Every morning that he wakes up after the Battle of Winterfell, Gendry's head spins and his heart pounds in his chest when he remembers what happened.
It's over.
It's been over.
The Night King is dead.
And his Arya was the one to deal the fatal blow.
His Arya.
It's always like a sudden blow to the gut - how easily he can refer to her as his. It's terrifying, and not just because he knows she would gut him if she ever found out that he even thought of her as a possession to belong to someone. But he doesn't think of her as a possession. Arya is more than his equal and Gendry only wants to be hers as well.
From the way she had found him after the battle - wild eyes, blood-stained, and injured - running up to him and holding onto him as if letting him go would mean losing him, Gendry supposes he doesn't have to worry.
What he does have to worry about is the fact that there's barely any privacy at Winterfell and Arya's got a habit of appearing out of nowhere to drag him off into a dark corner, her hands working the laces of his breeches before they're properly hidden.
Not that he's complaining.
But it does make for awkward moments when he suddenly has to cover her mouth with a large hand as footsteps ring down the stone hallways. She looks at him, a wicked gleam in her eye, and bites his fingers - gently, to her credit. But Gendry grunts in annoyance nonetheless and withdraws his hand, shaking it out.
"What did you do that for?" he whispers harshly.
"You're not allowed to silence me," she replies tartly, smirking.
Rolling his eyes, Gendry shoots back, "And if your brother finds us because you're so loud?"
"Then that's Jon's problem," she shrugs, quickly finishing off the laces of his breeches and slipping her hand inside. She grasps him lightly and Gendry has to bite his own tongue to muffle the pleased noise that escapes him. Arya looks far too satisfied with herself.
"You'll be the death of me, Arya Stark," he mutters, head thunking back against the stone wall.
"Then I'll make sure you meet the Lord of Light a happy man," she grins, sinking to her knees and tugging his breeches down just enough to free his cock. Gendry groans at the sight of her. She looks up at him with a cocked eyebrow, "Now who's the one making all the noise?"
Gendry's retort is cut off by a sharp inhalation of breath as Arya takes his length into her mouth. He threads his fingers through her hair, holding her face close to him. She's stroking his thigh reverently and Gendry's biting the knuckles of his free hand to keep himself from making any noise. He can feel her grin around his cock and it's more than he can stand. She hums around him and Gendry grunts, a low guttural noise coming from deep in his throat. "Fuck," he mumbles, maybe just a little bit too loud.
"There you are!" The booming voice of their bearded Wilding friend, startles Gendry and his eyes shoot open.
Tormund, seemingly unaware that he's stumbled upon something he shouldn't have, moves down the hall, closer to where Gendry and Arya are hiding. "Hiding from the clean-up, are you?" he shouts, intending to draw Gendry out.
There's a small noise as Arya chokes on him, startled as well by Tormund's sudden appearance. She pulls back from his cock, spit dripping down her chin. Gendry's furious that Tormund's interrupted them. He hurries to stuff himself - still painfully hard - back in his trousers so he can hurry the Wilding on his way.
"Not hiding," Gendry says, stepping out of the hidden alcove and nearly bumping right into Tormund. "Just needed...a minute alone."
"Alone, eh?" Tormund grins mischievously, raising his eyebrows. "Surprised you aren't with the little Lady."
Gendry's eyes widen a bit and he can hear the tiny, disgruntled sigh Arya lets out at being referred to with her proper title. He bites his tongue to smother a small smile. Shaking his head, he says, "No, no idea where Lady Arya is. Haven't seen her."
Tormund very obviously doesn't believe his lie and Gendry winces. He just wants to hurry the older man along and get back to Arya. "So what was that about clean up?" he asks in a tone that tries painfully to be casual. He fails miserably and can imagine the smirk on Arya's face.
Tormund cocks his head. "They're cleanin' up the courtyard. Lookin' for you and the little Lady."
"Well, yeah, I'll be right out there," Gendry says quickly, moving to walk past Tormund and towards the courtyard.
Tormund clears his throat with a laugh. "May wanna lace your breeches up better, boy. Wouldn't want Jon to know you're fucking his sister."
Gendry's mouth drops open and Tormund guffaws loudly. He claps the smith on the shoulder. "Bet the little she-wolf gives you quite the run for your money."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Gendry manages to say roughly. It's only been a week since the battle was won and even though Gendry is sure he would spend the rest of his life with Arya if she'll let him, there's still the complication of his low-born station. None of her siblings know and he tries r to pretend that keeping this secret is okay with him, when all he wants is to be with Arya openly and to let everyone know just how much he loves her. He's not about to give up the secret to Tormund of all people, though.
"Right," Tormund winks exaggeratedly. "You don't know anything."
Gendry sighs. Obviously Tormund is going to be difficult. But he's sure he can convince the man to keep what he thinks he knows a secret. That is until Arya emerges from the shadows, a sly smile on her face.
"Aha!" Tormund cracks up laughing. "Knew you were keeping a secret!" He lunges forward and claps Arya on the shoulder as well. "Picked a good one, eh, boy!"
"I picked him," Arya corrects, smiling.
"'Course you did!" Tormund exclaims loudly. He turns on Gendry, "You be good to her - saved the bloody world, she did!"
Arya snickers at the shell-shocked look on Gendry's face. His brow is furrowed and his gaze keeps farting between Arya and Tormund. Finally, he sighs and says, "You can't tell anyone, Giantsbane, understand?"
"Oh, I can keep a secret," Tormund promises. "I'm like a crypt of secrets."
"Yeah," Gendry says, not convinced, "I've seen how loose your lips are after a tankard of ale."
Tormund looks wounded. "We're brothers-in-arms, I can go back and tell them all that I didn't find you and the little Lady together."
Gently resting her hand on Gendry's forearm, Arya pipes up. "Oh, don't worry about it, Tormund. Gendry's a bit stupid. It's not a secret."
"It's not?" Gendry looks to Arya, a question creasing his brow. They haven't really talked about what their future held. He hasn't been sure about Arya's state of mind in all this and every effort he made to try and bring it up was fumbled by his own stupidity.
"No," Arya smiles at him, one he's never seen before. "Like the Wilding said, I saved the bloody world. If my siblings don't like my choices, they can fuck right off."
Gendry smiles back. "Are you sure you won't want to make a different choice one day?"
"If you keep asking stupid questions, I might," Arya retorts, rolling her eyes.
"Ah, he can't help it, little Lady," Tormund cuts in, grinning. "Your Southern men never learned the fine art of wooing a wild woman."
"Oh, he's wooed me plenty," Arya says slyly, shooting Gendry a wink that causes his ears to go red. Tormund laughs again.
"Lucky man," he thumps Gendry on the back with enough force to pitch the solidly-built man forward a step. "I'll tell 'em I couldn't find the lot of you. Finish off with your lass."
He gives them one more grin and hums an off-key tune as he wanders off leaving Gendry and Arya alone in the hallway once more.
The silence in the air is comfortable, but Gendry still feels the need to break it.
"I've wooed you?" he asks, a little shyly.
In response, Arya steps forward and leans up to kiss him quickly. Gendry's hand rests at her waist, but before he can deepen the kiss, Arya pulls away.
"I chose you when I was barely three and ten," she reminds him quietly. Her hand strokes the days-old beard growth on his face and her own expression softens into something that's more than just mere affection. "I just want to keep you mine for now. Once Sansa gets wind of this, she'll be even more annoying than usual."
"I'm going to give you everything you deserve, Arya Stark," Gendry vows, turning his neck to press a kiss to her palm.
"Already got the only man I want," she returns, an uncharacteristically vulnerable look in her eyes.
"As long as you'll have me," he promises.
A/N: Okay, so I know everyone's freaking out a bit about the Reddit leaks and stuff, but I don't think we have to worry. Or at least I hope we don't have to worry. Arya's been a favorite character and the story's been building to an ending with her and Gendry. Anyway, this is me officially keeping my fingers crossed for the next 8 hours until the episode airs.
I got this prompt from Tumblr and I've never written Tormund before, so I'm sure there's problems with that lol. Either way, enjoy and drop me a review and then come chat about pre- and post- episode thoughts with me here and on Tumblr (thewintersoldierdisaster)
:)