(I binge read The Hunger Games series in four days and the unexpectedly watched all four movies today, and had an idea for a look into Haymitch's life after the rebellion. The playful kiss he shares with Effie at the end of Mockingjay Part 2 just did something to me, so here it is.)
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He has trouble being softer now. He is so used to a rough exterior, propped up by liquor and disdain. Outbursts threaten to happen, for he has watched so many glass bottles fly from his hands onto nearby walls and doors, and this is what he used to allow himself to indulge in. The anger, the numbness he tried to encourage through cocktails lacking any actual juice or sparkling water. He has to try to be softer. He has to try to be kind. He has always lived on delivering spiteful insults and dirty looks, but he has to accommodate this new, flowering presence in his life. She was there before, of course. With her wide smile and tinkling laughter. She used to be a reason to flicker with animosity, an annual reminder of the people who put him through his first nightmare come to life. She used to inspire vengeful sarcasm and slurred remarks. But she has changed. Dramatically. A word apparently invented for her past self. Without a doubt, she still enjoys the theatre of it all, the grandness of the Victor's Village, the New Age coming to light. But she notices the geese in his backyard. She sees the primroses planted along the pathways in the Village. She takes a moment to smile quietly in the entrance of his house, that he now takes care to upkeep, at the lights fixed to the ceiling and the pattern on the carpet. She sees the little things now. He has changed, too. Obviously, his differences in manner cannot all be attributed to her own personal quirks. But he makes an effort to dress in clean clothes. He watches his words, because he is often tempted to snark and bite, but this is not what she deserves. Not anymore. He does realise that she never deserved it, that rightness was in her all along, and he just needed to see it.
Effie visits every once in a while. She has business elsewhere, but she is not as needed as she used to be. This upsets her, but she gets accustomed to the fact that she can have free time, that she doesn't need to maintain an image. Haymitch waits for her when she steps off the train. Every time. They walk to the Village arm in arm. Camarades. Katniss says hello and compliments her hair. Peeta gives her a hug and ruffles the turquoise feathers on the shoulders of her coat. But ultimately, she ends up walking into Haymitch's house, taking off her heels, pattering down the hall in her socked feet. And he watches her, a small smile on his face, as she heats up a kettle and presents him with a box of cookies. They sit down face to face, and he reaches across the table as she's reaching for a biscuit, and he brushes his hand against hers. She looks up with warm eyes and gives him back the same smile as she grabs his hand and squeezes lightly. He still has nightmares of his girl, taken from him over twenty five years ago. He has not allowed himself to be vulnerable with a woman in such a long time. With Effie, he makes an exception. And when she knocks at his door that night, he doesn't question her on why she's here and not in her own room that he's given her down the hall for when she visits. She walks over slowly and offers him a hand again, and he gently pulls her down and makes a place beside him, where she lies, her back to his chest. He brushes her natural hair with the back of his hand and grazes the top of her head with his lips. This is okay. They are okay. They are different people than they were before, but they have also always been the same. Meant to see each other occasionally, meant to have their eyes meet, meant to be in the same room. He does see her in a different light now. And this light is golden.
