A/N- Our girls are adorable, Arya is simultaneously the best wing woman and biggest cock block.
Tyrion made a modest offer to the Baratheons and was able to negotiate a good price for the house. They finished the fix in a matter of days following that and they got a member of Sandor's construction crew and his wife to act as their fake couple. They reshot visiting listings with the new couple, and then a few bits against a green screen that Podrick would use some sort of editing magic to make it look as though the couple had been in the actual home before construction began.
All in all, it wasn't too big of a fixing process, and the episode was wrapped and ready for release right on schedule.
Sansa asked to see the finished home. At first, Margaery had been reluctant, but all it took was one pouting look over lunch for her to cave in. She never was able to say no to Sansa.
They went in the afternoon, light streamed in through the large bay windows in the front room, casting everything in a golden glow, "It's beautiful. You all did such a wonderful job with this." Sansa whispered, standing in the entryway.
Margaery couldn't help but preen under the compliment, "It's mainly Sandor, the man is a miracle worker."
They continued through, and in the kitchen, Sansa paused. She ran her fingers along the cabinets and a sad smile came across her face, "What are you thinking?" Margaery asked.
"I can just see it. Especially in here." Sansa leant heavily against the counter, "I can see Lady running through the yard, kids doing homework at that kitchen table. I can see the happy life I was supposed to have with Joffrey."
Margaery came to stand beside her, offering comfort in her closeness. Sansa wrapped an arm around Margaery's shoulders, drawing she shorter woman into her side, "I don't regret leaving him, I know that was the right thing. I just had this whole image in my head of what our life could be, how happy we could be, and it hurts a bit saying goodbye to that."
"You can still get that." Margaery said.
"I know."
They stood together a short while, both of their minds on the future before Margaery broke the silence, "Besides, this laminate flooring is god awful."
"You said the light wood looked nice!"
"You seemed so excited about it, I lied."
Sansa gently punched Margaery on the arm, "I can't believe you, Tyrell."
…
Margaery wanted to move on immediately. She wanted a happily ever after with 2.5 kids and a picket fence, and a dog in the backyard. A dog named Lady. She wanted to swoop in and draw Sansa into her arms, and fill their days with soft movie nights in fleece pajamas, and fancy dinner dates with complimentary dresses, and leave lipstick marks all down the redhead's pale neck.
She wanted to protect Sansa and make her happy.
But mostly she wanted to respect the Stark's wishes, and Sansa wanted to be single for a while. She had been with Joffrey since her senior year of college, and she hadn't been single in four years. She needed to spend some time alone before she could commit again.
So Margaery was patient. Painfully patient.
She inserted herself in Sansa's life as a new best friend. She took the redhead out on lunch dates, surprised her with coffee at work, and planned little girls nights that they forced Arya into.
It was nearly two months later at one of those girls nights that Sansa finally made her move. Margaery was sprawled across the couch in her and Arya's apartment, idly scratching Lady who was lying along the couch in front of her, "The venn diagram of houses in a zone of the city that allows for exotic pets and houses that have enough land for horses is exactly four. And beside that, the wife, Danny, wants it in a good school district!" She ranted, "I mean this is basically impossible and that's not even looking at any of the interior things they want."
Sansa lifted the brunette's feet and slid beneath them on the couch, "What exotic pets do they have?" Arya asked from the kitchen.
"Komodo dragons." Margaery stole some popcorn from the bowl on Sansa's lap, "Three of them. Who the hell keeps dragons as pets?"
"Aren't they lizards?" Sansa moved the popcorn closer to the brunette.
"Whatever they are, they're a pain in my ass."
They selected a romcom to watch for the evening and cracked open a bottle of wine. Over the course of the movie they made it through that bottle, and when they paused for a quick bathroom break intermission, Sansa asked if she should open another.
"I shouldn't, I've got to drive home." Margaery said, her lips tucking up in the corner.
"You could always spend the night."
"No, I would hate to put you out like that."
Sansa was gentle in her insistence, "It wouldn't be an inconvenience, I promise."
"I've got to be at the house early tomorrow."
"You can shower here, borrow some clothes."
Margaery scanned a gaze up and down Sansa, making a point of dragging her eyes down Sansa's long legs.
The redhead blushed under the scrutiny, "I'm sure we could find something for you."
Margaery let her sweat it out for another moment, "Okay, if you're sure I wouldn't be a bother."
"You're practically our third roommate at this point, Marge." Arya yelled from the kitchen, doing her sisterly duty of ruining any sort of soft moment Sansa was trying to have.
So the decision was made for her. Sansa opened another bottle, and Margaery tucked in, drawing the blanket closer around herself and shamelessly scooting in closer to tuck herself into Sansa's side. Arya came in from the kitchen, arms laden down with snacks and resumed the movie, not giving the girls cuddling on the couch a second thought.
When the credits rolled across the screen, and Arya turned in for the night, Margaery followed Sansa's lead to her bedroom, "I've got some spare shorts and a shirt you can sleep in." The redhead offered over her shoulder, digging through a drawer to find the clothes.
She handed them to Margaery, "Bathroom's down the hall."
Under regular circumstances, Margaery would just strip right there, sure to get her point across. But this wasn't regular circumstances, this was Sansa. So she took the clothes and dutifully changed in the bathroom at the end of the hall.
And because it wasn't regular circumstances, Margaery didn't dare presume anything. She went from the bathroom to the front room and laid down on the couch, stretching out like a cat and getting comfortable in the plush cushions. She remained there for nearly ten minutes until Sansa popped a confused head out of her bedroom door.
"You don't actually think you're sleeping on the couch, do you?"
It was Margaery's turn to blush as she shrugged, "I didn't want to be presumptuous."
Sansa rolled her eyes, "Come on then."
They got comfortable beneath the covers, having been invited into the redhead's bed, Margaery was no longer playing coy. She curled right into Sansa's side, drawing the taller woman's arm across her waist and laying her head on Sansa's shoulder.
For just a second, Sansa stiffened under the contact, but then she melted. Shifting a bit until she could comfortably hold the shorter woman, slipping her opposite arm under Margaery and running it through her long hair.
Lady shot the brunette a glare for having apparently stolen her spot in Sansa's bed. In protest, she padded up and laid down on Sansa's opposite side. The bed was hardly large enough to accomodate two fully grown adults and a massive dog, but Sansa didn't have the heart to shove Lady off.
When Margaery woke in the morning, she felt more secure than she had in years. They had shifted in the night, and now Margaery found herself laying nearly completely on top of the redhead. Sansa was still asleep, her breath coming in gentle puffs against Margaery's cheek, and she took a moment just to appreciate the view.
Sansa looked years younger in her sleep, more peaceful than Margaery had ever seen her awake, her lips barely parted, and such an inviting pink, Margaery had to restrain herself from leaning in and kissing them. Sansa's hair was splayed across the pillows in a halo, and Margaery idly ran her fingers through it while she waited for Sansa to wake.
"No leering without a permit."
Margaery chuckled, Sansa's voice thick and hoarse from sleep was among the sexiest things she had ever heard, "I'm not leering. I was merely appreciating you, sweetling."
Their morning was lazy and slow, they stayed in bed for a long while, simply enjoying being close to one another. When they finally emerged, hair tousled, and clothes wrinkled, they found Arya sitting at the kitchen table, her hair in unruly spikes and a pair of thick framed black glasses low on her nose.
"Coffee's hot." She offered, raising a mug of her own in a gesture towards the freshly brewed pot on the counter.
"Wonderful." Margaery smiled, she sauntered over to the kitchen and poured herself a cup, "Do you two like pancakes?"
Arya and Sansa spoke at the same time.
"Of course."
"You don't have to-"
"Shut up, Sansa. She's offering."
"She's a guest."
"She basically moved in when you did."
Sansa blushed and her mouth floundered open and shut in search of a reply. She was saved by Margaery, "It's no problem, I love cooking and it's the least I could do to thank you for letting me crash overnight."
Sansa was about to protest, but at that moment the brunette turned around and reached up on her tiptoes to pull down a large mixing bowl. The clothes she had borrowed to sleep in were large on her, but she had rolled the waist of the shorts and now as she reached up, Sansa could see the curve of her ass peeking out from beneath the material and her mouth ran dry.
Watching Margaery in her clothes in her kitchen was something she was sure she would never tire of. Margaery knew exactly what she was doing though, and once she had the bowl she turned around and shot Sansa a small wink. Taking delight in the blush she caused to raise on Sansa's cheeks.
After breakfast was eaten and Margaery had raided Sansa's closet for something she could make work for the day ahead (settling on a simple button up and a pair of slacks rolled at the bottom to make up for their height difference), it was time to say goodbye.
"I'll see you tomorrow for lunch?" Margaery confirmed, standing in the entryway.
"Yes."
"Okay, thanks again for letting me stay the night."
"Any time."
Margaery rocked forward to press a kiss to Sansa's cheek, "Have a good day, sweetling."
Sansa watched her walk down the hall a little way before Arya let out an annoyed huff from just behind her, "For seven's sake. Just go and kiss her properly already!"
She only hesitated a moment before taking off down the hall, "Margaery, wait!"
The brunette turned from where she just at the top of the stairs, she didn't have a chance to ask question forming on her lips before they were covered with Sansa's own. She cupped both of Margaery's cheeks, and just barely managed to control the momentum of her sprint down the hall so she didn't completely crash into the brunette. Rather she ended up with Margaery pinned against the wall and her own hips, pressed together head to toe.
Margaery responded eagerly to the kiss, her own arms going around Sansa's waist to hold her even tighter.
They broke apart only when air became a problem, but they stayed in close contact, foreheads resting against each other.
"So, um. I really like you, and I think I'm ready to give this a try." Sansa said by way of explanation.
Margaery chuckled, "Yeah, I had sort of assumed that.
…
The difference between Sansa and Margaery as best friends and Sansa and Margaery as girlfriends honestly isn't that large. There are still lunch dates (though now they're actually called 'dates') and surprise coffee deliveries, and girls nights in which Margaery takes far too much amusement in forcing a whole number of girly activities on Arya (mud masks are Margaery's definitive favorite, and as much as Arya protests, she obediently sits still and lets the Tyrell carefully apply the thick brown clay to her face).
The main shift is their physical proximity. Margaery had always been a very physical person, holding hands, cuddling during movies, brushing hair out of people's faces. But now everything went up a notch. Holding hands turned into tucking herself beneath Sansa's arm as they walked down the street, cuddling turned to her practically lying atop Sansa on the small couch in her apartment when they watched movies.
And the kissing, once Margaery learned just how much fun kissing Sansa was, she couldn't get enough. Much to Arya's dismay. She caught them making out in the living room, on the couch, in the kitchen, against the refrigerator, in the hallway, everywhere. She had gone so far as to repurpose the spray bottle she used when the dogs were doing something bad and whenever she caught Margaery and Sansa making out in a 'public' area of the apartment, she would squirt them.
She even took to chastising them, shouting, "Bad girls!" as she sprayed the water.
Margaery found it entertaining, especially since it pissed Sansa off so much.
The redhead was just as bad, Margaery's habits quickly rubbed off on her. She could hardly keep her hands to herself, constantly reaching out for Margaery as if needing tactile reassurance that the other girl was still there.
At work, Margaery was still an awful flirt, but now it held none of the undertone it used to. Now it was clear that it was all for show. Between filming, she would smile secretively at her phone when she got a particularly sweet text from Sansa.