we carried on through drought and flood;

[wolfchild]

ᴡʜᴏ: Arya + you
ᴡʜᴀᴛ: Little girl misses mother.
ᴡʜᴇɴ: Morning + Evening
ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ: see below
ɴᴏᴛᴇs: Spoilers abound for ASOS

A. Gardens
[ Life does not stop. If the gods were just, they would make it all stop. Arya does not know if the gods are not here yet or mayhaps they are dead. But the direwolves need grooming and that task falls to her. She had loved it before. Arya would lead Nymeria and Grey Wind out with a brush in hand. Nymeria needed to be chased down; Grey Wind would sit obligingly and lick her face.

Today, both direwolves are energetic. Days spent in closed quarters and they have plenty of energy to burn. They play fight, snarls ripping through the air, tails up. But though they grab one another and tackle the other, there is no blood, no injury.

Arya has not played like that in a long time. Fights aren't games.

She screams at both and they break apart. Arya immediately feels bad. She crouches on the grass and holds an arm out to them. Grey Wind comes up to her first, always the less petulant of the two. He nuzzles her neck. Nymeria rolls on the grass. Arya glares at her over Grey Wind's head as she begins brushing his coat. ]


B. Stark rooms
[ A nearly full plate on the floor and Arya sits at the window to watch the outside. It's pretty. It's always pretty. She hates it.

Nymeria snuffles over and eats the meat portions. Robb will know. But Arya's not very hungry and Nymeria wants it. She strokes the direwolf's clean, warm fur. ]

At least one of us is happy.

[ Lucky Nymeria. She never misses her mother. ]

Comments

[secondchances]

Which is why Stephanie is particularly glad she's not walking Ace at the moment. Ace was definitely not a fan of strangers, and strange, giant wolves? No way.

"Is it alright if I visit for a bit? It's been a while."

[wolfchild]

Another shrug. "I guess."

Arya at least stops her task to watch where Stephanie will sit—and stop Nymeria if need be. She has so difficult to predict. Some people she likes and others she simply hates. And the former can switch to the latter in a heartbeat.

Grey Wind feels her tension. He butts his head against her stomach.

[secondchances]

Though the current state of her household may indicate otherwise, Stephanie's not much of an animal person. She does, however, like Grey Wind a bit more than Nymeria, so she opts to sit closer to that wolf and Arya.

"Hey, big boy." She offers him a palm to sniff. At least she knows better than to just pet the thing.

[wolfchild]

[ Grey Wind sniffs it, a cold nose grazing her skin. He turns his head from Steph to Arya when the younger girl speaks. ]

Hold still.

[ He licks her cheek. Arya pushes him by the snout. When he swings his head back to her, she does not smile. But her expression softens some. His eyes are the same yellow as his sister, though his coat is darker than any of their wolves except Shaggydog.

Willful though they may be, Arya would not trade them for anything. ]

[secondchances]

[There's something endearing about massive wolves and a tiny girl getting along like... what, siblings?]

I saw your brother's journal entry the other day. I'm sorry.

[Might as well not beat around the bush.]

[wolfchild]

[ Arya's movements still. Across from them, Nymeria rolls onto her stomach and growls. Jaw tightening on an insult, Arya nods. When she resumes brushing, her strokes are more brisk than before. ]

[secondchances]

[Pretty much the reaction she expected. Steph plucks at the grass. She thinks about how Damian was when Talia left, when Bruce left, when Dick left... multiple times, for some of them. It hurt him a lot, every time, even if he hated admitting it.]

I'm guessing you don't want to talk about it, and I'm not going to try and make you. I just... know it's not fair. And I'm a good distraction on most days.

[wolfchild]

[ She hates her loss a little more every day. She cannot say she is fine. She cannot say she does not need anything, although Arya does not know what could possibly be untrue about that. ]

You don't know. [ Arya says hotly and she hates more that she cannot keep quiet. That once the lie builds in her mind, her mouth has to speak something. ]

[secondchances]

[She'd argue that no, she really does, but there's no point in that. So, she doesn't.]

Maybe. But it doesn't change what I said.

[wolfchild]

[ she cannot even say she does not need them. but she only lifts her chin. ]

I can give mine own distractions.