Golden Winter || Robb Stark [on hold]

Chapter IX

IX. The Wolf and the Golden Girl

After spending most of the day trying to calm herself down before she had thoughts of teaching Theon how to respect women, Reau was just in her tent, sewing.

Or at least attempting to. She had never been particularly good at it but at least, she can sew a wound and use a sword. Sew a flower into a piece of cloth, maybe not.

She was just about to rip another thread out when she heard footsteps outside which meant someone was about to enter. Reau thought that it was probably her father so it came as a shock that it was someone else.

"Robb? What are you doing here?" Reau asked, standing up to see Robb enter her tent.

"I-I just, well, you see, nice flower. Very thread-y." Robb said out loud, describing the first thing he saw. It was as if all sense was leaving his head again.

Reau wrinkled her nose at him as he chuckled at her mess of a flower.

"Other than entertaining you with my sewing, what else can I do for you?" She asked, as he tried to contain his laughter.

He put on a serious expression, for a second until he broke down again, her expression making him laugh harder. After waiting a while and Reau giving him a hard look, he finally stopped.

"Alright, I'm sorry, done laughing. I came here actually to ask you if you wanted to have supper with me?" Robb asked sheepishly.

"Supper?" Reau said, seemingly having forgotten about eating.

"I understand if you planned to eat with your fath-" He said, expecting that she would decline only for her to interrupt him.

"I would love to. I seemed to have forgotten about supper if I'm being honest." Reau replied, laughing at herself softly.

"You wouldn't mind joining me in my tent, would you?" Robb asked, wanting her to feel comfortable even though asking her to supper with him was for his comfort.

His mother had preferred to take supper alone and with all the revelations throughout the day, Robb had just wanted to have some comfort and a not stressful meal. Reau seemed to bring that out in him just by her presence.

What he didn't know was that she needed that as well. Despite her father's orders, she decided that she liked Robb and loved finding excuses to spend time with him. Of course, she wouldn't ever say that out loud. He was just a genuine and sincere person, so different from Theon who she had just met.

"I wouldn't mind at all."

~~~
After walking the short distance between their tents, they were both now seated at a small table, eating dried pork, bread and some cheese. It was quite simple but the ambiance was very relaxed which was all that the two of them wanted.

"Are you quite alright, Robb?" Reau asked, worried that he wasn't since he seemed to space out.

"Forgive me, my lady Reau. Just a lot on my mind." Robb answered, now quite embarrassed that he was caught staring off.

"A lot? I suppose so, running an army will certainly take up a lot of your time." She said, smiling understandably.

She knew that Robb would be busy and he would need every spare time to himself so him inviting her to supper was a great feat in itself. She did not expect him to warm up to her immediately but little did she expect, she was warming up to him as well.

"As a matter of fact, I wasn't thinking about the army." He replied, looking down at the meal he had almost finished.

"Oh? Then what were you thinking about?" She asked, taking a sip of bitter ale.

"You." He answered honestly, making Reau choke on the ale she was drinking.

"Is that so?" She asked, once she recovered from her coughing fit.

"How you were faring in an army encampment, I mean. I never asked." Robb quickly added.

Reau found herself smiling to herself at how sweet he was. She couldn't help herself when she compared Robb to Theon.

Theon was a man who thought with that thing between his legs but Robb thought and acted what his heart spoke. Perhaps, that was his weakness, she thought.

"You don't need to worry so much about me. You know, there is more to me than ugly embroidered flowers and golden hair." Reau answered, making them both laugh.

"I do not doubt that at all. I just wanted to know if you were being treated right by my men." Robb questioned, sincerely.

"May I speak freely?" Reau asked, not wanting to insult him by insulting his friend. She knew that Theon was the ward of Lord Stark but she wasn't sure if they were as close as brothers as she had heard.

"You know you don't need to ask me that, Reau." He said, placing his hand over hers, warmth spreading across their fingers.

Reau smiled wider at that, looking down at his hand on top of hers. Not having to hold back at saying anything was a luxury she had only acquired in Braavos and now, with Robb.

"Your friend, Theon is a bit of an ass if I'm being honest."

Robb couldn't help himself when he suddenly burst into laughter at what Reau said. Reau herself was confused at that although she didn't know that Robb was accustomed to Theon's behavior even though he did not approve of it.

She thought that she said something wrong and it must've shown on her face since Robb intertwined his hand with hers. "Don't worry. Theon comes off quite...disrespectful but he's a good, loyal man. I've known him since we were boys."

He smiled at her, prompting another smile on her face as she glanced down at their intertwined hands.

"Would you like to join me somewhere?" Robb suddenly asked, standing up. Their hands still connected.

"Join you? Where?" Reau asked, even though she already stood up along with him. It was, after all, quite late.

"Do you trust me, goldie?" He smiled, cheekily, thinking himself clever at the name he thought of. His mind on the golden aspect of the girl in front of him.

Reau raised her eyebrow at the nickname. Also not knowing how to answer his question, after all, she didn't know him that well.

"More than I should, wolfie."