video; un: ironborn

[reek]

I’ll not congratulate anyone for the beginnings of this cure.

[ Oh, look, it's that guy who pisses everyone off. The corner of his mouth quirks into a cruel smirk, but his teeth are clenched too tightly and his eyes burn too fiercely for any proper smile. It’s a struggle for him to remain as guarded as he would prefer, and there are cracks in his armor: he’s clearly angry and upset. ]

My sister was among the ill. Was. I have been informed that she has since returned to the pods—still uncured.

[ He tries to keep his tone even and cold, void of emotion, but his voice breaks ever so slightly. He and Asha weren’t close, not like he’s known siblings should be, but it’s a deep cut to be abandoned again, and it hurts to know that one of the few people he felt he could trust in this place is gone. Clearing his throat, he continues.]

Which leads me to the question at hand. What reason do I, or the worried, or any of the ailing, have to trust the maesters here? Healers--whatever name you may know them by. Months, this has gone on, to the point where someone is gone and remains unhealed.

[ He knows better than to critique those who have done nothing but help, but his anger is directionless otherwise, so he chuckles cruelly, and that cheshire smirk widens. ]

They’ve been all but useless.

Comments

[reek]

Asha and I are not friends, just as you and I are not friends.

[ This is why you're not good at making friends, Theon. You push them away at the mere suggestion. ]

[shashka]

We aren't? Well, that's just too bad. You know, I can be a very good friend, if you let me.

[ sure, he might betray you, but that won't be for a while. he's not even sure which game he's going to be playing here, when the one person he was actually trying to look after is "safely" asleep. ]

[reek]

I've heard that before.

[ And ironically he's chosen to trust that very same person all over again to some extent. That our Theon, making all the same mistakes all over again. ]

It's easy to say pretty words, isn't it? It's harder to mean them.

wow thanks gmail for eating this

[shashka]

Have you now?

[ well consider him interested. ]

And once trust is lost, it's nearly impossible to recover, now isn't it? I certainly wouldn't go throwing away a good reputation for nothing.

[ and while he is an accomplished liar, that is true. if you want to betray someone, you need to have something to gain from it. senseless actions never get you anywhere good. ]

[reek]

Aye, it is.

[ He lost Robb's trust, and at a loss of how to regain it, stubbornly situated himself to where the Starks simply couldn't avoid him instead.

Maybe it wasn't smart, maybe it was just an act of frustration, or maybe he hoped that he could find a way to be forgiven in due time. He never quite figured it out. ]

Just because you were friends with my sister doesn't mean I want to befriend you as well.

[shashka]

[ Theon's probably lucky that he can't hear the laughter on the other end of the line. because there is certainly laughter.

(though, on some level. he could relate to the stubbornness. he was the same when he was the kid's age, after all) ]

I guess that she was the better liked of the two of you, wasn't she?

[ and don't worry, Theon. Ocelot knows what it's like to be a disappointment to your parents. ]

[reek]

How am I to know?

[ Which reads an awful lot like "yes, she was, and I'm too stubborn to admit to it even though I'm well aware of the fact". ]

[shashka]

Well, if you were siblings, I'm guessing you spent some time with her, didn't you?

But, she didn't have your charming personality.

[ is he trying to be rude on purpose? don't ever accuse him of something so insidious. ]

[reek]

Some time, but not as much as you might think. We were raised on separate shores.

I say I'm the more charming of the two of us.

[ Is he joking? Maybe. Hard to tell. He can put on a charming front when he really gives it a go, but he hasn't exactly been trying. ]

[shashka]

Is that so? You didn't grow up with your parents?

[ he can relate. ]

Judging by the replies you've gotten, I'd believe it.

[ now Ocelot? he's definitely lying. ]

[reek]

She did. I grew up elsewhere.

[ Sucks, doesn't it? ]

Half of them likely never met Asha to agree or disagree.

[shashka]

Any particular reason for that?

[ hey at least you weren't raised by a sadist. ]

So, I guess you have that going for you. You're making yourself known.

[ for better or worse. ]

[reek]

My father rebelled against the crown, I was his heir, and the king saw it fit that I be taken as a hostage for his good behavior.

[ Nah, he'll have to deal with the sadist later in life. ]

[shashka]

[ well this is really more relatable than he ever thought it actually would be. ]

How old were you when it happened?

[ because he was taken right as a baby. ]

[reek]

Ten.

[ Not quite so young, but young enough that it's become difficult to remember his mother's face, and young enough that he didn't recognize Asha when he returned. ]

It was another ten years before I saw home again.

[shashka]

And your parents preferred your sister.

[ it's an educated guess, more than anything else. after all, his mother preferred her adoptive "son" far more than him, considering how long they'd been separated. ]

[reek]

[ That is how it seemingly turned out. It feels like the minute Theon set sail for Winterfell, Balon saw him as a lost cause and began to shape Asha into his heir instead. ]

My father saw her better suited to be his heir despite it not being her place.

[ But yes, Balon preferred her. He just doesn't want to admit it. ]

[shashka]

And why was that? Just ecause she was around more? Was she a better fighter than you?

[ unlike most men he knew, he'd left most of his misogyny behind back in his twenties, after he'd realized that women were every bit as capable as men. he supposed he had his mother to thank, at least in part, for that. ]

Don't get too bent out of shape about it. Plenty of sons disappoint their parents.

[reek]

Because she was what he had.

[ And that genuinely is the truth of the matter. Balon's eldest two sons were dead, his youngest was shipped across the sea, but he still had a daughter. The ironborn never did do anything by the laws of the greenlands. ]

I disappointed no one.

[ He was a complete disappointment to Balon, but Ocelot is a stranger who doesn't need to open that can of worms. ]

[shashka]

If you say so.

[ it is, after all, far easier to live a lie, than to accept a painful truth. ]

So why didn't he change his mind when you came back?

[ but, logic always prevails. ]

[reek]

I was given the opportunity to prove myself worthy of the title, and so I took it.

[ He knows he failed. He can't even bring himself to look upon Balon's stony face in those pods. He'll feel judged, even from behind his closed eyelids. ]

We'll never know his decision now, if he ever made one. The Storm hit before he could.

[ It's an easier excuse than delving into what may or may not be the truth of what happened. All parties claim he had been taken to the Dreadfort, but the reason as to why is always different. ]

[shashka]

Lucky you.

[ sure, he doesn't actually know this kid all that well, but given the little he knew about his sister, things probably weren't looking good. ]

Maybe if you're really lucky, he'll also wake up, and you can ask him.

[reek]

[ Asha would have been the better choice. Theon is too stubborn to admit to it, but he knows it's true, and he knows which decision Balon would have made. ]

The Iron Islands are gone. There's nothing left to be heir of.

[ As if that's what matters. He just doesn't want to face his father. ]

[shashka]

But your parents aren't.

[ the best thing is that you can always be a disappointment to your parents, whether you're inheriting anything or not. ]

[reek]

[ He'll always be a disappointment to Balon. He never knows how his mother might feel about him, but it's Balon's favor he needed to win over.

You don't need to call him out, man. ]

For the time being, they are.