ii rune; text

[vindictam]

[ This could be done with more grandeur, probably. But, he's never been that kind, and given no one had said anything in lieu of him...

Life was too pointless, when those that left weren't marked in some way. ]

For those that knew him, Antillar Maximus, Tribune Auxiliaris, has left the ship.

That is all.

[ He's going to go drink, quietly and by himself, for as long as possible. ]

Comments

[northerner]

For company?

[ yes that is clearly what you were about to ask for, right corvo ]

[vindictam]

... I am sure you have tasks, that are better suited to your time, sir.

[ He cannot just simply accept, even if he felt otherwise. Robb has a bride to be, brothers and sisters, and a mother.

( and Outsider knew -- he should be used to the silence by now. ) ]

[northerner]

You swore your fealty to me, Corvo. I would make a poor liegelord were I not to attend your interests as my own. You have lost a friend. My company is the least I can offer you, but I hope it would ease the pain of it.

[vindictam]

My lord... [ He had no idea what he expected, but he knew what he expected from nobility and commanders. Empty consolation, words said with no real meaning as if it all made it somehow better. The expectation that as ever, he'd swallow it all, and do his duty.

-- and for that, for how long he'd done that, and how much he had since Jessamine died, Robb's words almost stung. Salt on an open wound. Still, he cannot say it, cannot say he appreciates it. ]

... I will see if there is anything to drink here, that doesn't taste like swallowing back bile.

[northerner]

[ it's all robb knows, the only way he knows to lead. know your men, let them know you. what use were you to them otherwise? ]

Gather whatever you wish. I'll meet you wherever you are most comfortable.

[vindictam]

[ He knows, that this isn't how it would truly be. He knows better, kindness is rewarded with death. Knew it like the blood on his hands. ]

I'm at the bar. If that is serviceable?

[northerner]

It's perfect. If you are comfortable there, Grey Wind and I shall join you shortly.

[vindictam]

Till then.

[ And on his end, Corvo hastily tugged his jacket straight, raking his nails through his hair in some attempt to look presentable. Rubbing at his eyes to clear the sleep from them. His mask and sword set at a comfortable reach.

A little things perhaps, but he was trained better than that, after all. ]

[northerner]

[ it's the first time robb has seen him without the mask. it seems like an oversight, like no one should be sworn to him without robb knowing their face, but it had never been his place to ask corvo to remove it. he doesn't comment, though he inclines his head, a silent thank you, because surely this too is a gift. ]

Are you well?

[ like robb absolutely expects the answer to be negative. ]

[vindictam]

[ When Robb approached, Corvo stood. Dipping at the waist in a formal greeting.

It was only fitting for the man he now served. Only then did he meet Robb's eyes, properly for the first time, no metal to keep him separate. (Being himself, and not a thing to be feared, a wraith, death stalking, shouldn't have been so difficult.) ]

Well enough, sir. [ Hands by his side, and formal, he waited to sit until Robb had done so. ]

[northerner]

You needn't bow.

[ robb's voice is quiet. he sounds very young in that moment, like the boy who had begged theon greyjoy to use his name, not his title. the crown is heavy. robb's head still bows beneath it. ]

Please, the formality is hardly so needed.

[vindictam]

A habit.

[ A sign of respect, but he couldn't expect Robb to know how little he paid it to others, that he should be so formal with him. But then, Robb is young, and it always take Corvo by surprise. A young man with too much weight on his shoulders.

He only could tell so much, from having seen it so many times before. ]

I have been in service, longer than you have been alive, unfortunately.

[northerner]

[ at his feet, grey wind shifts, restless, something like intent in the motion. robb hasn't looked away from corvo's face, like he's committing it to memory. this man protects robb's family. this man has sworn himself to robb. and he shall put that mask on again, and robb wishes to remember the face beneath it. ]

I've not asked much of your life before this. Would you speak to me of it?

[vindictam]

[ He didn't meet his eyes, for that, fingers curling around the glass in front of him, and he took a drink slowly, avoiding. ]

If you so asked it of me. [ As much as he'd dodged all of Arya's questions, if Robb truly asked, he'd answer all of it. ] But only if you would return the favor.

[northerner]

I'd not ask for anything you don't wish to speak of.

[ because robb knows avoidance. he's seen enough of it, in his life. he doesn't want to be a man who demands something that isn't freely given. that's never the type of king robb sought to be. ]

But I'll speak to you of Westeros and my home, whatever you wish to hear.

[vindictam]

[ It feels all of it -- too serious, and he still had never been one to complain over much. But he cannot tell Robb the truth, at least not those parts of himself.

Instead, he picks things around it. Things of Dunwall and of home, of triviality. ] The city I served in, Dunwall. It rains there ever much. Never the true constant snow of Tyvia [ Robb doesn't know what Tyvia is, Corvo. ] -- the land far to the north, but, enough to mean your boots are nearly always caked with mud, even in the summer.

[ A soggy middle ground, and its a start, at least. ]

[northerner]

Tyvia.

[ robb says it softly, lets the word roll of his tongue. the far north, snow and cold. it's not westeros, and there would be no winterfell, but robb thinks if he had been from corvo's world, he would have come from there. ]

It sounds like my home. Were we of the same place, I would ask you had you ever visited Winterfell.

[vindictam]

If Tyvia is like Winterfell, then I have been somewhere similar, yes.

[ He'd been all around the empire so many times now. He smiles a little thinking on that. ]

I suppose you and yours fared better than most when the cold struck this ship. Must of been more like home?

[northerner]

Aye, Starks are made for the cold. We were able to be of great use to those aboard the ship when the temperatures fell.

[ though less so in the great heat that had enveloped the ship not so long ago. robb meets corvo's smile with one of his own, easy and pleased. ]

Aye, I think we were the only ones at home then. It was easier than when it grew hot.

[vindictam]

I wish I could say the same of my home, but it is only... time that has adjusted me to it.

[ Time spent in jail, time spent crawling through sewers. Cold waters of the Wrenhaven lapping at his boots, and maybe it was a boon, that he had been tortured so long, it was hard to feel very much of anything over the hardened dead skin. ]

Where I was born, is nothing but warm beaches and sun. It was some time in Gristol before I adjusted to it.

[northerner]

[ time. robb wonders, briefly, if the time he's spent here will make westeros strange. he's adapted to the ship and the strangeness of it, but he has to wonder at the cost of it. ]

Did you live by the sea, Corvo?

[ theon had spoken of the sea to robb, though robb had never seen it, had nothing but reverently spoken stories to attempt imagining the real thing. ]

[vindictam]

[ He thought on that a moment, blinking in surprise. In an Empire made of isles, boosted by the whale trade, it was impossible to think anyone did not know the sea.

But then, Rebecca hadn't known much of such things either and chuckled quietly. Quickly, he finished his glass, tipping it top down. ]

As a boy, yes. I joined the navy young. Until I was given over, the sea was most of what I knew. [ He smiled a little more. ] Then, it was a river instead. [ Always, always by the water of some kind. ]

[northerner]

[ seas and rivers. theon would have liked this man. he talks of the water with the same quiet longing. ]

There was a lake in the godswood. It's the closest to the sea I ever tread.

[ though it was hardly the same. ]

My mother hailed from the Riverlands. I could have used you, when I marched through them.

[vindictam]

[ It's memories were so far gone now, but he remembered them fondly. Upon a ship, he'd first been blooded, thirteen years old and the blade seemed much too big for his small hands. First time he'd found a place that wasn't the back water streets. ]

Godswood? [ Strange name for a forest. ] That is only a problem, I suppose, if you do not know how to swim. Water is always greedy, no matter its size. [ There was a respect there, as much as warning. ]

[ A shrug. A little flattered, though city fighting was what he knew best. ] Never fight a current, it'll cost you much.

[northerner]

The godswood is where we pray to the old gods, at the foot of the wierwood.

[ robb had spoken of this once, to the network. there had been many who hadn't understood the idea of praying to a tree, and robb still doesn't quite have the words to explain it properly. ]

I'm a poor swimmer, I must confess. I've not had much cause to learn. [ splashing about in the pool at the godswood wasn't comparable, robb knew that. ] But I'll remember you advice, should I ever find myself in the water.