Work Text:
Calliope Charm Abernathy was not particularly known for subtlety.
At sixteen, she was all limbs and smarts and a brain that worked faster than her mouth, which led to many a situation that could only be described as mildly disastrous with excellent comedic value . And currently, she was perched on the kitchen counter of the Victor’s Village house, legs swinging, eyes narrowed in deep suspicion at her mother.
Effie Trinket, ever elegant even in slippers and a pink silk robe, sipped her tea like this was just another Tuesday. It was another Tuesday. But Callie Charm had come armed with questions.
“So, ma,” Callie Charm began, voice deceptively casual, “how exactly did you and pa end up together?”
Effie didn’t choke, which was impressive. She merely blinked over her teacup, raising a perfectly shaped brow. “What do you mean, darling?”
“I mean, like— how ? You’re you. He’s… pa. Was it, like, an enemies-to-lovers thing? Forbidden romance? Did he send you, like, secret notes? Was there yearning?” She gasped. “Did he pine?”
From behind his newspaper, Haymitch groaned.
“You’re going to make me throw myself in the lake, aren’t you?”
“You so pined,” Callie Charm accused him, pointing with a spoon. “Look at you. You’re the definition of pining. I bet you were secretly writing sonnets in your head about how her eyes sparkled like Capitol snow—”
“Calliope Charm,” Effie said, trying very hard not to laugh, “I believe I would have remembered the sonnets.”
“Ugh, no, I need details,” she insisted. “I’ve seen the pictures from the tours, ma. The tension was thick . When did you admit it ?”
Haymitch made a dramatic exit, mumbling something about feral daughters and traitorous wives . Callie Charm waved goodbye sweetly and turned back to Effie with expectant teen menace .
Effie placed her cup down gently. “Well,” she said slowly, “he kissed me after some victors tours that were never ours. He kept me hoping for a better world for the years to come, your godparents helped make it come true.”
Callie Charm’s jaw dropped. “So you waited years?”
“Oh, sweetheart,” Effie chuckled, “we waited for years.”
There was a long, thoughtful pause while she processed that. Then:
“Gross,” she declared, just for dramatic effect. But she smiled and leaned her head on her mom’s shoulder anyway. “But also... kinda cute.”
Later that week, it was Maysilee’s turn to deal with the consequences of Effie and Haymitch’s parenting choices, namely the existence of a sixteen-year-old who felt too many things and had no chill about any of them.
Maysilee Donner— technically not Callie Charm’s godmother, but very much her Auntie May in practice—was lounging on the porch swing, throwing peanuts at blue jays and humming to herself when Callie Charm plopped down beside her.
“I think I like a girl,” she said.
Maysilee blinked. “Hello to you too.”
She buried her face in her hands. “I mean it. I’ve literally never liked anyone before. Not like this. I thought I was just gonna be a romantic void forever. But then she walked into debate club wearing a jacket with patches from like, every protest in Panem, and I felt it in my bones .”
Maysilee nodded solemnly. “Ah. The Bone Feeling. Classic.”
“Her name is Dawn,” Callie Charm whispered dramatically. “She smells like cinnamon and revolution. And she said I had a ‘surprisingly sharp point’ in my argument about labor policy.”
“That’s the lesbian equivalent of a love letter.”
She made a noise like a dying bird. “Exactly!”
Maysilee tried to smother her grin. “So, what’s the plan? Confess your feelings under a banner of social justice?”
Callie Charm peeked through her fingers. “You’re not weirded out?”
Maysilee snorted. “Callie Charm, I once had a four-year crush on your mother just to piss off your father.”
Callie Charm blinked. “Wait, what?”
“Oh yeah.” Maysilee stretched like a cat. “Effie used to wear these little gloves with tiny bows, and I’d compliment them every time just to see Haymitch’s face crumple like a used napkin, because as you may already know, the man took to long to realize his feelings, so why not?. Peak entertainment.”
Callie Charm was delighted . “That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Anyway,” Maysilee said, casually tossing a peanut at a particularly bold jay, “I don’t care who you like, kid. Girl, boy, any human at all—whoever makes your heart do the thing. You just have to promise me something.”
“What?”
“When she breaks your heart, you come cry to me first. Not Effie. Your mom will try to fix it with color-coded healing schedules, and princess stuff and make everything perfect, and in a heartbreak you need to let the feelings flow. I’ll just get us drunk on hot chocolate and curse her name under the stars like a normal person.”
Callie grinned. “Deal.”
They sat in comfortable silence for a minute, Callie Charm leaning against Maysilee’s shoulder, both watching the wind rustle through the trees.
“…She really does smell like cinnamon,” she said softly.
“I bet she does,” Maysilee replied, just as soft. “I bet she’s trouble.”
Callie Charm beamed.
That night, as Effie brushed out her hair and Haymitch poked at the fire, she casually said, “Callie Charm told Maysilee she likes girls.”
Haymitch made a soft noise, something like hm and of course all rolled into one.
“I like girls,” he said. “She gets that from me.”
Effie rolled her eyes fondly. “You like me . That barely counts. I’m an acquired taste.”
“I acquired it real quick,” he muttered. Then: “She okay?”
“She’s perfect,” Effie said, eyes warm. “Terrified and glowing and trying so hard to be brave.”
Haymitch leaned back in his chair. “Just like her mother.”
Effie pressed a kiss to his temple. “Just like both of us.”
In the morning, Callie Charm texted Dawn three pics and a video about compulsory heterosexuality. Dawn responded with a voice note that said, “Cool jacket today. You wanna maybe hang out after club?”
And Callie Charm, breathless and blushing, replied, “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”
Maysilee, reading over her shoulder from behind the couch, simply smirked and said, “Told you she was trouble.”
She smiled radiant like the sun.
Dawn had noticed Calliope Charm Abernathy the second she walked into debate club that fall.
Not because she was loud (she wasn’t), or flashy (though her oversized sweater with tiny embroidered books was criminally adorable ), but because when she spoke, it was with this quiet conviction that made even the juniors shut up and listen. And then she rolled her eyes at a comment some guy made about “keeping tradition” and said, “Maybe you’re just afraid of evolving.”
Dawn had fallen in love on the spot.
Okay, not love. Like . Intense, inconvenient, sleepless like . And the fact that Callie Charm seemed oblivious—perpetually scribbling notes, twirling pens in her fingers, chewing on the edge of her lip like her thoughts were too big for her brain—was infuriatingly endearing .
Dawn would send her cat pics and get bug pics right back. She complimented her jacket once—Callie Charm stammered. They’d shared a team cab after a debate tournament and Callie Charm had fallen asleep on her shoulder, and Dawn had to count backwards from one hundred to avoid audibly screaming .
Now, sitting in their usual library corner with a packet of labor policy revisions and a shared lemon soda, Dawn finally worked up the courage.
“I like your pins,” she said, nodding at her denim backpack.
Callie Charm glanced over. “Oh, the frog reading a banned book? That one’s my favorite.”
Dawn laughed, soft and fond . “Of course it is.”
She didn’t know what possessed her to say it next, but her mouth beat her brain to it.
“Wanna maybe hang out after club? Just us?”
Callie Charm blinked at her. Then nodded, pink blooming in her cheeks like sunrise.
“Yeah,” she said, breathless. “Yeah, I do.”
Dawn smiled, and the tension in her chest finally exhaled.
It started with the sound of Haymitch clearing his throat like he was about to give a victory tour speech. She looked up from her book warily. Effie looked up from her embroidery with barely concealed amusement.
“So,” Haymitch said, scratching the back of his neck, “your ma says you’re seeing someone.”
She groaned immediately. “Oh my God. No. Absolutely not.”
“Too late,” he said grimly. “I’m already in it.”
Effie sipped her tea delicately, not intervening. Yet.
Haymitch gestured vaguely. “Just wanna say—y’know—when you like someone, and it’s real, and you’re thinking about… stuff —”
“STUFF?” Callie nearly launched herself out the window. “Pa.”
“I’m trying!” he barked. “Look, all I’m saying is—when you’re alone with someone and it gets all... intense, and you’re feeling things in your gut , or whatever—”
“I hate this. I hate this so much.”
“—you just need to remember that feelings are powerful but they’re not always smart ,” Haymitch continued like a man trudging through snow with no coat. “You gotta talk . You gotta think . And you gotta have…” he waved a hand vaguely, “...a barrier. Between you. Just until you're both ready. Emotionally. Mentally. Uh. Logistically.”
Callie Charm stared at him, red-faced and scarred for life.
Effie finally stepped in, setting her tea down gently and patting Haymitch’s arm. “Darling, you’re doing wonderfully. Perhaps let me take over?”
“Please,” she gasped.
Effie turned to her daughter, eyes soft. “Sweetheart, we trust you. If Dawn makes you feel seen and strong and safe, then we’re proud of you. Just promise us you’ll take care of your heart. And hers. Gently.”
Callie Charm sniffled. “That’s so much better than ‘barrier.’”
Haymitch muttered something about how he was trying to be proactive , and Effie kissed his cheek to shut him up.
Later that night, Callie Charm texted Maysilee:
CALLIE CHARM:
your crush on ma makes way more sense now. she’s so good at this.
MAYSILEE:
i know. haymitch is lucky i got over it.
CALLIE CHARM:
pls don’t make this weird
MAYSILEE: too late <3
“So, when you said dinner with your parents,” Dawn said, brushing imaginary lint off her button-up like it mattered, “you didn’t mention the entire rebellion leadership would be in attendance.”
Callie Charm, who looked criminally good in her dark green dress and smudged eyeliner, winced. “Yeah, that’s on me.”
Dawn blinked. “Peeta Mellark just offered me cookies shaped like dandelions and said he’d ‘heard a lot about me.’ I think he means well but I also feel like I’m being profiled.”
“You are,” Callie said, patting her hand. “And I’m sorry. But if it helps, Aunt Katniss is worse.”
“Worse how?”
“She’s emotionally constipated and thinks teasing me is a love language.”
“Oh my God.”
As if summoned by name, Katniss Everdeen appeared from the kitchen carrying a steaming tray of roasted vegetables. “You the Dawn girl?” she said flatly.
Dawn stood. “Yes, ma’am.”
Katniss squinted. “Hmm. You look like someone who knows how to climb trees. I respect that. Sit down.”
Callie Charm gave her a look that said what did I tell you , but obeyed.
Haymitch, already a glass of wine in and in rare form, shouted from the head of the table, “If she survives this dinner, we’ll consider it an endorsement.”
Effie batted his shoulder with a bejeweled fan. “Stop terrorizing the guests, Haymitch.”
“She’s not a guest,” Maysilee chimed in cheerfully. “She’s Callie Charm’s girl . We get to interrogate her.”
“I’m right here,” Callie Charm muttered, poking at her mashed potatoes.
Dawn, to her eternal credit, smiled like she was just happy to be included. “It’s fine. You can ask me anything.”
“Oh God,” she said. “Why are you like this? ”
Katniss looked intrigued. “What’s your stance on hunting for survival?”
Peeta looked horrified . “Katniss. It’s dinner . Not a battlefield.”
Maysilee leaned forward. “More importantly: if you had to choose between saving our Callie Charm or saving your favorite book in a fire—”
“I’d save Callie,” Dawn said without hesitation.
Effie gasped in delight. “Oh, she’s good .”
Haymitch grunted, “She’s doomed.”
The chaos only escalated from there.
Peeta tried to give Dawn a friendly interrogation about her political values, which somehow led to Katniss and Maysilee getting into a lighthearted but very intense argument about resource redistribution models in District 12. At one point, Callie Charm dropped her fork and Dawn picked it up for her and they made eye contact and both forgot how to breathe for three full seconds. Maysilee noticed, made a dramatic sigh of yearning noise, and Haymitch sprayed wine out his nose.
Effie declared it the most romantic thing she’d ever seen.
After dessert (apple tart, courtesy of Peeta and his “let’s not traumatize the new girl” baking instincts), Callie Charm and Dawn escaped to the front porch while the adults cleaned up and bickered about war trauma and tea temperature.
Callie Charm kicked off her shoes and leaned into Dawn’s side. “Sorry they’re so…”
“Perfect?” Dawn said softly. “Weird and intimidating and brilliant and loud? I love them.”
She looked up at her, visibly stunned. “You do ?”
“Yeah. It feels like… I don’t know. Like a real family. Like people who’ve fought and still choose softness anyway. I want to be part of something like that.”
Callie Charm smiled. Big, unguarded, heart-wide-open. “You already are.”
Then she kissed her. Soft and a little shaky and very, very real.
Yeah, Calliope Charm Abernathy was in trouble.
Inside, Haymitch looked out the window and grumbled, “They’re kissing on the porch.”
Effie smiled without looking up from her tea. “Yes, darling. That’s usually how it starts.”
Maysilee added, “I give them three weeks before Callie Charm start writing bad poetry and making Dawn protest-date her at every demonstration within fifty miles.”
Katniss said, “Two weeks. Teenagers move fast.”
Peeta just sighed, warm and gentle, and said, “They’ll be okay.”
And somehow, everyone at the table believed it.
***
Effie was fussing with Callie Charm hair while Maysilee rifled through the girl's jewelry tray like she lived there.
"These hoops say bold and beautiful, ” Maysilee said, holding them up. “But these studs say I kiss in libraries. Thoughts?"
She groaned, growing impatient. “I kiss nowhere, if you two don’t let me leave the house on time.”
Effie, undeterred, dabbed gloss on Callie Charm’s lips. “There. Perfect. Just enough shimmer to imply you’ve got secrets.”
“I do have secrets,” Callie Charm muttered, cheeks glowing.
“You are a secret,” Maysilee said dramatically, flopping onto her bed. “A scandalous, romantic, cinnamon-scented mystery. Goddess-tier.”
Effie chuckled, eyes crinkling as she turned toward her. “Maysilee, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to seduce me instead of helping Callie Charm get ready.”
Maysilee smirked and propped her chin on her hand. “What if I am , Miss Trinket? Would you swoon into my arms if I declared you the fairest co-parent in all twelve districts?”
Effie fluttered her lashes, trying not to smile too wide. “That depends. Are you bringing flowers or just cheek?”
“I bring chaos , darling,” Maysilee replied, with a wink. “And maybe a good bottle of rosé.”
Callie Charm turned, deadpan. “Are you two flirting while I’m panicking about my first real date without you guys intimidating my girl ?”
“Multitasking,” they said in unison.
From the doorway, Haymitch snorted. “If you two start roleplaying, I’m leaving.”
“You were never invited,” Effie said sweetly, brushing past him.
“Callie Charm, my baby” Haymitch said, addressing his daughter with the solemnity of a judge, “I need five minutes with Dawn before you go.”
“Absolutely not,” she said.
“I insist .”
“PA.”
“Just to talk.”
“YOU ARE GOING TO THREATEN HER.”
“I am going to offer gentle wisdom and possibly imply she has an entire rebel army watching her every move.”
“THAT IS A THREAT.”
“I approve,” Maysilee added, still lounging. “But subtlety isn’t really your thing, Haymitch. Want me to do it? I can be terrifying and charming. Like Effie, but with a machete.”
Effie gave her a look —equal parts scandalized and pleased. “I do not use weapons.”
“Except for your heels and that razor tongue.”
Effie laughed, touched a hand lightly to her collarbone, clearly flustered. “I don’t know whether to thank you or issue a formal complaint.”
“Do both,” Maysilee said, grinning. “Keep me on my toes.”
Haymitch rolled his eyes so hard it was audible. “You’re exhausting.”
“You’re jealous,” Maysilee shot back, voice sing-song.
Effie raised her glass of water with a graceful tilt. “Can’t blame him. I am incredibly flirt-worthy.”
Maysilee met her eyes, and for a moment—just a blink—it was actually serious . Soft, knowing. “You really are.”
Effie looked away, suddenly very interested in arranging lipsticks. Haymitch watched it all with the resigned air of a man who’s lived through war and brunches with three headstrong women.
***
Peeta was mixing lemonade. Katniss was eating popcorn straight from the bowl.
“She’s not even our kid,” Peeta said, passing her the pitcher.
“I know ,” Katniss said, gleeful. “But this is so good. ”
“Haymitch is going to have an aneurysm.”
“And Effie’s letting Maysilee flirt with her in front of him. Honestly, I didn’t know she had it in her.”
Peeta grinned. “They’re all unhinged.”
“And our pseudo-niece has a crush.”
“Should we be supervising?”
Katniss shrugged. “Let them play.”
Callie Charm and Dawn sat under the fairy lights outside the café, two mugs of hot chocolate between them, legs brushing gently under the table.
Dawn twirled her straw. “So… how many people threatened me before I arrived?”
Callie Charm smiled sheepishly. “Just one. And a half. My dad and Maysilee. But she only threatened to steal you for herself if I messed it up.”
Dawn blushed. “Sounds fair.”
“You look beautiful, by the way.”
“You told me that already.”
“I wanted to tell you again.”
Dawn reached across the table and laced their fingers together. “You’re not what I expected, you know?”
Callie Charm tilted her head. “What did you expect?”
“Someone intimidating. Perfect. Untouchable.”
She laughed softly. “I’m none of those things.”
“I’m figuring that out. And liking you even more.”
Callie Charm ducked her head, a pink bloom spreading across her cheeks. “Good. Because I really want to kiss you, but I’m afraid if I do, my entire family will pop out of the bushes like emotionally invested gophers, like they did last time.”
Dawn grinned. “We can wait till the third date. That’s the safest window.”
“Third date it is,” Callie Charm said, eyes shining.
Effie was sipping wine. Maysilee was curled beside her on the settee, mock-swooning with her feet up in Effie’s lap like it was second nature.
“She’s safe,” Haymitch said gruffly. “The girl’s decent.”
Maysilee smirked. “That sounded suspiciously like approval.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
Effie, without looking up, idly adjusted the hem of Maysilee’s cardigan. “You’re soft and you know it.”
“Yeah, well,” Haymitch muttered. “She’s a good kid. Can’t believe we raised her.”
“We did a damn good job,” Maysilee said, raising her glass.
Katniss and Peeta popped in through the open door with their own glasses.
“To the girl who made Haymitch cry during her kindergarten recital,” Katniss added.
“To the teen who’s probably gonna overthrow capitalism by nineteen,” Peeta said fondly.
Haymitch groaned. “You’re all the worst.”
“You love us,” they all said in unison.
Effie leaned back into Maysilee’s side, laughing softly, and whispered, “Don’t tell him, but I think I might love you most.”
Maysilee turned to her with a wink. “I’ll keep your secret. For a kiss.”
And for once, Effie didn’t protest.
She just kissed her on the cheek, soft and warm.
Haymitch watched, eyes narrowing.
“I hate all of this,” he muttered.
“You’re glowing,” Katniss said.
Peeta passed him a cookie. “Here. You’ll live.”
And Haymitch didn’t answer.