Call me Out

[dammitmasa]

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code by cawaii
- Refer to the list above for an active muse. -
- To call them out, put their name in the subject line. -
- Prose or commentspam are fine! -
- Start with a scenario or give a prompt for one you'd like to see.

Preferences:
- I don't play for shipping, fluff, or smut. If it arrives naturally, I'll play it. But not as a starting point.
- In universe, AUs, crossovers, post-game, or other situations are cool.
- I will play prose or brackets, but definitely prefer prose.

Comments

[bullhorned]

"But if we stay, what then?" He looked from her to the maester, looking for some sort of answer. If he had it his way, they'd leave and worry about her father later.

[steeledskin]

Sansa gently bent her wrist to the work of slicing a manageable piece off her now lukewarm portion of meat. They had waited so long for the others; a chill had settled into their meal.

"We would be cut off from the world," she allowed. And yet it was clear she feared disobedience above isolation, however ruinous. She envied Hendry his boldness, even if the suggestion was marked by common sense.

A snort from the maester proved he sided with the smith; Coleman did not want to be caught here during a storm.

[bullhorned]

Gendry did something daring and perhaps stupid. Hee had no desire to stay and freeze. Even if it might men disobedience. He turned to the boy. "What of you, m'lord? Would you prefer to stay?"

He decided that her father's authority could possibly be trumped by the boy, if it came to their survival.

[steeledskin]

Robin leaned forward against the table and turned his head towards Gendry. It was as if he was only now properly noticing the smith's attendance. Thankfully, noticing him game with something of a toothish grin. Toothish except for the teeth he was missing -- youth was such a mercurial time, and Robin had lost two teeth just last week.

"It is so terribly boring, here. If we left, would I get to wear my helmet? Would we see danger?" Robin asked with childish delight. Alayne sat back, drained already by the prospect of choosing which commands to obey.

[bullhorned]

"The helmet's not yet done." He realized this could discourage the boy, however
So he adapted. "But if we start, we'll need to save the coal for warming the keep." Our so he supposed.

The maester seemed to realize what was going on and was between a mix of alliance at the smith's impertinence and realizing there was value to find along with it. But he was easy of taking a strong stance. "The journey shall be perilous enough I'm these conditions. Impossible after that."

do note the keywords if you can. they weren't intentional.

[steeledskin]

And it was then that Sansa realized she may have overestimated Gendry's earnestness. Or else underestimated his slyness. It was an unpleasant realization, and it made her withdraw into herself. It made her reconsidering her behaviour, and made her ask whether or not she'd already given too much of herself over to a man who might not be as predictable as she had expected.

A stronger woman would seek to have him come to heel. She had witnessed Cersei do this with even imminent members of her household. Oh, how their defiance would crumble in the face of femininity wielded so masterfully. But Sansa only wanted to run and hide.

She did not feel secure enough to protest any further, and so: "I will do as Lord Robin commands. His comfort is paramount."

I am a coward, still. Petyr will laugh at me.

Clearly I need more meaningful keywords

[bullhorned]

Gendry watched the exchange as he separated bits of meat with his finger. It was cold, yes, but it was miles better than anything he grew up with. Of all the people at the table, he seemed to be putting the most away. Little surprise, given his company. A woman, a child, and an old man. The fact that none of them had admonished him had only served to embolden him.

Though when he happened to look aside at Alayne, he thought he caught something change in her demeanor. She'd never had much of a fire in her, but what she did have, it seemed to have shied away. He didn't dare to say anything now, so he only looked at Robin.

"Aye. I'll do the same, m'lord."

[steeledskin]

This left Robin with the unenviable chore of making a decision. Even he felt its weight, and even the promise of a snow-bound adventure lost some of its sparkle when faced with a trio of souls waiting on his very whim. The pressure was far more intensive than he liked, and it through him into a sullen sulk. "I'm tired, Alayne," he whined -- picking at the trailing sleeves of her dress and smearing cranberry sauce on what would otherwise be a perfectly serviceable fabric.

She did not chide him for it. Instead, she touched her forehead to his and took in a deep breath. "Soon, it will be far too dark to travel down the mountain. Sooner than we could possibly pack. Save your deliberations for the morning, my lord." Then, to Colemon: "...We have at least that long, don't we?"

The Maester nodded.

[bullhorned]

Gendry was disappointed to see the child ultimately make no choice. It was not how a lord should behave, he thought. They were not always kind, but they were always decisive. When Tywin Lannister marched into Harenhal, he took control of the situation immediately. He knew exactly what needed to be done and wasted no time doing it.

He tried to remember this was a child. But so was Arya. And she'd managed to assert herself as leader of their small trio without any issue. The boy lord, however...

"Gives us time to eat, then."

With that acknowledged, he stuffed a roll in his mouth.

[steeledskin]

Sansa pushed the pieces of food around her plate. Her appetite had waned considerably since the meal's outset. Of course, she couldn't say that she wasn't hungry. Saying such things only brought attention to them, and attention was the last thing she craved. Idly, she wondered how Gendry could eat so much at a time like this -- where even the structure and destination of tomorrow was so up in the air. Undecided. Such uncertainty made her sick.

Best not to mention the choice at all, and stick to the subjects which were safe and appealing. Appealing to him, at least, as she watched him pile his plate higher.

"Save room for sweets."

[bullhorned]

He turned to her, surprised. "Sweets? There's going to be more?"

The food made available to them was enough to feed a family for a week. And now she mentioned more. It was unfathomable to imagine.

[steeledskin]

"Do you not care for them?" A thin veil of disappointment -- like ice on the surface of a winter lake. "Sweets, I mean. We can ask that cheese be brought out instead. Some people feel terribly certain that the order matters, but I..."

She thought of the Queen of Thorns and felt a pang of envy for that old woman's bravery. Maybe women got braver as they aged; maybe she had something to look forward to. "But I suppose we needn't follow any order in particular."

[bullhorned]

The order of food baffled Gendry, as much as her reactions often did. Ladies, real ladies like her, seemed all too entirely wrapped up with how things ought to be.

"I've never had sweets, is all. Don't really know what to expect."

[steeledskin]

"Likely only a fruit tart. Perhaps meringue to go with it. Sadly, we rarely get lemons these days."

Even if there had been a lemoncake on the menu, Sansa doubted whether even she could muster the delight required to properly enjoy such a perfect snack. As it was, she forced down another great forkful of food -- telling herself that she was near enough a plate that would not be too shameful to abandon.

[bullhorned]

Gendry leaned back into his seat and nodded. "I'll wait for the fruit tart. There's not going to be more after that, is there?"

He'd put so much food into himself here that he hadn't anticipated there'd be more waiting afterward.

[steeledskin]

Cautiously: "If you ask for more, there will be."

Gods -- but where was he putting it all? She had watched King Robert eat, before. But he was large man prone to doughy limbs. Gendry looked so solid.

[bullhorned]

He raised a wary hand. "No no, gods no. The sweets will be enough. I've never feasted, is all."

Even if he was hungry for more, he'd never ask for more. Not only would that get your ear twisted in Flea Bottom, it would be presumptuous to request more. He'd already put himself forward a bit too much. Especially given how Lord Robin seemed to be quietly picking at his food and Maester Colemon was pacing himself as he ate, seeming to be lost in some quiet but judgmental state.

[steeledskin]

"It isn't much of a feast," she started -- but her words died out. Her handmaiden had told her, once, that the men of Flea Bottom would hate her because her horse ate better than their children did.

She only had to make eye contact with a member of the serving staff, gesture gently with a hand, and the young woman was off to fetch the tarts. In light of Gendry's simple pleasure at being fed, the act made her feel unwholesome. She had never felt so before -- even at her most bruised and bloodied, she'd always felt her right to issue orders.

"I wonder if there will be time to take the contents of the pantry wit us when we go." When. Not if. "If we leave it, it will spoil."

There. One small step on the way to being conscientious about what she had and others didn't. At least she cold prove that she would not leave it all to go rotten in her absence. What a waste.

[bullhorned]

Colemon nodded at that. "This summer has been long. A longer winter may yet be waiting. We shall want for any bit of grain we can have before long. We'll need to bring as much as can be managed. Were it not for our recent ordeals, we might have begun sending the stores away already."

Gendry wondered what those recent ordeals were, but decided he'd best ask later. Four fruit tarts were provided for each of them. They were baked crisply, with lumps of fruit inside them. Fresh fruit was becoming harder to come by and so these were made with dried fruit that had been soaked to bring back some of their juicy flavor. Not quite so good as what the others were accustomed to. But for Gendry, it would be the best thing he'd ever eaten.

[steeledskin]

"Try it with the cream," she suggested -- offering a little pot of the thick stuff after she had pushed aside her plate of half-finished meal. Being the lady of the house meant she didn't have to finish her vegetables before moving on to dessert.

Her smile was small and demure and hardly felt. She was thinking about Colemon's words. Supplies would be short, eventually. And she barely had a full pot of the dye Lysa used to provide. How long, she wondered, before her roots began to show...?

[bullhorned]

He'd eaten a sticky bit already with his fingers, which he now had to lick clean so he could add the cream. He mumbled a thank you and added it to his tart.

"S'good," he said at last. "Are there lords who eat only sweets all the time? If you were allowed, I don't know how anyone would pass it up."

[steeledskin]

"Our mothers and our fathers would never allow it. And then we become mothers and fathers who would never allow our children to gorge themselves on sugar only."

A dutiful explanation for a dutiful woman. But it had a twinge of regret buried there, if only for all the lemoncakes she was denied as a child because she'd refused to eat carrots. Eventually, she'd come to terms with the root vegetable. She liked it well enough, now. But oh, when she was younger...!

[bullhorned]

"Seems a bit cruel, holding it against your children just because your parents wouldn't let you."

Gendry had little concept of foods that were nourishing for you or simply indulgent. He'd never had any instruction in health. When you lived at the bottom, you couldn't afford to choose which foods were best for you, only what was available. So why not eat sweets all the time? It tasted good, so he reasoned it could only be good for you. Lords only ate the best.

[steeledskin]

"My mother used to tell me the greener the food, the stronger you'll be." Green foods were not always accessible all year 'round in Winterfell. And they were expensive to import. But Catelyn had been from Riverrun, and she had taken her taste palate with her.

Robin piped up from Sansa's other side: "My mother always let me have whatever I wanted!"

And there, Sansa thought with a frown, is my argument made for me.

[bullhorned]

I grew up on brown and I'm stronger than the lot of you. Gendry finished his tart and licked his fingers clean. Maybe he shouldn't gorge himself on sweets. But he truly doubted he'd ever have to worry about it being a choice.

"My master told me hard work is what makes you strong. Pain is strength."