linndechir (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
linndechir) wrote2011-10-14 03:10 am
linndechir) wrote2011-10-14 03:10 am
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Two more Stannis ficlets
Two more fics I wrote for prompts on tumblr. As the last one I posted, these are really just snippets I wrote in the middle of the night, without giving them much thought, let alone editing and reworking them. So don't expect any high quality stuff, just the junk my brain produces when I should sleep. My exchange fic is going to be fairly awesome, though. I think. I hope. I like it so far.
Ficlet number one: I usually hate those "x times someone did that and one time they didn't" fics, but since someone gave me a prompt like that, I was a good girl and wrote it. Have some Stannis angsting about his issues: "three times stannis wondered about renly’s sexuality and one time he knew".
I.
“That’s the Kingslayer, right?” Renly pointed at the Kingsguard knight, splendid on a white horse, his golden hair outshining even his gleaming breastplate.
“Ser Jaime Lannister, yes.” Stannis’ hand tightened on Renly’s shoulder, he was afraid the little boy would just run off. Renly was nine, and it was the first proper tourney at Storm’s End since the war, the first big tourney Renly had ever seen.
“He’s pretty,” Renly commented when Ser Jaime rode past them, smiling at the crowd. Stannis frowned.
“Men can’t be pretty, Renly.”
“Not true. I think he’s very pretty. Prettier than the queen. She looks silly with her hair like that.”
Stannis felt uneasy about the comment, but he told himself he was worrying about nothing. Renly was just a little boy who wanted to be a knight, nothing more. Stannis had been just the same, but surely Renly would not turn out like him, not in this.
II.
“Some more wine, Lord Renly?”
Even after ten years it still made Stannis wince a little to hear people address Renly as lord - at Storm’s End even more so than elsewhere. His good-for-nothing, spoilt little brother, Lord of Storm’s End. There was a reason Stannis hated visiting him. He glared in the direction of the servant, and his frown deepened. Standing behind Renly was a young man, barely twenty and pretty beyond words, with curly blond hair and radiant blue eyes that would have made a Baratheon proud. His full lips were smiling, a smile that was far too cocky for a servant, but Renly did not seem to mind.
He only blushed a little and looked down, as if embarrassed, and when he lifted his head again his smile matched the servant’s, all charming and welcoming. “Thank you, that’s very kind.” He had a man’s voice now, Stannis noticed once more. It still irritated him, but not as much as the almost dirty timbre of his voice. He sounded as if he was … flirting.
Stannis quickly looked away, feeling suddenly as embarrassed as his fifteen-year-old brother. He didn’t want to consider this. It was bad enough that his own thoughts sometimes strayed into such frivolous directions, surely Renly’s didn’t as well - for he doubted that Renly would ever resist any temptation, no matter how sinful.
III.
“Lord Renly left instructions not to be disturbed.”
“Do I look like I care about Lord Renly’s instructions?” Stannis stepped past the rather uncomfortable looking old servant and opened the door, stopping suddenly when he heard giggling from the room. Giggling. Grown men shouldn’t giggle.
Renly was reclining on a couch, his tunic half-open, his long black hair a bit dishevelled. He looked surprised and a little annoyed at the intrusion. His companion gasped when he saw Stannis, a blush creeping onto his boyish face. Stannis recognised him, he was some minor lord’s son whom Renly had brought with him to King’s Landing when he had returned from Storm’s End.
“Stannis.” Renly tried to appear indifferent, but the look on his face reminded Stannis of all the times he had caught Renly doing something he wasn’t supposed to do. “Have you ever heard of knocking? It’s what civilised people do before entering rooms.”
“I need to talk to you, council matters,” Stannis replied, keeping his eyes on Renly, desperately trying to ignore how the other man kept fumbling with the laces of his shirt to close it properly.
“I’m sure it can wait until tomorrow, brother.” Renly sounded bored. He stretched a little, arms reclining on the back rest of the couch, and one of his hands brushed his companion’s shoulder as if by accident. “Now, if you don’t mind …”
Stannis considered insisting, but he didn’t want to see more of this. His own thoughts were far too treacherous for that, and there were certain things he preferred not to think about. Fuming quietly he turned on his heel and left.
IV.
He always missed Storm’s End, but never more so than in summer, when the heat in King’s Landing became unbearable. Stannis had been an uneasy sleeper since his childhood, but in summer he barely ever slept a night through. His chambers felt stifling, and even though it was the middle of the night he got dressed again and went down to the palace gardens. They would be deserted at night, nobody would bother him.
The night air was barely cooler on his skin, but at least he felt like he could breathe again. He closed his eyes, listening to the light rustling of the leaves, allowing himself for just one moment to relax.
Until a noise broke the silence. At first he thought it was the wind, but there was not even a breeze. Then again, louder, and this time it sounded distinctly human, a moan. He clenched his jaw in anger - he knew about the general indiscretion at court, but he thought people had at least the decency to confine it to their personal quarters. He was just about to return to the castle when he heard a name.
“Renly!” The voice was full of breathless laughter and excitement, but more importantly, it was a man’s voice. Stannis swallowed. He had had his suspicions for years, and not only because his otherwise so pleasure-loving brother seemed to have no interest in women’s company. Yet Stannis had always preferred not to know, not to look too closely for fear of what he might discover. He hesitated, but moans in the dark of the night were harder to dismiss than stolen glances at handsome servants. He followed the sound, peering through leaves and hedges until he saw them.
His breath caught - the man, no, the boy in Renly’s arms was no other than his former squire, Loras Tyrell, knighted only a few weeks ago. They were both half undressed, smiling, showering each other with fond caresses, whispering gentle words Stannis couldn’t quite make out in between long kisses.
It stung - less the shock of the discovery, which only confirmed a long ignored suspicion, but the affection he could not help but notice even in the dim moonlight. It looked less like a clandestine, guilty tryst than like a meeting between devoted lovers, the smiles and touches so free of any concern, as if they had nothing to feel bad for. It should not surprise him, he thought, that Renly would be carefree even about this.
Stannis quietly cursed himself when he realised that he was staring at them, and only then did it occur to him that they might notice him if he stayed any longer. His retreat was almost hasty, and even so he could not get the sight of their entwined, pale bodies out of his head. He did not know how he should ever look Renly in the eyes again, that lucky boy who had everything Stannis barely allowed himself to dream of. He had done right to hold on to his ignorance for so long, and he wished now that he had not wasted it.
----------------------------
Ficlet number two: the prompt was " Stannis, Renly and Robert in all their dysfunctional glory (hunting trip?)" Bickering, banter, and all three Baratheon brothers being dicks to each other, yay. I like this one a lot better.
“I still don’t see why you needed me to come along.”
“For fun, Stannis, if that word means anything to you,” Robert yelled back, several feet ahead of his brothers. “You used to like hunting.”
“Yes, back when I didn’t have half your kingdom to run because you can’t be bothered with it,” Stannis replied, grumbling under his breath, but making sure it was loud enough for Robert to hear.
“Oh, you’re not that important, Stannis.” Renly rolled his eyes. At fifteen, he seemed to roll his eyes at everything. He made a face when he stepped into another puddle of mud - the rain hadn’t made Robert change his mind about his plan to have them go hunting together. He always wanted to hunt, and he had decided that Renly needed to stop sitting around in castles like a girl, and that Stannis needed to stop sitting around in his study like a maester. Robert’s idea of family time had always been everyone doing what he wanted, or rather everyone watching him do what he wanted.
“I just don’t understand why I had to come.” Renly actually pouted. “I really could think of better things to do with my time than drudging through the mud like a peasant.”
“Like what? Buying new clothes and dancing at court?” Stannis snorted. “You want to be a knight, but you’re even afraid of getting your pretty breeches dirty.”
“See, Stannis? Our little brother is never going to be a man if we don’t teach him how to be one. Ah!” Robert’s voice boomed with delight, apparently he had found the trail again. “There we go!”
Stannis and Renly were in no hurry to follow, but Robert didn’t seem to mind them anymore.
“Why is it the only thing you two ever agree on is how I’m not enough of a man?” Renly complained. He had trouble keeping up with Stannis, he was still smaller than his older brothers, and Stannis had stopped being considerate about that when Renly had been about seven.
“Should give you something to think about, little brother, if Robert and I agree for once,” Stannis snapped back. Being around Robert only made him more irritable. He didn’t have a friendly word for anyone then, sometimes he would even snap at Davos. “Though I’d rather have you be a girl than be like him.”
“I’m not a girl, just because I don’t dress like a brother of the Night’s Watch.” The scorn in Renly’s voice matched Stannis’. “It’s like you hope people won’t notice you’re ugly if you dress like that, but they still do.”
Stannis ground his teeth. “Women are supposed to be pretty, not men. You might understand that if you had anything other than tourneys and clothes on your mind.”
“You mean if I was busy all day pretending to be vital to the Kingdoms’ functioning? Jon Arryn is Hand, not you, no matter how much you’d like to.” It was almost too easy, riling Stannis up, he was as easily offended as an old woman, but his arrogance made it too hard for Renly to resist. Stannis was just opening his mouth to reply - although Renly didn’t expect anything other than a lecture about how he should respect his elders and betters - when Robert appeared again.
“Come on, you’re missing the best part,” he urged them on, followed by a quiter, grumbled, “By the gods, what did I do to deserve brothers like that?”
Stannis only clenched his jaw at the comment, glared at Renly for a moment and then followed Robert, if only to get away from his little brother’s taunts.
Sorry for typos etc. As I said, this is not really proof-read or edited or anything. Enjoy anyway, if you like.
Ficlet number one: I usually hate those "x times someone did that and one time they didn't" fics, but since someone gave me a prompt like that, I was a good girl and wrote it. Have some Stannis angsting about his issues: "three times stannis wondered about renly’s sexuality and one time he knew".
I.
“That’s the Kingslayer, right?” Renly pointed at the Kingsguard knight, splendid on a white horse, his golden hair outshining even his gleaming breastplate.
“Ser Jaime Lannister, yes.” Stannis’ hand tightened on Renly’s shoulder, he was afraid the little boy would just run off. Renly was nine, and it was the first proper tourney at Storm’s End since the war, the first big tourney Renly had ever seen.
“He’s pretty,” Renly commented when Ser Jaime rode past them, smiling at the crowd. Stannis frowned.
“Men can’t be pretty, Renly.”
“Not true. I think he’s very pretty. Prettier than the queen. She looks silly with her hair like that.”
Stannis felt uneasy about the comment, but he told himself he was worrying about nothing. Renly was just a little boy who wanted to be a knight, nothing more. Stannis had been just the same, but surely Renly would not turn out like him, not in this.
II.
“Some more wine, Lord Renly?”
Even after ten years it still made Stannis wince a little to hear people address Renly as lord - at Storm’s End even more so than elsewhere. His good-for-nothing, spoilt little brother, Lord of Storm’s End. There was a reason Stannis hated visiting him. He glared in the direction of the servant, and his frown deepened. Standing behind Renly was a young man, barely twenty and pretty beyond words, with curly blond hair and radiant blue eyes that would have made a Baratheon proud. His full lips were smiling, a smile that was far too cocky for a servant, but Renly did not seem to mind.
He only blushed a little and looked down, as if embarrassed, and when he lifted his head again his smile matched the servant’s, all charming and welcoming. “Thank you, that’s very kind.” He had a man’s voice now, Stannis noticed once more. It still irritated him, but not as much as the almost dirty timbre of his voice. He sounded as if he was … flirting.
Stannis quickly looked away, feeling suddenly as embarrassed as his fifteen-year-old brother. He didn’t want to consider this. It was bad enough that his own thoughts sometimes strayed into such frivolous directions, surely Renly’s didn’t as well - for he doubted that Renly would ever resist any temptation, no matter how sinful.
III.
“Lord Renly left instructions not to be disturbed.”
“Do I look like I care about Lord Renly’s instructions?” Stannis stepped past the rather uncomfortable looking old servant and opened the door, stopping suddenly when he heard giggling from the room. Giggling. Grown men shouldn’t giggle.
Renly was reclining on a couch, his tunic half-open, his long black hair a bit dishevelled. He looked surprised and a little annoyed at the intrusion. His companion gasped when he saw Stannis, a blush creeping onto his boyish face. Stannis recognised him, he was some minor lord’s son whom Renly had brought with him to King’s Landing when he had returned from Storm’s End.
“Stannis.” Renly tried to appear indifferent, but the look on his face reminded Stannis of all the times he had caught Renly doing something he wasn’t supposed to do. “Have you ever heard of knocking? It’s what civilised people do before entering rooms.”
“I need to talk to you, council matters,” Stannis replied, keeping his eyes on Renly, desperately trying to ignore how the other man kept fumbling with the laces of his shirt to close it properly.
“I’m sure it can wait until tomorrow, brother.” Renly sounded bored. He stretched a little, arms reclining on the back rest of the couch, and one of his hands brushed his companion’s shoulder as if by accident. “Now, if you don’t mind …”
Stannis considered insisting, but he didn’t want to see more of this. His own thoughts were far too treacherous for that, and there were certain things he preferred not to think about. Fuming quietly he turned on his heel and left.
IV.
He always missed Storm’s End, but never more so than in summer, when the heat in King’s Landing became unbearable. Stannis had been an uneasy sleeper since his childhood, but in summer he barely ever slept a night through. His chambers felt stifling, and even though it was the middle of the night he got dressed again and went down to the palace gardens. They would be deserted at night, nobody would bother him.
The night air was barely cooler on his skin, but at least he felt like he could breathe again. He closed his eyes, listening to the light rustling of the leaves, allowing himself for just one moment to relax.
Until a noise broke the silence. At first he thought it was the wind, but there was not even a breeze. Then again, louder, and this time it sounded distinctly human, a moan. He clenched his jaw in anger - he knew about the general indiscretion at court, but he thought people had at least the decency to confine it to their personal quarters. He was just about to return to the castle when he heard a name.
“Renly!” The voice was full of breathless laughter and excitement, but more importantly, it was a man’s voice. Stannis swallowed. He had had his suspicions for years, and not only because his otherwise so pleasure-loving brother seemed to have no interest in women’s company. Yet Stannis had always preferred not to know, not to look too closely for fear of what he might discover. He hesitated, but moans in the dark of the night were harder to dismiss than stolen glances at handsome servants. He followed the sound, peering through leaves and hedges until he saw them.
His breath caught - the man, no, the boy in Renly’s arms was no other than his former squire, Loras Tyrell, knighted only a few weeks ago. They were both half undressed, smiling, showering each other with fond caresses, whispering gentle words Stannis couldn’t quite make out in between long kisses.
It stung - less the shock of the discovery, which only confirmed a long ignored suspicion, but the affection he could not help but notice even in the dim moonlight. It looked less like a clandestine, guilty tryst than like a meeting between devoted lovers, the smiles and touches so free of any concern, as if they had nothing to feel bad for. It should not surprise him, he thought, that Renly would be carefree even about this.
Stannis quietly cursed himself when he realised that he was staring at them, and only then did it occur to him that they might notice him if he stayed any longer. His retreat was almost hasty, and even so he could not get the sight of their entwined, pale bodies out of his head. He did not know how he should ever look Renly in the eyes again, that lucky boy who had everything Stannis barely allowed himself to dream of. He had done right to hold on to his ignorance for so long, and he wished now that he had not wasted it.
----------------------------
Ficlet number two: the prompt was " Stannis, Renly and Robert in all their dysfunctional glory (hunting trip?)" Bickering, banter, and all three Baratheon brothers being dicks to each other, yay. I like this one a lot better.
“I still don’t see why you needed me to come along.”
“For fun, Stannis, if that word means anything to you,” Robert yelled back, several feet ahead of his brothers. “You used to like hunting.”
“Yes, back when I didn’t have half your kingdom to run because you can’t be bothered with it,” Stannis replied, grumbling under his breath, but making sure it was loud enough for Robert to hear.
“Oh, you’re not that important, Stannis.” Renly rolled his eyes. At fifteen, he seemed to roll his eyes at everything. He made a face when he stepped into another puddle of mud - the rain hadn’t made Robert change his mind about his plan to have them go hunting together. He always wanted to hunt, and he had decided that Renly needed to stop sitting around in castles like a girl, and that Stannis needed to stop sitting around in his study like a maester. Robert’s idea of family time had always been everyone doing what he wanted, or rather everyone watching him do what he wanted.
“I just don’t understand why I had to come.” Renly actually pouted. “I really could think of better things to do with my time than drudging through the mud like a peasant.”
“Like what? Buying new clothes and dancing at court?” Stannis snorted. “You want to be a knight, but you’re even afraid of getting your pretty breeches dirty.”
“See, Stannis? Our little brother is never going to be a man if we don’t teach him how to be one. Ah!” Robert’s voice boomed with delight, apparently he had found the trail again. “There we go!”
Stannis and Renly were in no hurry to follow, but Robert didn’t seem to mind them anymore.
“Why is it the only thing you two ever agree on is how I’m not enough of a man?” Renly complained. He had trouble keeping up with Stannis, he was still smaller than his older brothers, and Stannis had stopped being considerate about that when Renly had been about seven.
“Should give you something to think about, little brother, if Robert and I agree for once,” Stannis snapped back. Being around Robert only made him more irritable. He didn’t have a friendly word for anyone then, sometimes he would even snap at Davos. “Though I’d rather have you be a girl than be like him.”
“I’m not a girl, just because I don’t dress like a brother of the Night’s Watch.” The scorn in Renly’s voice matched Stannis’. “It’s like you hope people won’t notice you’re ugly if you dress like that, but they still do.”
Stannis ground his teeth. “Women are supposed to be pretty, not men. You might understand that if you had anything other than tourneys and clothes on your mind.”
“You mean if I was busy all day pretending to be vital to the Kingdoms’ functioning? Jon Arryn is Hand, not you, no matter how much you’d like to.” It was almost too easy, riling Stannis up, he was as easily offended as an old woman, but his arrogance made it too hard for Renly to resist. Stannis was just opening his mouth to reply - although Renly didn’t expect anything other than a lecture about how he should respect his elders and betters - when Robert appeared again.
“Come on, you’re missing the best part,” he urged them on, followed by a quiter, grumbled, “By the gods, what did I do to deserve brothers like that?”
Stannis only clenched his jaw at the comment, glared at Renly for a moment and then followed Robert, if only to get away from his little brother’s taunts.
Sorry for typos etc. As I said, this is not really proof-read or edited or anything. Enjoy anyway, if you like.