Winter's Thaw

Girl Talk

Girl Talk

Arya

She dreamed of falling, and when she woke she was, she felt her self slipping down only to be stopped by strong arms. As she came to her senses she realized she had fallen asleep on Gendry's lap and against his bare chest in the main room of The Peach, a few others passed out around them on the floor. While she should have been uncomfortable, she wasn't, and found she quite liked the feeling.

She also felt her husband poking into her backside, and while she wasn't squeamish about it like she had been the past few times on the road, she still thought it was bad timing given their current lack of privacy. Typical, their last chance of a featherbed for quite some time and she'd wasted it. While he was still sound asleep, and seemingly nightmare free, she was also quite stuck in his embrace and had to urinate badly. She did manage to free herself but ended up in an undignified heap on the floor. She looked around to see if anyone had noticed, but no one stirred. Still, he didn't wake. Damn, he was a heavy sleeper, but she had decided it was adorable, so that was that. She was starting to like her husband.

She had to step over a few people to get back to the room, and actually sighed in relief as she finally got to use the chamber pot. She didn't see her clothes anywhere, but wasn't too concerned. Last night had felt like a good omen of things to come, and she wasn't about to dwell on her lack of attire. Given the minimal light in the sky, she judged it was still quite early. She wondered what exactly she could do with herself. She decided the first order of business was to say goodbye to Merilee. She had been a godsend last night, and she wanted to say goodbye personally.

*Flashback*

"Merilee, see that our guest has everything she needs." Delia instructs as she pulls the striking girl aside.

"Of course." The curly haired girl agrees and motions for Arya to follow her upstairs.

"Hi." She says, turning her head around but continuing to walk. "I'm Merilee." She has a bit of an accent, but Arya could not place it.

"Hi, I'm Arya."

"She called you a guest, so I guess that means you get the good room." She says good-naturedly.

"Anything will do. As long as I can wash this stink off me, I don't really care about what else." She snorts in the way of laughter, and Arya feels more at ease. Arya was certainly not squeamish around whores like other highborn ladies might be. They were just women, unlucky women.

The room they enter is nice, it reminds her somewhat of her room in The Keep. The tub is already there, but it needs to be filled. Without complaint, Merilee starts the long, arduous process of bringing in bucket after bucket of hot water from a heated tank to fill up the bath. Arya joins in, as much to speed up the process, as discomfort with watching another work in her stead. Merilee flashes her a toothy smile in response, and they work in companionable silence for a few minutes until their task is complete. Only, now the water is too hot, so she needs to wait for it to cool a bit.

"So, traveling with The Brotherhood. You must be tough." She says, a small smile on her lips. Up close, Arya gets the chance to study her. Merilee really is a beauty; curvy in a way Arya will never be, with tan skin that suggests a more foreign origin.

"I'm not traveling with them exactly, they're helping me get home."

"Still. Four? Even I have my limits." She looks flabbergasted.

"No, I'm not..." Arya sputters at the insinuation.

"I might have taken you for green, but that's no small feat. You must be good." A whore? That was a stretch.