practice makes perfect

[theladyofwinterfell]

WHO: Sansa Stark, Lady & You
WHERE: The Noth Pole, naturally.
WHAT: The Ice Castle, wrangling any children you'd like wrangled, general holiday cheerfulness.
WHEN: The entire Us Make For They event
WARNINGS: lmao rated A for Adorable?

001. ice castle

Sansa has never seen something so beautiful as the ice castle and she's immediately drawn to it, being a child of winter as she is. When she steps foot into it, she has an indescribable urge to sing in the way she hasn't for years and years and she lets the song rise up within her, high soprano notes amplifying beautifully within the space and against the crystal walls. Lady, too, seems a bit awed and doesn't make any noise at all, merely looking at her mistress and how happy she is - how long it has been since she's been truly this happy. It's as if everything is perfect in this one moment and Sansa wants to freeze it for all eternity.

She reluctantly leaves after a few songs and when she exits, she realizes others will have been able to hear her. Her cheeks are colored a bit but she hopes this can be chalked up to the cold as she is a Queen and shouldn't be embarrassed that people have heard her sing.

002. children

It's been a long while since Sansa has been around children. Many have died in Westeros to war and cold and famine and there were no children in the Fleet. She still carries the child in her belly, though, and it's begun to show. Rather than hide it the way she might in the North, she only lets out her clothing a little and it's evident to anyone that she's pregnant and rather happy about it.

She'd thought herself a proper little mother to Rickon when he'd been born, having been just old enough to care after him similar to the way her Lady Mother and Old Nan had. There seem to be an inordinate amount of children here, though, and some of them look awfully familiar to her - are they children of her traveling companions? Is that possible? One runs headlong at her in the way children are won't to do and she carefully catches them by the shoulders, kneeling slightly so she might look in their eyes.

"Careful, sweetling. You'll hurt yourself if you keep running like this. Come with me and we'll find somewhere to play properly, all right?"

003. snow queen

There's plenty of snow here and while Sansa isn't capable enough of making snow maidens on her back just now as she had as a child, she can build a snow castle the way she'd done as a little girl and, later, at the Eyrie. She knows every nook and cranny of Winterfell and she kneels in the snow to make it, using a bit of wood to help shape the delicate crenellations at the tops of the towers. She only has a branch to make the heart tree, which makes her sad, but it's still there all the same.

She's working on the bailey when she sees a shadow fall across her castle and she cries out in fear. "No, don't step on it! Please don't, I've been working for ages."

Comments

002

[kallig]

This place wasn't cold in the way Ziost had been cold, not the dry, cold winds seemed to be impossible to keep out. So it was nicer than Ziost, though it didn't take much, to be nicer than that place. Still, Altair had been rather cautious in playing so far, despite having had it explained to him that there's nothing to fear here.

It had taken him a few days, to run around as a normal child would, and he was startled as he suddenly found himself stopped, and a woman kneeling and telling him to be careful.

The small Chiss tilted his head, thinking she sounded rather like the ladies at the settlement on Ziost, the ones who would add him to their flock of children when they saw him wandering alone. It sounded kind. He nodded ever so slightly then, not afraid as he might be with anyone else, "Yeah. Are you okay? I didn't hurt you?"

Playing comes second. Making sure the woman he'd run into wasn't hurt came first.

[theladyofwinterfell]

"I'm not hurt at all, I promise. I just don't want you to get hurt by running around. I know you must be excited," Sansa says. She smiles then, broadly, because children expect less of you than adults sometimes. Perhaps this one is the same.

"I used to play in the snow all the time as a child. It's my favorite thing to do - I'm sure I ran too. My name is Sansa."

[kallig]

"Okay, I won't run and get hurt," Altair replied, with a nod. He wasn't worried for himself, really, but he didn't want to cause any problems for the adults around. Especially not a kind lady like the one he'd run into, "I dunno about excited I've just never seen this much snow piled up before. The place I'm from wasn't like this."

Ziost had had snow, but it hadn't really settled on the ground like this, just piled up in the corners of buildings, or melted away where people walked a lot.

He tilted his head when she said she'd used to play in the snow too, and then smiled, "Now too? Adults play? Really?"

It was news to him, that adults liked to play too. He'd never seen any adults do that before.

"I'm Altair! It's..." What was it adults said, when they met someone new, and wanted to be polite again? Oh, right, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Sansa."

He hoped that was right, looking perhaps a bit nervous that he might have gotten it wrong.

[theladyofwinterfell]

His exuberance warms her heart and she cannot help but smile, pink-cheeked from the cold and happiness. She nods when he talks about playing and cuts him a bit of a sly look.

"My brothers and sister used to have wonderful snow fights. They always beat me, of course, but I loved it all the same."

003;;

[reconstitution]

It's not that he's trying to step on her creation, simply trying to get closer to see it. He'd been watching her from a distance, but this seemed a little more intricate than some sort of snow castle. That's even more evident as he gets closer to it, but halts his steps as she cries out, even taking a few back the way he came.

"Do people break your things often?"

[theladyofwinterfell]

Any time Sansa sees someone with Bucky's face, her heart catches a bit in hopes that it's her Bucky, the friend she'd held so dear. This one speaks differently, though, and holds himself differently. Not hers, it seems. Still - the man she loved so dearly is parts of the two men here now and she wants to see it as a balm.

"My things? Often. The Fleet was the first time in a long time where I was safe and cared for. I didn't have much of a chance to be frivolous when I was at home."

[reconstitution]

He understands that sensation- he gets it when looking at his own face on another person, too. He keeps hoping that one day, his alternate would show up, but it was never him. Jim wasn't coming back. Probably for the best, honestly.

His eyebrows rise when she mentions the Fleet. He'd had a feeling, but who can ever be sure in a place like this? He's seen so many people with matching faces come and go.

"I know how that is. The Fleet was more home than Earth ever was."

[theladyofwinterfell]

"It was more of a home than many places I've been," she agrees. Sansa stands up and offers her hand to him, wanting to meet him officially. She hasn't met this version of the Winter Soldier, since he is neither Captain Barnes nor her own Bucky, and she owes him the introduction.

"I am Sansa Stark. I was very close friends with a version of you in the Fleet but he is gone now. I know this makes it terribly awkward," she says, pausing just for a moment, "but I would like to know what to call you."

003

[art_of_war]

Without looking away from the snow castle Thrawn was hardly paying any attention to Sansa and had only moved closer in order to get a better look.

"I do not wish to disturb your work, have no fear."

His eyes roamed over the tower and the single bit of stick with the profound gravity of an art critic.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa isn't terribly fazed by a man with blue skin. Before the Fleet? Oh yes. Now, it's just a different variety of person and nothing of note other than something like the color of someone's hair.

"it's my castle," she explains. "The one I grew up in, the one I am queen in now. I may never see it again."

[art_of_war]

The skin is an evolutionary adaption. Since his species saw more in the infrared when the light was low, Thrawn had not been aware of the difference until he interacted with humans more.

"Ah, it is a real place."

Thrawn looked at the miniature Winterfell for a moment more.

"If this is true to life then it would make an excellent stronghold against invaders."

[theladyofwinterfell]

"It was, yes. We had...many try to assail the castle and the walls held for the most part because they were stone. Inside, though, there is wood and wood burns. Once an army pushes past the gates, they can set fire to the wood."

Sansa takes a sigh and looks once more at the recreation of her home, missing it dearly.

"The castle never fell though. Stone and iron withstand everything, just as a wolf in a pack never fails."

003

[thrawnsaide]

Eli stopped to watch the young woman at working on the snow sculpture. He was pretty impressed with the work. He had never seen anything like it and knew he would never be able to do anything on that scale. He was content with the sloppy snow man he had just previously made.

"Wow, you're really good." Eli commented as he was careful not to ruin anything she had made.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa looks up from the miniature Winterfell and beams with pride. She's always been something of an artist, even if it's mostly just with thread, and the compliment finds her well.

"It's my castle," she explains. "Before I came to the Fleet and then came here - this was the castle I grew up in and the castle I eventually became queen of."

[thrawnsaide]

"Oh....you're a queen too?" Eli looked up a little surprised and unsure of how to address her now.

He stuttered a bit and in the end decided to give her a quick salute.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa shakes her head and lifts a hand. "Oh, no, don't do that. I need to stop mentioning the queen part if people are going to treat me as one of their own. It's different in the North. We're one with our people. I am as hard a worker as they are, I go hungry before they go hungry."

She tips her head. "And I don't demand fealty here of all places. Just Sansa is fine, I promise. I used to be hung up on those things as a girl but I'm far past being a little girl."

3

[tallasaking]

"Why would I ever destroy your home, my sweet?" Tyrion asks, but he does take a step back so he doesn't accidentally trip and destroy Winterfell. He kneels down to take a better look at it, whistling in admiration.

"You have a fine eye for detail, love. I would almost think it was Winterfell, just covered in all this blessed snow."

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa smiles at Tyrion, glad for an opinion from someone who has actually seen Winterfell. Knowing it's recognizable and accurate to someone who would know means the world to her. That it's Tyrion is doubly flattering.

"Sewing and singing are the only arts they allow ladies to learn. Drawing or building are best left to men looking to earn a little coin. I was told it'd make me look beggarly. I like doing it, though, all the same."

[tallasaking]

He kneels carefully at her side, mis-matched eyes sliding over the creation with care and focus as he swept his gaze over Winterfell. Her memory is perfect, from what he recalls of the designs. Right down to the Tree.

"Well, they lost out when they kept you from participating, my dear."

3

[tingmoonshadowpowers]

[Oh! The shadowpaw pup Rayla had found wandering the village had been bounding ahead of her in the snow, head precariously towards Sansa's pretty snow sculpture, but Rayla dodged forward quickly and managed to stop the playful creature from jumping right into it.]

Soorry 'bout tha'... [Her brogue was heavy, but still understandable.] She did'nae mean to. She's just a pup, yet.

[Rayla managed to offer the human a small smile. She'd been learning here that not all humans were bad. In fact, quite a few were relatively likable... like Callum and Ezran.]

What're ya makin'? It's lovely. [And very detailed...]

[theladyofwinterfell]

( Sansa thinks she'd forgive anything of the pup, who seems perfectly adorable but she's glad its mistress has stopped it all the same. When she's asked what it is, she looks up and gives a little smile. )

It's my home. This is the castle I grew up in, the castle where I have my seat as Queen. I miss it very much and the only way I can see it now is in a snow sculpture or my own memory.

[tingmoonshadowpowers]

[Rayla blinked, a bit surprised for a moment.]

Yer a Queen?

[Oh, dear.]

My apologies, yer highness. 'Tis a lovely sculpture. Yer very talented.

[While Rayla didn't know what the original looked like in order to compare, Sansa's creative ability shone through well enough.]

002

[brooklyn_boy]

Steve grumbles at Sansa as he's not only stopped but physically being redirected. He's too polite to fight, though. Even though he knows he could. He's strong. Really strong. But it's not right to hurt a girl, even a grown up girl.

"I won't hurt myself! I am magic!"

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa cannot imagine what it must be like to have Steve's enhancements and strength and be trapped in the tiny body of a child. His energy seems endless, his exuberance without bounds. Sansa kneels just a little so she can look in his eyes.

"You are magic," she concedes. "And very strong. Do you know what the strong do? They protect the weak. I'm having a baby. I need to be protected and what I need is a brave, strong boy like you to do it."

[brooklyn_boy]

Steve's eyes go large as he processes the new duty that fell on his shoulders. "I have a shield! Santa gave it to me! Hold on!" Steve races off and comes back with a shield that looks like Bucky's but with a cat paw in the center. Hux had made it for him once upon a time and now he finally had it back. He holds it up, face serious as he braces himself in front of Sansa.

"I am gonna protect you and the baby! No one is gonna come near you unless it's through me!" He looks at all the other kids skeptically and frowns.

"Tell me when ya gotta go somewhere and I'll check it out first!"