for Robb

[tooktheblack]

It was the eve before a big holiday in the world of the island and while Jon understood it some from Kurt and Lionel's explanations, it still was foreign to celebrate winter in Westeros and as nice as this Christmas seemed, Jon was a little bit wary of it all. He wanted to know that the warm weather would come back because they'd not had time to prepare stores for a long winter as they knew them in Westeros and it was...it was just foreign.

One thing that was nice, though, was the idea of making presents for Reynald and he'd gotten some wood and started whittling it with one of his knives. Blocks, maybe, would be a good toy for a boy of his age but that simple idea had turned into carving the sigils of the major houses of Westeros instead.

He'd done a wolf already and set it down nearby while he carved a three-headed dragon. He wouldn't be able to paint them, no, but hopefully Reynald would enjoy them as is.

Comments

[theyoungwolf]

"Targaryen?" Robb says dryly, by way of greeting as he settles down next to Jon. "Your mind is far away, I think. But then, I suppose he has enough of fish and seashells."

[tooktheblack]

"I'm doing one for all the major houses," Jon explained. "The ones that have animals as sigils anyway. I don't think anyone wants the Highgarden rose as a present. But I thought a direwolf, a dragon, a lion and a stag might be good presents for a boy from Westeros."

[theyoungwolf]

"I'd protest the lion," Robb says, "but he'll think it's Aslan and not a Lannister lion anyway. They're good work, you're better at whittling than me."

[tooktheblack]

"Plenty of time freezing my balls off up at the Wall," Jon explained, working on the curve of the dragon's tail. "I thought these would be a bit more interesting than a set of blocks for him. I still don't understand why the island celebrates winter coming but I guess that's a difference between here and Westeros, isn't it?"

[theyoungwolf]

"Because here winter only lasts for a month," Robb explains. "Rather than half a lifetime. Even off the island, the seasons last only a quarter of the year for most of them." Except for Narnia, except for once, but that's likely a story that can wait.

[tooktheblack]

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Jon admitted easily. "I know I should be trying to change and I have in a great many ways but it's still such a shift to think of winter as something positive and not potentially life-threatening."

Jon managed a smile though, albeit a small one. "Luckily Edmund, Kurt and Lionel have been happy to help explain some of the nuances to me. Otherwise, I'd still know nothing."

[theyoungwolf]

"Oh, by this time next year, you'll be as glad for the snow as the rest of us," Robb promises. "Too bloody hot around here, most of the time. The wolves love it."

[tooktheblack]

"Ghost had been languishing," Jon agreed. "He doesn't like it being so hot where he can't run down a quarry in the midst of the snow. We have to find some way to keep him cool, otherwise he gets...testy."

[theyoungwolf]

"Grey Wind seems to think it helps to be constantly wet and covered in mud," Robb says dryly. "I think it actually does, or I'd be more annoyed at having to wash him."

[tooktheblack]

"Ghost keeps marginally cleaner but I think, perhaps, it's because he's afraid of being tracked," Jon teased. "I think Grey Wind may have gotten a little complacent in being on the island."

Jon finished the dragon and moved to carve a lion from a small block of wood. "I'm glad it's safe here. Good place to raise a family."

[theyoungwolf]

"He's definitely complacent," Robb agrees with a laugh. "Lazy and more of a babysitter than a fierce warrior. But it's an image he's had to work on," he adds, more seriously. "We all have--because this island is full of people who know nothing else of House Stark, and it's been important for them to trust us."

[tooktheblack]

"I think it's an image you've projected well, Robb. Nobody I see on this island thinks anything but the best of you," Jon said, giving him a little smile. "I hate to shatter their illusions about you being a good man but someone has to do it, right?"

[theyoungwolf]

Robb laughs, thumping him lightly on the shoulder. "I expect you'll have an easier time with that than convincing anyone you're anything but upstanding and honourable."

[tooktheblack]

"I'm a bastard. I make no illusions about that," Jon teased back. "Surly to boot. Though I've been in a better mood since the snow showed up. I could really do without the city, though, and I'm really glad I never went south back home."

[theyoungwolf]

"No," Robb agrees, "but Summerfell is big enough to merit exploring all on its own, without ever really leaving. I feel as if we ought to take advantage of it and have a feast. Perhaps for Reynald's birthday."

[tooktheblack]

"I'd like a feast for that," Jon agreed. "I have never been overly fond of small children, Rickon aside, but I really want to get to know Reynald. I want...I want my family again. I lost all that when I went to the Wall."

[theyoungwolf]

"I know," Robb says. This conversation never gets easier, no matter how many times he has it. "I missed you, from the moment you went."

[tooktheblack]

"I'm sorry I ever did, in hindsight," Jon admitted. "I know it's probably stupid to say that, I was needed at the Wall and you were needed elsewhere but part of me wonders what it might have been like if Father never went south and we never split off on our separate paths, you know?"

[theyoungwolf]

"We can't ever know," Robb says. "And you were needed--you did more, defending the North from the things beyond the Wall, than any of the rest of us did, whatever we tried."

[tooktheblack]

"We wouldn't have survived without Stannis," Jon said, thinking it over. "And yet I feel like that was one of the worst decisions I ever made, inviting him to stay at the Wall and man our castles. We should never have allowed a king of any sort to influence our decisions. I thought I was doing good. Good intentions sometimes aren't enough, are they?"

[theyoungwolf]

"No," Robb says, shaking his head; for a moment his gaze drops to his lap before he looks up at Jon again. "Else our father would not have ended as he did. But we all do the best we can with the choices given us, Jon. And those choices are often nothing but ill."

[tooktheblack]

"The choices seem better on the island," Jon said, watching Robb carefully. "I haven't been faced with anything life or death and while I have encountered things that challenge my perceptions, I think I've come out better for those decisions."

[theyoungwolf]

"I won't say that life or death choices don't come up," Robb says slowly. "But they are far fewer and further between than they ever were in Westeros. And we can be much more sure of our allies."

[tooktheblack]

"I have made good friends here," Jon agreed. "And some...more than friends."

Jon was slightly nervous about admitting that, even if it was only to Robb. Clearly as Edmund was still part of the family, it wouldn't be looked down on but it was still strange to admit.

[theyoungwolf]

Robb has known Jon for his entire life, and knows him well enough by now to recognise a leading statement when he hears it. "Oh?" he asks, with a twist of a smile. "More than friends, already? Who?"