Author's note: The second part of this story was partly inspired by Curves by Abisian.

"Don't tell me truth hurts, little girl 'Cause it hurts like hell." David Bowie-Underground

Arya¬

Gendry was practicing with his sword again and Arya was watching him. She perched on a fence nearby while her wild eyes followed his movements. Without any conscious desire she subtly flicked her gaze up and down his bare chest. Arya's greasy boy's fringe almost concealed her dirty little face and she just sat there as complacent as a cat.

But as she was looking at him she noticed a slow, perplexing burn deep in her stomach. All of a sudden Arya felt uncomfortable watching him so openly. What is wrong with me? She thought and bit her lip until a slender drop of blood welled up on it. She licked it away, tasting iron and focused instead on the slashing play of the sword as Gendry angled it through the air. Yet as she watched him the sword became his body and his body the sword. So Arya exasperatingly gave in. She watched Gendry's dusty, sinuous, blackened upper body. His every muscle was taut and hard as steel, yet his every movement fluid. He's strong Arya thought. The air smelled of fire and salt and she breathed them in like oxygen.

Gendry ¬

The air was sticky as honey and the sun seared down on Gendry's bare chest as he waited for the water to dry off. Hot Pie sat a little way off, wolfing down the remains of a rabbit they had managed to catch that morning. Arya stood hesitant at the river's edge. "Come on, you're a lady! If circumstances were different you would be bathing every bloody day." persuaded Gendry. The day was too viscous and fleeting and he wanted to move on as soon as possible, but first he had promised to stand guard over Arya as she attempted to wash away two weeks' worth of salted dirt from her body. "Ok then, stupid; I was always going to!" "Just make sure you both stay facing those trees and not the river." "Why would I want to look at you?" Hot Pie guffawed through his rabbit stuffed mouth before meandering back into the woods. That one still thinks of her as a boy. He even still calls her Arry. If he was any thicker we'd have to kick him through the forest instead of practically leading him on that horse.

But then Arya approached Gendry and transferred Needle from her grubby little paw to him. He saw her gaze flicker down and up subtly and he knew that she trusted him. Despite how she resented him calling her m' lady, despite his stubbornness, she really did trust him. Gendry grinned, "On my honour as I bastard I swear I won't turn around."

"Anyway, If you did I'd gut you" Arya replied.

"With what weapon?" he teased her.

"With my bare hands" she snarked back at him

"Did I ever tell you how annoying you are?"

She just shook her head grinning and turned her back on him. Gendry turned around as well and took a few steps closer to the trees. Behind him Arya was yanking off her clothes. Pants, boots, jerkin, belt and underclothes; she tossed them all roughly to the ground. Gendry heard a disturbance in the water as Arya had obviously jumped in and seemingly without any control or intent he found his head turning towards the sound.

His chest was now completely dry, but Gendry didn't turn back to pull on his shirt. He didn't move at all. Arya was waist deep in the water and Gendry was feeling the hairs on his arms standing up. She has changed… Arya's back was still to him, but he glimpsed a soft curve of breast as she reached up to wash under her arms. He saw that her once stick skinny stomach was now ever so slightly rounded just below the ribs. Gendry felt the nerves in his arms turn tinglingly raw and his mouth seemed full of cloying sweetness although he hadn't eaten in hours. Slivers of curves are filling my brain he thought. Gendry felt his cock stir and quickly wrenched himself back around. What sort of mad, pervert am I? Arya is just a little girl. Barely a girl, she is more of a dirty, savage, fiery, outspoken she wolf. All I feel is protective towards her. She may carry a sword and dress like a boy, but she's still vulnerable and most definitely not a woman. This thought made Gendry laugh with relief and the sound echoed through the woods, bouncing off the water, the curves of the shifting blue water.