"Good morning, Effie!" He exclaimed, coming in the guest room and kissing her head. He had let her sleep in because she had no work that day and he'd get her to himself.

She groaned, knowing how he must have felt all those years she forced him to get up.

"Up 'n at 'em, girl. We've got that picnic today." He said, pulling on one of his sweaters that she hated. She hated most of his clothes, but Haymitch surmised that was because her tastes were nothing short of insane.

"Why don't you wear something I got you?" She mumbled.

"Because I don't wanna look like a damn peacock parading myself through town. Now come on, honey."

"When did you get so eager?" She asked, irritated, rolling on her back tiredly.

She showered quickly and dressed in a short dress and some heeled boots that would irritate Haymitch, put her hair up loosely. She was still uncomfortable not following Capitol customs of wigs and pale eyebrows and bow-shaped lips, but she knew she didn't have to worry about that here. Not with Haymitch.

She grabbed one of her coats and put it on.

"Heels, Eff." He said, busy with the basket.

"You can carry me if it gets that bad."

"To hell I will. What kind of man have you turned me into, Effie? Over here packing damn wicker baskets and picking flowers."

"You would have made a wonderful Girl Scout."

He gave her a pointed look, his eyebrows furrowed, opened the door for her. She breezed by and kissed him quickly.

They walked to a clearing not far down so Effie's feet wouldn't hurt too bad. She laid out the blanket and sat, waited eagerly for him to unpack the basket. She leaned into him as they ate, his arm around her. All he could think of was how she was leaving soon.

Eventually, he laid back, his head on her lap, and looked up at her, ran his fingers over a strand of her silky hair, "You know, it's a damn shame you looked like this the whole time. I thought your skin was naturally scary ass white and you didn't have any eyebrows. Could've saved me some nightmares, Effie. Would've been having way more wet dreams about you instead."

She furrowed her eyebrows playfully, pinched his cheek.

"And I thought you were the most foul, disagreeable person alive, when really you're one big, handsome teddy bear." She said with a bashful smile.

He waved her away, his finger grazed her chin, her full lower lip.

"Pretty as a picture." He whispered.

She looked down at him, "This is nice, Haymitch."

He smirked, "Glad you think so, honey."

"I love you, Haymitch. You know I do." She said after a moment.

"I love you, too, girl." He whispered, pushing some of her hair out of her eyes, knowing the love was only a little more than platonic. Knowing she'd go back to her life and he'd return to his and not hear from her for years.

She tilted her head towards the sun, soaking up the purity that was twelve. Untouched by greed, kept up by people who embraced tradition, who knew their nature was just as much apart of them as their own blood, their bones. If someone from the Capitol had control over this it would be all plowed down, turned into flashy resorts and tourist traps.

If she were to bring Octavia or Flavius or Leander, for that matter, they would not appreciate such tiny things. She looked down at Haymitch who had his eyes closed and he was so handsome it hurt. He looked at peace and healthy, at least, so much more than all of those years ago.

The sun hit his icy hair and she ran her nails through it.

She stayed silent, not wanting to disrupt him.

"Should've brought Bear." He said, looking back at her.

"He would have ate more than us."

"He's a growing boy. Would've packed him his own stuff, though, old boy is getting a little too chunky for his own good."

Effie looked down, "That's what makes him cute."

"Think the pup doubled in size since you came around." He said, twisting to kiss her thigh.

"Good. Keeps him warm."

"He gets enough cuddles from you for that, old woman." He said, sitting up.

"Haymitch, might I remind you, I'm 12 years younger than you! If anything, I should be calling you old!"

"Damn right, the way you've aged me over the years. Used to look younger than you." He teased, pinching her little nose.

"You have aged me far more."

"I can tell."

"Oh, hush!"

He laughed, "Wouldn't want to rapidly age with anyone else. We're already halfway there, sweetheart."

She clucked her tongue, "Haymitch, Haymitch, Haymitch."

He pulled a piece of grass off of a strand of her dark blonde hair.

"Eff, only one of us can be blonde. You might need to dye it."

"Oh, I'm hardly blonde! And I've been changing my hairstyle up for years. It's your turn now."

"Gonna start wearing your wigs I guess." He said with a cheeky smirk.

"Absolutely not! But… gosh, you have the cutest smile, my darling." She squealed, leaning to kiss his cheek. He wiped her kiss off and, in response, she just did it again.

She fed him a strawberry and they enjoyed each other's company or, in Haymitch's case, Effie enjoyed his company while she talked his ear off about this and that.

Once she stopped, she was half asleep in his lap, "You ready, Eff? Sure Bear misses you."

"Mhm." She said, kissing one of the muscled arms wrapped around her. She stood, stretched, folded the blanket up and walked back with him.

The girls from the Seam were in the garden playing with Bear, who nearly jumped out of his fur seeing the pair, especially Effie.

"Miss. Effie!" They squealed, running to give her a huge hug.

"Oh, hello, my sweet darlings! You know, you girls can just call me Effie."

"No way! My mama would tan my hide if she knew."

Effie laughed, looked up at Haymitch who shook his head.

"Miss. Effie, we made you this!"

"I made it!"

"We helped pick out the colors, Mary!"

It was a sweet little embroidered cloth with small, sloppy flowers and 'Miss. Effie' sewn into the middle in little girl cursive.

"This is so beautiful! I love it so much! This is the best gift I've been given all year."

"Really?"

"By far!" Exclaimed Effie, giving hugs to the girls.

"Will you show it to your friends in the Capitol?" They asked with glittery eyes.

"Of course I will. I'm going to frame it and hang it up so everyone can see!"

They looked at one another with big grins, some of them without their front teeth due to their age.

"Now give me one last hug. You young ladies better get home soon, it will be dark and Bear needs his sleep."

They hugged her.

"Will we see you before you leave?"

"Of course, my dear, I will be here all week."

They all said bye and scurried out of the village. Effie picked up Bear and wrapped her arm around Haymitch.

"When you leave, they're gonna be comin' by everyday asking for you. I can see it now." He said with a sigh, opening his door.

Effie stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, "Let them use your phone to call me when they can."

"Why me," He teased, looking up at the sky. "Why must you have filled my life with so many girls? And a pup that only sides with girls?"

Effie elbowed him, "Hush."

They sat on the couch and watched the warm, glowing fire he set flicker, the bugs in Peeta's garden chirped and the frogs enjoying the pond sang their songs. He wrapped his arms around her, engulfed in her smell, feeling her soft kisses on the hand that was laced in hers.

"This is all a man really needs to feel alright with the world."

"What?"

"A fire, an irritating puppy, and a woman who talks too much and hails from the worst part of the country."

"Shut up, Haymitch!"

"I'm just playing, sweetheart." He said, kissing her temple. He felt her relax against him again.

"What do you wanna do tomorrow? We could go look around the Hob, see if you find anything. I know you appreciate those little… whaddya call 'em?" He asked.

"The… trinkets?"

"Yeah, yeah. Those little Effie Trinkets. They got a lot of those now. And I'm sure Sae would like to grill you about me."

"I'm sold." She said in that soft little voice of hers, kissing his cheek. He picked her up and carried her into their his bedroom, threw her down as she giggled. He hovered over her and she pushed some of his hair back.

"You have a beautiful soul, Haymitch. You have a heart of gold." She whispered breathlessly, he watched her with a softness in his eyes, his hand tracing the side of her face. He dipped in and kissed her.