"She really said that?"

"Yeah...pretty much..." Haymitch shrugged.

Cinna sat back with a delighted smile as Haymitch scratched his head

"Its not funny Cinna, what am I supposed to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"If shes in love with me? I don't know how to deal with that! what do I say? what do I do? how am I supposed to act around her now, knowing that?" Haymitch was completely at a loss. Even if he did have a sense of 'feeling' towards the woman, he was just about coming to terms with that himself, he wasnt ready to deal with her feelings yet

Cinna rubbed his jaw and thought for a moment

"For now, I'd say...Do nothing! at least, dont make a big deal out of it. So, she said something in her sleep?, it could have just been a dream, she might not have meant it...right?"

"Hmm, maybe. It was just...well...what she said though, how she said it, you were in her dream too...like she was telling you a secret. Has she ever said anything like this to you before? When she's not been asleep I mean?" Haymitch knocked back another glass of whiskey and looked at Cinna, who had suddenly tried to distract himself.

"Ah, well...no. Well...not really. I mean once she ah, no. No never..." Haymitch never penned Cinna for being a good liar

"Tell me. Now"

Cinna let out an awkward sigh

"Well...its not really what she's said, just stuff that ive...well somethings that i've noticed"

Haymitch put down his second empty glass and leaned in

"Like?"

"Like her uneasiness around you. She's always so nervous. The Effie Trinket I know doesn't do 'nervous'. I first noticed when I started living with you two between games. I mean, Ive known Effie for years and I know her well but sometimes, when we're all together, I feel like I dont know her at all..."

Haymitch sat and pondered with a furrowed brow

"What you you mean, uneasiness?"

"She always acts so fragile around you, scared almost. Like she's afraid to say the wrong thing or make herself look foolish in front of you. The Effie I thought I knew wouldnt be so timid, Ive seen the woman in social surroundings and she takes no bullshit, trust me! But with you..." Cinna shrugged again. He himself didnt quite know how to explain it but he knew, every time Haymitch would walk into the room Effie would sit straighter, talk softer and sometimes forget entirely that she was in the middle of a conversation with him and just stare across the room at Haymitch.

"Well...she's either scared of you or...well...the opposite" And from her apparent confesion in her sleep, they both knew it was the latter of the two.

At first Cinna had thought Effies actions were just out of fear of not wanting to start yet another argument with Haymitch. Haymitch was no softie, he was a tough nut to crack and far from gentlemanly. On a number of occasions Haymitch and her had come to verbal blows over simple things and in the end Haymitch had always won.

But his idea of that changed when he had spent his first few evenings with the pair, when it was just the 3 of them. Casually dressed and not a schedule in sight, movies, cards and alcohol to pass the time.

'Down Days' Effie had called them and even though they had been few and far between, all three of them looked forward to one. Cinna finally had the chance to see the bond between Haymitch and Effie, a bond that no other mentor and escort pair could ever fathom. A bond that Haymitch and Effie themselves where definitely still u aware of. You see, they where complete opposites. He was easily irritable, stubborn and lazy. Effie was irritating yet carefree and passionate about life. Before Cinna had gotten to know them he had known of them. It was mainly at parties and social gathering that their names had crept up amongst the crowds, most placed bets on how long it would take Effie Trinket to come begging back to Snow to send her to another district or to fire the drunken mentor but It never happened, and folks in the city could not understand why.

But Cinna knew, at least he thought he did. It was going to take a little more digging and maybe abit of meddling but he was sure of it. He believed that the pair where aiming for the same destination just choosing different paths. It was his duty to put them on the same one.

Well...what else was he going to do on their 'down days' He was unbelievably rubbish at cards

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