Keep me warm. Cliche trope. Hayffie summer week Day 4!!
"Haymitch, if you want to argue with me, fine, carry on, but I will not relent! I know that girl better than anyone of you and why? Because I'm a woman too"
He looked at her questioningly just to push her buttons.
"Just leave, please!" She ordered, dismissing him towards her door with a wave of her hand "I'm bored of your face and I want to go to sleep"
'THIS IS AN EMERGENCY CONTAINMENT ANNOUNCEMENT!'
Coins pre recorded voice suddenly bellowed over the compartment speakers...
'PLEASE CLEAR ALL DOORS FOR THE EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN PROCEDURE'
"Oh hell no!" Haymitch cursed, running towards the door to find it already electronically sealed shut.
'ALL THOSE OUTSIDE OF THEIR LIVING COMPARTMENTS, MUST IMMEDIATELY HEAD TO THE NEAREST SECURITY POD LOCATION, ONE MINUTE COUNT DOWN TO FULL EMERGENCY LOCK DOWN, COMMENCING NOW. 60, 59, 58, 57...
Haymitch was still trying at her door
"We're on lock down sweetheart! Must have the cavalry on its way towards us"
"Must have come in fast if we didn't get time to all get to the base level pod"
He was pulling and pushing but nothing would give.
"Question, Haymitch! If we are on emergency lockdown, why on earth are you trying to unlock my door!?"
Haymitch paused his efforts for a second to explain...
"Because, sweetheart, last time we had a lock down, how long were we confined to our quarters for?"
"Two days, exactly! And Unless I can get this damn door open before the full lock down kicks in, guess who's got me as a roomie for the next-"
"Two days!? With you?! In here!?"
Effie ran towards her door and the two of them pulled together
"There's simply no way I'm spending the next 24 hours in here with you! Let alone two days!"
Ego slightly bruised, Haymitch nodded towards her "Likewise!"
"No, no, no, no! Open you damn door!"
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1...FULL EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN PROCEDURE COMPLETE"
"Fuck!" Haymitch cursed, massaging his hands. Effie tutted at his language but realised it was fitting.
They heard the steel clangs echoing around the facility, the sound of lockdown. The lights went out and the heaters went off. For the next day/ night or two days/ nights, they were stuck, in a one bed compartment, together.
As the emergency strip lighting kicked in dimly, Effie and Haymitch faced each other awkwardly.
"Well..." she pouted "Not such a comfortable night ahead for you" She said, throwing him one of her pillows and the extra woolen blanket at the bottom of her bed.
"Don't worry, I've slept in worse"
He lay the blanket and pillow down on the concrete floor, kicked off his shoes and lay down on top of them with a heavy sigh. "Ah, yeah, this is just heaven"
Effie stifled a laugh. The temperature was dropping fast already, she could already see her own clouds of breath.
"Will you be warm enough?" She asked, rubbing at her arms
"Human radiator me, princess" then he looked her way "Will you? Or you ah, need a spoon tonight?"
"Ugh" she rolled her eyes as he giggled at his own joke "I wouldn't spoon with you if you were the last man in hell and hell froze over!"
He laughed again, she was witty when she wanted to be. He closed his eyes and wriggled his butt a bit, but he was as comfortable as he was going to get tonight.
"Stop calling me that! And don't you dare snore, or I'll smother you where you sleep!"
Effie went to her wardrobe and fished out the ugly grey sweater that she had been given as part of her uniform. Well, at least it came in handy for something. Looking over her shoulder to make sure his eyes were closed, she unravelled the headscarf from her head, pulled out her hair pins and ran her fingers through her blonde curls before slipping the sweater over her head and crawling into her bed.
The emergency lights were giving off a small humming sound which was slightly frustrating, but they were dim enough to sleep under. She looked towards the door and saw that the emergency food supply box had unlocked itself, which meant it was cold oats and water for the foreseeable.
Haymtich looked already asleep she noticed, as the hand that rested over his abdomen rose and fell steadily with his deep breaths.
She pulled the covers up to her chin and made her best effort to fall asleep.
"Haymitch...? H- Haymitch...?"
He heard her voice, tired and whiney from across the room
"Haymitch is sleeping..."
He groaned loudly on purpose, sitting up and squinting his eyes to look over
"What? Snoring too loud? Sleeping to quiet? What!?"
"You're g-g- going to have t-t-to get in this bed with me"
"I c-c-can't feel my body, I'm s-s-so cold. I n-need you to come over here a-a-and keep m-m-me warm"
Although her teeth were chattering, she still spoke with all the grace of a well to do lady.
Haymitch rubbed his eyes again, unsure if he was still dreaming or not.
"So, what you're saying is, you want me...to get into bed with...you?"
She heard the smirk in his tone
"For crying out loud H-haymitch, w-w-would you rather I die of pneumonia!"
He didn't ponder over that one for too long.
"So you're saying...you...miss Effie Trinket, want me, Mr last man in hell, to come over there and...spoon you?"
She wanted to scream at him and tell him to go fuck himself, but then she would still have to freeze to death in her own bed before she could get any sleep so she swallowed her pride...
"It ap-p-pears that hell has frozen over. And I t-t-take it b-back, I do n-n-need you?"
"One more time, its hard to hear all the way over here in hell"
"God damnit Haymitch!! G-g-get over here!"
He laughed out loud, springing to his feet and bringing the extra blanket and pillow with him. He placed it next to hers and draped the blanket over her as she faced away from him, scooting as far over to the wall as she possibly could.
He pulled her blanket back and she tensed.
"Oh, sorry...want me to sleep on top-"
"Just. Get. In!" She ordered to which he shrugged and obliged, but not before slipping his t-shirt off...
Effie caught sight of him over her shoulder.
"What are you doing?" She asked bluntly
"You need my body heat Effie, do you want to be warm?"
If she had heard any sort of sarcasm in his tone she would have changed her mind about the whole thing, but he sounded serious and just as tired as she was...
"Ok" she answered, pulling her side of the covers higher over her chin.
Haymitch slipped in beside her and got himself comfortable first but quickly noted her tense body edging as far away from his as she possibly could.
He let out a frustrated sigh.
"Get over it Effie, it's not like I'm going to brag about this" he stated, wrapping his arm around her waist and dragging towards him strongly, making her gasp as her back hit his chest.
She was stunned to silence as she watched how he professionally worked the blankets around them, tucking them both into a little cocoon. He didn't say a word as he slid his right arm under her neck, giving her an extra pillow and wrapped the other over her crossed arms, pulling her in tighter.
He let out a small sigh, signalling he was done faffing around and ready to sleep.
Effie felt his warmth melting through her sweater already and with her head resting in the crook between his collar and jaw, she slowly felt the lul of sleep washing over her. She was comfortable...too comfortable. For a moment she felt the ache of her loneliness poke her in the gut, but she squeezed her eyes shut to block it out and allowed herself to settle in beside him.
Haymitch yawned himself awake. The emergency lights had lowered still, allowing it to be dark enough to sleep but still light enough to see your way around the room if need be.
He was thirsty, but the supply box was over by the door and his arm was stuck under Effies neck. He lifted himself up best he could to try and slip his arm away but she was pretty much wedged into his side, snoring gently, he was amused to discover.
He sighed and remained where he was for a second, stretching out his back. He wriggled his fingers but dead arm was well and truly set in which was frustrating.
Move her and wake her or just let it be, he thought. His head was saying 'Just move the damn woman, she's getting a good sleep, you are not!' But looking down at her, sleeping peacefully in his arms, he couldn't do it.
He pushed the hair out of her eyes and let one of her soft curls linger between his fingers. She was actually quite beautiful when he thought about it, but as soon as he thought about it, his head took over and he decided to move his arm.
Tugging beneath her gently, he felt her stir and in her sleep she began to slowly shift position, rolling to face him with a heavy yawn.
He got his chance and pulled his arm free, but just as he did, Effie rolled in closer, burying her face into the crook of his neck and pressing her chest into his as her arm slid around his waist.
He froze. Languishing in the moment.
Her soft fingers gently carving circles along his side as her lips grazed at his throat. He swallowed hard, more thirsty than ever, but he couldn't wake her. Or should he?
The feeling was slowly returning to his arm which now hovered above her head, unsure of where to settle. He rolled onto his back slowly, hooking his arm around her to move her with him so she wouldn't wake.
Now, although he was in a much more comfier position, Effie was now sprawled over his chest, so he wasn't overly sure that move had been the best idea.
He was stuck again, this time between what was the right thing to do or what was the most sensible...
Her head was still nestled in his crook and he could still feel the tip of her nose and lips at his skin. It was everything not to caress her gently, at one point he absently mindedly stole another curl between his fingers and started to twirl it around before realising what he was doing and let go, clenching his fist together to stop him from doing that again.
Sleep was evading him. Either because he just wasn't tired any more or that he was too distracted.
An hour turned into two, and around 5am the next morning, as Haymitch was finally starting to doze off, Effie stirred on top of him and roused herself awake.
"Morning, sweetheart" he mused as she yawned and stretched her limbs for a second before smiling sleepily and falling back over his chest like it was the most usual morning thing...
"Hmmmm good morning" she sighed, but less than a second later Haymitch felt her tense before she woke fully with a start, screaming and then accidently kicking him out onto the floor
"Haymitch! Oh god! I'm sorry! I thought I was...I thought I was dreaming! Then you were...close!"
Haymitch rolled onto his back rubbing his head. "Damnit Effie, had you forgotten that it was you who invited me in last night"
Effie bit her lip when she saw him hurt, he must have whacked his head on the bedside drawers on the way down. She threw her covers back and hopped onto the floor, kneeling infront of him.
"I must have...I'm sorry, are you ok?"
She tilted his face up to see his bump better, he stopped squinting as soon as her eyes met his, as soon as he saw those messy bed curls tumbling over her face again as she looked at him worrisomely.
They were having a moment.
Already missing the protective warmth that had surrounded her in her dreams, Effie realised he was still shirtless. Now, kneeling between his open legs as they sat upon the cold floor, she started to feel something else, stirring inside.
With Haymtichs face still resting in her hands, she smoothed her thumb over the thump on his head before replacing it with a gentle kiss.
His hands shot to her arms but they didn't push her away, they held her in place as her lips trailed from his brow to the corner of his mouth, her nose slowly caressing the side of his hesitantly.
"If you wanted me out, just just had to ask" he joked, trying to stay in control although he was losing it very quickly.
Effies thumb grazed over his lips before she swooped her mouth around to his ear and whispered "Come back to bed"
She stood and pulled him up with her and as they stood face to face in the dim light. She slowly removed her sweater and threw it to the ground
"You warm enough now, sweetheart"
"Warm? Yes..." she almost purred, licking her bottom lip.
She pushed him back until the back of his knees felt the bed, then the two of them tumbled back down together
"But no where near warm enough"
