Arya had to admit that The Fair Isle was a truly special place. For starters, the restaurant was built around a real weirwood tree and and the very high ceiling lent the hall a grandiosity befitting the Dragon Age. The tables were all beautifully carved and arranged in a very elegant way, which made the room look bigger than it was.
" I thought weirwoods were a rarity south of The Neck!" Arya could not hide the excitement at the sight, she certainly was not expecting that.
Sansa pointed to Arya that northern culture in general and weirwoods in particular were all the rage in the south since the " Outlander" book and TV series became such a hit. Sandor added that some fancy architect though it was a good idea to leave the weirwood intact and make it part of the building and he bet they hired some hipster artist who fancied himself a child of the forest to carve the ugly face on the poor, helpless tree.
" Well, for my part I am thankful the restaurant does not have its own Red Priestess, I heard for all that Lord of Light talk, they think the night is dark and full of terrors. " Since nobody seemed to understand his joke, Tyrion changed the subject and went on to explain that tonight the restaurant served only their menu dinner, consisting on several options carefully paired with side dishes and desserts. All they had to do was to sit and enjoy each other´s company. The wine, of course, was provided by the local viniyards.
" Unfortunately, our Clegane Rosé might make an appearance during dessert." Tyrion sounded suspiciously pleased with himself by this remark and Sandor seemed to implicitly agreed.
Sansa was, of course, surprised to hear it, as she was quite the fan of their Rosé. " You should not dismiss your own wine, Tyrion! I am sure Sandor works very hard and you both should be proud."
"Little bird, always the perfect lady, not forgetting her courtesies! As it happens, I am very proud of our Red, but most of our profits comes from the Rosé, so yes, I guess you are right and I should be proud of that. "
They sat at what it seemed to Sansa to be the best table there was and a waiter soon came, greeting the group. He was carrying a jar of water and a basket with a nice selection of bread, both white and dark. After answering some queries regarding tonight´s menu, the waiter was about to leave when Arya ordered an apple juice with ice cubes.
Sandor quickly caught on the strange order ." What is the problem, wolf girl? Is our wine too strong for your northern taste?"
" I am pregnant, Hound! You, on the other hand, should drink as much as you want. I am your own designated driver!" Arya was smiling a perhaps too friendly smile, as if she had ulterior motives. It struck Sandor as odd that Arya would be so happy about the prospect of driving intoxicated people around, but the night had been so far a pleasant surprise and for once, he did not want to spoil things, so Sandor decided to let it be.
"Congratulations on your pregnancy, Arya. May I ask who is and if I know the father to be?" Tyrion managed to sound both surprised and confused at such news. Of course, he knew Arya was not the child he once briefly met, but she was still young, barely out of her teenage years.
" His name is Gendry and he is the son of Fat Bobby Baratheon. A true son, mind you. "
Clearing his throat at the obvious reference, Tyrion was saved from further embarrassment by the waiter. Everybody knew the Lannisters were now forever associated with the twincest scandal and that both Tommen and Myrcella had to be sent to be educated in Pentos to avoid being bullied in school. The waiter served Arya her juice and also brought a bottle of Clegane Red.
Sansa watched Tyrion and Sandor closely as both sipped from their wine, in quiet appreciation. They looked more than pleased, she thought. Clegane Red was a fine wine indeed, alive with notes of blackberry and pepper, the smell was powerful without being overwhelming. A bit too strong for her taste, delicious nevertheless." Sandor, will you be able to show us around tomorrow after lunch? I know Tyrion has to welcome some potential buyers and he said he is not sure how long the meeting would take. "
" You can count on that, Sansa." Sandor could not shake the feeling that his every move was being observed by Arya. Years earlier, she had told him about water dancing and how she was trained by her fencing instructor to move as a cat. Sandor had dismissed all that talk as nonsense back then, but now he wondered...
Dinner was as delicious as expected. Sansa was happily tipsy and Arya thought her sister was making a fool out of herself by her behavior with Sandor, touching his arm and batting her eyelashes too often. Tyrion, however, thought the sight amusing. Arya concluded he perhaps had anticipated and was playing matchmaker.
Sandor had surprised Arya for his somewhat tamed attitude. Not that the Hound has suddenly turned into a gentleman: he would still use profanity and make crude remarks that could never pass by jokes, but Sandor was being overtly cautious to what he said to Arya.
It did not matter.
Arya knew better and tonight she would get her answers.
Driving them back to Clegane Estate was no problem. Without Sansa´s interference and with the road in great condition, nobody noticed when Arya started to speed up. Of course, now that she was pregnant, Arya knew she should start being more careful and minding things like speed limits for instance, but she also wanted to enjoy her last days of carefree life for what could be the last time.
Tyrion had invited them for a nightcup at his bachelor pad at Clegane Keep. Sandor had reformed the old service quarters to be his new home and Tyrion had more or less offered Arya his sofa bed for the night . Yes, because it was evident that Sansa would end up spending the night at Sandor´s.
"Ladies, this is my humble home when I am...home. " Tyrion had loosened up and was now walking barefoot in the open fully equipped kitchenete. He went on about his rich man´s problems as he was preparing the beverages: how his full time job of C.O.O of Targaryen Conglomerate was keeping him from staying longer than one month at his viniyard; how his former intern, Podrick Payne, would have to return to University for his last semester and leave Sandor alone to deal with the Estate; how Tyrion has to travel to exotic and remote parts of Essos for work, not leaving much time to decorate his Kings Landing penthouse. Arya said something how she was about to puke if Tyrion continued with his pity party and once again he changed the subject.
" Here are your glasses of pure tap water with ice cubes, ladies. Now, except for tea, I can only offer wine. And by that I mean Red. No more Rosé for you, Sansa. It would be unwise!"
Sansa tried to protest, in vain.
*Hiccup* "No, no, I love the Rosé! I can´t possibly drink the Red. *Hiccup* I might get drunk and do something I will regret. Am I right? I need my *Hiccup* wits about me, right, Sandor? Come here, Sandor, I am cold. *Hiccup*"
Arya knew it was time. Sansa would start drinking water, thus eliminating the alcohol. Arya needed Sansa to stay tipsy. It was now or never.
" So, how about we play a game, huh? Like Truth or Truth? I think it is a great way to spend the rest of this lovely than playing cards. Sansa sucks at cards. "
Tyrion was laying on the floor just opposite to the leather sofa that Sansa and Sandor were now occupying, the same Arya would sleep later the evening. " That is a splendid idea, Arya. Here, you might spin the bottle. We all know the rules, I suppose."
Sansa started to giggle, much to Arya´s amusement. " She has no idea!". The first round, Arya had to answer a question from Sandor.
"Wolf bitch, tell us: was this pregnancy planned? I would ask how you managed to get pregnant, but we all know you fucked that Baratheon boy just well enough!"
Easy.
"Of course it was an accident, I am 20 years old!I had just started on the pill, but as it happens, it is not 100% effective in the first month. The doctor had told me that, but I guessed the 0,01% chance was too low, so I did not bother."
Next round Sansa asked Tyrion it it was true that old Oberyn Martell and Ellaria Sand rumour.
"Oberyn did invite me to Dorne and we all know what that means, but I never made it. It was at the time of my father´s death and things got...on the way. "
Tyrion then spinned the bottle.
Arya crossed her fingers.
Finally!
" Sansa, tell us ALL about your first time!"
To her credit, Sansa did not miss a beat.
"Well, it was right after that terrible trip to Dorne, before father died. Joffrey had killed my dog and we were stuck at that resort waiting for a flight. Sandor had offered to take me, but I stayed with father. We did get the flight and I have no idea why, our parents had agreed to attend a gala in Kings Landing."
Arya was already smiling. She knew exactly how it happened, but Sansa always refused to talk about it.
"Anyway, we were staying with Stannis Baratheon for the night and I was on babysit duty. Arya and Shireen convinced me to play truth or dare, they dared me to kiss Stannis. I did kiss him and yes, after the kids were put to bed, I went to Stannis bed and I think you can imagine the rest."
Arya could not contain herself and burst in laughter. " I SO KNEW IT! Hahaha...my God, good girl Sabsa with Stannis! HAHAHA!"
Sandor could barely move, froze due to shock.
Tyrion kept repeating: " Stannis?...Stannis?...Stannis?"
"It was only that one time. He was lonely, it was right after the divorce. I was sad. Nothing came out of it. He felt bad about it the next day. I know from Shireen that Stannis is now dating Alyssane Mormont, his secretary. She lost weight and is now into fitness , like he is, and they are both single parents. "
After such a revelation, nobody seemed interested in keep playing. Arya did not care though: she had found the truth and it was worth the wait.
It took a few moments, but Sandor managed to move on from what he had just learned and soon they were discussing the sleeping arrengements. It was too late for Arya to drive and frankly, Sandor was not impressed by her driving skills. Sandor and Tyrion agreed the girls might get some bug or infection by sleeping at Maeggy the Frog´s Bed and Breakfast. Because Tyrion could only offer them his fancy-but-not-that-comfortable-sofa , Sandor insisted Sansa and Arya to have his almost never used guest´s bedroom.
The whole night had played like a dream, a dream Sandor had not dared to have. Sansa was obviously delighted to see him. He tried to remind himself that she was probably just thankfull for what he had tried to do many years ago, but soon it became clear that there was more to it. The years had just added to Sansa´s appeal; she was more poised, more confident and ever the proper lady, her courtesies were now more polished.
His scars did not see to bother her now. Sandor understood that people needed time to get used to his burned face, but it had been years since they last seen each other and yet...there she was, making eye contact, not avoiding to look at his ruined face.
Sansa had been incredibly touchy with him and had even made some remarks about his body and muscles. Now that he was a successful man, Sandor had noticed that women were making themselves more available to him. Even before he worked his way to money, Sandor knew there were women actually interested in him sexually and he would occasionally indulge. Sandor was not only able to smell the fakeness of a gold digger but also to identify a possible one night stand in no time.
However, he knew Sansa was different.
Maybe her judgement was impaired; Sansa was visibly drunk when they started playing that silly game.
But several glasses of water later, she was as sober as she had been when the night had started it.
Now, they were at his place. Tyrion had given the girls "Clegane Rosé" promotional shirts their size and Arya had already changed into one and was now sleeping.
Sansa said she was not tired and did not want the night to end that early. She was now sitting at such close proximity that Sandor could feel the warmth of her body.
Sandor was now debating whether he would make a move or not, feeling a like a green boy.
Before he could reach a conclusion, Sansa had closed the gap between them and they kissed.
