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Post by Ray on Jan 18, 2018 11:29:04 GMT -7
He does not expect her to stay or even reply. The apology is sloppy and drunk, and he is sloppy and drunk, and that does not exactly make the best image of himself no matter what he says. It had been foolish to drink, much like he was beginning to think it had been foolish to even return here, but Katherine's words had struck him deep even if he hadn't let the Queen see that. And after months of thinking what would happen when he finally came here, just to have the doors effectively closed in his face by the people he grew up with... it made him feel as though all he had been through was for nothing.
But he looks up after setting the armor aside, and sees Mia walking the short distance back to stand right in the space in front of him. His brows furrow once more, his fingertips falling from the plates of steel as he stares up at her. In an instant her lips are pressing to his, hard at first and stealing his breath in the surprise of it. But after a moment, the kiss gradually becomes soft, and Ro finds himself pressing back against her, knowing the taste of ale lingers upon his mouth, knowing this is neither the time nor place for this. His palms are just settling upon her waist when Mia draws away slowly, her own hands upon his shoulders, her forehead resting against his.
He swallows, his eyes slipping closed. Half of him wants to tell her the truth, all of it. About why he left, about the wilds, about her mother, but he knows it would only ruin what may be their last moment before the guards come to drag him from this place once and for all.
"Sorry for apologizing," Ro says instead, a hint of humor in his words and drawing his lips in a half smile.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 18, 2018 11:43:51 GMT -7
His hands settle on her waist and for the first time in a long while it felt good to be held by him, it had felt so long since she had hugged him, since she had held his hand so tight that nothing could break the hold. Mia knew, sadly, that it wouldn't matter what she felt for Ro it wouldn't happen, yet she never understood why because of her father. Jon was completely different from her mother and yet the two of them were still together. Maybe rules were different for Katherine Stark's daughter.
She moved her hands from his shoulders and gently put them on either side of his throat as her fingers sunk into his hair. Now wasn't the time for them to be like this, now wasn't the time for anything between them to happen but she so wished that they could be together. Maybe that wasn't what he was thinking at all but it felt good to be in his arms for the first time in a long while.
He apologised for apologising and a smile pulled at her lips as a laugh huffed out. Mia wished this moment could last but he was drunk and she did need to get back to the castle. She pulled her forehead away from his and opened her eyes to look down at him; another smile pulling at her lips. If she was honest the only person who could really put her back together was him and now he was here there was always the fear that they would be parted again and this time it was for good. With that thought in mind she put her lips back against his once more the taste of ale there but she didn't care.
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Post by Ray on Jan 18, 2018 12:07:03 GMT -7
She remains quiet as she stands there before him, forehead still pressed to his, laughing only softly at the joke Ro lets slip. Her hands shift so she can sink her fingers in his short black hair. The touch sends a light trickle of static down his spine, a feeling he probably shouldn't indulge. He's thought about being here, in this place, so many times in the past. When they had grown into their teen years, so had his foolish crush for her grown, giving him wild ideas of what could be. And yet, even then, he'd known that only the gods could make it possible for them to ever be together. Amelia had been a princess from a strong, noble family. And Ro had just been a boy like any other. He would have been lucky if Mia had still remained his friend passed their teens.
And that's the root of it, isn't it. The reason why he's even here at all, drunk and hidden in a guest chamber and thinking about what happens when the guards decide to tell Katherine who stumbled back in through the gates with her daughter. Robin might have the name Durin, given to him when he was still so long as to not know the difference, but he was nothing more than child from the countryside with no title and no drop of royal blood. And he knows that it was more than earning the favor of Mia that drove him into the wilds, more than just some petty desire to be a hero in her eyes, but that was part of it too.
How is he ever going to be that man if he hides the truth like a child hiding behind skirts?
She kisses him back, soft and sweet, and Ro lets it continue for a moment before his honor finds its way through the haze of ale. He pulls away with a slow sigh, wanting to chase back after her lips, wanting to let the kiss continue, but knows he can't.
"Amelia, I don't want to hurt you again," he mutters, shaking his head and looking down. His palms slip from her waist to drape back between his knees. "And I'm going to if I don't stop this."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 18, 2018 12:48:13 GMT -7
This time Ro is the one that pulls away from the kiss but instead of keeping his hands on her they drop away from her waist and he speaks about not wanting to hurt her again and how if he let the kiss continue then he would be.
Mia was confused at the moment and she looked down at him before chewing on her lip for a moment she's not sure what to do and he's looking down and not at her. He is looking away so he doesn't have to see anything in her eyes and that made her feel sad. She slowly moved her hands from his hair and then took a step back. "If you want to stop this then you look me in the eyes and you tell me that this isn't my mother, that she's not telling you to say this" she said and waited.
Back in the wood he had wanted to kiss her that much she was sure of and while he was drunk now they kissed but it seemed as if this was the very thing that he didn't want to do at the same time. She put her hands down to her sides and she slowly looked down at her feet because of the fact that it felt like he was going to be leaving her again. It felt like he would be slipping back out of her life again and she was starting to wonder if any of this was worth the hurt again. Mia knew that when she cared, she cared deeply, and she didn't want there to be anything that ruined this friendship but some how looking at him, hearing him talk.. well she didn't know what to think if she's being honest.
Mia slowly moved her eyes up and looked at him.
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Post by Ray on Jan 18, 2018 17:09:16 GMT -7
Ro lifts his eyes back up to her when she speaks, challenging him, challenging the decision her mother had already made for him. He presses his mouth flat for a moment, looking at her as she waits for confirmation of something that clearly is not all too much a surprise. He wonders, in that moment, if that's why Mia has become so concerned with her royal duties, why she's fretting over choosing a husband she does not want, why she's no longer the wild child he once knew. He knows people grow and change, and clearly a part of that young girl he remembers still lurks beneath the pretty hair and perfectly pressed gown, but the carefully weaving hand of her mother would explain so much.
He has no doubt that Katherine loves her daughter. That Katherine would protect her daughter fiercly. He just never imagined that he would be one of those things Katherine protected Mia from.
He exhales a slow breath through his nostrils.
"Your mother told me to leave." He finally relents, lifting a hand to pinch at the bridge of his nose and rub at the corners of his eyes, trying to will away some of the bleariness. "Told me to never speak to you again. Made it clear that she'd use her position to keep me away." Though the threat seemed like more than just barring him further entrance from Winterfell or stamping a seal on a royal exile. "I've...faced plenty of worse things in the wild, and yet Queen Katherine seems like one opponent I can't possibly beat. I was drinking to either find courage to argue against her or drown myself until I found the resolve to go home." He admits, dropping his hand once more and lifting his blue eyes again, letting her see the truth there.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 18, 2018 17:29:26 GMT -7
Mia closes her eyes up when he finally tells her that her mother did speak to him and that she told him to basically leave her alone or something would happen, her breathing is shaky and she turns away from him for a moment once more before shaking her head.
Honestly she knew why her mother would do it, she knew what had motivated her to say all of that to Ro when she had loved the boy, he had brought her joy and he would sit with them while Katherine brushed Amelia’s hair and would him some sort of tune. Now she couldn’t stand him even being around Mia and she guessed that that was down to the fact that he had broken her heart. That he had hurt Mia and she knew that was one thing Katherine wouldn’t stand for.
Slowly she opened her eyes and turned back to look at him “I am sorry that she would say that and while she does have some pull to do that... a lot of pull actually I..” She was going to say that her mother wouldn’t do that but she knew she would be lying. She knew she would be because it would be the exact of what Katherine Stark would do.
Mia knew that walking back to him would only make her heart ache when he told her that he couldn’t touch her. So she stood a little bit away from him and clenched her fists because there was a part of her that wanted to scream so loudly. How had all of this come to pass? How could she go against the one person who loved her so much that she would do anything to protect her?
She wasn’t sure but she knew that in the end Katherine would probably win no matter what.
Then Mia asked a question she had never thought about until now “Do you want to be with me?” She asked softly and watched him.
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Post by Ray on Jan 18, 2018 17:44:21 GMT -7
Mia takes those words about as well as he expected, turning away from him as she digests it slowly. Ro knows that he probably should have said nothing. It would have been much easier for her, for both of them, if he had simply taken Katherine's threat and disappeared once more. Mia would have forgotten him eventually, just another clueless man not worth her time. She would not have known about her mother's involvement. Would not look so hurt by it.
But Mia turns back to look at him, and her question is soft and dangerous.
He watches her, feeling his heart sink slightly in his chest, wanting to answer but not knowing what the right answer should be through the fog. This is not the right time to be having this conversation. Though he doubts there would ever be a right time. Not for this. He sets his elbows upon his knees and looks to the ground once more, a hand absent-mindedly rubbing the heel of his palm into the brand on the crook of his left arm. "I think..." he begins, trying to choose his words carefully. But the ale makes that difficult. "I think answering that question would only make things worse." He admits, sighing quietly and letting his shoulders slump.
"I think I came here hoping that maybe...I could be. With you." He continues after a breath, keeping his eyes low. "But I think I underestimated the complications of it. Of this." He shakes his head slightly, and drops his hand back away from the brand to lace his fingers together. "I don't even think you know the truth of where I've been. What I am."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 18, 2018 18:00:05 GMT -7
Ro gives her the answer and honestly it hurts to know that they both want to be with each other but knowing that her mother wouldn’t allow it is just hurtful. He was right, knowing the answer does make things worse because they both want the same thing but because of what happened they can never have it.
She takes a shaky breath in for a moment before letting an even more shaky one out. All of this was making her ache more, Katherine wasn’t protecting her from any of this she was just making it worse by parading the lords in front of Mia and making sure that she picked one and was married off before Ro even stepped foot back in Winterfell but all of that was in vain.
Mia unclenched her fists and she moved over to where he was and sat on the bed next to him. “I haven’t heard anything from Rohan only that I’m to be having a ball there for my name day, everything else has been kept from me clearly” she said and looked down at her hands.
If she’s honest there she didn’t even know there was any news from there but clearly there had been because everyone seemed to know more than she did about him. Mia was the last to know anything lately but some things were probably best hidden away from her because it would only make her hurt more.
Now probably wasn’t the best time to ask him about what really happened on his travelling because there was a part of her that was scared to know. Instead she leaned her head against his shoulder and swallowed hard she was mixed emotions right now.
“Let me stay with you for tonight” she finally said and then moved her head up to look at him. “If my mother does manage to get you banished from Westeros then I want to know that I had this time with you and you alone” she whispered at him and looked over his face.
Then she could go into any marriage knowing that she at least had a moment with the man she wanted and it could make her life a little easier.
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Post by Ray on Jan 18, 2018 18:16:04 GMT -7
Clearly, he thinks in reply. If a fisherman from the Westerosi south can recognize him in a tavern but Mia has to question Tormund's teases, then someone has to have halted information before they could reach the princess' ears. And he's sure he knows who. Perhaps it's for the better. He knows the things they say. Knows the stories they tell. And while there is some truth to it, somewhere along the lines things have gotten muddled, forgotten, embellished. And he is not sure the truth is better.
He lowers his chin once more, rubbing his thumb into the palm of his other hand, not sure what else to say. Not wanting to get into that here, now, when he's still tipsy and fuzzy around the edges. That would make him a little too honest.
She comes to sit beside him, her head resting upon his shoulder, drawing his eyes down to look at her. It's such a familiar feeling, her sitting there beside him, her hair falling across his arm and shoulder, her weight leaning upon him. Familiar and reassuring. Even in the midst of all of this. They sit like that for a long moment, silence filling in around them. When she does finally speak, his brows press close, and he watches as she lifts her head once more to look at him with her big, blue eyes.
Ro's lips part slightly. "If your mother finds you..." he begins, shaking his head slightly, even if a part of him wants nothing more than to have her stay. But he knows that Queen Katherine does not sleep on her threats. And banishment might not be the punishment she decides upon if she finds Mia in a room alone with Ro after she told explicitly to leave.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 18, 2018 18:32:27 GMT -7
Mia knows it’s not fair to put him in such danger, to use him against her mother but she doesn’t care if her mother finds her, doesn’t care because right now there isn’t any Winterfell outside the door of this room. It’s just the two of them like it has been for a long time, the two best friends that when kissed the first time poked their tongues out and made gagging noises; promising never to do it again.
It was the two of them that would lay in the grass at Ash and watch as the sun set as they held hands, it was the two of them that laughed at the most ridiculous things and right now it was the two of them in this room. Alone.
He was right she could find her here and it would be the worst thing since the war for punishment but at the moment she just wanted to stay with him in here even if for a few hours. Even if he left way before light and she was back in her room, mia wanted to know that she spent the night wrapped up in his arms. It could be the first and only time they had together but it would be with it.
Finally she looked at him “My mother doesn’t exist in this moment” she whispered at him. “Not right now it’s just you and me and even if this is the last time we are together I want to know that I spent it in your arms if you will allow me this moment” she said and watched him and chewed on her lip. It could get them into trouble and it might not but it’s a chance they will both have to take if he wanted too.
If not then she would walk out of the door and he can leave in the morning before Katherine even gets up.
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Post by Ray on Jan 18, 2018 18:52:35 GMT -7
She continues to whisper to him, asking to stay, asking to be here if it is to be the end of this. And Ro knows he doesn't have the courage to say no. If this is to be the last time he sees her, he'd rather spend it in her company than wallowing alone in a silent room, wondering what if. And it is foolish, of course it is. When have his decisions ever been anything but? Yet he can't bring himself to care enough about the possible outcomes to send her away back to her own room in her tall castle. He doesn't have the heart to hurt her like that so willingly.
"Okay," he replies after a moment in a murmur, nodding his head a little. "But you have to promise me something..." He says, looking over her face. And he wants to tell her a dozen different things -- all conflicting and swirling in his mind. He wants to tell her to leave before the sun rises, go back to her room and don't look back. He wants to tell her not to let whatever happens happen, because fate has a cruel way of playing tricks on him. Most of all, he wants to tell her to not let her mother dictate her future. Not like this.
But he can't bring himself to say any of it.
"Kick me in the back if I start snoring." He tells her, lifting his hand and holding out a pinky like they used to as children, a faint smile pulling at his lips though the mirth does not meet his eyes.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 18, 2018 19:12:28 GMT -7
Mia feels her heart pound hard in her chest when he lets her stay, she had imagined him sending her away back to her room because of the fact that Katherine could find them but he was letting her stay with him, letting her stay here for the night and right then a smile pulls at her lips.
Then he asks her to make him a promise and she pushes her eyebrows together because she’s not sure what he’s going to make her promise and her mind starts working over the possibilities of what they could be. She chews on her lip for a moment and then he finally speaks and she raises an eyebrow before looking down to see him holding out his pinky towards her just like they did when they were kids and all the promises that they made through this way.
She huffs out a soft laugh and she nods “I promise” she said and then put her pinky around his and held it there for a moment. “Although I gotta say kicking you in the back isn’t going to cut it for me, I’m going to have to push you out of the bed because you know that’s what I do” she let his pinky go.
Slowly the two of them got into the bed, she removed her shoes and put them down beside the bed before she looked over at him. There had been many times when they had slept over each other homes, Mia always loved staying at Ash because it was so warm and that was just because of the sun, here in Winterfell it was so cold that she had gone to bed wrapped in so many layers just to keep warm.
The thought of this being the last time they saw each other actually hurt her more because she knew that he was there and they wouldn’t be able to see each other and there was a part of her that wished he had stayed away because not being allowed to see him actually felt worse then him leaving her behind.
Katherine could do anything she wanted here in Winterfell but the one thing she couldn’t control was him being at Durinhall so maybe they could get away with seeing each other on her name day. There was no way Katherine would tell Jeyne and Eoin not to invite him to their own castle.
Mia then moved closer to him and before long she was laying her head on his chest. There was a thought that was going through her head right now; did he hurt as much as she did? Or was the drink making it all alright at this very moment and if so would he feel it tomorrow when he had to walk away from her and never come to Winterfell again?
She wished there was a way she could talk some sense into Katherine and maybe if she went to Jon then he could talk to her instead, she usually listened to him. Mia was going to make that her mission in the morning but for now she wanted to stay with him for the night before they were separated tomorrow.
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Post by Ray on Jan 18, 2018 19:43:52 GMT -7
"Deal," Ro replies, his small smile finding a little more humor as she threatens to shove him entirely from the bed. Mia does not waste time. She slips out of her shoes and climbs back upon the bed meant for more distinguishable guests, all while Ro returns to unlacing his boots. The smile drifts free from his mouth, its edges turning down faintly instead as his fingers work numbly but quickly to undo the straps. He wants to be happy about this. Wants to enjoy this moment. But knowing the inevitable leaves him feeling just as saddened as he had when stalking to the tavern.
He rests back upon the blankets and the pillows after a moment, lying beside Mia, a sort of strangeness to this closeness. They had shared many beds when they were children, too young to care and too close for their parents to try pulling them apart during those weeks when they finally saw each other again. But this is different. She moves closer after a few minutes, her head coming to rest upon his chest, and Ro hesitates for a brief moment before he sets his arm around her, palm upon her arm, and holds her there.
Silence descends heavily around him, and between the soft lulling of her breathing and warmth still swirling his belly from the ale, he drifts off before long.
In his dreams, yellow eyes watch him.
"Robin," a voice hisses in his ear, right as a hand grabs his arm and gives him a hearty shake. He startles awake, sucking in a breath of air and lurching slightly off of the pillow. His movement is only halted by the weight upon his chest and the form still curled up against his side. He blinks rapidly, swallowing down hard as his eyes search the darkness around him.
He finds grey eyes hovering above him, framed by a pale face and long hair. The woman is tall, slim, her thick hair tied and braided into a mohawk that cascades down her back, blacker than night at the roots, and pale as snow by the time it reaches the ends at her waist. The sliver of moonlight drifting in through the window is the only thing that makes her visible in early morning. She digs her strong fingers into Ro's arm, forcing his attention back into place.
"Vasha?"
"We have to go." She tells him, her voice low and quiet. She lets him go just to grab his gear and push it towards him. "Guards are sniffing around." Ro places his palm over the armor now collecting atop of him, but drops his eyes to Mia beside him. She still sleeps, quiet and peaceful, undisturbed by the noise. He swallows again, and carefully navigates himself out from beneath her.
Vasha has already crossed the room back towards the door, an ear pressed to it.
"How did you get in here?" He asks, stupidly, knowing he shouldn't, as he starts pulling his armor back on with nimble fingers. The numbness of the ale is gone, leaving only a dry taste at the back of his mouth and a painful pang at the base of his skull.
"Window." She replies simply, hushed. Ro glances to the side as he yanks on his boots, and sees the window open a crack. Cold air seeps in. "What mess have you gotten in this time?" She mutters, moving to grab his glaive and toss it to him. Ro catches it one handed as he rises to his feet, swinging it around to slide into place.
"The usual." He mutters, looking back to Mia. His chest feels tight.
"Is that her? The girl?" Vasha asks, nudging her chin towards the sleeping princess upon the bed. Ro says nothing, but Vasha takes that as answer enough. "She's pretty."
"We should go." He mutters, turning away. Vasha says nothing else, moving on light feet towards the window. She cracks it open further and swings one leg out into the early morning air, unfazed by the cold despite her grey sleeveless leathers. He follows, and Vasha nods once before dropping out like a silent shadow. Ro hesitates as his hand comes to rest on the window frame, pausing to glance back. Clicking his teeth together, feeling his heart give a lurch, he watches Mia sleeping for a moment. And then, silently, he leaves the red leaf he'd found earlier in the godswood upon the chair. Pulling in a deep breath and steeling his nerves, he ducks out of the window, and drops to the stones below.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 18, 2018 20:08:44 GMT -7
Mia is first aware of the fact she's alone because of the cold and also because when she fell asleep the night before her head was on Ro's chest but it was now on a pillow. She's not sure if she wants to open her eyes because her heart aches but slowly she opens them up and sees that the window is open and she swallows hard. She could feel tears burning the back of her eyes and she closes them up tightly to stop herself from crying but there is no use the tears slip out and she puts her hands to her face and just lets herself cry for a moment.
How could she have been so stupid that she let herself get hurt again? but she had insisted on staying and it wasn't Ro's fault this time, it was Katherine's.
She stayed like that for a while and when she finally stopped crying and managed to sit up it was then that she saw the red leaf on the chair and reaches over to get it, Mia remembers him having it in his hand the day before but doesn't remember he kept it but now it was in her hand and she wasn't sure what she could actually do with this little bit of information; what was Ro telling her by leaving the leaf for her?
She wasn't sure and maybe she was reading too much into it, Mia just felt tired and wanted to keep the one good thing that she cared about but with Katherine being adamant that she didn't want him in Winterfell then this was going to make things so much more worse.
Mia finally got up from the bed and shut the window up because if anyone came in then she wanted to make sure that it looked like it was only her who had stayed there. After a while she left the guest chambers and headed across the courtyard, it was busy today and she wasn't sure just why that was but she was sure something was going on Mia just hoped that it wasn't anything wedding related. There was only one person she knew she wanted to speak too and he had been the voice of reason when it came to her mother for a very long time and if she got him on her side then Katherine might just relent.
Finally Amelia tracked him down and asked if she could speak to him and then she went into a speech of what Ro had told her the night before and she then in the end she stopped pacing and looked at him. "Father, please you have to get her to see some sense, I don't want to marry these Lords that she keeps having sent here, I don't want to be miserable I want to love a man that loves me for me and not my name or title"
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Post by Ray on Jan 18, 2018 20:46:39 GMT -7
"Mia..." Jon sighs, kneading his brow slowly. She'd found him before he could scarcely get breakfast, cornering him into the office that was once Ned's but has long found other purposes. He sits back in the leather-bound chair, slumped a little down as she tells her story, already deciding that this day is going to be a long one. Between Katherine's strangely distant behavior the day before and now this, he's wondering if the whole castle has gone mad.
He drops his hand from his brow, setting his dark eyes upon the girl standing before him, "I understand. I do." He replies, honestly. He of all people knows the pains and trials of loving someone the gods do not seem to want him to keep. It was only luck that Katherine loved him back as well, only fortune that they've been able to remain together this long. An oddity he has not been blind to. He'd long discovered Katherine's secret, her curse, a thought that had initially terrified him for many reasons, but one being the possibility of withering before her eyes. And yet here he sits, twenty years later, not a hair different or a new line upon his face or a trace of age weathering him. He's older than his father was now, and yet he feels no different. "But your mother has her reasons as well. And as much as it pains me to say...there are very certain expectations that women like you have to uphold. Especially now, when we are trying to rebuild after winter." He sighs a little, wishing he didn't have to say that. "And Ro..." he trails off for a moment, looking elsewhere.
As much as he would like to find it easy to list the boys faults, as much as he would like to be able to agree with Katherine's concerns, it is harder than he expects. Even when the boy was young, this scrawny little child with floppy hair and such an infatuation with Mia, he had found himself reflected in that child's eyes. And now... now he has a certain respect for him. An admiration, even. As silly as that sounds.
He wets his lower lip and shakes his head slightly. "I would not have sent him away so...forcefully. I will say that." He murmurs, setting his eyes back on Mia.
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