(Untitled)

[practiced]

DATE: November 4th, midday.
CHARACTER(S): Sansa Stark and anyone who happens across her | OPEN
SUMMARY: Question: how does a medieval princess adapt to life on the prairie? Answer: not very well.
LOCATION: Independence, Missouri.
WARNINGS: Curtseying. Lots of curtseying.
FORMAT: Paragraph to start. Responders get to pick their poison!

Comments

[practiced]

[ Sansa's eyes light up in acknowledgment. Even though she feels as if very little has been accomplished since waking, in truth, she has spent most of her morning committing things to memory. Names of strangers she meets, the stories they tell her, the people or places or things they are searching for amidst the dust and churning crowds. Mostly, though, she has been watchful, frightened to steal a peek of a familiar, golden head or the sharp glint of light upon polished armor.

Joffrey and his guardsmen - if they were here, no doubt they would look for her. What was the petulant king without his ragdoll to vex with all of his poor humors? she thinks, unkindly, then pushes the thought away. ]

They call this kingdom America. And these lands Mi- [ She has to pause to recall the name correctly ] Missouri, I believe.

There are those who claim to have moved through time, that it has parted before or behind them like waves. Others say it is only distance that separates them from home. I, unfortunately, have been moved by both. None here seem familiar with the names I offer, nor the histories I recall.

[ Sansa presses her lips together. ] Is it a comfort? To know you are not far from your 'America'?

[yokoonomuch]

[ One of the first people Annie had stopped and questioned (extensively) had given up that this place is called Independence. Of course, that was back when Annie was still trying to decide if she was dreaming or if this was all some City College stunt. Now that she's trying to accept what's in front of her, even if she really can't understand it, she had to revisit the idea that this really is Independence, Missouri. ]

It's funny, [ she says in a quieter, more thoughtful voice, staring down at the thing on her wrist again. ] I'm only a state and a half away from home, but it still feels really far away right now. [ She's sounding wistful, she realizes, and wistfulness is no good because it is impractical and unproductive. You don't get things done by sitting around and being wistful. She gives her head a shake and presses her lips together in a firm smile. ] But not as far away as you are, I guess?

[practiced]

[ Sansa shakes her head and her mouth purses in an attempt to echo the girl's smile. She seems to positively resolute in it that Sansa has no choice but to believe that she's strong. ] Home is of the head and the heart, I think. How far it seems is measured not in distance, but in longing.

[ This is a lessons Sansa has learned well during her time in King's Landing. Who was she to judge this stranger's heart, or the path of her life, the places it had lead her both to and from. Perhaps she will tell me, if I am gracious in asking, Sansa thinks, but such things are like secrets and she has done nothing to earn them from the odd girl with the strong smile, so she says nothing. ]

[yokoonomuch]

[ Annie's smile goes softer, and she dips her head a bit in a nod of acknowledgment and agreement. ]

I think you're probably right. [ She brings her hand up to chest level and closes it into a small, determined fist. ] But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that longing after things isn't going to get you anywhere. Longing after things only gets you two months behind on your rent, trying to see how much you could sell part of your kidney for on eBay. [ Tangent, Annie. That's a tangent. ] You have to make the best of a bad situation and work for what you want instead, especially if that's getting home.

[practiced]

[ Half of what the girl says is a muddle of words both familiar and unfamiliar to Sansa and so she leans forward in her listening, as if this somehow would make her statements more intelligible (though, really, it is not a matter of volume, but content that is the problem).

Still, despite all of her confusion, Sansa thinks she understands. There is no denying the look on the girl's face, the determination of her fist now held to her breast. She reminds me of Margaery, Sansa thinks briefly and then smiles sadly at the thought of her distant friend (no, sister).

She nods. ] You seem to me quite brave, miss. So many of the others have given over to despair already and yet, you stand strong.

I will not lie, it is enviable, though I hope you will not begrudge me such envy, for it is kindly meant.

[yokoonomuch]

[ Annie makes a modest, little waving motion with her hand, but the smile on her face is proud and suggests she really wouldn't mind if Sansa continued to tell her how great she is. ]

I wouldn't begrudge it, um, [ and then Why not?, she thinks, and dips into a brief, uncertain curtsy of her own, ] m'lady. I'm not trying to be brave. I just think you can spend a lot of time complaining about where you are and wishing you were somewhere else but when you're done, you're still going to be where you are. [ She thinks, briefly, of Jeff, but it makes her a little sad right now, so she doesn't linger. ] Want to try to make the best of things with me?

[practiced]

[ She's as wise as she is brave, Sansa thinks and then briefly wonders what perils and hardship this girl has had to face in order to muster such courage. If you were with me in King's Landing, perhaps I would learn how less to fear my fate.

But such rumination is just that, and Sansa brushes it aside lightly with another dip of her head and swish of her skirt. ] I am Sansa Stark, kind stranger. Daughter of Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell. I have made acquaintances with what time I have had here, chief among them a man of the sea. His name is shipman Jonathan Hollom, and he has taken up the task of escorting me through these unfamiliar lands.

I would be honored were you to join us. For whatever companions you choose to take up, I have no doubt their strength will be fortified by your presence.

[yokoonomuch]

[ Annie's lips twitch on the edge of having her smile twist into a smirk, but she reins it in. It just strikes her as funny that they might get caught in a curtsy-off (which she would lose, and Annie hates losing). She dips into another anyway because even she knows you can't do a formal introduction without one. ]

I'm Annie Edison, daughter of some people you probably don't know, most recently of Greendale Community College. I don't have any official companions yet, but the way I understand things, forming a ragtag group of unlikely heroes is sort of how these things are supposed to go. [ She wishes she'd paid more attention to the actual rules of Dungeons and Dragons when Abed explained them. ] There are tons of strange people to choose from. I'm sure we'll find more eventually.

[practiced]

Annie Edison of the green vale, now surely you jest. [ Sansa laughs unexpectedly and quickly covers her mouth with a hand to stop the sound. First memories of Margaery and now echoes of Jeyne Poole fill her, painting themselves onto her newfound companion. Her hair was brown and her face was pretty. Was there any wonder why Sansa thought of her two dearest friends so readily? ]

I am not a hero, however unlikely. Nor will I ever be. My heart is but a small, caged thing, and little birds are too readily crushed by the on-coming wind if they are not mindful of where they fly.

[yokoonomuch]

[ Impulsively, Annie steps forward and loops her arm under Sansa's. It feels right and friendly, like when she and Shirley are headed off somewhere to gossip, but she casts a few cautious, sideways glances at Sansa's face as she does this to watch for objections. ]

You shouldn't think of it like that. Little birds just have to be smarter than the other birds and figure out ways to fly without getting crushed. Big birds get to be lazy. Little birds can't be. It sucks a lot of the time, but it's the way things go.

[practiced]

[ The gesture startles Sansa but not enough to make her draw away. Just a surprised intake of breath, a lift of her eyebrows, followed by a very tentative relaxing of her arm, which remains in Annie's grasp. She is so very bold as well, she thinks and then ekes out a small smile. ]

You are not a small bird, are you, Annie Edison of the Green Vale? Nor are you a large one. You are, I think, somewhere in between - clever but bold, a meeting of strengths.

[yokoonomuch]

That's a nice way of putting it, [ Annie observes. Most people Annie's known haven't phrased it anywhere near as nicely. With her arm around Sansa's, settled in its place now, she feels a little more grounded in place then she did when she woke up this morning. The details may be strange, but it's familiar anyway. ]

I think I used to be a little bird, maybe, but I've never been good at settling.

[practiced]

I have always been a little bird, [ Sansa admits quietly, perhaps even sulkily. They think me a simple and stupid girl and, perhaps, they are right.

Lifting her shoulders, she lets them drop again with a gusty sigh. ] Not a wolf, as my father and my brothers and sister. But, for a long while, I thought it to be necessary. Perhaps I think it still. There is as much place for finery and courtesy in the world as there is for sword and steel, is there not?

[yokoonomuch]

Sure, [ says Annie easily. Even if sometimes she wishes people were a bit more like she is, she can accept that the world needs all kind of different people. If the last two years have taught her anything, it's that.

She gives Sansa's arm a little supportive pat with the tips of her fingers. ] But I also don't think you have to be one or the other. You can be the courtesty and the steel, you know? Nice and someone who fights hard for important things.

[practiced]

[ It's a nice thought. More than nice, Sansa thinks, and just the consideration of it makes her face warm in a satisfying way, as if the sun had only just now begun to shine upon it. Overhead, the black shape of a bird darted across the sky, cutting a sharp line against the bright blue backdrop and Sansa lifted her face to watch it go. ]

Perhaps one day you will teach me, then, Annie of the Green Vale. For I fear I will never learn on my own, and I will remain the bird I was born.

[yokoonomuch]

[ Annie, meanwhile, raised a hand to shade her face from the sun. It was hot in the direct, mid-afternoon sunlight, and there wasn't much shade around really, and Annie was still dressed as she had been earlier: for the spectacularly well-air conditioned environs of the Greendale library. ]

We can make a deal, okay? I have a feeling you're going to be a lot better at talking to some of the people around here than I am. Stick with me, and maybe I can... tutor you a bit. [ She could make lesson plans. It would be great. ]