Disclaimer: I own nothing at all, except for one OC
Summary: Gendry Baratheon was not stupid, he certainly was not as ignorant as people thought he was, but he sincerely wished sometimes that he was. At least then he could be oblivious to what was happening around him. One sided GendryxArya and a crack pairing that I won't reveal. Don't like don't read. Warning, spoilers for Jon Snow's possible identity.
To be ignorant:
Gendry Baratheon was not stupid, he certainly was not as ignorant as people thought he was, but he sincerely wished sometimes that he was. At least then he could be oblivious to what was happening around him. The Bull, Commander of the Kingsguard under Jon Targaryen wasn't seen as very bright by many. His specialty was strength, not intelligence. A bull was not known for its wit. But Seven Hells; to be half as ignorant as people said he was, that would have been a blessing. They were laughing at him, all of them were. At least, anyone who knew was. Of course, not many actually knew any more than had a few years ago. The dwarf; the infernal Hand of the King, the small lion knew, and snickered when he was sure the Bull was out of earshot. The Spider knew. How could the Spider not know? The strands of his web reached throughout King's Landing, it was impossible that he wouldn't know something like this. The Master of Laws? Bran Stark? It also seemed impossible he didn't know. The wise cripple seemed to know everything, and didn't he and his dark haired sister have some sort of connection? One that both they and the new king of four years now had with their wolves? Surely, Bran knew...
And the more Gendry thought of it, the harder it was for him to quiet the possibility that the Master of Coin knew, that the Master of Ships knew, that everyone knew, even though it was impossible that the whole of King's Landing were aware. No, he was being laughed at, but only by those close enough to realize the truth.
Tyrion Lannister, that smirking lion had everything at his fingertips, being the Hand of the King, and making sure that his older brother and sister and niece and nephew were off in Harrenhal, making sure the four of them didn't cause anymore trouble, and he had the balls to talk behind the Bull's back. It just made Gendry infuriated.
When Jon's true parentage had been learned and he had ascended to the throne with his wildling bride, Val, all seven kingdoms had rallied to usurp the Lannisters, taking away any remaining legitimacy Tommen or anyone with the Lannister name from claim over the throne. Jon ordered that Winterfell be repaired. He gave it to Sansa, allowing his sister to rule over the North with Lady Stoneheart, the Stark's returned from the dead mother. As the Bull learned, Sansa was being wed with the Hound of all people in three months hence. Sansa, her Dog, Brienne of Tarth (who Gendry had unending respect for) the undead Tully, and Rickon, the savage youngest Stark and his caretaker, the wildling Osha were rebuilding Winterfell bit by bit.
Arya and Bran chose to stay in King's Landing. Bran because he wanted to make a difference and realized he could do it by making laws that decreased the injustices in the Realm, and Arya refused to leave her older half-brother ever again. She was deadlier than any of the guard's under the Bull's command. If someone so much as sent a threatening glance Jon Targaryen's way, Arya would soon have the sharp end of her "Needle" against the hollow of that person's throat. Oh yes, Arya was a deadly little assassin. She didn't learn that at Winterfell or King's Landing. She had been taught that at the House of Black and White in Braavos.
Gendry's thoughts on Braavos made his mind fly to the Faceless men, at least one particular Faceless man anyway and his blood boiled. He knew he was being unreasonable. It wasn't like Arya was married to him. She hadn't even sworn she'd marry him and he hadn't asked. Jon would never expect Arya to marry. In fact, Gendry laughed at the idea that Jon would ever try to get his sister to marry without Arya choosing for it. It still hurt though. And everyone knew. They knew he loved her. They knew he adored her, but they probably knew that her gaze was for another.
When Jon pleaded with the murderous, vengeful Arya to return with him to King's Landing to restore their family, the dark wolf woman hadn't come back alone. A tall man with short black hair and icy blue eyes came in through the door of King's Landing, following Jon and Arya, at the latter's back closely. Gendry was confused when he first saw the man behind Arya, when he wasn't fighting the urge to run to Arya and kiss her. He didn't know who the man was, that was until he met the man's eyes. As soon as he met the frigid pale sky colored eyes, he knew precisely who the man was. It was him.
All impulses the once illegitimate son of Robert Baratheon had to embrace the Stark woman fled him instantly. It was him. The man that was responsible for putting a rift between him and Arya in the first place. He hated that assassin even more than he hated Melisandre, or Joffrey Baratheon for having Arya's father beheaded. For some reason, the Faceless man chose to be here. Arya refused to leave her brother's side and Jaqen H'ghar refused to leave hers.
Arya, upon learning who Jon's true parentage was, that he was really her cousin, not her brother, barked out a laugh that sent chills down Gendry's spine. Somehow, that little revelation meant nothing to her. In her eyes, the now Targaryen king was still her brother.
Observing Arya, or the "Cat of the Canals" as she was sometimes called by onlookers and admirers who heard the stories of her time in Braavos, and gawked in awe and called her by the title, was a pastime that seemed endless for him. Just when he thought he'd find all he'd need to find, he'd see something else; her eyes gleaming a certain way when she'd land from a high balcony with feline grace, or the quirk of her lips when she'd throw knives with dangerous accuracy, hitting her targets easily, the 'thud' sound that the knives made on impact with the wooden posts she'd practice on akin to foreboding thunder to the Bull.
It was like watching a predator. Watching both Arya and Jaqen was like watching a couple of lethal beasts freed from flimsy cages, ready to hunt and run down prey. Consequently, watching them both meant he noticed things about Jaqen as well, though in the other man's case, he barely cared to know. When Jaqen was around Arya, the older assassin's eyes would flicker, and those blue eyes changed if only for a few moments to green before going back to blue. It was only for a few moments, but those eyes were dark forest green, opposite of pale blue. It startled the Bull, but he didn't think about it for a long while. He was beginning to regret that now.
When he approached Arya, when the black haired woman was alone, getting ready to spar with one of the guards, who according to other watchers, was terrified of the wolf woman, he came to her, kneeled, prostrating himself before her and pleaded for her hand in marriage. He knew it was unlikely, and knew they had been separated for so long that she might not even think about him anymore (if she ever did), but he knew he had to grasp onto hope, because it was all he had. They were both old enough to make the choice for themselves. She was now of twenty-one years and he of twenty-six.
Arya gave her jaded, icy answer and the Bull left with his head hanging, almost running out of the room, cheeks burning with shame. She wasn't interested in being with anyone. That's what she claimed. She claimed that she wanted no one to share her bed. But whenever the Stark assassin looked at the Faceless man, her grey eyes spoke very differently and Gendry knew it.
Everyone knew he was besotted with the sister of the king and the Master of Laws, but everyone perhaps also snickered that she loved another. Gendry was sure, absolutely sure that she loved another. The proof of it was when he learned one day while ordering his guards that Arya was nearly five months with child. The bull couldn't believe his ears when he heard. He felt numb. He felt cold, like he had been thrown right into the Wall, embedded into the thick ice wall and swallowed by it, becoming part of the structure guarded by the Crows every day and night for eternity. If it was less humiliating, he happily would have commanded one of his guards to chop his head off. No one said anything to Arya's face of course. Along with the respect, admiration and even devotion and exaltation, there was a great deal of fear. No one would show or breathe any disrespect to the Stark woman.
But a reprieve came when he remembered that Arya's upbringing since Braavos was probably very different from here, and she perhaps wasn't used to getting back to normal. It was Arya after all. She was as stubborn as a bull herself. She found pleasure where she saw fit and took it. This pregnancy was only a mistake on her part. Gendry fancied at first that he should feel guilt for that thought, as he had once been a bastard himself, but he dismissed it. The child wouldn't be without a father. He'd be the child's father. He'd ask Arya again, and this time, having a child in danger of being raised with the shame of being a bastard child, had to accept. Even one as stubborn and strong willed as her, and even with her raising at Braavos, she had to realize that the child needed to have a father. She wouldn't just pick anyone to be the child's father. She wouldn't let whatever lowly scum she had found pleasure with just because she could be the father when all she did was use him. A close friend like himself and the Commander of the Kingsguard would be good for her and the child. He would take responsibility. He had abandoned her once for the Brothers without Banners, he wouldn't do it again.
But there was no need, as the Bull found when he saw the child in Arya's arms when the boy was born four months later. The boy had a father already, a father that wasn't going to leave. It was clear that the boy had a father and that any proposal that Gendry might have thought of giving was an empty one.
It was clear as soon as Gendry saw those dark forest green eyes of the son in Arya's arms, then the rest of the world disappeared and even Arya speaking the baby's name, calling the boy 'Robb' didn't reach the Bull's ears.
Yeah, Gendry can be kind of clueless as we may all know. For those that are wondering. Dark green are Jaqen's natural eye color (created by me, that and Arya's son are the only things that are mine. I have no idea what the actual character's eyes are) No flames please.