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

[jondrette]

You will have to introduce me. When you are ready.

[She won't push. Yet. For now, she'll kiss him back.]

You taste good.

[kingnamedstark]

[He makes no promises for now, if only so he could keep this aspect of his life separate.

He grinned against her lips.]

What do I taste like?

[jondrette]

Wine, whiskey. And there is some pine in there. And snow- what it's like when the world is quiet and it is only you on the streets watching the snow fall in the dark night. That is what you taste like

[kingnamedstark]

Snow. Aye, I suppose so. The North is a place of snow and ice. It isn't as severe as the Wall, but it's cold and gray.

We're considered a grim and brooding lot.

[jondrette]

I like you that way.

My turn- what do I taste like? [She purses her lips for a kiss]

[kingnamedstark]

[He kisses her once and then again, just to show that he's considering this game very carefully.]

Wine and whiskey. Sweat. Something sweet, it must be from your world.

[He's doing his best.]

[jondrette]

It must be.

[SHe kisses the tip of his nose. She's never enjoyed these silly games, this lighthearted fun they're having before this. But now, everything is different.

In death, everything is different.]

We'll find what that is when we eat our pastries.

[kingnamedstark]

I never had the sweet tooth my sister did, but I'll be sure to try to find what the sweet is.

[He didn't have time to really be silly or boyish, not since before King Robert came to Winterfell.

He was a different person here.]

Did you ever try lemons?

[jondrette]

She would get along with my sister. Azelma always loved her sweets, too. [She hopes Azelma is happy and safe. Just as much as she hopes Marius succeeded in luring Gavroche away. It wouldn't due to have him die alongside his sister, would it?]

I have!

They're so delicious, are they not?

[kingnamedstark]

Azelma is a pretty name. [Not as pretty as Eponine though. Her sounded almost like a chime sounding. It suited her sunny personality.]

They are. We had lemon cakes often.

That is the first pastry, I think, you'll have to try.

[jondrette]

They are names from books my mother once read.

[The equivalent of trashy romance novels. Madame Thenardier once dreamed of a bigger life, of marrying a prince. She got stuck with an awful man, and eventually passed away in jail. It was what Eponine hoped to avoid here, now.]

I would love to have lemon cakes with you.

[she drinks again, then kisses his chest.]

We'll have to find some. And I can wear my new beautiful dress. Perhaps we can take a basket, and eat in the gardens they have here! Spread out a blanket and enjoy the pretty flowers.

[kingnamedstark]

What sort of books were they?

[His mother wasn't nearly as romantic. Their names had been chosen from the lists of names of his House. There was something tender about choosing one that spoke to you personally.

He will have to speak to Sansa tomorrow, to at least have her start on the dress. After, he could focus on finding lemon cakes.]

They have gardens here? I haven't explored it yet.

[jondrette]

Baudy ones, [she confesses.] With handsome knights that save princesses and have their way with them.

[She gives him a meaningful look.]

They do! Oh, Robb, they are beautiful, chere, we must explore them. I love the gardens we had in Paris.

[kingnamedstark]

[He could point out that knights shouldn't do this with ladies, but he knew all too well that it happened often. There was the story of Bael the Bard, not exactly a knight, but he certainly lived up to what truly happened. Debauching a daughter for a knight before leaving the next morning.

He didn't want to be that man, even if he was here in bed with her.]

We had those stories in my world too.

[His foot bumped hers before casually running up her calf.]

Are these like your gardens in Paris?

[jondrette]

No.

These are far bigger, with more unusual plants. There is part that seems like a forest, even. Paris is only a city, but these gardens here seem bigger than that!

[kingnamedstark]

I wouldn't mind seeing a forest again.

[But that brings Grey Wind to mind, another pang of regret.]

Paris was a big city?

[jondrette]

We'll find one, at the bottom of the sea.

[Just wait till she hears you've owned a wolf.]

It was- very big. It is the capitol of France, my country.

[kingnamedstark]

[So very close to King's Landing? He can picture it, but it looks like Westeros in his mind.]

It seems only fair I answer questions for questions.

[Another kiss to her lips.]

You have never seen the countryside?

[jondrette]

Very well! Questions for questions.

[She considers this one] Briefly. I lived in a small town outside of Paris, where my father had the inn. But that was hardly country.

We have no horses or carriages to travel with.

Do you only have cold in your home?

[kingnamedstark]

Have you ridden horses before?

[He has a dirty thought, thinking of only a moment ago of how she had ridden him. From the way she clasped him with her knees and thighs, she must have once or twice.

Surely?]

The North is always cold, but Winterfell was my family's keep. We had hot springs beneath it and a glass gardens, so there were ways to keep warm.

[jondrette]

I have! When I was very young. A boy in the village let me help care for one. I liked to feed it apples, until it nearly bit my fingers off.

Your keep! I wish I could see it one day. It sounds beautiful- glass gardens and hot springs! [She sighs, imagining what it must be like to grow up as Robb had.]

What does your crown look like, if you are king?

[kingnamedstark]

Horses can be temperamental. There is a trick to taming and bonding with them.

[His face darkens.]

Winterfell was seized and burned. I don't know what is still standing or was rebuilt under my sister.

[He might never know, not without seeing it. Asking wasn't the same as seeing.]

It was made of bronze with nine black iron points made to look like longswords. It didn't have any gems or gold. It wasn't a pretty thing, not compared to other rulers.

[jondrette]

[She leans over and kisses him.] I'm sorry. It's an awful thing, to lose a home. [She takes his hand in hers, raising it to her mouth and kissing his knuckles.]

Did you not want a pretty crown? I would want a beautiful one with many gems. That would match my gown. [She could already see it, another one of the many fantasies she could call up to help herself escape.]

Oh- it wasn't my turn for a question. Oh well, I was never good at following rules. [He gets another kiss for the trouble.] We do not have to talk about your time as king, if you do not want. But I'm curious.

[kingnamedstark]

It would suit you, but my crown was made to look like the one my ancestors wore. Gems and gold don't belong in the North. Bronze and iron are winter metals. [Imposing and severe seemed the better way to go, even if it didn't match who he was at his heart.]

You can ask. [He'd answer within reason, depending what it was she asked him. There were some things he didn't want to think about. Theon, the Freys, but it seemed easier to get it all out around Eponine than letting them haunt his thoughts.]

[jondrette]

Then silver and sapphires diamonds. They could look like the snow, could they not?

[She's quite determined, focusing entirely on her own personal aesthetic as hypothetical queen.]

Do not answer what you do not wish to. I will not ask you to tell me things that hurt. Tell me of your family. You mentioned a sister and your wife. Are there others?