chivalrouswench | Inbox (In the Night)

Dead by my hand, apparently. I must possess more power than I ever knew, to hang for treason and sit here with you, and yet somehow also be in Winterfell to execute Stannis.

[ She breaks off a piece of bread and holds it out for Melisandre to take. ]

If I can be alive and dead at once, why not him?

⟪ She makes a noise like a stifled laugh, and takes the piece of bread to eat and not question if Brienne has just unlocked a sense of humour in the both of them. ⟫

I did not mean to accuse you, I just –– I had to.

⟪ The way Brienne had to face her, when they both arrived here. ⟫

It's not the first, either. The Stark girl insists I met her when she was younger, accused me of buying a boy for some vague purpose, all manner of things, none which add up. Jon Snow says I rode with Stannis and his wife and his daughter to battle for Winterfell, when Stannis only ever rode for Deepwood Motte and I was left at the Wall. Selyse and the princess Shireen are at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, miles from either of us ––

⟪ She chews on her bread. ⟫ She says you told her of the execution at Winterfell, but where I saw you killed was nowhere near that.

I understand.

[ She privately thinks it was rather rich of Melisandre to come hunting her down considering her condescending attitude toward Brienne's own anger, but all the same she understands. ]

Jon Snow also expected me to be at Winterfell, together with his sister of all people.

But our stories align, don't they? Jon Snow and his sister seem to be generally in agreement ––

⟪ She stops, not sure where she is going. ⟫

This place is doing something, but it is unlike all I have ever seen.

It is far beyond what I am able to understand.

[ There are people in this place from strange times and places, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it at all.]

If they are not simply lying to us. That I am rather familiar with.

You have been lied to?

⟪ It feels like a dumb question –– people lie as soon as they open their mouths most all the time, but still, it feels... odd to direct such a habit at this girl in particular. ⟫

[ Brienne takes a piece of bread and starts picking it apart with her thick fingers. ]

You're surprised?

You brought me food. I am among the people you hate most in the world, and you are feeding me and talking me through the worst day of my... ah... death?

⟪ she fumbles with her bread. ⟫

To lie to you seems unusually cruel.

[ Brienne shrugs, dismissing her own kindness. ]

My actions have never counted for much in the eyes of most people.

[ She is ugly, and that is where the story ends. ]

Edited 2019-07-19 11:35 (UTC)

How come? You are highborn, aren't you not?

⟪ Oh, right, she notices the glaring thing –– ⟫

It is your femininity, is it not? Westeros has a way of not acknowledging women.

In part.

[ She has not made herself better liked by aspiring to live the life of a knight as much as she can, that much is true, though it does not tell the whole story. ]

( 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. )

[ 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?

( 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.

[ 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. ]

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

A what?

[ No Gene, she doesn't know. ]

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. )

[ 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. ]

( 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!! )

[ 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?

( 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.

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. ]

( the self-deprecation makes him frown some, mouth quirkin' down at one corner. )

It's just a matter of practice. If'n you want I can show you sometime. I spent a lotta time growin' up tendin' to three brothers, so I had a leg up on the competition, you know?

(he he makes a joke of it, albeit a soft one. that his ma died young ain't somethin' he holds near to his chest, it's just a thing that happened. lord knows he misses her every day, but at least he got closure of a better sort than most folks could ever hope for, an' his ma was with him in literal spirit right on up until he was in New York. )

I had three siblings too.

[ Said with a soul-deep sadness. Not so much for the brother and sisters she never got to know, though there is that too, but for her own inadequacy.

Her father could have had Galladon, Arianne and Alysanne. But instead there is only Brienne. The failure. ]

Inbox (In the Night)

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backdated pre-graves;

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