sixthiterationlogs | [Locked] For Loras

WHO: Robb Stark
WHERE: Margaery's house
WHEN: Early February, morning
OPEN TO: Loras
WARNINGS: n/a

To put it politely, things had been rather different since the day Loras pulled himself out of the fountain.

Naturally, Robb was happy for Margaery. She'd always spoken of her brother on what seemed a near-constant basis, and it had been clear enough from the start that being away from him pained her. While he may not have been the gregarious knight she remembered so fondly from her youth, her was still held dear — Perhaps all the more so for their shared horrors.

But having Margaery's brother around had certainly changed things. For some time, Robb had been spending the majority of his nights in the house there with Margaery, benefiting from an unspoken agreement amongst the members of his family to simply never mention it when he return in the early morning hours each day. That Loras didn't particularly care for Robb had been apparently from the beginning, and this overnight arrangement was unlikely to help matters. Most mornings, Robb tiptoed out as quietly as possibly if only to avoid the irritated stares directed his way by the Knight of Flowers.

This morning, however, in was inevitable: The moment he slipped quietly through Margaery's door, he nearly collided with her brother there in the corridor.

"Bloody—" Robb began, and then mustered a faint smile. "I didn't see you there, apologies."

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Loras knew, truthfully, that his general dislike of Robb was unfounded. A nagging annoyance that had begun when Robb's mother had come to treat with Renly, and given all that had happened - as much as it had been out of Robb's control - Loras had let that fester.

So to say he was pleased with the arrangement would be something of a lie. Fortunately, he had a tendency to keep confined to the privacy of his own room, lost in his own head, and they managed to co-exist without having to see one another. All good things had to come to an end.

At first, Loras wasn't sure what to do. It struck him that these were the first words ever exchanged between them. Loras felt a pang of shame that, of course, it would be when he was still at his lowest and Robb was doing quite well. He ducked his head to look at the floor between them.

"It hardly seems worth apologizing for.'

This might have sounded flippant from someone else, or even from a Loras from another time, the Knight of Flowers as knowned for his cockiness as his prowess in battle. As it was, that duck of head took Robb by surprise; it wasn't deferential, precisely, but wasn't the protest he'd expected when they were finally forced into acknowledging each other.

"Well, I'm sorry about it all the same," Robb quietly replied, eyeing Loras cautiously despite it all, as if he expected a tantrum was forthcoming and didn't quite trust the situation. "For being startled, I reckon, if I didn't startle you."

And, more presently, for reminding Loras that Robb was spending nights with his sister, which seemed to tread on an unspoken agreement between them not unlike the one Robb had with his own father. It seemed somehow uncouth to call attention to it, even by accident.

"It's fine." Loras could imagine Margaery would give him a look for his lack of manners, but she's been quite mothery with him. Maybe she'd overlook it, but he knew the thought would be there. "I mean - Thank you, it's quite all right."

Well. This was awkward, wasn't it? Loras shifted his weight, debating if it's fine for him to leave first, and if he ought to say something.

"... Pleased to meet you." Nope, still awkward.

Only by the thinnest of margins did Robb manage to keep himself from laughing; it was abundantly clear that there was nothing pleasing about the situation for either of them, unless it was the absurdity of that statement. Still, he roughly swallowed back the impulse, nodding to give himself a moment to recover.

"And you," he allowed, afraid that saying much else might start him on a peal of laughter if only to relieve the horrid, strained awkwardness between them. "I'd best go," he added, and followed with a dry cough. "Hunting's best in the morning."

He stepped away, eager to be out from under the cloud of tension that had settled there in the hall, but found himself quickly flinging a hand out to steady himself against the wall. His stomach had given a sudden and mighty lurch, sloshing sickly in a way that always preceded being ill.

His eyes narrowed, as if he could see that Robb was barely keeping his composure. Loras had never taken well to being the subject of a joke, and maybe, on Robb's part, it was simply the incredible tension of the situation, but Loras took the non-existent chuckle as a slight.

"Yes, you'd best." Margaery may have had an excellent judge of character, but that didn't mean Loras was obligated to like Robb Stark. Still - he felt a sudden dizziness upon himself as well, even as he took a step towards the other man to see if he was all right.

"Are you -" Another step, a bit of a sway, and whatever it was that had taken him had suddenly passed. He assumed it was simply a fit of tiredness. "Is everything all right, lord Stark?"

[Locked] For Loras

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