sixthiterationlogs | it's a little thing called puppy love

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it's a little thing called puppy love

WHO: Sansa Stark
WHERE: In front of her home
WHEN: Dec 8th
OPEN TO: Open
WARNINGS: will update if needed
STATUS: Open

Raleigh had told her about the strange boxes that arrived now and then for people without warning or clue as to who sent them. It was in one of those boxes that he had gotten his cat and she knew that Margaery had gotten her puppy the same way. Sansa didn't consider that it might be possible she would get a box of her own, though.

So imagine her surprise when she stepped outside with the intention of going for an early morning walk only to stop at the sight of a box sitting on the front step. Freezing, her lashes fluttered as she blinked at it and the fact that her name was written rather boldly on the lid. Her lips parted in surprise as she glanced back and considered calling out for someone to come look just in case what she was seeing was a trick of the imagination. Not that she did actually call out. Instead, she turned back to make sure the box was still waiting for her and pressed her lips together when she saw that it hadn't disappeared.

Closing the door gently behind her, she took a careful step closer and then another until she was right in front of the box where she could kneel to get a closer look. She started to reach for the lid when suddenly the box jumped just a little, causing her to jump a little as well. She froze for a second, holding still for a heartbeat or two, before finally opening the box to see what was inside.

The way the box had moved clued her into the fact that there was most likely something living inside but nothing could have prepared her for the sight of a white, fluffy puppy inside. Almost immediately she was cooing as she watched the puppy wriggle in excitement at the sight of her. Then the puppy was doing its best to get out of the box, its back feet scratching against the side as it tried to pull itself up and over in an attempt to get to Sansa.

"Ooh, you little sweetheart." Sansa giggled, reaching in to scoop the puppy out into her arms. Then she sat right there on the front step of her home, giggling again as she tried to avoid the exuberant 'kisses' the puppy was trying to give her face.

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"Okay." Still holding Akira in her arms, she moved to nudge the box to the side where it would be out of the way and she could deal with it later on. She was sure that it could serve some kind of purpose but right now she was focused on her brother as she followed him inside.

Stepping into the kitchen, she lowered Akira to the floor before glancing briefly in Robb's direction as he set the bag on the counter. She had a feeling that he was trying to block her from seeing what was inside but, truthfully, she had no desire to see the contents.

Instead, she rose to her feet to fetch a bowl like he asked and moved to hand it over. "Here you are."

Robb placed a few of the livers and kidneys into the bowl and then crouched to place it on the floor for the puppy before moving to wash the blood from his hands at the kitchen sink. The water was frigid, and he found himself first wishing they had the hot water in here that the did in the washroom, and then inwardly chastising himself for having grown so soft as to even have such a fancy.

"Akira's an odd sort of name, how'd you come up with it?"

Sansa watched as Akira hurried over to the bowl, sniffing lightly at the contents before starting to eat. Wrinkling her nose briefly, she looked up towards Robb once more and watched as he went about the task of cleaning his hands. She was in the middle of tucking some hair back from her face when he asked about the name, causing her to pause.

"Oh, uh." Her lashes fluttered as she looked at the puppy again since it would be better than looking at Robb who would probably be able to see so much with an older brother's eye. "A friend of mine suggested it, actually. I thought it was pretty, so I used it."

It wasn't that surprising, really, that Sansa had been making friends. She'd always been good with people, with a knack for diplomacy that he himself had never seemed to full master.

"Which friend?" he asked as he turned off the tap and reached for a towel to dry his hands. "Perhaps we ought to invite her for a meal. That is, if we can get Arya to sit still long enough for one," he added with a soft chuckle as he turned back around.

"Hmm?" She made a little noise like he was just catching her attention again. It was an attempt to sound and make the next revelation casual, instead of the fact that her heart was racing a little as she answered him. "Oh, it's not a she."

Then she mimicked his chuckle, nodding her head. "It would be a miracle if you could get her to sit still for awhile. Maybe if we could find a way of making Arya something that she really likes to eat, that would help."

Edited 2016-12-30 01:51 (UTC)

Pausing with the towel held slack in his hands, Robb squinted at Sansa with a tilt of his head. Even to someone who hadn't known her all her life, her hedging must have seemed obvious.

"All right," he slowly said at length. "I'm going to let you explain to me what it is you're trying to hide and why."

He hadn't Jon's fervor for protecting their sister from those of the male persuasion, but as the ostensible head of the household, Robb did have a responsibility to look after his sister's well-being and reputation. If she wanted to spend time with a boy, there were proper ways to go about it, and they both knew it.

"Please don't look at me like that, Robb." Sansa sighed, using the same slow tone that he was using as she continued to watch him. It was true that he didn't have the same fervor as Jon but she knew he would still want to see her safe.

There were times when she wondered how much he knew about her situation as a 'guest' of the Lannisters. If he had ever heard rumors about what happened to her and the cruelty that Joffrey liked to show her, especially when Robb was fighting his army. She hoped that he knew none of it.

"I'm not hiding anything, I am being cautious." It wasn't just out of worry that the boys might scare Raleigh off but also because she didn't want to be hurt. The last time she had been drawn to someone, they had turned out to be a monster. Not that she thought in a million years that Raleigh would ever be anything like Joffrey but she still worried that she would never be happy. Not for long.

"His name is Raleigh." She watched Robb for a reaction to see if maybe he knew who she was talking about.

The name prompted only the vaguest of recollections. Blond, Robb thought, although it was possible he was mistaken. In his effort to shed the life he'd left behind, he'd been somewhat extreme in striving for the opposite, and had failed to involve himself in village society more than peripherally. There was the perpetual fear he would feel compelled to lead.

"And you fancy him," he surmised, because if she'd not, they'd not have been having this conversation in the first place. He had to tread with care here, though, lest she draw into herself and refuse to tell him anything.

"Does he fancy you?"

Sansa could tell that he was trying to remember or figure out if he knew Raleigh. A part of her wouldn't be surprised if he did, considering that he had been there in the village for longer than she had been. Tilting her head slightly, she felt her heart race until he finally began to speak again.

At first, she could only nod as she looked down briefly to her hands that she had clasped together on her lap. She had to be careful here as well since she had a fairly good idea what would happen if he knew that she had kissed Raleigh.

"I think he does." She answered, looking up again. Then she had to know. "What are you going to do?"

Robb leaned back against the counter with a soft, low laugh, brows arching as he watched his little sister. "I don't know, is there something I ought to do?"

He tilts his head, fiddling idly with the towel in his hand. "I trust you more than just about... No, actually, more than anyone, full stop, to know what is and isn't appropriate." Particularly now, particularly after what must have happened in King's Landing. "But you seem rather worried and that does have me curious, I must admit."

"You do?" Sansa's surprise slips out before she can stop it. Nor can she stop the surprised look on her face as she watches him, her eyes wider than before as her hands grow still again. It really shouldn't surprise her to hear it but it does, especially given everything that has happened. After a moment of digesting that news and questioning it, she looks down again while thinking of how to answer him.

"The last time I thought that I wanted to be with someone, he turned out to be a monster. That..." Had their father arrested for treason and then beheaded in front of a crowd. Who tortured and humiliated her while arranging to have Robb killed along with their mother.

"Raleigh isn't like Joffrey, I know that." She continues with a little shake of her head, looking up at Robb again in the hopes that he understands. "He makes me happy but I'm just worried..."

That it might go bad. "I wonder how much I can trust my own judgement."

Edited 2017-01-12 04:42 (UTC)

A shadow crept across Robb's features and he dropped his gaze with a nod. He himself struggled with this same tangle of apprehension and fear; his just took a slightly different form.

"Come here," he said, and tossed the towel aside to motion her forward so he might gather her into his arms and give her a good squeeze and drop a kiss to her soft, red hair.

"If you fancy him and he fancies you, there's a proper way to go about things," he continued as he leaned back to look Sansa in the eye. "Have him come meet me. I want to get to know him."

He tucked a stray bit of hair back behind her ear. "Do you trust me?"

Even though she would understand it, Sansa would find it shocking that Robb would doubt himself for even a moment but that feeling would stem from a younger sister idolizing her older brother. Watching him, she moved forward while he tossed the towel aside and didn't hesitate to move into his arms when he gathered her close. If anything, she needed the hug and needed to give him one in return.

After returning the squeeze and letting her head rest briefly against his shoulder, she leaned back to look at him and nodded. "I will tell him that he needs to speak with you if he is serious about caring for me. He actually was worried about even just talking to me when I told him the truth about who I was."

That had amused and surprised her.

"Of course, I do." She looked surprised again but only because, while she worried that Robb would have reason not to trust her, it never crossed her mind not to trust him. "I trust you completely with everything that I am."

"Then I hope you trust me to make sure he's the sort of honorable, gentle man my little sister deserves." Quite honestly, Robb had trouble imagining anyone measuring up to the standards he'd have set for her match, but if Sansa was happy and if this was a genuinely good man, he supposed he could make an exception for her sake.

And if, in the process, he could possibly assuage her fears in a way he couldn't his own, then all the better.

"Does he hunt?"

"I do trust you." Sansa told him, her words and the look on her face genuine as she watched him. Truthfully, it was kind of nice to think that Robb was there to keep an eye out for her and to fill a role that their Father couldn't. She knew he would be fair about it too.

"I don't know. Not that we have ever talked about." She shook her head a little before brightening. "But he does fish. He checks the lines every morning and he has shown me how to do it too. Once or twice."

"Not that I've touched any fish yet." She added quickly.

"You know, I don't think I've ever fished in my life," Robb allowed with a dismayed crease to his brow. "You'd have thought with our Mother being a Tully that sort of thing would come more naturally." They'd not exactly been near any large bodies of water at Winterfell, but there had been a good many streams. In retrospect, it seemed inexcusable that he'd never learnt.

He shook his head, and then shrugged. "Well, I was going to suggest he come hunting with me, but perhaps he would teach me to fish instead. What do you think?"

"It is kind of strange, isn't it?" Sansa replied with an amused smile despite the fact that it wasn't really their fault that they didn't know how to fish. Granted, being a Lady, no one would have expected her to learn how to fish or even hunt but she was curious about it now. Not that she had plans to actually go out into the forest to hunt but she wanted to help any way that she could.

"Perhaps you could trade lessons?" She suggested, lifting her brows slightly. "I'm sure he would be willing to teach you how to fish and maybe he would be interested in learning how to hunt. It wouldn't hurt to have more people able to do such tasks."

"It would be helpful to know," Robb agreed. He'd been sticking to hunting because it was what he was familiar with, what he was good at, but particularly now with the weather driving the animals into their dens, it would be useful to have an alternative source for meat.

"Have him come by to see me some morning before I leave, all right? But don't leave it too long, or you'll have me worried," he added with a fond smile, briefly curving his hand against her cheek.

"I'm sure he would agree with you in regards to knowing how to hunt. Plus, who better to teach him?" She flashed Robb a charming smile, watching him with an adoring gaze just like she used to when she was younger. Just a young girl looking up to her older brother who could do no wrong.

"I will." She promised then with a nod, leaning into the touch. "I'll tell him to come by as soon as he can."

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it's a little thing called puppy love

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