#dracarysisms

     It was little things in life that made Dany happy. Would make anyone happy, really. But hearing sweet music, children’s laughter, feeling the heat of the sun on her face, she could truly say she was happy. 

Often she would stroll to clear her mind, down little paths that others did not know about. It meant she could slip past her guards, have some time to herself. She never told anyone of these paths, except for a very select few, and ahead was one of them. 

The men of the Night’s Watch gave up their family, holdings, and titles, but they never abandoned their name.

Here, he was Stannis Baratheon --

                                        The King Who Knelt.

                                                               The King Who Lost the Seven Kingdoms.

But how could he lose what he never had? At the start of the war, he had only those loyal to Dragonstone and to him. By the end of the war, he added the strength of the North and the Vale, but never did he have all Seven Kingdoms. Never.

And he never knelt. The Mother of Dragons -- the Dragon Queen -- allowed him some small measure of dignity there, though he felt as if he lost it all when he agreed to take the black. By joining the Night’s Watch, he forfeited his lands and titles -- begrudgingly, at that. It was never a matter of pride; it was a matter of duty to his brother, to his daughter, to the realm.

His brother was dead and so was his daughter and his wife. Melisandre abandoned him, taking the fervent followers of R’hllor with her. Davos, however, insisted on joining him in the Night’s Watch but Stannis forbade it as his last command.

Upon his arrival, he found them without a Lord Commander. It was not a position he desired, but the men who remembered the aid he brought -- the king who cared, they called him; the king who protected the realm -- rallied behind him and soon enough, he was elected into the position. Here, he did not have the title or a crown or a throne, but he had his people, his brothers, and his kingdom was the Wall. 

Still, it was about duty, not pride. Though they called him brother, he strained to return the addressing. It felt like some sort of betrayal to his late kin to adopt another family. He resentfully thought of Robert and the brother he chose, Ned Stark. But I am not Robert. I remember my family. I remember my name.

He held the position of Lord Commander for a moon’s turn when word reached the Night’s Watch that Queen Daenerys’ children were riding north with the Wall as their destination. He made no changes in the men’s schedule to welcome the Targaryens, instead commanding them to proceed with their days as planned. He did, however, personally receive them in the courtyard, accompanied by his personal steward.

Painted eyes flicker over the figure before her. It isn’t hard to guess that the leader is not at all too pleased with the stranger trespassing on her territory. She examines the woman, she doesn’t appear to be from any clan that Anya has seen, which means the woman could very well be a sky person, a potential enemy.  “chon yu bilaik?” Her voice is demanding. She is certain that  this stranger could be a threat. And one  thing she doesn’t take too kindly to is threats.

When Hank had said that they were going to play Laser Tag for his party, Jack had been excited, he’d never imagined that everyone would get this into the game.

Next time we’ll have to play paintball.

They’d all shown up to the big building boasting the largest floor of laser tag in the city, split into teams and made fun of each other, as any group of friends was aught to do. But as soon as those blacklights flicked on and the timer counted down to zero, everyone was in full on battle mode.

People were climbing and jumping and running back and forth. All around him, Jack heard the buzzing of people being hit but had yet to feel his own vest signal that he was among the fallen.

Panting, Jack darted around the room, hitting people when he could and hiding when he saw anyone trying to shoot at him.

Twenty minutes later, Jack was still in the running, along with one girl from the other team. He didn’t know her at all. Must’ve been another friend of Hank’s. But just because she was a girl didn’t mean Jack was going to go easy on her.