This is a fill for the Countdown to Wintertown on tumblr – gameofshipschallenges
ENJOY! Happy New Year!
Aegon hated and loved New Year's Eve. Sure, it was a fun and he made a lot of money, but it was a lot of work, he barely got to enjoy the night, since he spent most of it working – before he had shared the work load with her cousin, but now with her husband and a kid, he mostly did it alone, especially at night.
This year, their biggest gig and the one he was attending was the Tyrell party – the Tyrells hadn't used the Targaryen services since the mess with his grandfather - and they really needed this to go well. This party could really get their business going between the upper class, which would once again mean more money.
It was almost 10 p.m. and Aegon needed to leave for Highgarden; he ate one of the sweets he still had laying around from everything he had bought for the holiday week, and then moved to his room. He had already laid his clothes aside – nice pants, a white shirt and a blazer – he put them on, bit he still looked too informal.
"A tie, maybe," he said messing up with his collar in front of the mirror. He looked in his drawers for some ties, but they were all joke ties, all but one – his funeral tie… he really didn't want to wear this one, but it was his only choice – it wasn't like he had anyone to ask, Drogo didn't have ties for sure.
Aegon looked back at his apartment, knowing that it was the last time he would see it before the year's end, and moved to the garage. The firework was already in his car, so he got in and started the long drive to Highgarden.
When he arrived the first thing he noticed was that the Tyrell mansion was huge, almost as big as the old Targaryen mansion in King's Landing, and that the entire street was packed with cars. He could barely find a place for his car, but he did, it was a few good feet from the actual party.
Aegon got his fireworks' box from the trunk of his car, and started carrying it to the mansion; and even if the box covered half his vision, he noticed that there was a special entrance for workers at the party.
"Aegon from Targaryen fireworks," he told the man at the door, and he quickly found his name in his chart.
"Come in, but please wait here. Someone will come to lead you to your place."
"Thank you," Aegon said, dropping the box, and leaned onto the wall. He looked around trying to figure out who he saw – back here it was mostly the waiters.
"I'm Margaery Tyrell," a beautiful woman greeted him. The brown haired girl was wearing a beautiful dress, and Aegon barely kept himself from looking on how her dress hugged her curves and her chest. "You must be Aegon from the Targaryen company."
"Yes, Aegon Targaryen."
"It's a pleasure to meet a Targaryen. My grandmother will want to meet you – she dated a Targaryen before she met my grandfather." Aegon wasn't sure how to answer to that information, so he just picked up his box and followed the woman.
He observed her as she walked, it was impossible to not look at her hips, as she swayed; and he wasn't the only one looking, every man they walked by looked, and Margaery wasn't shy about it, accepting each look with a smile at most gentlemen. And just the way she smiled at Aegon... if he was a weaker man, he would fall to his knees.
She led him through the house, until they made it outside, where there was a beautiful garden.
"Keep close to me. We're going into the maze," Margaery told him, and Aegon wondered immediately if there wasn't a porn he watched that started like that. Margaery fell in pace with him, and called for his attention.
"So how long have you been doing this? "
"Since I've been allowed to touch fire. But doing everything alone in a place as big as this one is the first time. My aunt has a kid now and spending the New Year's without him would suck."
"My parents rarely spent New Year's with me when I was younger. They've always thrown these huge parties and as you can see, they are not that kid friendly."
"I normally spent with my mother and sister in my uncle's house. My cousins and I always did the first dive of the year in my uncle's lake."
"Your uncle has a lake"? she asked, laughing, and walking backwards.
"It's not his lake. It's just in his property. And you're not one to talk," he said, hoping he hadn't insulted her, and she didn't seem to, she only laughed.
"Good point. We're almost at the center," she said, and he wondered how she could walk through the maze so easily, and without even one wrong turn.
The center was beautiful. It had a gazebo and a white swing, and beautiful white seats all around. And Aegon had enough space to send the firework from here.
"I always wished I could have been married here. It's beautiful," she told him. "You will be okay here alone?"
"Of course. I will set everything up."
"Thank you. We'll pay you the rest after the show. You can join us at the party, like I said my grandmother will want to meet you," she told him, before giving him a clock. "Start the firework when it reaches midnight."
"I will. Thank you."
After that Aegon started getting the fireworks ready, and quickly he had everything safely ready to light when the time came. So as he sat and took off his phone to check on Daenerys, he heard a sound from the other side of the grass wall.
"Is anyone there?" he asked.
"Sorry, I decided to explore, and I must have gotten lost," a voice said, coming from the other side of the wall, and then becoming closer.
"At least you made it to the center. I couldn't have done that alone," he told the girl, who smiled, and asked if she could sit.
The girl was clearly younger than him, with blond wavy hair, and wearing a beautiful sundress. As she sat, she hugged her legs and smiled at him.
"Are you cold?" he asked, but not really believing it since it was rather hot.
"Of course not. So you're the firework guy."
"Yes. You?"
"My brother is married to one of the Tyrells. And so is my uncle. So yeah, kind of family… And my brother is awful at parties, so he asked me to come."
"Younger brother?" he asked. He could tell by the way she talked - his cousins always talked like that about the younger kids.
"Yes. But not by much – just one year difference," she answered. "I'm Myrcella, by the way."
"Aegon," he said, offering her his hand to shake, but she pulled him down instead.
"So how long until midnight?"
"Not long. Ten minutes, maybe," he said, looking at the clock Margaery had given him.
"So I guess I should get going if I still want to find the way out before midnight," she said, but she didn't move an inch.
"You should," he agreed.
"Or I could stay here," she suggested.
"Don't you have anyone waiting for you inside?"
"My brother, but he can wait," she said with a smile. "Do you have anyone at home waiting for a New Year's kiss?"
"No, only me," he answered. "But I am supposed to call my mom and sister after midnight."
"So I should stay here," she concluded. "It's almost midnight," she said picking up the clock. "You should get everything ready."
"Everything is ready. I only need to light the fire when it's midnight."
"So none of those countdown fireworks?"
"No. The Tyrells said they thought it was tacky."
"I love those!" Myrcella exclaimed excitedly. And since they still had a few more minutes, she asked him if he had plan for the next day, or if he would be trying to cure a hangover.
"I won't. My cousins will certainly, even if they hold they liquor rather well. So we're only meeting for dinner. You?"
"I don't drink that much – so no hangover for me. I'm sleeping here tonight, but it my brother agrees we may go see our mother, uncle and brother tomorrow. We haven't seen them in awhile."
Aegon could read that there were some complications behind that visit to her family, but he wasn't one to comment – his family could be really messy as well. Luckily he didn't have to think of anything else to say, because the countdown started and he needed to be ready to set the first firework off.
When he heard people yelling "one", he set the first one – a big colourful (mostly greens and gold as requested by the Tyrells) explosion, just to get everyone's attention, as they kissed, and drank champagne.
"Happy New Year!" Myrcella exclaimed, waving him a kiss, and he send a kiss back.
"Happy New Year! I'll be happy to give you a proper kiss after this is done."
"I'll gladly accept it. If you promise to keep my company for a bit at the party."
"Of course, and I have to go there anyways. Margaery told me her grandmother wanted to meet me," he said lighting a couple of other fireworks.
"Ohhh… she's scary," she offered.
After that Myrcella let Aegon focus on his work, when he stole a look at her, she was either on her phone - playing some game, he supposed - or some other times she was taking photos of him - he even dared to pose for a few.
The firework show lasted for almost one hour, he happily looked at some of Myrcella's reactions - the way she smiled at some of biggest explosions, she looked so much younger, like a kid in a candy store.
"Wow… those were amazing," she said, still amazed. "Are those the last ones?" she asked.
"Yes," he answered, as he fired wishes for a happy new year, and the golden rose of house Tyrell.
"I'll help you pack, "she offered, as the fire in the sky ended. He gladly accepted her help, and they were done much quickly than he first thought.
"How are we leaving?" she asked.
"Margaery told me she would come and get me," he answered. "But what about that kiss now?" he suggested, putting his hands around her waist.
"I would be very much okay with that," she said, throwing her arms over his shoulders and letting him kiss her. She kissed him back, with fervor, trying to make herself taller and reach him better.
They heard a cough midway through their kiss, and separated immediately to find Margaery looking at them.
"That's where you were?!" she exclaimed. "Your brother has been looking for you, he knows you love fireworks. He just has no idea how much."
"Shut up," Myrcella complained, blushing, and picking up a box to cover her face. Aegon picked the others and followed Margaery and Myrcella out. He could still hear Margaery mocking Myrcella, with a lot of firework related jokes.
"Myrcella! Where were you?" someone, who he supposed was her brother exclaimed.
"Dear, don't you see… She was getting a closer look at the fireworks."
"Margaery," she complained again. "Happy New Year, Tommen!"
"Thank you. Happy New Year to you too, Cella!"
"You can leave your things there, Aegon. I'll take you to my grandmother now. You can find Myrcella later," she told him.
Myrcella had been right, Margaery's grandmother as scary. She had a ton of questions for him, some he couldn't even answer, since they were about the Targaryen side of his family, and he knew very little about them. And after she figured that out, she didn't keep him for much longer, so with a wish of a happy new year, he left to find Myrcella.
She was hard to find, sitting in a corner table, talking with a brother, and since he didn't want to intervene, he got a drink for himself and waited for her to be free. But she didn't; Margaery kept dancing with other people – some he supposed were family, wearing the Tyrell colours, but others didn't seem to be – leaving Tommen with only his sister.
"You should go talk to her," Margaery said approaching him, letting go of her dancing partner's hand.
"I don't want to intervene."
"You don't. And if you want I'll take Tommen"
"He is. But he doesn't know how to dance, and he never minds me dancing with others. And he's not that good people either, unless they have pets. He's studying to be a zoologist."
"I have a lizard, and I grew up with my sister's cat."
"When you try to win his approval, talk about your sister's cat," she told me, before they got to the table. "Tom, can you keep me company in the dance floor, please. I won't make you dance." Tommen stood, and took Margaery's hand, and only now did Aegon noticed that the boy was rather tall, but even if not ugly - he sure didn't seem to be in the same league as Margaery, but he did make her smile.
"They make a weird couple."
"They did not have the best start," she said, but didn't say anything else.
"Will you dance with me, Myrcella? "
"Of course," she said, taking his hand. He had purposely chosen a slow song, so he pulled her closer.
"I'm sorry our kiss was interrupted before…" he said. "I would like to pick up where we left off."
"I would like that. Maybe dinner someday."
"Dinner sounds nice."
"I'm busy with school the first few weeks of January, but then I'm completely free until mid February."
"That sounds good to me."
"I'll get your number from Margaery, and I'll call you when I'm done with the exams."
"I look forward to it," he answered. "But could I maybe finish kissing you…"
"I think we could," she said with a smile, getting on the tip of her toes, and pulling his head down; and when their lips touched it was like fireworks.