This one is short, but I wanted a view from Ned at least for a moment and this was a good way to further the Arya/Gendry thing.
Next chapter will be dinner and it will include some of Ned's business associates, (ooooooh new characters introduced, exciting right?)
Ned sighed as he watched the argument between his wife and daughter get even more out of hand.
They had been at it for over an hour, both acting calm at first before it descended into a screeching match that would result in the same thing it always had.
Catelyn walking away and Arya storming out, making a call to Jon to pick her up.
Just as he was about to yell for the fighting to cease, a servant knocked on the door, silencing the two venom-spewing females.
"Sir, we have a visitor. He insists that he speak to you and the Lady immediately."
"Let him in at once." Ned replied, settling himself more comfortably into his chair, while Catelyn ushered Arya from the room.
A tall young man walked into the room, although his eyes were downcast in a humble way, his demeanor suggested that he had a hard time with it.
"Mr. Stark, I am Gendry Waters, and today there was an altercation at school between your daughter and myself. It...it wasn't Arya's fault, sir. It was mine. I purposely slung the rat down so it would get on her."
Catelyn eyed the boy with obvious dislike, "And what made you do this?"
The boy shifted uncomfortably before speaking, "Well, you see ma'am, we had gotten into an argument the day before, and she was ignoring me. So to force her into acknowledging me, I did something a little drastic. I'm very sorry."
Ned let out a booming laugh, trying to quiet it when Catelyn glared at him sharply from across the table.
"Why did you want her attention so badly?" Ned inquired, trying to keep a chuckle from his voice.
It was barely noticeable unless one was looking intently, but a faint blush stole across the boys cheeks before he calmed himself, "She's my friend. I don't like my friends being angry with me."
Ned hid a grin, "Well my boy, what better way to apologize than to stay for dinner!"
Gendry looked up shocked as Ned walked towards him and guided him towards the doors that led to the living room, whispering along the way, "It's gonna take a lot more than an apology to get that one to forgive you. Blunt force is a better way to go about it."
At Gendry's surprised face he pushed him into the living room, towards the couch where the intended target sat munching on Cheetos and watching her favorite gymnast on the television.
"Arya, we have a guest for dinner. Keep him company for me. Dinner is in an hour!"
Arya's facial expressions in the time span of ten seconds went from bored to confused to shocked to fury.
"Good luck, lad! You'll need it!" Ned laughed as he retired to the hallway.
So this chapter is short but I had to get Gendry back in with Arya somehow without waiting for her to be angry for multiple days. And I wanted to set up an introduction for...three? characters.
I'm back from vacation and I hope to be publishing a lot more, I just have to get through a camping trip with friends and then I can write, write, write.
I'm terribly sorry my darlings, don't stop loving me.
