hellhouse | (no subject)

Is that sentiment on the record? My parents would never believe you.

[ Which, now that he's said it out loud, is actually kind of sad. The realization draws down his smirk into something a little more neutral. ]

Well, thanks for telling me your real name. I like it, it's nice.

I'm rather fond of it myself. There was a time where it was too dangerous for me to use my true name and now that I can use it again, I never want to go without it.

( Sansa moves to sit beside him, feeling a bit awkward without the armor of her usual gowns. )

I've never worn breeches before, Jared. Not even once. My sister wears them all the time - she dresses in leathers like a man. But I'm a queen. I've never dressed this way.

[ That's so weird to think about, the idea that she had to hide her identity even back home. He wouldn't want to have to live like that and it's hard to wrap his mind around the idea that she might not have had a choice.

Then, she says that and he looks over at her when she sits beside him. ]

Jeans.

[ He grins a little bit and looks down, finally actually humbled, somehow, by this part of the conversation. He's okay with being a smart ass but having to explain clothes to a queen, well. If that doesn't humble a dude, he's not sure what would. ]

They're called jeans. The breeches, I mean. Or denim, that's the material they're made out of, anyway. Does it feel better or worse than the gowns?

Edited 2019-06-27 01:21 (UTC)

Practical. They feel more practical than gowns but I feel more exposed. You can see everything when I'm wearing these and you don't see...all of that in a gown. Not the gowns I make, anyway.

( It's also strange to wear something she's not made by her own hand. Sansa hasn't worn clothes she hasn't made herself since she was fourteen. )

Do women dress like this where you come from?

[ He doesn't mean to laugh, but it happens anyway. ]

Oh, you sweet summer child. This?

[ Jared gestures to her outfit with one hand, grinning slightly. ]

This is a really conservative outfit. Wait until you try on the leggings if you think you can see everything in what you've got on right now.

But yeah. Women dress like this and in less where I come from. You should see the swimsuits, holy shit.

( Sansa freezes when he calls her a sweet, summer child. It's something said in Westeros, most commonly to children born during the Long Summer like she was, and she can tell that Jared isn't from Westeros. Her face pales a bit and she cannot hear the rest of what he says. )

How...how did you know I was born in the Long Summer? You aren't from Westeros, you cannot be, you do not speak like a Westerosi man.

[ That expression and the quick change in her demeanor throws Jared off. ]

...I didn't? What are you talking about?

You called me a sweet, summer child. That's what people call those of us who were born in the Long Summer, those of us who haven't seen a winter. I only saw my first winter over the past few years.

( Sansa is still confused but a little less startled than before. Why would he know that expression if he isn't Westerosi? It makes no sense - and none of his speech or manner up until now makes her think he is Westerosi. )

It's a common saying where I come from. The words of my house are Winter is Coming. House Stark is always preparing for winter.

[ Jared shakes his head, holding his hands up. ]

It's pretty common where I came from, too. Only, it's usually used when you're talking to someone sheltered, no offense. I meant it like you're sheltered from my culture by your own, I guess, because what you're wearing ain't nothin' compared to some of the stuff I've seen women wearing back home. Hell, my mom wears more revealing clothes than that when she goes to yoga class, and it's like totally normal.

I have never worn anything that shows my body like this. Always gowns, always modest. The only person who has ever seen me in less than a full gown aside from you is...well, was my lord husband. No one living has ever seen me in less than a gown other than you, now.

( Sansa looks down at her clothes, tries to decide if she's all right with them. She has to fight here and she needs to think like Arya, not like herself. Arya would choose these clothes. )

It will take some getting used to.

I mean, it's less fabric than a gown but it still covers you really well, you know? Don't worry. That's still modest by most standards, Babes.

[ He gives her what he hopes is a reassuring smile, then, because it seems like she could use one and he still owes her one. ]

I think there's some hoodies around here if you want something to cover your arms more?

[ Jared belatedly processes that past tense and the reassuring smile shifts into something more sympathetic. ]

I'm sorry about your husband... [ ...awkward. ]

Edited 2019-06-28 01:28 (UTC)

I'm not sorry about my husband. He was a cruel beast and deserved his death.

( Sansa leaves it up in the air as to how Ramsay Bolton earned his particular death and the manner in which it occurred - no need in rehashing all of that. )

As to the clothing, I will adapt. Survival means adaptation, after all.

[ ...even more awkward...

For a moment, he just kind of looks at her, because he's not sure how to respond to that. ]

Well, okay then.

[ He's good with leaving it at that. ]

If it makes you feel better, you look good in that.

( Sansa is used to people complimenting her but this catches her off guard because she's not used to being in trousers and she's not used to being anything less than a lady and a queen. Here, she's trapped like everyone else. She smooths her hands down her jeans and nods once. )

Thank you. I still feel as if I'm wearing nothing but if this is the nothing women are supposed to wear, then I shall wear it. To adapt is to survive.

I think the least of the adapting we'll need to do is get used to the less than desirable clothes they put us in here. Baby steps, though, I guess... You'll get more comfortable in it maybe after you've been wearing them for a while and get used to the way they feel. You're really not showing much, though, I promise.

[ It'd be really nice if she were, but he's smart enough not to say so. ]

I don't want to keep you or anything, so if there's anything else you want to take so you have more options to put together outfits, please take whatever you want. The leggings might be good for sleeping in, actually. I have a feeling you won't like wearing them like pants, even though lots of women do.

You're not keeping me from anything, Jared. Truth be told, I don't like being alone here. It reminds me of...other times in my life when I was not as safe as I was as queen. I would rather have the company.

( If it's weak of her to admit it, so be it. Sansa doesn't think it's weak to be afraid of this place. )

[ Admittedly, it's a little bit surprising to have someone imply that he makes them feel a little safer just by existing in the same space. Nobody's ever said that before. He's still not sure that she's making a great choice, since he's been basically useless, but he's certainly not going to complain. ]

You can stay. I don't care, I just don't want you to feel like you have to or whatever.

I am a queen, Jared. I don't do anything I don't want to do, trust me. I just feel as if we ought to stay close to one another and protect each other. I don't like this place at all.

( They'd been trapped in that greenhouse for what felt like an eternity, after all, and Sansa hasn't felt such fear since Ramsay. She doesn't want to feel it again any time soon but it would have been worse if she were alone. )

I would tend to agree with you. I don't want to be, like, up each other's asses every minute of every day, or anything, but generally knowing where each other are so that we know whether we ought to worry that something's wrong if the other is gone for too long or whatever, or knowing that there's safety in numbers when it's time to go to sleep, or something. That'd be good, in any case.

[ Besides, it's not like he's the type that's going to fight a hot girl saying she wants to share space with him. Sure, there's two beds, but they don't have to use both all the time, right? Maybe he'll get lucky. God, he hopes he gets lucky. That would at least make being trapped in this fucking hell hole at least a little bit worthwhile. ]

Edited (fucking tab+space) 2019-06-30 18:47 (UTC)

I think I would notice if you were in that particular place, Jared. We'll share the room for now so we can have a place to account for one another and check in. I'd rather this than be separated. We can use these devices at other times, I suppose.

( They're not the most useful, as she cannot see everyone's faces, but she can see most of them now. )

[ He can't help it. Jared barks out a surprised laugh at her response. ]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't...I didn't mean that literally, Sansa. I just meant I don't want us to be in each other's business every second. Like, we can stay in this room and we check in with one another but we don't have to be with each other 24 hours a day, was all I meant.

...does that make more sense?

Yes, of course. I'm going to have to learn how to speak like you if I'm going to blend in. I think there's more people like you here than are going to be like me. There's a man from Westeros here, a man named Sandor, but that's the only person I've seen.

( Adapt, or die. That's always been Sansa's life and she's adapted as much as she can. She can do this too. She sits near him, drawing one leg beneath her.)

Have you seen anyone from home?

You don't want to speak like me. I'm pretty fluent in douchebag. But I can help you understand what people mean when you're trying to translate those kinds of figures of speech, if you want.

[ Jared's eyes widen a little. ]

You know that guy? Is he always like that?

[ Then he shakes his head and shrugs a little. ]

No, I don't really have a whole lot of people back home to find around here, anyway, these days. Unless the people I play X-box with count, but I've never met them in person so I wouldn't know if I ran into them anyway.

Sandor has protected me before and fought for me before. And yes, he is always like that. You just have to get over it, I guess, because he'll never change.

( Sansa laughs a bit, covering her mouth. )

I shouldn't speak ill of him. He'd put himself between danger and me every time. He always has. I've known him since I was a girl.

I'm not tellin' if you don't, Babes.

[ Jared smirks at that a little at the way she's covered her mouth like she's not supposed to be saying what she's saying and she's liberated herself a little more than she'd expected to. ]

That's cool that you had somebody like that. I guess my brother would probably be that guy for me if he wasn't too busy being that guy for America as a whole.

[ He's always been bitter about Kevin being in the military. Kevin's his brother. Jared needs him. America can rely on someone else's brother. ]