**I think you all can guess who shows up next, I've been struggling with how closely I'll stick to the books. For now bear with me.**
"Glad to see you figured out how to open that door you hid behind a year ago. I was worried you wouldn't make it out of there." Haymitch said from his seat off to the side of the stage.
Effie had managed to keep herself busy and not standing around idly for any chance encounter with Haymitch. It had already been awkward with the knowing glancing both of them guiltily possessed.
She sighed and counted to ten in her head before responding. "Good afternoon to you too." She watched as the kids lined up in neat rows. Any minute now the mayor would start off the reaping.
Effie tugged at the pink blazer she wore. She wouldn't let Haymitch get under her skin now. Not when her job depended on her acting to be both believable and up to Capitol expectations. Over the long break she had spent little time thinking of Haymitch of the last year's events. Effie preferred to just block it from memory.
"I suppose you ran back to Crane. Does lover boy know what you did?" Haymitch said with a noticeable slur.
Effie certainly wouldn't let that comment slide, "Haymitch!" She snapped and turned to face him. "Shut up, will you?" She breathed and watched the Mayor address the crowd and motion for Effie and Haymitch to join him on stage. Effie knew the procedure like the back of her hand. Haymitch however dropped into his seat and folded his arms. Trademark scowl and disinterest written on his face.
It was hotter this year in 12, and the sun beat down upon the masses. It wouldn't be much longer before it was over and one of the hardest parts would be over. Effie reached into the bowl and readied herself for the girl's name. Another life to ruin, another tally to add to the growing list of dead children taken before their time. At lease here the kids came quietly, it had been years since anything dramatic happened during the reapings.
"Primrose Everdeen!" Effie called out and waited. Movement from the 12 year old row gave Effie's heart reason to pause. No… Not again. Then a scream followed and whispers echoed through the crowd. Another girl ran into the aisle and cried out something. Effie didn't catch it. It was as if her ears were filled with static noise. She watched as peacekeepers approached the two girls. Then Effie heard the words again.
"I volunteer as tribute!"
Effie was stunned. Actually everyone was. Silence cast over the crowd and Effie found her words. She plastered a smile on her face, "A volunteer! Come on dear, make your way up!"
Effie glanced to the side and noticed how Haymitch sat up in his chair and stared at the girl.
"What's your name, dear?" She smiled and turned the microphone over to her.
"Katniss… Everdeen."
Sisters… This girl volunteered for her sister. Effie glanced back at the blonde little girl being tugged away by a taller boy. Her heart hammered. 12 would be all over the Capitol news. A volunteer in a poor district, almost unheard of. The crowd in its entirety lifted their hands in a three-fingered salute. Effie didn't know what it meant but it felt like significant.
Sticking to schedule, Peeta Mellark joined Katniss on stage and without a hitch the District 12 tributes were ushered off stage. Effie paced back and forth in the lobby outside the rooms the tributes were in with their families. She scrutinized her performance on her tablet. Had she paused too long during the volunteering debacle? She knew she faltered with timing and that was a rookie mistake. What was the protocol for volunteering… Effie hadn't ever dealt with that issue. Did she do it right?
"Ones got a death wish, better keep the scalding tea away from that one." Haymitch gruffed and nursed a large glass of whiskey.
Effie sighed and turned toward him. "Death wish or not, we're going to be under a microscope now. It's stirring people up in the Capitol. Stop drinking that, at least wait to do it in the train." She scolded.
"Do what?" Haymitch asked and drained his drink.
"You heard me the first time." She reminded and flicked her eyes toward him.
"I heard you say do it." He said and leaned back on the bench. "You want to do it on the train… Didn't get enough of me last year, Trinket?"
Effie stiffened and closed the distance between them and promptly smacked him across the face. "Enough…" She whispered. Her hand stung and Haymitch looked just as surprised. He had cracked her façade pretty quickly. He could tell she instantly regretted even hitting him, as people stared and even a peacekeeper paused and watched them. "Even for you that was low…" She said softly, he noticed how her voice wavered with each word.
Effie stepped away just as the doors opened and the two tributes approached her. She doubled her efforts to be chipper. "My name is Effie Trinket. I'll be your escort during the games. I keep track of everyone's schedule for District 12. We're on our way to the train, follow me dears."
Effie didn't even wait for Haymitch to get up, she motioned for the kids to follow. Once on the train Haymitch bellied up to the bar in their dining car. Both kids tried to ask him questions about survival which Effie thought was very promising. However, Haymitch wasn't playing along. He gripped and sassed the kids after her constant snaps about manners.
Haymitch sat with his drink and stewed over the day's happenings. What most bothered him was information he learned of months ago. Effie had gone back to Crane. He didn't expect her to come running to him but after how the last games ended, he figured she'd stay away from the headgamemaker. With two more kids slated up for early deaths, he figured Effie and Crane fighting would be a yearly thing until Snow grew tired of Seneca's abilities.
Haymitch was pissed about the slap and annoyed that she told him to shut up before that. Effie had learned how to bite back. Maybe he took the teasing too far and possibly deserved it. He watched Effie type away furiously on her tablet, no doubt talking to Crane as the two kids finally stopped yapping at him.
After dinner silence fell over them. Effie had given up her attempts to keep conversation going with 3 unwilling participants. The boy seemed to want to try but the girl was just as tight lipped as Haymitch made himself out to be. For that he already liked the girl more. It was dark now in whatever District the train was speeding through. When the kids went off to sleep, Haymitch watched Effie pour herself a glass of wine.
"There's only room for one alcoholic on this train." He remarked, never knowing Effie to ever drink so early into the games.
She gave him a scathing look, "Spare me your commentary, Haymitch."
He groaned, "Come on Eff.." He said quickly, "You can't still be mad."
She stood up, "Oh, I still am. That was out of line and you know it. Cruelty doesn't suit you, and don't try to say you were drunk."
He countered, "I was just teasing. I do that every year!" He reminded.
Effie shook her head and looked away. "What you said to me earlier was crass, obscene and unnecessary. It was spiteful and mean." She clutched the glass of wine. "Clearly you have some wounds to heal, so find a way to fix them without being so malicious."
She stalked away to her room and left him alone. He growled and unstoppered the decanter full of whiskey. Once his glass was full to the brim he chugged and sank into the couch. Once again he said the wrong thing, he had acted on his hatred for Crane and in the process hurt Effie. He hadn't exactly intended to do that. He had made progress with Effie last year and now it seemed all of it was gone.