you."
With a blinding smile, Katniss shot toward the table and began exploring the different foods. Effie laughed quietly, never having seen such a reaction from anyone before. Gale glared at her before following his fellow tribute, though he was a bit more cautious of what he chose to try. Katniss was having a blast, trying something from each of the plates and bowls. Effie smiled as she watched, though she was a tad concerned that the girl would make herself sick.
"Careful Katniss, don't make yourself sick," she admonished lightly as she took a seat near the window.
"I won't!" came the slightly muffled response, and the woman cringed at the lack of etiquette.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, it isn't polite."
Well, some things would never change, no matter the age of the children. She had just relaxed when, to her horror, an extremely drunk Haymitch entered the car. She tensed, jumping up and crossing to the table to shield the children from him.
"What've we got here?" he slurred, obviously inebriated past the point of cohesive thought.
"These are the tributes, which you would have known had you bothered to show up this morning!" she snapped, annoyance coloring her tone.
"Look princess, if I wanted to watch babies die I would just take a stroll to the Seam."
The remark was harsh and obviously meant to be cutting. It had the desired effect, as Effie cringed, but steeled her nerves and glared at him.
"Honestly Haymitch, there are children present. Must you say such cruel things?"
"I don't care who's present, it's the truth. These kids haven't got a snowballs chance in hell of getting out of the arena alive."
She noticed the children had stopped eating and were following their discussion with rapt attention.
"Language! And don't say that! I'm sure they have just as much of a chance as the other twenty-two!"
Her words sounded hollow and desperate even to her ears, and it wasn't helping that the inebriated man simply snorted before shoving past her to the rack of liquor bottles. He stumbled and swayed, nearly knocking the whole thing over. The woman watched with displeasure as he opened and downed half the bottle. That seemed to do the trick, as he swayed even more dangerously before passing out completely. Effie sighed, waving over an attendant to drag him back to his room.
The compartment took on an uncomfortable silence as the attendant, Haymitch in tow, left, and Effie deliberately avoided looking at her tributes.
"Is it true?" Gale asked, breaking the silence.
"Is what true, dear?"
"Are we going to die in the arena?"
"W-well, it is a possibility of course-"
"I thought so," he growled before stalking out of the room.
She sighed, upset that Haymitch had planted ideas in the boy's head. She felt a tug on the hem of her skirt, and looked down to see Katniss, silver eyes gleaming with fear, and was that...concern? She crouched down as best she could, feeling her dress strain in all sorts of ways.
"What is it, dear? Did Haymitch scare you?"
Because if he did she was going to kill him. Katniss shook her head no, but didn't let go of the woman's skirt.
"Are you okay?" she asked, startling Effie so much she nearly fell over from shock. "It looked like he hurt your feelings."
"Well, yes, I suppose he did. But that's just Haymitch, you never know what he's going to say."
Silver eyes clouded over with something akin to anger.
"Then I don't like him. Daddy says he's the reason none of our tributes has ever won. And he's mean to you."
"Katniss, it doesn't matter if he's mean to me," Effie said, touched that the girl had taken such a liking to her. "He doesn't like me very much, and he doesn't mind letting others know. But it's not your job to worry about that. Your job is to get strong and win the Games."
"Why is he mean to you?" Katniss asked, determined to understand how he could hate such a nice lady.
"I suspect it's because I'm from the Capitol. Lots of people don't like me because of that."
"But you can't help where you were born."
"I know, sweetie. But not everyone sees it that way."
'And if you were just a few years older you wouldn't either,' she thought to herself as she straightened up. Katniss appeared to be thinking the answer over, and the woman saw when the light of understanding entered her eyes. Effie hoped she hadn't planted any thoughts into her head, but that was quickly dispelled when the child looked up and beamed at her.
"Well I like you, so there."
"And I'm glad you do, sweetie. Now, why don't I take you to your room? You can watch tv until it's time for dinner."
Effie wasn't sure why she seemed so attached to the small girl. Perhaps because she was one of the only children to look at her without fear. Perhaps because she was willing to listen to her. Perhaps it was because she was so young. Perhaps it was because, in the smallest, most secluded part of her mind, she secretly wished for a child, a little girl to call her own.
But she didn't know, and she didn't particularly want to. It was bad enough she was as kind to the girl as she was. To become emotionally attached would be her downfall. Though it seemed, she thought as she absentmindedly went over the next day's schedule, that it was too late for that. Katniss was sweet, and contained an innocence that was rare and hard to find, and now Effie was beginning to love the small child.
She jumped when a scream pierced the air. Ignoring the large ink swipe across her paper, she jumped up and headed off in the direction the sound came from. She saw several avoxes and attendants rushing into one of the rooms down the corridor, and with a start she realized it was Katniss'. She hurried along faster, almost running, but not quite because running was unlady-like. Entering, she saw quite a large group of people gathered around the bathroom door.
Katniss was nowhere in sight, and it didn't take a genius to realize where she was.
"What on earth is going on here?!" Effie snapped, causing several of the people to turn and face her.
"Since Ms. Everdeen is so young, one of the attendants offered to help her wash her hair. She refused, but didn't begin to scream until the attendant persisted," a man answered, the same one who had helped Haymitch earlier in the day. "I can assure you it was a female who offered," he hastened to add at the woman's glare.
"Well, at least that was something done right," she said as she maneuvered her way to the door. "You're all dismissed, I'll handle things from here."
She didn't wait to see if they obeyed before entering the small room and firmly shutting the door behind her. No sense in giving the world a show after all. Katniss was huddled in a corner of the tub, head down on her knees. She was trembling, and Effie suspected that the eventful day was finally catching up to her.
"Katniss? Katniss dear, it's Effie. Can you look at me, please?" Slowly, the little girl raised her head, teary silver meeting ice blue. "Good girl." She crossed the room and elegantly perched on the side of the tub. "Now, what got you so upset that you screamed?"
"A strange lady came in, and I wasn't expecting her to. Then she tried to wash my hair. I didn't want her to touch me!"
"Why not, sweetie?"
"Too many new people," Katniss said shyly. "And she was strange, like a machine."
"That's because she's trained to follow orders," Effie said gently, removing her gloves and rolling up the sleeves of her dress as best she could.
"I wouldn't want to do that."
"I bet you wouldn't," the woman said, chuckling gently. "I know you don't like new people, but your hair does need to be washed. Will you let me help you?"
"Um, okay."
To Katniss, Effie was someone to trust. She had been kind to her ever since she called her up on stage. And unlike Gale, she believed in them. She was also a woman, and she figured that was the closest to her mommy she was going to get until the Games were over. So she clung to the woman, as she was more afraid than she let on.
Effie peered at the various soaps, shampoos, lotions, and conditioners lining the tub before selecting one she thought the child would like. It was supposed to smell like the forest, and she suspected it would bring her some comfort.
"All right sweetie, come here so I can wet your hair."
Katniss obeyed, positioning herself under the head of the faucet. Effie turned on the water, careful not to make it too hot. The water came out scented like roses, and she quickly turned the scent setting off, afraid the shampoo and water would clash. Katniss sighed as the warm water cascaded down her back. At home, they had to heat their water over a fire if they wanted to take a bath.
It was another thing that amazed her about the Capitol. The older woman, satisfied that the girl's hair was thoroughly wet, turned off the water and squirted some shampoo into her palm. She began to rub and massage it into Katniss' hair, amazed by how thick it was. She noticed she wasn't as disgusted as she probably should be if the amount of coal dust coating her hands was any indication. Was life so horrid in the districts that they couldn't get clean even after a bath?
"Okay Katniss, let me rinse it out and then we'll put some conditioner in."
The little girl nodded, relaxed and sleepy from Effie's ministrations on her scalp. The older woman smiled, feeling her heart melt as the child yawned. She turned the water on, cupping her hand over Katniss' forehead to make sure no shampoo got in her eyes. The girl allowed her complete control, following her hands as they tilted and guided her head to properly rinse her hair.
"You're really good at this," Katniss said around a yawn. "Do you have a little girl of your own?"
"No, sweetie, I don't," Effie said, pang of sadness shooting through her.
"Why? You do what mommies do."
"Not exactly, sweetheart," the older woman said as she turned off the spray. She selected an unscented conditioner, lathering it up and beginning to work it through the now-clean strands. "Give this a few minutes to sit and I'll rinse it out and you'll be done. Then we'll get you dried off and into bed. Does that sound good?"
Katniss didn't answer, almost asleep as it was. Noticing this, Effie gave the conditioner the least amount of time to work as possible, wanting to make sure that she could get her out of the bath and into bed before the child fell completely unconscious. She supported Katniss' back with one hand as she washed out the conditioner with the other. Satisfied that she had calmed the girl down and gotten her thoroughly clean, she coaxed her into standing and stepping out of the water, and laid her hand on the box that dried and untangled her hair. It floated down her shoulders and her back, glittering with gold and light brown highlights.
It was beautiful, and for a moment Effie envied the district people for being able to wear their hair down without dying it an unnatural hue. But it was gone as quickly as it came and she set about dressing the small child for bed. Minutes later, Katniss was clad in a thin pink nightgown, and stumbling sleepily to bed. Avoxes had already turned it down and placed a small bear between the pillows. The older woman tucked her in, making sure she was comfortable before turning out the lights.
"Goodnight, Katniss," she whispered as she exited.
"G'night, Mommy," the small child murmured as the last grips of consciousness lost their hold.
Effie gasped as the door slid closed, unsure whether to feel delighted or dejected.