revivalproject | bright lights, big city

Entry tags:

bright lights, big city

WHO: Sansa Stark + baby James
WHERE: Coruscant - surface levels; a diner + a network post
WHAT: shock, awe, annoyance
WHEN: 24 March
WARNINGS: TBD

Sansa has been to a few planets in her time both in the Fleet and on Agra 10 but this one has to be the busiest one she's ever seen. She feels like she's in the midst of everything and no one can hear her at all over the noise of speeders and the crush of other beings. She holds James close, not wanting his curiosity to have him touching anything he shouldn't, and calls out for someone she might know.

"If the Agra are doing this, you ought to give me a direction. I cannot help you with whatever task you have if I don't know where you are or where I am," Sansa shouts. A few aliens look her way and shrug and the overall feeling she gets is one of indifference. Seems she isn't the only lost person around here.

Thinking inside would be better than outside, she ducks into what turns out to be a restaurant and settles in one of the booths. The menus are in runes she cannot read and she ends up pointing to what she wants; the staff at least speaks common. While she waits on her food, she jiggles James a bit to try and quiet him.

"We're going to find out where this is," she says, sing-songing. "Mother has to help the Agra again, she thinks, and you're a big enough boy to help too."

***

( Somehow, the communicator had ended up in her pocket without her noticing and Sansa thinks she ought to have tried this first. Of course, she has it now so there's no use in beating herself up over it. )

Fleet! It is Sansa Stark and I have no idea where we are right now. I don't know this planet but I hope some of you still know me. I can send coordinates?

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Children tend to put anything in their mouths if you let them - even the older ones.

( When Kyle mentions Tommy, Sansa cannot help but smile. Knowing he's still around and still doing his best to help people warms her heart because she'd gotten close to him and has a special friendship. )

You know, Tommy calls me his Aunt. It's complicated, in a way, but I'm close friends with one of his relatives so I fill that role for him. If you think I'm young to be a queen, I might be very young to be an aunt to someone so close to my age.

True.

[Uh oh. They're friends. Kyle should definitely not mention that he has frequent strong urges to pummel Tommy into the ground.]

An aunt? Yeah, no way, you guys are practically the same age! It's good you're close, though, I think that's really important in this sort of situation. He's a great guy.

[A pause.]

I kinda wanna smash his stupid perfect teeth out, sometimes.

[Whoops.]

( Sansa does laugh at that admission, surprised Kyle has even told her considering her revelation. There's something to be said for honesty, she thinks. )

He has a strong personality at times. I'm surprised you don't get along with everyone - we're getting on just fine.

He's really great, honestly! I admire all the work he's doing, and he's pretty funny.

[Kyle leans forward slightly, looking from side as if the man himself might materialize out of thin air.]

I think it's because he's from New Jersey. Which is like... a kingdom where everyone is a douchebag.

New Jersey must be like King's Landing. I had enough of that place to burn it to the ground.

( Yes, after multiple stays in the Fleet, Sansa has picked up on modern slang even if she doesn't use it. She understands the flavor of douchebag even if she'd never say it herself. )

Where do you hail from, then, if not New Jersey?

Yeah, it's like... not a good place.

[Kyle sighs.]

Well. I was conceived in Jersey. It's a whole thing - we can like, sense our own, and it has bad effects, like it makes us super aggressive.

But I grew up in Colorado, which is like... mountains. There's always snow.

( Sansa smiles at that. Snow, she knows, and Winterfell will always give her happy memories of that. )

There's always snow where I'm from, too. Winterfell is in the North, the capital actually. The first time we went to a place with an ocean and beaches I was blown away.

Really? So then you know all about sledding and skating and stuff, right?

Oh man, yeah, it's utterly foreign! The air even smells different! Dude, you get it. Even if your home has castles and mine has trailer parks. I guess nature is relatively consistent across worlds.

I know how to sled. Skating, no, but sledding is something we did back home. We made snow castles and laid on our back to make snow maidens - oh, and the snowball fights. My sister used to love to get snow down the back of my gown so it took forever to warm up again.

( Snow is something she'll always love and it's nice to find someone who seems to understand how different it is to live in a place that's cold year round. )

It's one of the things I miss here. Did you know, they call my throne the Throne of Winter? We take snow very seriously.

Yes! We had so many snow fights... You have siblings? I have a little brother, like I think I said. So I'm an excellent babysitter if you ever need one. [He's very confident in his skills.]

So you're the Snow Queen, basically. That's so cool.

...holy shit, I just thought of something, are you married?

I was married. I'm a widow now, twice over. I married the first time at fourteen and the second time at seventeen.

( Sansa frowns a little. It's difficult to explain Westerosi marriage to people from more modern worlds, that's been her experience. Women seem not to marry so early and marry more for love than politics. )

Both were arranged for me. If I ever marry again, it would be because I wanted to and not because someone made me.

Oh. Wow. [Kyle knows that historically people did marry very early, so he's got going to act like it's disturbing even if he thinks it is, a little.]

This might sound really bad, but in a way that kind of works out. I mean, you're in charge then. You can do what you like, to some degree.

Here, yes. Back home, I have a certain amount of agency too. It's more strict, of course, but I can do what I want. But here...here, I'm completely free.

( And here she can claim her son, too, which makes it the preferable place to be in Sansa's eyes. )

Choice is a precious gift if you've never had it. The laws between men and women are different here and women can do anything they want to do. I like that.

Yeah, where I'm from it's still not totally equal... but I guess here it's a lot better, yeah. [Part of him is morbidly curious about how old Sansa's husbands were, but he decides he really, really shouldn't ask at this point.

Instead he perks up.]

Dude, there's another redhead woman here, too! Clarice. And she's an FBI agent, which is a type of law enforcement. You have to be pretty smart and tough to get in.

We can form a Ginger Alliance!

( No, the age of Sansa's husbands will likely lead to another conversation that is as awkward as the first. When Kyle mentions the other woman, Sansa nods quickly. )

Clearly the redheads must stick together. ( Sansa softens just a little, falls quieter. )

Thank you for being so kind to me. You don't have to be, but you have, and that is a true gift.

Exactly!

[Kyle smiles back. He's a funny looking guy, all angles and frizz, but his smile is heartwarmingly genuine.]

Hey, don't mention it. That's what people are supposed to do: help each other. We're basically creating a new society, so we should do it right.

We are doing that precisely. Like I said, I'll be repaying the debt as soon as we return to Temba and I'm able to settle once again. It'll take a little while for me to get established but then, I'll return it.

( She must. )

It's really not a debt, not to me, but okay. [Because he's really not about to shit all over moral code.]

I hope it's not too much of an adjustment for you. I guess if you've been through all of this before, it's really sort of like coming... well, not home. But close. And you've got this little dude here, which is nice I bet.

Having my son makes everything all right, to be quite honest. I could be in the middle of a swamp and be happy because I had him.

( Sansa takes a moment to make little faces and noises at James, eliciting one of his giggles, and she tickles his tummy for a moment before looking back at Kyle. )

He is the center of my life. Even when it's difficult to do things alone, I don't regret it.

Yeah, well, I have a feeling that might just happen, because I'm really getting the impression that anything is possible.

[Okay, that's one hell of a cute baby. Kyle resolves then and there that if Sansa ever needs help with him in any way, he'll volunteer. It's not Agra is going to be the safest place for a little kid.]

Well, yeah. You're his mom. Man, I'd love kids some day, I think.

Well, this one does become a trial sometimes. You could help with him if you wanted. Doing it alone becomes...difficult, to say the least. I manage, though.

( Oh, a babysitter? Sansa loves babysitters. )

He wasn't planned but I couldn't be happier that I have him.

I'd love that! [It's almost ridiculous how earnest he is.]

And he's lucky to have you. A good mom is like, a serious advantage in life.

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bright lights, big city

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