ataraxion | 005 -- video;

[ ah, robb returns to video posts. there's a marked difference in the set of his face. he looks older, more solmen if such a thing were possible, more like his father, than he did in those very first few times he'd addressed the ship. grey wind is at his elbows, eyes gleaming as his great jaws part in a disinterested yawn. the display of teeth though, that sure is something to see. robb sinks a hand into the fur at the scruff of grey wind's neck, and the action is almost a boy reaching for something familiar, something to anchor himself to. ]

I wish to request a favor of this ship.

[ kings don't make requests, they give orders. that is what robb learned from his namesake but in his time spent aboard this ship he's also learned that a displaced king gets himself more by requesting rather than trying to command. ( like the beggar king, and if his stomach turns at that he ignores it. ) ]

My youngest brother Rickon has come aboard this vessel. I don't seek to curb his curiosity, but only to ask that discretion is used when answering his questions and granting him knowledge.

[ there's a pause. grey wind huffs a breath, impatient, and robb's hand twists in the fur. ]

And perhaps not encourage his fondness for knives.

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[ the look on robb's face is an uncomfortable, uncertain thing. bran asks with eerie accuracy after things robb has kept private and quiet, and he's not sure how best to answer, except with the strange truth. ]

Aye. I've had dreams such as that, after battles and long marches.

But only after battle?

[He looks keenly to Robb's face, trying to divine out the answer he thinks might be there. If it is true for Jon, and for Arya... and true for Rickon, maybe, then Robb--]

Have you had such dreams here, aboard this ship?

[ there's a weight to the question that robb doesn't understand. he doesn't understand a great many things about the dreams, about how vivid they are, how often they come, how they never fade come the morning. he hesitates, but he won't lie. not to his family. ]

Yes. I have.

[At Robb's words--sparse though they are--Bran lets out a small breath that he did not know he had been holding. To have Robb agree is some relief.]

I used to have wolf dreams, too. I don't have dreams so much anymore because here, I have walked in Summer's skin--and I think you could do the same. When you dream of Grey Wind--I think that is what you dream of.

[ to a degree, it is unbelievable. it is old nan's stories, and perhaps a few months ago robb would have laughed and said such a fanciful notion was hardly worth speaking of but--

but when he answers his voice is quiet, thoughtful. ]

You think I could walk in Grey Wind's skin.

[ it's...robb doesn't know how to react to the thought. it's vast and it's frightening and he would be lying if he didn't say part of him, the wild, northern part of him that has its own set of snapping jaws ( wolfsblood ) didn't thrill to the idea. ]

Can all of our house do it? Can we all do this thing you speak of, Bran?

[When Bran hesitates this time, it is not for any uncertainty save for uncertainty in himself. It was Robb he'd worried most about telling. He could not appear childish in Robb's eyes; he could not talk of things best left to stories. But they weren't stories. And if Robb is listening then surely he must believe--]

I think we all can. I asked Jon of it, and Rickon has said things that make me think he has borrowed Shaggydog's skin--even at home, he said things--and Arya--

[He bites at his lip when he says his sister's name, uncertain too in speaking of her.]

I have been practicing at it. I think if we were all to practice, we might all be able to change our skins.

[ bran chose his moment wisely. in the beginning, robb would have laughed, brushed it aside. but he has dwelled aboard this ship long enough to see old nan's stories coming to life. it's softened him. and the seriousness of bran's expression does the rest, quells any lingering disbelief. ]

If you wish it, I shall try. [ and feel a perfect fool doing so, but. ] But I know little of it. I've never...

[ it's only ever been when he's asleep, bone-tired after battle or a long day's march and he falls into sleep hard and dreams of grey wind. he's never had any control over it. ]

You'll have to instruct us, Bran.

[ and when did his youngest brother grow so wise? ]

[Bran ducks his head at that, with a small, pleased smile. He would instruct them--though they are all older, and wiser. It seems nearly a silly thought, but he is pleased with it all the same. He is trusted enough and clever enough to be the one to instruct them, to be the one Robb asks for help in this.]

It isn't so hard a thing, once you have done it. I think you will find it easier than you think. I told Jon of it, and he said that he would try, too. When you have time for it, I would show you. [A pause--he does not fear that Robb will think him evil or unnatural, of course (especially not if the gift of warging is his, too), but still--] It's better than the dreams, when properly done. It's-- wonderful. You'll see.

I suppose I shall, won't I?

[ robb has no idea how to practice, how to control this thing that's only ever happened while he slumbered. there's a bit of a pause, and then. ]

After the jump is ended, we shall begin.

[His first instinct is to smile--and he does, quickly--but what will come with the next jump? There are new threats and new faces each time. The thought does some small part to quell his happiness, but not extinguish it completely. It doesn't matter. Whatever the threat, we will face it. And I will teach them all of wargs, and we will be together. No matter the threats of the ship, this remains the sweetest fact of all.

So in the end, he holds his smile and nods at his brother.]

Thank you, Robb.

005 -- video;

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