driftfleet | [Open] Mornings, man.

Entry tags:

[Open] Mornings, man.

Who: Tyrion, the entire fleet
Broadcast: Open, accidental
Action: Tyrion is having a bad morning.
When: This Morning.

[The recording starts with Tyrion's small, stubby hand putting the device on the edge of the sink, tilting it upwards. All you can see is the top of his damp, curly blonde head, and the top of his scar. Then there's a sigh, before there is the sound of Tyrion's steps dragging across the bathroom floor.

After that, is the scrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeech of metal being pulled across metal, as the top of Tyrion's head comes into view again. Then the stomp stomp of Tyrion climbing what can only be the stepstool, and his tired face and slightly bloodshot eyes. He's not drunk, that much is clear, just ... tired.

He eyes the camera, and states flatly.]

There must be some universe ... where all things, can be available, according to height.

[And with that, he begins to clean his face, turning off the camera.]

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[No, justice is something you took in both of your hands. It was when he wrapped his hands around a lying whore's neck, or put a bolt in his father's stomach. Justice was only justice if you sought it yourself.

It looked a lot like vengeance, as well.

Tyrion eyes the device again, as he continued his grooming.]

Ye-es, I had noticed that. So I take it you wish to never speak to me again, now that you have your glorious brother back?

[By the Seven, he wished he actually had been drinking for this conversation. He sighs again, pinching his brow.]

Pardon my rudeness. Your brother does not bring out the best in me.

[ unseen, she flinches. she can imagine the rift between the two: she feels it, as well. but somehow, she did not anticipate such cruelty in lord tyrion's words. perceived cruelty, at least -- when he had once been one of the few individuals who spoke gently to her of her brother and mother's murders. he had expressed sympathy once upon a time.

before i ran, she reminds herself.

even so, she is taken aback by his hostility now. what a foolish stupid girl she'd been -- half-expecting he, of all people, might find it in his heart to be glad for her.

dully: ] I would have thought you'd be pleased to be relieved of your burdensome duty, my lord. My care, and the care of my younger brother, need no longer concern you.

[Shame fills him - he was cruel and he did not mean to be cruel. He was preparing himself to be rejected and she was happy about the return of her brother. Her dead brother, no less.

He needed not to be selfish. There was nothing to be selfish about.

Perhaps though, it would be best to be honest.

He grabbed the phone and stared at himself for a moment, before he hopped off down the bathroom stool and headed to the engineering room. Speaking, as he walked.]

It was no burden, Sansa. It was, in fact, the only real connection I had to home, to the hope of a different life. You are the only person who does not revile me - well, Bran, but he is too young to understand. I ... shall miss your presence in my life, as I am sure you prefer never to speak to me, now that you have Robb.

[ of all the twists and turns she's tried so hard to anticipate, she'd forgotten to so much as imagine that he might...miss her. her throat constricts, and she must take time to compose her response. but, unlike as with others, she doesn't fret alienating him with her lengthy silences. too many wordless loveless dinners as man and wife must have certainly made him immune to that prospect. ]

My lord, I was not -- [ her words stop. she doesn't have enough affection saved up for an apology, and of late her antagonistic run-ins with others have drained her of so much patience. but she must try and clear the air. if for nothing else, then for their treaty's sake. ] I do not wish for you to think I am wielding my brother's arrival as I might a knife or a...a weapon.

[ i am not that sort of lady. ]

But my aim was never to hurt you.

[ truer words were perhaps never said between the pair of them. even her rejection on their wedding night had not been some calculated barb. she protects herself, and (sometimes -- often times) tyrion suffers the collateral damage. she takes no pride in his pain. ]

Edited 2016-01-07 15:44 (UTC)

[Quite honestly he's sort of used to long silences from Sansa. He knows she takes that time to think of the right words, for the right time. It works for her, consistently. She rarely speaks out of turn, and when she does her words have measured meaning.]

I know you are not, Sansa. That is not your way. [That might have been his way - before - but it has never been hers. She has always been scrupulously honest with him about her feelings on their interaction. And ... it is good, that she does not want to hurt him.]

Very well. Then ... [All right now he is at a loss. He looks around the engine room, his eyebrows raising.] Are you ... calling me to inform me that Robb will now be party to our arrangement, as well?

[Now there was a twist he had not expected.]

By rights, any further discussion or negotiation should be conducted between yourselves. [ happy as she is to see robb again, she feels a flutter of disappointment over this particular matter of decorum. ] Between you and Robb. He is the appropriate head of House Stark. I --

It seems I never was.

[ bran had always been alive. their marriage, then, had truly been for nothing. she'd never been the heir. ]

I have nothing to offer you in our arrangement. The decisions are not mine.

I see.

[And now, Tyrion is silent for a moment. It was true, by the laws of their land that Sansa had no rights at all to parley with him. She was a woman, woman were meant to have babies and keep the Keeps, all that nonsense.

Considering who he was currently building an army for? Tyrion was firmly going to dispute. Right here, and right now.

...and in this, he would be selfish.]

I refuse. [To clarify.] I refuse to deal with your brother. You and I are the arbitrators of this arrangement, and we shall continue to do so. I need to speak with someone who has both intelligence and sense - and you are the only Stark who has both. Therefore, inform your brother that we shall now include him in the treaty, for neatness's sake, but otherwise he is to stand about and wave his sword if he wishes. He's got no patience for the fine art of diplomacy.

[ his refusal cuts her to the quick. bone-deep, it slices. it stings. she cannot even enjoy the compliment he pays her, because it comes at the expense of her own comfort. must she remain such an arbiter? baelish would have her be precisely that keen and involved. but baelish isn't here. and robb is.

she swallows hard. ] You give me too much credit, my lord. You speak too highly virtues I'm afraid I do not possess.

[Ah-hah, now this was interesting. Sansa herself did not want to be in the middle of such things? That ... that made a difference. He promised he would never force her to do something she did not want to do.

So there, they were left at a different impasse.] I speak highly of virtues I know you possess -- but this isn't about what I think or speak of. What do you want, Sansa?

[ once, the answer had been easy enough: she wanted to marry well, and live a proper lady's life. silk dresses and fine dinners and hawking in the woods (if the weather permitted it). but now? now, she still wants those things but understands that they come with compromises. compromised comfort, safety, and happiness. some days she is more at peace as alayne stone in the vale than she ever was as sansa in king's landing. ]

I want my family. [ i want winterfell. ] I love them. I am loyal to them. And I never want to hide it again.

[ it is no secret (really) between the pair of them that she'd never given up her torch for the stark cause while in king's landing. here, she's been given the opportunity to support her brother with all her heart and all her words. she clings to that chance and cherishes it. it dulls her appetite for her own ambitions. ]

If we treat again, my lord, it will be on my brother's behalf. [ ... ] Provided he agrees.

[ a crooked sort of solution, then: tyrion wants to only negotiation with her -- but she wants to prop up her brother's long-dead crown. if robb allows it, she will represent his interests with tyrion. but she will not be greedy and take for herself. ]

[Tyrion pulled himself up onto his stool, in front of his workbench, as he looks thoughtfully at the phone. Why else she would want any else? The one thing that had been torn cruelly from her, at every turn. She was owed that much - and he made a note to make that part of the deal he would one day hammer out with Daenerys.]

Oh, he will agree. [Is the oh so silky reply.] He wants what he wants. [Which is revenge for his father. Tyrion could provide him -- something of that. As long as he was alive. Here. Sigh, time travel was so very annoying.]

Very well, my Lady. I will treat for behalf of the West with the North. As heir to Casterly Rock, to the King of the North.

I will speak to my brother on these matters. [ she exhales. the device picks up the mild mingle of relief and trepidation in her sigh. ] And return his answer to you once I have it.

I pray your morning improves, my lord. [ kindly said -- at last broaching the topic of his frustration which sparked this exchange. ]

I thank you for your assistance in these matters. [He can hear the levels in her sigh, before he smiled a little at the phone.] I look forward to our further interaction.

... well it shall once I learn how to build a better sink for us height deficient. [See, that was practically cheerful.]

If anyone can manage it, Lord Tyrion, it will be you.

[ he said kind things to her; she returns them. she cannot fault his resourcefulness. ]

Lady Sansa, I am humbled by your confidence.

[He IS smiling now at the phone, damn it all to the Seven. Sigh.]

[ humbled. is he ever truly humbled, she wonders? but a tiny voice in the base of her mind answers: yes, and always. this is a little man long unloved. she'd learned as much on their wedding night, and that lesson had inspired pity in her heart.

but pity kills all other feeling. it douses the flame of love. it ruins passion. they had no chance. ]

And if, by some reason, you cannot vanquish your sink -- then there will be others here who will help you. They are uncommonly kind in this Fleet.

[Well honestly he knew that she pitied him and that she would never love him. Still, he could ... completely forget that and move onto someone more worthy of his time and attention!

By the Seven he would not be swamped into feelings that would never be reciprocated. He had proven his worth to himself. He need not prove it to Sansa Stark.

He smirked at the response, before he stated quietly.] Yes there are. I have never met such kind souls. Here, I am accepted and respected. It is a change I will not give up lightly.

[ there is one small part of her -- angry, and bitter -- that would call them all simpletons and fools for being so free with their kindness. and another part (her terror) would call them false and tricky and manipulative for being kind at all.

but then there is the part of her that's a lot like fresh green grass pushing through old flagstones: vulnerable, and hopeful. their kindness waters her hope and bids it grow a little taller. ]

Upon which ship have they shuffled you, my lord?

[Those are ... rather larger parts of Tyrion's own soul -- and while he has been reluctant to take their kindness, or has been thinking of ways on how to use it best to his advantage -- he cannot deny it.

There are people who care, no matter where you came from, or what you looked like.]

I am on the SS First Breath, my lady.

And I am on the Blue Fish. [ with robb. and bran.

a moon ago, she'd not have told him this much. it would have been a secret for her to keep. but (perversely) the more she talks with her family, the more she realizes she's not the same girl they used to love. so much has happened -- and lord tyrion, at least, knows some of the cause. he witnessed it; stopped it; wedded it.

perversely, she can be more herself with the imp than with her own flesh and blood. it burns -- but it's true. and so she tells him which ship she inhabits. and she offers him the thinnest of thin truces: ] And you may contact me -- from time to time -- if you wish to talk.

[ quite the change from their first meeting! but she's had a lot of time to think, and to compare her state with that of her brothers. tyrion, at the very least, understands. ]

I have heard of several others residing on Blue Fish.

[He knows that is where Bran is - he has not learned about Robb yet. It seems a great deal of his time will be now spent on this particular ship ...

Especially when she extends the invitation. Both of his eyebrows lift, before he state simply.]

It would be my pleasure. [A pause, and a quiet.] You may feel free to contact me as well, if you wish to talk.

[ there are things she thinks she will never tell him: of playing catspaw at his nephew's wedding, and of how she dared defend him against aunt lysa's disgust. there are questioned burning in her throat, but asking them betrays too much.

(and she believes he'll grow tired of her conversation. eventually. the imp does not want to discuss embroidery and the high harp.)

sansa begins her gracious exit: ] Good day, Lord Tyrion.

[At least in that, they would both keep their silence. He will never tell her that he knew what his sister and brother did to Bran, or why, although he has a fairly good idea she already knows.

(Honestly he'd be fascinated to learn about the high harp.)

He dips his head, even though he knows she cannot see him.] Good day, Lady Sansa.

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[Open] Mornings, man.

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