'cause everything is never as it seems;

[persequor]

[ The journals catch the sound of a warning hiss and a frustrated growl. A pattering of feet and yowling follow. For anyone in the ballroom, you'll see a girl with a grumpy looking cat in her arms. She smiles down at it. ]

Told you I could catch you.



(( ooc: feel free to claim the cat as your character's own if they have one ♥ ))

Comments

[fantasies]

They're not actually cold, I guess. It's just something you say, you know?

[persequor]

[ No, she doesn't know. But this topic bores her. ]

What do you do?

[fantasies]

Um. [He looks uncertain. None of the stuff he does holds a candle to hers.] I go outside, too. But, uh, not all the time. I read a lot. Books and comics and stuff.

[persequor]

What do you read? Stories and legends?

[fantasies]

Yeah, most of the time. Well, not really legends, I guess. I read fairy tales, though, that's kind of the same thing.

[persequor]

[ Yep, not a favorite subject, but she's curious enough to remain attentive. ]

Which one's your favorite?

[fantasies]

Snow White.

[Not a usual first choice for a little boy, but he's a little biased.]

I like all of them, though.

[persequor]

Which one's that?

[fantasies]

You've never heard it before?

[He doesn't sound critical -- just the opposite. If she hasn't heard it that means he gets to tell the GOOD version.]

[persequor]

No.

[fantasies]

[His face lights up.]

I could tell it to you if you want! I don't have my book anymore, so it wouldn't be exactly right, but I've read it a bunch of times.

[persequor]

All right. [ And she waits for the story. ]

[fantasies]

Here, come on, let's go sit down over there.

[N O P E. If they're doing this, they're doing it right. Henry hesitates, then puts the cat back down on the ground. It follows him when he goes off towards the chairs.]

[persequor]

[ Fine. She's following. This story better be worth it. ]

[fantasies]

[It's so worth it, okok.

Henry settles into one of the chairs and the cat hops up into his lap. He waits for Arya to sit down before he starts.]

Okay. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named Snow White. She lived in a castle with her father, the King, and her stepmother. Her mother died when she was little, but Snow White thought that her stepmother was good and kind too, and they lived happily together for a long time.

But what they didn't know was that Snow White's stepmother was an evil queen, and that she wanted the whole kingdom for herself.

[persequor]

[ Arya listens quietly, for once giving him her full attention. ]

[fantasies]

One day, the castle guards woke up to find the King murdered in his bed. Snow White was heartbroken, because she loved her father very much, and she went to her stepmother for comfort.

But the Evil Queen had plotted it all herself, and now she needed a way to kill Snow White, too. So she made a deal with a Huntsman, and sent him to cut out Snow White's heart and bring it back to her.

[persequor]

[ Muttered darkly: ] I hope Snow White cut out her heart.

[fantasies]

[He snaps briefly out of his ~storyteller voice~ to boggle at her.]

What? No, Snow White wouldn't do that. That's why the Huntsman let her go, when he found her. He realized that she was kind and loving and that she didn't deserve to die. That the Evil Queen needed to be stopped.

[persequor]

Her father was murdered and she was too kind to avenge him? [ Her voice has been steadily rising with every word. It's beyond her comprehension. This woman's father was killed in his bed—a craven way to kill anyone—and all she wanted was comfort?

The image of her father on Baelor's sept sweeps to the forefront of her memory. Her jaw sets. ]

She's an idiot.

[fantasies]

No, she just knows that revenge isn't the answer. [And his tone is shifting, more defensive of the characters than of the story. This is his family they're talking about.] She wasn't going to let hate control who she was going to be.

[persequor]

And doing nothing is?! She's weak!

[fantasies]

She didn't do nothing. You haven't even heard the whole story!

[persequor]

[ Glaring, she bites her lower lip. This story better improve by a lot. ]

[fantasies]

[He sighs noisily and leans back in his chair.]

Fine. So. The Huntsman lets Snow White go.

The Evil Queen was furious that he didn't kill her, so she made everyone believe Snow White was a criminal, and offered a reward for anyone who could catch her. So Snow White started to steal from the Evil Queen's carriages that were passing through the Enchanted Forest, so that she could save enough money to leave the kingdom and escape.

One day, she stole from the carriage of a prince from a neighboring kingdom. Prince Charming.