The Rains Weep O'er Their Halls

[kingnamedstark]

Who: Robb Stark and YOU
Where: Outside of a bar
What: Arrival
When: 5/8
Warnings: Mentions of death and violence, ptsd. Drunken sex, NSFW.

[He isn't in the best mind frame as he's told where he is and that he is here for a reason. In his mind, he can still hear the "Rains of Castamere" and hear the screaming of his men. He can hear his mother begging for his life and see his wife on the floor. His death wrapped around him like a cloak, leaving him in a deep fog as he wanders, searching for something and nothing at the same time.

Eventually he finds somewhere that looks close enough to a tavern, but the act of opening the door is too much for his body, still sore and aching from his wounds. They may have healed, but he could still feel them. Some things couldn't be erased. With his hand on the door, he stands for a moment, staring at it, as though expecting it to warp and change.

There was someone next to him, but his thoughts are so jumbled, it's hard to make them out from the corner of his eye. He has to shake himself to remember he's blocking the entrance.]

I'm sorry. Am I in your way?

Comments

[kingnamedstark]

You were killed by someone?

[There's a stronger link between them and he can feel himself gravitating more towards her. First for help in drowning himself with a bottle and second for comfort.]

There was an arrow in my shoulder, but I was stabbed in the heart by one of my men.

[He nodded, hearing his own thoughts in her words.]

As it has for me.

[jondrette]

I was- though I could not give you his name.

An arrow is like a bullet. But slower and sharper, I've found. It's painful, but- [She gasps when he reveals he was shot in the heart.] Oh! M'sieur Robb! You, as well? The bullet- it went through my hand, through my chest. See, look!

[She lowers her blouse off of her bony shoulders, showing him the tender pink flesh where the bullet had gone through her chest, near indeed to her heart.]

We will not let anyone take things from us here, then. We must promise each other.

[kingnamedstark]

[It's good she clarified that, though he still couldn't picture a bullet. Seeing the scar though, he sees how small it is. He has his own scars, deep and ugly, but he wasn't ready to look at them yet, let alone show others. It made it all more real than it already was.

He takes another shot, feeling much more loose and empty. Empty was better than full of grief.]

You think it is possible to keep what little we have here?

I haven't had much luck in my life.

[jondrette]

[She follows with another shot, leaning closer to Robb now.]

We will not know until we try, hmn?

Neither have I. No luck, and no kindness. Until I came here.

[kingnamedstark]

[He doesn't pull away, needing the proximity and feeling of warmth.]

You were... [How to put this? It didn't help he's getting drunk.] You were born among the smallfolk?

[His world was not much kinder.]

I had a family and a good life for a time. My father served the king, he was his friend. When the king died, his son imprisoned and cut off my father's head. [He didn't think he could say these things, but strong drinks and pressure in his chest pushed it all out.

He was breaking down and it all needed to be released. All the memories, all the pain.]

I raised an army to rescue him and my sister, but I was too late. I sent my friend, my brother to his home to get more men, but he betrayed me and seized my family's castle. He killed my brothers, our friends and staff. Then he burned it.

I married a woman I loved. [He was shuddering, ready to bury his face in his hands, but unable to get the tears to come.] I broke a vow to marry her. That was my doing and it was wrong. I had sworn to marry someone else for an alliance, but I dishonored that. I did my best to make amends, but they turned against me.

They killed my men when we were in their keep for a wedding. My wife was pregnant and they killed her. Only then did they finally finish me off.

[jondrette]

[As he speaks, Eponine moves closer to him, placing a hand gently on his shoulder. She doesn't know what else to say, so he lets him speak, lets him get it all out.]

That is... [She places another shot in front of him.] You need this. Drink. It will make all the hurt lessen for a time.

She must have been a beautiful woman, your wife. I am sorry you lost your lady love- nothing compares to that hurt. Not even a bullet or a knife.

I was... We do not say small-folk, but I was born to an innkeeper and his wife. After a time we lost our inn, and with it our money and standing, and we came to Paris to look for something better. But there was nothing there. Only crime and dirt and hunger. Our king did not help, as we starved.

Both or lives, though different, are littered with such pain and suffering. You were in love. A father soon enough. Those that killed you and your family are monsters, demons worse than even those I know. You have been kind to me, Robb. I will not let that pain follow you here if I can help it. Here, we will drown our pains and pray they will not learn to swim. Drink with me, to that end.

[kingnamedstark]

[He takes it without question, ready to drown himself in more shots. She was right though, the sting was lessened with a bottle in front of him. It wasn't what his father would do, but his father had died and everything had fallen to Robb. He had failed his father before, why not now as well?]

She was. She had dark hair like yours and was honest. [Another shot. He turns more towards Eponine.] I shouldn't have taken her with me. If I hadn't, she might have lived, but I wanted her there. Gods, every decision I made cost those I loved their lives.

[His mother, his wife, his child...it could have ended with Sansa killed. He was gambling her life as well, she at least managed to slip free of the Lannisters.]

Drink, aye. [They were beautiful words to his already hazy mind. Pain seemed inevitable, but it was nice to imagine someone taking it away for a short time.] I don't know how much my word means to anyone, but I will do the same for you as well, Eponine.

[jondrette]

Robb, m'sieur, if she loved you as you love her, she wanted to be with you, no matter the dangers. And all of us- we are all dying. The question is when and how. But it cannot be avoided.

[She keeps up with him, her vision becoming fuzzy, the room swimming around her, though she paid no attention to it.]

Good! And we shall become dear friends for it.

[kingnamedstark]

[He doesn't want to think about Jeyne anymore or the absence of her that he was facing. It was a yawning chasm of loneliness that he was not ready to face. Not yet. So it was another shot he turned to, feeling a hum in his mind instead.

He smiled at her insistence that they would be friends, more than happy to agree with that.]

Are you here every night?

[jondrette]

I can be, if you would like, m'sieur.

[Pay her attention and she'll do anything for more of it.]

[kingnamedstark]

I would.

[He'll be glad to give her attention, so long as it means he doesn't have to focus on his pain.]

[jondrette]

Then I will be here, with more found coin, for more drinks to drown our sorrows.

But that is for tomorrow, tonight, we are here!

[kingnamedstark]

In time, I will have coin of my own, so I can repay you.

It wouldn't be fair to have you buy all of the drinks for me.

[Another shot. He's starting to lose a bit of coherence, thank the Gods.]

We are, and I might have to stay here. I forgot to look at the number of my room.

[jondrette]

In time. But not now. Tonight, I shall buy.

[She keeps the drinks coming for the two of them, even as she laughs] Then you shall have to come to mine. I can remember the number.

[kingnamedstark]

Then you haven't had enough.

[He can remember King Robert at the feast at Winterfell. It seemed he was following his namesake. A drunken King Robb.]

I mean to even forget my name.

[jondrette]

Then I will have more.

[She takes one of his shots for him.]

I will not forget your name. Monsieur Robb Stark. Do not forget mine, and perhaps together we will remember 203.

[kingnamedstark]

[He might normally wonder how they'll walk out of here, but that sounded like a problem for the future. He's enjoying the present.]

We might be near each other then. Mine was 2 something as well.

[Are there other numbers? It doesn't matter.]

203. I'll do my best to remember it and it's only "Robb".

[jondrette]

How wonderful that should be, to be neighbors!

Just Robb. It is a good name. Strong. I like it very much.

[Her smile has become sloppy, and her speech as well.]

I believe I like you very much, too.

[kingnamedstark]

So long as you don't mind seeing me during the night when I can't sleep.

[He hasn't tried yet, but he doesn't need sleep to know that there will be nightmares. There would be ghosts as well in the dark, something he wasn't ready to face.

They are sweet words and the sting of his heartache has lifted enough that he doesn't regret accepting or returning them.]

I feel the same. [She gave him comfort he didn't expect. How could he not like her?] More than the same.

[jondrette]

I do not think I would ever mind seeing you.

[she's leaning forward more on her stool.]

More than the same? Oh that must be a lot. [She meets his eyes, dark and hungry]

[kingnamedstark]

A promise you might have to keep.

[He doesn't pull back, smiling a sloppy smile.

He feels a stirring in him, brought on by both grief, drink and loneliness. He wasn't going to ignore that she was beautiful.]

I think it must be. But I can't be alone in that.

[jondrette]

Not a hard one to keep. You will have to do the same for me, Robb.

[She tilts her head slightly, eyes flicking to his lips.]

Good. We shall have to see how much, shall we?

There are few who care for me. It makes you mean all the more.

[kingnamedstark]

[There's enough inhibition left in him to hesitate. It felt like a betrayal, despite Jeyne being dead. If he were less of a craven, less broken, he'd pull away and say no. He'd grieve in private and face whatever ghosts visited him during the night.

Loneliness, need and fear were stronger than honor or anything else. He needed this warmth, just as he had needed the warmth from the bottle. He wasn't a king or a lord or anything. He was alone and lost in this world, but for a few hours, he didn't have to be.

He cupped her cheek before moving in to kiss her, sloppy and hungry with need.]

[jondrette]

[If he betrays Jeyne, then she betrays Montparnasse and Marius both when she returns his kiss. She leans into his warm touch, tasting the alcohol on his breath.

She kisses him deeper, her hand on his chest.]

203, [She reminds him]

[kingnamedstark]

203.

[He doesn't want to think about possible betrayals. Not with Jeyne, not with his father and mother, or even his honor. He simply wants to feel something else and sleep through the night without fearing being alone in the dark.

As best he can, he gets to his feet, giving her arm a tug. Better to find her room before they can no longer walk.]

You still mean your words? You won't mind my company tonight?