@jofreys sent a raven : “ until then, try not to die. ”

❛  oh, you are funny.  ❜

in truth, luke is glad that joffrey jests about it. the rest of their family seems so unwilling to even broach the subject of his near - death ( save for baela, who happly tramples through the subject, to luke’s great amusement ), as though they fear to prod at some still - festering, open wound of his. none of it constitutes his fondest memories, granted, but given the benefit of time and distance from it all, luke finds that it no longer pains him to remember how close he and arrax had both come to a grisly end.

there is regret, of course, and a horrible, gnawing guilt, that he had endangered his dragon by panicking, fleeing from aemond, rather than waiting out the storm, and that vhagar had inflicted wounds that had taken close to two years to heal, and even then, not fully. his companion can no longer fly the distances he had once been able to, nor reach the same heights, dazzle his brothers and sisters with his acrobatic feats in the air. luke himself is not unscathed by it, still finding himself overcome by near - crippling migraines, at times, and lacking a full range of motion in the wrist he had shattered upon impact.

but joff has always been able to bring a certain levity to his life, making luke smile, even when he least feels like it. 

and now he is leaving him.

the younger of the twins, still only 14, had a knack for getting into trouble. aurane did not mean to, half the time, but running from trouble was half the fun of getting into it. he and aegon had separated the moment that their mother had stepped towards them with the intent of punishment for acting, as she put it, "foolishly in front of the court".

❛  i promise you, my darling boy, that i am well.  ❜

it is a credit to their rearing, perhaps, that she has such kind, compassionate sons. all of whom are particularly protective of their mother, she notes with no little amusement, her mouth curling up in a warm smile. only eleven, and already joffrey is just as fierce in his care and concern for her as his older brothers  —  rhaenyra has a feeling he will only grow more and more ferocious as time passes. his newest brother, only a few days old, now, gurgles in his arms, soothed easily by gentle rocking, and she tilts the bundled - up babe in her arms toward him before he can ask. it had been a difficult birth, and her confinement to bed during her recovery is what has stirred such feeling in joff, despite her reassurances.   ❛  this little one merely put up quite a fight about being brought into the world.  ❜    eyes wide and pale as lilacs blink up at her, guilelessly sweet, and rhaenyra cannot help but croon to the babe in her arms. 

❛  oh, i can see that.  ❜

what had started as one of their usual jaunty journeys to their father’s childhood home, the riverlands’s great eyesore, as luke has affectionately dubbed it, has quickly become a tense and uncomfortable family excursion for all involved. luke finds himself wishing mother were here, rather than the capital, or that jace had deigned to take a break from the governing of dragonstone to join them. they would both know what to say in this situation, where he finds himself at a loss in the face of his brother’s sullenness  —  though joffrey is more than entitled to it, truly, after being on the receiving end of such a shock as their father had abruptly dropped in his lap. sighing, luke settles beside his brother in a gracelss sprawl, his shoulder knocking against joffrey’s in a familiar, companionable way. the gods eye stretches out before them, the bank of the great lake providing a particularly good place to brood, and for a single instant he thinks he spots something moving on the isle of faces, before dismissing the thought and, pointedly, ignoring it. 

@jofreys sent a raven : “ there certainly is a strong ambience down here. i don’t know if it’s the bats or the decaying - everything. it’s quite homey. ”

harwin booms out a laugh, the sound echoing off the stones around them, until he leaves his own ears ringing with it. he reaches out to ruffle joffrey’s hair, surprised to find he needs to reach down a little less than he remembers the distance being  —  surely his boy is not growing so quickly? he’ll shoot up past jace and luke in no time, at this rate. well, the gods know one of them needed to be as tall as their father, rather than taking more after their mother in stature.    ❛  well, i’m glad the castle is to your liking. despite its gruesome reputation, i find home to be quite a comfort to me, still. especially after living so long in king’s landing.  ❜    the city has never settled him, not the way being back in the riverlands does. there’s… peace here, that he knows he will never find in the capital, and the stillness of dragonstone is not the same, disquieting, rather than comforting. or perhaps he is merely unable to find comfort amongst the large, fire - breathing creatures that seem to surround him on all sides on dragonstone… no, he is much more content with his spirits and spectres within harrenhal’s blackened walls. 

leading joffrey through the tunnels that had once connected the castle’s cellars, the underground network stretching at least half the castle, he keeps one eye on the path ahead, wary of collapses in the way, and one eye on his son, resisting the urge to take the boy’s hand. joffrey would surely protest, claim he is more than old enough to walk unassisted. harwin is careful not to bruise the boys’ pride where he need not, though he cannot shake the instincts of a father entirely.   

❛  it’ll be yours one day. this castle.  ❜

rhaenyra had intended for them to break this news to joffrey together, he knows, with luke present to help explain that he intended to forfeit his inheritance, but the words come unbidden anyway. what better time to tell him, than when he is beginning to learn harrenhal and all its secrets? this way, harwin can begin his education, separate to that of a future lord’s, about what it means to inhabit this castle, and how to give due deference to those who reside here, living or otherwise. 

@jofreys sent a raven : ❛  whatever you need to say can wait some more.  ❜

' oh, i'm terribly sorry, my prince. ' laena fights to keep the smile from her face as she crouches to meet the little boy's eyes, feigning solemnity in the face of the young prince's very dignified pout, and smoothing out her skirts with careful hands. it appears that since she has arrived at dragonstone to visit her dear friend she's been taking up too much of his mama's valuable time — time that could've been spent with him instead, evidently. a most grievous offence. one that requires the adequate amount of contrition to appease a boy of four. ' it would seem that i have been keeping your mother all to myself. how selfish of me. '