driftfleet | And We Danced (Masquerade Overflow!)

[Robb laughs at the remark.] I have to come closer to determine the truth of that. [The laugh silences when she speaks of her fate again. Death. How dreadful would it be to know that death awaits at your return? A shiver goes down his back when he thinks of it.]

I have met a man who has written the coordinates of his planet on his arm. Mayhaps you can do that as well to never forget. It is not a bad idea.

[He has to contemplate that. What would happen if he would be more accepting? Could he be more accepting?] I am a king, my lady. My men would not take that lightly. [He remembers the discussion with Bran rather vividly. How his brother had told him about his warging and how he warged into his fox in front of him. And he had felt something close to repulsion.] My siblings and I are no wildlings, my lady, we are of noble birth.

I could try to be more...accepting to others. [Because he is stubborn and tends to cling to his values way too hard.] I try to. But when faced with warging and necromancy I cannot be supportive. [He could not accept Bran’s ability. Gods, he could not even accept the wolf dreams he has at times, knowing what they could mean.] It is not how things should be. It is not right.

[He shakes his head.]

[She smiles back. It is a dance. They aren't that far apart, but she's not inviting him any closer either. The coordinates are an interesting thought, but she was looking right at Piotr in that moment. Maybe something to think about though.]

As a king is it your job to be popular or your job to lead? Some things—like people—are worth the trouble of reexamining what you believe. We may all be different, but we're all alike too. [His list of things that aren't right seems to be growing.]

What are wildlings and warging?

Both. And that makes it difficult at time. [That is a bit of an understatement. Robb absolutely struggles with his crown. There is never a right that isn’t wrong and never a wrong that is right either. Lines seem to blur and decisions come harder and harder every day.

And she is right about that. He should accept Bran’s ability and maybe Robb could, but the king can’t. And it has been a long time ago since he has chosen the side he wants to be on.] It is not that simple, my lady. [He shakes his head slowly.] I wish it were...

Wildlings live behind the Wall. I rather not have them crawling through the North. [He starts to look uncomfortable.] Warging is when... you change skins. It is... [It are those wolf dreams and the thing Bran did.] ...I do not wish to speak of it. It is something Wildlings do.

Well, I've never been a king before, but I have been different all my life [A genius, Jewish, and a mutant] and it's not a way to treat a person. As if you're wrong just for being born. And I think it's better to make friends than enemies.

[She doesn't push him on warging specifically, but it sounds like shapeshifting to her. Or possibly what her student Paige did.]

[Robb looks at her.] I do not see anything different about you. [But then again, you could not see anything different about wildlings either.]

You cannot fight a war without making enemies, my lady. [And it is true that Robb has a hard time making friends. Here as well as in Westeros. In Westeros he has lost everyone close and here the differences were too large to overcome.

And he simply did not trust everyone.] And things are not as simple as shaking a man’s hand and calling him a friend right off the bat.

They aren't visible unless I want them to be. [She's always had that ability to hide what she is if she's needed to and always hated it. She wants people to know. She wants to be upfront. Hate her if you're going to hate her and get it out of the way. Part of her wants to thrust her hand into his chest now to demonstrate one of her differences, but there is a line between being yourself and purposefully pushing people away. She decides not to demonstrate at all.]

True enough. [There were precious few outside the X-Men who were her friends in the war. Certainly not Apocalypse's people. Not the human high council who tolerated the X-Men at best since they shared a common enemy. Not even the humans directly in harm's way they were fighting to protect.] But we're not fighting a war here. You're part of a fleet of the abducted. A man at a dance. And dancing goes a long way to building bridges. [She manages a soft smile. Ready to leave the rest of the conversation behind and concentrate on the good part of tonight.]

[Robb cocks his head a little at her words, wondering what she meant by that. Would she have horrible sores hidden underneath her clothes? Or would it be something more like sorcery? Suddenly he realizes how uncomfortable it is to live in world dominated by sorcery. Robb really likes it to be able to explain things to himself.

He decides not to ask about it. It is her choice to show him or not.]

You have the truth of that as well. [When she smiles at him he smiles back in a halfhearted way. His thoughts are somewhere else and he is too stubborn to give up on what he knows.] But I have to be fair with you... I do not perceive myself a wary man, yet I do not trust everyone I meet. And I do not trust many here either.

[Not that he doesn’t want, but he feels terribly out of place in this world.]

Adjusting is not a simple thing to me. It is not just...doing it while knowing that there are far more important matters going on at home.

[Kitty really likes being able to explain things too. She just has a much larger vocabulary for it with something of a background in science, though not as deep of one as she'd prefer. Hard to finish school when everything is in ruins.]

I don't trust everyone either. I don't think trusting everyone would be any safer or better than trusting no one, but there's a happy middle in there somewhere I bet. [A place where you can have friends and confidants and teammates and even just someone trusted enough to be close for the span of a song.]

I understand what you mean though. I've been bouncing around these not-home places for over a year, so I've had some time to reprioritize.

Especially not when we star in some show. Can you imagine who will see all of this? And hear our conversation as well?

[Robb has been thinking about that lately, wondering how all these spectators would see him. Others. Would they inform others about his moments of weakness? About his fights with Bran?]

I do not think a secret is truly a secret when it is shown to everyone who watches the...reality show. It makes me feel uneasy, my lady.

I try not to think about the audience. Not that it makes them go away. [She knows that's a dangerous way to be, but the paranoia, fear, and restriction that would come from censoring her life all the time aren't worth it to her.]

I get the uneasy. If it didn't make you uneasy you wouldn't be paying attention.

Indeed. Not thinking about them won’t make them leave. I am sure they are watching us now through ways only modern people know.

[There were times he has been less aware of it. Not entirely busy with what his role actually is. But now he feels uncomfortable, looking over his shoulder a couple of times.]

In Westeros we do not have these reality shows. Gods be good, I haven’t even seen a play in my entire life. [Artists never came to Winterfell. Eddard Stark had always seemed rather adamant about it...]

Not even a play? This isn't your first dance is it? [Wondering if all the arts were held back.]

My lord father hardly allowed bards and other artists. [It was because of Jon.] But I have been taught how to dance. That my father refused bards, would not mean that other lords did not invite them.

Then your lord father didn't know what he was missing. [Was he allergic to music and art?] And I'm glad I didn't have to break you in completely for dancing.

It had other reasons. [He had a bastard son and he did not want the world to know.] Well, to be honest, I do not know these modern dances. They seem rather repetitive and dull.

[A bright smile appears on his face for a moment.]

You should have been there when the entire Great Hall burst out in singing The Bear and The Maiden Fair. Those were good times.

Repetitive and dull? Strong words. Okay, show me your fantastic dance and I won't make you sing the song.

I cannot dance on this music. [He shakes his head and laughs.] Most dances I know are done with a larger group. And the ones done with a lady are more... It is more of a pattern of hopping at certain tones or moving like that when the flute sounds.

Pattern of hopping sounds more like a children's game to me. I have a feeling neither of us is winning the great battle over whose time and world has better dances.

[Robb frowns when Kitty calls it a children’s game. His dances aren’t a children’s game at all.]

You do not know if you haven’t tried it first. I think these modern dances look as if people have gone mad. [A nod.] Terribly mad, even.

Maybe that's part of the fun of them, but you're right. I should try yours first. And you can try the mad dancing.

Let us make it a promise then.

[He extends his hand and offers it her to seal it with a hand shake.]

You teach me how to dance more modern, and I shall teach you mine in return.

[She puts her hand in his.] You've got yourself a deal. I hope you're up for it.

A man never backs away from a promise.

[OOC: end it here?]

And We Danced (Masquerade Overflow!)

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I'm just bad at ending things is the moral of the story

Haha same here :")

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