sixthiterationlogs | i'm just a station on your way (closed)

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i'm just a station on your way (closed)

WHO: Raleigh Becket
WHERE: The Corydon #36
WHEN: 2 December, early morning
OPEN TO: Sansa Stark
WARNINGS: None at this time
STATUS: Locked post.

Raleigh still doesn't sleep well even after having lost Yancy years ago and, that being said, he's only in a light sleep when the knocks start on his door. He's not really the type to get visitors. In the whole while he's been in the village, he thinks this might be the only one he's had other than when the earthquakes had been happening; those knocks had been to see if he'd been all right, not for something friendly.

As far as he knows, this is something else. The world seems quiet enough in the way it always does when there's no cars around and there's fresh-fallen snow and he shimmies into his scrub pants and some socks before shouting out that he's on his way. Depending on what it is, he might end up needing to grab a coat before heading back out but if it's just something that's only going to take a few minutes, he's not bothering with getting dressed.

Yuki's meowing loudly and winding around his legs and he knows she wants to be let out. At least this is going to serve more than one purpose, opening the door. "I'm coming! I just need to get dressed!"

After what feels like an eternity (an eternity with background music scored by the yowling of his cat), Raleigh opens the door to reveal someone he didn't exactly expect. Oh. Sansa Stark. His face melts into a smile and he opens the door a little wider, motioning for her to come inside if she wants. As he does, Yuki rubs up against her legs, eager to mark the new person as her own.

"Morning, Sansa."

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"Well, when it's cold like this there's nothing better than to get under a warm blanket and hope to stay in bed all day. One of the places I lived, up in Alaska? It would be cold for about six months of the year," Raleigh explains.

"Always snow and ice. You get used to it, after a while, but you end up getting to be really grateful for the spring. What about you? Is it like this back home? You said it was cold there."

"It almost sounds like Winterfell. Our winters can last a very long time. I have heard people call them unnatural as there was one that lasted an entire generation before." Sansa answers before shaking her head. "But it isn't always so bad. The summers can actually be very nice there but it's definitely colder than most places."

In other words, she is used to snow and ice but she had grown accustomed to warmer weather as well.

It's strange because she finds herself suddenly giving a little shiver as she wraps her arms around herself and tries to fight off the chill at her memories. "It was getting colder there before I came here."

Raleigh reaches out and touches her, rubs his hand along the length of her arm and squeezes her shoulder lightly. She seems a little cold and since he has a surplus of warmth right now, he's happy to share.

"Looks like you brought the snow with you here," he says, laughing softly. "I don't mind it. I've always liked snow."

The touch of his head and the heat of his skin sinks into her skin through the thin layers of clothes she wears but she doesn't mind. If anything, it causes a flutter low in the pit of her stomach as she looks at him through long, dark lashes and smiles. It's a shy smile as she thinks dreamy sort of thoughts that she hasn't entertained for a long time.

The realization of what she is doing has a sort of sobering effect too because she doesn't want to be that girl anymore but there is just something about Raleigh that makes her feel that way.

"You would be the only one, I think." She clears her throat gently, lifting her head to look him fully in the face. Somehow the smile lingers even with her realization.

"Well, snow is good for a lot of things. It makes the world seem pure and quiet, even when it isn't," Raleigh says. He smiles a little more; Sansa is a very beautiful girl, especially when she's looking at him like that and he has to remember she has two brothers and that's probably a bad idea.

"Besides, we don't technically have anywhere to be. It's a lot more of a hassle if you have to go out in it."

Biting her bottom lip, she wonders why her heart is racing faster despite the fact she is trying to keep a calm, level head. Of course, the heart and the head were often a sharp contrast to one another.

"What do you want to do?" She asks, intrigued. "Especially if I hadn't shown up, what would you be doing right now?"

Edited 2016-12-08 02:03 (UTC)

"I would probably be in bed still, trying to decide if it was worth it to get up and try and check the fish lines," Raleigh says. "Everyone's got to eat, so I would have done it eventually, but it would have taken some motivation to do it. I don't have any now that you're here."

That's more of a true statement than he's ever really admitted before now, even to himself. "I'd much rather talk to you than do just about anything else."

Sansa feels herself flush with pleasure at his statement that he would rather stay in and talk to her. She knows that she should offer to let him go or even maybe tag along so he can still get his job done but she can't bring herself to.

"That and you would have to get dressed." She motions at him before suddenly pausing and looking up at his face with a slightly wide-eyed gaze. While she had thought about what a shame it would be if he did get dressed, she hadn't meant to stay it out loud and now her cheeks are flushed for another reason.

Really, she is a lady and she should be better at this. "I mean, getting dressed and going outside isn't that enjoyable at the moment. It's rather cold and being in here is definitely nicer."

She can't help but give an internal sigh at herself.

"I would have to get dressed, yeah," Raleigh says, grinning at her. Sansa seems flustered and that's always a good sign. Still, she's a sweet girl and she isn't the type of girl he necessarily wants to be overly aggressive with, not like he used to be back when he was a Jaeger pilot.

"I mean, I could still go get dressed if you wanted but I'm comfortable as it is. I actually woke up kind of warm this morning. Isn't that weird? Considering how cold it is outside?"

"You don't have to." She tells him, deciding that her answer is based purely on the fact that she wishes him to be comfortable in his own home. She doesn't want him to think that he needs to rush off and get dressed just to make her comfortable.

She starts unbuttoning her jacket, a sign that she is willing to stay longer and to make herself comfortable. "I woke up quite warm this morning too. It was nice."

"No? Well, I mean, I don't want you to be uncomfortable," Raleigh says, stretching a little. He doesn't have a problem showing off for Sansa, if she likes it, but if she wants an out he wants to give her one. He gives her a little smile.

"I guess once we get up the courage, you could come check the fish traps and lines with me? We'll be walking, so maybe that'll keep it from being so cold."

"I'm not," Sansa tells him with a little shake of her head while sliding her jacket off. Maybe she feels a touch shy and aware of the fluttering sensation low in the pit of her stomach but, surprisingly, not uncomfortable. She wonders if she should be.

"I was going to offer to come with you but I wouldn't mind warming up first." She looks past him and then smiles. "May I come in the rest of the way?"

"Please do," Raleigh says, reaching out his hand to tug her inside. It's definitely cold out this morning and he doesn't want to be responsible for someone as pretty as Sansa Stark for getting frostbite on her nose. He barely resists the urge to touch said nose and check for said frostbite; instead, he shows her to a sofa and sits down beside her.

"It's not much but...are any of these houses? Other than the size, they're all kind of the same."

Laying her jacket aside, she smiles as she moves to the sofa and sits down while making sure to leave room for him to sit down beside her. She wets her lips while glancing around. "They are smaller than what I'm used to but that isn't necessarily a bad thing."

"Do you live by yourself?" She asks curiously, looking at him again.

"All by myself, yeah," Raleigh confirms. "I guess a lady like you is used to a castle or something?"

Raleigh's always done well for himself but he's a worker. He's spent years working along the wall for rations, after all, and before that he'd been a Jaeger pilot risking his life every day for the thrill and to earn his keep. The idea of just being wealthy is a foreign one to him.

"Wait. You really did live in a castle, didn't you?"

Sansa realizes the slip she must have made and quickly drops her gaze while biting back a little sigh. It isn't like she is trying to hide what her world is like or the role that she'd had in it but she has already surprised a couple of people with it. She doesn't want them thinking that she is a pampered princess that can't do anything.

But she won't lie to Raleigh either.

"Yes." She looks up at him again. "My father was the Lord of Winterfell."

"Should you even be talking to me right now?" Raleigh asks, a little shocked that Sansa literally grew up in a castle and her father was a lord. He's never really been anything like that. Jaeger pilots are celebrities, sure, and he hasn't had a hard life but he's never been wealthy like that.

"I'm not a prince or anything, Sansa. I'm just a guy."

Sansa's brows draw together in surprise as she looks at him, not surprised by the shock on his face but by his words. She doesn't know why it stings but she finds herself tensing as she folds her hands together. "I don't want a prince. Trust me, they're nothing like you would imagine them to be."

There is no hiding the hint of bitterness in her tone before she gives a shake of her head. "Plus it doesn't matter here. My father is gone and I am no lady to anyone here. I'm just a girl now. I can talk to whoever I want to talk to."

"And you want to talk to me?" Raleigh asks, his brow arching a little in surprise. He shifts a little closer to her, knees turning in toward her, hand reaching out to touch her chin lightly. He hadn't meant to offend her, at all, but it seems like he might have accidentally.

"I didn't want to upset you, Sansa. Just want to make sure I wasn't crossing any boundaries or anything. I'm just a regular guy, a soldier. I don't know the rules."

"I thought that was obvious." Her voice is softer again, barely above a whisper, when he reaches out to touch her chin. It's the closest that she has let anyone get to her in weeks like this. The last person had been Lord Baelish and, while she hadn't wanted his kisses, she had let it happen because he was the one protecting her from the Lannisters. Had saved her from her crazy aunt Lysa.

Raleigh is different, though. Having him shift towards her and reach out to touch her so intimately causes her heart to race as she tries to hold his gaze. Then she sighs softly. "There are no rules here, Raleigh...."

"No? Well, if there's no rules," Raleigh says, leaning in further. He presses his mouth against hers, almost a kiss, and whispers against her skin.

"If there's no rules about who you can and can't talk to, then I want to talk to you as much as I possibly can. I want to do this, too," he murmurs, finally sealing his mouth over hers in a soft kiss.

Sansa can't help but go still when Raleigh leans in closer, the softness of his voice sounding like silk on her ears even as she goes breathless with the realization of his intention. Of all the times, she has been kissed she has never felt the tiniest bit of excitement but the tingly rush of energy that goes through her can only be described as anticipation.

And yet, it shocks her a bit when he actually kisses her. Despite her initial reaction, she holds still and waits for the revulsion to kick in or to feel nothing at all but neither of those reactions happen. Instead, the kiss is pleasant and soft. So much so that she finds herself leaning into him and returning the kiss just as softly. Tentatively, even.

Raleigh keeps it soft and sweet. He gets the sense from her reaction that Sansa doesn't have a lot of experience and she is younger than him. He doesn't want to frighten her or move too quickly in spite of how intense their connection is and he settles for moving his lips lightly against hers, gently cupping her face between his hands.

He slips his fingers into her hair, letting the soft red strands fall over his fingertips.

Having heard the things she had heard while at King's Landing and suffering the threats from Joffrey like she had, she half expected the kiss to quickly turn into more but it doesn't. If anything, Raleigh is being as gentle as possible with her which only makes the kiss better. It's nearly everything that she has ever dreamed about and that only helps her to sink more into the pleasant warmth that spreads through her when his hands slide into her hair.

Her own hands come up to touch his arms, holding onto them as though she is anchoring herself in place for fear that she might drift away from how deliciously lightheaded she feels.

When the kiss breaks, she moves back just enough to draw in a shaky breath and to smile. Her cheeks are flushed and her lips tingle in a rather pleasant manner as she peeks at him for half a moment before leaning in to kiss him again. This kiss is a little firmer, her lips parting slightly while she slides one hand down his arm to curl around and press against the back of his shoulder.

When Sansa deepens the kiss, Raleigh allows himself to deepen it as well. He doesn't move his hands any lower than cupping her cheeks but he tips her head a little and lets his tongue slide against hers; there is no question that this is a kiss with some heat behind it both metaphorically and physically.

His body feels very warm, hands gliding over her cool cheeks and along the side of her neck and jaw to warm her from the chill outside. He really cares for her, even after just a few short weeks, and he very much wants to do this the right way.

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