ataraxion: EMPATHY EVENT { i've been working on a cocktail called grounds for divorce

[killarevolution]

 The 50th Hunger Games Reaping (STAGE THREE- Effie Trinket wigs )

[The first two names are two Seam kids, which causes Tamzin to elbow him in the ribs.] "Ought to be Merchant kids next, yeah?" 
 

[Haymitch grunts.] Our names are in it more. 
 

[She elbows him again- this time harder- and he flinches away from her a bit, but there's a smile on his face, all the same.] "Be optimistic, Haymitch. I still say it's rigged."
 

 [He rolls his eyes- Tamzin's conspiracy theories are the butt of jokes across the District, but he can't say she doesn't make valid points sometimes. But if the Reaping was rigged then he should have been in the Games ages ago. Or maybe he really overestimates how much his family grates on this District. 

The woman at the podium has pulled a girl's name and Haymitch sucks in a breath and grabs Tamzin's hand instinctively. She doesn't pull away.] "Maysilee Donner!" 
 

[Tamzin releases his hand.] Told you. 
 

[Haymitch watches the blonde girl detach herself from her throng of merchant kid friends and move to the stage to join the other two kids. She has her head held high, which he can't say for the other two. He wonders if she'll be that haughty when she's in the Game. He's so busy wondering about her odds that he barely hears the last name called until Tamzin gasps and he blinks himself out of his stupor.] What? Who'd they call? 
 

[His girlfriend looks at him with wide, horrified eyes.] "You."

 

Haymitch winning the 50th Hunger Games (STAGE THREE- Rey  circumitus )

Video found here.
 

 

"I was the example." (STAGE THREE- Rey circumitus  )
 

[President Snow doesn't make an appearance in the Districts very often, but when he does, it's a matter to be noted. He's here to appeal to the District after a tragedy, to speak at a funeral for three members of the community. It's unheard of, but Haymitch knows why it's happening. 

Haymitch knows exactly what caused the accident. 

If this being insult to injury weren't clear enough, the Peacekeepers that stand at his shoulder as they bury his mother, his brother, and Tamzin are enough. President Snow even has the gall to pull him into an embrace as he passes, as if he doesn't know that this about that trick with the force field.] 

"Victory is such a fleeting concept, isn't it, Haymitch?" [Haymitch stiffens and balls his hands into fists. It would be so easy to reach for the knife he's kept in his pocket since the Games ended and stab him to death, but he doesn't make the move. He also doesn't say anything. He lets Snow pass.] 

 

"Here's some advice- stay alive." (STAGE THREE- Derek Hale altercate   and Lydia Martin mathematically  )
 

"So you're supposed to give us advice." 
 

[His interest in Katniss's spunk has worn down since the Reaping. She's got a spark, but he's seen all that before- maybe not that level of self-sacrifice, but it's nothing he needs to get too attached to. They'll be dead soon. Twenty-four years of dead children has taught him that. He's pretty sure the Game is rigged against tributes from District Twelve winning just to torture him. Or maybe it really is because he refuses to help to avoid the agony.] 
 

Here's some advice- stay alive. 
 

[He laughs and the next sequence of events spiral out of his control- Peeta lashes out at him and knocks his drink from his hands. He regards Peeta and then punches him right back as a means of putting him back in his place, but Katniss is there with a knife between his fingers as he reaches for the bottle. He regards the two of them and instantly the drunken demeanor he's been conveying drops. This is not scared children trying to outplay an old man. This is something different. Something he hasn't seen before.] 
 

What's this? Did I actually get a pair of fighters this year? 
 

"Take his place, Haymitch." (STAGE THREE- Derek Hale altercate   and Carolyn Fry- suddenlycaptain )
 

[It's a situation he never expected he'd be in. The Games are over. He may have to watch them every year, may have to guide other young hopefuls into a victory that he thought was impossible until he brought two victors home, but he never had to actually play. And now here he is, drowning his sorrows in white liquor and wondering if he can slit his wrists with his own knife and have that be the end of it. And here's Katniss, finally realizing her trauma is not hers alone.] Ah, there she is. All tuckered out. Finally did the math, did you, sweetheart? Worked out you won't be going in alone? And now you're here to ask me... what? [She doesn't answer.] 
 

I'll admit it was easier for the boy. He was here before I could snap the seal on the bottle, begging me for another chance to go in. But what can you say? [He mimics her voice.] Take his place, Haymitch, because all things being equal, I'd rather Peeta had a crack at the rest of his life than you. 
 

[She doesn't say anything for a long time and he thinks he knows what she's thinking. He always does. That girl is too much like him for either of their own good and so when she finally does respond, he has to laugh.]
 

 "I came for a drink." 
 

Peeta volunteering to take his place at the Reaping (STAGE THREE- Carolyn Fry suddenlycaptain  )
 

[It's a farce and all for show. There's only three victors from District Twelve and Katniss is the only girl, so any attempts at <i>reaping</i> are pointless, but Effie still acts like any of it matters. 

And when his name is called, he barely has time to be dissatisfied. He looks at Katniss and prepares to take that step forward, even though I knows what's coming, but suddenly Peeta is volunteering to take his place and he's left standing there in the pen, knowing what comes next.

This is the part where he has to really start lying.]

 

"Just remember who the enemy is." (STAGE THREE- Lydia Martin  mathematically   and Derek Hale altercate  )
 

Katniss, when you're in the arena....
 

[He wants to tell her the truth, but Plutarch's cautioned him against it. She might screw them over trying to play the Game the way they're wanting it to be played, because the only reason Katniss is any good to anyone is because no one forces her to make her choices. She does better when she's allowed to run loose.

But it feels wrong. Haymitch hasn't let traditional morality get in his way most days and he's been lying to Peeta and Katniss since the day of the Reaping and probably longer than that- since the day Plutarch pulled him aside and said she's the one.

So all he tells her is one simple, harmless fact:] You just remember who the enemy is.

 

"Just you and a syringe against the Capital." (STAGE THREE- Derek Hale altercate  )
 

[The war room on the hovercraft is a somber place. Haymitch keeps shooting disgruntled looks Finnick's way as he continues to protest over leaving Annie behind to die, despite the tactical advantage it gives the Capitol to keep her alive. And then Katniss bursts through the door, wielding a syringe, unsteady on her feet, and he's there to catch her.]
 

Done knocking yourself out, sweetheart? So it's just you and a syringe against the Capitol. This is why no one lets you make the plans. [He squeezes her wrist.] Drop it.
 

[Once she's disarmed, he settles her down in the seat next to Finnick. Plutarch offers her food and he offers her the answers she needs. He explains the situation- the entire plan, the entire concept of the revolution. She's completely stubborn and unyielding, but it's not until he explains what happened to Peeta that she lashes out and scratches him across the face.

He could kill her entire prep team for leaving her fingernails that long if most of them weren't already dead or on their side.]

 

Being detoxed in District 13 (STAGE TWO- Reaper chromosomes  )
 

[It's an unpleasant experience to be utterly certain. Haymitch spends his days sweating it out in a cell, throwing himself against the walls, and yelling curses as if anyone will actually care enough to respond. His meals are meager, because he can't keep anything down, and he's started to hallucinate as the fever takes hold. It's a long, harrowing experience, and by the time they assume he's fit to exist among real people, he doesn't feel cured- he just feels like he needs a drink.]

 

"That is your earpiece." (STAGE THREE- Lydia Martin mathematically   and Derek Hale altercate  )

 

Katniss's breakdown. (STAGE THREE- Lydia Martin mathematically  )

 

"I'm with the Mockingjay." (STAGE THREE- Effie Trinket wigs   and Derek Hale altercate  )

 

"They can't seem to find a place for me in the Capitol either." (STAGE THREE- Rey circumitus  )
 

[He knew Katniss was going to pull that arrow on Coin from the moment they agreed to her terms. He's never had to push Katniss too hard- she knows where to go. It's this quiet understanding that probably eliminated his political career now that Katniss was no longer useful- he's the Mockingjay's keeper. He goes with her. When she stops being useful, so does he. Those were the orders.

So he boards the train back to the ashes of District Twelve and when Katniss figures it all out, he just shrugs it off, as he's wont to do. She knows the truth. It doesn't matter if he says it or not.]