Nov. 23rd, 2017 10:29 pm
[ic contact | el nysa]
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"Hello. You've reached Lord Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North. Please alert me as to your reason for needing to speak with me, and should it warrant a reply, I will do so as soon as time allows."
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text | c.fraser
Hello, Eddard. It's Claire Fraser. Some time ago Sansa offered me a bed in the place your family is staying. I didn't take her up on it at the time, but I was thinking I might, now.
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OUR HOME IS YOURS, TRULY AND COMPLETELY. IS ALL WELL WHERE YOU ARE CURRENTLY?
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My husband returned to stasis not long after we moved to new place. It's not one I care to keep on my own. I had a brief return to the pods myself. I think Sansa and I would both benefit from living together.
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I BELIEVE IT WILL BE A GREAT ASSET TO YOU BOTH, AS WELL; I'VE LEARNT THAT HER YOUNGER SISTER, ARYA, WAS HERE IN THE NOT SO DISTANCE PAST BUT HAS SINCE RETURNED TO STASIS.
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text | c.fraser
text || un; IAMNEDSTARK
I CAN BE THERE IN TEN MINUTES' TIME.
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[They're going to need it. Or she will. Actually, she does, so by the time he's there a third of it is already gone. She's quite the pitiful sight, sitting alone, elbows on the table with her hands around her drink, staring down at her distorted reflection as she waits for him to show.]
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Ah, Claire. Sitting alone in the back, having had much more than he suspected in such a short period of time. Though ale and the like could be had in times of celebration, there was no such joy in her face; she was drowning her sorrows, or something like them.
He approaches carefully, gesturing towards the empty seat.] May I? [Some habits die hard.]
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Please.
[A hand motions at the chair, and she'll pour him a drink as he sits. Really, she would have preferred to talk at the house, but she doesn't want to risk Jon, Sansa, or Jamie overhearing the conversation. Jon is done with Theon, Sansa likely is too, and Jamie has enough on his plate without worrying about this boy.
Boy. Jamie only has a few years on Theon. Christ.]
I could start with small talk, or I could cut right to the chase. I think you're a man that appreciates that, so--I'll get on with it. I've been taking care of Theon's injury since the mess with Ramsay. I've... been getting to know him, since we met here. I wanted to know how you feel about him these days.
[To begin with.]
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He finds it flattering, all the same, until she begins to speak of Theon and Ramsay.
There's a certain coolness to his expression, though he remains attentive.]
How much has he told you? Of how he and my family are connected?
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[No prisoner, not sent to live with the pigs, and yet he still betrayed them. She thought that would be the worst of it.]
Do you hate him?
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Throughout his life with us, I tried to treat him as one of my own as often and as much as I could. Of course, I was not and could not be his father, but I tried to fill the role to the best of my ability. [Ned curls his fingers around the glass, though he's yet to bring it to his mouth.] He sat at the high lords table during feasts, entered in alongside my remaining brother when King Robert had come to Winterfell. My family and I trusted him the way we trusted each other.
Still, I kept my distance from him. I knew that growing too close, his becoming too dependent on me as a father would create further issue down the line. So while I treated him very much like a son, there was some coldness there that I know he'd never quite stomached.
As for your question .. it's an odd one. I've no reason to hate him, despite his .. less than enthusiastic reaction to my arrival here. Why do you ask?
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It keeps getting worse. My family and I trusted him the way we trusted each other. She doubts Ned would lie right to her face, but maybe Theon wasn't lying, either--maybe he just didn't see it. Or, like Ned himself says: close, but not held close.]
He's told me things. Things I don't think he's shared with anyone else. [For good reason. Claire presses her lips together, fitting these new pieces together.] I won't share them with you because he trusted me enough to share, or perhaps he was just at the end of his rope. He's... in a bad place, and much of it is his doing, but I can only think of maybe two people that give a damn.
[Her, John Watson... and she's wondering if she can add Ned to the list.]
When Ramsay had him, I think I was the only one who worried about him. Jon was done by then.
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He wonders if she'll reveal the truth behind the sadness in her eyes at the topic of Theon, or if it's something about which he'll be kept in the dark.]
I've not yet spoken to Jon about Theon, though I know he was living in the house prior to my arrival. The sight of me had apparently sent him running, though I've yet to find out why.
Do you know of the reason Jon has severed ties with him?
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OOC: In an old thread, Stannis has only JUST - like, in today's tag - told Ned that Theon had claimed to have killed Bran and Rickon and set fire to Winterfell, but I've already gone down the path of Ned not knowing, so it'd be weird to just spring it out of nowhere now. Technically, I guess, Ned "knows," though.
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It's a number of reasons, and the ones I know of are all valid. I really can't blame Jon for how he feels. [Which is why she's here with Ned and not Jon.]
The final straw was him not helping us find Ramsay when he had Stannis. I think if things had gone a certain way, and it was between Stannis and Theon, he would have chosen Stannis.
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[Not Jon. Claire considered it, but Jon, despite his experiences, is still a young man likely to get riled up by Theon's jabs at him. It's not good to mix the two now, if ever again.]
When Robb was here, a lot between them went unresolved. I believe that weighs on him a lot. You're Robb's father--the closest thing to him he might ever get again, and he won't ever approach you on his own.
[She's not even sure if this is right, but Ned is the closest thing he has to family here.]
You just have to promise me, no matter what he says, no matter what he does, you won't hurt him.
[No one losing their head on her watch, please.]
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[What an odd request. Ned's brows furrow slightly with confusion, but he ultimately nods.]
I wouldn't dream of it. Though he'd been my ward under less-than-ideal circumstances, I'd never once wanted to bring about harm to the boy. I've no intention of breaking that promise now.
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Ned's words are a relief. Still, he doesn't know the truth of it, and Claire desperately wishes she could tell him so he could have time to deal with the shock and disgust before possibly facing Theon in person.]
He's changed a lot since you last saw him.
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[The corners of his lips tug downwards slightly as he nods in agreement.] All of them have. Jon was but a boy when I'd seen him last. Sansa, a girl. They've all changed.
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There's a pause of her own, hands tight around her drink.]
I love your family. I don't think there's a question about that, these days. [She's happy to spend her free time with Sansa, to check on Jon, to have conversations with Ned over dinner. It feels like a family, and one she's a part of. Important to. It's made everything easier.]
But Theon needs someone on his side. Which isn't to say you aren't, but until he tells you the things he's done and you decide to feel one way or another, it'll have to be me. I know he's a good person. There's no way he could have grown up among your children and been anything but.
[If Claire were Ned, she'd probably drive a knife right through his heart. But maybe he'll surprise her.]
Jon and Sansa had something he didn't.
[A certainly of self, a strength. She doesn't know.]
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[He smiles then, however softly, with an agreeable nod.] I don't think I overstep to say that the feeling is returned. I know how fond my children are of you. [His smile slowly fades.] You make it sound as though he's committed atrocious crimes for which he'll be harshly judged, despite your insistence of his being a good person underneath it all. It is - worrying, to say the least, Claire.
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I know. And I do wish I could tell you myself, but it hasn't been easy reaching this point with Theon. [Now that she's here, now that she's learned what he's done, she's can't go back.] But I will tell you that he knew Ramsay was going to take his finger. Like some sick sort of punishment. That is the sort of thing we're dealing with.
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[Ned frowns at mention of Ramsay. He's since learnt of the Bolton betrayal, of Roose declaring Ramsay to be his true heir. He will not say that he's overwhelmingly saddened at his having returned to the stasis chamber.] The Bolton sigil is a flayed man, a practice they had for hundreds of years. After they bent the knee and swore fealty to House Stark long before I became Lord of Winterfell, they swore to cease the practice. I also outlawed it all together once I became Warden of the North, but they refused to adhere to the order.
It is no surprise to me, then, that Ramsay would have such cruel methods in his arsenal.
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[Here, at least. The things he did in Winterfell? Well... Claire hopes there's much more to it than Theon told her.]
I suppose we'll have to keep an eye out if any more Boltons decide to wake up.
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Let us hope we are spared such a fate. I'd much prefer to leave my sword in its hilt and keep it more for decoration than anything else.
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I am sorry for burdening you with this. You were going about your day, and I dragged you into this.