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WHO: Theon Greyjoy and Robb Stark
WHERE: Heropa? Dudes found a carnival okay.
WHEN: Whenever in April
WHAT: BEST FRIENDS SPEND A DAY TOGETHER
WARNINGS: Probably nothing. Just medieval losers up to no good.

[ When Theon invites Robb to Heropa for the day, he half expects to be called a traitor and have the door slammed in his face. Despite his conversations with Jon and Lady Catelyn, there are other people who know the truth. The bomb could drop at any time.

But it hasn’t dropped yet, and soon enough, Robb and Theon are wandering through a carnival, littered with colorful tents and rickety rides that have probably seen better days. Your typical carnival, really, but it’s bright and busy and cheerful. The warm weather and the cars parked in the surrounding area ruin the illusion that this could be any other day in Winterfell, but it feels like old times. It’s nice to know that for now, nothing needs explained and Theon can stand tall, unhindered by the guilt that’s been weighing so heavily on him recently. ]

Alright, Stark.

[ He smirks, more good humored than sly and suspicious. It’s been too long since he properly smiled. ]

What are you willing to risk killing yourself on first?

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[Seems the gods are on your side, Theon, the bomb hasn't dropped and Robb is there to keep you company.

Now this carnival is the pinnacle of modern technology. Gods be good, he has never seen such a vast amount of colors and heard so many different sounds. It makes him want to head out and try everything. Especially the things that seem to fly up in the sky and oh the big wheel too.]

I wish to have a sugar candy first. They look like a cloud. How is that possible? And then we head for the large wheel. I also wish to try the ball game.

[Yes, Robb has figured this all out.]

I also heard there was a woman with a beard. [He snickers.] What if they would put lord Leech there? Tamer of leeches?

[ Theon isn’t normally one to pray, but he may have to throw a quick prayer in the gods’ direction to thank them for this. He knows that he’ll have to face the truth again eventually, but having Robb here and alive has done wonders to lift his mood. He hasn’t felt so normal in months. ]

There are plenty of women with beards in Westeros. You just need to know where to look. I often wonder if the Leech Lord’s lady wife was one of them. Though--perhaps his only interest is in leeches.

[ His smirk widens as he joins in with Robb’s snickering. It’s strange how he can fall so easily back into the same old behavior, as though nothing happened at all. Perhaps it’s his wishful thinking, that ache for things to have been different, that makes it so simple. ]

It sounds as if you have the entire day planned out before it's even begun.

You are wrong, Greyjoy. [Robb nudges his friend with his elbow.] Lord Leech’s wife is a leech. I wonder if he has dressed her in silks and lace as well. Pink goes well with the blackness of the leeches.

[Well, yes, Robb has. He has been reading up about carnivals and all it’s rides and stalls. He wonders if this one has that thing called a roller coaster. It seems to involve going fast and dropping down even faster and Robb thinks he would like that.]

I have read into some books and asked the people I sell ice cream with. I should prepare myself better for this modern city, not? I do not want to be taken unawares yet again.

What about the cotton candy first?

[He points at the stall and looks at Theon with a glint of mischief in his eyes.]

[ Theon lets out a loud bark of laughter. Not much time has passed at all, but it feels like it’s been a lifetime since he could smile and jape without feeling as if he’s forcing it in an attempt to seem normal. ]

They’ll make the ugliest children in Westeros, that much is for certain. Uglier than even the Frey boys.

[ He laughs again and for once, Ramsay doesn’t even come to mind. He wants to poke fun at Robb for putting research into the excursion, but he can’t bring himself to do it. He’s just happy to have this moment. ]

You’ll be taken unawares no matter what you do.

[ Theon has found it difficult to settle into modern life, but he doesn’t explain further. Instead, he smirks, following Robb’s gaze to the cotton candy stand. ]

As you will. I’ll try it if you do. That way your mother can’t pin the blame on me if it should kill you.

[Robb knows of house Frey. The Twin castles close to the Trident.]

Is lord Frey ugly as well? Then I do fear for his sons, yes. But mayhaps not as ugly as the children born from the loins of a leech.

[Of course Robb did his research. He does not want to step into this modern world and be confronted with some sort of troublesome surprise! And everything he has been reading about and seen on tv excites him greatly. It is almost as exciting as being allowed to spar with real swords.]

Not at all. I know cotton candy is made out of sugar. And at times it tastes like strawberries. [He walks towards the stand and orders two large cotton candies. When the vendor hands him two sticks with enormous balls of fluff on it he can barely contain his enthusiasm.]

It looks like a bloody cloud! See!

[ In a brief flash of panic, Theon tenses and briefly considers backpedalling, just so Robb doesn’t ask any further questions regarding how or when he might have met Lord Walder’s sons. But he’s older than Robb, and even back in Winterfell, Robb didn’t know everything about Theon’s life. He relaxes again quickly, returning to his chuckling. ]

I hear he’s as shriveled as an old prune. It’s a wonder his loins are still capable of anything.

[ Theon almost envies Robb’s childlike glee. Was there ever a time when he was allowed to be so wide-eyed and innocent? He can hardly recall, and it doesn’t seem fair. Luckily, Robb returns with the fluffy candy before he can slip too deeply into self loathing. ]

Go on, then. [ He smirks, leaning against the vendor’s stand. ] Try it. You're the one who wanted it so badly.

[Robb doesn’t notice how Theon tenses. He’s more busy with his surroundings and the noises that come from all these modern machines.]

Well, I have heard he has a lot of sons and daughters. Shriveled or not, his loins might do something.

[Yet, the thought of an old man’s loins is kind of nasty and Robb pulls a bit of a face, his nose wrinkling a little as he does.

At the moment he receives his cotton candy he has forgotten about lord Walder’s wrinkled arse sand merely shakes his head at Theon’s words.]

Let us try it both. After all, we have come here together, not? [That reminds Robb of something...] I also want to visit the tent where they have those misshapen people. And ladies with beards. [Finally he thrusts the cotton candy into Theon’s hand.]

It tastes like a sticky sweet sort of cloud, though. I quite like it. [He flashes Theon a grin.] This modern world is not that bad, don’t you think?

Keep talking about the old man’s loins and we’ll both be sick, but perhaps the misshapen people will make for a good reprieve.

[ Theon takes a few strands of the cotton candy, and he grimaces. t’s almost sickly sweet and the way it melts away on his tongue isn’t as satisfying as it should be. All the same, he goes back in for another taste. ]

I mislike this world.

[ Eyebrows furrowed, he continues to pick away at the pink sugary cloud despite not caring for the entire experience. ]

These fools can hardly fend for themselves. They’ve grown too comfortable with their… [ He struggles for a moment, trying to find the correct word. ] Electric fires. When they go out, they don’t know how to provide for themselves. One might say that they’re like children, but even Bran knows more of the world than they do.

[Robb pulls a bit of a face.]

An old man’s loins do not make me sick. Unless you have gotten such a weak stomach over the years.

[Robb allows Theon to pluck bits of cotton candy from his own as they make way to the designated tent of misshapen people.]

You do? How come? [He doesn’t really dislike it, yet he thinks all these modern people are utterly lazy. For everything they have to do there is some sort of machine to do it for them.

He listens carefully when Theon explains himself and can’t do anything else but nod.]

They have become lazy. I am most sure any of them would know how to wield a sword or ride a horse. It does not surprise me that they need to be saved by us heroes. They are rather helpless. [Speaking of things people need to be saved from.] Did no one save you from the magic spirit that haunted you?

[ Us heroes. Theon knows he isn’t a hero. Robb will see that eventually, when the truth comes out. ]

Even fewer know how to build fires. Some don’t even know how to prepare food.

[ What Robb says next turns Theon’s blood cold. Despite his best efforts, he hasn’t been able to push the memory of that creature - he can’t even call it Robb - to the back of his mind. He still sees it in his nightmares, along with the cold eyes of Ramsay Snow as the walls of Winterfell blaze.

He goes pale, but he refuses to let this confrontation break his expression. Instead, he puts on an air of false confusion. ]

What are you talking about?

[Well, Robb is awful in the kitchen as well, he cannot blame other people for their inability to prepare anything edible.] They’d die during a war. We’d march all over them. Still, they are not bad people and this modern time is not bad either. Just rather lazy.

[Robb chuckles, quite convinced of their strength in comparison to that of all these modern people.]

Magnus told me of it. He has seen you. [He does notice that Theon turns a bit more pale than he should be.] And the creature following you. Have you chased it away?

Yes.

[ It’s one more lie to add to the growing pile, Theon has always been a good liar. He's spent the last ten years lying, and he'll continue to do so until guilt finally breaks him down. Today isn't that day. ]

Use your eyes. Do you see anything following me around except for you?

[ The irony of that statement is enough to make even Theon chuckle, though he can’t mask the dark clouds that are forming behind his eyes. He hans his cone of cotton candy off to Robb, no longer interested in it. ]

Are you going to spend the day questioning me, or do you want to find the bearded women?

How? I heard it was a ghost. Ghosts cannot be killed with a sword. Was it one of your powers?

[Robb is extremely interested in the story. Ghosts are almost as creepy as the undead. And apparently such things are very common here.]

You are following me around, Greyjoy. [Robb raises his eyebrows shortly when Theon hands back his cotton candy, but then again he isn't going to complain.]

Don't you want to speak of it?

Did he tell you that as well?

[ Another forced chuckle as Theon tries to uphold his act. He doesn’t know Magnus by name, but he can recall the people who stopped to help him through his panicked. None of them were cruel, but none of them helped to ease the memory of that creature with its dead eyes either. ]

What would he know? He saw it for only a moment. It was no ghost.

[ It all my guilt and regrets come to life, in truth. ]

It was a creature, and it’s gone now. What more is there to speak of?

He did not tell me much about it. Only that you were haunted by a horrible creature. Gods be good, why don’t you tell me about such things?

[There is actually a bit of a pout on his face as he speaks.]

No ghost? What was it then?

[He keeps on asking, he can’t help it and finally he huffs.]

Very well... [A shrug.] ...I will respect your request. [Robb wonders if it’d still be alive, wandering somewhere, waiting for its next victim.] Let us go to the malformed people.

It was a creature, Robb. Gods, you chatter more than an entire flock of magpies.

[ Theon doesn’t even bother to hide his relief as Robb finally lets the subject drop. He’ll tell him the truth, someday when he reveals everything else. For now, he’ll keep stockpiling his secrets and hope he doesn’t crack from the weight of it all.

He’s silent as they trek their way across the fairgrounds to the area where the oddities are kept. As they walk, he eyes the banner announcing the attractions: a tattooed man, a woman who resembles a merling, a lizard man, and of course, Robb’s bearded women. ]

Where do you suppose they got these people from?

[ Well, Theon, some of them are probably fakes. ]

Well, I bloody have to since you are not telling me anything. Just like Jon and Sansa do. And mother too.

[There is a hint of frustration in his voice as he speaks. It is no fun to be the only one not knowing about things. Okay, he would become a king. But for some reason that future sounds dreadful.

The thoughts linger in his mind for a moment until he sees the banner.]

I do not know...maybe they are superheroes and their powers malfunctioned. So they turned into a monstrosity.

[In the mind of a 13 year old that definitely makes sense!]

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THERE WILL BE BALLOONS

GOOD

YES

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