Game of Thrones: A Name Doesn't Make a Person

Chapter 2 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

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Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

Chapter 2

It was the day of the party and the Starks were all prepared. They had arrived at Tyrion's home and had just entered. Tyrion spotted them and approached; being no more than a dwarf in height he looked up at them. Still he smiled widely as he greeted them.

"Welcome, I'm glad you could all make it." He said warmly.

He shook hands with them as they exchanged greetings.

Jon then spoke up. "We wouldn't miss it; thank you for inviting us all."

Tyrion smiled, shaking his head. "It's not trouble; you're very welcome. Shae thought it would be nice for Podrick to meet up with people of his own age, outside the family."

Ned quirked an eyebrow at that. As they began walking through to where they could hear the party taking place, Tyrion explained.

"Pod is rather…shy. We're hoping to help him overcome that however."

Finally it made sense to them and they nodded. They soon entered the living room and noticed the other guests. As they had expected the Lannisters were there, however so too were the Baratheons. The Baratheons were another powerful political family, the oldest family member was Ned's good friend, Robert Baratheon. His youngest brother, Renly was mayor of the Stormlands state; while Robert himself lived in the Crownlands as the President of Westeros. The middle brother Stannis served as one of Robert's aides. The Lannisters were easily recognizable by their blonde hair and green eyes. Both of Tyrion's twin older siblings, Jaime and Cersei, were present, Cersei being Robert's wife and Jaime being part of Robert's Secret Service detail.

Also present was Tyrion's father, the family head, Tywin; a rather morose and serious-faced man. It was well known that their relationship was contentious at best. Also present was Tywin's brother Kevan; as well as Robert and Cersei's three children. The eldest, eighteen year old Joffrey; Sansa's ex-boyfriend, the one she had been concerned about. Then was his younger sister, fifteen year old Myrcella and finally, fourteen year old Tommen. The final two people were a young woman with dark hair and eyes and a teenage male, around Sansa's age, with short black hair, black eyes and seemed to be almost constant chewing his bottom lip. They recognized the woman immediately as Shae; Tyrion's wife. They assumed then the boy must be Podrick. Robb, Jon and the other Stark siblings went to join the crowd. Ned and Cat hung back with Tyrion for a moment.

"You mentioned wanting Pod to mix with people his own age." Cat said quietly. "How is he getting on with that?"

Tyrion shrugged. "It all depends on the other person. Overall however, I think he's accepted by the family. I know Myrcella and Tommen already invite him around to their house to play video games."

Ned glanced over carefully before asking. "What about your father, we all know he…"

"Yes; well, surprisingly he actually thinks it's not a bad idea." Tyrion revealed with a grin. "You know what he's like; he accepts it, after all, it gives a good image for the family. I think that he's finally given up on trying to control my life."

The others nodded carefully before they all headed to join the others.

Pod shifted in his seat; his nerves mounting. He had his doubts about this party; worried about meeting all these people. Yet he had to admit, things had been going well so far. He glanced around carefully at his new family members, most of whom he had met before. Robert was pretty much the same as ever, as was Cersei. Despite her normally 'problematic' relationship with her younger brother, she seemed to bear Pod himself no animosity. She wasn't exactly friendly, but she seemed to have nothing against him either. His new cousins were also much the same, Myrcella and Tommen being friendly; trying to make him feel welcome in the family. Yet this was counterbalanced by Joffrey, constantly glaring at him and clearly sending out his message, stating his belief that Pod didn't belong here with them. He had received the shock of his life when he met Tyrion's father and uncle; that had been the most nerve racking part of the day. Yet just as he felt things were calming down, more people arrived. He recalled Tyrion talking about them, these were the Starks, family friends. He observed them as they came in, they looked alright, looked nice enough. Listening in he was able to pick up the family consisted of the parents, five children and one nephew/cousin. Greetings were exchanged as he got to meet them, learning their names and such.

'How am I supposed to keep all this straight, this feels like…' He thought rapidly before Shae gently squeezed his shoulder, comfortingly.

He smiled thankfully to her and soon everyone was seated and enjoying themselves. Pod did his best to mix in, talk with people. But, as was typical when his nervousness got out of hand, he began to stammer and trip over his words. He began to lapse into silence after that; not wanting to embarrass himself. He still listened in however, replying when spoken too, but he stopped trying to start conversation for now.

It was later on he found himself sitting next to the second eldest of the Stark children. The auburn haired girl; Pod felt his mouth go dry.

'She's so beautiful; oh man, why does she make me the most nervous.' He wondered fretfully. 'You'd think her sister, with that wildness, or her older brother or cousin would do that, but no.'

It was hard to explain. True Robb, Jon and Arya made him nervous; but this felt different to him. A different kind of nervousness; he thought he would be fine, he got along well with the two youngest Starks, Bran and Rickon. Yet strangely enough, despite knowing her to be rather nice from what he had seen so far, he felt himself just short of trembling with Sansa Stark sitting so near.

"Hi, well, I did introduce myself but…I'm Sansa, nice to meet you." She said with a kind smile.

Pod did his best to return the smile, replying in kind. "Podrick…you probably already knew that."

Sansa laughed gently, still smiling. Pod was mesmerized by her laugh.

She straightened up and then asked. "So, Podrick; how are you adjusting to your new life?"

Pod bit his lip, looking over at where Tyrion and Shae were sitting, talking to Jaime.

"It…It's a bit awkward, but it feels nice too." He said, a smile forming. "Tyrion…I mean, dad is really nice to me and his wife tries her hardest to be a good mother for me."

Sansa couldn't help but smile at that. She knew it must be awkward for Pod, having addressed these people by name for so long, to adjust to them now being his parents and addressing them as such.

She nodded; recalling her friendship with Shae. She decided to inform him of that and to try and help ease him even further.

"Shae is a friend of mine; so I know what you mean. She can be a little too frank at times, but she has a good heart." She explained.

Pod nodded smiling, his nervousness beginning to fade. However all was not well, as they were being watched. Joffrey scowled as he glared at them.

'Ugh, poor Sansa, having to mix with that false Lannister.' He thought bitterly. 'Being reduced to befriend that loser; she must have been forced into it, maybe by her parents. We all know she'd rather be with much better company, like me for instance. He can try all he wants, but this little game won't work, uncle. That Podrick loser will never be one of us.'

Yet, not knowing Joffrey's thoughts, the party continued as normal; with everybody else enjoying themselves.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.