Chapter Eight: The morning after.

Sansa woke up the following morning to the smell of a cooked breakfast. She took a moment to gather up what things were in the room and set the bed to rights. A niggling thought told her that her dress was probably in the entryway, so it might be wise, if rude, to raid his drawers for a shirt and bottoms.

She and Petyr were roughly the same height (a fact that she had found rather pleasing), and his clothes fit her well enough. Once dressed, she looked into the mirror above his dresser. The woman she saw there seemed a stranger to her. Her hair was tousled with sleep and sex, her cheeks pinked with embarrassment at wearing a virtual (male) stranger's clothing, and a smile curved her lips. Last night had been unexpected, wild and fun, and beyond anything she'd ever experienced. She felt confident in herself and liberated.

Sansa smiled back at her reflection and left the room, following her nose until she reached the kitchen. Petyr had his back to her when she entered, so she quietly cleared her throat. His eyes went wide at the sight of her, but quickly narrowed with unmistakable appreciation and not a small amount of possession.

"I hope you don't mind," her fingers fiddled with the bottom of the shirt, reflecting her sudden shyness, "but I think we left my dress somewhere else. I wasn't very keen on the idea of walking around naked."

He put a spatula down and crossed the kitchen to her, "My loss, sweetling, truly, but the sight of you kitted out in my clothes is doing wonders for my ego."

"Oh…that's good?"

"Very. Now, I hope you're hungry. I know I worked up quite an appetite last night."

"Gods, I'm starving!"

"One hunger at a time, sweetling, and I intend to sate all of yours."

Sansa nearly tripped over her own feet. The man and his words were a bloody hazard to her health!

He settled her at the kitchen island and put a plate in front of her. "I didn't know what you would like, so I made the full King's and hoped for the best."

She would never reveal to him that a full King's, in all its artery-clogging deliciousness, was a particular weakness of hers. Instead, she smiled and tucked in, targeting the fried mushrooms and tomatoes first.

She was working her way through a mouthful of beans and toast when he said suddenly, "I'd like to keep seeing you."

Sansa couldn't help it, she choked. "Sorry, what? Isn't that against protocol or something?"

"Protocol? What are you going on about?"

"You know, the standard operating procedures of the one night stand? I mean, It was nice of you to let me stay the night and feed me breakfast before my walk of shame, but you don't have to lie and pretend that this is more than one night of fantastic sex!"

Petyr gazed at her silently, considering her words, weighing their merit. She could almost see the gears turning in his head. "If you knew me," he began slowly, "you would know that I do not engage in one night affairs. You would know that my interest does not wane after one night in bed, but you do not know me. I'm offering you the chance to change that."

Sansa felt her face go up in flames; that had been incredibly rude of her, but what did he expect her to think? "Look, that was rude of me, but I don't know you from Aegon. I've never done this before, gone home with a stranger. You were going to be the first and last. I didn't expect anything else…"

"I blame myself for not communicating my intentions. I'm usually much more direct. Would you believe me if I said I was distracted by you?"

"I don't know. Were you?"

"Unbelievably so."

She grinned at him, enjoying the way he looked in the light of day. "Well, that's all right, then."

"Even though we've gone at this a bit backwards, would you care to try again?"

"Let's finish breakfast and see what happens."

"Fair enough, sweetling."


Author's Note: One more chapter to go after this, but as I have not written it yet, I cannot guarantee that it will be posted tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed and maybe it will be! Also, there will be a short bonus chapter in which the origin of the vase shall be revealed.