003 winter wonderland

[theladyofwinterfell]

Who: Sansa Stark
Broadcast: Fleet-wide
Action: down on the planet
When: 20 December - end of the month

> > > carol singing

( Sansa enjoys the systems that are cold and this one is no exception. This planet is full of ice and snow and the people are warm and kind the way she remembers the North being when she was a child. They do love music, impossibly so, and so she decides to sing a few of the songs she knows down in a cafe when some others are singing their own. It's nice to learn new things to sing and she has one of the new songs on the tip of her tongue as she goes to get a cup of warm tea, needing to stave off the chill. When she sees someone she recognizes from the Fleet, she steps back a bit and allows them to step to the counter first. )

Oh, did you want anything? Far be it from me to be in your way - how rude of me.

> > > stitching time

( Lord Akeldama's waistcoat was coming along nicely and rather than sew up in the Fleet, Sansa has chosen to do it down in a cozy corner near a fire in a bookstore down on the planet. She has a little basket of sewing things she's bought from her small supply of credits and she's hoping a few others will take her up on the offer to make things for them. She sends a message out to the Fleet indicating the same, that anyone can come and put in a commission. She sews fast and accurate; Sansa doesn't think it will take her long to turn out a few pieces and earn a bit of money. For now, though, it's Lord Akeldama's waistcoat and she's just pricked her finger. She makes a soft sound and brings the wounded finger to her lips to suck it. )

Ouch! You'd think I would be better at this.

> > > wildcard

( Have another idea? Leave me a start below! )

Comments

→ carols;

[sinistral]

[Winter holidays are a thing Bucky remembers only vaguely. He celebrated them once, he knows that much, but the memories are dim and clouded and mean very little to him without their larger context. It's that context he's trying to chase in being down on the planet though thus far, it hasn't helped.

And while he hadn't necessarily been expecting to run into a familiar face, it's not unwelcome, especially considering how polite she had been in receiving him aboard their ship.]

Lady Sansa. [Wait, is that right?] Lady Stark? After you, please.

Re: → carols;

[theladyofwinterfell]

Lady Sansa or just Sansa is fine, I promise. ( Sansa goes to order her tea, one made of juniper not unlike a drink they drank on cold nights at Winterfell, and nods toward the board with her head. )

Do you want something, Bucky? I'm happy to treat you since I was in your way.

[sinistral]

Lady Sansa then. [She'd introduced herself with the honorific after all; he's going to use it.]

I wouldn't want to be rude and turn down your offer. [Which is generous of her, and Bucky makes a mental note to pay back the favor. His own order is simple, just plain coffee (or whatever passes for the drink here).] Thank you.

[theladyofwinterfell]

I don't think you could be rude if you tried. I know this is terribly forward and I only mean it in the best way but...you remind me of my brother, Jon.

( Sansa laughs softly and gestures toward his drink. )

Someone offers to treat you and you get the plainest thing possible. That's exactly what my brother would do.

[sinistral]

I'll consider it a compliment, and not too forward at all.

[He looks down at the coffee. He doesn't strictly need the heat, he's certainly dressed for the weather, but the warmth of the cup against his right palm is definitely welcome.]

Simple things are easier. And there's something about them that ring truer to me, but I couldn't tell you why.

[theladyofwinterfell]

I feel like he'd say something similar, only with quite a bit more mumbling. My brother does not like attention in the slightest. He would rather do his work quietly.

( Sansa, on the other hand, has never had a problem with positive attention; it's just that she seems to draw negative attention more often than not. )

I will admit, I have a taste for finery. I grew up in the North where we are fairly modest and all I wanted was to go South and be a princess and go to court.

[sinistral]

I can probably understand his motivations. And I can start mumbling if you'd like.

[There's almost a tease in that last, which is a feat in and of itself.]

I understand a little of the appeal. I used to go dancing in my younger days. [Bucky, you're not that old.] And if you'll forgive my own forwardness, you certainly are pretty enough to be a princess.

[theladyofwinterfell]

I almost was a princess, once, but I'm glad that I'm not. I suppose I am, technically - my brother is the king.

( Sansa doesn't think of herself as anything but Lady of Winterfell now, a title that's cold and unassailable and protects her from having to be married off or play politics on an uneven field. The title is security that her identity no longer gives her. )

It's being pretty that got me into trouble in the first place. I think, if I had it to do over, I would rather be plain and sensible than pretty and full of dreams.

[sinistral]

Then for your sake I'm glad you're not.

[He'll not pry but Bucky certainly won't stop her if she desires to talk. As much as his natural inclination is to keep himself apart from everyone, it's proving to be more difficult than he thought.]

Do you fault yourself now for mistakes made in your past?

[theladyofwinterfell]

I fault myself for every single one of them. The things I did...I know I was just a child and didn't know better but even still. I caused irreparable damage to my family. I was a hand in my own destruction.

( Rebuilding Winterfell and rebuilding her family has been the hardest thing Sansa has ever done. Still - all of it, brick by brick, is on her shoulders and she has to take that responsibility. )

It's impossible not to carry it with me. Sometimes I forget about it here, so far removed from home and with no one to tie me back to it but my husband but when I remember, I feel that much more guilty.

[sinistral]

I know a little of how you feel.

[It's definitely much too forward but he puts a hand on her elbow and indicates a more quiet corner of the establishment. The way their conversation might be headed, privacy seems more prudent. And it creates more room for other patrons near the counter.]

It's not easy to carry a weight with you. But it can make you stronger.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Where I'm from, we have words that are strongly associated with our houses. House Stark's words have always been Winter is Coming but now we say something different.

( Sansa pauses for a moment, sipping at her tea. )

We say The North Remembers. I think if you remember and you carry it with you, it guards you against being hurt again.

[sinistral]

I like that sentiment. Memory can't guard against all hurts, but it can perhaps soften their pain.

[That memories cause a pain all their own, he deems it unnecessary to say. From the way she talks, Bucky thinks Sansa may already know as much.]

I hope not all of your memories of home are such armor though. Are there such that bring you joy?

stitching time

[oratorical]

[It's not like she's eavesdropping or anything on purpose, it's more that being perhaps over-aware of her surroundings is a habit that's been far too ingrained in her now. Even here, where it's not really a concern (as far as she can tell), it's not a habit she's able to break.

Sansa's exclamation catches Leia's attention, and she turns, concerned, to check there's nothing actually severely wrong there.]

Is everything all right?

Re: stitching time

[theladyofwinterfell]

( Sansa looks up from her sewing and realizes that someone overheard her. Oh. It's not so bad an injury as all that and she feels a bit sheepish at having cried out. She lifts her finger, showing how minor it truly is, and shakes her head. )

No, I just pricked myself sewing. It's a common predicament when doing these tiny stitches through brocade and yet I always seem shocked when it happens.

[oratorical]

[Not serious at all, she agrees. It's a relief knowing no serious first aid is needed.]

You sew that often, then?

[it's not a skill Leia has much practice with, in either stage of her life, really. There's always been a droid around if something needed sewing, for decoration or otherwise, or she could just simply replace whatever was damaged, if it were a matter of repairing something's functionality.]

[theladyofwinterfell]

In my world, everything is made by hand. We don't have the technology we have here. In fact, technology is a word I only learned after coming here.

( Sansa had thought of it as magic, honestly, and it had only been several conversations with Jim that helped her learn the difference. She's found that it's quite subtle, at times, the line between magic and science. )

I'm Lady Sansa Stark. I apologize, I have been remiss in my introductions.

[oratorical]

[Leia shakes her head, a small smile turning up at the corner of her lips.]

No need to apologize, Sansa. Or do you prefer Lady Stark? My name is Leia.

It must have been a big adjustment settling in here with this much difference between your world and here.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa is perfectly fine. I don't really hold to the title as much here as I do back home. It...means less here.

( In Westeros, Sansa had worn Lady Stark like armor. Here in the Fleet, she can be Sansa unencumbered, and it is a refreshing feeling. It makes her feel younger than she is.)

It's also a bit stuffy, I think, to insist on a title that has no political weight here among the Atroma.

[oratorical]

[Leia nods, fully in agreement with everything Sansa's said here. The formality of titles and how one is expected to behave and be treated by others is something she knows well, and back home, she both appreciates and is frustrated with the response she gets through her titles.]

I'd agree. Everything else about these ships aside, it's nice to have a chance to be introduced to others as an individual, without the formalities and distance that titles provide.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Exactly. I would rather know you as Leia, than your title, and I'd rather you know me as Sansa, who pricks herself sewing.

( At that, she laughs, because really - who is that clumsy with a needle? Never her, and yet. Here they are. )

I'm normally much better at it. I think I'm tired.

[oratorical]

[It doesn't get a full laugh out of Leia, exactly, but it does get a bright, genuine, amused smile out of her.]

Pricked fingers or not, I can guarantee it's far better than I can manage. We've always had droids, so I've never had much reason to learn how to repair things neatly.

[Small tears, with messy stitches, sure. But functional sewing, not anything pretty.]

[theladyofwinterfell]

I could teach you, if you wanted? We often get to buy clothes when we orbit a system but sometimes it’s nice to make something that is uniquely yours.

( At least for Sansa, anyway. She has a certain style she favors and sometimes the planets don’t carry anything that fits within it. )

[oratorical]

I think I'd like that.

[She's not sure how much talent she'd have at it--sure, art is vital to Alderaan's culture and something she's studied and practiced years ago, but that felt like a different life now--but it does sound nice. Even as something just to pass what feels like far too much time on her hands.]

There haven't been many styles in these systems that remind me of styles I've seen people wearing in my own galaxy.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Oh, well, you must tell me how people dress in your world so I can help you replicate it. I think it makes it better when you can wear the things you're most comfortable in - at least for me.

( Perhaps it makes her stick out more to wear dresses in the Westerosi style but Sansa doesn't care. Clothes are like armor and clothes make a statement to the world - she wants hers to exude confidence and poise. )

It shouldn't be very difficult to learn how to make them and to start teaching you.