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[tooktheblack]

There was a reason the direwolf was the sigil of House Stark: sheer stubbornness. Jon had run across that many times before now, certainly, but it was never quite so evident as when Ghost had managed to streak his fur with dirt and leaves and bits of gore from some kill in the jungle (monkey, Jon suspected, not that he'd ever seen one outside of a

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[wearestars]

Sweet merciful Jesus, Jon Snow is wet and shirtless and laid out like a present. All he needs is a big, red bow. Maybe someone up there loves Lionel after all.

"I'm assuming wolves like stinking like dead things as much as dogs do, then," he says as he steps carefully on bare feet to the edge of one of the larger boulders surrounding the pool. He pushes his sunglasses up into his pale hair and smiles down at Jon, casual as you please. "They were always getting into something nasty back home."

[tooktheblack]

"Just as much if not more than," Jon said, smiling when he saw it was Lionel. Just as well, they'd talked about finding other things to do with their lives on the island and actually attempting to wash Ghost was a divergence from anything Jon had ever done in Westeros. A fool's errand, maybe, but a divergence from the status quo all the same.

"I just gave up and went swimming. He'll get in eventually."

[wearestars]

"Definitely the better option." By this point, Lionel doesn't even concern himself with whether Jon will catch the obvious innuendo in his tone; the guy is so oblivious it's adorable. It's like he locked himself up in that giant ice wall of his and never learned how to be around people. Obviously they've both got things to learn from the other.

Lionel considers the pool a long moment and then settles onto the edge of the rock, his bare legs dangling over the side. As tempting as it is to get into the water with a shirtless hottie, he's not unaware of the fact that he's still kind of pasty and unimpressive beneath his t-shirt.

"Maybe someday you'll go swimming just for the hell of it, and not because you were doing something responsible first," he says with a smirk.

[tooktheblack]

"That would be dereliction of duty, Lionel," Jon said, smirk on his own lips by that point. It was easy to get along with him even if Lionel was completely different than any other man Jon had ever known. His world and Westeros were different, certainly, but it hadn't seemed to be a stumbling block on Jon's side.

"Of course, since I haven't sworn any oaths on the island I suppose I can't really be expected to have any duties. What do you say?"

Jon swam closer, turning to float on his back once again while he waited on a response.

[wearestars]

"Obviously not," Lionel replies with an amused scoff as he peers down at the other boy floating beneath his idly swinging feet. "Just the name of this place lets you off the hook, Jon. Whatever promises you made back home, whatever rules you were sworn to, they don't count anymore. You're allowed to have a little fun. In fact, I'd say you need it. You don't smile enough."

[tooktheblack]

"And yet I'm the one who's swimming and you're the one sitting on the shore watching me," Jon pointed out, the smirk turning into a smile. "Don't they swim where you come from or are you advanced past such simple recreational activities?"

Open tease, maybe, but that was easier than focusing on his duties or the lack thereof on this island.

[wearestars]

Lionel opens his mouth and falters with the realization that his dream man had just invited them to be half-naked and wet together, and Lionel, in his haughty gay boy self-importance, had answered with a lecture.

"Okay, fine. Point to Jon Snow," he allows, his mouth curling into a wry smile.

Pasty-chested he may be, but there is no way in hell Lionel is going to turn down a direct offer like that. He pulls his polo off over his head and lays it neatly beside him on the rock before peering once more down at Jon.

"If I blind you with my sad, untanned chest, just remember this was your idea," he warns, and then pushes himself from the edge and down into the water with a splash.

[tooktheblack]

"I'm pale myself," Jon said, "And I'm not really sure where it matters. There's not a lot of sun in the North, especially not during winter, and I'm too fond of my own balls to go freezing them off to try and brown my skin."

Blunt, maybe, but true. It wasn't something important to him in Westeros but maybe in this, too, Lionel's world was different.

"That's one thing I occasionally like about this island, the heat. It's nice not to have ice in my hair."

[wearestars]

Lionel pauses in pushing the pale hair back from his forehead to stare in pure astonishment at Jon. This is the way it's going to go between them, Lionel can tell now. He's probably never going to know if Jon is truly oblivious or just fucking with him.

"I'm sure your balls would thank you if they could," he quips in reply, hardly knowing what else to do.

[tooktheblack]

"Continually and on a daily basis," Jon quipped back, grinning wide. "Now, are we going to actually swim or just talk about swimming?"

He laughed a lot easier on the island, it seemed, and actually smiled instead of being a dour lord commander. It almost felt like Winterfell, except the heat, and Jon couldn't say he disliked it entirely.

[wearestars]

"What, you lured me down here to do laps? I thought you'd be more creative than that," Lionel replies, returning Jon's smile with a giddy one of his own. The way Jon looks right now, Lionel can feel all the way down to his toes: a hot, happy, breathless rush like he's on something, as if boy has suddenly become an illegal substance. Bottle that and I could sell it, he thinks, and then sends an enthusiastic splash of water Jon's way.

[tooktheblack]

Jon tried to dodge it but the splash got him in the face, more or less, and he shook out his hair to try and get the worst of it off. Futile, considering he was still in the water, but everyone claimed he was half-wolf anyway; might as well further that assumption.

"I'm going to have to come after you for that, you know," Jon warned, darting across the pool to deliver some splashes of his own.

[wearestars]

"I was counting on it," Lionel calls with a laugh, his head tilted to avoid Jon's splashes even as he continues sending his own.

This has just become the opening of a porn movie. In a moment, amidst wrestling, Lionel and Jon will start making out instead and really sleazy music will start to play. Maybe the pizza delivery guy will randomly show up and it'll turn into a threesome.

[tooktheblack]

"Better hope you're half fish," Jon said, smirk firmly in place as he tried to close the gap between them. He was a strong swimmer, many years swimming in the pools and the ice-cold rivers near Winterfell, but he had no idea what kind of training, if any, Lionel had.

"Otherwise, the wolf's going to win. The wolf almost always wins."

[wearestars]

"The wolf?" Lionel echoes, and pauses to glance toward the bushes where he'd last seen Ghost. He's treading water when he's supposed to be swimming, but getting away from Jon hadn't been his objective anyway.

[tooktheblack]

“I was thinking about me,” Jon explained, still smirking. “Seeing as how I’m half-Stark, and their sigil’s a Direwolf, I’m still a wolf. Sort of. I guess it’s not common in your world to have sigils for noble houses, is it?”

Jon was starting to understand that the things that happened in Westeros were very different than the things most of those on the island had encountered. It was fascinating, in some ways, and troublesome in others.