» 2nd lemoncake

[steeledskin]

Who: Sansa Stark and anyone.
Broadcast: Video. Fleetwide.
Action: Find her on the Blue Fish, if you like.
When: Midday.

[ by all accounts, sansa stark has survived. she now lives on an armoured ship. her brothers are nearby -- alongside one brother's devoted friends, who have all been more kind to her kin than she can put to words. although nothing so much as approaches normal, she's beginning to feel settled. stability creeps in from the corners.

and this allows her to ask a question of her fleetmates: ] Is there any means by which I might find spare cloth and thread? And needles, too, of course. The ships give us so much, but I'm not certain -- [ not certain they can give me these. she does not understand their magic, nor the purchasing power of her device. ]

I like to embroider. I should like to do it again, if I could. [ but without a handmaiden to bid fetch these things, she doesn't know how to begin. perhaps it's as simple as looking in the correct spot -- but she was never raised to procure or purchase anything in her life. ]

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[imahologram]

[The tea isn't her preferred blend, but since that no longer exists in any meaningful sense, Leia has no complaints. The slight bitterness is refreshing, in its way.]

The Windrose's galley does its job, but it's nothing on what you have here. [Upgrades? Pfft.] You're very fortunate.

[But there's only so much she can say about kitchens. She slips into formalities--not gladly, exactly, but relatively easily.] Where is it you come from, my lady? I don't think I'm familiar with your Great Houses.

[steeledskin]

Westeros.

[ she has found it helpful to be vague. few people here know winterfell. so she can name the whole seven kingdoms and satisfy those who are too curious about her past. Great houses are among some of the oldest families in the kingdoms. Each were once kings in their own right before they bent the knee to the Iron Throne.

[imahologram]

Ah.

[Sansa's own origins are a minor curiosity, but mostly, Leia's looking for ways to make conversation. Speaking of home can be painful--she knows it more than most--but it's somewhere to start. And if it proves unsuccessful, they can try another subject.]

What is it like? I haven't visited.

[steeledskin]

Different.

[ she squirms where she sits. how can she explain seven kingdoms? too often, everyone else in these ships is accustomed to grander things. wider worlds, with wider opportunities. she doesn't know how to describe her home without complaint. ]

We're not even a whole planet. We're a -- a continent. Seven Kingdoms, united under one crown. Or we were.

[imahologram]

This must have been a big change for you.

[Sansa has the good fortune of being one of several people Leia's met without access to the world beyond her planet. It's no longer a surprise, just something a little sad-sounding to her.]

And you were from one of those seven kingdoms?

[steeledskin]

[ she nods. here, on the blue fish, she feels ever so slightly empowered to talk of home. ]

The North. The last large stretch of land in Westeros before the Wall. [ ... ] Its seat is an old castle, called Winterfell. I lived there for most my life.

[imahologram]

That's an evocative name--Winterfell.

[She can imagine it, aside from the part where she can't--Alderaanian ruins probably don't carry quite the right silhouette for Sansa's world.]

I suppose it was cold there.

[steeledskin]

Outside? Certainly. [ and here's where a point of familial pride strikes the surface. her eyes are bright. ] But the Winter Kings of years before built their seat above hot springs, my lady. It warmed our whole castle.

[imahologram]

Really. That's clever. [Her eyes light up, too--it's hard not to be a little taken by the thought of it, one warm place in a sea of snow.] It must have been a beautiful place to grow up.

[steeledskin]

[ unfortunately, she never knew how beautiful it could be until she couldn't return -- and could see it only in her memories. ]

Oh, terribly beautiful. And just beside the castle, we had our godswood. Some three acre of trees and plants and a beautiful pond. I miss it very much.

[imahologram]

I can't blame you.

[She pauses, looking down at the wavering surface of her tea. Talking about Winterfell seems to have made Sansa a little more at home. Perhaps offering some information in return will be an appreciable show of good faith for her.]

I come from a planet called Alderaan. It was similar--warmer, I'm sure, but beautiful forests...and lakes, and meadows. [Her voice remains light enough, as if they're discussing the weather, but she can't keep the grief entirely from her eyes.] It's gone now, but once, it was one of the most peaceful places in the galaxy.

[steeledskin]

[ a similar pain is reflected in sansa's expression. she doesn't rush to say my home is gone too, but it's not necessary. sadness has entrenched itself in how she talks about winterfell, and she feels a sudden upswing of sympathy for this stranger. ]

What happened to it?

[imahologram]

There was a weapon.

[But Sansa isn't going to understand the Death Star, she suspects. She's never seen her planet far enough away to fit in a viewscreen.]

Imagine...you threw a teacup at the wall. And when it hit, it didn't break into large pieces--it was pulverized into nothing. Maybe there was a little dust left, but that was it. [Leia takes a sip of her tea. The memory is an ugly one, but she started to share it; she has to finish.] That's what happened to Alderaan.

[steeledskin]

-- I'm sorry. [ and she means it. well and truly means it. not enough (perhaps) to reach for a hand or offer any larger gesture of support. but it's a pain she understands, and one she can share. ] That's awful.

[imahologram]

Thank you.

[She gives the response automatically at this point, though it is appreciated nonetheless.]

All isn't lost--there are Alderaanians who were elsewhere when it happened--but it was. [Leia looks for the right word. She rarely speaks of what that moment felt like for her, but if she's come this far...] Crushing.

[Four years on, it still aches. Leia reaches for a change of subject.] What are your brothers like?

[steeledskin]

[ crushing. like learning your lord father's ward had taken your family's castle, and that it had been put to the torch. memories, burned away. and the blood of your kin spilled. she squirms on her chair and is (perhaps) more grateful even than leia for the subject's change. ]

Brave. Even the little ones. [ she knows she is the most craven of them all, except the baby. but is little rickon even little any longer? it's been so long since she's seen him. ] Brave. And true sons of the North.

[imahologram]

[They have their commonalities, Leia and Sansa, and not only in their brave brethren. The way Sansa references them, though--even the little ones--makes it sound like she's from a big family.]

How many do you have? Just the two?

[steeledskin]

F-four. [ slowly, she's learning to include jon within their number. it doesn't come naturally to her -- but she tries. after living as alayne stone for so long, she wishes she'd made more a brother of him in the first place. ] And a sister, as well. Her name is Arya and she's awful.

[ but there isn't much conviction in her voice. gods, she misses that stupid girl. ]

[imahologram]

It must be nice to have such a large family. Always someone to talk to. [And better still to have some of them here--she's genuinely glad for the girl. Leia knows too well what it's like to feel like some part of you is missing without your brother's presence.]

Awful? [Leia's trying not to smile at the way Sansa says it.] What's so awful about her?

[steeledskin]

She ruins things. And -- she was always covered in muck and straw and soot. [ sansa frowns. it's been far too long since she's seen arya. ] She never knew...doesn't know how to behave.

[imahologram]

She's a tomboy. [There's a fond ruefulness to Leia's words.] How old is she?

[steeledskin]

-- She would be one-and-ten, now. [ but sansa has not seen her since she was ten. ]

[imahologram]

Then there's time for her to grow out of it. [Just look at Leia, semi-reformed tomboy of three-and-twenty.] You might go home and find a changed sister.

[steeledskin]

Hopefully, my lady.

[ if sansa appears to be a conversationalist who leaves much to be desired, then it's because her natural inclination is to be dull. dull young women attract less attention. ]

[imahologram]

[Leia just assumes Sansa's people value something other than good conversation; it starts to feel like everything she says sputters and dies when it reaches the girl's ears. Maybe it's time for another change of subject.]

So, when you aren't embroidering, what do you like to do?