» 1st lemoncake

[steeledskin]

Who: Sansa StarkAlayne Stone and YOU!
Broadcast: Video (fleetwide)
Action: Marsiva (bathroom + hallways + kitchen)
When: Early morning.

[ she stares at her refection -- standing in the communal bathroom on the marsiva. another morning, which had followed hard upon another night. at least she could only assume they were mornings and nights by the waning of the lights, and the jarring onset of such cryptic dreams. these nightly journeys into strange places and stranger memories exhaust her, and with girlish vanity she touches the dark circles under her eyes -- so starkly visible in such a perfectly reflective surface, far better than even the best polished metals in king's landing. my name is alayne stone, she mouths to herself -- more bewildered now by the obvious dark dye in her hair than she'd ever been before. sansa is gone; sansa is dead. but already her roots are beginning to show copper--!

she gathers her hair into a simple plait and fastidiously straightens the dress she'd worn to the tournament feast in the vale, and the same dress she'd worn when she'd woken up elsewhere on the marsiva. it would need a washing, soon. but she had no handmaid to prevail upon. so, looking almost as dreary as she felt, she walked solemnly and slowly back to her assigned room: nothing to keep her company except a fur-lined cloak and a mockingbird pin.

she had avoided the bizarre little message-givers for so long. but having slyly watched someone else use theirs on the previous evening, she dares to address whoever else might be listening: ]

Please. I want to go home. I'm not supposed to be here.

[ it doesn't occur to her that no one else should be, either.

but once she's been thoroughly schooled on that front, she can be found drowning her private sorrows in the kitchen, her gaze stuck on the warmed milk filling her mug. she can't decide whether she's relieved or angry she can't return to where she's meant to be. ]

Comments

[steeledskin]

-- Is there a war, here? Are your ships at war?

[ your ships. she excludes herself for so many reasons. and yet she asks about war with the defeated air of someone who (although she hasn't fought it one) is all too familiar with certain knock-on hardships of ongoing conflict. ]

[redactions]

No, not here. I came from one, at home.

[ He was born out of it such that he's a thing of war just as the Winter Soldier is. They have different skin on the outside, but the wolf in them is the same. Wary, worn, and hungry, driven by that hunger. ]

[ Gently, ]

Seems you did, too.

[steeledskin]

[ meanwhile, the wolf in sansa is beaten and castigated -- broken, in effect. but she retains a prim line of steel in her spine. courtesy is her armour. ]

Civil strife, [ she admits. a war whose losing side had consisted of her family and its forces, and now the fallout of one war feeds into another. ] There was a rebellion, Captain.

[ and she will play this conversation as though she disapproved of rebellion, uncertain whether it's safe to suggest otherwise. ]

[redactions]

[ Past tense. Implies it's over, but no war is. No one comes back. ]

Which side were you on?

[ He chooses to play it as a question rather than a statement. The losing side. It's written all over her. ]

[steeledskin]

[ -- her breath is audible. not a gasp, but a slow and reluctant sigh. sansa could tell the truth, or she could tell a lie.

or she could tell a simple fact and let him interpolate its meaning in whichever way he prefers. ] I was at court. The king's, in fact. I heard news daily of how the rebels harried and hurt the crown's forces.

[ and rejoiced with every battle the crown lost. ]

[redactions]

[ His brow furrows, because that wasn't the answer he expected: Jim isn't used to people dancing out of reach. He takes the fact at face value. Safe, but not untouched. No one's ever untouched, anyway. ]

Sorry to hear.

[ Equally generic, or so he hopes. ]

All over now or still goin'?

[steeledskin]

There are many pretenders and rebel would-be kings in this war, Captain. Some have been defeated and killed, [ and she fails to suppress one brief tremor in her voice. ] But the opposition isn't what it once was. The crown is too huge a thing to topple.

[redactions]

[ Oh. ]

[ This is war paint, isn't it. The manners. The equivocating. Oh, he hurts for her and what she must've seen to retreat into wherever she is, and show this face. He knows when something's too big, when it costs too much. This isn't a back alley, Steve, it's war, and in war nothing is pretty. Nothing is good. It's all just another sickness. ]

[ Jim hesitates, and then, ]

I've found there's always a way.

[ Especially for bullies. ]

[steeledskin]

[ she says nothing -- not yet, at least. sansa merely shakes her head. there are other ways but they involve poison and lies and the sorts of machinations with which her true father would disapprove. there are ways one can spread chaos inside the crown, but the price is rather extraordinary. she can still remember the sharp edge in littlefinger's voice when he asks whether she wants more blood on her hands.

so instead, she changes tack ever-so-quietly. ] Might I ask a question of you?

[redactions]

[ There is always the urge to play it with a joke, to lighten whatever weight is on her, but Jim nods, once, firm. ]

Of course, miss.

[steeledskin]

There is a boy who has been here for some time. His name is Bran. Do you know him? Have you spoken with him?

[ all about her remains tense. even now, she can't bring herself to say the family name that aches at the back of her throat. to claim 'stark' might still be treason, even here. ]

[redactions]

[ He frowns. ]

Can't say I have — there's [ too many ] a lot of children around. None on my ship.

[steeledskin]

[ just as well. she doesn't yet know what sort of life bran has lived here -- whether he's been bold, and personable. or quiet and secretive. she'll not shed any more light on her brother than what's necessary.

so she nods -- and although her spirits appear a little dampened, she is nothing less than gracious: ] Thank you, all the same. I never asked what ship is his. I ought to have done.

[redactions]

[ He nods. ]

A pity there isn't a directory or I'd point you to one. You can find the names on the doors pretty easily, anyway.

[steeledskin]

When we speak again, I'll ask.

[ and then -- like a peace offering (or else to test his reaction to being brought briefly into her confidence) she sweetly adds: ] I'm his sister. He has to tell me if I ask.

[ the ultimatum-like sentence isn't harsh. more like an older sibling preening herself over that little bit of blood-granted authority. ]

[redactions]

[ He laughs, unexpectedly. ]

Sister privileges, huh? Oh, I'm familiar. I have three, all younger than me. Don't let that fool you, they're in charge.

[steeledskin]

[ every new detail adds to a picture being painted in her mind: a captain, handsome and charismatic; understanding of why one might baulk at a soldier; displeased with the presence of children within the fleet; a brother, too, and an older one at that.

her heart pangs for robb. learning more about who the captain is, she wishes she'd elaborated a little more upon the rebels. but the moment is gone, now. her secret stays still and safe. ]

I pray you were only ever very good to them, Captain. [ far away from the political chatter, she can be a little more generous with her conversation. ] I pray you played hopfrog and monsters-and-maidens with them whenever they asked.

[redactions]

[ Absently, ]

They never asked for much. I braided their hair a lot.

[ His mouth is pulling reflexively into a smile, remembering how fussy Faye got about her hairbands and her dresses, always wanting to stand out, and Rebecca always wanting to match her brother's colour scheme. Blue was her colour too. ]

[steeledskin]

[ braided their hair! what a good brother. and she can witness the affection in his instinctive smile. it pleases her. ]

You would have been indispensable to them. [ ... ] Do you miss them?

[ a stupid question. of course he misses them. even sansa misses her sister. ]

[redactions]

[ every day. They grew up and married and had whole families he never knew about and feels awkward trying to visit when his great-grand-nieces and nephews are the same age as he is. ]

Often. What about you? You have more siblings?

[steeledskin]

Apart from Bran, I'm blessed with three more brothers. And [ burdened with ] a sister.

[ she won't quibble over how jon's a half-sibling. not now -- not any longer, when back in westeros she had felt so certain he was the only blood left to her who might recognize her with affection. ]

Before now, I'd not seen any of them in years. [ bran is the first. and a quiet joy manifests itself within her confession. ]

[redactions]

[ His expression softens. ]

I'm sorry to hear that, miss. It's always hard.

[ A lot can happen in a few years. One can lose a whole world. ]

[steeledskin]

[ she nods. what else can she do? in effect, she's already said too much: alluding to a widespread war and then carving out such separate existences for herself and her siblings. sansa curls a piece of dark-dyed hair behind her ear. ]

This place is awful. [ she punctuates the phrase with another sip of chocolate. ] But it must have its virtues if it can bring my little brother back to me.

[redactions]

Maybe the others, too. [ and then he realises what he's implying, and hastily adds, ] I wouldn't want anyone trapped here, miss, but it ain't so bad if you get opportunities you didn't have where you're from.

[steeledskin]

[ her expression is fixed. she wants to tell him that as prisons go, it can't be so bad -- but that, too, is telling. and she knows not to tell too much. ]

Has it offered you many opportunities, Captain?