06 - video

[winn]

Who: Winn Schott and you
Broadcast: Video
Action: Tourist
When: Friday

[ there's something off about winn when the feed turns on. something different from all his other broadcasts. it may take a second to spot it but once you realize what it is it becomes glaringly obvious: there's not a hint of happiness anywhere on his face. his eyes, his lips, his nose, it looks like every last bit of joy has been drained from his features, so even when his lips do stretch lightly upwards, despite his dry eyes it feels more like watching him sob than seeing him smile. ]

Margaery's gone home. [ he has no way of knowing that. she could have been kidnapped to another world, one where she would have no protective big brother to introduce her to superheroes and feminism, to embroider with her and teach her science. but he chooses to hang onto that thought, to believe that she's gone back to the family he knows she so desperately missed despite never letting her pain show. he clears his throat. ] If any of her friends wanna come by for a toast and some stories, I'll be on the Tourist all day.

[ he has been on the tourist since he realized she disappeared, curled up in his bed, shut down. this is the most he's said since, and it feels almost like an outer body experience. he clears his throat again, and nods at the camera before killing the feed. ]

Comments

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[steeledskin]

-- I am terribly sorry to hear it. [ what dreadful news. there's something tight in her throat. sansa promises herself she will not cry on camera. ]

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[winn]

[ he recognizes her - they've never spoken, they've never met, but he's seen her on the network and paid attention, because he knows how important she is to margaery. he's kept his distance because he assumed if margaery wanted them to meet she would introduce them, that's how things worked in her world, after all. but now she's gone, and sansa may be the one person who is as heartbroken about it as he is, and he wants to be there for her. for her sake, and for margaery's. ]

Sansa, right? [ he nods a little ] I'm Winn. She told me a lot about you.

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[steeledskin]

And I you. [ her words are frosty and hard. not for any disdain of the man himself, but because cannot risk vulnerability. not before strangers; not before the wider public, neither. and yet margaery had only lovely things to say about winn. she's trusted him, and that affords the man a certain measure of sansa's patience.

but sansa knows better than to think that he will be a friend to her simply because he was a friend to margaery. ] She spoke of you with a great deal of fondness. True and honest fondness.

[ an important distinction because sansa knows how easily it is to say pretty things that are not meant. ]

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[winn]

[ he's not sure where the cold is coming from, if it's a defense mechanism or if he's actually done something wrong. he wants so desperately to ask margaery - but she's not there.

his heart hurts. ]

She's a sister to me. [ not like, not was. she is. he loves her truly and deeply and as far as he's concerned, any friend of hers is a friend of his. ]

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[steeledskin]

She and I should have been. [ it's the most she feels capable of articulating. ] We were meant to be good-sisters, should Margaery have had her way.

[ in effect (and in the longer run) they were bound to each other by their marriages. she to the imp; margaery to the imp's nephew. but those ties were poison and pain. she's not prepared to discuss them. ]

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[winn]

Blood may be thicker than water, but love is thicker than blood. If you feel like sisters, you're sisters.

[ he's heard about margaery's side of the marriage and it's really the last story he wants to be thinking about now - god he hopes she's safe, he hopes she finds someone better, someone worthy of her. he hates not knowing, and he fears the answer - not that he has any way of obtaining it. ]

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[steeledskin]

As you say.

[ sansa agrees out loud although she disagrees at heart. very little champions blood -- not for her, and not (she suspects) for margaery. but in the absence of any tyrells, she did what she had to do. she found a family and she cocooned herself in them. sansa can respect it even as it appears foreign to her. ]

Her absence will be felt.

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[winn]

Every day.

[ he agrees, his own voice heavy with emotion. ]

If there's anything you need, call me up.

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[steeledskin]

I'm sorry. [ for the intrusion, possibly. ] But...was anything left behind?

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[winn]

Yeah, um, [ he clears his throat ] sorry, I should've thought of that. [ he didn't have it in him to care about possessions, not the midst of his misery. but of course her friends would want something of hers, and knowing margaery he's sure she's prepared for it as well. ]

I haven't looked through it, I can do that and get back to you, or if you wanna come over and take a look you're welcome to that, too.

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[steeledskin]

I would like that. Yes. [ but she's torn. sansa doesn't travel well -- and there are few people she can call upon to escort her. but at least the tourist is one of the few ships she feels comfortable in visiting, thanks to margaery. ] I wouldn't take long. You won't even know I'm there -- I promise.

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[winn]

No - please. Take all the time you need. [ sincerely. ]

I -- would like to meet you. If that's okay.

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[steeledskin]

[ she hesitates. again and again, sansa must remind herself that if margaery truly did see him as a brother then it should be no different than walking through the gardens with loras tyrell -- something she would have done readily. happily. once. ]

Of course. [ she drums up a sprinkle of enthusiasm ] It would be rude of me to come and go without greeting you.

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[winn]

[ he shakes his head. ]

Not at all. If you'd be more comfortable that way, I can stay in my room. I don't want you to feel obligated.

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[steeledskin]

[ coolly: ] Margaery wanted us to meet. It's only fitting that we should.

[ even if she sounds spooked by the prospect. ]

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[winn]

[ he relents, because he really doesn't want to argue against this. he wants to meet her. for margaery's sake. ]

Do you like tea? We have some of the good stuff left.

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[steeledskin]

[ she wonders what the 'good stuff' is -- but feels too skittish to ask. instead, she answers winn's question. as answers go, this one is easy. ]

Yes. [ what a relief that he's offering tea and not wine; she'd have said yes to just about whatever beverage he named and so it's convenient that it's one she enjoys. ] With honey in it. Or lemon, if you have any.

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[winn]

[ he would not offer her wine, and while he enjoyed introducing margaery to soda, he knows it was weird for her and she never quite got used to it. tea felt like the best choice with her, so he offered it to sansa thinking it would be the most comfortable for her as well.

there's almost a shred of happiness there, at having something he could do for her. ]

I think we might - I'll take a look.

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[steeledskin]

It's no bother if there's none to be had. [ she knows lemons are not simple finds in the fleet -- much to her constant disappointment. ] In the meantime, I'll see if there's a shuttle available.

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[winn]

I'm pretty sure I saw some honey.

[ left over from hashana. it never felt like the right time to use it, it's such a precious commodity, after all. ]

Should I meet you in the cargo hold?

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[steeledskin]

[ a quick shake of her head. ]

I know my way to Margaery's quarters.

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[winn]

[ he nods. ]

Alright. I'll see you there, with tea.

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[steeledskin]

[ she wears her hair in a coiled pile of braids. and she fastens her cloak with a simple brooch. more importantly, she wears the pins and bracelets lady nyssa gave her so many moons ago: they are her one reliable weapon against uncertainties. poison and smoke. it isn't that she expects trouble on the tourist when she visits. rather, she expects trouble always. everywhere, it seems, except upon the blue fish.

taking the shuttle to the other ship is a harrowing experience -- like it is every time. she needs a moment or three to catch her breath once it lands in the cargo bay. from there, it's a series of well-poised strides until she ducks into margaery's room. she feels better once she's behind the door. she has slept in this bed and she has laughed between these walls. memories linger here.

she doesn't wait for winn; she's already taking careful stock of the locker. ]

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[winn]

[ it takes winn a few minutes to join her; he's decided that knowing margaery, he should probably clean up before finally meeting her friend, so he washed himself quickly, brushed his hair, and dressed in one of his nicer button downs. the green scarf margaery gave him for his birthday is wrapped around his neck. it's the nicest he's looked in a couple days, and the most effort he's gone to.

he knocks with his elbow, a cup of tea held in each hand. he doesn't usually drink the stuff, he's much more of a coffee drinker, himself. but today, it just feels appropriate. ]

It's Winn -

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[steeledskin]

[ her curtsy is deep but stiff. despite the press of modernity on all sides, her fashion remains staunchly westerosi -- by now, she's accumulated a modest collection of dresses. today's is a gentle blue with ersatz gold trimming. the colours remind her of her friend.

sansa does him the courtesy of shifting her attention wholly upon him. as someone who doesn't know her well, he wouldn't be blamed for mistaking her expression as nearly unfeeling. unaffected. except that there is a tremble in her fingers when she reaches for her cup of tea. ]

Well met. [ she wishes she knew what to call him. ser or lord or something. but instead there's merely a gap in conversation where an honorific should have been. ] Despite our circumstances.