(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]

[ When Annie lifts her hand, Sansa takes it upon herself to steer them to the opposite side of the street where the shadows are longest and deepest. It takes some maneuvering to accomplish - the road is thick with traffic in places and more often than not the oxen that pull the carts and buggies along are sluggish and dimwitted. Still, they manage it, and when they are in the cool of the shade, Sansa smiles at Annie in earnest, moving to clasp both of her hands in her own. ]

I was told by my septa that I was brightest amongst all the young ladies she ever reared and that I took to my lessons as easily as a trout to water. I promise that I will try to learn all that you teach me, and not just learn it, but learn it well. [ She nods, then leans in close, her voice lowering again into hushed, gossiping tones. ] But let us not be just student and teacher. You remind me very much of a young lady who is as near to me as a sister and it is my wish, my very large hope, that you and I become just close, during whatever time we are given in this place.

Tell me, please, Annie of the Green Vale: may we be friends as well?

[yokoonomuch]

[ Annie knows that Sansa is a few year younger than her, though with all of her manners and ladylike-bearing, it's hard to guess how many exactly. The last year of her life has been about trying to be mature, trying to fit in with a group of adults and make sure they don't look at her like a kid, but there's a part of her that still feels like there's a void where ages 13 to 18 were supposed to be. Annie never had a close girlfriend in high school, despite all her efforts, and now she has Britta -- who hates all things girly -- and Shirley -- who is a married mother of two -- and she loves them both, but a lot of the time it's not like having a girlfriend.

That's why she smiles so brightly at Sansa's question and squeezes her hands back. ]

Yes! This whole thing, being here, is pretty insane but if we stay together and if we're friend, it'll maybe be just a little bit easier, don't you think? Everyone needs someone to tell secrets to and cheer up when they're feeling down. [ Not that Annie has ever experienced that firsthand, but she gathers, theoretically, that it's true. ]

[practiced]

[ Sansa flushes at Annie's acceptance, flushes so brightly and fully that she seems a bit sick - giddiness and nervousness, mixed with gnawing hunger, churning away in her stomach. Hope was as much blade as it was honey and Annie Edison's smile offered both to Sansa, though she was no longer wary enough to refuse them. No, instead, she fell upon it voraciously, and returned Anne's earnest squeeze once again. ]

Let lies never come between us, then. And may our hardships do nothing but bind us more closely together. Once, I did not know the importance of such things, I cared only for court and courtesy. But I assure you, Annie Edison, in the name of my house which is House Stark and of our lands which are the North, I will care for you now.

[ There, she tells herself. It is done. A sworn oath. The first I have felt brave enough to swear aloud in such a very long time. ]

[yokoonomuch]

[ It's such a sweet thing to say that Annie beams at her again. It takes her a moment to realize that swearing things, based on her brief experience with stories about princesss and knights and stuff, is something probably something quite serious to Sansa and not just something people do for emphasis and that maybe that meant that Annie ought to swear it back. ]

I promise too, [ she says. ] In the name of. [ An embarrassed giggle escapes. ] Well, I don't have any lands except the apartment I rent, and you really don't want me swearing on that. [ She suppresses a shudder. If there's one advantage to being here and not there now... ] In the name of my GPA, okay? It's an important thing where I come from.