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

[steeledskin]

[ long, thin fingers wrap like spider's legs around the mug. she doesn't drink; not yet. instead she seems to absorb the heat and steam -- breathing in. she is grateful, even if she doesn't quite know how to express it. ]

Riona. Do you think it's stupid to hope they might return?

[bryces_pup]

[The frank question surprises Riona for a moment. Sansa's always been a bit more guarded than that. Yet, she's glad the younger woman trusts her enough to be this open, even if just for a moment.]

Not at all. Hope's all we really have in this place. And friends, too. I've heard of people returning here, so I don't think it so distant a possibility that Bran and Jon will come back someday.

[steeledskin]

[ and arya, she thinks. ]

How unexpected it was that we should almost all of us be caught together again. I cannot help but feel as though we wasted our time when we had it. There was love lost between Robb and Bran, for one. I wish I could have stopped it.

[bryces_pup]

There's never enough time with our loved ones. [She frowns when she mentions Bran and Robb.] I thought they seemed a bit distant, but I was not sure of the reason. Did they have a falling out?

[steeledskin]

They did. [ ... ] But I don't know why. Neither told me, and I wasn't going to ask.

[bryces_pup]

[She nods, understanding Sansa's position. It's not always wise to get involved in family quarrels. But, sadly, now it'll never get resolved, short of Bran returning.]

I hope Robb makes peace with it, then, as best he can.

[She glances down at the wolf pups and smiles.]

Perhaps once they're more situated, Kiter can play with them. He's smaller than them, but he's a mabari; he'll do his damnedest to keep up.

[steeledskin]

They will be good to him, I hope -- not too territorial, given they're intruding upon his little playground. [ this vessel; up here in amid the stars. ] I promise I won't let them be rude with Kiter.

[bryces_pup]

Thank you, Sansa, though I believe we'll have little to worry about. I think they'll get along fine. Mabari prefer company, and I imagine he'll be ecstatic to have some more. [Kiter is an equal opportunist when it comes to playing and receiving affection.] Have you ever been to the little park on the Iskaulit? Many bring their animals there to let them run about, especially when we are in between stops.

[steeledskin]

I have only seen it in passing -- I haven't ever visited. [ she mulls it over. ] Have you brought Kiter there?

[bryces_pup]

A number of times, particularly when we are traveling between systems. These ships aren't made for rambunctious canines.