open | text + action

[steeledskin]

Who: Sansa Stark + YOU
Broadcast: Text, fleetwide.
Action: Blue Fish
When: This morning.

Jon Snow and Bran Stark have left the Fleet. Condolences to those who may have befriended them while they were here; Gods-willing, we shall see them again.

[ sansa's message is short -- abrupt, and almost stripped of its emotion. she avoids broadcasting anything but simple text because she does not trust herself to maintain her mask, so to speak. as it is, she's cried too much. losing bran and jon feels like opening old wounds packed with grief. it makes her feel like a little girl again: weak, and mewling.

but she does add: ] I dread leaving, as they have left. Do others in the Fleet want to stay?

[ later, she can be found sitting on the floor of her personnel office. she has taken the furs from her bunk and has spread them across the ground, and she's allowed jon's direwolf pups free rein of the cozy and comfortable area. sansa's eyes are red-rimmed, and they betray every lie she tells when she insists she's as well as can be expected. but at least her spirits lift, a little, when she's playing tug-of-war with the pups.

they bring her a bittersweet joy. ]

Comments

Action

[goodandtrue]

[Jeyne had avoided answering Sansa's message, disliking how informal and impersonal it was. Armed with Margaery's advice, she spent several hours preparing a present for her good-sister, hoping that it might alleviate some of her pain (as she doubted anything would fully take away this sorrow.

Carrying a plate of burned lemon cakes, Jeyne taps gently on Sansa's door.]

Lady Sansa? May I come in?

Action

[steeledskin]

[ truthfully, she is no fit state to be kind. but kindness can be faked, sansa knows, and so she scrambles to her feet and brushes direwolf fur off her skirts. sansa breathes deep -- sets her face into a stoic mask -- and invites jeyne inside. ]

Please, [ a soft and thin voice, ] yes, come in. Mind the pups.

[ her eyes only briefly flicker to the plate held in jeyne's hands. ]

[goodandtrue]

[She cannot stop herself from flinching at the sight of the direwolf pups. Despite being small, a bolt of fear crawled up her spine, instinctual whenever she was near the beasts. She hated to be afraid of the creatures, but after what she had seen them capable of, she could never feel at ease with them nearby.]

I thought that I would come to call and see how you were faring. I saw your message. Gods, I am so sorry.

action

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka doesn't bother with text messages or voice calls asking if Sansa is okay. Sansa has always held her family very close, so the answer to that question is obvious. Instead, she goes looking for her. Her first guess-- Sansa's room-- turns out to be wrong. But it doesn't take long to follow her presence and find her in the personnel office instead.

Ahsoka knocks and then pokes her head through the door without waiting for a response. She really shouldn't have-- she knows it's rude, and will probably offend Sansa. But Ahsoka is too used to Anakin. Anakin, who simply tells people to go away if they ask for permission to enter when he's upset.]

... Hey.

action

[steeledskin]

[ -- there's a storm brewing behind her eyes, but it's far-off and subtle enough that only someone as sensitive as ahsoka might actually get an accurate read on how very unhappy she is. but, ahsoka's ever-lasting credit, when sansa sets her sight on her? something recedes. it's as if she'd been prepared to lash out at someone -- anyone -- but ahsoka is protected from such a scolding.

she doesn't smile. but she looks grateful to see her friend. she considers the pair of them close enough that she doesn't rush to stand when ahsoka enters, and instead she shuffles leftwards on her mat made of animal furs. making room. ]

I think they miss their master. [ she speaks of the pups gamboling around her knees. ] I fear Jon spoiled them.

[ -- she's bound to spoil them just as much. ]

[resnipstance]

You think?

[ Ahsoka moves to sit beside Sansa, drawing her legs up around her knees. ]

Well. Maybe good friends need spoiling from time to time.

[ She absently pets one of the pups sniffing her out, but Ahsoka looks at Sansa as she says it. ]

[Text]

[goldenglasses]

[As captain of the Three Twins Vash had tried to track down all of John's family to make sure they knew and wanted them to have their time to process everything. To hear a second family member had left as well seemed cruel.]

I'm sorry that you've lost both. I didn't know Bran as well as Jon, but he seemed like a good- [Is kid the right word? He had been young yet seemed quite mature.] person.

[Text]

[steeledskin]

He's wonderful. He was always wonderful.

I hope Jon's absence has not hindered your ship, however.

Re: [Text]

[goldenglasses]

It's a lot quieter. [No one had tried using his music player that is constantly stuck on high yet.] He's going to be missed, but we'll be alright.

text;

[reek]

[ Something about Sansa's question irritates Theon. He does dread leaving. He fears home and he fears Ramsay, but he knows that none of that can be changed. His fate has already been decided; Robb's death has proven well enough. He can't outrun his future, nor can he avoid it. None of them can.

When he responds, it's perhaps a little more hostile than it really should be. ]

Dread won't prevent it from happening. Why do you dwell on it? Bran has endured worse and survived, and Jon is Lord Commander. Somebody had faith in him, impossible though that may seem.

text;

[steeledskin]

[ -- she reads his message once, and twice, and three times. why does she dwell on it? because she doesn't know how else to trust the happiness that could be found within the bounds of this fleet. ]

But I miss them so much.

text;

[reek]

If fate will see fit, your paths will cross again.

For your sake, I pray it's a pleasant meeting.

[ Not like his own reunion with his father. Not like his future reunion with Asha. Does his mother even know he still lives? He has no intention of dismissing Sansa's feelings, but knowing what he knows now, it seems useless to dwell on such things. ]

Text;

[alwayscomeback]

[He won't come and disturb her just yet. He knows Sansa needs her space, he won't come to her unless she asks it of him. Still, this sucks, and he won't say nothing. ]

I'm sorry. One day we'll figure a way to beat them. Atroma. So this kind of thing stops happening.

You need anything?

Text;

[steeledskin]

[ she needs her family -- what a trite response, however, when her captain is offering affection and support. sansa swallows a fresh sigh and tries to settle on a respectful reply. ]

Tea would be nice. If it isn't too much bother.

Text;

[alwayscomeback]

[A sentiment he'd understand only too well. He hates it, though. He wanted to get them all out of here safe- to take them somewhere they could be happy. It's not fair they got sent back. ]

Tea I can do. I'll be with you soon, okay?

[And as promised, there's soon a knock at her door. ]

(Voice)

[castintoflames]

You have my sympathies. (As he assumes said Men are important to her too.) I do not wish to leave either. Here, I can live; I can be near family. On Arda, that is not so because of my cowardice.

text »

[steeledskin]

[ her response still comes via text, despite his spoken answer: ] Your cowardice?

text »

[partialities]

I am certain there are many who would wish to.

[ not herself. for all that she enjoys this adventure there are ambitions to fulfill and a family to unite with. Not an easy realization to come to. This little realm is safe and safe goes and yet despite it all, she still feels misplaced and worse than that, far too idle. ]

I am sorry, that they are no longer here.

text »

[steeledskin]

I fear I wasted my time with them. I should have told them more -- done more with them, while I could.

[bryces_pup]

[First Arya, now Bran and Jon at the same time. Riona can't even imagine what it must be like.

Well, actually, she can. And it's much more painful and familiar than she wants to dwell on.

She appears outside Sansa's doorway a little while after her post, a cup of tea in hand. She knocks gently, not wanting to intrude without permission. Her eyes fall on the direwolves, and she smiles.]

Nothing quite lifts one's spirits like a pup.

[steeledskin]

-- I'll be asking our Captain if he minds the addition to the ship, [ she announced. hurriedly. but for once she doesn't rush to her feet to greet riona in a stiff and overly-polite fashion.

instead, she lets her in at her own pace. ]

text;

[moonofmylife]

Lady Sansa, you have my deepest sympathies. I did not know Jon Snow at all but for a brief conversation, but I did speak to Bran more than that. He was happy to tell me stories of the Children of the Forest. I hope that where your brothers have gone that they are well.

[Honestly? She feels so damned formal that it makes her stomach hurt trying to do so. She did not know Bran or Jon well and she did not know Sansa overly well either - only that she was a girl who was now losing her family all around her and that resonated with her on a deep level.]

I dread leaving as well.

[It was an admission she had not even given to Tyrion, despite her worries of when they would be able to go back. Her people needed her. Her dragons needed her.]

: text;

[steeledskin]

Even you?

[ this is surprising. a woman who styles herself as a queen back home would rather stay here, far from her claimed kingdom? ]

Action [a bit late]

[kingofbadlifechoices]

[Robb knows he should have been the one to announce the fact that Jon and Bran left, he is the oldest after all, but he had been spending his time gazing at the wall for quite a while instead of writing said message. He is glad Sansa did it. And he is glad that Sansa is still here.

For a brief moment he wonders what should happen to Jon's direwolves. Or Bran's fox. And finally, somewhere along the way he gets out of his room to seek out his sister.]

It is good to see you. [His voice sounds flat and finally he crouches down next to her, focusing his attention to the direwolves playing around.] And these pups, of course. [And of course he notices the way her eyes look.]

Did you fetch them from Jon's chambers?

[steeledskin]

...I couldn't bear the thought of them alone. [ and despite how early she'd lost her own wolf, sansa simply felt the certainty that they would need a northerner to care for them. or, as fate would have it, two northerners.

leading with instinct, she lays her hand gently on her brother's arm. ] They are our family, too, are they not?