MOONSHINE ○ JAIME LANNISTER

عشرون

"My lady," Jaime began, shuffling nonchalantly around the solar of Flora's chambers,"may we speak?"

She looked at him, her eyes just staring at his face with no specific focus. Jaime's heart fell; she was so different now from the day he first met her, all sand and sex and sultriness.

"I don't know how to begin, but I only offer you my deepest apologies." He continued on, sitting on the chair across her and pouring wine into a goblet. "Flora, please talk to me."

"Yes, Ser Jaime. We can speak." She didn't meet his eyes. Jaime took hold of her chin, his pressure light as he sighed.

"It was the biggest mistake to send you here, and I know that now."

"It was." In her reply came the saddest of tones, so somber and melancholic that Jaime knelt down in front of her, seeing Flora's eyes full of tears. She hid her face behind her long brown locks and placed a hand on her face, wiping her tears.

"Cersei's become a real bitch. I don't even know why she hates you so much."

"It might be because of you." Flora said nonchalantly, no intention behind what she said; yet it still stung Jaime to think that Flora was getting hurt because of him, because in some way, it was true.

"And I've been the biggest prick of all the Seven Kingdoms to you." She giggled slightly at that, her entire body shaking at the thought.

"You've been the biggest prick, yes." She answered, taking the hand on his chin and caressing it against her face.

"What can I do to make it better? Anything at all." The wind breeze flowed through the room as the dusk grew darker. The setting sun illluminated his lover's face, her cheekbones so sharp and brow bone more prominent than ever.

Flora looked at him with a pleading expression, wringing her hands in front of herself. Jaime raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Just be here," She sighed, coming closer to him and laying a slight kiss on his forehead, "please, just be here."

"I will now. I will always." He smiled radiantly at her, and she returned it; it was like the first smile she had ever given him when they first met.

"Come." He took her hand, single-handledly putting on his sword belt as she followed Jaime out of the chamber.

"Where to?" She walked with him in the same furious pace he was adopting.

He stopped in his tracks, still holding her hand. Jaime looked at Flora for a single moment, then kissing her, deepening it in every passing second. He missed this, her hands scratching the back of his head and his hands on her tiny waist. It was magical.

"I have compared you to all the beautiful things on earth." Jaime started, combing Flora's hair out of her face as she continued to stare at him,"You are the waves as you kiss the beach, and then rush away. You are the stars on winter nights, you are fields in midsummer."

"Jaime, I-"

"You are all of them, and none of them; because you are better than anything I have ever laid eyes on. "

"I have missed you," She said softly, quietly– almost as if she said it any louder others would hear of her sentiments.

He smiled then, so sweetly that she took his lips quickly, kissing him with an intensity that left them both wanting, both yearning for more. Flora did miss him in all his being; his famed locks were smoother than she remembered and his eyes even more clear than the last she had stared at them for long.

He adjusted the hand on her waist, slowly settling it just on her arm.

"Do you have any idea-"

"No words, my love, no words for now." Jaime held her close, breathing in the silence.

Flora shook, pulling them apart.

"You have to know, Jaime. I just want you to understand that no one, and I sincerely mean it, no one could handle all this. The city, the people, it is a poison that has managed to become a living, breathing beast that has come to choke me."

"It is nefarious to live here, and I want only to return to my home. What kind of friends are those that torment you continuously with jabs and spikes towards one's own being? Is that all there is to being a royal?" She exclaimed, rising from her chair and pacing the room.

"I-"

"Look, I know you're going to see me irrational, but truly, how can you live?"

"With you, it's possible." The earnestness in his voice ignited something in her that she felt coiling in her stomach; it was a familiar tension, as if she had felt it many moons ago with Jaime.

She rested her hand on his shoulder, looking at him once more. His eyes were always so clear, so green it reminded her of the waters from where she came. She memorized his face in the outline of his jaw to the curve of his eyebrows as he sighed.

"I know my twin sister can be the worst." He started, rubbing his thumb against her palm. "I'm sorry I haven't be the most attentive lover."

She started giggling, raising an eyebrow. Jaime let out a low laugh.

"Alright, maybe I haven't been a good lover at all." He said quietly after a few moments. "But this I promise you-"

He paused, placing her hands on his neck and his own hands cradling her face.

"I will protect you, no matter what happens. I will help you grow. I will be by your side, Flora, for you have made me feel things I can only describe as heavenly. The gods must have cursed me to be so passionate, but I cannot help it."

Flora leaned against his chest and gripped his hand, pulling his arm against her chest and curling her head down. She rested her cheek against the back of his hand. She focused on breathing. On the heat against the cold. On the sensation of his fingers wrapped around hers. On his chin resting on top of her head.

She closed her eyes and focused on him. She could hear his heartbeat.

He was there, in the present. And she felt safe now.

She pressed her lips against his fingers and felt his grip tighten.

She lifted her head and stared at him.

He looked back at her and didn't move when she let go of his hand in order to reach out and touch his face. She leaned closer and brushed her lips against his cheek. She pressed her lips against his forehead. Then, after a pause, she kissed him on the mouth.

He was fire to touch.

She didn't know if she'd ever get a chance to be with him again. If this was all she got.

She kissed him slowly. She wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him closer, until his arms slid around her, and his lips began to move against hers.

She didn't know if what she was doing was holding on or letting go.

She slid her fingers into his hair.

Their kisses were slow. It wasn't seething or rushed or guilty. It was just desperate, because he somehow always made her desperate.

She kissed him the way she had wanted to. The way she had let herself secretly wish she could.

The night quickly morphed to dawn, the songbirds once more chirping in her ear as she slowly woke up, tired from all the mischief they had gone through the entire evening. Flora stared at him, his sleeping figure so plain and innocent. She couldn't imagine Jaime as a killer, or even a piece in the game of thrones everybody was playing in. Right now, he was just hers, always and now. 

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look-------- that game of thrones finale has awoken me to update and finish the fucc out of this story because I believe that Jaime deserves better, my poor little cinnamon bun.

to all that have been voting and leaving reviews, my greatest thanks. they breathe life into me. 

see you guys next year! just kidding but i hope to update soon, seeing as i am now filled with this newfound tension to give Jaime a character arc that doesn't end in-

sophia!