002 ♕ lay me by the frozen river

[theladyofwinterfell]

WHO: Sansa Stark
WHERE: ocean, caves
WHAT: exploring
WHEN: throughout November
WARNINGS: sex in the Tyrion thread, others gen.



001. ocean

Sansa doesn't know what she's meant to expect after following the strange beasts to the ocean but the grey blue waves and the soft sand is different than anything she ever saw in King's Landing. The ocean there had stunk with boats coming in and bringing their daily catch, dumping their bilge and filth, and Gods know what else. The whole of King's Landing stunk, actually, and she's glad to be away from it. It's different here. The wind has the sharp tang of salt and the whole of it makes her think this must be what the Iron Islands are like.

She walks to the edge of the water with a fistful of sand tightly clutched. She speaks softly, just loud enough to be audible, and says "What is dead may never die, Theon Greyjoy. You were my friend and I loved you." She tosses the sand into the water and wipes her hand clean. If anyone asks, the redness of her eyes is from the wind and nothing else.

002. caves

The caves are something else entirely. They're actually quite warm, warm enough that Sansa wishes she had not dressed so warmly, and once she gets deep enough into them she realizes there are hot pools in them the same as in the Godswood at Winterfell. It's something that might be of interest to Tyrion, considering his back and legs, and she decides she'll send him a message to tell him to come to her so that they can enjoy these pools for themselves.

For her part, Sansa slips off her shoes and rolls up the trousers she's favored since coming to Agra 10 so she can soak her feet in the water. When she hears footsteps echo behind her, she wants to yank herself from the water but forces herself not to.

"The water is warm, like a bath. Much better than that cold ocean."

003. For Tyrion

After discovering the caves, Sansa steps outside them so that she can send a quick message to Tyrion so he can meet her. She thinks they could enjoy themselves in the warm water, Tyrion especially, and she has news to tell him besides. She hadn't really been thinking when they came to Agra 10, caught up in other things, but she hasn't bled since before she came. Sansa may never have been pregnant before with Ramsay but she imagines she must be now; otherwise, something is certainly very wrong.

Tyrion - come to the beach. There are caves with hot springs and I very much want to show them to you. Love, S.

Comments

[theladyofwinterfell]

"Seduce me? I don't think it's seduction when the other party wants it just as much," Sansa says, laughing a bit. She guides Tyrion through the caves toward a pool that is a little further back than the others. She prefers privacy and she knows Tyrion will want it as well once she's shared her news. She starts by toeing off her boots and working on her clothes, using it to stall for time.

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about, you know."

[tallasaking]

"Mmm, mutual seduction?" Tyrion murmured before he chuckled softly as he followed after the woman he loved. He put his satchel down and started removing his own clothing.

"Oh? What is that?"

[theladyofwinterfell]

"We talked once, about our dreams. We talked about how we wanted children someday and a chance to simply be married," Sansa begins. She's nervous but she's been Lady Lannister, Lady Bolton, Lady Stark long enough to hide those nerves. She pulls upon every ounce of strength she used up on her ascension to Queen in the North to deliver this news.

"I told you when we came here that it wasn't to be, that I had become Queen of an independent North and you were away on other duties. Well. There's a possibility I hadn't considered at all considering it never happened before but...I'm carrying your child. The last time I bled was before I came here and I thought it a fluke that first month, some shift in time. But now it's been three. Vision might have some way to test it for certain but the only explanation I have is a child."

[tallasaking]

"That we did, my darling." He moved towards the spring, testing the water with his toe. He paused for a moment, to look over at her with shock and surprise. Then his gaze lingered, narrowed, and he almost stumbled over his own feet into the spring.

"You're What now?" He stuttered out, his breath sharp.

[theladyofwinterfell]

"With child," Sansa says again. She cannot keep from bubbling over in happiness at saying it and sharing it with Tyrion is something she's wanted to do ever since she first suspected it.

"I think I'm with child, Tyrion, and naturally it is our child together."

[tallasaking]

"With ... my child?" Tyrion gaped at her for a long moment, before he moved towards her and grabbed her hands. "Sansa, please tell me that you are not having some sort of jest."

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa shakes her head. "No, I am not joking with you. I truly believe I'm carrying your child. I'm having all the symptoms that go along with it - tender stomach, no moonblood, a bit of weight gain. If I'm not having a child, something must be wrong and I'll need to see a healer. I don't think that's what it is, though. I think it's the logical choice."

[tallasaking]

He looks up at her, stunned and amazed, before a frown comes over his face. "You told me - earlier - that this was something we could not have in our world. Does that mean ...that I cannot leave here, when you do? That I will have to care for the child alone?"

Something else flickers across his face. "... What aren't you telling me, Sansa?"

[theladyofwinterfell]

"I am Queen in the North. Your duties will keep you in the south and we won't have a chance to be together," Sansa says. She cannot reveal to him Daenerys because it will break his heart.

"One of us would have to mostly raise the child alone. Unless we are here, of course, which we are."

[tallasaking]

"Well - honestly - that is just ... not acceptable. Can you resign as Hand of the King and not be executed?" He was going to have to dredge his memory of Westeros law.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa doesn’t know what to say without revealing a strange and bleak future so she decides to lie, hoping she’s better at lying than she used to be.

“You will feel duty bound to remain in the south, Tyrion, and you are needed. I know the time we spend in a place like this is but a moment at home so we must spend a lifetime here with our child before returning, all right? Please trust me.”

[tallasaking]

"Ah - well - I suppose that seems ... more than plausible. I am getting ridiculously responsible in my old age." Tyrion shook his head, amused wryly at himself.

"Well if you so insist, then yes."

[theladyofwinterfell]

"I insist, Tyrion. This is something we need to cherish here," she says, somewhat urgently. Perhaps having a child on the way has made her more worried about these things but she desperately wants a chance to have a family and not have the responsibility of ruling upon her shoulders at one and twenty.

"I'm so happy we're having a child. It's the dream we've wanted for ourselves."

[tallasaking]

He gave her a long look, before his smile reappeared. "It is the dream we have always wanted, is it not? Then we should make the best of this place - for our child."

[theladyofwinterfell]

"Do you want a son or a daughter? Succession isn't an issue here so we don't have to worry about an heir. We can simply have a child for the joy of it," Sansa says happily.

"It's just for us, no other reason."

[tallasaking]

"In all honesty, my love?" He stepped forward, to take her hand once more. He looked up at her with solemn, mismatched eyes. "I want them to be healthy. I do not want them to be ... like me."

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa understands that being a dwarf makes things harder in Tyrion's life but she wants him to know she'd love a child regardless. It'd be their child, a child conceived in love, and she'd love him or her as much as a healthy one.

"I wish the best for our child but I will never love it less for being a dwarf. Do not fear, Tyrion."

[tallasaking]

"I am not worried about you loving it any less, Sansa. You are not my father, after all." Tyrion's smile was strained, but still there. "I worry about how much agony I am in on a daily basis, because of my disabilities. I would not wish this on anyone - not even my dear sister Cersei."

[theladyofwinterfell]

"No, I understand that. I do not wish that sort of hardship on our child at all and I hope he or she will be like me and not have to suffer that way. I'm just assuring you that I would love any child of ours."

Sansa then recalls they're naked in a natural spring, though, and she swims a bit to get closer to Tyrion.

"For now, though, I would settle for having my husband's hands all over me."

[tallasaking]

A laugh escaped Tyrion's lips, and he pulled Sansa closer to him as she swam into his arms. "I think your husband would be more than happy to oblige you ... considering how very gleeful he is."

[theladyofwinterfell]

"Gleeful? Well, I shall want to take advantage of that." Sansa relaxes against him and strokes the silky curls of his hair. "If we'd consummated it before when I was so young," she says, "would you have gotten me with child so quickly? Or would you have had me take moon tea very month to stay barren?"

[tallasaking]

"I ... would probably would have had you take moon tea. You were far, far too young to have children when we were first married." He sighed, "Beyond that, I was at no age to be a father."

[theladyofwinterfell]

"I understand your reasoning. You wouldn't want me to die in childbirth like your mother," Sansa says gently.

"If I was willing, though, would you have at least been with me? I often regret not being with you then. Ramsay...wouldn't have been so bad if I had known care and concern first in a bed."

[tallasaking]

"No, I would not have." He said soberly, even as he slipped his hands over his wife's bared skin with all reverence. This beautiful form housed his wife - and his child.

"I ... would not have been able to resist, forever." His lips twisted. "However, I only ever would have done so, if you had agreed to it."

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa closes her eyes, enjoying the touch of Tyrion's fingers against her bare skin. Gods, but he always knows how to touch her. He always knows just what to do in order make her feel cherished.

"I think I would have come around eventually," Sansa murmurs. "You're too warm and caring, Tyrion, and you've always made me feel safe."