Fic Post: Taking the Black (Jaime/Brienne)

[lodessa]

Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire
Title: Taking the Black
Rating: PG
Pairing: Jaime/Brienne
Word Count: 501
Summary: Jaime never expected to see Brienne again, but he underestimated her.
Notes: Written for violaswamp during a ficlet exchange.



It was perfect really, that he’d end up in Night’s Watch black; Kingsguard white had clearly been a poor match, and he was a man of extremes. The cold didn’t suit him that well, but here were men with far worse crimes on their hands than he had on his remaining one. They were his brothers now. Jaime supposed he ought to thank his real brother for that, for still being alive. Still he’d been moving through life as a zombie, hardly caring where life took him to next, until she arrived.

At first he thought he was merely hearing things. He’d grown a bit mad after everything. He couldn’t be hearing a woman’s voice up here, and even if he was it certainly wouldn’t be her.

But it was.

She bested half a dozen of the black brothers before their commander, Jon Snow, decided to face her himself. In the end, he was forced to concede that Brienne was as capable as any of them with a blade.

Jaime never did learn what she said to Snow about her motivations for taking the black. He imagined she told him of her father’s failed attempts to marry her off. He imagined she told him about her quest to find the commander’s half sisters, only to find them utterly without need of saving.

Waiting for a moment alone with her seemed to take forever. Even waiting, he felt painfully alive for the first time in months.

When the time finally came, he wanted to take her in his arms, but couldn’t. He knew she’d meant the vows so recently sworn. Her honor, unlike his, was not flexible.

He looked in her eyes, though, and understood she had come here for him.

“Why?”

“I joined Renly’s Rainbow Guard to serve him. I join the Night’s Watch to serve with you. Besides, without you, it might have been the best option anyway.”

He should have felt guilty, but he could not. Once before, she had brought his honor back from the dead; this time she revived all of him.

By day, they toil together to keep the edges of the Kingdom from crumbling. Branded as Kingslayers, they are left to each other by the others for the most part. They are brothers in arms, and they do much good. Jaime has never done this kind of good before. Often they are sent out as scouts, ranging unpopulated lands for weeks at a time.

At night, they lie together, fully clothed. She is the one to hold him in her arms. There is no question that he wants her, wants her more than anything in the world. The feeling is mutual, and yet honor reigns supreme. The ache reminds him he is alive. Sometimes they cry together, bodies pressing at each other, through unflinching black.

It is a bitter victory, but Jaime has never felt as content with himself as he does now. Soul and body reside side by side, though not entwined.

Comments

[syderia]

Great story !

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[novin-ha.livejournal.com]

I like it. I really like it!

The ache reminds him he is alive.

There's poetry in this situation. The bitter taste and yet the sweetness.

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

Thank you. That's exactly what I was going for and it's hard sometimes with these two to come up with something that isn't saccharine or ridiculously doomey.

ps. I love your icon.

pps. I just posted an entry asking for ficlet requests, if you're interested.

[novin-ha.livejournal.com]

Thank you! You're not up to date with the series, are you?

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

No... I am sadly really behind. It's one of those things that keeps snowballing at this point.

[novin-ha.livejournal.com]

There's such great acting on McDonnell's part that I am constantly amazed lately, and I'm disturbed and fascinated by Gaius (and the religion subplot, especially now that the Jesus hair is gone) yet again. They're doing some crack stuff lately, but I think they're pulling it off really well. So um, what I mean is, do watch it! I'm really in love with this season. It's very tight so far, only one weaker episode in my opinion.

And there were scenes with Gaius and Roslin in one room, which is my personal favourite ;D

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

I did love the scene where she told him what he was going to do.

Also I love her in general.

We probably will catch up at some point during the summer. It's just hard with so many things to watch and being busy a lot.

[girlupnorth]

It was perfect really, that he’d end up in Night’s Watch black; Kingsguard white had clearly been a poor match, and he was a man of extremes.

Love this, and Jaime at the Wall. And although I don't really ship Jaime/Brienne, it's quite lovely and believable here.

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Honestly the more I think about the more that is the place he has to end up.

[pojypojy.livejournal.com]

How did I miss this?!?

Okay, the idea that all the UST will go on being, well, UST for their entire lives makes me want to run around pulling my hair and screaming "noooohhh WRYYYYYYYY???", but that's exactly where the beauty of this fic lies :-D I also love that Jon is still in charge of the Wall, and not out to rule Winterfell and/or the entire Westeros :-D I think the Wall is where he really belongs to.

This, and the idea of Jaime wearing black which, I admit, gave me a tiny nosebleed. *_*

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

I figured that if Jaime and Brienne were going to be stuck at the Wall being celibate then Jon was going to be staying there too. After all, honor is a big issue for all of them.

It's always really hard for me to not just give Jaime and Brienne a happy ending, but that's sort of indulgent as a writer and I try and come up with more varied ideas about it.

I'm so glad you liked it and hopeful that maybe you will be inspired to give us a picture of exactly what Jaime looks like in all that black *hint hint*

[pojypojy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know where you're coming from. Even if, from time to time, I like some utter wish fulfillment fix, this is the kind of story that lingers longer (hey, alliteration), exactly because it didn't force feed you with a happy ending.

Jaime in black? Why, that could drag me out this disease of LAZY that has taken over me lately. I blame it on the heat... -_-

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

We all like a fix of wish fulfillment from time to time *is currently working on a long and plotty but ultimately wish fulfillment Jaime/Brienne fic* but it's important to know the difference between that and actually making the hard choices to come up with something new. The hard choices and the jagged edges of the series are, after all, a large aspect of it's strength.

Jaime in black at the Wall. Nice, cold, and really hot. Just the thing for summer malaise I think.

[floranna.livejournal.com]

Wow. This was so beautiful, and has all the elements I love in this paring. Just...wow.

The feeling of them having each others, being together, but still unable to be together in a physical fulfillment...wonderful. More like this!

And yes, I put these dragons at the end of my post every time I comment on something. You're supposed to click all of them. Xb
http://floranna.livejournal.com/3772.html
(I suck with computers, I send you a link to MY journal so more people could click my dragons...I am pathetic, aren't I? Xb)

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Being as their relationship is all about honor, I figured it was an apt way for them to end up.

(Did you know you can embed the images into the comment? I could show you how if you want.)

[floranna.livejournal.com]

OH YES PLEASE!!!

As I said, I'm hopeless with computers...

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

< img src="location of whatever you want to display"> (minus the space after the <)

For example:



is


< img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/lodessa/pic/000k7psq">

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

There you go!