title: a long time ago
pairing: mary x bash
characters: mary stuart, sebastian de poitiers
rating: k+
word count: 1,626
summary: in a modern mash au, bash and mary are having a game of thrones marathon and it causes bash to wonder how things might have been if they lived a few centuries back in times he feels were far more romantic. much to his dismay, mary doesn't like the thought at all.
story notes: here, wipe away your tears and shelter your anger aside for a moment and have a story that tells how things would be if mary and bash lived in a time where logical decisions and following one's heart unpressured were just a tad more possible.
"Why did he have to stop her?!" Mary shouted in shock, gesturing towards the TV, "I swear I would have shoved him right off of that wall within the blink of an eye if I was her." Bash grinned and raised an eyebrow as he sweetly stared at the girl in his arms, still amused and quite happy about the fact that she is actually this invested and passionate about his currently favourite TV show, and she has been ever since he showed her the first episode – yesterday. Not that he minded spending half of today trying to 'at least finish the first season', because what could possibly be better than having a Game of Thrones marathon with his currently very overwhelmed and very adorably upset girlfriend.
She caught his glance and sighed, rolling her eyes a bit as they returned to Joffrey on the screen in front of them, her lips pursing into an even stronger pout for a moment. "Alright, I suppose I wouldn't exactly shove him off a wall, but punching at every inch of his body as I screamed in his face would definitely be a delightful option."
"You know, he does get punched in the face a eventually by…", a soft nudge met his ribs as Mary squirmed in his arms, "SHH, don't spoil it for me!", she urgently whispered and Bash laughed before he leaned down to kiss the top of her head.
They remained like that, watching the episode as the scenery moved to Robb Stark's camp, until Bash broke the silence a couple of minutes later with another chuckle, earning himself a puzzled, questioning glance from Mary. Her expression very clearly telling him that he ought to have better had a good reason for interrupting her witnessing of Robb's battle plans. "Oh, it's nothing, I was just wondering…", Bash smiled and glanced back at the TV. Mary's gaze, however, remained on him instead. She raised her eyebrows in playful but eager curiosity, "About what?"
"About how it would be if we lived in a time like that." Surprisingly, Mary frowned at that, but Bash just nodded. "Yes, a time of kings and knights and battles and romance…"
"Well, most of those do exist nowadays as well, you know." she interrupted him and Bash gave her a heartbreaking look of a disappointed blue-eyed puppy who had just been rejected after his plead to play along with his game. Mary laughed and softly tightened her embrace around him, nestling her head below his collar bone.
"You are being ridiculous. If we lived in any historical period more than a century back, be it fictional or real, I would probably be forced to marry a spoiled little creature like Joffrey and if I was even remotely noble, or had a fairly high professional position in society as I do now, who knows what other troubles or threats I would be faced with." She moved a bit to look up at Bash worriedly. "And you as well. It's questionable if you would even be kept by your father's side and if we were to get involved in any sort of a relationship, or even a friendship that the others considered too close, we'd be met with the highest fury of both your parents and mine. Not to mention my husband-to-be. And, unlike any modern consequences that we'd have to face in such a case, we'd both also most likely lose our heads for it." Her tone had a bit of casual matter-of-fact seriousness in it and it caused a sad frown to appear on Bash's brow, his puppy expression making a second appearance, "Well, that wasn't romantic at all."
Mary's mouth spread into a sweet grin as she quirked an eyebrow teasingly, "Oh, I'm sorry I know your version was probably more romantic and sappy than the Notebook."
"The Notebook?" Bash feigned confusion.
"The solid proof that I've discovered your secret remarkably cheesy romantic side long before you started fantasizing about knights and princesses."
He glanced aside, still feigning indifference, and rather badly at that. "I'm not toobig of a fan of The Notebook…"
Mary tilted her head with a clever smirk. "You knew half of their dialogues by heart!"
"That's beside the point. The point is, my version of our story moved a few hundred years back would not only romantic but also poetically beautiful. No heads lost, no you marrying spoiled princes, no rumours…" A thought caused the young woman's face to suddenly turn a bit disgruntled as she leaned her head back onto Bash's chest, "Even nowadays we get heaps of rumours on our backs, I doubt we could escape those…"
Mary was the only living inheritor of her father's big business set in Scotland and Bash just a result of his father's affair, therefore an insignificant young man mostly ignored in all things professional, practical or political. Sadly, because of this, they weren't the most perfect of pairs, nor were they particularly beloved as a couple to their families. Both Sebastian's father and Mary's mother would have preferred her to date Henry's second oldest son who he had with his actual wife Catherine; Francis, a boy only a year younger than Mary. Since Mary's father's company started to slowly go downhill, it was a perfect match for Henry's insatiable professional desires, since the man was never being fully satisfied with spreading his business to other enterprises and a relationship between his son and another girl with an inheritance and a professional status linking him even to England such as Mary would be not only an ideal match for his son but also a secure sign of their professional bond and cooperation; a match made in heaven when it came to harvesting positive publicity. Fortunately, however, the times of arranged marriages have passed, and even though her affections for Henry's oldest but also illegitimate and highly rebellious son were frowned upon by many, it wasn't enough to change her mind. Henry basically had her father's company completely within his grasp now anyway, no other confirmation of her family's support and aid was necessary.
Smiling again, Bash brushed away a wavy lock of dark brown hair that rested on the girl's cheek and lightly tilted her head upwards as he cupped her face, bestowing her with the softest touch of his lips to hers as soon as their gazes met. "There would be rumours, so what." he quietly said a few seconds later, once their eyes opened and found each other again, "I would always be your knight in shining armour, no matter what happens or who you'd be forced to marry. As cheesyas this may be, I would stay by your side eternally and I would fight off anyone who stood in the way of your happiness or safety. And if anyone went after my head in the process, then so what, it wouldn't matter as long as you'd be alright." He was met with another sharp kick in the ribs at those words, followed up by Mary locking her arms around him even more tightly, her head once again laid to rest below his shoulder. "Don't say such things, don't ever say that…", she ordered in a tone that oddly had pain as much as it had strictness. Because apparently just a thought of something like that was unbearable and surreal to her, she couldn't properly grasp it, that Bash would have to risk his life for her or in order to be with her. It was insane and she didn't want to face even thinking about that. This is why she would never want to switch eras.
Because as much as pretty dresses and knights in shining armours painted the old times as more beautiful and romantic, she would still rather remain in the good old boring 21st century where there were no risks of them being faced with a decision of either ending up two feet under ground or parted away from each other. They hid from others and snuck out now as they would have then, but there was no one dictating their fates in any sort of a black or white way. They had their own grey between those two and she enjoyed that grey very much.
"I mean it, though. I would do anything for you." he smiled brightly and said with an overwhelming amount of sincerity to his words. Though even he himself probably wasn't aware of just how sincere he was and how true his words would be if they found themselves in a timeline much different than this one. "I would be forever and ever your most loyal companion, I promise you that. I truly am afraid you'd be as stuck with me then as you are now." Mary laughed a bit and he joined in, but after their chuckles quieted down, they two remained silent for a few moments, their eyes on the TV, but their minds elsewhere.
This time it was Mary who broke the quiet pause. "I swear you can be such a romantic drama queen sometimes…" was all she murmured against shirt, pretending to be annoyed even though her warm tone made it clear she felt the exact opposite.
"A drama queen befitting my queen." he proudly stated and a second later they were both trembling with quiet laughter again, stopping only to share another tender kiss before they finally returned their attention to the show they were supposed to be watching for the past ten minutes.
"So you would really take me over a powerful, wealthy young king-to-be?", he asked with a playful smirk and Mary's lips spread into a smug smile as well. "I absolutely couldn't choose otherwise, boys like Joffrey don't interest me, I'm already crushing on Jon way too fiercely." She turned to face him, her expression dramatically painted with mock concern, "I think I have a thing for bastards…" Bash sighed and nodded, his expression equally as dramatic. "Well, we all have our flaws… And I, for one, think bastards are absolutely delightful people, you know?" She grinned, "Oh you do?" The young man nodded in perfect seriousness, "Delightful and painfully handsome, or so I hear." Mary chuckled before their lips met once more for a brief, soft peck given through smiles and giggles before she shifted in his arms slightly in order to find a comfortable position again. Cradling her closer to himself Bash leaned his head on top of hers once she settled down, both of them perfectly relaxed and content in each other's arms. Basking in the bliss of how incredibly easy this was. How happy they were. And how they were sure that now or four hundred years back, they would always, eventually, find their comfort and their bliss and their giggling kisses and their love, if even for a moment.