Burning the Midnight Oil
By Slytherin Princess
Chapter One
~Arya Stark~
Arya: Hey, have you finished the last five slides of the presentation?
xxx-xxx-xxxx: I'm sorry?
Arya: Oh come on! It's due tomorrow, you've had a week! I'm not failing because of you
xxx-xxx-xxxx: I'm really sorry, but I don't know who this is or about any project
Arya stared at the phone in her hand before glancing back at the sticky note on her desk. The number was the same until the last two numbers, which she had accidentally reversed. It was probably her own fault for not texting Jaqen earlier in the week.
Arya: Sorry for bothering you, I had the wrong number
xxx-xxx-xxxx: It's okay, I hope your presentation goes okay
She meant to say thank you, but Jaqen texted her back from his actual number and Arya spent the night helping him finish the project. And if she texted the mystery person a week later about how annoying her sister was, it was alright because they responded about how much of a nuisance their own sister was.
Arya sat in her plush chair, the only light in the room from the lamp balanced on her desk. She pushed the hardcover away from her, the words having become blurred and unreadable in the last few hours. Arya pulled her phone from her bag, ignoring the calls and texts from her siblings, they would all be asleep at this hour and she could rely in the morning.
Arya: Do you think there's such a thing as the perfect murder?
xxx-xxx-xxxx: Are you asking me hypothetically or are you about to tell me that you can see me and I should be calling the police?
Arya snorted, kicking off her slippers and pulling her legs onto the chair, her socked toes wiggling over the edge. It was just like him to bring up a cheesy horror movie trope as a response to a serious question.
Arya: Professor Qyburn assigned a paper on necromancy of all things- I'm just thinking of creative ways to check his hypothesis
xxx-xxx-xxxx: Isn't Qyburn that wackjob who keeps being put on probation by the Board?
Arya: Yeah, that's the one
xxx-xxx-xxxx: Why are you taking his class? You should have known this is the kind of shit you'd put up with all semester
Arya: I didn't know! My brothers friend took the class last year and he said it was an easy grade- now I'm realizing you have to have a psychotic breakdown to fit into this madhouse
Stupid Theon, she should have known not to trust that little sea urchin with anything important. All of her older siblings had given their input on what she should major in and which elective classes she should take, apparently that included Robb's best friend.
xxx-xxx-xxxx: Couldn't you have dropped the class?
Arya: Was sick first week of the semester, deadline passed me by
Not exactly a lie, but she figured her stay in the hospital was too complicated and personal for a nameless penpal. She didn't even know his name, just that he was, in fact, a he. Not that she hadn't thought about exchanging names since their accidental meeting, but it felt strangely liberating to have someone she could talk to all the time without worrying about him telling anyone else or judging her.
xxx-xxx-xxxx: It could be worse
Arya: How could it possibly be worse?
xxx-xxx-xxxx: You could have your first assignment of the year be a fourteen page study on medicinal herbs in the nineteenth century
She couldn't help but wonder if he was a medical major or if it was just an elective class he thought would be interesting. Although, Arya couldn't think of a single reason why anyone would enroll in a class that started with a fourteen page paper.
Arya: Okay I'll grant you that
xxx-xxx-xxxx: Why do you always text me in the middle of the night? Don't you care that you're ruining my precious sleep schedule?
They'd been talking for over two months and he always responded when she texted, and she likewise. It was little problems in their daily lives- his roommate kept leaving his girlfriend's underthings in the living room and he kept losing his headphones at the worst times, Arya complained about too much homework and her dog sleeping on all her sweatshirts. But they never said names, nothing that could identify them. The anonymity seemed to suit them both.
Arya: I figure as a university student your schedule is already a mess- but you're right, you should get some sleep. Night!
xxx-xxx-xxxx: Wait! You never answered my question
Arya: I guess this is when every normal person in my phone is asleep
xxx-xxx-xxxx: What do you have me written as in your phone anyway?
Arya supposed in the time they had been talking, she could have given him a nickname. Something from their talks that would. But it never seemed right to give him something so familiar when she didn't know his name so she left his contact in her phone as just his number.
Arya: Nothing, it's just your number, why?
xxx-xxx-xxxx: Wow, I thought I meant more to you
Arya: Why would you think that, sir?
She waited a minute, stretching her arms above her head and tucking her hands back into her sweatshirt sleeves to keep them from the cold. Margaery always kept their apartment pleasantly warm, but Arya had the North in her and despite the biting cold outside, she kept her window open at night. Her curiosity peaked and she pulled her phone into her chilled hands.
Arya: What do you have me written as?
xxx-xxx-xxxx: Howler
Arya sat up straighter in her seat. The Stark family was always associated with wolves because of their Northern roots for as long as anyone could remember. They lived and breathed the cold, the night and everything in between. She worried her lip, had he figured it out?
Arya: Why Howler?
xxx-xxx-xxxx: Because you always seem to be up at night, I never hear from you during the day, also because when you're angry about something I picture you as a Howler from Harry Potter
Arya: Should I be offended?
xxx-xxx-xxxx: Absolutely. In my mind you're a red envelope with a big mouth.
Arya yawned into her sleeve, rubbing at her eyes with her knuckles. It was already past three in the morning and she had class at nine. She flipped the light off and pulled her worn out body out of the chair. She padded to her bed in the dark, burying herself into the warmth of her blankets and hooking her phone on the charger.
Arya: Not far from the truth, honestly
xxx-xxx-xxxx: I'm sure you have other features- eyes and fingers maybe
Arya: You never know, I could be a chemically engineered gorilla
xxx-xxx-xxxx: That's something I'd love to see
She meant to say goodnight but her eyes blinked closed and it took longer to open them each time. Her phone dropped next to her pillow and Arya snuggled deeper into her bed. Before she drifted off, she felt her phone buzz with a final message.
xxx-xxx-xxxx: Sweet dreams
Arya pulled her phone towards her face, she smiled lightly at the message he had sent her. It wasn't until she noticed the little numbers at the top of the screen that her life flashed before her eyes. She had overslept, easily missing her first lecture and was half an hour away from being late to her second.
She tried to yank the blanket away, but instead of being freed, she ended up in a twisted mess of sheets with her feet kicking uselessly. She struggled on the mattress until she felt the blanket unravel and her body pass over the edge of the bed, slamming into the floor.
Groaning, Arya sat up from the floor and rushed into her closet. She grabbed the first pair of jeans she saw and tugged them on. She'd worn her sweatshirt to bed but it was still clean so Arya didn't bother changing out of it. Her bag was hanging off the back of her chair and Arya made sure her textbook was inside before she ran down the stairs with it.
"Hey! I thought you'd be out already." Margaery called from the kitchen. Arya could smell the eggs and bacon cooking.
"I overslept," she said as she grabbed a piece of toast and shoved it in her mouth. "I have practice today but I'll be home around six."
Margaery handed her two pieces of bacon and her sports bottle. "Okay, Loras and Renly are having a party tomorrow. You want to come?"
"What else am I supposed to do on a Friday night?" Arya unlocked the back door and waved to Margaery as she ran out.
The two of them lived a ten minute walk from the university, running Arya made it in half the time. She could see the door to her classroom, open and waiting for other almost-late-students to come in. Arya rushed inside, ignoring the glare the Professor Luwin sent her and sat in her regular seat. She pulled her book out and a notebook, willing her heart to slow.
"Hey, you okay?" Lommy whispered from behind her.
"Overslept." she muttered over her shoulder.
"Have you ever thought about setting an alarm?" Hot Pie asked.
It wasn't his real name, obviously, but he hated Laurence and Arya couldn't blame him for that. Hot Pie wanted to be a baker, and he already made the best pies Arya had ever had. As long as he wasn't offended by the nickname, Arya didn't have a problem using it.
Arya turned fully in her seat, pursing her lips at her friends. "I have several, thank you. I just slept through them."
Before Lommy or Hot Pie could comment, Professor Luwin began his lecture. Arya reclined in her seat, pulling her notebook into her lap as she took notes. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she clicked the screen on.
Robb: Mom is having a dinner party Saturday
Arya: Why? She only has those with an ulterior motive
Robb: We all have new roommates this year, she's just worried that we're living with weirdos
Arya: It's probably a good idea for all of us to know each other, I'll ask Margaery and Cella if they want to go
Arya shoved her phone into her bag before Luwin could notice and went back to jotting down notes.
To be continued...
I call this- fixing the mess 8x04 left. Especially with 8x05 coming in a day, I think we could all use some happiness right about now.
I hope you all enjoy this and let me know what you think so far! Also I never know where to put Gendrya stories, in the Game of Thrones section or in A Song of Ice and Fire?