» 3rd lemoncake

[steeledskin]

Who: Sansa Stark and YOU.
Broadcast: Fleetwide video.
Action: Come find her on the Blue Fish!
When: Today!

[ the first time nyssa al ghul misses their weekly appointment, sansa chalks it up to circumstance. something came up; she must be a busy woman, and cannot be in all places at all times. but then a second week goes by with no notice, and when sansa attempts to reach her on nyssa's frequency, all she gets is static. then, dead air.

it takes her a few days to talk herself into addressing the fleet at large, but reasons that should anything have happened to her friend -- well, someone ought to know. so a solemn-faced young woman with copper roots showing flickers onto the communications devices. ]

Nyssa al Ghul hasn't answered any messages -- not for some time, I don't think. [ she swallows. her mouth feels dry. like she can guess the reason already, but refuses to believe it. her words are suffused with worry and sadness. ] I-is she well? Has something happened to her? It might be the crew of the Red Fish have some knowledge of where she is. Please, has anyone spoken to her of late? Seen her?

[ today, she wears the gold bracelets and the intricate hair-pins nyssa once gifted to her. sansa tries to persuade herself she's not wearing them in memory of a lost friend. ]

Comments

[steeledskin]

[ why does lord tyrion care? sansa never knew of the burgeoning friendship between the two, and so she mistakes his inquiry for concern over her own state.

careful: ] She is gone, my lord. A member of her crew has confirmed it.

[tallasaking]

[If she did not know before, she would know now -- as Tyrion's face falls and he looks away from her. After a mere moment though he clears his throat and looks back at her with a more formal expression.]

I see. Thank you, my lady, for investigating further into the matter.

[steeledskin]

[ cautiously and with a measure of pique in her voice: ] She did not tell me you were acquainted.

[ but why should she? nyssa's friendship is not hers alone. and yet sansa feels unhappy to have (even retroactively) shared the woman's affections with anyone. she tries to contain her displeasure as it mixes with grief. ]

[tallasaking]

[Now that tone gets an eyebrow at Sansa, with a faintly tart reply.] She did not tell me you two were acquainted either, but I believe she is allowed to have whatever friends she chose, my lady.

[Just because they shared a friend did not mean that Tyrion had been stealing Nyssa. Honestly.]

[steeledskin]

-- As you say, Lord Tyrion.

[ she endures his rebuke as easily as she endures any. with a disciplined eye and a few agreeable words. it costs her less in the longest run to simply acquiesce, and defend her sentiments in silence.

but she can at least be courteous: ] I am sorry for your loss. She will be missed.

[tallasaking]

[The problem with that, Sansa, is that the statement - 'As you say', was meant about as respectfully as, 'fuck you and the donkey you came in on, little man'. He just gave her a flat look, before he said with all due civility, and complete sincerity.]

I am sorry for your loss as well. She was a fine woman.

[steeledskin]

Is, my lord. [ her correction is sharpish, but only when one listens closely. ] Nyssa lives still.

[ but not here. ]

[tallasaking]

[Oh, he is listening carefully enough. One corner of his mouth twists, but his apology is sincere enough.]

My apologies. Is.

[steeledskin]

Unless my lord knows more than I do. [ she hedges her voice into an almost-question. nyssa never gave her the impression that she was dead in nanda parbat. and yet --

and yet sansa knows the reality of dead men (and perhaps women) walking. ]

[tallasaking]

[Here, Tyrion paused, before he shook his head.] She knew she was alive, back home. I assume she has gone back to deal with those who ... doubted her veracity.

[steeledskin]

[ -- curious. ]

I cannot imagine anyone doubting such a woman.

[ such a person, even. it's clear that nyssa has had a deep and abiding influence on sansa, even in such a short time. ]

[tallasaking]

Only the unwise and the mad would do so. Perhaps she knew of both.

[He folded his hands together, his mis-matched eyes narrowing thoughtfully on her.]

But someone like Nyssa will prevail. She had a strength to her that few have.

[steeledskin]

That she does, my lord. [ agreeable. perhaps (even) affectionate -- although that affection is spared for nyssa's sake, and not his. at first blush, she must seem like a strange idol. in many respects, nyssa is more arya than sansa ever might be. but for all her raw skill and deadly edge, nyssa showed sansa a grace and a kind of self-control that became...enviable.

idle, she toys with the golden bracelet on her wrist. ] The fleet felt safer with her in it.

[tallasaking]

She will not stop. She will conquer. [His smile was almost fond, as he recalled how fearlessly she walked through his own nightmares. She was rough, all around the edges, but she had a nobility of personage that one could not deny.

A sigh.] That it did. Perhaps one day she will return.

[steeledskin]

Mayhaps. Should the Gods will it. [ but neither the new gods nor the old seemed to hold sway here. ]

[tallasaking]

I am sure the Gods won't have a chance to sway it. [He sighed softly, as he looked around, then back at her.] We will survive.

[steeledskin]

[ her steel rears itself once again: ] We must.

[ if only so they might outlive their enemies. ]

[tallasaking]

[He looks up at her, before his jaw firms. He nods his head firmly.]

You ... are absolutely right.

[They do need to survive ... to absolutely destroy their enemies.]

[steeledskin]

-- Thank you, Lord Tyrion.

[ sometimes, it felt good to be right. ]

[tallasaking]

[A measured bow. As one would give an equal when playing the game.]

You are welcome, Lady Sansa.