eachdraidh | (second lemon cake) video ✧ locked to seelie

Dear fellows and members of the Seelie court -- [ the voice which addresses the locket is composed and clear and perfectly conscientious. but the girl whose image accompanies the voice looks a little less than all those things. her dark-dyed hair is fastened in an uncommonly simple braid...and if one looks very closely, she can be seen to have a haggard look about her. she's somewhere outside and all her caution is bent at hiding a panic she doesn't want to share with strangers. nor with those few genuinely waiting on her return. ]

I don't want to alarm any of you. Indeed, I speak to the very opposite of that effect. It's -- [ her gaze flickers 'off-screen' for a moment ] -- it's Alayne Stone. Those of you who are acquaintances [ not friends ] ought to know that I've found myself...left behind. I'm sorry. It should not have happened. But I suspect I won't make Caer Glaem again for some time. [ the fault of the matter is a little trickier than that, but she knows better than to play with implications. so after a steadying breath, she presses onwards. ] Or we won’t -- because I'm not alone. [ i have nymeria, she thinks but doesn’t dare to say. just like how sansa wants to speak directly to those who know her for who she really is -- but instead: ] I have a knight with me.

Don't I, Ser Gendry? [ and she twists her locket, letting it capture the surly blacksmith who stands a few paces away from her with an irritated expression. his armour is dented and blooded and the man sags with an obvious exhaustion. ser gendry is a man who looks and feels beaten, but it does not stop him from standing tall. he is a talisman of sorts: a warning, to any sansa fears might prey upon what would otherwise be a journey fraught with vulnerability. ser gendry is here; she is protected, albeit not happily so. he at last looks towards her and her locket and grumbles an unhappy agreement to her statement, which is accompanied by a nod. ]

A lady needn’t despair when she’s so well accompanied. Instead, my thoughts are with the returned; I pray the High Queen’s desired prize was taken without steep costs or losses. [ following this, there is no formal farewell. no official sign-off. her attention lingers, perhaps waiting for one or two responses in particular. ]

( ooc; sansa and gendry are now officially stranded and making their long way back to caer glaem -- and it’ll take them at least two months, though they’ll be reachable by locket at their respective ic inboxes. but for now, responses to this post will receive replies from one or the other or both!)

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[two months. ben's jaw clenches and unclenches as he stares into the locket, brows twitching with worry. he tries to hide what little emotions are escaping, but it's hardly working. he may not know sansa very well, but she is a connection, and connections are good.]

That man there better keep you safe. You trust him?

...Yes.

[ she has no choice but to trust ser gendry. and on top of that, she understands that she ought to encourage a good opinion of him -- a token of favour for even bothering to rescue her, she supposes. because how lost would she be had she been left alone? ]

I trust him to take me back. To see me safely through these lands. He is a knight; he's taken his vows.

[ ...whatever those were worth, these days. ]

Good.

[but he doesn't care about the vows. a good man is a good man, whether he's a knight or a hobo. ben feels ambivalent towards him (but he feels ambivalent towards everyone) though he doesn't say another word on the subject. he's not going to judge someone before meeting and getting to know them.]

Be safe. Make sure there ain't nobody followin' you.

[who knows what the people in caer scima are plotting.]

We're...certain. [ as certain as two hapless travellers can be, really. indeed, it's likely nymeria who manages to keep them safest. her growls and calmer moods both reflect whether they ought to be alert or not. ]

[they better be certain. if anything happens in the next two months that involves the strange fight that happened too recently, ben is going to be at a loss at what to do.

out of all the things that do exist in the drabwurld, why aren't cars available?]

He from your home, too?

He is. I've never met before this place but we have...he and I -- there are people we know in common. It's been enough, thus far, to vouch for him.

[god help him if this knight ends up being some traitor. at least ben is a little less intense on the subject, now. he trusts sansa's judgement.

sort of. her choices are her own, that's his reasoning. if she doesn't return in two months, he's going to search for her. honestly, though, that amount of time outside of the castle's grounds, no matter how dangerous, is probably good for her. she needs a bit of outdoors, something to wake her up to realize that being stuck on so-called safe grounds isn't always the best way to live.]

Hope he knows how to hunt.

[because he knows she sure as hell doesn't.]

Oh. Hunting.

[ she looks thoughtful. ] I'm certain he does. Should I ask? Would it be rude to ask?

[ben snorts at the thought of something so small as that being rude.]

It ain't rude, you gotta eat. Ask him.

And if he is offended that I should doubt him in this capacity?

Then challenge him to get you the biggest goddamn animal he can find out there.

[what a great problem solver.]

...You would have me be so brave, Ben. [ she thinks on their conversation. ] I fear I will never meet your expectations.

You-

[okay no he has to laugh it off, even if it sounds a bit bitter.]

Don't be talkin' to me like you know what I want. I don't give a rat's ass about what you do.

[well. maybe he does a little bit but he will never admit it.]

[ ...hmm. her gut reaction (like that of any tender girl) is to be hurt by such indifference. to clamour for his attention and his esteem. but when the urge passes, she is left feeling oddly buoyant. it is good to be unfettered by expectation. ]

My apologies. I should not have presumed. Rest assured, I'll...make certain Ser Gendry can hunt. Even if I don't do so by asking.

[now he's a little confused. he squints at her a moment, wondering how she's going to make sure he can hunt. without asking.]

How're you gonna do it?

[ her voice hushes. ] I mention a meal. Or I tell a tale of a lauded legendary hunter. Conversation will manage well where questions would not.

[ben scrubs a hand over his face.]

You used to dancin' around subjects like that?

I don't know how to hunt. But I know how to dance.

[now that he thinks of it-- dancing has a primal side to it, just as hunting does. it's more subtle, more delicate, but most certainly there. his opinion of her, as little as it matters, changes in the smallest way.]

Long as it gets you what you want.

[ long as it gets her what she wants. hmm! sansa doesn't think of it in so progressive of terms. instead, she prays it will ward off what she doesn't want: violence; cruelty; jeering. ]

Sadly, all I want right now is my bed and a cup of tea and perhaps a book that's not too taxing. No amount of hunting nor dancing will bring me those things, I think.

Nah, they won't.

[he's sure she'll find something to do while she's out there, though. she seems creative enough. two months of travel is bound to bring plenty of boredom.

ben almost, almost lets out a sigh, but holds it back, glancing away instead. he's done what he can, and he wants to check the armory out for the hundredth time. sansa is probably one of the only people to have had such long conversations with him.]

See you when you get back.

[and he ends the feed.]

(second lemon cake) video ✧ locked to seelie

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