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[ so if we're pretending there's a list that's called Things Malia Shouldn't Do, but She'll Definitely Do it Anyway, this would be on it. probably up there pretty high, top three. but that list doesn't exist, it's not real, and even if it was, she wouldn't pay any attention to it. so she's just leaving this out on the open locket network- ]

i don't care about the war. i don't care about the courts. my shard says i'm unseelie, but i didn't ask to be. i won't fight someone just because somebody else tells me to. the only thing i care about is keeping my friends safe, and keeping my home safe, and right now that's Cothromach. why is that a bad thing now?

[ "now" because of how things are shifting, how the sides matter more than when she first got here, and when she first moved from caer scima, to the mountains. which no, she doesn't realize it's not the other shardbearers' faults ( not completely ), but it's noticeable in a way it wasn't before. she's mostly just curious what changed, and annoyed that her loyalties are being questioned over something she has/had no control over. so yeah! obviously confronting the lockets about it is the Best Idea Ever! malia tate, everybody. ]

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MALIA--

The Cothromach would see you safe-kept in turn. Might you mayhaps come to my solar to discuss this together? Aloud? It doesn't seem a matter best suited to the lockets.

--SANSA of HOUSE STARK

yeah sure. now?

Soon, if it pleases.

I will be here.

[ there's honestly a little hesitation before she heads out to meet with Sansa, but only because she's been told she can't just go find her to say hey, lately. that things are shifting, that she needs to be invited. but that's what this is, right? Sansa wants to talk to her. she's not breaking any rules. and she doesn't feel nervous, exactly, but even as she's making her way over, she's still trying to figure out if she should get Stiles first. so she doesn't mess this up, maybe.

but no! she doesn't need a translator, she doesn't. she's learned a lot since she got here, enough to boost her confidence in how well she can navigate an important conversation, at least. she can do this! right.

eventually she's knocking on her door, stuffing her hands into the back pockets of her jeans ( because she mostly refuses to wear the clothes she was given here, so she's wearing the same worn out jeans she's had since she got here ) right after. ]

[ -- there is no accounting for the different fashions of different worlds. or so sansa has long ago resigned herself to believing. although she clings to fashions at least half-similar to westerosi silks and wrap-dresses, she's seen a dozen strange clothing choices pass through not only this solar, but the feasts back at caer glaem. and so although malia's look is bewildering to her, she does an admirable job of not showing it.

instead, she drops the shallowest of curtsies and lets the door swing ajar. ] Please. Come in. [ sansa offers, stepping aside with precision and decorum. ] Take a seat.

[ the formality doesn't make her nervous like it used to, but she still finds herself thinking "wait, should I be doing that?" even though she doesn't actually know what a curtsy.. is, beyond recognizing that Sansa does that more often than she waves or anything, so. maybe it's like waving. instead she just nods and grins a little bit, walking by her with careful steps because she's pretty sure she's not supposed to let her sneakers scuff when she's walking around this part of the castle. it's all- official and important. important things happen here.

so she takes a seat on the edge of one of the chairs, slouching a bit ( she doesn't notice ), but other wise she's got her hands tangled up in her lap. and she's not tapping her feet. no nervous tapping for her. ]

So, uh. Hey. [ she turns to look at her properly, and there's some little voice saying "hey, Sansa's probably supposed to go first, you already blew it" but she's not paying much attention to it. not when- ] I feel like I haven't seen you in a while. Are you okay? [ wait ] I mean, how are you? [ are you okay!!! ]

As well as can be expected -- [ she finds herself feeling startled upon the realization that malia means what she asks -- that the other woman asks, sincerely, whether she fares well. it isn't a mere polite inquiry. it isn't mere courtesy.

this gives her pause. sansa stands still a moment with one hand planted gently upon the corner of her stone desk. she frowns. collects her thoughts. and then, gently: ] I pray I find you well? Your words on the locket sounded...troubled.

Oh, yeah I'm fine. Just a lot of talk, I guess, on the network and around the castle. It was starting to bug me.

[ at first she thought she was just imagining it - like how she'd imagine people at school for things the couldn't possibly know after she first changed back - but it's becoming clearer that it's not just in her head, the more she actually listens for it. ]

I know it's not personal when people bring up the court stuff, but it's hard not to take it personal when there aren't a lot of Unseelies around here.

[ sansa turns. ]

Malia. [ a pause. ought she call her lady malia? she isn't certain, and so she frowns. ] Mayhaps you ought to meet with my brother. [ and to clarify, because goodness if she doesn't have a lot of them running around the place: ] Robb. He and you share a court. And my city's protection.

[ she almost does say "oh, yeah I hang out with Bran", but she continues and oh, phew, she's glad she didn't jump the gun there. especially because that- actually makes her feel a little better ]

That just proves it, doesn't? The courts are stupid. Why would they split up brothers and sisters? [ a beat ] I mean I know some siblings don't get along, but to try and put them on opposite sides of a war, that's stupid.

[ eventually she'll realize she can't just say stuff like that... but, not now ]

[ sansa wishes she could reach out and take one of malia's hands between her own. she wishes she could use that easy confidence shown by ladies like magaery tyrell. but she cannot. she finds herself feeling more and more like a statue every day. hard rock. or metal. ]

It certainly feels like some cruel punishment imagined by the monarchs. And yet -- [ she sighs. ] I fear for your safety should you speak such opinions too loudly and in the wrong company.

Yeah. I keep hearing that.

[ her nose scrunches up, like she doesn't get it, like the idea of keeping her mouth shut about something like this is lost on her. but fear for your safety sticks in her mind eventually, and her eyes widen ]

You can't get in trouble for stuff I say, can you?

[ the truth is harsh. sansa knows that -- ordinarily -- it is the sayer who gets the swing of the axe. she's witnessed it with her own eyes. but what happens to the administrator who fails to swing at all when someone starts to speak a little too loudly? having lived in too much careful silence, she's never before contemplated these questions.

she tries to gentle her response: ] It was always going to be a challenge: harbour Unseelie shardbearers in a city beholden to the Seelie court, no matter what claims of neutrality we could try to make.

So...

[ she's really taking time to think that over, she is. okay, it's really just a few seconds, but- ]

Is that a yes? I won't say anything about it anymore if that's a yes.

Edited 2015-02-19 19:05 (UTC)

It is a qualified yes. Lady Malia, I -- [ sansa gathers her thoughts for a moment. ] I must make my obeisances to the Seelie court, no matter what Jon Snow says of our...neutrality. The situation is a delicate one. I apologise; I don't want any harm to come to you.

You can help me on that front. If you like.

[ her brow furrows, but it's only because she has NO idea what "obeisances" means. but maybe it'll make it look like she's deep in thought. who knows. ]

Yeah. I want everyone to be safe here, too. I'll do anything, whatever you need me to do.

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