Chapter 13
Two's company five's a crowd
"It's OK, you can pull over here, please. Thank you."
Fresh from work, dressed in her chocolate brown outfit Effie stepped out of the cab and into the pancake house.
She used to come here all the time as a girl. There in the corner was their old table, the candy red one with the blue potted angel's trumpets. Mother always fretted over the calories but it didn't change the fact all three of them loved pancakes.
So when Effie had lost yet another beauty pageant or audition or contest of some sort, it was her father's way of coaxing her mother out of the bathroom.
"No more crying," he'd say gently. "There'll be new opportunities. Now we will eat and only look ahead."
Looking back on it now it'd been those moments, between failures, that she'd felt close to her parents. Close and less lonely.
Her apartment was just a stone's throw away so Effie walked the rest of the way home. She found Haymitch the way she left him. On the couch. Since he seldom slept all night through he took naps during the day and she wasn't going to disturb him. She only put the food box on the coffee table and went to change clothes.
The bedroom was a mess. The sheets all tangled up, coffee cups and plates with orange peels on the nightstands, discarded clothes everywhere, a wet towel slung over the bed.
She went and seized the half-emptied bottles and there was a part of her that itched to go tell him he should really have cleaned up after himself since he'd been home all day and an even bigger part of her wanted to pour the last of the alcohol down the drain.
In the end she decided against both impulses. She placed the bottles by his side of the bed and only hoped he wouldn't defile all of her apartment quite as quickly as usual.
The light flickered on automatically when she stepped inside the largest closet to hang up her work outfit.
Once upon a time there'd been wigs on display heads in here. She saw herself reflected in all the mirrored wardrobes and as she began to untie the bandana, her mind went back to those disastrous December days when Haymitch first visited.
She'd been so nervous about meeting him again after all those years of silence, especially since she was pretty sure he made the trip because he worried for her, that she'd gone and put on her Capitol armour again.
Of course, she soon realized how silly and unnecessary it was. It was hard not to shake your head at the memory. But she was only human. For some reason she'd felt safer, less exposed behind the Capitol attire.
Noises from the bedroom interrupted her thoughts and she pushed open the door just in time to watch Haymitch grab all the clothes from the bed.
He stopped when he saw her though and Effie couldn't help but smile at the sight of him, his arms full of dirty laundry and the look on his face like she'd caught him doing something naughty.
Haymitch cleared his throat, awkwardly.
"I was just looking for my scotch," he muttered.
With a smile still on her face Effie walked over to him. She took the clothes and tossed them in the armchair so he could put his arms around her instead. With the heels on she didn't even have to stay on tip-toe to kiss him.
He tugged at her jacket so she could shoulder out of it and she chuckled at his unlucky attempts to find a zipper.
"How the fuck does this work?" he muttered and she guided his hands to the hidden buttons so he could open her sheath dress all the way and reveal the pristine white corset underneath.
She was hard as a floorboard. Hell, damn near burglar-proof and while he pulled the dress over her head and went on to fumble with all the tiny little clasps he dimly wondered how she could even remain conscious in that thing.
"How long can you stay?" she breathed, more and more deeply as the corset loosened around her.
"Want me out of your hair?"
"Oh, you know that's… not it."
Their lips met in an open-mouthed kiss and he disengaged the corset from her and tossed it somewhere on the floor.
Yeah, he knew. And a big part of him was scared shitless for it.
But when she kissed him he was powerless. Completely powerless.
He was so screwed.
xXx
With such a beautiful day you couldn't stay indoors. At least not according to Effie. So after the pancakes she persuaded Haymitch to take a walk with her.
"You have to see the Roman Stairs," she smiled and looped her arm around his.
With a name like Cupid's Garden Haymitch suspected the worst but place wasn't as outrageous as it could have been. Weird trees, maybe. They blushed in all the normal autumn colours like orange, yellow and red but there were also hues like bright blue, silver gray and neon purple. Like a cluster of party balloons or Effie's old wigs.
The Roman Stairs were a slightly curved flight of stairs made from white marble. They had a seat at the top, on either side of a funny stone toad, over-looking a pond. The mockingjays thrived, sharing the spotlight with a gaggle of ducks and two swans.
The place felt oddly familiar despite the fact he was pretty sure he would have remembered coming here and then he realized. This was where Effie found him, that time he got tanked up and fell over in the snow. He'd been so drunk he thought he'd trudged back into the Meadow of Twelve. Yeah, that was a funny day.
"It's so peaceful around here," Effie said. "And Castor and Pollux had a hand in making this, you know," she smiled and gave the smooth marble a pat.
"They're camera men."
"I know". She tapped a light finger against the stone toad's head and he saw it had one of them square symbols. Like on the holographic photo she got him for his birthday.
"Mind flights," Effie explained. "Pollux still records quite a few of them each year. Documentaries as well, with Cressida. We use them in teaching."
"What'cha teach?" Haymitch wondered and it surprised him he'd never actually asked what Effie did those two days a week. If Plutarch ever told him he'd been too drunk to remember. "All manners and how to be good little Effie Trinkets?"
It was meant as a joke but it fell flat and he heard how wrong it sounded.
"Ok, not funny," he said but her smile had faded. "Not funny." Oh, fuck. Even when he worked his ass off he still fucked up.
"That's not what I do, Haymitch", Effie said. "I don't do that anymore."
She tried to not take it so to heart but she did.
The logical part of her knew it wasn't odd he jumped to that conclusion right away. After all, it was her job during the Games. To teach the tributes how to behave in front of the cameras. But it still hurt that Haymitch thought she did that today, to Gracie and all of her other girls.
She remembered her own teacher in etiquettes. Remembered all too well.
There was a reason Effie had perfect table manners and could run around in heels full-time. At the Academy, if the book fell off your head when you learned how to walk or if so much as a drop of soup stained the table cloth they wrapped you over the knuckles with a ruler.
It shamed her to say she'd fallen back to that old upbringing herself once. When she tried and failed to teach Katniss how to walk and smacked her hand, yelling "Not above the ankles!"
Because those methods and worse were so standard practice in the Capitol, among parents and teachers.
It had gotten better since after the war. And the new government intended to establish a new, co-ed and less strict school for the Capitol as soon as possible. But until they got that plan off the table they had included mandatory courses for the schools that already existed. Pallas's Academy where Effie taught and Appollo's Academy for the boys.
Haymitch nudged her knee.
"What do you teach then?" he asked.
And Effie told him.
The districts weren't the only ones who were told lies. The children of the Capitol and District 2 for that matter they were the "Snow generation". The youngsters who grew up with the glorified image of President Snow as the father of the nation. Until the rebellion all they even knew was what the regimen chose to tell them. Not just about the Hunger Games. The people of the districts were presented to them as second-rate humans. Good for hard labor but barbaric and nothing like the citizens of the Capitol.
"During my classes we sit down together and talk," Effie said simply. "About compassion and equality, what makes us different and what makes us alike. They write and draw about their feelings and guest speakers come in from all over the country to talk to them about the war, about moral and prejudices and what life is like in the districts. These children were under the Capitol's influence and fed by the propaganda machine every day, we all were and sooner or later those seeds may bear fruit, unless we plant something else. So that's what we try to do."
Effie silenced and looked at him, head high, as if he'd do something like scoff her or her girls but his heart only swelled with pride.
"Didn't know you'd be good with kids," he said with a little half-smile. Oh, fuck, that didn't come out right either. "I mean you are good with kids. As far as I can tell. I mean they would'n't have hired someone who weren't, so…" He shut up at the sight of Effie's raised eyebrows. She looked rather amused.
So instead of keep on digging he brushed his thumb across the symbol on the stone toad.
Immediately Cupid's Garden disappeared. It was just like in Effie's library. Only now, instead of the pond and all the mockingjays, they were looking at a clear, blue ocean so real and endless it took your breath away. Between the sunbeams that turned the water to diamonds and the white sailboats far in the distance you could have sworn you were in District 4.
Made him think of Finn and his stomach tied together with guilt. He hadn't heard from Annie or Jo since they left. His memories from that morning were hazy but he remembered Finn, sobbing.
He should call and apologize.
He watched Effie as the mind flight changed to the open fields of District 9. She still hadn't mentioned the night of the storm, not yet anyway and he was grateful for it. When he was at his absolute lowest he didn't want people to see it. He was still ashamed about the time he went into withdrawal and scared Prim half to death. He'd had a few spells like the one in the study before and always managed to pull out of them on his own after a few hours. And that's the way he wanted it, if the alternative was to freak everybody out.
He should have known Effie wasn't going to let him be.
"I'll get us some coffee," he said when they could see the pond again. The square wasn't far and coffee was a peace offer as good as any, he reckoned.
He disappeared. Effie stayed where she was. The sun shone through the blushing trees and made her bandana glow just as brightly.
Coffee would be nice, she thought.
But something kept him.
And as the minutes passed she began to wonder. Despite it all.
And yes, she went to the bar. That was her first impulse and when she couldn't find him there she wasn't sure which feeling won over, relief or guilt.
So instead she walked over to Jerome, the balding, big-bellied grocer who sold her fruit every week. Her heels clicked against the well-swept paving stones when she crossed Heaven's Square and over to his stall where he stood surrounded by boxes of oranges and apples, pineapples and watermelons.
"Hi, Effie. Any pomegranates today?"
It was hard not to like Jerome. And his wife. They'd always been easy to talk to. And their goods were first-class.
"Haymitch Abernathy," he said when she asked. "Yes, I saw him go with the green lady."
"Green lady?" Then she realized. "Oh."
"Effie!" Octavia piped the moment she stepped into the beauty salon and Effie found herself enveloped in her plump, marzipan green arms. "What a lovely surprise!"
"Hi, Effie!" Flavius and Venia waved eagerly from across the room. "Look who we found!"
And she saw Haymitch's exhausted face over the edge of a barber's chair between the two beauticians.
"I know I know", Flavius said, his orange corkscrew curls as impressive as ever. "It's hard to look straight at him. We weren't prepared either. He was never easy on the eye of course but don't worry. When we're through with him he'll be perfect. Absolutely perfect! Now, Haymitch," he said and turned back to him. "We've already told you. We're not going to force you into anything. You can decide for yourself what you want me and Venia to change."
"Yeah?" said Haymitch. "How 'bout nothing. There's nothing I wanna change."
If he thought that would do the trick he was sorely mistaken. Flavius and Venia laughed hysterically.
"Of course there is!" Venia exclaimed and the bright light from the ceiling reflected off her gold tattoos. She'd had her aqua colored hair styled in a square so it framed her face like a TV-screen. "There're always things people want to change!"
"What do you say we do something about your nails, Effie," Octavia smiled.
"I'm sorry, we're actually in a bit of a hurry. I just came here to get Haymitch. But how about next Tuesday?"
"How about the hair," Flavius said and tapped a finger against his purple colored lips, examining Haymitch's face closely.
"You'll lose an arm."
"We could really make you something special," said Venia. "Finally."
"Oh, for fuck's sake!"
"Ah, ah, ah. Don't be a whiner, Haymitch," Flavius said. "That's very unattractive."
"Very," said Venia.
"Do you think I care? You're not touching it."
Flavius looked to Venia and Venia looked to Flavius and both of them shook their head sadly.
"How about the beard then?" Flavius asked finally. "Can we at least do something about this ghastly stubble?"
Haymitch heaved a tremendous sigh.
"You can groom it. A bit. And then you'll let me the hell outta here. And you'll just trim it. Nothing else."
Flavius opened his mouth.
"It's not open for discussion! Nothing else!"
"My pleasure", Flavius said, even though he looked the opposite. "You know, this is really a waste of our talent."
Haymitch threw Effie a miserable look and she gave him a smile of support.
"I'm so happy Haymitch is here. Now you will both come to my party," piped Octavia. "It will be the event of the year! I can count on you to be there?"
"Um…" Effie said. She had RSVP'd to Octavia's birthday party. But after what had happened with Haymitch all she really wanted to do was stay home and try and figure things out with him. But when she looked into Octavia's happy, expectant face she knew there was only one answer she could give her.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"What's that!" Haymitch's voice boomed from across the room. "What kind of a beautician are you? I told you to trim it! What's that?" And he pointed to the swirl pattern Flavius had shaved into his stubble. "I'm from Twelve!"
"But it will flatter your face," Flavius said. "I know you people don't have much cause to look nice in District 12. Katniss already told us that, but since you do have a very twisted view on beauty I thought I'd take it upon myself to show you what your style should look like. Haymitch, just leave yourself in our capable hands and we'll help you take on the world! Or at least get a girlfriend. Or boyfriend, whatever rocks your boat!"
xXx
You know, compared to those three you're a breeze."
Another day had come and gone and they were back in bed. Haymitch with a pair of baby smooth cheeks and Effie, fighting hard not to laugh.
"But you have to admit you do look rather handsome," she said. "I can't even remember the last time I saw you clean-shaven."
"Yeah, well, don't get used to it," Haymitch said. "And a little heads-up next time won't hurt."
Effie smiled. It seemed like she'd done that a lot lately. Smile. And he was right of course. She shouldn't have seen him off to Heaven's Square and their excellent coffee take away without warning him the beauty salon lay just a few blocks away. If the prep team wanted to rope you in, they roped you in. Especially if unprepared. It was a gift.
"I have to go to her party now, don't I?" Haymitch said tiredly.
"Well, I think I ought to at least," Effie said. "It means a great deal to Octavia. I don't want to disappoint her. And besides, parties can be nice. You had one for your birthday, remember?"
"That wasn't a party. It was just pay-back. Kids made me."
"How? What did you do?"
"Pushed Katniss down the stairs."
"Haymitch!"
"It was an accident. I wasn't even that drunk. I just shut the door to the cellar and didn't see her there. Anywho, when the doctor patched her up Katniss threatened to throw me a birthday party just to get back at me. The boy really went with the idea and I didn't get a say. " He threw her a glance. "I think he just wanted to get you there. Reckoned I missed ya."
"Did you?"
"Meh," Haymitch shrugged.
The smile on Effie's lips widened.
"You could have just asked me."
"Nah. I prefer you in writing. Then I can put you in a drawer when you start to annoy me."
"Mm, yes. Wouldn't that make things simpler."
She rested her head into his shoulder, hand against his naked chest.
"So... Here we are. Still no walking out?" she asked, only half-jokingly. "I keep expecting you to change your mind."
"How 'bout you?" he asked. "Do you know what we're doing?"
She gave her head a slight shake.
"Not really. I know I don't want to stop."
He laced their fingers together.
"You and me both."
Their lips found each other again and when they kissed with such certainty, what did the rest of it matter?
"Mm." Haymitch stopped at the sound of disappointment in Effie's voice.
"What?"
"Nothing," she said. "It's just… I kind of miss your stubble."