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

[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?"

[tooktheblack]

"Lionel," Jon said, wondering how that would go over. Taking a man as a lover wasn't something that was done publicly in Westeros and while Jon had felt no need to hide it on the island, it felt strange to tell his brother about it.

"He isn't from a world like Westeros, though. He's very different from us."

[theyoungwolf]

Robb's forehead furrows, but in thought rather than disapproval. "I know the face," he says, because he's been here long enough by now to recognise nearly everyone else who has, "but I don't think we've ever talked."

[tooktheblack]

"I care for him," Jon said, which he felt was important to say at the first. It was different, admitting that, and it didn't feel like such a breach of his oaths as it might with a woman. Jon wasn't entirely sure what the difference was.

"It started as just a friendship that I thought would simply include those things but I have honestly started to care for him. Strange, isn't it?"

[theyoungwolf]

"I should think so," Robb says, almost gently. "You've never been the sort to take any relationship casually, Jon."

[tooktheblack]

"Never," Jon agreed. "Even when I probably should have been more casual about it to protect myself. When you go to the Wall, they tell you that you have no family, no house. I could never fully believe that even when I was supposed to."

[theyoungwolf]

"Blood is stronger than words," Robb says with a shrug. "Even when it's ice-cold Stark blood."

[tooktheblack]

"Perhaps even more so. The North remembers," Jon said, echoing an old sentiment. "We remember things long after other men would forget them and I suppose family bonds count in with that."

[theyoungwolf]

"And yet," Robb says, the lightness only slightly forced, "this is heavy talk for what should not be a heavy occasion." He sighs. "I admit it is a bit strange, thinking of you with someone new, but it's just another thing to get used to. And if you're happy, Jon...."

[tooktheblack]

"I apologize for being heavy on a happy occasion," Jon said, sincere. "I never wanted to...I just didn't want to keep it from you any longer. I'm not sure how to do this, be with someone. It wasn't ever in the cards for me in Westeros."