closed. brothers, oh brothers...

[bruxisms]

Who: King Lineface (bruxisms) and King Fancypants (truegood)
What: Drinking. Of the "cursed" variety because lol Stannis drinking otherwise.
When: Let's go with the evening of Day 414
Where: Some bar.
Rating: PG-13 for likely foul language

[ There were many places one might expect to find Stannis Baratheon. Of those places, a tavern was perhaps the least likely on that list.

Be that as it may, he was there all the same.

Truth be told, he was not entirely sure why he had decided to come, for he was hardly a man to indulge in drink, quite unlike his elder brother. However, perhaps between being pulled into a queer war, being "chosen" by yet another so-called God (he half-wonders if perhaps this was what Melisandre was seeing when she proclaimed him "the chosen one"), and coming face to face with his younger brother whose death he could no longer deny that he had no part in, something in him might very well have snapped.

It hardly helped that he had been sitting all too idle for a few days while chaos reigned, still trying to find his bearings. He had never been that sort of man, but perhaps it was that which had given rise to this sudden urge.

And so, Stannis Baratheon was sitting alone in some manner of tavern, drinking a queer beverage that would put even Robert to shame. As he takes another drink, he knows full well that he is going to regret this in the morning, but for perhaps the first time in his life, he cannot quite bring himself to care.

(And that worries him) ]

Comments

[truegood]

The fingertips that saved us, were they not? Your dedication to your so-named duty is both admirable and worrisome, it is true. [ He shakes his head. ] Worthy he might be, but respected? Not so much. There is a reason he is your Onion Knight, brother, and not so named Lord or given the graces he may come to expect. He is still a pirate, nothing more.

[ Renly is curious, however, about why Stannis is so fond of the man. It is startling to find that he cares about anything more than duty and his lordship, to be sure. ]

I merely speak the truth, Stannis, try not to be so droll. You find everyone difficult to speak with, man or woman or child. I am shocked that you consider your desire at all.

[ He sighs; Renly is more than aware that his brother would never truly understand his relationship with Loras, no matter how he might dare to try. ]

I love Loras. I would wed him, Tyrell or not. Perhaps that is difficult for you to understand, with duty your only love and your heart as cold as Dragonstone, but I would have him for life if I had only the chance. He is mine and I am his.

[bruxisms]

A good act cannot wash out the bad, and a bad act cannot wash out the good. He knew that he had to pay, and he did. [ He frowns again, teeth moving side to side as he attempts to explain it. ] But that alone is one of the reasons he is more lordly than the other so-called "nobles". He is an honest man, who never offers flattery or false praises, even when the truth is a bitter draught to swallow. He might have been a pirate, once, but now he is truly a Lord.

[ And perhaps the only person, if circumstances had been different, that he might venture to call "friend". ]

I have... [ Even thinking about this requires another drink. ] ...rarely thought of my desires, yes. It had always seemed pointless when I knew that I must wed, and do my duty as Robert's brother.

[ He could comprehend love well enough, though it had always been accompanied by great pain. He felt it when he looked at his daughter, feeling an odd pang of guilt every time he wished she had been born a boy. He felt it each time Robert had slighted him, always wondering what Ned Stark offered that he could not. And he had felt it time and again when Renly's face haunted his dreams, even as he insisted he had played no part in his death.

So, perhaps he could not fully comprehend his brother's feelings towards Ser Loras. But, he could comprehend that for some mad reason he cared for him. ]

Had you merely been the third son of the Lord of Storm's End, perhaps you could have done just that. Had I sided with Aerys over Robert—

[ There was the drink talking again, and he curses himself for it. ]

[truegood]

He is a good, just man, is he not? [ He smiles, watching his brother's jaw work - it was almost too much, a grating sound. ] Perhaps he is honest, but he shall never barter respect from the rest of them. It will be hard work for him, no matter his honesty. His spirit may end up more broken than you could possibly imagine.

[ He lifts a shoulder; if only he had lived, if things had been different. He could not imagine a world where he and the Onion would be friends, but, perhaps... ]

And your duty was to your wife, yes? I feel most terribly for you, indeed, that you must lie with her, even if it is only for duty. I think you never thought of your desires even when you bed her, only your duty. Perhaps that is why you never think of them.

[ He shakes his head. There are many things he could say about his brother's lack of desire but he would keep that to himself. He lives in a place, now, where these things no longer matter, on the precipice between living and death. It's a strange feeling, but...

This is where he exists, now, and he will simply suffer through it even if his brother cannot understand that. ]

If you had sided with Aerys over Robert I doubt none of us would have lived long enough to have this discussion.

[bruxisms]

Then I would make new Lords, Lords that respect just and true men. [ a pause ] If he can survive being my advisor for nearly fifteen years, I do not doubt that his spirit may yet hold on.

[ It was a self-deprecating jape, truth be told. Perhaps Renly might very well appreciate that. ]

Honestly, I have never understood why men enjoy the deed so much. It is not the most unpleasant act in the world, yet there is hardly any pleasure to be taken from it. I do not see its use, beyond the obvious.

[ Though, he was loathe to admit that perhaps the act had been slightly more pleasurable with Melisandre. Still, it was not something that he allowed himself to enjoy.

It was duty. Nothing more, nothing less. ]

That had been my thought. He demanded Robert's head, despite Robert showing remarkable restraint and remaining in the Vale. How long, I thought would it be before he decided that the blood of traitors ran too deeply in all of our veins?

[truegood]

I am sure the Lords of present will take to that most kindly. Are you sure your kingship would survive? It is all too easy for an angry Lord to take the throne, we know that far too well.

[ Renly understands the jape but doesn't allow it to go on. He speaks instead of Robert, lifting his shoulder absently. ]

Perhaps you have not been doing it with the right person, brother. When you are with a person you truly desire or care for it is much greater than you seem to imagine it to be. It is something good.

[ He sighs, taking a long draught of his wine, a long one. It's too much for him - he's helping his brother with his sex life, the Gods help him (the old and the new, he'd need it). ]

It would not have taken him long at all. His madness was almost too much for him already. He would not have allowed us to live longer than a year.

[bruxisms]

Even still... I would rather face the wrath of a hundred unworthy Lords than part from Davos Seaworth. But I will make them see his worth. Seaworth.

[ ...The drink. It was all the drink. ]

Regardless of that, I am a man wed. Though you and Robert may believe some oaths are made of little more than pudding, I will not bend so easily, unless the very fate of the law were at stake.

[ Or... something like that. It had certainly taken a fair amount of persuasion from both his lady wife and Melisandre... no matter how attractive the woman might be.

...And now he knows full well that the drink has gone to his head. ]

That had been my thought on the matter as well. Even still, the idea of betraying our King... It was a hard choosing. Few men can ever fully understand the difficulty of choosing between family and duty. Yet... I could not let either you or Robert go to your deaths for no faults of your own simply because our king willed it so. It... never felt truly just.

[ After all, he might very well be paying the consequences for treason. ]