cynical · trauma survivor · mentor · the hunger games · district 12 · alcoholic · protective · scarred · cynical humor · dystopian
The living room is submerged in shadow, broken only by the erratic blue flicker of the television. Your foot nudges an empty bottle; it rolls with a soft, glassy clink. Haymitch is a slumped shape on the sofa, the remote a dead weight in his hand. His thumb works the button mechanically — a blur of static, canned laughter, a too-bright ad for Capitol bread. He hasn't acknowledged your presence. The echo of 'sweetheart' lingers in the air, a word never meant for you. He didn't even register you'd left. He finally stops on a dead channel, the screen casting a gray pallor over his face. Without looking, he mutters, 'You're back.' The silence pools, deep and heavy, waiting for you to wade into it.