Dream II ❄ unintentional video

[branstark]

[Bran is navigating his new wheelchair outside to put out a dish of water for Summer. He's set the device aside to keep his hands free, so it picks up recording from a distance.

When Bran leans forward to set the dish down, he freezes very suddenly, every muscle in his body going rigid. His lips begin to mouth a word, but then his eyes go wide, he shouts, and lurches backwards. The dish falls to the ground with a loud clatter, splattering water over Bran's shoes and the legs of his trousers.

Summer comes running then, posture fierce and alert. When the wolf reaches Bran, he sniffs him curiously and plants large paws on Bran's knees, going up on his hind legs to lick Bran's face. Bran takes a deep, shuddering breath, and hugs the wolf hard around the neck. Summer's eyes squint shut for a moment, and when they open again, their eerie yellow tint seeps back in. To the careful observer, there may be something different about Summer's fur, too-- his coat is silver-grey, but the variance of colour in it may have deepened just a little.]

I'm sorry. I'll get you more water.

[When he wheels back towards the device, he notices it recording, and his brow furrows. When he reaches in to turn it off again, his hand is shaking.]

Comments

[branstark.livejournal.com]

I'm all right. It's only, it made me remember.

[likeboudica.livejournal.com]

Bad memories?

[branstark.livejournal.com]

[He nods shyly.]

Somebody tried to kill me.

[likeboudica.livejournal.com]

Those are hardly good. I'm sorry.

[branstark.livejournal.com]

It's all right. It was... a long time ago.

[likeboudica.livejournal.com]

A long time? But you seem rather young, if you do not mind me saying.

[branstark.livejournal.com]

I'm nearly ten.

[likeboudica.livejournal.com]

How long is a long time?

[branstark.livejournal.com]

[Bran has to think about this. So much has happened that he's stopped keeping track of the time.]

It was summer then. I was eight.

[likeboudica.livejournal.com]

I'm very sorry that people tried to kill you. Why did they do it, do you think? [ Ever curious. ]

[branstark.livejournal.com]

[He presses his lips together in application.] I don't know. Sometimes I think I almost do, but I can't quite remember.

[likeboudica.livejournal.com]

Sometimes you just do not know why someone is doing a certain thing. [ Yeah, she's talking about her own situation... But if the shoe fits. ]

[branstark.livejournal.com]

I s'pose. I don't even know who he was.

[likeboudica.livejournal.com]

Oh. Well, I am still rather sorry that someone tried.

[branstark.livejournal.com]

You're very kind.

I am Brandon son of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell. What is your name, m'lady?

[likeboudica.livejournal.com]

Miss Theresa Gray, milord.

[branstark.livejournal.com]

A pleasure. [He offers a courteous smile.] That's a nice name.

[likeboudica.livejournal.com]

Thank you, milord. As is yours.

[branstark.livejournal.com]

You haven't got to call me a lord, if you don't want to. I was a lord's son once, and then later a king's brother besides, but... not anymore.

[likeboudica.livejournal.com]

But how can you no longer be a lord's son, if you were born as such?

[branstark.livejournal.com]

I regret to say, my lord father is dead. And I don't know how to go back to the world where he lived, anyhow.

[likeboudica.livejournal.com]

I am very sorry. And no, it seems none of us know how to return to the worlds we came from.

[branstark.livejournal.com]

Yes, they told me so. [His mouth twitches to the side, and his eyes flick down.] But, they also said... if I stay here, I might be able to walk again.

[likeboudica.livejournal.com]

You cannot walk? [ A pause, and she's guessing here, but-- ] There is no shame in preferring this place to our worlds, I believe.

[branstark.livejournal.com]

[He takes a deep breath and nods.] It isn't that I don't miss home; I do. But I miss my legs, too, is all.