[001 🐚 Action]

[goodandtrue]

Who: Jeyne and YOU
Broadcast: N/A
Action: SS Golden; SS Blue Fish
When: Oct 23

It hadn't been a great surprise when Jeyne had appeared suddenly on the Golden. For all of her intentions of begging to be at her husband's side, she inwardly knew that she would be placed elsewhere. For the few days she had spent on the Marsiva, as well as the brief conversations she had on her strange device, she had slowly become aware of how these Atroma intended to play. Nothing was about her comfort, it was about this show that they had brought her here for.

For her sanity, and for Robb's sake, she would need to make the best of this situation and allow herself to be moved around as a pawn once more.

She had at least been given a room of her own. For the first few days, she had wandered the ship, acquainting herself with her surroundings, but only when she wasn't with her husband. Traveling between the Golden and the Blue Fish was becoming a routine for her. While she wanted to remain with Robb, she had duties to attend to and couldn't neglect her own crew.

So mornings and evenings, she would travel between the ships, slowly become familiar with the faces she passed (even if she didn't know all of their names.)

Stepping through the sealed doors, Jeyne rested for a moment, catching her breath and regaining her composure. No matter how often she passed people or walked the distance between her ship and the Blue Fish, she still managed to become disoriented and drained.

Hearing another's approach, she forced herself back into composure, bringing a smile once more to her features. "Good day," she said, turning to greet the person that had interrupted her solitude. "Am I in your way?"

Comments

[goodandtrue]

[She noticed the fatigue and weight that seemed to rest on him. His eyes seemed almost haunted, burdened with memories. She had seen a similar look on her own face whenever she looked in the mirror.

It didn't erase her anger or her frustration at his betrayal of Robb. He had rendered her husband to his lowest, taking from him the last of his hope and joy. It may have brought about their marriage, but there was no denying that it changed him drastically.

He lost more than a home. He lost three brothers.]

What do I not know? How exactly am I mistaken? I was there when he received word about your treachery.

[She couldn't trouble Robb about this, even if he did wake this day. He didn't need to know that she had met the turncloak.]

Reason? What sort of reason is there in what you did? He was your friend! Your family! Yet you discarded him as though he were nothing but scraps! How do you justify any of that?

[reek]

He was not my family.

[ He raises his voice slightly, but doesn't meet her eyes. Age and a young boy's fears had acted as a barrier between himself and his true brothers. Even now, when he tries to recall anything redeeming about Rodrik or Maron, he comes up blank. It's Robb that comes to mind instead. Robb, who was kind and accepting despite Theon's status as a prisoner and the son of an enemy. ]

I am a Greyjoy of Pyke. I've never been a Stark.

[ And judging by his expression, this clearly pains him. He knows why he turned his cloak on Robb. When he returned to Pyke, he was forced to confront the divide in his emotions. The Starks treated him kindly while his own father greeted him with cruelty, but how can one be expected to turn against their own flesh and blood? It's enough to make anyone lose their way. ]

You'll take his side regardless of what I have to say. I've explained it to him one hundred times. I can explain it to him one hundred more and it won't even make a dent in his thick skull. You certainly didn't wed him for his intelligence. He lacks a great deal of that.

[ So this is literally just Roast Robb Hour... ]

[goodandtrue]

[He was right in that sense. It was sometimes hard for her to remember that Theon was nothing more than Ned Stark's ward. From the way that Robb had spoken of him, he had seemed like something more. Had he hated the family all of this time?

Had he only been waiting for the opportunity to betray him? She couldn't say and she wouldn't press Robb for answers.]

Explain what exactly? How do you explain any of this? What reason could any man have to betray his friend? Greed? Arrogance? Tell me then, if you are so confident in your reasons.

[Her face flushed angrily. He might not have meant to cast aspersions on her marriage to Robb, but unknowingly had stumbled into it.]

Does it ease your guilt to speak of him this way? All of this away from his hearing and done when he can't defend himself. It's cowardly!

[reek]

You mean to imply that he doesn't speak similarly of me? How is he not the coward? Locking himself in his room, as if that door can keep out all his problems so he never needs to face them.

[ He's definitely angry now, almost snarling his words. There's just too much bad blood between himself and Robb, and the fact that they're approaching it differently doesn't help matters. Theon wants to make amends, but Robb wants Theon to stay away. ]

Nothing eases my guilt. I know what I've done, but you know nothing of me. Did Robb tell you I was once his brother? I was his family's prisoner.

[goodandtrue]

Do you even know where Robb is now and what has happened to him? I assure you, he is not hiding from anyone! Were he awake, he would face you and refute every one of your baseless accusations!

If he calls you a coward or worse, it is because you earned that reputation.

[She scoffed, her mood soured by the conversation. Her frustrations had already been raised, triggered by her inability to act or to find a means to wake Robb. Theon managed to present himself as a safe target for her anger.]

Do you think I should pity you for that? My father was his prisoner when we met! I didn't betray Robb, I married him because it was honorable and I love him. If you were once any sort of friend to him, you would not have acted as you did.

[reek]

Honorable?

[ There's still malice in this tone, but he snorts and doesn't even try to stop the bark of laughter that bubbles up in his throat. You shouldn't be taking your anger out on her, he reminds himself, but he waves the thought away. Jeyne is here now, Robb isn't. ]

Is that what it takes to be seen as honorable now? You marry an ass?

[ He laughs harder, tears welling in his eyes. Whether they're tears of laughter or just tears of frustration has yet to be seen, but the latter is more likely. ]

I don't care about your father. Your father wasn't held prisoner for ten years and told to respect his captors and their kindness. [ Another bark of laughter. ] But kindness only lasts until they have to take your head, doesn't it? Robb is a fool, and you're just as much so. The only thing his marriage to you has earned him is a deep grave.

[ SORRY JEYNE ]

[goodandtrue]

You are a hateful man and I wonder if you've ever known love or acceptance. Did you find it with your father or your family? That is who you went to when you left Robb's camp! What exactly did you get for betraying your friend? From what I see of you, it was nothing but bitterness and hate!

[Her frustration had fully taken control. Robb's continuing sleep had frayed her nerves and brought out her lingering fears that he might never wake. To have him here, but not have him was enough to drive her to tears. I won't give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry, she thought bitterly. He will take them as a victory.]

You seem to think you are the only one who has had to endure captivity, but there are better men who have endured worse and never once betrayed their honor! All you have now is emptiness in your life and the contempt of those around you.

[He managed to strike the one nerve that was far too painful to ignore. She held herself responsible for Robb's death and knew the part her family played in bringing it about. The moment the words were uttered, she raised her hand to slap him, managing only barely to stop herself. Instead, she dug her nails into the palm of her hand, her eyes blazing with fury and utter loathing.]

Damn you!

[reek]

[ It's true. He is hateful, and he's well aware of it. Love and acceptance are two things he's been seeking for most of his life. Eddard Stark was certainly a stern man, but never frigid where his family was involved. Theon had watched as he encouraged his children, spoke warmly to them, gently scolded them when they did something wrong, and praised them when they did something good.

Theon often wondered which was the norm when it came to fathers: cold and distant Balon who had sent fewer ravens in the span of ten years than Theon could count on one hand, or Eddard Stark. He never did find the answer. ]

Doubtless you've been told as much, but it was Robb who sent me back to Pyke in hopes that my father might agree to an alliance. His hope were mislead. My father is a proud man. He had little reason to align himself with the greenlanders who took his crown to begin with.

[ For all his bitterness, Theon will never say he hates Balon. He doesn't, not truly. He feels cast aside and out of place in his own family, but his father was a great man. Theon takes pride in knowing where he came from. The only problem comes about when he attempts to fit back into that place. ]

Would you have me betray my own family in favor of my captors? Honor isn't worth half as much as you and Robb seem to believe it is. One might think he would understand that, with his mother being a Tully.

[ Family, duty, honor. Honor is last on that list, family is above all. Theon only laughs as she resists the urge to slap him, smirking as he shakes his head. ]

Damn me. Damn me to the drowned god and all seven hells, is that right? [ It's too late. I've already been damned. ]

[goodandtrue]

[Even those parents that were loving could find ways to hurt their children. A father didn't need to be distant, he could manage it quite ably by destroying his daughter's future. Jeyne may not have suffered in the same capacity as Theon, but she still felt that same level of bitterness and emptiness that he seemed to exude.

In any other circumstance, she might actually feel sympathy for him. However, with Robb asleep and the memory of her mother's betrayal still fresh, she had little patience to look at the heart of the matter. As far as she cared to see, Theon was nothing more than hateful.]

I was told you were the one to suggest the idea. How long did you wait to betray him? Was it before or after you faced your father?

[For a brief moment, she felt as though she were staring at the person she could have been. Had her mother told Jeyne of her plans to betray Robb, would she have sided with her family? Loyalty was a trait that had been instilled deeply in her, as it had been with her siblings. Would she have sided with Robb against her family, allowing him to treat them as traitors?

She shook the thought from her head. It didn't matter what could have happened. She had enough heaviness from what did happen. Deep down, she knew the answer to that question as it was. She would always side with Robb.]

I know the costs of such an alliance and the divide between family and honor! My family had served as bannermen to the Lannisters, I went against the vows that my ancestors made and what my father fought for. Do you think it was an easy decision?

I would rather serve a cause I believe in and a man I love rather than some distant figure and memory!

[Honor before Honors. Those were their words and she had followed them.]

Do you feel relief at mocking me and taunting a man that isn't here to defend himself? Does it make you feel powerful and strong? All you look is weak!

[reek]

[ Theon has had years to build up all this anger, but his failed seige of Winterfell is what really pushed him over the edge. It was then that he had to face the fact that he couldn't live up to everything he thought he was supposed to be. His failures had left him feeling emptier and more lost than ever before. Who is he? What is he? Why was he even born? Even now, he has none of those answers.

He allows Jeyne to chide him, but that insufferable smirk never leaves his face. It doesn't meet his eyes, but it's the one thread he seems to be holding on by. ]

You think yourself so wise, don't you? [ Again, he laughs. To his own ears, it's a forced and grating noise. ] If you knew more and better, perhaps you would have been smart enough not to wed Robb, but worry not. The blame is shared equally between the two of you.

[ He knows that he isn't exactly the definition of a wise man either, but it's difficult for him to say that he would choose differently if presented the opportunity once more. He cares deeply for Robb, but family is family. ]

I've mocked Robb to his face just as often as I've mocked him behind his back, just as he does to me. It's the one understanding we've come to.

[goodandtrue]

[She hates his smirk and that almost mocking air about it. His words hurt, but the sting is less. It doesn't take much to guess that whatever he is saying, it is only a coward that is lashing out, trying to make himself feel strong.

Perhaps that was why he took Winterfell? He wanted to prove something to himself more than send a message to Robb.]

Perhaps not so unwise as you might think. I'm not ashamed of my decision to marry Robb. I don't accept any blame for it, nor do I cast it on him! [The more she said it, the more she might come to believe it. Shame and guilt were still strong inside her.

If only she could wipe that smirk from his face.]

You should leave him be! You've done enough to him already. He doesn't need you about, souring his disposition. You're nothing more than a leech. Not a kraken, but a leech.