ataraxion | 002 ♕ video

[ The camera comes on and here is Alayne Stone (yes, the same Alayne Stone that supposedly bled all over her bedroom floor when demons still ran amok on the Tranquility). To her credit, she's looking much better (much more healthy than she probably has any right to be). But that's the beside the point.

The camera comes on and here is Alayne Stone and she dips, giving the same perfunctory bow that she is known to give upon greeting. Though an effort has made to make herself look tidy, her brow is pinched with worry. Her words are quick and, often, she looks off camera at something out of sight. ]

My good Tranquility, [ she says in greeting, her clip not terse per say, but approaching it. ] I am looking for a man. I— I do not know his name, but should he see my face he will remember our acquaintance.

Twice now he has come to my aid. [ He avenged my death. He gave me a terrible knife. ] And— and I find myself in need of his aid once again. [ A pause and then, squaring her shoulders, she looks into the camera and says simply (as if it were directly to the man in question). ] It is a matter of wolves. Please— [ She is about to entreat him, but thinks better of it. (He does not seem the type to be swayed by begging.) ] —do not remain silent. I know you watch and listen.

I will eagerly await your word. [ A pause and then Alayne dips again, more awkwardly this time (she wishes she could say more). ] —thank you.

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[ That gets Alayne to smile once, modestly. ]

Me as well? [ she says her expression growing a bit bashful. ]

Of course.

[He smiles gently.]

You are just as important as Bran or Robb.

[ Alayne nods, bowing her head humbly. ]

It is very kind of you to say so, Professor. Thank you.

It's the truth, Alayne.

[He smiles again.]

Might I ask-- the magic Bran suspects he has. Does it extend to the entire Stark family?

[ Question makes her insides flutter anxiously for it treads very close to the truth she looks, still to this day, to hide. ]

It— it is a question better served to one of the Starks themselves. I know only of what the Northerns say and the stories Bran tells me of the Children of the Forest.

[He nods.]

I will, then. Though-- you seem to have some control over Lady as well. Enough that she doesn't snap at people.

[ More anxiousness, though Alayne covers it with a laugh of startled humility. ] When I was a girl there was a hound that lived in the alleyways behind the House of the Seven. It was a wild wild thing and none of the sisters would go near it, but I hadn't been afraid of it, even as a little girl.

[ It surprises her how easily the lie comes, how readily it slides off of her tongue as if it were the truth itself. ] Birds sing when I speak to them. Animals listen. [ A smile, soft and relenting. ] But it is not magic, not like the Starks.

My father says it must be my mother's beauty, for she was much the same.

That and a remarkable talent with animals. Although, to be fair, they often respond to a kind voice and a kinder smile. I should know.

[It's a joke, albeit a slightly awkward one.]

What was your mother like? If you wish to speak of her.

I admit, I do favor birds. [ A slight color touches her cheeks. A shy and humble pinkening to the bridge of her nose. ] And wolves.

[ That sheepishness then changes shape, becoming a little more apologetic. ] I know very little of her, save what my father tells me. I was still very young when she left me with the sisters, but— I hold her no grudge. A Stone is not an easy weight to bear.

A Stone?

A Stone, yes. As is my name, Alayne Stone. [ A pause, then carefully. ] In Westeros, children of the Vale who are natural-born are called 'Stone'.

[He frowns a little.]

I'm sorry, I think I'm missing something. What do you mean, natural-born?

[ Oh. Alayne's expression grows apologetic. ] It means my father had not taken my mother as wife when I was born.

I means, I am a bastard, professor. And so have no rights to inherit my father's titles, nor lay claim to his name.

[He nods, looking vaguely embarrassed-- not because of the subject, but because she was forced to spell it out for him.]

I see. My apologies; we don't give such names to our children where I'm from-- Stone, I mean. The child typically takes her mother's name.

[ She smiles a little, looking to smooth the conversation forward. ]

Many bastards' mothers do not have names of their own. [ Bastards begetting bastards, and so the cycle continued on and on. ] And if ever a high-born lady were to give birth out of wedlock— she would be shamed and none would marry her, after.

[ And so the lords and kings gave birth to bastards aplenty, while the women remained locked in their towers or otherwise lived as common rabble. ]

[He smiles tightly, clearly displeased with what he hears.]

We don't have such practices where I'm from-- or at least, not so strictly. Many women raise children on their own, and get married when they so choose.

002 ♕ video

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private; QUIETLY CRIES OVER THEIR CR :C

private; SO BEAUTIFUL I LOVE IT

private; SOB YOU ARE HER MAESTER LUWIN, REMUS :C

private; BEST TEACHER AMIRITE

private; MAKES HIM A CHAIN OF METAL LINKS OF AWESOME

private; AND ALL MAGIC.

private; ALL OF THE VALERIAN STEEL JUST FOR YOU REMUS

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