There was a sharp pain in her left arm, crushing the hand in her grip to stop herself from flinching away.
"Hold still." Ashara said as she applied more alcohol to the cotton swab.
"Or you could be gentler." Cersei bit out, tensing as gentle hands continued to clean her wounds. Even with all the care that Ashara used, it didn't prevent the burn as she wiped blood from the scratch marks. The post fight clean up was starting to hurt worse than the fight itself.
"I, am not the one trying to snap poor Ned's fingers like twigs."
"It's fine..." Ned claimed, refusing to glance at the hand he had sacrificed to Cersei's iron grip. At least she wasn't drawing blood.
"No. It's not." Ashara said with finality. The last dark brown streaks of dried blood where cleaned in relative silence, only Cersei's hissed breathes breaking the tension. "You really shouldn't have started the fight."
"I should have done more than just fight. Lysa Tully is a fish-lipped cunt and deserves more than what she walked away with." Cersei snapped out as Ashara gathered up her medical supplies. A roll of linen bandages were placed in Ned's free hand as Cersei's grip loosened from bone-crushing to a firm, reassuring. She felt warm, chapped lips press them-self against her forehead as Ned took his hand out of her's and set himself to wrapping the linen around Cersei's forearm.
A Lannister had claws, but Lysa Tully had a hand full of tacky five dollar press-on nails that hurt like hell. The scratches on her face would need band-aids, but that would have to wait till Ned's trip to the drugstore. Cotton swabs, rubbing alcohol and spite would work for now as she sat on the marble counter-top nursing her wounds.
"Limped away. Petyr Baelish was helping her." Ashara corrected as the first aid supplies were shoved back into a cupboard.
"Are you trying to make me feel guilty? I don't care if Baelor the Blessed came down to help Lysa off her fat ass, much less if a sex-offender in the making like Baelish did it."
"She's trying to remind you that consequences exist." Ned said gently as he finished the knot in the linen-strip. "Regardless of what Lysa called you-.."
"A degenerate fag, a slut who'll be punished in the light of the seven for my sins, shall I go on?" Cersei supplied as she watched Ned's eyes shift from calming, to angry, to tightly controlled. Ned took a deep, measured breath before letting it go.
"Regardless of how much she deserved it, there are other options than immediately breaking her nose." Ashara interrupted. "Preferably, let her throw the first punch, then, shred her to fish paste."
"Or, walk away. She wanted a reaction, and you provided it in earnest." He held up a hand as Cersei's wildfire gaze snapped to him. "I am not saying you were wrong. I am just saying, that while you won, all you've done in her mind was prove her right."
"I don't care." Cersei said in a low voice. She was not spun glass, too fragile to touch, and caring about the opinion of a lesser being had never been a concern for her, and one she refused to start worrying now.
"I know. Now," Ashara took a step forward, gently intertwining her fingers with Cersei. "Why don't you have a shower get changed into something less tattered. My brothers won't be home tonight, and I was thinking of ordering pizza. Would you care to join me?"
Cersei took a moment, before letting out a small sigh. "Thank you... just, let me text Jaime. The last thing I want to deal with is my father right now."
"Take all the time you need." Ashara reassured with a kiss on Cersei's cheek before walking over to Ned and repeating the kiss. "I'll get you the usual."
"And you?" Cersei asked as Ashara left to find her phone. Ned was already pulling on his jacket.
"I am going to talk to my father, and soon to be sister in law, to see what they've heard from Lysa. And get a few band-aids for you. Maybe some ice cream, a reward for a brave warrior." He said as he brushed a strand of golden hair from her face.
"And if Lysa wants to cause more trouble for starting a fight she lost?"
"Then she will wish she hadn't." There was always something reassuring about Ned's steely grey eyes, or Ashara's smooth violet. Ned kept his promises, Cersei thought with more than a touch of vindictive pleasure as he gave her another kiss on the cheek.
AN: A little modern, teen AU, and some of the drama that entails. Have had this idea for a while, mostly inspired by Cersei's desire to just backhand everyone who talks back to her in the later books, a practice that's a little more acceptable in modern times and I kinda just like the thought that the trio generally are just supportive and complimentary of each other. Cersei, and Ned walking around with Ashara, glaring down anyone who'd look down at her for her Dornish heritage. Ashara and Ned being Cersei's anchor when her temper gets the best of her. Or Ashara and Cersei giving Ned the nudges in confidence when needed.
I think the big difference between this AU and Claws is how Ashara and Cersei are dating each other just as much as they are dating Ned, while in Claws it was the two of them sharing Ned while only being good friends/allies.