ᴛᴡᴏ ♚ broken dreams and silent screams

[wolfskin]

Is there naught we can do but sit and wait for this... affliction to run it's course?

[ Robb fears he knew the answer to this question before it ever left his mouth. By his tone he is by no means pleased. (But who is?) The background a low rumble can be heard, heavy foot falls soon joining them as Grey Wind paces the room.

The line across his neck was the first to appear, spreading like greyscale. Then the heart... bleeding words as if that sword had truly pierced his chest. Robb covered them with scarves and leathers, but it did little to hide the stains. They simply bleed through as if the fabric had never been there to begin with.

The padding suddenly stops with a bestial groan. Grey Wind plops down at his feet, quite literally on his feet. Thanks bro. ]

Alright boy, lets go outside.

[ Neither wolf nor king seem to be good at sitting, so outside they go. With journal in hand and stains for all to see. ]

Comments

[wolfskin]

[ Perhaps that is the reason that Grey Wind breaks from Robb's side to trot over to Stephanie, beneath the strange black goop he can smell Nymeria. Faintly, but enough to warrant investigation.

Robb moves with him a few paces, brow furrowing in confusion. This woman is covered in something, black and cracked. ]

Grey Wind.

[ For the moment the direwolf does not budge, inspecting her by smell. But makes no aggressive move. ]

[secondchances]

[Grey Wind? That sounds familiar, but Steph's a little too preoccupied by looking at the huge wolf to process that right now.]

Hi.

[She's a little unnerved, but wiggles her sticky fingers in greeting at the owner of this giant furbag.]

I'm not edible.

[wolfskin]

[ The direwolf steps closer, nudging her sticky fingers with his nose. Some of the tar sticks to his fur but he does not seem to mind, stepping back to sit. ]

He won't eat you.

[ It is an reaction Robb expected, though it makes him smile. ]

[secondchances]

You're gonna get all sticky. [That was sorta cute, though. Steph plants her palms on the grass, looking from the direwolf to Robb.

She looks him over.]

You too, huh?

[wolfskin]

[ The direwolf flops onto the grass, rolling around rubbing his nose against it. ]

Aye, I also.

[secondchances]

[No, that's too cute. If Steph wasn't so gross right now, she wouldn't be able to resist rubbing that big wolf's belly :(

Anyway, big wolves remind her of Arya, who definitely said something about a brother showing up, WHO IS A KING........... this guy kinda fits the bill.]

You wouldn't happen to be the newly arrived brother of Arya, who also happens to be a king, right? 'cause this is slightly embarrassing, then.

[wolfskin]

[ He smiles a weary smile, amusement clinging faintly to the edge of his lips. ]

I am. [ A beat. ] Worry not, you need not feel embarrassed. We suffer from the same affliction.

[secondchances]

[Arya, your brother is a hottie. She'll never tell.

King Hottie of the North awww yeah]

Yeah. It just feels like I should--I don't know, bow or give a handshake or something. [How does royalty work?]

I'm Steph. Stephanie Brown. Arya said she was taking care of you.

[wolfskin]

Times as these can forgive a lack of bowing. [ Lucky he is one of the friendlier Kings of Westeros. ]

Well met, my lady.

She was and thanks to her care I mended wholly.

[secondchances]

[She wonders if she should stand, at least, but whatever. She'll remain sitting by the direwolf.]

Good to hear. I cut her hair for her, and she was eager to get back to you the whole time. I've never heard her so excited.

[wolfskin]

[ The direwolf who rolls around on the grass some more, before flopping onto his side. Rubbing his nose against the grass some more, as if trying to scratch and itch. ]

It has been a long time since I saw her as such. More than an year.

[secondchances]

It's easy to tell she's been through a lot. [Keeps a thin, polite smile on her face. Thinking about how Arya was after her trip home still upsets her. Poor thing. Steph has no idea.]

She's quite the kid, though. Brave and smart. I'm glad she has you and her mother here. [Having them around has to help.]

[wolfskin]

Aye. [ He can see she has been through much, though he dares not ask. He knows better than that. ]

I am just as glad to have them both. [ More than Stephanie could know, more than he can express. ]

[secondchances]

Did they explain this stuff to you? The random... events, I guess.

[wolfskin]

Others mentioned such things could happen, nevertheless it is one thing to know of it but another to experience it.

[secondchances]

Yeah. It should go away in a few days, a week at most. Paradisa likes laying out everything for the public to see.

[wolfskin]

I pray to the old gods that it does no last long. [ He does his best to ignore it, but it is difficult. ]

...Would it be wrong of me to ask why you are covered in that? [ ): His stains are bad, but what she is covered in seems worse. ]

[secondchances]

[Ask whatever you want, King Hottie. Steph would explain if it wasn't so... messy.]

It's okay. It's... tar. It's been getting all over whatever I touch, so I'm getting we're trying to say that I mess up everything I touch.

[Without specific mentions of a gang war.]

Do kings sit on the grass? There's a clean spot there.

[wolfskin]

[ His brow furrows. ]

An unfair assumption.

[ He looks to Grey Wind as the wolf grumbles softly, rubbing his head against the grass some more. ]

This one does.

[ And sit he does. ]

[secondchances]

Yeah. Guessing yours are pretty unfair, too. [She doesn't want to pry, but boy are all these stains interesting...

She smiles when he sits, then looks over to the wolf.]

At least someone is enjoying themselves today.

[wolfskin]

Mayhaps. [ His hand reaches for his neck, fingers softly brushing over the scarf stained with the grey line.

Gaze moves to Grey Wind, a slight smile gracing his lips. ]

He is lucky beast.

[secondchances]

It'll pass soon enough. We've just got to endure.

[She'll leave it at that. Lines on necks can't be pleasant, given the things that are popping into her mind.]

I'm still not used to their size. I have a big dog, but definitely not this big.

[wolfskin]

I have endured much worse, I can assure you.

[ War, fun times man. Fun times. ]

Not many are, direwolves are rare even in Westeros, there hadn't been any south of the Wall for a very long time.

[secondchances]

[She feels you, bro.]

Arya told me. She said your father gave them out to all his kids? Very awesome.

[wolfskin]

[ He shakes his head slightly. ] Not exactly.

We found them on the ways back to Winterfell. their mother had been slain by a stag likely in an attempt to feed her welps. They would have been slain as well were it not for my brothers. Father allowed us to have them so long that we were responsible for them. We had to raise them, feed them, train them, and if they were to die we had to bury them with our own hands.

[ Dad was the best okay. ]