#i like thinking that ed easily fights with jon but has trouble fighting the other two

[ren-lui]

we'll grow out of it, surely

[7deadlycinderellas]

No more math and history, ch7

Ao3 link

Second session comes to a close. 

Hide and seek only takes two hours this year (Arya long ago found the best hiding place, underneath the kitchen employees snack table behind the mess hall, but Clegane rats her out this time). The Wizard of Oz goes off with no stage fright and no flubbed lines, and only one munchkin who has to run off to the latrines prematurely. 

The dance comes, and Arya even wears a skirt for it.

The dance is over now, and around the campfire the lingering counselors have plundered the prize smuggled in yesterday in Loras’s truck - two whole cases of beer. There wasn’t enough to go around for anyone to really get drunk but most of them were at least nursing a bottle. If no one got in trouble, Brienne would be none the wiser.

Most of the unit counselors have left, begrudgingly. They’ll get their revenge when everyone at activities has to work tomorrow all day when the kids are gone. Meera had taken one bottle and snuck off for solitude. Ygritte had grumbled the whole dance, she was stuck on lights out patrol the last night of session. Bran left too, laughing that alcohol and wheelchairs didn’t mix. 

All around the campfire, everyone’s drinking their beer, laughing and singing.

Arya and her companions are off to one side, and a couple are still fixated on the skirt. 

She holds out the ends of the fabric, showing Shireen. 

“I pretty much live in jeans and sweaters and hoodies up north. I haven’t worn a skirt or dress voluntarily since my junior school days when we had uniforms. Well about a year and a half ago I tore the knees out of my favorite jeans. I was going to throw them away, but Sansa fished them out, cut the inseams and patched the gaps with one of our dad’s old flannel shirts.”

They still had a whole box of Ned’s flannel shirts, waiting for them to find a use for them. Robb and Jon were both still too slim to wear them. Sometimes Arya would pull one on, letting it fall down nearly to her knees, and pretend she could still smell him. Ned had always smelled like pine and snow to her, no matter where they were.

“I loved it, because of that and because Sansa made it just for me. But I only wore it once.”

“I forgot about that,” Sansa admits.

Arya feels herself turning red, and she knows it’s not the beer, she’s only had half a bottle. 

“I wish I could. I wore it to school once, one of the only days it was warm enough.”

She had always shaken her head at Sansa, who wore dresses and skirts to school all the time, with or without leggings or tights, no matter the amount of snow on the ground. She could be shivering under her winter coat and hat and boots, but still refuse to change.

“I didn’t really think anything of it, but everyone else sure seemed to. Mum fussed over me all morning and when I got to school, I kept hearing whispers and snickers. I even heard someone say ‘guess she really is a girl after all’. It was mortifying, and I never wore it again.”

Shireen frowns, even harder than she was before. She had taken exactly one drink of her beer and had winced.

“Why would people act like that just over seeing a girl in a skirt?”

Gendry snorts. He’s only been sipping his beer, and with a pang, Arya remembers that his mother had always said, that his father had just been some drunk. 

“They probably thought they had wandered into some teen flick and she was having a dramatic makeover into the class beauty everyone would want.”

Arya feels herself burn, and she knows it’s not the beer talking. 

“Yes, it was like they thought that just because I wore a skirt that I would stop playing sports and start hanging out at the mall and fawning over boys instead.”

Gendry starts laughing so Arya sticks her tongue out at him. 

“Nope, you’re not getting any fawning, none at all. Mum was the worst actually. She always thought that one day I would wake up transformed into the proper girl she wanted me to be, like Sansa.”

“You and Mum never did see eye to eye,” Sansa admits, quietly. Her two bottles are both empty and there’s a tinge of sadness to her voice.

Arya pulls her knees up to her chest. 

“She could never understand why I would rather go to the park with the dogs, or to White Harbour for a game, or beg Jon to teach me to drive on a Saturday instead of, I don’t know, getting my hair or nails done like you.”

“It wasn’t always perfect between us,” Sansa admits, “Sometimes I could be too much even for mum. You weren’t around that time I threw a tantrum because she said I couldn’t go clubbing with the rest of the cast after the Music Man closed, because it was after curfew.”

Sansa’s quiet for a long moment.

“I wonder if she would fight me again over this next year.”

Arya flops flat on her back. 

“You did fine on your A-levels Sansa, and you’re hardly the first person to take a gap year to work.”

Shireen frowns off to her side.

“You’re out of school already? I thought you said you were seventeen?”

Sansa nods, then giggles.

“There was some fuss with our birthdays when we both entered school. I turn eighteen in October, Arya’s seventeen in November. I just finished my A-levels, Arya’s going into her last year.”

Sansa quiets after this. Arya knows she had agonized over this. She had done decently on exams, true, but she really did want to pursue acting. The theater scene in Winterfell, indeed, in all of the North was so very small, that her only hope was to leave and move somewhere like the Riverlands, or hopefully the Reach. And all for Sansa’s confidence, leaving home like that terrified her. 

Shireen turns her attention to Arya, who suddenly feels the need to take a long swig of her beer. 

“What are you taking?’

Arya grimaces, “English, maths, biology, phys ed, and Braavosi.”

She bites her lip. 

“Mum would probably still say that’s not enough.”

The beer isn’t helping, her stomach feels like there’s a rock in it. Part of her wants to keep going, but is terrified of letting it out. Across the campfire, Loras has started making out with Renly Baratheon, the boys head counselor, and no one is paying any attention to the group in the little corner. 

“Do you remember Ned Dayne?” she asks Gendry, eye half-closed in his direction. Gendry snorts, like a bull would, not like he’s laughing. 

“I hated him.”

Arya scoffs. Ned had come to camp with them the second year, invited along as the son of a long time family friend. The rest of the Brotherhood had liked him, Gendry had not.

“You did not hate him, you were ten. Well, last year Ned came north to stay with his aunt for a few months.”

Sansa’s eyeing her oddly, trying to work out the timeline and looking wary. 

“There was a beginning of term dance. I didn’t really want to go, but Ned offered to take me because he thought I was afraid to go alone, and- Gendry wipe that pout off your face-”

His pout is extremely obvious too, even Shireen’s giggling in his direction. She had never really understood why him and Ned got on each other’s nerves so easily, having always chalked it up to them just having different temperaments.

“Ned and I are just friends, we both knew it…” her voice thins and turns rough, “Mum didn’t seem to get the memo though.”

Sansa interrupts. 

“Was that what-”

Arya nods. 

“She couldn’t stop going on about how sweet we were together, and and, how happy Dad would have been…”

That was the part that had hurt the most, that it felt like Mum had been using Dad against her, even if that hadn’t been her intention. 

“She tried to convince me to take him to this fancy charity event she was planning for the company, and I just, I got so mad…”

Tears threaten to spill out, and she wipes her face with the back of her hand.

“I told her that I wasn’t going to go to her stupid event, alone or with Ned. I told her that she was never going to understand me and that I wished…I wished that Dad was still here instead of her.”

Arya’s crying now openly, and the others are just watching her. 

“Her and Bran’s accident was the next day. Mum died thinking I hated her.”

Arya’s so lost in her words, that she doesn’t even notice when Sansa roughly tipsy-tackles her.

“She did not. You had a fight over something stupid and you lost your temper and said something you didn’t mean. Arya, it’s not the first time you’ve done that. She knew you didn’t hate her.”

Off to the side, she can hear Shireen opening her mouth.

“So much for not being in a film. Is this where we all share our deepest secrets? You already know mine.”

The tone seems almost bitter for Shireen, but Arya could hug her at this moment, for taking the attention off of her confession. 

“Then my turn is done, someone else take a turn.”

Sansa squeezes her one last time, whispering into her hair. 

“You’re so much more lovable than you seem to believe Arya,” she spares a glance in Gendry’s direction before letting go and standing up, “Maybe you’ll come to see it yourself.”

Once Sansa leaves for the other side of the campfire, it’s quiet for a few minutes. Arya studies the stars, feels the warmth of the fire at her back and breathes in the soft scent of smoke. It’s true, she does feel a bit lighter.

After several minutes, Gendry breaks the silence. 

“After we left camp the last time...the foster mother I had after molested me for most of that year.”

Arya feels her throat go dry, her mind go fuzzy. She thinks she makes some noises but none of them are words, or at least she hopes they aren’t.

“At least you’re using the word now,” Shireen comments, and Arya feels even more almost words try and get out.

“Shireen,” she starts off, “Wasn’t she the one who-”

Shireen nods, but Gendry isn’t paying attention. His voice drones on like a tape stretched out from too many plays. 

“I’m not sure if Melisandre was her given or family name either. That’s just what she told me to call her. She hadn’t been living in King’s Landing long before...I should have known she was strange from day 1. I’d never even heard of the Lord of Light before, but she made me keep the little religious rituals. That wasn’t really so bad…”

He swallows roughly. 

“She was really affectionate right off the bat. I didn’t think anything of that either, I’ve had some foster parents who freaked out if I so much as bumped into them and I thought this was better. It didn’t help that she was beautiful. “ “She really was,” Shireen admits, swigging her beer. Arya notes that it’s mostly gone now, as though Shireen had been using it to distract from the conversation. “Like, film star beautiful.”

“Then the weirdness started. She would stare into her little flame on her altar for hours, or spend most of the day speaking in a language I didn’t recognize. Sometimes she would corner me while in this state, and get way too close.”

Shireen’s finished her beer, and stood and set to leave. Arya doesn’t blame her. She feels well and truly drunk, her head swimming and her stomach threatening to turn itself over. 

“Then it got to the point she would try and kiss me while muttering some shit about the will of R’hllorr. It would be a lie to say I didn’t enjoy this at first. That’s why some of it feels like my fault, like I should have done something earlier.”

Arya hates every inch of guilt on his face. 

“You were what, fifteen then? You couldn’t have...would you have thought differently if you had been a girl, or younger?”

Gendry won’t look at her now. 

“But by the time she started saying things about bloodlines and sticking her hands down my shorts I knew everything was wrong, but I didn’t know how to make her stop.”

“I’m so sorry,” Arya starts, turning on one side to face him, “That was horrible. She was supposed to be a parent, no parent should ever do anything like that.”

Gendry chuckles roughly. 

“I had a decent reputation with the social workers. I wasn’t a problem case. I still led off with the religious ranting, because I still thought they might not believe me. They did though, and even leaving with another bin bag, I was ecstatic. I was in a boy’s group home for a few months until Davos took me in. Those months were when she went to Dragonstone.”

Arya’s eyes go wide. 

“They let her?”

“They had to build a case. They could bar her from taking in other kids or working at a school, but until they got all my statements, they couldn’t stop her from traveling within the territory and preaching.”

“Did they-” 

“It was easier after Shireen. Because of what she did to her, with witnesses, they got the order to hold her against her will within the day. She’s in an in-treatment facility now, and has been declared unfit to stand trial. Diagnosis of hallucinations and delusions, apparently they’re religiously oriented quite a lot. Until she’s not, what happened to me is just a file in a police station.” 

Arya sighs deeply. Her mother had always been very religious, and while Arya had rarely shared her enthusiasm, none of it had ever frightened her.

She remembers that Gendry never really put any stock in the barely there prayers and religious songs at camp, she always thought he was in the same boat as her. 

She watches Gendry’s face, his eyes half closed, his lips set straight. A horrible thought hits her suddenly. 

“I didn’t- nothing I’ve done when we’re...I don’t make you remember it do I?”

Gendry sighs, and reaches out to push a bit of her hair back over the side of her face.

“No. I didn’t tell you this to make you pity me, or so you’d treat me like I was going to break.”

Arya feels her eyes water as she asks, “Then why did you tell me.”

Gendry exhales roughly. 

“I guess I’m just so sick of feeling like it’s a secret. It’s not something you can just drop on people. What I said earlier this summer was true, it was much easier to focus on work and school instead of trying to date. But it’s not just that. After what she did to me, it was really hard to think of trusting a complete stranger again. It took me a long time to warm up to Davos and his wife, and even Shireen.”

Arya sighs softly, breathing in the night air. 

“But you trust me?”

Gendry runs his fingers along one of her cheeks, and even though it’s gentle and simple, it makes her skin tingle.

“I do. Besides, you’re not a complete stranger. What Sansa says was right though, you’re so much more lovable than you give yourself credit for.”

Arya scoffs, though her heart swells inside her. 

“You too,” she whispers. Gendry shakes his head.

“I think that’s just you, and maybe Shireen. I think your siblings only put up with me because of you. Everyone else seems to think I’m a giant prick.”

Arya pouts. 

“That’s not true!”

Gendry laughs. 

“It’s fine. The people who actually matter don’t.”

He flexes his arm and rolls Arya closer. She presses her nose into the side of his neck and breathes in deeply. Warm skin, hint of suncream.

They’re quiet for a time, and Arya drinks the moment in. 

“If this is a big scene in a film, any other secrets you want to let out here?” she asks with a smirk. 

Gendry breathes deeply for a moment. 

“Lem gave me some info on an apprenticeship in King’s Landing I might go out for.”

Arya purses her lips. 

“An apprenticeship? What for?”

“To be a paramedic.”

Arya’s eyes go wide. She thinks back on his uncertainty about his future.

“That’s a great idea! You already have something resembling experience too.”

Gendry smiles, though his face still looks a bit hesitant. 

“I think so too, especially after what happened during the canoe races. I just- I’m tired of not knowing what I want. I want to make something of myself, show everyone I’m worthy, that I’m not just some lost kid to be pitied and looked down upon.”

Arya kisses his chin.

“Just remember you don’t need to prove anything to be worth it to me.”

Gendry breathes softly, and rolls so they’re closer together, nearly pressed nose-to-nose. 

“It’s not a guarantee, it’s a hard spot to get. It’s not just recent grads, working adults can apply too.”

Arya smiles. 

“After this past year with Bran, I’ve been considering physical therapy.”

“That’d be a good fit, given your background.”

“I thought so. Though apparently you’re competing with a ton of failed med school applicants. I’ll have to really buckle down this year.”

She groans deeply. The two beers she had is making her blood feel hot.

“I don’t want to think about school, it’s the summer holidays.”

So after that, they don’t talk anymore about the future. 

Morning comes, with the sun, and only a few hangovers. The campers leave, and the unit counselors slack off. Out in the stables, Arya and Ygritte muck and chat. Much like her and Gendry, they don’t talk about the future. 

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1202

Monday, February 26, 2018

 Way to go all the Canadian athletes that competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics. You made us proud. Now we get ready for some March Madness. It might seem like I'm a big sports fan but I'm not. It's just that it's less annoying than a lot of the stuff happening around the world these days. Sure I was sad when the Canadian Women's curling team skipped by Ottawa's Rachel Homan didn't make it to the medal rounds and the Canadian Women's hockey team lost the gold medal game in a shoot-out but I didn't get angry and upset. No one was killed by some idiot.

 Archie #28 - Mark Waid & Ian Flynn (writers) Audrey Mok (art) Kelly Fitzpatrick (colours) Jack Morelli (letters). I only keep reading this book because Betty is in it. I don't like the walking disaster area that is Archie. Nor the smug Jughead. I really hate that big fat jerk Reggie who should be someone's plaything in prison. The fact that I feel so strongly about these characters means that the creators are putting out a very good comic book but I would stop reading if there weren't any likable characters. Classic Catch 22.

 Doctor Strange: Damnation #1 - Nick Spencer & Donny Cates (writers) Rod Reis (art & colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). Stephen may not be Sorcerer Supreme anymore but he's still pretty powerful. Remember how Las Vegas was destroyed during a recent mega crossover? Well now the whole city plus its citizens is back on terra firma. Guess where it's been before being resurrected? Hey, they don't call it Sun City for donuts. There's a glitch in Doc Strange restoring all those lives and landmarks and that's where this 4-issue mini takes off. This is a high stakes game between the Doc and Mephisto and the players will be familiar to Marvel Zombies far and wide. Doc's team is on the cover but you'll have to read this first issue to see who's playing for Mephisto.

 The Brave and the Bold #1 - Liam Sharp (writer & art) Romulo Fajardo Jr. (colours) A Larger World's Troy Peteri (letters). DC's old team-up title is back on the racks with a murder mystery featuring Batman and Wonder Woman. There's a strong fantasy element since the murder takes place in Tir Na Nog, the mystical land of faerie. Liam Sharp drew me back into reading Wonder Woman when he did the Cheetah story and here he gets to go all Irish myths for us with runes and rugged faeriescapes. I like a murder mystery as well as the next Batfan but the profuse flowery prose turned me off. It's a tough decision whether I read the rest of this 6-issue story because I really love the art.

 Mata Hari #1 - Emma Beeby (writer) Ariela Kristantina (art) Pat Masioni (colours) Sal Cipriano (letters). This 5-issue mini comes from Dark Horse's Berger Books imprint. I'm glad Karen is still editing comic books. I met her at a DC Retailer's conference over twenty years ago. I was lucky enough to share a group dinner table with her at a steak house in Fort Worth, Texas. I can still remember how happy I was when I asked if I could order a second steak dinner after the first one failed to fill me up and she gave me the go ahead. She thought I had a hollow leg. This book is beautifully drawn but I found the storytelling a little confusing with it's jumping back and forth in time to show us how the lady spy ended up in her current situation. Mata Hari is a very compelling historical figure so I will keep reading this to learn more about her life and death.

 Infinity Countdown Prime #1 - Gerry Duggan (writer) Mike Deodato Jr. (art) Frank Martin (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Flip the cover and you get an info page quickly telling you about the 6 Infinity Stones and what powers they bestow to whoever possesses them. The story starts promisingly enough with the guy who is the best at what he does fighting off some bad guys and then the new Sorcerer Supreme, for the Infinity Stone that he has. Unfortunately the story deteriorated for me when it came to introducing the other stones. It got way too convoluted what with other dimensions involved and what looks like every dang super hero and super villain to ever exist thrown in. I think I have mega event fatigue. Keeping up with the weekly Avengers: No Surrender story with all those heroes and villains to keep straight makes trying to follow this massive story harder to do. I hope nobody dies.

 Batman: Sins of the Father #1 - Christos Gage (writer) Raffaele Ienco (art) Guy Major (colours) Josh Reed (letters). This 6-issue mini is based on the Batman: The Telltale Series video game with a different back-story than the Batman that we are all familiar with. This Batman's father, Thomas Wayne, was a villain who experimented on people. Bruce is trying to right that wrong and save Wayne Enterprises. You can expect lots of action and the first protagonist is easily recognised. I was super impressed with the art here. Kind of reminded me of Frank Quitely. If the rest of this story looks this good it will be a joy to read.

 Hit-Girl #1 - Mark Millar (writer) Ricardo Lopez Ortiz (art) Sunny Gho (colours) Melina Mikulic (letters). Hot on the heels of the new Kick-Ass book is this 4-issue mini featuring Dave's old partner Mindy. She's looking for a new partner and who she picks is a real winner. This story goes international as the purple-haired perp pulveriser goes to Colombia to deal with the gangs there. I want to see if her new sidekick survives.

 Avengers #681 - Al Ewing, Jim Zub & Mark Waid (writers) Kim Jacinto with Mike Perkins (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). No Surrender part 7. It's Kree Captain Glah-Ree's turn to narrate an issue as his Lethal Legion team fights the Falcon's Avengers team for the prize. Some surprise characters pop up right at the end that will make fans clamour for the next issue. Mike Perkins's pages were only subtly different from the rest of the art and that surprised me too.

 Batman #41 - Tom King (writer) Mikel Janin (art) June Chung (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). Everyone Loves Ivy part 1. I was naïve to think that Joelle Jones was the best artist for this book because there are lots of artists that I love out there. Mikel Janin made me gasp after I flipped open the cover and saw the first page. Page 10 made me sigh. His Poison Ivy will haunt your dreams. The Cat and the Bat face a daunting challenge in this new story. This is a great issue to start to find out why I've been raving about this title every issue.

 Moonshine #7 - Brian Azzarello (writer) Eduardo Risso (art & colours) Cristian Rossi (colour assistant) Jared K. Fletcher (letters). Boy was I surprised when this issue hit the racks. I thought #6 finished the story of Lou Pirlo, mob enforcer. Plus, it's been almost a year since #6 came out. This supernatural tale continues with the location changing from the hillbilly hills to New Orleans. I'm thinking some voodoo be due.

 Superman #41 - James Robinson (writer) Ed Benes (art) Dinei Ribeiro (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). The Last Days part 2. I was tolerating this story about Superman and a native scientist trying to save a planet from a Jonestown massacre until the science guy explains how he's going to save his species. He sure didn't take any genetics classes. I do not suffer foolish science gladly. The good news is that this story is over and Jon learns a lesson in tolerance.

 Defenders #10 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) David Marquez (art) Justin Ponsor (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Ah Jessica, Luke, Danny and Matt, we hardly got to know you. I don't know if this team book will continue after this but it won't be the same. This sure looks like Brian Michael Bendis's last issue. David Marquez  made me sigh on page 11 panel 5. I'm glad Felicia is okay.

 Incredible Hulk #713 - Greg Pak (writer) Greg Land (pencils) Jay Leisten (inks) Frank D'Armata (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Return to Planet Hulk part 5. Hulk faces off with the Warlord in the fifth and final gauntlet. The final page had me singing Chuck Berry's Maybellene in my head. Now that we've gone back to Sakaar it's time to revisit another old Hulk story. Get ready for World War Hulk II.

 Damage #2 - Tony S. Daniel & Robert Venditti (storytellers) Danny Miki (inks) Tomeu Morey (colours) Tom Napolitano (letters). I can't say that I am enamoured of the title character since he's just a one hour Hulk but the guest stars are worth the read. Here we have the Suicide Squad and next up is a real hero that I am certainly interested in.

 Amazing Spider-Man #796 - Dan Slott & Christos Gage (writers) Mike Hawthorne (pencils) Terry Pallot & Cam Smith (inks) Erick Arciniega (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Threat Level: Red part 3. The art and writing this issue was very wooden to me. Kind of stiff and predictable. I don't like Peter and Mary Jane getting cozy again either. If it wasn't for what's happening to Norman Osborn I would consider benching this book.

 Super Sons #13 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Carlo Barberi (pencils) Art Thibert (inks) Gabriel Eltaeb (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). The Parent Trap part 1. Damian's mom, Talia al Ghul, needs his help for a hit and she's not going to take no for an answer. The boys find themselves in even more trouble when one of the targets is revealed. Robin and Superboy's friendship may not survive. As much as I love Carlo's art I wasn't happy that Talia looks more like Damian's slightly older sister than his mother.

 Astonishing X-Men #8 - Charles Soule (writer) Paulo Siqueira (pencils) Walden Wong & Roberto Poggi (inks) Edgar Delgado (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). A Man Called X part 2. Y'know, I don't think that the guy in Fantomex's body is Charles Xavier. He keeps saying trust me, I can fix this and then he screws things up royally. So, another comic book with amazing art. Psylocke made me sigh on page 3.

 Mighty Thor #704 - Jason Aaron (writer) Russell Dauterman (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). The Death of the Mighty Thor continues. Wow, I snagged a larger than usual pile of comic books off the rack to read last week and inadvertently saved the best 'til last. The writing and art was as powerful as can be. The build up to the last page made it a spine tingling experience. This story is going to be another highly recommended collection when it comes out in trade paperback.