the words catch her off guard,  and sansa can only blink at her husband.   can’t stop the smile that curls up the corners of her mouth.   if it were anyone else,  then it could almost be described as shy.   she presses teeth against her bottom lip for a moment,  eyes shining.   it isn’t like there’s anything different than usual;   a new dress,  she realises,  when she thinks of it,  but they’re the same style as the others.   the same look.   the same furs.   but he stares,  and sansa can’t stop the warmth that floods through her.   the colour that floods her cheeks.   she’s coy.   it’s a rare thing for sansa,  not something that she lets anyone see.   only him.   only when they’re alone,  sansa trying to get ready for the day ahead.     “stop it,”     she answers,   although there’s a grin widening on her features that she can’t hide if she tried.   she doesn’t mean it at all,  can’t pretend that she does.     “if you carry on,”     there’s a look in his eye that makes her want to change her mind.   they could spend a day together in bed,  couldn’t they?   should they?   “then we won’t get anything done today.”     she’s undoing the clap of her furs,  though.   looking at him in the eye as she lets them fall from her shoulders.   intention all too clear. 

he groans against her mouth and sansacan’t stop the same sound slippingpast her lips.   breathing againsthis mouth, more than she’s doing anything else.   if he cares, he doesn’t make it known, andsansa can’t say that she cares eitherwith the feel of them pressed flush together.  with his fingers working at her corset, determined,intention all too clear.   butthen he pulls back slightly,  a frowntipping down the corners of his mouth.   concentration clear on his face.   she blinks at him.      “what?”     she asks, voice rough,  and watches as hisexpression flits between a range of emotions.   annoyance, mostly.   confusion,  just after that.     “what?”    she asks again,  before sherealises.   he’s still playing with thelaces of her corset.    she blinks,  can’t stop the way her lips part,  the way they curl up into the start of a grin.   his face was slightly red before,  but now it’s for an entirely different reason and sansa can’t stopherself from laughing if shetried.     “you want me to turn around?”     she asks.  can help him get it off, if he needs her to.   his facesays more than words could everdo,  and she turns.   pulls her hair over her shoulder.   canpractically hear the concentration fizzling in the air.      “gofrom the bottom to the top—  is it undone?”     he makes a noise behind her,  irritated, and sansa’s grin only widens.   triesto hide it.   tries being the key word.     “it’s fine— we have time.”     they didn’t,really.   that had never stopped them before.

GREAT WONDER IS TOLD TO LOOK AWAY —    yet     what     monolith     turns     face     to     the     travesty     around     it     ?     do     the     mountains     turn     the     earth     inward     at     the     sight     of     an     avalanche     ?     or     the     sea     ,,     does     it     tremble     and     flee     when     her     waters     are     thieved     by     typhoons     ?     drogon     doubts     the     stars     break     when     the     day     comes     to     steal     them     away     ,,     just     as     he     doubts     the     sky     truly     mourns     the     kiss     of     the     clouds     on     a     blue     -     canvased     day     .

all     great     things     crumble     to     dust     .     all     men     must     die     .

this     is     no     different     .

so     when     courage     -     hearted     tells     blood     of     the     sun     ,,     “     DON’T     LOOK     ”     ,,     unblinking     do     great     eyes     stare     ,,     unturning     ,,     unmoved     ,,     undeterred     (     how     it     gurgles     in     him     ,,     flames     stirred     in     breast     ,,     crooning     through     torn     throat     and     warbling     tongue     alike     ,,     a     mournful     song     that     chitters     past     the     needles     of     his     teeth     )     .

the     great     wonders     of     the     world     do     not     look     away     ,,     but     how     they     weep     .