hunted • haymitch abernathy

four

four; RUMOURS OF THE UPRISING INSTIGATOR

Her feet ached due to the heels her stylist had made her wear and she was tired of forcing herself to laugh every time the people around her made a joke at the expense of the Districts in Panem.

The salmon pink dress she wore swirled around her ankles as she turned once more to greet another person who had walked up to her, holding in her eye roll when she recognised the woman who had pulled her name from the reaping bowl. District 8's former escort.

"Ember." Clio gushed excitedly as she hurried forward and pulled the woman into a tight embrace.

"Clio." The now Victor replied, forcing a smile on to her lips when the woman with green hair pulled away from her with a blinding smile.

"How are you, dear? My goodness, it has been years." The escort exclaimed as she glanced at the people milling around the two, shamelessly eavesdropping, "You know, I was the one who pulled her name from the reaping bowl."

Ember sighed, smoothing out her dress as the guests around Clio began their excited murmuring, quickly grabbing a glass of champagne from a passing Avox, sending the boy a soft smile as he hurried away, his eyes downcast.

"What are you up to these days?" Ember questioned once the Capitol born woman was finished receiving praise for something that had happened twenty years ago and only by chance.

"You haven't heard?" Clio asked dubiously, her expression one of shock.

Ember shook her head, taking a sip from the flute in her hand in order to hide her grimace.

"Oh, I've been escorting the tributes in District 1 for the last six years." The woman exclaimed excitedly.

"That's wonderful." Ember lied, "Effie Trinket must've been having a field day. Wasn't she up for that job as well."

Clio nodded solemnly.

"Yes, she was quite upset." She commented pompously, "But not as upset as I was when I discovered that she was the one to escort Everlark."

Ember frowned.

"Everlark?" She inquired curiously.

Clio smiled widely, revealing her unnaturally white teeth.

"Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark." She gushed, "That's what we're calling them here in the Capitol."

"Interesting." The Victor mused after she had polished off the rest of her beverage.

She, much like the rest of Panem, was tuned to her screen to watch the star-crossed lovers from District 12 as they made it to the final two in the 74th games, only for the both of them to attempt to eat some poisonous berries, rather than have only one of them leave the arena alive. Seneca Crane had allowed them both to live, rather than be the only Gamemaker in history not have a Victor by the end of the games.

Now, Ember had absolutely no doubt about Peeta's love for Katniss but she was rather sceptical about whether or not the Girl on Fire returned the affections wholeheartedly.

"Oh, did you hear about how they got engaged during the middle of their Victory Tour?" Clio prattled on, unaware that the raven-haired woman wasn't listening any longer, having spotted an old friend, if she had, she would have been reminded about the evening that her District attempted to overthrow the Capitol and the chaos that erupted afterwards, the deaths, "Yes, everyone I know is so excited about the wedding."

Ember quickly excused herself from Clio and made her way over to the bar, only to find as she moved closer to the man, that he was already drunk.

"One more and I'm cutting you off." She joked once she was seated on the stool next to him.

"You used to be more fun," Haymitch grumbled as he ignored her quip and ordered another drink after he finished the one in his hand.

"Yeah, and you used to drink a lot less." She remarked with a small smirk.

"Get off my back, Tides." He murmured with a smirk of his own as he turned to look at her.

"How was the Victory Tour?" She questioned with a small gesture around the President's backyard, "I haven't seen the President's house so full because of the closing tour since the year Odair won."

"Hell." He murmured, watching the woman as she ordered a drink of her own, "'M glad I got two of my own back but I forgot how bad the tour was."

Ember nodded sympathetically as he tossed back the remainder of his drink.

"Heard about the uprising." He commented, his voice dropping an octave, "Also heard a rumour that it was started by your brother."

Ember sighed, glancing around to ensure that they weren't being overheard.

"He hasn't been taking Paige's death very well, blames himself." She replied, effectively confirming her friend's suspicion without saying anything aloud to implicate her older brother, "I haven't seen him since...Well, I'm assuming e-especially now. After Bon."

Haymitch was quiet as he eyed her but he didn't give his condolences, knowing Ember would spit them back in his face. He simply flagged down someone and ordered her a drink, smiling at her when she flashed him a faint grin.

"Well, it started a string of uprisings in the other Districts." Haymitch murmured under his breath, causing Ember to glance over at him in surprise, "Albeit, not as big as the one that occurred in 8."

"Are you sure?" She asked, swiftly receiving a nod from her friend in reply, causing a small smirk to appear on her face, "Good, least it did some good."

Things in District 8 were terrible but if it had brought enough hope to the neighbouring Districts that they had also begun to rebel, then maybe her brother had done the right thing and maybe Paige's death wouldn't have been in vain.

Haymitch grinned, "You think so?"

"I know so," Ember responded, "Your tributes have started a long-awaited revolution that people are already backing."

══════════════════

i'm already trash for haymitch and ember and i've only actually written one conversation between the two of them.

thanks for reading!

~r