driftfleet | (no subject)

[Kitty leans against the door to the bar, surveying the room when she spots one of her crewmates at a table unaccompanied. She heads over to her. It's been awhile since they really talked. Oh, passing in the halls of course. It's hard to escape anyone fully on a ship, and she wasn't looking to escape.

Actually, she had been enjoying the girl more and before the dance she was extremely appreciative of her help on her hair. But at the dance and shortly thereafter she heard things from other people that weren't quite making adding up with the things Margaery had told her. It made her wonder what else she was "misunderstanding" and why. Rather than confront her she fell into something of a watchful distance. Well, that and she'd become extremely involved with Winn which ate up a lot of her time.]

Drinking alone?

drinking?

[ she has been reading something on her comm, a file or another but she will put it aside as she approaches, giving her all of her attention and chuckling when she realizes what she was referring to. ]

All ladies drink wine with their supper. The less savory ones break their fast with a cup. It is very common in Westeros, I almost forgot it is not so for some of the other realms.

[ she brushes a curl of blue behind an ear ]

I hardly mind it but I would always be glad for company.

[Kitty slides into the seat across from her.] I guess I'm still on the side of the savory then. [She doesn't drink much. Not that she could swear she's never started a day with a drink, but nothing comes to mind. It's not her go-to vice.]

What are you reading?

The only lady I knew who drank at dawn was a terrible one. You are far more savory.

[ she oft thinks of the lannister woman, terrible in her schemes and plots. how poorly she would have done here without her guards and men and with no true kindness or charm to attract sympathy.

margaery does so wishes -

but that is a petty matter. ]

I am only sending word to a friend. In my realm, we send words with ravens. These are ever faster.

Always glad to be more savory than some lady. [She smiles.]

Texting, huh? I kind of avoid that when I can. Seems like a tedious way to talk to someone. [Without as much of the connection she likes.] I wouldn't have guessed you'd do it, but that makes sense coming from a background of sending letters. Most of our communications were audio or in-person back home.

It does. I am not accustomed to being seen when I send my messages, it is all very odd. Sweet, in a manner but I always feel I need to be presentable when others see me, it makes for quite a bit of fuss all because of one small message.

[ a lady must always be seen at her best, after all ]

It's hard to imagine you unpresentable. [And she lives on the same ship.]

Oh, I imagine. If only because any lady will go to great lengths to make certain she maintains exactly this image. Only very few people see us when we are not presentable and we do take care to make certain they favor us so deeply that they shall never tell. You should have seen me when I only just arrived here.

[ she smiles ]

a terror, I was.

I doubt that. You'd probably have to go to some work to not look nice.

But you've put some of your world's expectations behind you, haven't you? Maybe met our captain without someone to introduce you? [She remembered how she told Vision and Winn of that when requesting the flowers on her behalf only to have Winn doubt that she'd have a problem with it since she met with him. On it's own it wouldn't be that odd, but Tyrion had told her something else the night before.]

I introduced myself, yes, just the other day, as it happens.

[ an odd man but not in a bad manner. simply foreign as so many of the people on the fleet seem to be. when she comes upon one of the stark kin or lord tyrion are the only times margaery truly feels as if she understands her social situation.

it is a bit harder with the others, so many different customs and a social dance during which one must not step on any toes. ]

He was very kind.

He is. Impressively so. [The sort of kind no one can really afford to be in her world anymore. Though she's relaxed back into something approaching what she might have grown up to be in other circumstances. Not that she'll ever really be that person now.]

Winn made it sound like you had no problem meeting him on your own though. [Please note, this is not jealousy. She's just trying to figure the girl out because the pieces don't fit. Or at least they aren't creating the image she thought she saw on the front of the box.]

Winn?

[ she chuckles and shakes her head for a moment ]

Winn is different. To me, he is unlike most others on the fleet. He spoke to me shortly after my arrival here and since then - he is very dear to me. I shan't compare him to most others, I do see him very often.

[ a beat. ]

and entirely on my own but he is quite exceptional, you would know that far better than me.

Edited 2016-06-11 10:13 (UTC)

Well, I'm hardly going to say he's not exceptional. [Especially with that build up!] That's nice you two are getting along so well. [And maybe puts that particular disconnect to rest, but there was still the other one.]

Tyrion was telling me about his nephew.

Only of one? he has two - and a niece. King Joffrey, Prince Tommen,

[ king tommen, according to what she heard and her husband to be besides. ]

and princess Myrcella.

[ but she knows who she is speaking of. people so rarely speak of joffrey's siblings, both kinder, far less cruel. ]

He's mentioned all of them. He speaks highly of Tommen and Myrcella. But the one I meant was the cowardly, vile abuser. His words.

[She'll wait to see what Margaery does with that.]

Some say he is. Some say he is cruel. Especially in these parts.

[ she nods. she will not deny that. She didn't expect Tyrion to say anything less, especially when he never hid his mislike of Joffrey even in King's Landing. ]

You don't think he is? [Instead of giving her time to answer she looks at the girl.] I'm not from your world. I have no stake in it. But if you're afraid of him, you don't have to be. [After all he must die soon after when she comes from in her world. And here? There are always airlocks.]

Joffrey is the king of the Seven Kingdoms and he is to be my husband. That is what matters, it is agreed, I will honor the promise my father has made. I am not afraid of him.

[ here, she will be. at westeros, not very much ]

You're not? [She believes her. It's more that she wonders why she's not. Even if this is a private sort of question.]

I am to be a Queen. If I show fear, I will be nothing more than that, a cowering girl standing next to a throne. I am a woman, a lady of Highgarden, we are not taught fear, we are taught to be clever and care for those we love. Our family and the people, those of the Kingdoms. Fear is a dangerous feeling where I come from, once people see it, they never forget.

[ a moment later she smiles ]

My house is noble and old and it was our men who saved the capital from the attacks brought upon it, it is our food that feeds that people and our gold that reaches the king. My brother is the finest knight in the Seven Kingdoms and he is stationed by my chambers day and night and the king, however cruel he is said to be,

[ she is very careful not to agree with it, not yet ]

is but a man. they are all men, fishermen, kings, bakers, lords. Will he lift a hand to a queen from the second richest house in the kingdoms? a house that supplies him gold and men and food for the people?

[ a moment passes and she adds ]

and will he still be cruel to those people when it upsets his queen so? would he keep her from her little womenly charities? from feeding orphans and giving alms? it is a matter of cleverness not a matter of fear.

[She's quiet following all that.] You have a plan. [And she's not sure what to make of it. She sounds almost as if she'll be performing a public service to keep the monster in check and do good works with her power as queen. Maybe she does mean this, but at this point Kitty also wonders if she's just being told what she wants to hear or a version of it. There is something about her previous word choices that now feel like she was being "handled" before. Her expectations were managed and she didn't question it because there was no reason to expect duplicity. None of it seems hostile, but it grates up against Kitty's trust issues. The hardest part about those issues is that they don't stop at others. They make it harder to trust her own instincts when things like this come up.]

I am to be Queen.

[ she smiles, brushes a lock behind her ear ]

What do Queens do? Care for the people, make certain they are safe and well-fed and healthy, do their duty. That is what I shall do. Honor my lord father's promise and honor my duties.

Is that what you want for yourself? To follow the wishes of someone else? Or is that just how you're framing the situation for me?

[ she has to smile a little ]

Does your world care very much for wishes and wants?

[ a kindness, if it does ]

we all do our duties. Kings, queens, daughters, sons. Very few do get what they want and very few think of such things as wishes.

My world doesn't have a lot of roles or duties. Not anymore. You fight for what's important to you. Which, for a lot of people doesn't get any further than their own lives. [And she's not judging that. It's hard enough to manage. In talking to Tyrion it felt like they both came from very harsh places and yet still very different ones. His and Margaery has much more structure even if it's in a state of flux. But Kitty's probably has more than she's admitting.]

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