#because where would we be without my favourite traitorous snake man

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Aragorn and Boromir: one of them was late to/forgot about an event for the arguments thing!

Alright! They didn’t argue-argue because they REFUSED. Idiots. But they did have some weird emotional conversations so that’s as good as we’re going to get. I hope you enjoy! 

Title: Sweet is the Air

Pairing: Aragorn/Arwen/Boromir - basically. 

Summary: Set in the same time-line/AU World of Naming the World & My Land is Bare. So, Boromir survived Amon Hen, to everyone’s great joy. The main plot-points remain mostly the same. Barring some people living who died in the canon. 

This is post-ROTK. Denethor remains alive, the ghost at the banquet. 

--

‘Did you forget?’ Aragorn asks.  

‘I didn’t,’ Boromir says. 

Aragorn repeats: But did you? It’s alright if you did.  

‘I didn’t,’ Boromir insists.  

Aragorn wishes the man would just admit to it. Yes, he forgot. How hard is that to say? Yes, it slipped his mind that they were going to have a Talk with Denethor about The State of the Stewardship. Or, more truthfully, Yes, he forgot because he wanted to forget because he doesn’t want to talk to his father about The State of the Stewardship. 

‘Do you know how hard it is to corner your father?’ Aragorn asks, attempting to not be annoyed. Because he isn’t annoyed. This is only the third time this has happened, after all. And the first occurrence of Boromir’s lateness to the Denethor Conversation had a legitimate cause; the second - well it could be argued to be legitimate. A third time though? 

But he’s not annoyed. 

(Arwen, last night, You’re annoyed. Aragorn, insistent, I am not annoyed. Arwen raised an eyebrow and therefore looked eerily like her father, For some reason I remain unconvinced. Have you told him you’re annoyed? This made Aragorn scowl and so he therefore looked like a statue of one of his dead relatives, Why should I do that? I’m not annoyed. There’s nothing to talk about. Arwen, I’ll tell him if you don’t. To which Aragorn tried to forcefully declare: You will do no such thing but that merely prompted Arwen to pantomime opening a window and hollering out, Boromir, your king is frustrated with your inability to manage your father. Aragorn became horrified, You wouldn’t dare. At which Arwen smiled and said, Just watch me.) 

‘I promise I didn’t forget - it was only, I was tied up,’ Boromir states. 

Aragorn swallows: well that is a terrible excuse. Because that is not a kind thing to say. It is not a worthy thing to say. Boromir deserves better than Aragorn being missish. Because they are no longer on the road. Because the Fellowship is over. The Four Hunters has long been disbanded. 

Gods, Aragorn thinks bleakly, I’ve been king for ten months now. 

‘Well, it’s terribly difficult to force him to have ten minutes of time. Your father is wily.’ 

Boromir nods slowly. Picks at his nails. Looks at the sad bushes, the dismal remains of summer roses, jasmine climbing up columns, the naked trees. Aragorn isn’t sure how to proceed. He should have practiced. Arwen told him to practice. Aragorn despairs. 

‘He is,’ Boromir finally agrees. ‘He is very wily. A puppet master. I don’t -’ he stops. Aragorn waits with great expectation. Boromir works his jaw for a bit. Does more scanning of the environment so Aragorn can’t see his eyes resting still for more than a second. Aragorn worries Boromir is going to leave. He does this when he wants out from a situation. When he wants to disappear into captain-hood and slide sideways from duty as, essentially, regent-steward.

‘I can’t do this,’ Boromir finally whispers. 

‘You have to.’ 

‘I can’t, Aragorn. I really can’t. He’s my father.’ 

Aragorn makes a sympathetic face. He wants to say that he understands but that would be a lie so he keeps quiet. He cannot imagine Elrond no longer firmly grasping the world in front of him. He cannot imagine Elrond forcing this situation upon himself. There is no dignity to it. Aragorn cannot imagine Elrond without dignity. 

Boromir is silent which causes Aragorn some small anxiety. 

‘It would be a kindness, I think, in the long-run,’ Aragorn tries after another minute of muteness from the future-steward passes. 

‘Yes. It would be. It is.’ 

‘No one need know the reason of why he is being set aside.’  

Boromir looks at him with a sidelong expression. It is almost a sneer. ‘Everyone knows.’ 

‘Is that what frightens you? That people know and will think less of you for your father’s - um-’ 

‘Madness?’ Ah yes, here is a Boromir sneer. ‘Insanity? Lack of mental stability? Gone off with the birds?’ 

Aragorn nods. 

‘No, that doesn’t frighten me,’ Boromir says. ‘I can handle it well enough. It’s more that - well, it’s demeaning to be relegated to old, doddering man. It takes a person’s pride from them and gods, I feel like he’s lost so much already. All the things that matter, too: his position, his son to a certain degree, his father’s affection, my mother. I think, in many ways, pride is all my father has left.’ Boromir draws breath to continue only to deflate. Aragorn wants to comfort him but isn’t sure this is the time or place or, indeed, the best approach. 

It’s hard to know how to handle Boromir. He has more walls than Aragorn can fathom, at times. When he thinks he’s through one, there will be another five he didn’t anticipate. All of this alongside Boromir’s dislike of receiving reassurance. Comfort. Vulnerable affection, as Arwen calls it. There is such a deep fear of being seen as weak or, Aragorn thinks, being thought to be a burden. 

Aragorn tries, ‘Your father has more than that. And he hasn’t lost you.’ 

‘I was speaking of Faramir.’ 

‘Ah.’ 

Boromir’s humourless smile. ‘It’s all a bit of a mess, isn’t it? I’m not sure what I thought would happen after the war, but it wasn’t this.’ 

‘It’s hard to know how people will take things. And, I mean,’ Aragorn shrugs helplessly. ‘There were extenuating circumstances. No one knew about the palantir.’ 

‘No.’ 

‘And, well -’ he stops. Shrugs. Boromir raises an eyebrow, but otherwise he is still as stone. As a king of old, the ones whose names are lost to time but their faces are committed to rock with paint, with chisel. To Aragorn, Boromir has always conveyed more of the regal air he thinks is expected of a king. That he, himself, should display. 

What a thing, to walk into a room of foreign dignitaries, have the King of Gondor be announced and everyone looks at Boromir. Which Aragorn cannot blame them for, because he too would look at Boromir. Honestly, he thinks not for the first time, their roles should have been switched. Boromir should be king, Aragorn can be steward. 

‘Yes?’ Boromir prompts. 

‘I was just thinking, is your father truly mad or merely desperate?’ 

Boromir opens his mouth then closes it. 

‘Sometimes, it can look like the same thing,’ Aragorn continues, gently. He is so desperately trying to be gentle. ‘It’s as you said, he has his pride. He was raised to be Steward of Gondor. To be the sole ruler of this land and then I went and showed up. He’s desperate to hold onto what is, at the end of the days, is rightfully his.’ 

A dismal nod from the future-Steward. 

‘Perhaps there can be a compromise--’

‘No,’ Boromir shakes his head. ‘Not over this. It’s all or nothing with the Stewardship. I know my father, he does not share power.’ 

‘But you always seemed to have a position of influence --’ 

‘Of his making and of his control,’ Boromir shrugs. ‘So, you will either have him as Steward or me. It won’t be both.’ 

A bird’s screech ricochets through the courtyard that is empty and feels so desolate, like they are in Hollin or on the empty steps of Emyn Muil. Boromir has turned and begun a slow, meandering tour around the garden. He pauses where an arch looks out over the city, the River Anduin snakes its silver body through the eastern land of Gondor. Osgiliath shines in the distance. Boromir’s back is to Aragorn and the Future-Steward who is essentially acting-Steward, rests a hand on columned archway. Robes drape in such a way that he is a shadow against white marble, dappled grey. Aragorn wants to go to him but suspects it would be unwelcome, at this exact moment. 

‘My father once told me that he couldn’t remember what happiness was and I said that there would be brighter days yet, that he would live to see them. And he has, there is sun and the clouds of Sauron are gone, but he is not better.’ 

Aragorn thinks that a monstrous thing to tell one’s son. To say: I can’t know warmth, so light the fire and if you do not, then all my coldness is your fault.

‘I’m sorry,’ he says instead. He suspects Boromir won’t take kindly to having his father be called monstrous. 

‘Why?’ 

Aragorn stalls in thought then just shrugs and says that he is sorry because that is a lot to say to a child. 

‘I wasn’t a child.’ 

‘Still,’ Aragorn says, if a bit lamely. 

Boromir sighs, turns to face Aragorn. ‘I can’t do it. I can’t be the one who tells him that he is being pushed aside.’ 

‘Would you be able to be present?’ 

Boromir’s lips thin out into a line and his unhappiness at the prospect is a wave how it rolls from his shoulders. But he nods in agreement, as Aragorn knew he would. Still, it is a relief to have a firm agreement. 

Or, as firm an agreement as he is going to get at this juncture. 

He had asked Faramir: What should be done about your father? And Faramir had gone a little wide-eyed and said, I don’t know. What do you mean? And Aragorn had sort-of motioned as if that could contain everything that had happened. Faramir had then shaken himself out of whatever place it was he went when the question was posed and declared that the person to ask is Boromir. Boromir always knows how to handle our father, Faramir said with confidence. If you want to get Denethor to do things he doesn’t want to do, you have to have Boromir do the asking. 

Later, Aragorn relayed this to Arwen who said, What family have you gotten us tangled into? And Aragorn had replied, primly, I’m absolutely sure it’s worth it. And Arwen had laughed and said she agreed and that she trusted him. It’s just, really, that was what said? 

‘I’m glad you’ll be there,’ Aragorn says. ‘I’m happy to do the talking it’s only, your father is quite fearsome. Like a tempest. Or a sandstorm.’ 

‘Don’t be mean.’ But Boromir said it with a smile so Aragorn feels he can continue. 

‘Just, this time, don’t forget.’ 

Boromir mocks becoming affronted. ‘Excuse me, your royal highness, I did not forget. I got tied up in other very important affairs of state and therefore was merely late. By just five minutes, mind you, and you had already scarpered.’ 

Aragorn takes his arm and steers them towards the covered archway that will slowly weave back to offices and studies and rooms of state. ‘Tempest,’ he says. ‘Remember that.’ 

‘Right. Or sandstorm.’ 

‘A deluge.’ 

‘I’m going to make a record of these.’ 

‘You don’t need to do that.’ 

Boromir grins, ‘I absolutely do.’ 

Aragorn shakes his head, ‘If this is the sort of treatment I am going to receive from you I shall pass you over in favour of Faramir.’ 

‘Oh thank the gods,’ Boromir dramatically sighs. ‘Finally, the man has a good idea. The first time I’ve heard one from him since we met.’ 

‘I wouldn’t go that far -’ 

‘Let us run across Rohan for a week, he said. It’s a good idea to chase two thousand Uruk-Hai with only four people, he said. Trust the former-traitor-witch of Rohan to be of aid on the paths of the dead, he said. Let’s hike across a mountain in February with no firewood, he said.’ 

‘These were all brilliant ideas, I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ 

Boromir laughs, then, a full one. And Aragorn grins because it is a pleasant sound to hear and these are sunny days. Despite the shadows that linger in them and the ghosts of still living men who haunt the halls of this palace, there is sun and there is warmth and there is, at the end of it all, something like hope for a new start.

[winterfellchild]

Just to avoid this ending in the wrong tag I screenshot your question.

This is going to be long but since you think you know me well enough I think you should read it because you won’t find someone who knows more than I do about myself... ok that’s not true, maybe my mom knows a great deal about me too but she is not on tumblr so you’re stuck with me.

Just a quick note for everyone else: under the cut there is a looong post mostly about myself so I can assure you it will be boring and I would have talked with this person in private but I don't have the pleasure to know his/her account so I have to share it here.

OK, where do I start?

With the fact that your opening is wrong:

You sound more like a Sansa fan than anything else

There is a mistake in what you wrote:

it’s not that I sound like a Sansa fan more than anything else, I AM a Sansa fan more than anything else.

If you think there’s something wrong in this fact that’s your problem, I’m fine with it and I’m happy about it.

But since you wrote it like there’s something wrong in liking a character more than anything else I’m curious about your reasons... do you think that people can love only one thing?

Or in this case, only one character?

Really?

Then I must be a strange person because I thought it was ok to love more than one character at the same time with the same intensity.

Believe it or not liking Sansa does not preclude to me the possibility to like other characters.

Now that I've got that sorted out, I can talk about this:

I am wondering how you will act towards Jon if the leaks happen and if Jon and Dany end up together and Sansa never happens... I love Jon and I get the impression that you will basically ban all of the jon related stuff because your dear SAnsa doesnt get what she should get according your opinion.            

This statement leaves me quite perplexed, why “will I ban all of the Jon related stuff”?

Don’t I like Jon?

I don’t remember writing that... oh yes, I didn’t write that because I like Jon.

If only you'd asked me before you made your own conclusions I would have told you that I liked Jon even before I liked Jonsa and if you'd have read my blog a little you would have know that I only started to ship Jonsa during season 6... and don’t be shocked but I loved the Starks since season 1.

I admit I liked Robb maybe a little more back then but that’s Richard’s fault and I started to like Jon after he went to the Wall in season 1.

If I want to be more precise I can even tell you when I really started to like him MORE than other characters: season 1 episode 8 “The pointy end” when I watched this scene:

Ser Alliser: Now there's a rare sight. Not only a bastard, but a traitor's bastard. Jon looks Alliser in his eyes. Silence occur for a few seconds. Then, suddenly Jon tries to strike Alliser, but is stopped by Pypar and Grenn. Samwell Tarly: Jon, no! Jon, stop, put it down! Ser Alliser: Blood will always tell. You'll hang for this, bastard.

It was so unfair, he couldn’t help his family at all and on top of that he was even called a traitor’s bastard by someone like Ser Alliser.

I mean, insult on top of injury... imo Ser Alliser was a vile man more than usual in that scene.

I’m not a nice person if someone does something bad to the people I love and I can’t stay away if they are in trouble so I really was sad for Jon, alone at the Wall with a snake like Ser Alliser.

I hadn’t read the books at that time so I was waiting for him to join Robb... but it never happened :(

Nevertheless since then Jon was one of my favourite, one of these characters that I like more than anything else.

All the Starks are in this group and if you want I can tell you when I started to like everyone of them in a special way but I won’t since this is already long enough.

Now, what can I say about me banning “all of the Jon related stuff” if my ship won’t happen?

I sound like an immature vapid shipper, but I’m sure that was not what you mean because it’s extremely rude to judge someone you don't know.

Maybe I shouldn’t but I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt since you said you’re not an hater, maybe you’re just someone who jumps to conclusions.

See, here's the thing: I’m not a person that will ban or hate a character just because he won’t do what I want him to do.

I think it’s too serious and personal to ban or hate someone and after all we are talking about fictional characters, they are not real.

I admit that I feel very connected with some fictional characters, I laugh and cry with them ( I always did even when I was little), sometimes I’m heartbroken about something that happen to them for a while but I don’t think that it’s healthy to be so serious about them to the point of hate... compassion and empathy are good, hate is never good.

Maybe you said that because you think that it’s normal to hate a fictional character to the point that you will erase his existence, but IT IS NOT NORMAL and you shouldn’t go around saying what someone else will do when you don’t know anything about that someone just because you have an “impression“, I’m not a fictional character, someone you can speculate about, I’m a real person just like you and a bunch of posts on a pubblic blog don't define who I am as a person. It’s terribly presumptuous that you think you know what I will do.

Who are you?

Do I know you?

Will you be happy to receive a message from a stranger who has the audacity to brand you like a hater?

Will you be happy to receive a message from a stranger who decided who you like and who you hate without consulting you?

I don’t think so.

I should stop here because really I already said the important part but I’m going to talk about the boring topic before I end this because I don’t want you or anyone else to think I avoid it, you already have too many wrong ideas about me so I’ll talk about the leaks... AGAIN.

I can’t wait for season 7 to air so people will focus more on the show.

I don’t know anymore how to say this: I DON’T BELIEVE UNOFFICIAL SOURCES

I don’t care about who you like or about who you hate and I don’t care who you ship just don’t use the leaks like an absolute truth if you want me to take you seriously.

Maybe the leaks are true, all of them can be true, however as of today no one knows it.

I’ll believe what I’ll see.

I don’t think the leaks are absolutely true but I can be wrong, after all I’m just a viewer like you.

Nevertheless I can say I don’t like them if I don’t like them.

And if I’ll be wrong... I’ll just be wrong, I’ll be extremely disappointed for sure but it’s not like I can do anything about it.

We have a saying in my country, I tried to find the english translation but there is not a perfect translation so I’ll tell you the latin version maybe you’ll have more luck to find it:

si uel a papa mortua

"life goes on” explain the concept of this saying well.

I mean, no matter what life goes on.

I can be heartbroken, I WILL BE heartbroken, but there is more in my life than Jonsa, Sansa, Jon and GoT so stop wondering about “how I will act towards Jon“ and let me assure you that no harm will come to him because:

I already said I like him, maybe even more than you do... you sent an anonymous message so we can’t compare who likes him more;

I have no real power over Jon’s future;

if after all I wrote you’re still wondering about how a stranger will act towards Jon that’s your problem.

  Lastly:

Btw I am not a jonsa hater, I dont really ship anyone on the show

Good for you that you’re not a jonsa hater, hate is bad for the soul but I still think you’re presumptuous.

I just want happiness for the Starks 

It’s the same for me, we see the show differently ( more likely we see life differently) but that doesn’t mean that we can’t have the same goal about a fictional story.