sixthiterationlogs | happy birthday

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happy birthday

WHO: Raleigh Becket
WHERE: The Inn
WHEN: 11 December
OPEN TO: All
WARNINGS: none
STATUS: yes

It had taken Raleigh most of the day to realize that it was his birthday but, in his defense, the place doesn't really have clocks or calendars. Since arriving, he's been keeping track of the days as best he can and the best he can figure, it's December 11th. That's his birthday and the weather certainly fits with it so he guesses, for all intents and purposes, he's twenty eight now.

He never expected to make it to twenty eight. Jaeger pilots don't exactly have long life expectancy and the way the world had been going before he came here, Raleigh didn't think he'd be living very long. He'd been working top of the wall for top rations and there still wasn't ever enough food; coming here meant good food even if he'd had to work just as hard for it. Twenty eight is a luxury. He wishes he could have a cake or something but he doesn't think he's had a birthday cake since he was a teenager, or something, and he's about ninety percent sure there's not any flour or sugar for such a thing. Still, he's hopeful, so he's stuck his head in the kitchen a couple times in hopes of spotting Kate to ask her. He can make it himself, he knows how to cook, and he's perfectly willing to share it.

He just wants something to mark the day, if he can, so around dinner time he finally gets in the kitchen with his catch for the day and starts working on cooking it. It's a little more than he usually ever cooks for himself but he wants to eat with other people today, share a meal and some conversation, and he's got a smile and a kind word for anyone who happens upon him. He hopes he's not in Kate's way, either, because he knows the kitchen is her domain (and she's good at it). He just wants something special for his birthday.

"Think you could help me lay out the plates?" he asks, not sure who's ducked their head in.

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"It gives us an excuse to want to keep close, anyway," Raleigh says, grinning at her. Curling up on a snowy morning is one of the few things that he thinks is perfect in the world and he thinks Sansa might be into that too, considering the course of their relationship so far.

"Are you warm enough? Or should I try to wrap my arms around you and keep you a little warmer?"

"That is the one nice thing about cold weather." Sansa nods her head, offering a sweet smile as she thought about what it would be like to curl up with him when it was cold. It made her blush a little but she had heard the serving girls in Winterfell talk about curling up with their husbands or lovers if the nights got chilly. Now she understood what it meant.

She focuses on Raleigh, knowing that she shouldn't say yes but she can't help it. "I'm a little cold. Not bad but maybe just a little."

"Do you need me to warm you up?" Raleigh doesn't mind doing that at all but it's probably a bad idea to do it right here in the inn in front of everyone. Then again, is he trying to hide this? No. He cares about Sansa, thinks she's sweet, and there's no reason to hide that they enjoy one another's company.

"Well, after we eat, I think a little warming up could be arranged. Far be it from me to let a pretty girl have cold feet when I can solve that problem."

Sansa isn't trying to hide what is between her and Raleigh but she knows that her family has to be told, especially her brothers. She knows that Jon will have concerns but Robb will want to handle things properly. Much like how her father would expect to handle things if he knew a man was interested in her.

But she isn't too focused on that at the moment as Raleigh asks if she needs him to warm her up and something in his smile causes a strange little warmth to bloom in the pit of her stomach. "Do you mean going back to your place?"

"If you want to come and hang out after dinner, yeah," Raleigh says. He tries to keep it casual, considering that he doesn't know if Sansa is as into him as he is into her but it's hard to be casual when he does care about her. He enjoys spending time with her.

"It's just nice to not have an empty house for a little while, anyway, and I would walk you back if you didn't want to make the walk by yourself. I just think the company could be nice."

"I think it would be nice too." Sansa smiles warmly at him, a hint of color still resting in her cheeks as she studies his face. The idea that she might not be as attracted to him as he was to her would shock her completely because she is rather sure that it's obvious just how much she is drawn to him. No one else makes her smile so much and there is certainly no one else she is interested in kissing.

"I like your house and I enjoy spending time with you." She drops her gaze shyly.

"Well, after we eat, I think we can take a walk down to my house and spend a little time there before I bring you back to yours. I wouldn't want your family to worry."

Raleigh knows she has a lot of family here and he'd worry about his, if they were in such a place. He wouldn't blame her brothers if they worried about Sansa.

(Raleigh doesn't really want to give them anything to worry about.)

"Sound like a plan?"

"They won't worry too much as long as I am not gone all day." Sansa thinks the might worry before that but she doesn't really think that Raleigh would expect her to stay too long.

Going to his house would give them a chance to talk as well.

"Sounds perfect."

"Good."

It doesn't take him long to eat, mostly because he's always been a fast eater and he's motivated to get a little time in with Sansa after the meal is done. It's probably more logical to just do that here in the inn but, honestly, he likes the privacy of his house compared to the more public space of the inn and the buildings of the village.

When he's finished, he offers his hand to her, wanting to hold hers as they walk back down toward his house. "Come on. Let's make it a quick walk so you don't get too cold. There's an awful lot of snow out there, Miss Stark."

Sansa can hardly eat when they finally sit down to have their meal. She makes herself eat, though, because she knows Raleigh has prepared the food and because she knows it will make him happy. Still, she probably eats just as quickly as he does and so she is ready to go by the time he is.

Sliding her hand into his after they deal with their dishes, she smiles warmly. "The snow doesn't bother me, Ser Becket. I barely notice it when I'm with you."

Again, she blushes and looks away as she walks with him to his house.

"Is that because of me or because you're a princess from the frozen north?" Raleigh asks. It's teasing, lightly teasing, because he loves to see the color rise up on her cheeks when he does it.

"Because if I'm going to take credit for the snow not bothering you I want to know if it's truly because of me."

"I would say that it's mostly you and maybe a little bit about the frozen north part. But definitely mostly you." She tells him in a soft voice, still blushing but she can watch him now as she says it. Maybe it's a little easier because she has kissed him a couple of times.

Maybe Raleigh has more experience but that doesn't mean he can't still be floored occasionally by something a woman says to him. Like now, for example - Sansa has knocked him off his feet.

He keeps his hand in hers during the walk and when they're out of the sight of the inn and her house, he pauses and slides his arms around her waist, pulling her close.

"Are you cold right now? Do I need to warm you up so you can walk the rest of the way?"

There are moments when she catches herself by surprise too and it is definitely one of those moments when she finds herself marveling at what she just said but that doesn't make it any less true.

Then he catches her by surprise when he pauses their walk and pulls her close. Not that she minds as she slips into his arms with ease, her heart jumping and starting to race as she does.

"I...yes, I'm a little cold but I really didn't notice." She murmurs, already leaning into him with a shiver of anticipation.

"Well, I don't want you to be cold at all," Raleigh says. He dips his head down to kiss her, full and warm on her lips, and savors the feel of her in his arms and the way she feels pressed against him. It is cold outside, yeah, but he can't really feel cold when he has his arms filled with Sansa.

Besides, it's kind of beautiful to be out in the dark evening, snow around them and starlight softly glittering over the ground.

Sansa wants to tell him that she doesn't think it's possible to be cold when she is in his arms but then he is leaning down to kiss her and she quickly forgets the words in favor of kissing him back.

In that moment, everything feels perfect. Just like the stories she used to read that made her dream about romance and wanting a handsome man to sweep her off her feet. The sudden surge of emotions that swiftly follow the realization nearly startle her but she merely tightens her arms around him, kissing him a little harder when it happens.

Raleigh pulls away and cups her cheeks in his hands, suffusing them with a little of the extra warmth he has to pass it along to her. She is one of the most beautiful girls he's ever seen, sure, but more than that there's a sweetness to Sansa that he hasn't ever found in anyone else.

"Do you think you're warm enough to keep walking or should I try to kiss you again just to make sure?"

The temptation to have him kiss her again is obvious but she decides that she would rather kiss him in private than right out in the open. Not because she is worried about her brothers but because she has been raised as a lady. Such intimate things should be kept somewhat private.

"I think I can keep walking. We're not very far from your house, are we?"

"We're not far," Raleigh promises. He pulls away just enough to reach for her hand and twine their fingers together as they walk. It's an innocent, sweet thing that people didn't usually think about at the end of the world and while this place isn't exactly paradise, he's also not fighting kaiju on a daily basis.

When the porch comes into view, Raleigh drops her hand to close the few steps between them and the door and opens it for her. "Step inside, Sansa, and I'll get you warm."

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happy birthday

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