like so much kindling [ video ♐ 002 ]

[kindlings]

[ Ygritte activates the video feed. When the camera focuses she's seated cross-legged on Jon Snow's bed, looking into it intently, features stern—and with her other hand tapping the flat blade of a carved bone dagger against her sheepskin-covered thigh.

Her voice is steady and light, but with just a hint of iron underneath it. ]


...I'll speak now t' the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, 'f he's willing.






[ ...No encryption of any sort, b/c wildling. Takes place after a particular conversation with Alayne Stone.

...Jon Snow, you got some 'splainin to do, boy. ]

Comments

video;

[hisfinestact]

[ It was a guess on Jaime's part as much as anything, but Jon Snow seemed the type. ]

And are you still the girl to do it or has Lord Snow fouled up his chance for good?

video;

[kindlings]

[ Her face falls slightly, as she fingers the bone dagger thoughtfully in her hands. ]

Don't know. That depends on what he's got t' say 'bout it. But truth be told, deeds're truer than words.

[ But as she looks up, her features are schooled neutrally once more. ]

What conflict's he got with you?

video;

[hisfinestact]

[ Jaime lifts a single, curious eyebrow. ]

If you know Jon Snow, you must be from our world. But if you don't know me than you must be from very far north indeed. [ He pauses and then, in tones so formal that they seem to mock their own formality: ] Ser Jaime Lannister. Snow and I happen to be in the middle of a little war.

video; *sob* she is so smarmy, I'm sorry

[kindlings]

[ She detects the mocking tone well enough in the introduction of his name—and it's curious, she admits, to hear a Southron talk of themselves in such a way—but his words still end up rubbing her the wrong way, regardless. ]

...That's the problem with you Southrons. Lannister—wouldn't know the name from oxen fart. 'M sure it's a fancy enough name South o' the Wall, but where I'm from a man's name counts for nothing. It's his deeds that mean more.

[ But, still: ] ...A war, you say.

video; ffff this is like jaime's second language anyway

[hisfinestact]

[ Far north, indeed, and not very well-bred at all if she's never heard the name Lannister before. Perhaps, she's even from beyond the wall. People are said to live out there somehow, though the idea of the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch consorting with one would be especially shocking. ]

Oh, deeds matter in the south. For example, I stabbed a king in the back once, and no one has ever let me forget it. [ His smile is thin. ]

But yes, a war. Lord Snow's brother rode south to try to teach my family a lesson and for all the vaunted neutrality of the Night's Watch, Lord Snow seems to have taken it rather personally.

video; ..."consorting with" hahahahaha D:

[kindlings]

[ Her jaw drops just a bit, before she can catch it. ] ...I wouldn't imagine anyone'd let you forget stabbing a Southron king, 'f all people.

[ ...How about that; a kneeler who stabbed a king. Even misaligned with Jon and the rest of the Starks, that earns you huge points in her book.

Still, she narrows her eyes suspiciously. ] But y'said Ser, in your name. Doesn't that make you a lord of some kind, y'self?

...What'd he do t' deserve it?

video; jaime would rather not think about jon snow having sex tbh

[hisfinestact]

Son of Lord Tywin Lannister and Lady Joanna, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and Warden of the East, at your service.

[ Again, Jaime gives a wry tip of his head. He's learned well in the past few weeks how little those titles can mean. ]

But you'll find most of our countrymen prefer to call me Kingslayer. As though their fathers and husbands weren't every bit as intent on taking Aerys's head off as I was at the time. He was a murderer and a raper and a sadist by the end.

video; ..I'm sure Jon wishes more people would think like he does!

[kindlings]

[ That's a lotta titles, Ser.

Nevertheless, you can almost see the little hearts floating and popping above Ygritte's head. ]

Most Southrons have shit ideas of loyalty. T' swear allegiance to a king that rapes an' murders? Where's th' honor in that?

Truth be told, y'sound more like free folk than a kneeler, Kingslayer.

[ But when she says that name, it's actually with a breathless sort of quiet reverence rather than reviling disgust. ]

video; it's one of the few things they agree on!

[hisfinestact]

[ Free folk. Well, that answers that question. Jaime's never had much opportunity to meet wildlings before. Even those who make it past the wall rarely venture south, and Jaime's life has offered few occasions to travel north. His attention is suddenly far more focused. ]

Do I? I won't deny that many in the south place more value in words than actions when it comes to honour. But surely your folk have people like that as well?

video;

[kindlings]

We pride ourselves on doin' differently than yours.

[ She ducks her head a bit, relenting. ] But, liars an' turncloaks [ heavy emphasis ] can be anywhere, both north an' south of th' Wall, I won't deny it.

[ She'd be a liar herself if she did deny it...and with Jon turning his cloak and then turning it again, her own moral compass feels a little bit like spinning in free-fall. ]

video;

[hisfinestact]

[ He'd have pestered her a bit more if she'd tried to pretend like all people north of the Wall were fine upstanding folk. That she doesn't bother is both interesting and impressive, in a way. ]

I've heard that your people have no king but one you choose for yourselves. Is that what you mean by "doing differently"?

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[kindlings]

[ She beams like she's standing in sunlight. ]

Mance Rayder. He's our King-beyond-th'-Wall. We chose 'im, aye. He's the only one 'f us who could bring everyone north o' the Wall together—the giants, men from th' Frozen Shore, the Hornfoots, th' ice river cannibals, ev'ryone.

[ She boasts of him with undeniable pride, still thinking he's alive at this point, not knowing anything else for the moment. ]

He wasn't the son of some king before 'im. He was a Crow-come-over too, from th' Night's Watch.