Inbox (In the Night)

[chivalrouswench]

I... this is Brienne of Tarth.

[ Insert long, awkward pause here. ]

I am not available at the moment, but leave a message and I will respond as soon as I can.

Comments

⟪ cryptiddie personal visit, brienne's invincible room ⟫

[voktys]

⟪ It's not long after she's heard it, from Arya Stark in one moment, from Jon Snow in the next. Of his death, she wishes to have doubt, so much doubt, she'd love to think him alive and breathing and fighting. But what are the odds? She has never been one to hide from the truth.

She's never been one to hide.

She knocks, sharp, decided, and part of her hopes not to be met with the kindly face of the girl she'd met before. ⟫

[chivalrouswench]

[ Alas, she must needs be disappointed, because Brienne is unfortunately "at home" and reponds to the knock by opening the door, though her expression is not so much kindly as carefully blank.

Her feelings when it comes to Melisandre are... complicated, to say the least, and she is not keen to let any of them show if she can help it. ]

Lady Melisandre, what can I do for you?

[voktys]

⟪ Melisandre wishes blankness to her face, but pain is edged into her eyes, she's paler than before, her lantern is dimmed –– she is unwell, clearly.

There is no good way to ask the question, and she doesn't have it in her to dance. ⟫

Did you kill him?

[chivalrouswench]

[ Brienne is no fool, she can see plain as day that something is wrong with the priestess, though she couldn't say what.

As for the question, it is too vague to answer with anything but another question. ]

Who?

[voktys]

Stannis.

⟪ It's the second time in so many hours that she has forgotten her courtesies, her distances, but what use are they? How little are they worth, in this moment? ⟫

Did you kill him as Arya Stark said? In some woods by Winterfell?

[chivalrouswench]

[ For a long moment, Brienne can only stare at Melisandre as she tries to process the thought that Stannis could be dead. It's a very... empty sort of feeling. It doesn't make anything better, and she doesn't feel justified or vindicated. ]

If I had slain Stannis, you would already know, because I would have told you.

[voktys]

⟪ Her head sinks, some of the fight driven out of her, making space for more pain, more grief. ⟫

I did not mean to call you dishonest.

⟪ Truth is a virtue, after all, one she attempts to hold onto as much as the Lord lets her. ⟫

It is not appropriate to come to you of all people, like this.

[chivalrouswench]

Oh, come inside. You're dead on on your feet.

[ Living through someone else's death is hard to do without forming at least some kind of attachment, and Brienne has never been one to relish in the suffering of others. Not even someone she feel as much contempt for as she does for Melisandre.

So she gently but firmly grabs the red woman's arm and tugs her through the door and to a chair. ]

Sit.

[voktys]

⟪ This is... highly unexpected, but she lets it happen. It's just about as much fight as she has in her right now, that letting it happen. ⟫

Few have a heart like yours.

⟪ God, could she have had this kind of kindness in herself, had Brienne appeared like this? Had their roles been reversed? Many years ago, perhaps, but there has been so much war since then. ⟫

[chivalrouswench]

A good thing.

[ Brienne doesn't think very highly of her own heart. Such a fragile thing, so easily broken by the petty cruelties of the world. ]

Don't make too much of this. I will not say I'm sorry to hear he is dead.

[ Or that she is even particularly bothered by the accusation, much as it remains very much untrue. ]

How long since you ate anything? Or slept?

[voktys]

I wish we had found something else to have in common.

⟪ It is a mirror of what they spoke of, when they spoke of Renly's death. It had to be done, in her eyes, and so she had seen that it was –– and that had had consequences for more than just the false king. ⟫

I do not require much sleep. ⟪ When did she eat, though? Not that she has to do that, either, but she's much less keen to admit that. ⟫ I... don't know. Not long. ⟪ It's the face of math. ⟫ A handful of days, mayhaps.

[chivalrouswench]

[ Brienne knows how Melisandre felt about Stannis, and some part of her does feel a kind of grim satisfaction that the priestess now knows how she has felt since Renly died in her arms. It is an ugly thing to feel, but there it is.

As for the rest, a few days? Has this woman no sense? ]

I will fetch you something from downstairs, and you will eat it.

[ It's an order, plain and simple. She has seen this kind of despair before, not in herself, not even after Renly, but in Jaime after they took his sword hand from him. She has seen how it can make people neglect themselves to the point of death. ]

[voktys]

⟪ She only nods, too taken aback by the sharp tone of the order to voice an opposing opinion. There is a warrior hiding in the sweet girl, she's known that, but she hadn't seen it before. ⟫

Yes.

⟪ The worst part is Brienne leaving, the fickle distraction gone. To be alone with her thoughts is not always an easy thing, but right now, it feels like an impossibility. It's grief for Stannis, and for Devan, and for the world that is sure to fall to pieces, even though the latter had never held much love for her. It was never about that. ⟫

backdated pre-graves;

[preseance]

( he ain't got a clue who lives in the room. that ain't the point — the point is, a little togetherness never harmed none, an' gene makes semi-regular rounds to as many of the rooms as he can.

so he knocks on the door, a plate in hand with a piece of some manner of pie. )

[chivalrouswench]

[ A little togetherness has do e plenty to harm Brienne, which is why she only opens the door a crack to peek out.

Seeing Gene only makes her a little less suspicious, he was nice enough when they met but this sudden appearance has an uncomfortably familiar ring to it.

She thinks of knights showing up at her tents with sudden and unexpected gifts, all gallantry.

All falsehood.

Still, she opens the door a little more, he might just have gotten the wrong room after all. ]

Yes?

[preseance]

( seein' brienne is cause enough to smile some, an' he ducks his head politely. )

Miss. Sorry, didn't know these were your quarters. I, ah. Been makin' the rounds bringin' folks some pie, if'n you're of a mind to try it.

[chivalrouswench]

[ Her frown of confusion is met halfway by a smile that surprises even herself when it stretches her lips ever so slightly. ]

You're just... bringing people pie?

[ It sounds so silly to her that she thinks it almost has to be the truth. ]

[preseance]

Well. ( a bit of a surprised look. ) Yeah. S'what we always do back home in Agathine, like a house-warmin' gift, you know?

[chivalrouswench]

A what?

[ No Gene, she doesn't know. ]

[preseance]

Oh, uh. It's a neighborly thing. Back home. When folks first move into a new place, everybody comes 'round with food an' such to get them started off on the right foot. Well, we don't got much here, but. You know.

( he holds out the plate for her to take with an encouraging little shrug of his shoulders. )

[chivalrouswench]

[ She accepts the plate, not being sure what else to do, and feels vaguely helpless. She doesn't know how to... do that thing Gene does where he seems to treat everyone as a friend. ]

Will you share it with me?

[ She gestures with the plate. It seems like the right thing to do, under the circumstances. He's sharing what he has, so she should offer to do the same. Even if what she has is what he had.

She is definitely over thinking this. ]

[preseance]

( that gets a bit of a laugh outta him, an' he shakes his head a bit. )

Well... I mean, that ain't the point. But yeah, I'd like that just the same.

( you're supposed to enjoy the thing, brienne!! )

[chivalrouswench]

[ Gods be good, how did she manage to make a fool of herself over pie?

She steps aside to let him in, walking over to the small table in her room to conceal the fact that she is blushing.

The room itself is kept very neat, not much can be gleaned about the girl who lives here by looking at it, really. ]

What kind of pie is it?

[preseance]

( honestly, it just fits in with what he knows of her. she's a combatant of some kind, that much he's sure, an' he keeps his room just as clear of any detritus. military uniformity, an' all. he waffles briefly in the doorway like he ain't sure if he should take his boots off or not — coraline has him trained, after all — but ultimately he leaves 'em on.

if he catches the blush he don't say a word about it, just looks away to give her a polite moment to compose herself. )

Oh, it's, ah. Buttermilk. Ain't as fancy as some other sorts, but it's what we've got the ingredients for. My Ma's recipe.

[chivalrouswench]

Better than anything I could make, I'm sure.

[ She knows how to feed herself if she has to, even helped the cook out when she travelled with Lady Stark, but there is a world of difference between that and making nice food.

She looks around a little and manages to find a couple of spoons that she lays out for them, feeling as she should be doing so much better. She is a high born lady, she should be good at taking care of A guest. ]